Living with "Some Style" | Week 7 Post-layoff

Maya Angelou once said, "My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style." Her words resonated with us this week as Mother Nature played the weather lottery, pulling quick pick numbers that read: 11°, 75°, 28°, 53°, 31°, 68°. (Still waiting to see if we won anything with that combination - other than a frozen refrigerator water line and an indoor jungle office.)

This Week's Reality Check

• Days since corporate layoff: 52
• Temperature swings: 64° (from 11° to 75°)
• Outdoor plants seeking refuge in Bryan's office: 2
• Netflix shows to finish before cancellation: 2
• Camper projects ready to launch: 2
• Subscriptions reviewed and canceled: 2
• Home-cooked cuisine types in rotation: 6
• Costco trips survived on a Saturday: 1

What We're Actually Doing

Sometimes thriving means unexpected connections. Like how the refund from canceling our Prime membership ended up covering the cost of our camper flooring. There's something satisfying about that kind of transition, where ending one thing opens the door to beginning another.

Speaking of beginnings, we have flooring and lights for the camper!

Quick note: We're sharing the specific products we chose because we spent quite a bit of time researching options that checked the boxes for our situation. These aren't sponsored recommendations - just sharing what we ultimately chose after plenty of comparison shopping and consideration. We hope our research might save you some time if you're looking for similar solutions!

Our camper flooring choice itself tells a story. We found it through Wayfair but learned that the manufacturer is a family-owned business in North Carolina, started by a couple who stepped back from corporate careers to raise their young children. There's something perfect about outfitting our freedom mobile with materials from folks who chose their own path of intentional living.

Here's what we ended up choosing: 3/8" Forest Floor® Farmhouse Collection Printed Foam Mats in Barnwood Brown

The foam mats we chose will not only give the camper a warm, cozy feel but will also be kinder to our midlife knees. Sometimes practicality can wear a stylish disguise.

The lighting follows a similar theme - battery-operated, magnetic puck lights that can shift from practical white to gentle evening red, helping us create exactly the atmosphere we need without complicated wiring. It's a small thing, but it feels like a metaphor for what we're building: flexible systems that can adapt to different needs.

After weighing different lighting solutions, we found these adjustable puck lights that checked all our boxes: Good Earth Lighting 6-pack Multicolor LED Puck Light with Remote

In another nod to practicality and adaptability, the Subaru dealership scheduled some time with us this coming week for a crash course on tech features and to help us set ours up. It's nice to have this learning time scheduled rather than randomly coming across a YouTube video in three years on a feature we didn't know about. Kudos to the dealership on helping your customer fall in love with your product. Due to work and cold temperatures, Suby has mostly been garage-bound since we picked it up, so we're looking forward to taking it out for some break-in driving.

Work and schedule flexibility proved invaluable during this week's weather adventure. As temperatures plunged and the office filled with refugee outdoor plants, we found ourselves grateful for the flexibility of working from home. No treacherous commutes, no sharing space with sneezing coworkers, just the occasional plant leaf tickling an elbow during Zoom calls.

During our shift toward intentional living, we've been redefining our relationship with eating out. Looking at the numbers, we used to spend around $150 weekly at restaurants ($600/month), on top of our Costco runs. Now, with one weekly dinner out with friends ($200/month), we're saving about $400 monthly while turning our restaurant industry experience toward our own kitchen. We make sure we have ingredients on hand for plant-based versions of all our favorite cuisines. Pizza? Covered. Burgers? You bet. Mexican food? ¡Muy Bueno! Our home cooking adventures satisfy both our cravings and our creativity (and our budget thanks us too).

One last small lesson we learned about comfort this week - when one of our temporary blackout curtains fell down. A single night of poor sleep reminded us how much these small comforts matter. You really don't know what you have until a neighbor's flood light turns your bedroom into an impromptu theater stage at 2 AM. (Pro tip: counting sheep is significantly harder when your room is brighter than Times Square.)

Let's Talk

What small comfort have you added to your life that turned out to be more important than you expected? Whether it's blackout curtains, a perfect coffee setup, or something entirely different - we'd love to hear what helps you thrive rather than just survive.

Looking Forward

Next week promises temperatures in the 70s - perfect weather for installing our new camper flooring and lighting. We're learning that thriving comes down to these small moments: choosing materials thoughtfully, creating comfort intentionally, and finding ways to make necessary changes feel like upgrades rather than compromises.

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