How & What I Spent This Week (June 8th-14th)
Nothing comes between me and my plans (a lot of things do, actually)
Hello, my angels! Welcome back to Claire From Online by me, Claire, from Online. June is shaping up to be a great month. I can’t believe we’re almost at the halfway point. Anxiety and general uneasiness, insecurity, and general summer ennui impact even your goofiest of internet pals. Despite this, I am so grateful to live another ‘Summer Claire’ week in the life. I’m balancing rest, play, and movement, and got to spend this week waxing nostalgic about a shared favorite band with a bunch of strangers. Enjoy this little ‘life log’! I would love if it inspires even one person to reflect in a similar way, whether just for documentation purposes, or to write everything you spend down (it’s helpful, sometimes painful… but good).
Here’s how and what I spent last week.
Saturday, June 8th
Hopped out of bed and quickly threw a few outfits, my hair curler, some makeup, and my nighttime skincare into some Baggu bags, and off I went up I-44 to St. Louis. I was meeting my lil1 cousin halfway for the A Day to Remember show. If you follow me elsewhere, you know I haven’t shut up about this show since I got back. I could literally write an essay (AND MAYBE I WILL) about ADTR’s range and how much they mean to me. I’ve seen them seven or eight times and they’ve been one of my favorite bands for fifteen years. I have so many memories of driving down the county roads over to our grandma’s house, blasting not only A Day To Remember but Four Year Strong, and later, The Story So Far (their openers on tour) when I was in college & Holly was in high school. We would go up to Mojoe’s in Joliet to see similar bands, like Every Avenue and Hit the Lights. We’d go to Warped Tour in Tinley with our own friends, but we’d always try to meet up at least once during the day (I remember watching ADTR’s 2011 Warped set together on hot asphalt in the 5pm heat like it was yesterday)! So, obviously, it was great to relive my pop-punk/metalcore glory years, but it was even better that Holly and I got to do it together. I bought two shirts, and to be honest, I was going into the evening planning on buying three. I’m already scheming with one of my high school pals to possibly go to the show in Chicago (who’s surprised?).
The STL show was, what fans online have determined, a really freaking awesome show. It was the second show of tour and the energy was electric. Nothing comes between me and my [fan].
Holly was a good sport and humored me by participating in a silly trend going around right now at live shows. I’m unsure of the origin — I have some favorites here, here, here, and here — but a very popular and early video is two friends at a concert. Before the set, Friend #1 says, “I hope she plays [Taylor Swift’s] Love Story”. Friend #2 comes back with “this is Knocked Loose” [cut to Knocked Loose playing Counting Worms, lol]. As folks on TikTok are saying, “I built this For You page, brick by brick”, and HELLO?? Knocked Loose x Taylor Swift collab WHEN2?? Anyway, I (and surely many other people, I just got lucky because my show was early in the tour) saw an opportunity to recreate it with “I hope she plays Since U Been Gone” / “… we’re at A Day to Remember” [cut to their very popular late-2000s cover of the Kelly Clarkson song, which is relatively rare for them to play at a show!!!!!]. The video is going viral right now and it’s fun and silly. Rewatching all the footage I took is bringing me so much joy. Never thought I’d be crying tears of joy during All Signs Point to Lauderdale over people cheering for a fan with streamers stuck in it. ADTR Chandelier forever. I have issues. It was honestly the best night of the year so far, though.
Roadtrip Snacks & Gas: $47
(Holly bought us Chick-Fil-A)
Tickets: $75
Merch: $85
Two Venue Dasanis (somebody come get me): $14
Midnight Waffle House run: $20
Hotel: $0 — Eric sponsored this trip through credit card points :,) pop-punk/metalcore ally award
Sunday, June 9th
We woke up and decided before we even went down for breakfast that the only appropriate move was to hit up IKEA right when they opened. As suburban Chicagoans, we were blessed(?) with two chaotic and impossibly busy locations. I, from the western ‘burbs, would usually go northwest to Schaumburg; Holly and the rest of my south-suburban friends & fam would hit up the Bolingbrook location once it opened. Since my move to Arkansas, the St. Louis IKEA has been a great place to stretch my legs and spend $125. It’s SO much less crowded and picked over than the Chicago-area locations, even though I’ve been through during SLU move-in week multiple times. In the years before COVID and before my ~wow, I think I’m living beyond my means~ reckoning, I used to stop in every time I drove through. I go maybe, on average, once every 18 months now. And I spent, of course, $125. I did a little $50 desk refresh (new lamp & a little monitor stand I’m using mostly as a storage solution), got some new utensils, tea towels, a little plant, a little candle, and a little wooden bed tray. I could have done without a few things. So it goes!
We said our goodbyes, and I drove through Chappell Roan’s Missouri, stopping at Buc-ee’s in Springfield for cinnamon sweet beaver nuggets, a Bridgewater Candle Co. sachet for my car, and A REALLY GREAT TURKEY SANDWICH??? Brisket didn’t sound good for whatever reason, but I couldn’t survive off beaver nuggets alone. I’ll definitely be recreating that sandwich for a pool day soon (turkey, pepperjack, tomato, and pickled jalapeños on ciabatta).
IKEA: $125
Roadtrip Snacks & Gas: $48
Monday, June 10th
One of those days where I didn’t feel real. I mostly hung around the house. Did some laundry & puttered. I went to yoga and ordered another pair of my favorite bike shorts. Eric went to see a movie, I edited my concert TikToks, then we chilled by the pool & went out for date night.
Yunoga 6” Bike Shorts: $20
Steven’s Special and a big Dr. Pepper: thank you Eric
Tuesday, June 11th
Went to hang out in the Onyx breezeway with my pal Antha. Got a vanilla latte and a croissant, laughed and laughed. Talked to another friend on the phone for a long time. Went to another Bounce class & a body restore (stretch) class.
Onyx: $12
Barre/Pilates Unlimited Membership: $189
Wednesday, June 12th
Got dinner with my friend Ashley. This was technically my belated birthday dinner, and she even gifted me some little stationery bits & bobs from her trip to Tokyo a few weeks ago!!!) :.) She is so kind. I loved hearing about her trip. I want to pay her to give me an itinerary. It was a really nice evening, and we felt the need to SLT3 it up afterwards, so I bought us ice cream. #AtHomeIceCream 90% of the time. Other times, peanut butter cup with mini m&m’s from Sweet Dream Creamery.
Ice cream: $12
Small grocery run: $33
Yoga towel: $35
Thursday, June 13th
PAAAAAYDAAAAAY. A lot of… moving money around. Paid off the balances on two cards and a little more than minimum on one card with 0% APR through the end of the year. Signed a new lease at our silly little complex with amenities (big gulp). It’s fine. It’ll be our third year here! We got soooo lucky at our little townhouse on Mount Sequoyah back in Fayetteville with all our dear deer friends in the backyard. Rent was next to nothing, especially for the location, and was only raised once by $50 the entire time Eric lived there (nearly a decade). Wild. So, now we pay for our pool and fancy washer/dryer and community spaces. Free dog wash, though (we’re in single-digits on our New Family Member countdown)!!!!
Cometeer order came through — I have an active partnership with them, but if you’ve been here for awhile, you know my enthusiasm for these at-home coffee capsules is so genuine. I’m on year three of loyalty. Here’s my link if you’d like to try (the code is just ‘CLAIRE’)! I’d definitely recommend the mixed roast box if you’re unsure where to start, but if you’re a coffee enthusiast, you’ll likely see some familiar roasters (Onyx! Joe! Intelligentsia!) to add to your custom box :~)
I went to xformer in the morning & yoga at night (not me sorta doing 75 hard on the very low-key?? Not skimping on the ice cream, though), and went to hang with my friend in Fayetteville for a little in the late afternoon. Bring back hanging out.
AmEx: $423 (paid off)
Discover: $150 (paid off)
Apple: $275
Cometeer: Gifted
USB-C Charging Block: $20
Friday, June 14th — NO SPEND DAY (TECHNICALLY)
Went to my 50th class at the studio since joining in March! I’M SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR SHOWING UP! My inconsistencies in how I’ve approached wellness, fitness, and self-care have been a source of frustration over the past five years. Not very practice self-compassion of me, but real!! A few summers ago, I used to walk three miles a day at minimum, which isn’t even that much, but if you were curious, absolutely made a difference in nearly every aspect of my life. 2023 was a relatively sedentary year for me, and it’s been so nice to choose movement and build back some better habits.
My friend Antha came over to sit in the kitchen with me (more hanging out! yes). We filmed a silly reel and went to the pool, ate grapes and practiced UV awareness (sat under an umbrella the whole time). Teacher summer behavior. A food truck came by our pool to give out free hot dogs. This could have been $100 cold hard cash, I felt that lucky. Simple abundance.
Total time spent rewatching videos from the ADTR show: definitely at least four hours
Total workout classes attended: 7
Total $ paid towards my debt: $900
See you next week!!
Love,
Claire
she’s literally 28 but if you’ve ever been 18, hanging out with your 14 year-old sibling or cousin nonstop, you know the vibes. We will be in our 60s and she’ll still be the baby cousin, I don’t know
I almost started hollering on TikTok this week about how ADTR has more in common with Taylor than hardcore or death metal bands (meaning it complimentary), but I am FINALLY in a regulated state & just don’t want to go there. But it’s how I feel. I know the death metal fans would agree.
that’s silly little treat to you
Congrats on paying off 2 cards this week!!! That's huge! Side note: when I paid off my credit card debt, I felt like I should do something to celebrate, but didn't really know what to do that didn't cost money but still felt appropriately celebratory. Thoughts? I'm paying off my car in a couple months and then I think I might treat it to a sub-$200 detail as a celebration.
There's probably 20% of your newsletters that are over my head (GenX problems), but the other 80% is just awesome. 😊