As summer comes to a close, I'm reflecting on a few things I've removed from my life recently — and a few, more enjoyable things I've added.

Phrases like "life got in the way" and other cliché statements alluding to not having enough time to do certain things REALLY bother me. If something matters, you'll find time for it. If it doesn't matter, than you really shouldn’t be making excuses.

While I haven’t been "too busy" to update my blog (I'm well aware that my lack of writing boils down to me being wildly distracted by quite a few other things), I’m making the effort to refocus — here's how:

Travel. My refocusing efforts started back in June when we travelled to New York for a long weekend. We spent a couple days on Long Island visiting family and attended a beautiful wedding in Brooklyn. Typically for me, walking around with a very loose agenda is painful; I usually like to have a solid plan.

However, this time we simply picked a neighborhood (Nolita) and walked around aimlessly for a few hours. It helped me experience what was going on around me — and really heightened my awareness of how smelly NYC is. It's so important to take the time to step outside of your comfort zone and experience new places or new activities.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t require a plane ticket either — explore a new neighborhood or visit a coffee shop to people watch! Albeit small, these independent ventures can really help break up the day and take your mind off of things for a little while.

Cancel. In other efforts to refocus, we cancelled cable. I am now spending less time sitting on the couch — aimlessly scrolling through Instagram with a cooking show playing in the background. I also unsubscribed from all of my subscription boxes — so no extra stuff collecting in my drawers month after month.

This whole "cancelling" step also pertains to humans. Remove the toxic people in your life that cause stress or negativity. This summer, I also learned to stop feeling obligated to be polite — cancel plans if it's not something you're truly interested in.

“Happy people focus on what they have. Unhappy people focus on what’s missing. ”

Limit. On a more personal level, I went on a pescetarian diet (it turns out giving up meat and poultry is WAY easier than giving up carbs — plus, I actually like black bean burgers), and I stopped drinking beer — GASP!

Basically, I've been trying to LIMIT certain things to develop better decision-making skills — an area in which I have lacked my entire life. Not kidding, it could take me up to an hour to decide what to eat for dinner, get bored, and then feast on cheese and crackers and call it a day. But with these new dietary limitations, I have fewer options to choose from, therefore making my choices feel more meaningful.

Relax. I've taken some self-care steps by meditating with the "Headspace" app and have been taking the woof out on more (and longer) walks than before, without rushing the process. My end goal is to focus on things that truly matter. NOT reality television. NOT the past. NOT my anxiety.

Rather, things like my job. My friends and family. My dog. My sanity.

I've also been reading like crazy — hence the below list of 14 books I've finished in the past few months. Please note, four of these books are still on my "to be read" pile, so I'm just giving a simple synopsis of each book, rather than full reviews.

My Top 14 Books to Read This Summer

Calypso - hilarious yet sad. David Sedaris mixes in stories of feeding a turtle a fleshy tumor and reflects on his sister's suicide. 10/10 for a light weekend read.

Less - Arthur Less is today's "yes man" in this mid-life crisis story. He deliberately misses the wedding of an ex-lover by traveling the world.

What We Were Promised - after reading several Asian-inspired books (Little Soldiers, The Wangs vs. The World, the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, and The Expatriates) last year, I'm excited to read this story about a Chinese-native family who returns to Shanghai after years of living in the U.S.

The Mars Room - a story of a woman serving two life sentences in a prison outside of San Francisco.

The Power - imagine if women had the power to destroy with one touch — anti-government uprising, military schools, and journalist trying to capture the story.

Manhattan Beach - a noir thriller set in Brooklyn with a strong female character with aspirations of becoming the first female Navy diver in the Great Depression era.

Swing Time - a story of race, class, and friendship; two mixed-race girls grow up in London with aspirations of becoming dancers.

News of the World - Captain Kidd travels through rugged Texas — reading the news to small towns while taking on the job of delivering a captured girl back to her family.

Homegoing - eye-opening, fantastic, beautiful, heartbreaking. Follow the stories of two half-sisters through eight generations — from the Gold Coast to Jazz Age Harlem.

The Girls - a teenage girl in Northern California, desperate to be accepted, winds up in a Manson Family-style cult during the late 60s.

Jell-O Girls - learn about the women behind the Jell-O brand + how they fed into the housewife mentality.

The World as It Is - a memoir by Ben Rhodes, a former White House staffer, writes about U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House.

Educated - from living off the land as a survivalist in Idaho to walking into her first classroom at age 17, Tara Westover ended up attending BYU, Harvard and Cambridge in this coming-of-age story.

Lincoln in the Bardo - with ~166 narrators, this is a retelling of the death of Abraham Lincoln's son, Willie. A truly original approach to writing.

I've also been experimenting with easy (and healthy) dessert options — the below recipe literally takes two minutes to make and is such a delight on a hot day!

Magical Mango Sorbet:

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups of frozen mango

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup honey

Blend ingredients until you get a silky (clump-free) texture. Serve immediately or save in an air-lock container for up to a week! This recipe works with any frozen fruit you'd like — we recently tried switching it up with frozen strawberries and it was delicious!

Hope you enjoy the remainder of your summer!