Hi friend,
May today bring with it....
Ease.
Ease to be yourself. To relax. To take the weight off your shoulders and set it aside.
I spent the weekend dogsitting.
Correction.
I had plans to spend the weekend dogsitting.
As someone who loves to shake things up and have new experiences, TrustedHousesitters, is a go-to.
You can stay at a person's house and spend time with a cute dog or cat.
I've used it a couple times in New York, to play tourist in my own city, and try on a new life for a week.
So, from my teeny, tiny apartment, I set up a sit with Lyla, a 1-year-old Staffy.
In a gorgeous, sunlit house.
With the promise of leafy neighborhood walks and local coffee shops to discover.
I was excited.
A writer's retreat for dog lovers.
I relished in all the peaceful writing I was going to do, while snuggling next to a cute pup.
Boy, did I not know what I was in for.
Lyla, was rambunctious.
Which is an understatement.
From the moment I got there, she started lunging at me.
"Oh, she did that to the last sitters too," texted the owner, when I asked for tips.
We went on 3 hour-long walks to get her energy out.
And then it got worse.
Unraveling into non-stop growling and barking at me.
"Hide in the bedroom and that'll reset her," she suggested.
Which led to me sitting on the bedroom floor, wondering what I had gotten myself into, but thanking god that I had some venison treats for Lyla on hand.
How did it end?
With the downstairs neighbor coming to rescue me and relieve me of my dogsitting duties.
I tossed venison treats to Lyla to distract her, while recklessly gathering up my belongings (I left my Birkenstocks) and saying goodbye and thank you.
That? That was how it ended.
So, sometimes things don't go according to plan.
"You're going to write about this, aren't you" remarked my best friend, Ryan, when I called him to rehash the events.
And yep, here I am.
Because this was a hilarious, ridiculous story!
And of course, there's a lesson in it.
If you're anything like me, you can romanticize the hell out of things.
I didn't think about the possibility of an aggressive dog.
Or taking an hour-long train back to my house. Exhausted and shaken up from a dogsitting trip ending early.
Nope.
I thought about the sunshine. And rainbows. And creativity in abundance.
This isn't a tale to make you forecast everything which could go wrong.
In fact, it's the opposite.
This story is a reminder to focus on what can go right.
Because there were 12 other experiences I had on Trustedhousesitters, which were wonderful. With quirky dog personalities, shared ice creams, and restful resets.
And, how lucky is that?
It's easy to think about all the things that can go wrong.
But what if we focused our attention on the dreamy, romantic outcomes? What can we create then?
Going-ons I'm excited for:
- I'm excited to share a new offering, AuthenTech Career Design sessions.
This is a 90-min deep dive, which will be impactful, energizing, and illuminating. Usually, I offer this as part of a full package, so jump on this now.
One of my past clients actually pivoted to a career in healthcare from engineering, after just one call!
I'll be offering these for a limited time in July and August.
- The new cohort of AuthenTech has kicked off. It's filled with senior engineers, EMs, and product managers who want to create a career which feels good.
And this group is chock-full of creative talent! We had a show-and-tell, which involved woodworking, writing, and handmade bags.
Lemme catch you up
- Olivia, a lead software engineer at REI + competitive powerlifer, and I chatted in my coffee-break series, "Hey, How Was Your Day?" which features fascinating women in tech who aren't afraid to live authentically.
We get a glimpse into a day in her past, present, and future. You can watch the recording below.
Shiny things that caught my eye (and I want to share them)
I came across this DJ session on a Sunday afternoon and it's such a fun way to add in good tunes, while feeling sort of present with another person.
This TikTok reminder with a cute little illustration.
Rooting for you,
Sarah
