(claire)

i'm thankful that i discovered that eating a high calorie breakfast keeps my mood stable throughout the day. i'm thankful that being stuck without my s'well (tm) in the hot and humid weather allowed me to buy an XL bottle of evian, my guiltiest and most indulgent and also stupidest treat to get. i'm thankful for my sodastream and the mint plant that i've kept alive in my kitchen for two whole weeks, and how decadent tap water can feel when i zhuzh it up just so. i'm thankful that the tomatoes at the associated are good this week and that i've been able to eat my favorite summertime snack, salted tomatoes with balsamic, olive oil, and maldon salt. i'm thankful that i've started writing down everything that i've spent this week because i'm terrible with money and i'm too old for it to be cute or interesting. i'm thankful i wrote down the price of the evian and later looked at the notebook and thought, "what a waste!" i'm thankful for my part-time job folding towels and scheduling spa appointments because it enables me to buy little treats feeling less guilty. i'm thankful for all my guilt about money because it means i'm learning. i'm thankful for my parents, who gave me everything growing up and taught us all to be independent and assertive, but never quite hammered home "fiscal responsibility." i'm thankful that some people pay me to write what i want to write because it means i get to write fewer "beauty" "essays" this summer that i ultimately find stupid and unfulfilling. i'm thankful that i'm going to see a nutritionist specializing in thyroid disorders on tuesday because even though my hormone levels are stable for the first time in ten years, i can't lose any weight even though i go to pure barre 5 times a week and eat tomatoes as snacks. i'm thankful for my arm muscles and my burgeoning core, even if its hard to feel thankful for other body parts.  i'm thankful levain opened a new, bigger bakery 3 blocks from the barre studio, and i'm thankful i ate two cookies yesterday, because that means i'll probably feel levain-ed out for awhile, like a smoker who chainsmokes 30 cigarettes in a row to the point where she's disgusted so she'll quit. i'm thankful i feel ok about myself when i eat two cookies in a day, even though i'm going to a thyroid nutritionist; i hope she doesn't encourage me to go off my medicine and cure all my ails with a plant-based diet. i'm thankful for caesar salads and egg sandwiches. i'm thankful that school doesn't start back up for two whole months, because i've written nothing this summer and feel like i still have plenty of time to do something terrific. i'm thankful for my white sheets. i'm thankful for dorinda medley. i'm thankful an allergic reaction on my face has mostly cleared up. i'm thankful for antibiotics. i'm thankful for teenagers on the internet. i'm thankful i paid my electric bill after thinking it was on autopay for three months and not noticing. again, i'm thankful for that journal where i write down my expenses. i'm thankful that i canceled my daily nyt print subscription because it was overwhelming and my house was filling up with recycling. i'm thankful for the very good nyt ipad app. i'm thankful for clickbait that's like "you'll never believe what this human barbie looks like when she takes her makeup off!" because it adds a little intrigue to my days.

- claire (7/8/17). writer/project foreman at thatwetlook.com.