{"id":391,"date":"2026-03-06T12:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/?p=391"},"modified":"2026-03-13T12:24:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:24:38","slug":"sedated-by-8pm-date-nights-and-something-ive-been-sitting-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/?p=391","title":{"rendered":"Sedated by 8pm, Date Nights, and Something I’ve Been Sitting On"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been a genuinely good week. Minus the moment I stood in front of a bathroom mirror \u2014 the full-view kind, hips up, the kind that doesn’t lie and doesn’t apologize \u2014 and thought, I don’t want to look like this anymore.<\/em> Not in a spiral. Just a quiet, honest reckoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gym thing has been a whole situation. Evelyn decided ChildWatch was not for her, and then life decided to pile on from there. I know myself well enough to know I wasn’t entirely wrong about what I was trying to do \u2014 the timing and the physiology just weren’t cooperating. Perimenopausal hormones plus a body that carried four children and delivered them all via c-section means I am not working with a standard-issue situation here. I had to do some research (with Claude’s assistance this time, because we aren’t using ChatGPT anymore \u2014 if you know, you know) and land on something that actually made sense for my<\/em> body instead of everyone else’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Monday we kicked off intermittent fasting. And I love it. I’ve done it before, but this round feels different \u2014 more intentional, less desperate. Earlier dinners, evening walks after we eat, earlier bedtimes. Waking up has gotten easier. A plan is in place for the impending “red tide” and the return of teenage energy in this house, and I feel genuinely prepared instead of just braced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also got out of town for a bit \u2014 an impromptu trip to Buffalo to visit family. Nothing resets me like watching Evelyn with her great-grands. That kind of joy is simple and complete. It puts everything else in its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomorrow is date night and The Bride!<\/em> <\/a>premieres \u2014 check the link if you haven’t seen the previews. I cannot wait. Also adding something new to the evening routine tonight \u2014 MAGPLUS+<\/a>. More on that at the end, including what happens when you take it at 7pm and think you’re still going to accomplish things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m writing this on Thursday night, by the way. Tomorrow’s post, assembled tonight, because that’s how this works. Sally the kitten has been contained in the cardboard condo I built her \u2014 and yes, I built my cat a cardboard condo, we don’t need to discuss it \u2014 and I have successfully negotiated a temporary ceasefire with the dogs. Finn, our one year old male who has recently and enthusiastically discovered that he has opinions about everything, was attempting to assert himself over Sally approximately four minutes ago. He is one. She is small. The audacity is staggering. Meanwhile Clark, our ten year old who has been on this earth long enough to have zero interest in anyone else’s drama, simply walked over and ate Finn’s food. Unbothered. Unbothered and full. Honestly, Clark is the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the environment in which great work gets made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now. Something I’ve been chewing on for a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to tell people’s stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More specifically, I want to photograph women I admire \u2014 women who would trust me with a piece of their story \u2014 in black and white, and then write about them. Not their whole lives. Not a highlight reel. One story. The one that shaped them. The one that sits at the center of who they became.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The black and white is intentional. It strips away the noise and leaves something raw and clean. It also leaves space \u2014 for color the reader fills in themselves. Because that’s the thing about a good story. You hear it and something in your own life lights up. The details aren’t yours, but the feeling is. The specifics differ but the underneath rhymes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve always been drawn to the idea from Big Fish<\/em> \u2014 that when we tell our stories, the listener fills in the grandeur. The colors get brighter or darker depending on what they’ve lived. The reality might be simpler, but what lands in someone else’s heart is their own version of it. That’s not dishonesty. That’s how stories actually work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The women I have in mind are 40 and older. That’s not arbitrary. There’s something about that chapter of life where a woman has usually stopped saying this happened to me<\/em> and started saying this is part of me.<\/em> That shift is real and it shows. It lives in a face. It’s photographable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The series isn’t about trauma. It’s about what’s on the other side of it. The joy that got rebuilt. The lessons that only arrived after the hard part. The things we carry differently now than we did at 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And underneath all of it, one question I’ll ask every single woman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would your chapter title be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I already have my first subject in mind \u2014 and her answer to that question is the funniest, most devastating, most perfectly her<\/em> thing I’ve ever heard. You’ll meet her soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re reading this and something in you just said I have a story<\/em> \u2014 I’d love to hear from you. Email me. This isn’t journalism. It’s more like finally deciding to turn down the side streets in your hometown you’ve always driven past. The ones you never explored. The ones that might surprise you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think they’re worth the detour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One more thing \u2014MAGPLUS+<\/a> vs. Magnesium Glycinate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I mentioned switching things up, here’s the quick and dirty because I went down the rabbit hole so you don’t have to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magnesium Glycinate is the OG \u2014 magnesium bound to glycine, gentle on the stomach, great for sleep and anxiety. Affordable, accessible, and it works. I’ve taken it for years, which is exactly the problem. My body essentially looked at it and shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAGPLUS+ is built around Magnesium L-Threonate, the only form clinically shown to cross the blood-brain barrier. So instead of just general relaxation, you’re potentially getting actual brain support \u2014 clarity, memory, the works. Then it layers in L-Theanine for calm focus, Apigenin (the one Andrew Huberman won’t shut up about), Valerian Root, Phosphatidylserine, and Chamomile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a whole thing. A well-formulated whole thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you just want to sleep better and spend less money, Glycinate is your girl. If you want sleep and<\/em> brain support and you’re already doing the basics, MAGPLUS+<\/a> is worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I will tell you is that I took it tonight at 7pm and chased it with a full cup of bedtime tea while trying to finish this post. The productive writing evening I had planned has not gone as intended. Finn is finally settled. Clark is somewhere being smug and full. Sally is in her condo. And I am about twenty minutes from being completely useless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take it 30 to 60 minutes before bed. Learn from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Affiliate link below \u2014 full review coming once I’ve actually stayed awake long enough to form an opinion.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/amzn.to\/3N4P3yV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a genuinely good week. Minus the moment I stood in front of a bathroom mirror \u2014 the full-view kind, hips up, the kind that doesn’t lie and doesn’t apologize \u2014 and thought, I don’t want to look like this anymore. Not in a spiral. Just a quiet, honest reckoning. The gym thing has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-lately"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=391"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":398,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391\/revisions\/398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stillmeinhere.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}