THE CUFFING SEASON EDIT | PART TWO: Protect Your Routine

Don't let bae time become your entire calendar.

Darlings...cuffing season has officially entered the chat or has it? Is it still a thing?

And while I am absolutely not opposed to cozy companionships, a handsome plus one, and the possibility of something beautiful blossoming into the kind of love that makes you stay, **singing** for a little whiiiile-I have learned a few things about getting smittened along the way.

Because sometimes we meet someone we really like and suddenly our lives become their lives. The routine gets rearranged. Plans get canceled. Phone boning becomes our new sport. And before we know it, we're so busy making room for somebody else that we've misplaced ourselves.

So, from a woman who has absolutely been guilty of this, here are three things I'm protecting this cuffing season.

2. Protect Your Routine

Let's continue this conversation about getting smittened, shall we?

Because protecting your time is one thing.

Protecting your routine is another.

Remember when I told y'all I got so caught up with somebody that I fell off my morning routine?

Yeah.

Don't be like me.

I am an early bird. I like my mornings. I like my walks. I love my Nordie runs. I like Pilates. I like having that little pocket of time before the rest of the world starts asking me for things.

And somehow, while I was busy being smittened, all of that became negotiable.

Suddenly, the routine I'd spent years building could be moved around because somebody might want to see me.

Girl.

Nah.

If you have a standing appointment on the weekend, keep it.

If you meet your girlfriends for brunch, go.

If Saturday morning is your Sip Trip, get dressed and go.

Don't cancel the things that make you you just because somebody has come on the scene.

Because here's the thing about new love:

Everything feels exciting in the beginning.

You want to see them. You want to talk to them til the morning light. You want to know everything like learning a new toy. You want to make memories you envision in your head. You want to squeeze every little ounce out of the newness while the iron is hot.

I get it.

But somewhere in all that excitement, you have to remember that your life was already happening before they arrived.

You didn't suddenly become interesting because somebody found you interesting.

You already had a life.

So keep living it.

Don't you have a book to write?

A workout class to attend you've been meaning to try? Hot Yoga, yes-I'm coming soon.

A trip to book?

A friend you've been meaning to call?

A coffee date with yourself?

Girl, if you don't gawn.

I'm all for love. I think it's beautiful when two people find each other and build something that goes well beyond attraction.

But I also think healthy love should have room for two whole people to continue being whole people and you can be interdependent vs co-dependent.

And let me tell you something else.

Dating in your 40s is hard enough.

It shouldn't require me to abandon the woman I've spent all these years becoming.

At this point, I'm drama and chaos free. Quite boring, actually.

The most I want to have a hard time with is choosing my creamer for coffee and what to wear.

DASSIT.

I'm not looking for somebody to come in and turn my life upside down.

I'm looking for somebody who can appreciate the woman who already has her own rhythm and, if he's lucky, find a way to dance alongside it.

And if he can't?

Well...

The Pilates class is still at 9:00. No sweat **pun intended**

Until the next pour...keep your cup full, your routine intact, and your weekends booked with things that make you happy ☕️

NEXT UP: PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY