Spring is Springing🌷🌼

As I’ve mentioned previously, spring might just be taking the spot as my favorite season. There’s something about it that feels more hopeful and optimistic than the dreary winter.

Plus, as soon as soon as something becomes a ‘thing’ like fall/autumn have, I change my tune and find something else. It’s probably the enneagram four in me. I like to be a bit more individualistic. I find the trends, but as soon as something blows up, I’m out and find something else to make my entire personality.

It’s been a happier, lighter month. Flowers blooming. Tuning into reality shows to zone out to. Books being read from the TBR pile. Celebrating birthday after birthday! Dog-sitting pups. Getting back to activity books and puzzles to unwind. In between the doomscrolling. Managing allergies and cramps, the usual. Gearing up for the busy season at work - before Maycember begins with all the end of academic year festivities. Pulling out our inner child as we celebrated 20 years of Hannah Montana and remembering that life can still be fun even in the middle of our responsibilities and day jobs.

Note: This post is too long for email. For best reading enjoyment, please download the Substack app or visit the Substack site on your desktop.

---

• “You have to learn what you’re not good at to find what you are good at. Don’t chase your dreams, chase your talents.” - Reese Witherspoon | It speaks for itself, right? So often we confuse the two. But chasing our talents should help us find our dreams, too.

• “The only way to become an expert is to do the work.” -Nyla Harper (The Rookie) | Another good word of wisdom that just hit me. It’s a process! We don’t just make things happen overnight.

• There is a PetPhone - A Smartphone for your pets (health tracking, communicate with your pet) and it’s blowing my mind. Technology is wild! And perfect for the pets

• "You can't let your fear of what might happen make nothing happen." - Advice Shonda Rhimes received from J.J. Abrams that changed everything for her. And I think there’s a lot of value in it. How often do we let fear talk us out of doing anything because of the ‘what if’ aspect, that probably won’t even happen?

• I found out that JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s NYC loft is just around the corner from Taylor Swift’s Tribeca apartment, and it was just mind-boggling. I’ve been in the area when I visited NYC a few years ago, and I guess I felt like that’s as close to them as I could ever get (without knowing it?) That’s probably weird…

• “Stop worrying. If February didn’t March, April May.” I saw this in one Hailee Steinfeld’s Substack newsletters. It’s so simple and ridiculous, but a good reminder that even if these months didn’t turn out like you thought, it’s going to be okay and good things are still to come.

• “You just have to do what you do well.” Keke Palmer said this on “American Idol” after one of the contestant’s performances - they hit the high note and they don’t necessarily have to. You don’t have to try to keep up with all the others when there’s something you excel at. A good reminder for all of us to do what’s best, natural and works for us, not what everyone else is doing or what is popular.

• The entire Hannah Montana special was such a love letter to our younger selves. It was a beautiful reminder of loving who we are, but also who we’ve been — the younger us that got us where we are now — big dreams, working hard, the lessons we learned along the way that we might have wish we would’ve done differently. And her new song “Younger You” is a lesson in itself.

• You have to continue to take chances on yourself and investing in the things that fuel your soul. As I’ve been expanding on The Artfully Made Journal Substack/online publication, I’ve been taking chances on reaching out to others I’ve admired. I’ve been able to connect with so many great people and learn more about their lives/careers/paths they’ve taken. And it has been stirring that creative spark and energy that I’ve been missing for a minute.

---

• I Can Only Imagine (rewatch in preparation for I Can Only Imagine 2)

• Keeping Up with the Kardashians (old seasons) - I’ve discovered there’s an entire channel devoted to it on DirecTV, and I love it.

• American Idol

• The Rookie

• Friends

• High Potential

• The BobbyCast (Morgan Evans, Ashley Mcbryde, started Tom Bergeron-but stopped it)

• Happy’s Place

• Stumble

• Jeopardy

• Wheel of Fortune

• Paris in Love (Peacock)

• The Greatest Average American

• Gilmore Girls

• Shark Tank

• Harry Styles: The Zane Lowe Interview

• American Songwriter — Megan Moroney: Confidence, Growth & Telling the Truth

• American Songwriter, Off the Record: Carly Pearce — Dreams, Fame & Finding Her Voice

• Apple Music | Megan Moroney: Cloud 9, Working with Kacey Musgraves & Songwriting with Kelleigh Bannen

• Cultured Elegance: A Closer Look — Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s iconic style

• Cultured Elegance: 50 Shocking Facts about Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy

• Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette (I’ve been watching all the episodes as they come out - SO MUCH ANTICIPATION EACH WEEK)

• 20/20

• Friends Like These: The Murder of Skylar Neese (Hulu)

• Today All Day | Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

• Good Hang with Amy Poehler [Jonathan Groff,

• Vogue | Inside Kendall Jenner’s Closet

• Architectural Digest | Inside Kendall Jenner’s Cozy Mountain Home

• Architectural Digest | Inside Mandy Moore & Taylor Goldsmith’s Sophisticated Family Home

• Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce | Kylie on ‘13 Going on 30’ Sequel, Bennie the Threenager & Team USA with Jennifer Garner (ep. 57)

• Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce | Kylie & Travis on Babysitting All Four Nieces, Best Man Speeches, & First Impression Mai Tais (ep. 53)

• James Van Der Beek’s daughter, Emilia, recorded a video to share her thoughts on grief and it is so precious. We can all learn something from it!

• Some of the Baseball World Classic

• Today Show (there’s a Today All Day channel on DirectTV, which I absolutely adore and will be using more of in the days and weeks to come)

• CNN Original Series: First Ladies (Michelle Obama, Jackie Kennedy)

• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

• Brick and Brand: Plot Twist — It’s Your Story ft. James Sweigert

• “And the Writer is…” Ep. 242 | Megan Moroney | The Unlikely Road of a Country Superstar

• MUSIC VIDEO: If I Don’t Leave I’m Gonna Stay (Carly Pearce feat. Riley Green)

• Rooster

• Zootopia

• Zootopia 2 (SO CUTE!)

• Hannah Montana (in preparation for the 20th anniversary celebration)

• CBS Sunday Morning

  • These United States: Hollywood, The Dream Factory

  • Marc Jacobs and Sofia Coppola on fashion, film and friendship

  • A Hollywood Landmark Preserved

  • Extended Interview: John Mayer

• Glass Half Full with Craig Melvin (TODAY): Shonda Rhimes on Dating, Shyness and What’s Next for Bridgerton

• Sorry We’re Cyrus (with Tish and Brandi) : Hannah Montana Turns 20 and Tish Cyrus Is Feeling Nostalgic

• Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky — Miley Cyrus on Public Shaming, Hannah Montana & Family Dynamics

• Table Manners Podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware: Hilary Duff Received NO Education As Child Star on Disney’s Lizzie McGuire (I’ve just discovered these ladies and I love them so much)

• E! Live from Oscars Red Carpet Coverage

• 98th Annual Academy Awards (hosted by Conan O’Brien) - The In Memoriam segment was beautiful and tear-filled.

• Table Manners Podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware: Reese Witherspoon Talks Being a Swedish Narwhal & Eating Pistachio Affogato

• The American President (so different than I imagined, but I really enjoyed it; it’s more of a romantic comedy)

• Claudia Sulewski: Turning 30, Launching My Brand at Sephora & MOVING

• Architectural Digest: Open Door | Inside Rachel Brosnahan’s art-filled home in New York Home

• Bridgerton (season 4 | part one)

• Traitors ( Season 1 ✔️Season 2 ✔️Season 3 ✔️Season 4 ✔️)

• Vogue | Olivia Rodrigo Makes Chicken Lumpia — Now Serving

• Vogue | Sabrina Carpenter Makes Her Mom’s Dip — Now Serving (she is me in the kitchen and I love it)

• Call Her Daddy — Kerry Washington: Power, Perfection & Olivia Pope

• Call Her Daddy — John Mayer

• Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe | Gabby Barrett - Competing, Singing and Falling in Love on American Idol

• Apple Music: Zane Lowe — Miley Cyrus: Something Beautiful, Touring & Stardom

• Table Manners Podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware | Kate Hudson Reveals Her Secret Mafia Family Connections!

• Variety | Does Miley Cyrus Know ‘Hannah Montana’ lyrics?

• The Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special (hosted by Alex Cooper, “Call Her Daddy”) 2x (I made my mom watch it with me)

• Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert (w/ special guests: Jonas Brothers)

• Impact x Nightline: Britney Spears Chasing Freedom

• Music Video: Ella Langley — Loving Life Again (Back Home Sessions)

• Emily Nelson (Emily Enchanted) Behind the Scenes: Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Set Tour and Concert Taping

• Emily Nelson (Emily Enchanted) SOLO Disney Day | hang out with me at Disney & let’s catch up

• Emily Nelson (Emily Enchanted) | pack with me for PARIS & Disneyland Paris

• Music Video: Miley Cyrus | Younger You (From the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special) I AM SO EMOTIONAL

• ELLE | This is Sabrina Carpenter’s Morning Routine | Waking Up With

• Emily Nelson (Emily Enchanted) | DISNEY WORLD SLEEPOVER — Checking into the boardwalk, Magic Kingdom, Pizza & Pins

• Emily Nelson (Emily Enchanted) | Let’s have a sleepover in DISNEYLAND!!

• Emily Nelson (Emily Enchanted) | Disney 100 Celebration OPENING DAY at Disneyland - NEW Cavalcade, Fireworks, Ride, & More!

• Emily Nelson (Emily Enchanted) | brand new World of Color - ONE (full show & vlog) Disney 100 Disneyland Day 2

• Off the Vine w/ Kaitlyn Bristowe | Ashley Cooke | Breakthrough Country Artist on Love, Loss & Her Music Journey

• NYT Cooking | Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal Share Their Family Banana Bread Recipe

• Call Her Daddy | Parenting Your Parents

• CBS Sunday Morning | Extended Interview with Miley Cyrus

• Jay Shetty Podcast: Hilary Duff Opens Up About Family, Disney, Divorce & Finding Love Again

• Baseball season is back!!! Go Dodgers!

• Savannah Guthrie Speaks: A Dateline Special

• Miley Cyrus — Used To Be Young (Series)

• Miley Cyrus Unfiltered: Bangerz to Something Beautiful & Her Mom’s Life-Changing Advice

• So Undercover (a Miley Cyrus movie I’d actually never seen)

• (started watching, but wasn’t feeling it) The Choice

• Love is Blind: Season 2 (Netflix)

• Betrayal: Secrets & Lies — Episode 1 (Hulu)

• House of Kardashian Documentary (Peacock)

---

• Just for the Cameras by Meghan Quinn (finished ✔️)

• And Now Back to You by B.K. Borison

• In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde

• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

• The Faking Game (The Billionaire Games Book No.1) by Olivia Hayle

• The Marriage Bet (The Billionaire Games Book No. 2) by Olivia Hayle

• So many Substacks - it’s become my primary source of inspiration, news and finding good content (In Joy with Brittany Viklund, K-Type Collective/Keltie Knight, Club Bubbly by Beach Reads & Bubbly, Noticing & Meet Migrate by Caroline Lunne, LeAnn Rimes, Evermuse, Feeling! Magazine, Beau Society, Jennie Garth, Midnight Crumbs, Of Magic and Mayhem, The Every Girl and probably so many others that I come across)

• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

• The Heir by Sophia Travers

• Endgame: A Hockey Romance by Willa Gray

• One Billion Reasons (Kings Lane Billionaires) by Sophia Travers - didn’t finish it

• Icebreaker by Hannah Grace (re-read, Special Edition)

• Loathe to Love You (a STEMinist Novella Collection including Under One Roof, Stuck with You and Below Zero) by Ali Hazelwood

• And Now, Back To You by B.K. Borison

• No Matter What by Cara Bastone

• The Epicenter of Forever by Mara Williams

• Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood

• The Hotshot by Piper Rayne

• Till Sudden Death Do us Part by J.P. Sterling

• Cash by Jessica Peterson (Lucky River Ranch Book 1)

• AUDIOBOOK: (started) — Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller

• In Good Company by Kat Singleton

• Wyatt by Jessica Peterson (Lucky River Ranch Book 2)

• You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It by Lisa Rinna

---

• Stressing over doing taxes (more like when I’m going to do taxes and being in the process of it, but getting anxious and quitting when I’m almost done)…Because adulting is the worst.

• Working on my Substack posts/articles - trying to branch out from my usual monthly recaps.

• Moving forward with my magazine for The Artfully Made Journal/conducting interviews and reaching out to contacts for special pieces.

• Attended my first Read Across America at a local elementary school as a celebrity reader. Such a fun experience! My little reading loving heart was in heaven. My choice was a favorite my childhood: Miss Nelson is Missing!

• Working on my Murdle: The School of Mystery Logic Puzzles workbook - solving crimes by dinnertime, just like the Olsen Twins used to. HA!

• Making our own dirty sodas at home with Diet Dr. Pepper, grenadine, lime juice and the sweet cream topping. They’re pretty delicious!

• Dreaming up fictional brands with imagery, fonts, colors and putting together in a Canva brand kit.

• Joined E!’s Keltie Knight’s K-Type Collective (a private community for the ambitious, the evolving, and those in the middle of becoming) and I am so excited about it. I admire her career in the entertainment industry and look forward to connecting and learning more from her.

• Trying to tend to and treat my allergies - Heating pads, ice cap, ibueprofen, Midol, whatever would take the pain away. UGH. Also, doing my best to avoid grass when possible (I’m allergic to it, which makes it very challenging, especially this time of year with events at work).

• Putting together a miniseries of Women’s History Month with various women leaders on campus to post on social media. I’ve been doing a lot more video editing lately, and I’ve enjoyed it!

• More naps! Any chance I get. After work, I close my laptop and usually pull the blanket over my head (literally) and turn over on the couch to sleep for a couple hours. And then I’m up much later than I should be.

• Signing up to volunteer for the Danny Gokey concert at a local church, only to realize that it’s the same day as the LA Times Festival of Books that I’ve volunteered for (I always manage to get too excited and double book). UGH.

• Took a trip to the newest Target in town! It’s very nice and seems larger than the other ones in town?

• Interviewing and setting up interviews for The Artfully Made Journal that I’m very excited about.

• Dog sitting for my family friends! It’s become another side hustle for me. Playing catch with one of the pups because she’s obsessed with it.

• Watching Traitors nearly nonstop with my mom over the last couple of weeks! We’ve made it through four seasons, and now I must find something else to watch or turn my attention to.

• Celebrated my dad’s birthday and made him a playlist of all of his favorite songs (and we’re making plans to go to a Dodgers game this season)!

• Dog sitting for one of my coworkers/friends - playing a lot of catch in the yard with her dog and catching up on shows, reading and lounging with the pups.

• Ordered the “Hannah Montana Rockstar” secret menu drink at Starbucks and jamming to the soundtrack as I drove and sipped my drink!

• Plotting my novel and really trying to get an outline planned out. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but now I need to put fingers to keyboard.

• Eating Peeps and Jelly Beans and chocolate!

• Working on the next Proverbs 31 Bible study.

• Asking ChatGPT what my dreams mean when one really weirds me out and makes me question things!

• Trying to enjoy and make the most of spring break!

• Reminding myself to go back to analog activities and put my phone on “Brick” to limit the phone time in the evenings. Getting back to the habit during Spring Break!

• Reflecting on the first quarter of the year - trying to look back over the last few months - see what has worked, what hasn’t, what brought me joy and what I want to take into the next season.

---

• Lucky (Deluxe) by Megan Moroney

• Am I Okay? by Megan Moroney

• Cloud 9 by Megan Moroney (I can’t stop listening!!!!)

• Wish I Didn’t Know Now (Apple Music Sessions) - Ella Langley (cover of Toby Keith’s song)

• Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. By Harry Styles

• Evergreen by Hunter Hayes (this might be my new comfort album - it’s perfect for spring)

• The Romantic by Bruno Mars

• Dry Spell by Kacey Musgraves

• Hannah Montana’s Discography (even if I’m not listening, it’s just in my head constantly right now)

• Younger You - From Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary by Miley Cyrus

---

That’s a wrap on another month — March subtly turns into April. Winter’s turned to spring. Flowers bloom and allergies start flaring up. Because in the midst of beauty is often a pain that we do our best to hold back or push down when we can. But, we keep pushing through the weeds to remind them that we can still stand strong because our roots run deep.

In April I’m looking forward to…

• Continuing Spring Break (I took it off this year! EEK! I want to do some spring cleaning, some crafting, read into the middle of the night, sleep in late, maybe get together with a few friend, lazy mornings with coffee, maybe catching up on shows I usually put off)

• Giving Day with work (once we are past it…😬 It’s such a big lift and just a lot of weight with social media)

• The LA Times Festival of Books (Orientation and the Festival itself - I’M FINALLY GOING - this is my third year of signing up and I NEED TO BE THERE... I’m also hoping to go both days and spend the night).

That’s a wrap for this month! Tomorrow, we flip the calendar over to April and see what the next 30 days have in store for us.

That’s all for now,

Shelby