Babbling About Birthdays and Gratitude

#197: Skip the grind, choose the pause. That was the heartbeat of turning 38, and it changed how the week unfolded. I front-loaded the chores, cleared the calendar, and took a true day off with my pup, a warm couch, and zero guilt—right alongside a thoughtful moment to honor Veterans Day and the people who serve.

The weekend gathered friends from every chapter—childhood, college, and old workplaces—proving that when the right people mix, you don’t need to force the vibe. We posted up at Providence Bar in Huntsville, a cozy, swanky spot that punches above its weight. Think wood-fired pizza with a legit gluten-free crust, attentive bartenders who actually listen, and a room that’s balanced without leaning too masculine or too feminine. If you’re local, book ahead; it’s intimate and popular for a reason. We lingered, laughed, made one more stop to see a friend bartending, then called it a night—my kind of celebration.

Between the cold front, surprise flurries, and the season shifting fast, I felt how fall invites a reset. That’s the bigger theme here: creative work gets better when life has margin. Choosing rest isn’t quitting; it’s caring enough to return with energy and intention. So yes, this week is shorter by design. Next week, we’re back in the groove with fresh recordings, including sessions with Meenu that many of you have asked for. Expect the same candid voice, practical insights, and a few surprises we’ve been saving.

If this landed for you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs permission to pause, and leave a quick review—it helps more than you know. What’s your version of a perfect low-key reset? Tell me; I’m listening.

Follow me on social: https://www.instagram.com/babbles_nonsense/

Chapters

• 0:00 Quick Birthday Break
• 0:59 Honoring Veterans Day
• 1:12 Friends From Every Season Of Life
• 1:59 Huntsville’s Providence Bar Review
• 3:06 Quiet Nights And Weather Swings
• 4:50 Why Rest Now And What’s Next

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

What is up, everyone? Welcome back to, well, not really an episode, kind of a short episode, very short, if you will. Um, I decided to take a little break this week, but still wanted to, you know, obviously let y'all know that I was taking a little break and it won't be a full episode. And I decided to do that because I, number one, haven't taken a break in a little bit. But also, um, my birthday was two days ago. I am officially one step closer to 40. We've got two more to go. So yes, I'm officially 38. But I was like, why not just take this, you know, week off? I typically record on the weekends, and since my birthday was on Sunday, we celebrated on Saturday. So I just took Sunday, like I made sure to get all the stuff that I typically do on a Sunday, like meal prepping, gym, all that stuff, and get it done and you know, clean the house and get ready for the work week. So I did all of that prior to Saturday so that I could just enjoy my actual birthday sitting on the couch with my pup and just being lazy and doing nothing, which was wonderful. Um, but also before we start, I just want to say happy Veterans Day. Y'all are listening to this on Veterans Day. We need to love and support our veterans for all that they have done for us and continue to do for us. But definitely wanted to make sure that got in there. Um, but yeah, so celebrating my birthday on Saturday night with some friends, um, which is awesome because I feel like we all get friends, you know, from all stages of life. You have your, you know, if we're lucky enough, we have friends from elementary school and high school still, which I am very blessed and grateful that I do. Um, I have friends, you know, from college years, and then I have friends from that we've met at different workplaces that I've had. And I just love that my friends like all get along, and it doesn't feel like, you know, you're trying to mesh a friend group together because sometimes you can feel that way. But I think my friends all have very similar personalities and they're just like laid back and chill and you know, which is odd because I don't feel like I'm that way a lot of the times. But, anyways, I digress. Um, we did get to go to dinner at the Providence Bar here in Huntsville. So if you're local to Huntsville, highly recommend the Providence Bar. It is so good. The food and the drinks are both delicious. The vibe is so like swanky. It to me, it reminds me of like a bar that should be, I mean, it's also a restaurant. Um, but it reminds me of something that should be like tucked away, like a hole in the wall in a big city like New York or Nashville or something like that. And you know, those places are always like the best places because not many people know about them. But unfortunately, a lot of people know about this place because it's always busy, which is not unfortunate for them. Just unfortunate um if you're trying to go, but they do allow reservations, which is awesome, because it's not like the biggest place, it's like, you know, it's kind of smaller, quaint, like cozy vibe. So you can really just like hang out with your friends, or maybe you're going on a romantic date night. That's a really it's kind of got those vibes as well. But they serve, you know, pizzas like wood, wood fire, is it wood fire or wood grilled, however you say it, pizzas. Um, and they do have a gluten-free option, so it doesn't say that on the menu. But if you have dietary preferences, definitely ask and they will accom try to accommodate, I'm sure. Because defin I, you know, obviously I asked if they had any gluten-free options and they had a gluten-free crust. And they cooked it well, which is great, because if you're gluten-free, you know sometimes having you know gluten-free pizza can not be the best. Um, but they did a great gluten-free pizza. It was delicious. Um, and their bartenders are amazing. Like you can just kind of either order what's on the menu or you can try to, you know, concoct something and they're great. But, anyways, great vibes, loved it. Um, I love the decor in there. It's not too feminine, it's not too masculine. I think they did a great touch on both feminine and masculine touches. Um, but yeah, just quiet night. Love that. Love a quiet night. If y'all know me, y'all know that I'm not one to stay out late. I like to go to bed. Actually, we did, I mean, we did stay there for a while and talk. Um, and then me and one of my other friends and her husband did go um down to see another friend where she was bartending. Sorry, y'all might hear my dog barking in the background. All right, she just wanted to get up here and sit with me. But, anyways, um, so it was just it was just a quiet, laid-back, chill night. Um, the weather, however, was a little cray cray because we're in the south in November and it's kind of hit or miss. You just never know what you're gonna get. And it rained, I want to say Friday, I think, which brought a cold front end. And so, like temperatures were dropping on Saturday, and then by Sunday, they were just rapidly dropping. So we got like down to the 20s. Um, and then again, 20s on Monday with some snow flurries, but I think it's supposed to be warm again, hopefully. So if you're if you're not in the south and you're listening to this, yes, our weather is crackray, crackray. Um, but you know, at least we get seasons. I personally love the fall um and spring. Don't much care for the summer or the winter, so yeah. But yeah, so that's why I decided to take a little break. Um, I'm not one of these people to celebrate my birthday for a week or a month. I was just just because of the you know, typical timeline of when I record, I was like, I'm not going to force myself to do, you know, to get up and make content on my birthday. So I just decided to take a break. But we will be back next week. I believe me and Menu are going to um be recording together again a couple of episodes, and so stay tuned for those. But yeah, so just to thank you all for the birthday love this past weekend and thank you for supporting the pod as always. Until next time, bye.