The planning autopsy

Finally put away all the anniversary planning materials today and had one of those moments where you step back and see yourself clearly.

The planning autopsy

Three binders. Three actual binders for a weekend getaway. Jake kept asking if I was planning a wedding or a military operation.

Turns out the answer was neither - I was planning my way through anxiety. Every backup restaurant, every weather contingency, every possible conversation topic I researched was me trying to control something that didn’t need controlling. The weekend was perfect not because of my spreadsheets but because we were together figuring it out.

The evidence of my planning obsession

Looking at all these notes now, I can see exactly where my brain went into overdrive mode. The moment Jake suggested we just “see what happens” with dinner plans, I went full project manager. Not because the weekend mattered less, but because it mattered more than I wanted to admit.

Funny how the best parts of the trip - him playing guitar on the roof while we watched fireworks, Carmen stealing my carefully planned appetizers and somehow making them better, Sarah and I discovering we both brought the same wine - none of that was in any binder. Sometimes the best planning is knowing when to stop planning.