What’s your favorite social media outlet? Mine by far is Instagram. It’s got the visual appeal of Pinterest with the social interaction that you find on Facebook. I admit that I generally check Instagram before even getting out of bed in the morning (but after reading The Skimm!). And while being dependant on social media isn’t always a great thing, I am never short on inspiration!
(Plus, social media is my job so I can get away with it, right? Maybe?)
Who’s ready for Valentine’s Day? Charles and I don’t usually do much for Valentine’s Day, but this year we have plans to binge on Netflix and drink the fancy bottle of rose we brought home from Biltmore last summer. Exciting, right?
We usually shy away from gifts for each other for holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries because we always decide to do the “responsible thing” and pay off a credit card or buy something mundane for the house, like a carbon monoxide detector (true story). So instead of stuff, I thought it would be fun to give the gift of time together in the form of an unusual activity!
Have you chosen your word of the year yet? Instead of making resolutions, which would inevitably fall through, I decided a couple of years ago to designate a word that will guide me throughout the year. My 2015 word was Intentional, and my 2016 word was Fearless.
In 2017, I’ve decided to shift a bit and settle into a very different focus: just breathe.
“Out with the old, in with the new.” “New year, new you.” Is anyone else a little tired of New Year’s resolutions, and the notion that you have to start over each year? Instead of starting over, let’s build. Let’s add on. Instead of new you, how about just a better you?
So today, on this last Friday of 2016, I wanted to share a few places that I’ve been finding inspiration lately. I’m wishing you all kinds of love, health, and happiness in 2017. I’m wishing you contentment while you continue to grow, because if I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that you can be content while still striving for more. Cheers!
Is anyone else kind of over Black Friday? It used to be fun to get up at 5 am and hurry to shop the deals, but now “Black Friday” starts on Thanksgiving Day (or earlier!) and, to me, that takes the excitement out of it.
But there’s also another reason that Black Friday has lost its allure for me. Over the past few years, and especially since I became a small business owner myself, Charles and I have come to the realization that it’s so important to support our small, local businesses. We have shopped almost exclusively small and local for all of our Christmas gifts for 3 years now, and it has actually been incredibly rewarding!
Last week I turned 29. Just one more year until the big 3-0 and I’m feeling pretty good about it. It’s funny how priorities constantly change as you get older. My 20-year-old self would have guessed my 29-year-old self would be married with one or two kids, working part time while staying home with the kids part time, and living in our college town. I’m married, but that’s about the only similarity. And you know what? I am SO happy!
Once I gave up trying to fit my life into the perfect little square box I had always imagined, a world of new possibilities opened up. I feel settled for the first time in my adult life, and that feels great.
