Do you tend to end the year with a purge so that you can start fresh in the new year?
You do a deep clean of everything from the pantry to your wardrobe, donating, gifting, and/or tossing as needed, and when you're done you feel freer, lighter, and excited that you've made room for all new things.
As someone who's made a life out of always being home, I decided to share with you some of my productivity hacks and ways that I stay focused & keep myself accountable day to day.
Read MoreWith a new year always comes new year's resolutions -- all those personal things we want to accomplish over the next 365 days. But did you know that your home affects how you show up in the world? Think about it -- this is the place you eat, sleep, live...naturally how it looks & feels will carry over into how you look & feel.
This is why I've decided to come up with 7 easy resolutions (translation: resolutions that you can actually keep) for your home, to not only help you love your space but also design your life for 2018.
Read MoreAttributed to the Danish, Hygge is finding happiness in the little things and finding moments throughout our day to embrace & create bliss. I grew increasingly fascinated with the concept & principles of Hygge, and the deeper I dove, the more I wanted to learn.
At the top of the year, I found myself binge rewatching old shows and/or movie series… with some new shows sprinkled in between. Reconciling how these shows/movies made me feel as a young adult when I first watched em with how they resonated with me now as a thirty something wife & mother… it was kind of a mind trip.
One show that I watched A LOT in my twenties, that I could not bring myself to binge watch again, though, was Sex & The City (SATC). I own the entire DVD box set - the collector's gift set - with all sorts of bonus DVDs, and yet it's been probably close to a decade since I last watched the show. Earlier this year I rewatched the movies - in the middle of my tv show binge - and by the end of em, it was painfully clear to me that I no longer connected with these characters & their stories... more so, it made me wonder if I ever did or if I was just too young, inexperienced, and naive to know any better.
Read MoreWhile I love to shop — duh! — I don’t believe I always have to buy everything all new every time I want a new look, because no one has that kind of money or storage! When I decided to set the dining room tablescape, this year I pulled out my fav tablescaping pieces from last year — because that’s when almost everything was purchased — and started to plan out place settings with what I had on hand.
Read MoreMy love of using planners stems from my love of writing - I sincerely believe in the power of putting pen to paper! And while I have always been this way, in my big age, I have accepted that if I don't write something down, it's likely not gonna get done. Because of this, I love me some planners, notebooks, notepads, post-its, and calendars!
Getting to this new planner system took A LOT of trial & error, but I love it just in the same ways (and for many of the same reasons) that I love organizing my home so it was worth all the effort to find a system that works.
Read MoreIf you know even a little bit of my shopping habits then you already know two of my favorite go to retailers for all the things are Target and Amazon…and if you don’t know my fav retailers, you can go ahead and download my list of fav retailers here.
I like to think I share equal parts of my heart for Target and Amazon — I am a literal card carrying Target REDcard holder and have been an Amazon Prime member for more years than I can remember. So when I heard the news that Target was coming out with Target Deal Days, I was instantly excited — deeper discounts than their usual deals? SIGN. ME. UP!
These new deal days are in DIRECT competition with Amazon’s Prime Day, also July 15th and 16th. Well played Target, well played.
While the word “competition” tends to denote something negative, I can’t think of anything better than this! So being the self-appointed shopping connoisseur that I am, I’m gonna simplify this for you so that you can get the most bang for your browsing buck for those two days of deals.
Read MoreThe past six months have been 180 days of designing, renovating, shopping, and, above all else, learning. The transition from renting to owning was one that I expected to be riddled with lessons but I think it would be apropos to say that the past 6 months has been “baptism by fire”… learning lessons I didn’t even know I needed and constantly on my toes & problem solving.
Read MoreAfter a year of mostly wearing "house bras" -- yes, I wear bras at home -- I figured it was time for me to switch my shopping strategy and test out the bras & brands I'd been window shopping. With so many offerings in sizes and shades, I knew I could finds more than a few options for my girls at home and whenever I go out.
Read MoreGiving myself standing appointments, in the same way that I would with my talk therapist, makes it just as much of a priority — tending to my physical self with the same urgency that I would to my mental self.
My workout regimen to build myself back up has been slow and steady — rebuild my stamina then my strength. Since I have no intention or desire to go to anyone's gym any time soon, I needed to scale my fitness goals and find ways to make it work at home.
Read MoreHaving "survived" January, all things considered, I decided to make an Audible wishlist — literally & figuratively, and I'm kicking off my book tour with a nod to Black History Month.
If nothing else, Albie, you can say you made it. But now what? If I know you — and I'd like to think I do — then you're probably thinking turning 35 is no big deal, but you're wrong. Did you know that in numerology the number 35 is a sign of "business, building, efficiency, realism, and balance"? I know this because I looked it up and now you know too — you're welcome very much. But here's something we both know... 35 broken down to 3 + 5... equals 8. There's a reason we gravitate towards the number 8. There's a reason we consider 20 to be our favorite number, but 8 to be our "lucky" number... a number of abundance.
Read MoreI remember when I started using Grove Collaborative, it was so I could make sure my household essentials, specifically for cleaning, were always stocked and within my budget. However, over the course of being a Grove Collaborativecustomer, my shopping habits have evolved in a way that supports a more sustainable lifestyle.
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