Hey y’all! I hope you are all doing well this winter. California has been drowning in rain (not that I am complaining) but I am for sure looking forward to Spring and a little sunshine.
My 2016 has started off with a bang. As I mentioned in last month’s post, this year I am trying to focus on a few areas of my life for improvement- health, family life, financial/work life, personal development and just trying to be a better version of little old me. I will say I didn’t accomplish everything I hoped to finish in January but I did make a lot of progress! Most of all this year I really want to give myself A LOT more grace. When I started blogging (7 years ago) it was a super mellow space. Just a handful of people writing blogs when they had time or were inspired- there was no such thing as social media and bloggers were nice to each other. Now the pressure has intensified so much. Do more, be more, write books, be on TV, hire professional photographers to shoot your Instagram photos, teach classes, create workshops, start a blogging conference- more, more, more, more. The pressure to be as good as everyone else (better!), to have as many readers (more!), to be as productive (go!). Well this year I am trying very hard to just keep my eyes on my own paper. Quit comparing myself and just focus on what makes me smart, kind and important. I want to encourage those of you that ever feel inadequate when you scroll through social media to do the same. Measure your success not by the smiling faces and perfect lives you see in social media but rather against the person you were last year versus the person you want to become this year. Yeah for exactly who we are right now 🙂
How is your goal setting going this year? Any successes or lessons you have learned so far?
AND I wanted to chat about a few things I am loving these days plus a new book club I am hoping to start in February.
I started getting these fancy gel manicures… Sigh. a bit of an expense and I have to make the time twice a month to sit there BUT I do love the result. Anyhoo, I get super dry skin in winter and actually get cracks on my fingers (probably from washing all the time). My manicure lady suggested I hit Costco and pick up this Honest Co balm they have. I picked it up and you guys it works miracles. Sometimes the little cracks on my fingers would last for weeks – and they hurt! This stuff keeps your hands so soft and if I am diligent about applying every night, the little cuts and cracks literally go away in days. I will warn you this stuff feels like Vaseline on your skin so I don’t find it pleasant but I try to put it on right before bed and it does work amazingly well. I haven’t used it on my feet yet but I bet it is super versatile if you want to pick it up.
Serial. Finally! Finally! I have been a bit twitchy since Serial ended last year and now my darling Sarah Koenig is back to unravel a story in the most compelling podcast ever and this one is a doozy! It is the story of Bowe Bergdahl, an American solider that walked off a base in Afgahistan in 2009 and was captured by the Taiban and imprisoned for five years… I was only slightly familiar with this story but let me tell you people get HOT talking about Bowe Bergdahl. Regardless of your opinion of Bowe, this podcast is absolutely addicting. This is season two of Serial (and a fresh story) and I personally still find it as compelling as last season.
Making a Murderer. I had zero interest in this series. It was all hyped up (CNN said: “There are two types of people in the world: Those who are totally into the Netflix docuseries “Making a Murderer” and those who haven’t watched it.” ) but I am a visual person and the images all looked creepy and well. Meh. So then I was doing boring accounting work one night and decided to flip it on. Oh.My.Lanta. This is something else. If you like John Grisham, Law & Order, Serial or any legal intrigue and true crime type stories, you are going to be hooked on this one. You need Netflix to watch but I believe you can get a a free 30 day trial. Oh and I got the Netflix app and popped this up on the ipad, cranked the treadmill up to a steep climb and walked my way through the episodes. So compelling I didn’t want to get off the treadmill and go home!
Which leads me to my last note of this month. I am kind of terrified but excited too. I have wanted to do a virtual book club for ages and ages and just kept thinking- well what if no one cares. I love to read but the book posts on this blog are usually met with crickets so I kept putting it off. But I thought why not this year and I really wanted to start with something to get motivated for Spring Cleaning.
Have you read this book yet? It certainly took over my Instagram feed last year and considering Marie Kondo just released a follow up to this best seller, it isn’t slowing down.
So I did read this ages ago. Ahem. I read it and then got busy with other things and that was that. This year I am ready to start purging and cleaning the house and I thought- seriously. I do this every year and I have a lovely home for 5 minutes and then the kids, the dog and my husband happen and everything is a wreck again. So I want to really give this approach the old college try and see if it really does work for us.
So my plan is to take the month of February and work through this darn book. I thought maybe we could do this together and share insight, questions, tips and motivate each other to get after it! If any of you are inspired or interested, I thought it would be fun to do a weekly Periscope chat for 10-15 minutes about a new section of the book… maybe list out the different tasks and see how much progress we can make in 4 weeks.
The entire book does make sense but it can be overwhelming. Here is the gist:
- Visualize the type of lifestyle you want to have. Cleaning, organizing and tidying your home will support the vision you want to create.
- Systematically go through her list of categories to purge. Do not purge by room or location in your home but rather category (i.e. don’t purge the hall closet but rather all the linens in the home regardless of location.)
- Only keep the items that you really love. Give yourself permission to get rid of everything else.
This is a big deal because she encourages you to tidy all at once. This could take a week or 6 months depending on how you get after it. Once you tidy completely and thoroughly, she suggests you won’t need to do it again. You will free yourself from constantly picking things up and feeling like your home is out of control.
She does break this up into manageable, step by step tasks. So if you guys are interested in jumping on the bandwagon with me and purging the heck out of your home, let me know by commenting below! I will get a 4 week plan together with some printable checklists and then weekly periscopes to break it all down and just encourage each other in the coming months.
You can grab the book for $10 here or if you are short on time to read, you can grab it on Audible and listen to it instead!
And if you already Marie Kondo-d your home, I’d love to hear if it stayed tidy or if things did fall back into a hot mess 5 minutes later. Any tips you might have for success are always appreciated too!
Welcome February! We are ready for you!
Mrs S says
Yesssssssssss! Very ready to Kondo my house! I have been “going to” for months and never got around to it, this may be the motivation that I need.
Mindy says
I listened to Serial after reading about it here and in a magazine. Loved it! Wondering if you have listened to Undisclosed podcast? It covers the Adnan Syed case and is put together by a group of lawyers, so a different perspective than the Serial podcast. The first episode was a little rough to get through (not professionally put together) but it gets better. I ended Serial thinking ‘did he?’ or ‘didn’t he?’. I definitely have clarified my thoughts about guilt or innocence since listening to Undisclosed. Thought you might find it interesting.
Faith says
I’m in! I have been eyeing that book for weeks now but wasn’t quite ready to commit until this! 🙂 I love your book posts, too. I don’t always comment but I check your blog about 5 times a day! Thanks for all you do!!!
K Crew says
I second Mrs S’s comment. I bought the book quite a while ago, and have never even opened it. I had every intention of reading it and getting rid of the clutter, but other things took priority and, well, that’s life isn’t it?! Let’s do it!
Jen says
Sign me up for the Kondo book club. Oh my house (& my life) totally needs this!!!
Jill says
I just wanted to say that ive been reading your blog weekly, if not daily, for many years now. I think you do an amazing job! Thanks for all your hard work. Also, this book has been intriguing me for weeks now. This might just be the push I need to de-junk for good!
Charlene says
Hi Mindy- yes I did listen and I agree :). They got so much better toward the end. After Undisclosed you really can’t think he is guilty as they dug up so much great stuff. Really a travesty of justice. I have always been bothered about Don and they glazed I’ve him on Serial so it was interesting to hear about the mismatched time cards and such on Undisclosed. I was also glad to finally understand what motivated Jay. I never got that until they dug up the crime stopper stuff.
Crystal Young says
I am reading the book right now! I had seen lots of ideas from the book on lots of blogs and I have already done my clothes, it felt great even though I do miss a few things that I got rid of. I am up for the challenge!
Sheila says
Yes, PLEASE! I want to tidy up!!!
Danelle says
I love your blog!!!! It is the only one I consistently read daily. Over the years so many other blogs have become about the blogger’s books, products, etc. But yours is still truly helpful, versatile and fresh. I’d love to do the tidying up challenge with you!
Maegen says
I read the book back in November and have been going through stuff ever since. It feels good to get rid of stuff but kinda hard to keep everything organized with little kids. I love the folding since it gives you tons of room in your drawers!
amy b says
Count me in. I’m not sure what periscope is though…can I still participate? I loved the book and purged a ton but I didn’t really follow the rules of the book…which is why I still have MORE to purge. 🙂
Maura says
I got about halfway through the book and then just went crazy getting rid of stuff around the house. I discovered that I don’t have a house with very little storage, but so much stuff I don’t need using up valuable storage space.
I want to follow her rules and actually finish the book. So I’m in! I also don’t have a clue about periscope.
Ps Love the new look!
Charlene says
Thanks so much Maura 🙂
Jen says
Just got the book today! When are we starting this challenge?! I’m READY!!!
Charlene says
Yeah! I will have a post up with details and checklists by Sunday Jen 🙂