Life lately has been a little crazy in the New Year and if you’re only a blog reader and don’t follow me on my other socials you may be wondering where the heck I’ve been. There was an event that happened mid-January that threw me for a loop, to say the least. I explain about it in my YouTube video and briefly touched on it in my newsletter.
What ended up happening is that I became completely stunted in sharing content. I had no desire to make a video, write a post…do anything. The only platform I stayed active on was Facebook and that’s because I treat my Facebook page as an extension of my Weekend Watchlist series here on the blog. I share interior design inspiration which doesn’t require much of me.
Once I got over the hump of how I was feeling about what was happening, I wanted to share content but I had no desire to create it. No creativity. But I miss it so much!
So let’s dive in, because that’s the only way to get back to it. I’m gonna share a few favorites, a few life happenings and we’ll get this train rolling again.
*this post includes affiliate links for your shopping convenience, you can read more about affiliate links by reading my Disclosure*
I JOINED THE GYM
A big change in my life is that I joined the gym.
Quick backstory: I’ve been taking Wegovy since late April 2023. So far I’m down about 50lbs. Once my body got inflammation under control and a few pounds off I was ready to start adding in working out. My job has a nice gym that was free to use. I started going after I dropped Jordan off at school since they’re close by and then I’d go home and sign in to work from home. On the days I had to go into the office I didn’t workout because of timing. Then I’d also go in on the weekends. I work about 15-20 minutes away from where I live.
That was working for awhile as I was trying to get the feel of working out again. I was just starting to get my endurance and stamina up and then my job changed the gym hours. It was no longer available on the weekends and instead of working from home three days a week it was now cut down to two. So trying to workout became more of a hassle.
athletic hoodie + workout leggings
But I needed to get back to it. Now if you’ve been around for a long time you know I used to work out at home all the time. I’ve been a gym girlie and a home workout girlie. I think you just go through different seasons where one works better for you than the other. During this season I need the gym. I need the machines and equipment that I just don’t have at home.
I decided to join the gym at the beginning of February. I’ve been going consistently working up from 3 days a week to my goal of 5-6 days a week. It’s feeling good although for the first week I could barely walk from being so sore and the second week I could barely move my arms. But now as we’re getting into March I’m making great progress!
Do I love waking up before 5 in the morning to fit in my gym time? Not at all but if I don’t get my workout in first thing it’s not happening. And I’m loving taking a little time for myself and all of the benefits that will follow are worth it.
IN MY READING ERA
At the beginning of the year I decided I wanted to read at least 25 books. My reading has increased over the past year or so after I went full on into reading all things Colleen Hoover. But after that I was mostly listening to audio books and leaning into more self development and memoirs over fiction reads.
The same podcast that recommended the book Verity by Colleen Hoover suggested another book and I figured since they were right the first time maybe I’d give this book a try. I did and I’ve been hooked back into reading ever since.
Since everything that happened in January I’ve been more into fiction. I quickly realized that I was zooming through these books (as a form of escapism, I know) and I don’t have the storage to just keep buying books.
So I bought a Kindle Paperwhite. I mostly wanted it because I can have books on it and not buy the physical versions. But probably even more important to me was the ability to read at night without a lamp. I’ve been reading up a storm!
My 25 book goal is almost achieved and we’re not even through the first quarter of the year! I’m allowing myself through the end of the month to read fiction before I pivot back to non-fiction. Reading is a form of entertainment sure, but I like to learn things and learn about myself and ways to be a better me.
You can follow what I’m reading on my Good Reads account. And I may share book recs and reviews or thoughts from time to time here on the blog.
LANEIGE WATER SLEEPING MASK
With the winter weather of cold air outside and dry heat inside I was craving moisture for my skin. I don’t typically deal with dry skin on my face. I had a sample of this Laeneige water sleeping mask and used it all up, I knew I needed to buy the full version.
Technically this is a mask for nighttime but I’ve been using it as my regular moisturizer. It doesn’t help that I’ve hit the pan on my favorite daytime moisturizer from Elemis and I will need to re-up. It’s so good but I hate the price!
HOME DECOR UPDATES
I’ll be sharing a lot more on home decorating updates I’ve made coming up but for now I have two updates that I already have pictures for. For one, these Amazon bookshelves that I’ve wanted for several months. They go in and out of stock a lot but I caught them on a lightening deal.
After almost a year living in this house I finally found affordable counter stools in a style that I like. These X back counter stools are a budget friendly alternative that I love. They complete my kitchen! I just finished putting them together so we’ll see how well they hold up.
I think it’s safe to say that I’m happy to be blogging again! I could write this post forever but I’ll stop now and join you again shortly with more updates, favorites, decorating inspiration and so much more.
Leave a Reply