One of the things that inhibited me from returning to my blog for so long is that I’m a completist and I wasn’t sure where to jump back in when there were so many loose threads dangling. Should I finish up the recaps from my Belize trip? Should I recreate my media library that was lost when I transfered my hosting subscription?
I read through my archives and found a few small things that I’ve always meant to follow up on, so I decided to start there.
Christmas Tree Garland
Back in 2013, I wrote that I wanted to string together the origami roses from our wedding into a garland for our Christmas tree. If I remember right, it took an entire year before I got around to it, but the garland turned out even better than I anticipated and I love that we have this memento from our wedding to put up every year. It is quite fragile and not very long, so it only adorns the top few feet of the tree, and I know it won’t last forever. But I’m enjoying having it for as long as it lasts.
Julep
Then in 2014, I posted a couple of times about how much I love Julep, a monthly nail polish and beauty product subscription. Four years later, I still use and love their products — although, to be honest, I skip my monthly subscription box as often as I receive it simply because it’s easy to accumulate way too much nail polish when you get some every month. To follow up: I still use their nail polish and nail care products exclusively. They’ve released a ton of makeup products in the ensuing years, and I think the lip products are solid but the eye and face makeup doesn’t wow me. HOWEVER, their new Korean skincare line is fantastic – I use the “What Your Skin Needs” moisturizer and “Boost Your Radiance” facial oil daily. If you want to give Julep a try, I have a referral code that you can use to support my nail polish habit.
Clothes and Downsizing
Also in 2014, I wrote about cleaning out my closet. I kept it pretty sparse for a couple of years, but last year, I lost some weight needed to replace a number of items … and in the past three months I’ve bought almost an entirely new wardrobe and am wearing maternity clothes pretty much exclusively. But the lessons learned in those couple of years were helpful: if I repeat outfits, NO ONE notices except for me. If I keep up on the laundry, I don’t need to own an extensive wardrobe. Also, well-fitting and comfortable shoes make a big difference for feet and knees and hips and backs and are worth spending a bit more money on.
ANYway, the point I want to make is that although I still love reading about other peoples’ experiments and success stories in having less clothing, less isn’t always better. Our bodies change, and our tastes change, and often what we wear has to change accordingly. I hung on to a lot of clothing that had become too big for me to wear, but I was glad to have it earlier in my pregnancy, and I’m sure I’ll wear it again postpartum – even temporarily.
I’ll spare you a picture of my closet at the moment because I had to fully rearrange it to accommodate the maternity clothes and it’s not at it’s organized best. At some point, I’ll take everything out and reorganize, but I’ve had too many other priorities around the house lately.
Bullet Journal
I started keeping a bullet journal in 2015, and posted about transitioning to a pricey planner in 2016. Well, I gave up on that planner after four months and went back to keeping a bullet journal in a plain Moleskine notebook. That lasted most of 2016 until I misplaced my little notebook and then I gave up on a paper planner altogether. I went back to keeping a daily task list in Evernote, so I have access to it from my phone and my computer at work. But I haven’t found a solution that I really love. This time of year, I get really excited about pretty planners, but remembering my previous experience, I am reticent to spend the money. I don’t really have a point or solution right now. Just wanted to throw out there that my enthusiasm about paper planners and notebooks has pretty much died.
