Things I loved in January (2019)
This post may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission. This is no extra cost to you, but it does enable my addiction to Target. Please see my full disclosure policy for details.
Happy New Year!
I love January because everyone seems so full of hope that this will be the year that they actually go after their goals and dreams and ACCOMPLISH them. And while there are certainly resolutions that many of us fall short on (like going to the gym 5 times a week), many people all over the world take big steps toward making progress on their goals and that is AWESOME!
But I have found several more things to love in January than just the spirit of fresh starts and self-improvement, and I think you might like them too!
THINGS I LOVED IN JANUARY
‘TIDYING UP WITH MARIE KONDO’ on Netflix
I need to start with some honesty and say that I received Marie Kondo’s book, “The Magic Art of Tidying Up” last year for Christmas, AND IT GOT LOST IN THE CLUTTER OF OUR MOVE.
For that irony to sink in, you should know that her book is all about living a clean and organized life. Not necessarily minimalism, but choosing to clear out the things you own that don’t “spark joy”.
But, good for me, and all our friends who seem to no longer read books, Netflix gave sweet little Marie Kondo her own show.
This tiny Japanese woman travels around California to families who are in need of a little organization lesson. And really some of the families featured in this series are borderline hoarders which adds to the drama and gives you so much satisfaction when you see how far they have come by the end of the show.
While I love seeing Marie guide people through the process of clearing out clutter, I have also learned a ton from her mini-tutorials that they include in the show.
She shows you how to fold clothes for better space saving, and how to organize paper and old photos they don’t just stay hidden in a box in your garage.
I highly recommend watching this show. Just don’t be surprised when your husband rolls his eyes at you after you have asked him for the 10th time, “Now does that shirt from high-school really still spark joy?”
Feeling Little Baby Kicks
We are having a baby boy in May and while I have been feeling him move around a little for the past month or so, his kicks have gotten very strong over the last few weeks.
How is it that little babies seem to pinpoint exactly where your bladder is?
Well, even if it is uncomfortable sometimes, I love getting to feel his little motions.
This is actually our third pregnancy and our first didn’t go as hoped. I never got to feel her kicks, even up to 21 weeks. (More on that here.)
So every time baby boy jumps on my bladder like a trampoline, it is a joyful thing because I know he is growing and active.
My Favorite Candles
For Christmas, I got totally stocked up on my favorite candles – Capri Blue Volcano. I have one in my office, in the kitchen and even on my nightstand. This candle smells so good and I only need to light one for my entire house to smell like an Anthropologie store.
View this post on Instagram
The Simplified Simplicity Challenge
Each January, the Simplified group (I love their planners) runs a 31-day challenge on Instagram that is all about decluttering your home and mind.
Each daily challenge typically only takes 15 minutes or less, but they make a big impact. It is nice to be guided through this clearing out process and I always love the results I see by the end of the month!
You can always go back and catch up on the challenge by looking through their old Instagram posts!
Cooking at Home
So I don’t typically do a lot of cooking at home for a couple of reasons.
The first was always time. With a full-time job, friends, and being intentional about family time, I typically made a choice to make pasta or breakfast for dinner the majority of nights.
Now that I work from home, the margins of my schedule are a little bit wider and I am trying to make cooking more of a priority.
The other reason I didn’t cook more, was because I really didn’t know how. So even when I would see recipes on Pinterest, most of the time there was some element that I wasn’t sure how to prepare correctly.
So starting in January, I started subscribing to Hello Fresh to have awesome meals sent to us for a little cooking inspiration and guidance.
The meals have been delicious and I am learning a lot about how to cook different things which has been awesome.
I am still not sure how I feel about Hello Fresh as a whole (their app has some big issues), but I am going to give it several more weeks since the product has been so good!
Bath Bombs
You know what is wonderful? Relaxing in a huge tub with an awesome bath bomb.
This pregnant lady has quite enjoyed getting to have a little extra soothing on aching muscles. And they make my skin so much softer!
A lot of bath bombs (like these) have extra moisturizers in them which make your relaxing soak that much better for you.
And some of these bath bombs come in some really cool packages, like these!
Crazy Rich Asians
On New Year’s Eve, my husband and I stayed in and watched movies all night, which was a really fun date night for us as parents of a toddler.
My husband actually picked Crazy Rich Asians for us to watch, but I think I enjoyed it way more.
I have been saying for what feels like FOR YEARS, that we haven’t had a good rom-com in far too long. But the drought is OVER.
This movie was so cute and funny and my husband did like it too! Considering that this was the first book in a trilogy, I have it loaded up on my kindle and am enjoying seeing how the books will compare to the movies!
My Powersheets
Goal setting is a pretty common trend in January and I am all about it. I got to start a fresh set of Powersheets this month as I worked on setting my goals for the year and broke down some action steps to get things rolling to kick off 2019.
This is my 4th year using Powersheets and they have been a true game-changer for how I look at goal setting. And since there is space to track your progress from month to month, I can really see how much progress I have made through the year.
If you want to read more about Powersheets and decide if they are right for you, you can check out my review of this goal planner here!
Decorating Our Home
Recently we went to dinner at a friends house to check out their remodel after Hurricane Harvey destroyed their house in August of 2017.
Yes, you are getting those right. The storm happened in August of 2017 and it took well over a year for their home to be restored. Harvey was one bad SOB.
So when we went over to their house, they had been moved back in for about 4 weeks. And all of the decorations in their house were hung, their walls were full of photos and everything was perfectly styled with not a moving box in sight. AFTER 4 WEEKS.
We have now been in our new house for 1 YEAR and I still have almost a full room and closet dedicated to “stuff we need to unpack” and the majority of our upstairs still doesn’t have furniture.
I had been giving myself a pass because our house flooded in Harvey as well and we lost most of our furniture, but our friends blew us out of the water with how much they had put back together!
So I spent January making trips to Home Goods, Hobby Lobby and Pottery Barn to start putting things together in our house. And I made my husband a lengthy “honey-do” list to get things hung up on the wall instead of just sitting on the floor underneath their future wall space.
My favorite room so far is Kinsley’s future big girl room. We are moving her out of the nursery before baby boy gets here so I am trying to make her new room really special.
What have you been loving so far in 2019? Let me know in the comments below!
One Comment