I hope you all had a truly magical, wonderful holiday season! I ended up taking the rest of last week off because I just plain needed a little bit more time to myself. But now I’m ready to jump back into the blog and share what we’ve all been waiting for… my final update about my No Shopping Challenge of 2018! I shared a bit about it on Instagram, but it’s time for a full recap.
Happy (early) Thanksgiving, you guys! I won’t be posting tomorrow, so I wanted to pop in today and share a bit of what I am thankful for this year…. and what a year it’s been! From getting engaged to making over the backyard to now renovating the kitchen… I have so much to be grateful for this year. I wanted to share a quick thankful list with you and would love to know what has sparked your gratitude, as well. Let me know in the comments!
It’s been a hot minute since I shared an update with you about my No Shopping Challenge! Between the kitchen renovation and planning the wedding, I haven’t really had the time, energy, or resources to do much shopping… which is sort of awesome because it’s really helped me to get back into the groove of this challenge. The last time I checked in, I had slipped up a little over the summer with my shopping and was hoping to get back on track. Let me just say… having all your money wrapped up in a renovation is a great way to avoid buying new clothes!
Full disclosure: I am a bit nervous about writing this post and have actually been putting it off! My goal with my no shopping challenge for 2018 was to share quarterly check ins with you guys. But, as you can probably guess from my silence about it, I’ve gotten off track. And when I say ‘off track,’ I mean really, really off track… The last time I shared an update, I was doing so well, but I think between travel and a few really tempting sales, I have lost sight of my goals. So it’s time to come clean with you guys, confess what I bought, and set some intentions for moving forward!
Wow, I’m really crankin’ out the personal essays this week… but with Wednesday’s news of Justice Kennedy’s retirement, I went into a full blown tizzy. While I was traveling, the news of what our government is doing to immigrant children broke and I got upset. I’m not proud to admit this, but the news felt distant because I was abroad. I was able to stop crying about it, donate to the ACLU, and put it out of my mind until I returned. Same with the passing of Anthony Bourdain. Now that I’m back into my day-to-day routine though, it feels like I risk feeling constantly overwhelmed our dumpster fire news cycle. It is so hard to find peace these days, but a few things have helped me and I wanted to share them with you in case you feel the same way:
Here’s the thing about travel that we all know, yet often forget: it’s life changing. By that I mean that the simple act of traveling alters your perspective on so many things. Lifestyle… priorities… even the acceptability of eating cheese and cured meats for dinner instead of a planned-to-the-T meal. My trip to Italy brought inspiration in a two-fold fashion: creatively thanks to the workshop and personally thanks to a week and a half of exploring. I had a whole other blog post scheduled for today, but pulled it because writing this post felt more urgent and necessary. So let’s start with my creative takeaways…
Continue reading “musings about creativity & my trip to Italy”
Ok, today’s post is going to cover a question I’ve been getting lately regarding going on a shopping freeze. I think it’s a super legitimate concern and one I’ve had myself, so it deserves its own post.
The question: how do you go on a shopping freeze without completely turning into a hermit?
To be frank, I think every situation is what we make it, and it’s no different for a shopping freeze. For me, I try not to make it a big deal to myself or others. If I keep a more relaxed perspective, and not worry about things like becoming a hermit because I want to spend my money more wisely, then the pressure to avoid it kind of floats away. That’s not to say I never have those thoughts, though. So when I do find myself in certain situations, this is how I’ve been handling it:
Continue reading “how to go on a shopping freeze without turning into a hermit”