21 Weeks! Striped Button-Down (Now at J.Crew Factory! Love when that happens.) / DL1961 Jeans (Maternity here. Though just ordered this pair and this pair from Old Navy and super excited. Do you have other affordable options? I want them to be super tight in the legs, super soft all over, and comfy and forgiving in the belly area. So many requirements, haha.) / Everlane Boots c/o (Also try these! I love them.) / iPhone Case / Goyard Tote
Okay! We’re back to regularly scheduled programming after that little Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale freakout. ;) On Tuesday, I shared a big recap of 2018, and today, I’m sharing my three resolutions for the new year.
First, I need to just say that 2019 hasn’t been great so far, haha. Nothing serious or truly terrible has happened, but everything just keeps breaking. House stuff, technology stuff, car stuff, insurance stuff, business stuff–you name it and it’s broken. Heck, when I went into the bathroom today to clean and re-organize, the toilet paper dispenser thing fell off the wall. (I hadn’t even touched it!) Idk, guys. We’re working around the clock to fix everything, but oh yeah, the clock’s broken, too. 😂
I know that this is just a funny little funk we’re in, though… and I’m sure that by next week, we’ll be smooth sailing. ;) RIGHT, WORLD?
I digress.
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I normally go all out with resolutions, just hoping that something will stick or that listing ’em will at least start my year off on the right foot. (Talk about desperate, huh? 😉) But I feel far more focused this year, and therefore I’m only addressing the three main “worrisome areas” in my life. I should note that I’m very, very happy right now. (Really!) But there are some small changes I know I can make that will have a huge positive impact on my happiness as well as my family’s.
3 New Year’s Resolutions
Mitch: Patagonia Nano Puff and Sorel Cheyenne Waterproof Boot / Kelly: Cable-Knit Sweater (Love this one from Tuckernuck, too!), Navy Down Parka (More affordable options here and here), Sorel Tofino II Boots (Zappos has them fully in stock and they ship free!), J.Crew Pom Hat, and DL1961 Jeans (Maternity here.)
1. Complete a tailored KonMari clean-out challenge during the first quarter of the year.
I’m almost done with my first blog post on this, but I’m SO excited about the challenge in general. By now, if you haven’t read “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo, you probably know the basic tenements. The overarching idea is that you’ll have a more fulfilling lifestyle if you take the time to thoughtfully de-clutter and toss/donate things that you don’t need or that no longer bring you joy. (It’s obviously more complex than this, but I’ll go into more detail in my first blog post.)
Anyway, I’ve been using parts of the KonMari Method for a few years now, slowly working to declutter and eliminate where I can. (One somewhat interesting tidbit about Mitch and me: We don’t own any physical books, save for a handful of decorative coffee table books and whatever couple of novels I have on my nightstand at any given time. I swear we’re not monsters; I was both an English major and teacher, and love reading. Explanation soon!) It’s been great; it really has. But I’ve never fully committed to a complete and total home clean-out, and I’ve wanted to for a long time, especially now that we have kids and are running two small businesses out of our home. (I attempted last January, but in truth, I half-assed it. Excuse my French, Grammie.)
My idea is to do it throughout the first quarter of 2019, between now and the end of March, so I actually get it done. After all, Marie Kondo says that one must commit to tidying a home all at once in order to be truly successful with it. (Yes, I know that three months isn’t technically “all at once,” haha, but it’s the best I can manage right now.)
Mitch and I have actually been formulating a plan for over a month now regarding how we’re going to approach the challenge, and we’ve decided to alter and tailor the KonMari Method to our personal needs so that we’re successful with it. We’re beyond excited, and it’s pretty much all we talk about. 😂 We started a few days ago and we can already feel a weight lifted off our shoulders!
Update to come, but let me know if you’ve ever done a whole-home KonMari clean-out. Would love to hear about how it went for you!
2. Move, and not freak out during the process.
This is obviously part of the reason we want to embrace minimalism. ;)
By the time we move on, we will have lived in our home for five wonderful years. But no matter how tidy it becomes post KonMari, we are leaving it. It’s time, for lots of reasons. I don’t, however, want this move to totally overtake 2019 for me or to consume my every thought.
A little bit of honesty:
I like plans. And I want one… like, right now. I want to know the address. Our moving date. The price. I want to know the layout; what needs to be updated immediately and what can wait. I want to schedule painters so that everything will feel fresh and clean on our first night there. Also, I want to start thinking about what existing furniture will work in the new space and what won’t. I want to know whether we can get it all done before the baby arrives. I want signed contracts and a good deal. In addition, I want to love it and know we’ve made the right decision.
But over the last couple of months, I’ve been working hard to push this stuff from my mind. We will move, just like most people do in their lifetime, and all will be okay–even if things are still up in the air well after the baby arrives. I mean, Emma slept in her pack-n’-play for three months before we moved her into her nursery. New Baby (and the rest of us, for that matter) will be just fine.
And when the actual moving date approaches, I will try to not become a psychopath. 😂 I will accept help, recognizing that I am either super pregnant or an exhausted second-time mother and that I need the help. I will also accept the fact that our new abode will not be decorated in a week. That it will take some time before it feels like a home.
Again, I vow to not let this process overtake my 2019. :) These are exciting times!
3. Cap my months and get ahead.
One of my resolutions from last year was to take on less, work-wise. But I now realize that I was incredibly vague about it, which is why it didn’t really take hold. Last month, though, Mitch and I sat down and actually figured out exactly how many “jobs” (both blog-related and freelance) we can handle in a given month and still enjoy our lives in 2019. We have set number–and a tracking sheet!–that we believe will be manageable even with the life changes that are ahead of us.
I love this new plan. For me, one of the hardest parts of entrepreneurialism is managing my workload. It sounds like it should be easy, but there are simply so many unknowns when it comes to assignments and collaborations–no matter how thorough the contract might be. In the past, I’ve had 10 in a month, and breezed through. But I’ve also had five, and that month was nearly the death of me.
Taking on too much, of course, infringes upon my family and personal time. (Bad.) But it also negatively affects the rest of my job. By capping my months, I will now have more time to be creative and pursue new things… and I’ll also have an opportunity to get ahead which is the ULTIMATE goal here.
Last year, I was able to get ahead from time to time. I won’t lie: before Emma, I literally wrote all my blog posts the day before–usually around midnight. 🙈 I’m so much better now. I really don’t do that anymore, as I’m certain that I would die since my toddler gets up early. ;) And every once in a while, I’m able to write and schedule a week’s worth of content so I can take work-free trip, for example. It’s phenomenal.
The goal with these capped months, however, is to always be a little ahead. No, I’m probably never going to be that blogger who has 20 posts lined up to go. But to always have some stuff in the bank so I’m never in a pinch? Yes, I think I can do that, and I think it’ll be great for my mind and happiness.
