My Weekly-ish Recap | January 18, 2024
I’ve looked forward to writing this post all week! I’ve really enjoyed blogging lately and this is a fun series to kick off the new year. If you missed it last week, I’m sharing all of your weekly favorites, a round up of recent blog posts and a little behind the scenes personal blurb too - like a recipe I enjoyed or what I’m reading or listening too. I also thought it’d be helpful to share the questions I’ve answered throughout the week on Instagram so that’ll be here too.
On the blog
The long awaited paper planner post is finally here. I’ve alluded to this on Instagram but I accidently went paperless this year. My hope is to share more about the systems that landed me here and have greatly reduced my mental load. But until then, I’m still a big fan of paper planners and wanted to continue our annual tradition so I rounded up the best paper planners for you here! I can’t believe this is the fourth year we’ve done this. Truly, one of my favorite posts to write.
I also got a great question about when does makeup expire and shared a whole post with resources for how to know when its time to purge those makeup and toiletry items. In full disclosure, I didn’t know about the makeup expiration rules until 2019. I was still using eye shadow from my 2004 prom. So let that be your bar!
Next week I’m hoping to share details from Fitz’s 3rd birthday party including how we kept it under $150 and still catered Chick-fil-a.
Behind the scenes
I often wonder “will this be the last time he lets me rock him to sleep?”. I thought maybe the moment had passed with Fitz and then out of the blue he asked for me to rock him before bed. A God wink.
We had many snow days this week. I had a blast sledding with the kids in the snow. I’d be lying if I didn’t’ admit I was also experiencing mild PTSD from covid at the thought of being home for the next week. Y’all are so amazing and so many of you said you felt the same. Sometimes just knowing you are not alone is all it takes.
Currently Reading: Slammed by Colleen Hoover. I’m just a few pages in so too early to rate this one. I finished up Without Merit by her this week too. It was slower than her other books. My other favorites by her include Verity and It Ends with Us.
Currently Listening: I’m really digging the song Psychopath by Morgan Wade. Her voice is incredible.
Your Favorites This Week
Magic Jeans (some styles are under $40 right now!)
$2 Storage Trays (for nursing cart and everywhere!)
West Elm Lumini rug Dupe at Wayfair (literally a best seller every week for 2 years!)
SHOP YOUR FAVES
Codes + Good Finds
BALLARD DESIGNS is having their annual bedding and bath event. 20% off + free shipping. You can shop their sale here.
BR FACTORY is currently having 40% off everything plus an extra 20% off purchase. NO CODE NEEDED. Shop their sale (and my favorite winter coats this season) here.
J CREW FACTORY is offering up to 60% off everything. You can shop their sale here.
LULULEMON has a number of new items in their sale section. You can shop their site here.
MADEWELL has 40% off sale items use Code: NEWYEAR. You can shop that sale here.
THE CONTAINER STORE has 30% off everything Elfa. You can shop that sale here. They also have a number of organizing products on sale here. See our Elfa Closet here.
WAYFAIR is offering up to 70% off during their end of year clearance sale – plus it all ships free. You can shop their site here. Lots of West Elm and Ballard Dupes here!
WEST ELM is offering up to 60% off their sale styles. You can shop their site here.
Q + A
Q: Mental load!
A: I’ve spent the last two years really working through this for our family and I’ve come a long way. I’m really wanting to share the system I’ve put in place in my home that have GREATLY reduced my mental load. Its nothing fancy but it does take some initial set up time. I’m trying to figure out the best way to share that with y’all and gauge interest. One of the best outcomes is that I don’t have the constant to-do list running in my head (and its glorious!). There are still things to get done, I’m not trying to remember them all in addition to when was the last time we gave the dog heartworm meds or changed the HVC filters. All of this is automated and makes it easy to delegate/ask for help. And I trust that its not getting missed which eases my stress!
Q: Meal Planning!
A: This is a big piece of the mental load puzzle and looking back I’ve really been working on these systems for 10+ years. From when Ty and I starting sharing our Google calendars to meal planning to the capsule wardrobes to creating a list of all the stuff that has to get done around our house. Here is how I meal plan.
Q: How to do capsule wardrobe when you really love color, patterns and lots of clothes
A: Capsule just means a select group of clothing that jive together.
Select a color palette for the season. If you love color - pastels or jewel tones or pink and purple, for example.
Use my guide as a blueprint to what types of items you need but inject your colors/style into those itmes. If I say basic tshirt, mine may be white because my palette is neutrals. Yours may be baby pink because your palette is pastels.
Core items are still important for versatility so a great fitting pair of jeans, favorite tennis shoes (thinking mom life here!) and a basic white tshirt go a long way.
I don’t recommend more than 25-30 items in a capsule (including shoes!) because the goal is to decrease decision fatigue and make it easy to get dressed. It doesn’t mean you get rid of all your other clothes either. Just only look at the at selection for the season. You can make 100s of outfits from just 20 items and whole season is only ~90 days long (3 months).
Thanks for trialing out this new series with me. If there is anything you’d like to see, DM me over on Instagram and I’ll be sure to respond. Have a great week and stay warm!
PS - Here are all of the Amazon Daily Deals and Sale items I shared on Instagram this week!
