So this week has been a mixed bag of highs and lows, I have kept on top of my anxiety consistently and feel strong, however I have had a couple of blips, and I have some big events coming up that I know are going to challenge me, so I am going to try and keep this blogging thing rolling throughout that. Slow and steady wins this particular race at the moment.
But lets just have a little moment to "Yay!" that in posting this I managed to reach my monthly goal of two posts this month, who knows I might even manage three! I am excited!
So without further a do, here is what has made this week shine...
- Laughing out loud.
I am that person that rarely laughs out loud, I occasionally will do a sort of Marge Simpson chuckle, but a real belly laugh doesn't happen often for me, especially lately. Well tis past weekend I did a lot of this, we spent the evening in Leeds with some friends to celebrate James's birthday (28! Where have the years gone, one of our friends reminded me he will be 30 next year!) and we had a fab time, eating great food, bowling (i lost by a large margin), shooting pool and generally having a good time. It was like the ultimate treat for my brain.
- Capsule Wardobe-ing. Sort of.
I say sort of because I haven't gone whole hog on this, but I cleared out probably half of my wardrobe in the past week. Got rid of lots of things that no longer fit, were no longer my style and I just didn't reach for. It has been So. Damn. Cleansing. I hadn't realised quite how much I was carrying around with me just by owning lots of clothing that didn't make me feel happy.
I haven't gone so far as to take out of season things out of my wardrobe because our weather is so changeable but it is nice to look in there and know that I am happy to wear everything.
- Finding my planner groove, and creating new designs.
I am going to try really hard not to turn this whole blog into planner central, because the whole point of a lifestyle blog is that it covers multiple topics, but I am really loving my setup right now and am seriously considering doing a post or video about it. Going back to the DIY inserts i mentioned in my last post has been like coming home, they are perfectly tailored for how my mind works and I do a little happy dance whenever I use them. Something about this just makes me want to create, I have always been a creative person but right now I find myself reaching for a pen whenever I have a minute of downtime and that never fails to bring a smile to my face.
- US P.O.Boxes
This is a weird one and completely superficial but if, like me, you are always lusting after things that do not ship out of the continental US, you need to check out Vyking Ship. They effectively provide you with a US address, you have all your bits and bobs sent to it and they consolidate them and send them on to you. It is absolutely fantastic for those items you have to remove from your cart because they don't ship them overseas. I have used a couple of these companies for materials for the shop and by far Vyking Ship is the best, their customer service is amazing, they photograph everything they receive at no extra cost and the forwarding costs so far have been the cheapest. (This isn't sponsored, but if you do want to set up an account with them you can get $5 off your first shipment by putting 4159 in the referral box) It is life changing! Currently I have Rifle Paper Co, Papersource, Sephora and Madewell orders planned for after my Birthday.
- Healthy eating. Big time!
This one sort of leads on from my last one where I mentioned my morning smoothie. James and I have made a promise to ourselves that we are going to make more of an effort to eat clean. We aren't going full on whole30 or back to paleo, but we are making sure at least half of our weeknight meals are healthier. So far I am loving Jamie's Everyday Super Food, Anna Jones's A Modern Way To Cook and River Cottage Veg Everyday for this, and we picked up Cook Nourish Glow last week while grocery shopping to dip into as well. You know when James lets me buy a healthy cookbook during the weekly shop that it has got serious!
This weekend I will be:
Reading: The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window and Disappeared - I have joined a new reading group so I am reading this in readiness!
Eating: Tea and Cake, James and I are having a little day out sofa shopping on saturday and have already decided we will have a little treat in the middle.
Spending my time: In the down moments I plan to organise my recipe books (possibly a post to come there) and making note of all our favourite recipes and which page they are on because it is a pain to try and remember where each one is. This blog isn't called The Librarian for nothin'!
Have a fantastic weekend! :)