January Recap - Life, Style and Home

With the first month of 2019 coming to an end, I wanted to do a quick wrap-up of January, sharing things happening, styles I’ve been living in and even something a bit new to my blog content: our home!

I kicked off January vowing to continue to shop less. How did that go? Surprisingly well, actually. The Marie Kondo phenomenon was certainly a helpful catapult but I’m proud to say it was something already on my mind even before the documentary. Shopping less, wearing more. Aka donating things I no longer wear and giving love and life to things I already have rather than always having or needing something new. I noticed it was easy to shop less when I asked myself “Does this fill a void?” If it didn’t serve a new purpose or serve as an investment, capsule collection piece to replace 3, 4, 5 other very similar styles I preferred to donate, I wouldn’t buy it and I’m really happy to say I only purchased a few new style things in the month of January!

In terms of outfits, January was filled with a lot of basics and classic looks—which I’m all about and is how I want to envision and build my closet. I pulled out pieces from year’s past—like classic coats, sweaters and knits. I have to say, I think this might bee easier in the winter because I find myself gravitating towards staples and classic, neutral investment pieces so much more. We will see how spring goes when I want all the pretty, lacey, feminine things! BUT, my goal with each season will be to focus on building up my wardrobe staples.

My top 3 favorite looks from January…

A January home update…

While I may have avoided buying clothes this month, I certainly made up for it in the home decor department. You guys, we did a LOT of home shopping. Or should I say, home window shopping. I really want every piece to “spark joy” which is something I haven’t always done in the past…often buying things just to fill a space, only to not truly love it later. My personal favorite find of the month I truly love has to be these faux leather counter chairs/bar stools from Home Goods, which you guys went crazy over! They helped complete our kitchen and dining area, less a few finishing touches, and we are really loving having this new sitting space which makes kitchen conversations easy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find these online but if it’s helpful, the brand is Avenue Six and I added a few dupes below.

We also finished (I think) our mantel! We were planning on mounting our tv here but we really love the vibe it gives the space, so we’re trying to find a workaround.

This month, we also got to work on our master bedroom which was severely lacking furniture. Like—we had a mattress on a basic frame, two old nightstands and a cheap, random table for our tv. We upgraded to a king mattress (more on that next month), got a real, big kid (er, adult) bed and I found some personalized finishing touches I can’t wait to share more of next month! For now, here’s a peek at our bedding…most of which I also found at Home Goods! It’s honestly amazing what a little refresh can do to your sleep space and we are finding it so amusing how we can barely reach each other in a King bed—it’s amazing. 😂

And a few life updates from January…

January was our first full month in our new place! We’re actually in a new town (only 10min away from where we were previously) and I was nervous about the change but we are loving it so much. It’s charming and seems to have everything we need. We are loving trying out new restaurants and there are so many quaint ones.

Tariq is working a new schedule where he has a later wake up call (no more 5am work days 🙌🏼) but that means his 12-hour shift now ends at 8pm, so we (meaning the dogs and I 😂) are adjusting to these later nights home alone. So far, it’s just meant more dog snuggles and probably far too much bad reality tv. 😏We are enjoying having our Sundays together! 

I bought a Furbo! It rained A LOT here this month and the dogs took some time to adjust to, um, peeing in the rain in our new yard. I had to relegate them to the bathroom and the Furbo Dog Camera was a MUST for separation anxiety, mostly mine. 🙈So far, I highly recommend it for peace of mind at the very least but you can also talk to them and give them treats, which is awesome.

We just booked our first trip of 2019 together! See you in April, Puerto Vallarta! 💃🌴

I hope you all had an amazing first month of the year—cheers to 2019!—and, as always, thank you so much for reading.

xx Tyler