Welcome to the first day of Fall! Usually, I find myself in the minority in thinking that September is the perfect time to start holiday planning, but this year it seems everyone is ready to look ahead to the joy that the end of the year brings. So in addition to autumn, today marks the first day of my annual holiday series, The Christmas Countdown. And just as some stores are already marketing their holiday wares online, you’ve likely already seen the offerings from stationery companies arrive in your inbox. There are some logistical concerns with shipping and reduced staff
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When I spoke to you at the end of May, I was in crisis mode. I was thinking about all of the people who lost their jobs, and their access to food, and when I finally felt like there were some community initiatives in place to help others, I then worried about everyone’s mental health. I could have never imagined all that June would bring. From more COVID-19 cases, political division, and racial tensions, to an economic recession, a dust bowl, and finally re-opening (followed by new closures)…June was unprecedented. I saw a meme that put it best: we basically lived through
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I wasn’t planning on providing COVID-19 content forever, but for everyone in this country, this is still our reality to some degree or another. So for now, this is what’s top of mind. I don’t know about you, but last week was a weird one for me. I fluctuated between wanting to fill my days with long checklists and wanting to commit myself to absolutely nothing, with neither option making me feel any more accomplished than the other. I guess that’s a pretty common assessment about how these past few months have been — there’s a fairly universal feeling of wanting to capitalize
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Well, it goes without saying that these are strange times. First things first, I want to take a moment and comment on the status of this blog. In the last nine months or so, I found blogging quite weird. Nowadays, every blog is about buy-buy-buy….and that’s totally fine. There is a place for that information and ample influencers to fill the space. But I’ve spent the past few years thinking about my own consumption and evaluating my values as I’ve gotten older. I’ve found myself interested in lifestyle communities like “low waste/low toxic” (for sustainability), “grandmillennial” (for classic style and hobbies), and
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Welcome back to our Christmas Countdown series! This year, you can expect to see ten comprehensive blog posts on planning a successful Christmas season. If you followed along previously, you know that Christmas Countdown No. 1 through No. 9 gave us a top-level view of Christmas planning. There was a lot of diary-like posts on everything from budgeting to gift guides and party to-do lists. Now, we’re building off of that foundation and including more specific tips and tricks to help you prepare for the season during the month of November. I believe in completing as many tasks as possible now, so that
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