Happy New Year, friends!
The new year is well and truly here and we have been enjoying our holidays so very much. With nowhere to be and nothing much to do, it's been so lovely hanging around home, many days in our pj's, not looking at the clock, eating simple dinners and enjoying family time.
The last part of the year disappeared so quickly for me; I expect it would have been the same for many of you. So many commitments written up on the calendar, trying to keep everything festive and bright, ticking everything off the list and STILL having some down time to actually enjoy the season. I love Christmas but most years, especially since becoming a mother, they seem to fly by with so many things to complete and organise before the big day. Then you're left feeling rather flat afterward.
It all felt a bit disjointed this year--on the actual day--having to be away from home all day and in between families. I was surprised to feel relief once the day had passed and I looked forward to some proper down time, and the new year presenting itself.
I pulled all the decorations down two days after Christmas. I swept the house of useless, old things, and the Salvos received a hearty delivery. I painted tired looking pieces of furniture and emptied cupboards. I made new cushion covers and covered boring lampshades. The new year was welcomed with a clean slate--and house. I used to leave everything up until after the new year (something about being bad luck to take your tree down before 1 January), but I gave that away a few years ago and much prefer to ring in the new year with the same environment as my mind--a fresh and clean one.
Two weeks in and that clean, energised, eager feeling of January is still here. And I am enjoying it very much. I made a few resolutions and plans for the year ahead--for home, the business and this little blog. Apparently I am going to meal plan (gasp!), stop procrastinating and be more organised. I have thrown myself into some new projects this year and wedding enquiries have been showing their lovely faces more regularly. So I am thinking bigger and not holding back. Reading posts like this and this were just what I needed.
There is much to catch up on over on my other blog, which will be getting a proper facelift very soon. Baby Love is way behind on the blogging front--so much so that my nephew arrived last week to wrap the series beautifully. The final touch will be some fresh, smoodgy newborn shots next week. I can't wait to finish the series properly and share the images over there.
I do hope the year has started well for you--and more importantly, slowly. It has for us, and I feel all the better for it. I suspect the late nights of tennis watching over the coming fortnight will undo all of the early nights and rest, but that's just the way it goes.
My mind has turned to lunch boxes and new shoes, stationary labels and drink bottles. I am nowhere near ready for the holidays to be over so I will be doing my best to make them go as slowly as possible over the coming weeks..
Did you make any resolutions? Or goals? Do you meal plan? Do you STILL have your tree up..?!
Cheekily joining Em for her weekly stills collection (with my THREE weekly collection)
