I had a few small accomplishments this past month that I didn’t plan. They just sort of transpired when my energy and mindset happened to align with the stars and rainbows and universe.  It makes me want to go back and write down some goals in retrospect, just so I can cross them off.  Anybody else ever do that? I certainly did not set any New Year’s resolutions this year. After the roller coaster of 2020, and the unpredictability of 2021, it almost felt like a setup for failure. I know that’s not the way you’re supposed to approach goals, but I just didn’t want to force something that wasn’t there. Stevie is thriving on the groundhog day-ness of this, and — no surprise here! — I am not. But while I’ve had my share of blurpy days, I’m happy to say the year is off to a pretty decent start.

Going

With much of our state on lockdown for so long, and so many of our local options being closed, it’s getting hard to remember all the perks of living in L.A. But lately — speaking of goals in retrospect — I’ve been making an effort to get us outside. Turns out, winter in SoCal is my super power. We’ve found so many places to visit that we’ve never seen before. Each location we explore seems to be an instant favorite. One spot, in particular, is the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. We skipped the Culver City stairs and stuck to the dirt trails because I’m not a total masochist. The views of the city on a clear day are fantastic — you can see almost 360°! Everyone was masked and respectful of space. As a side note, the trail is not dog-friendly. Frankly, a welcome break from picking up turds.

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Watching

Your Honor on Showtime. Oh my holy canoli macaroni! This show is intense. Paul and I both love Bryan Cranston, so we were on board right away. I will say the first episode is hard to watch. But I get excited to see how far they will push these characters each week. And the cinematography, for the love! It is music to my eyes. I want a still frame of every scene hanging in my house. Doesn’t hurt that it’s set in NOLA either! But I swear I am on pins and needles every friggin’ episode. I truly can not wait to see how it ends.

Remembering

Speaking of NOLA, I can’t believe it’s been 3 years since we visited! It was such a last-minute, spontaneous trip and love at first sight. Cold AF — our uber driver said “welcome to our 3 days of winter!” — but it was one of those vacations we did right, ya know? A perfect blend of plans and flexibility. We were blown away by the live music scene, and it felt like every bar had the best band ever, even better than the last! The food was fantastic, the vibe was so… fun. I had planned to put together a travel guide after our trip (I had a spreadsheet schedule and everything) but I never even edited the photos! That sounds like me though… I also swore we’d be back soon, and ain’t that just the way it goes?

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Reading

You won’t get many book recommendations from me because I don’t dedicate much time to novels. Unless it’s written by David Sedaris, I probably haven’t read it. But this week, two articles from NYT struck a chord. The first one was widely circulated on social, so it clearly struck a chord with many. A look at three different mothers in varying situations. Coping, or maybe just surviving, during the pandemic. It’s heartbreaking and validating all at once. The second article was included among several good reads in The Weekender Edition. A look at Paris — sort of a love letter to the city and the culture, which has been all but upended during this time. Of course, I have only been to Paris once, but my wanderlust heart reads it like I’m there. And knowing that the beautiful city of lights feels my pain brought me a strange sense of comfort.

Loving

You know you’re getting old when your favorite purchase of the entire month is a new fabric shaver. I had one years ago that never did much, but this one is legit. It’s such a quick and easy way to give your pill-y clothes a refresh and works on everything from sweaters to trousers to leggings, and yes I even tried it on my wool socks. My friend Paige told me it was super satisfying, but I had no idea how much so! Send me your clothes, everyone! I could do this all day.

Eating

My favorite recipe of the week comes from Wholesomelicious. I’m not big on following cooking blogs because the long intros to the recipe are maddening! But I found this recipe on Pinterest looking for low-carb instant pot meals. I had almost all the ingredients on hand for Egg Roll in a Bowl, but swapped coconut aminos for regular soy sauce and served it on regular white rice. I know, I know, I said low-carb. But it was just too yummy to resist. The recipe itself was shockingly easy (and would’ve been even easier with pre-shredded cabbage and carrots). We gobbled it all up in one sitting!

Wearing

Faux leather leggings! Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are. I just realized I’ve had leather leggings in my wardrobe since 2013, but I still feel way behind on the trend because I never really took the time to figure out how they fit into my life –or if they did at all. I think I’ve only worn them a handful of times — mostly for styling sessions — but I wanted to see if they are practical for real life. So here’s sort of a style study pairing them with a favorite pair of sneakers and various tops. I did not like the first outfit. At all. But with a little experimentation, the looks got progressively more fun and interesting (to me anyway!)

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Shopping Addiction Tip

As I mentioned last week, Inventory is my favorite part of the shopping addiction recovery process. It covers so many bases and provides so much useful information. Once you’ve narrowed down your wardrobe with a clean out, there are plenty of ways to keep an inventory. My preferred way over the past 3 years was a simple spreadsheet hanging near my closet with a list of all my stuff. You can download a blank spreadsheet for yourself here! Each day, I’d mark a quick tally next to the clothes I wore. At the end of 3 months, 6 months, or a year, it gave me a clear picture of the things I enjoyed wearing. And the things I enjoyed wearing often. It’s not only incredibly satisfying to see all those tallies add up, but it serves as a great reference point when you are shopping too.

For 2021, I finally joined the modern era and started tracking my clothes digitally. I don’t think it has the same immediate satisfaction as seeing your tallies add up on paper, but it has some other features that have made the transition worth it for me. The free app I’m using is called StyleBook. While it was time consuming to get all my clothes in there and learn the ins and outs of the app, I definitely like the “Style Stats” section. You can see how many items are in your wardrobe, the total value of your closet, your most (and least) worn items, and your cost per wear. Another feature I love is the outfit shuffle, where the app actually gives you outfit suggestions! When I’m feeling uncreative, I’ve found some new pairings with the same old stuff that way.

Questions about inventory? Let me know!

Playing

I’ve been looking for a new game to play on my iPhone. If Project Makeover wasn’t made for me, then I don’t know what is. The concept of the game is similar to Toy Blast or Candy Crush (maybe? I’ve never actually played Candy Crush). But you pass levels and earn coins to give someone a makeover! Eeee! Takes me all the way back to my obsession with What Not to Wear and the original Queer Eye. (Though let’s be honest, the new Queer Eye is where it’s at.) It’s silly and just the distraction I need after a long day of homeschool.

Instagramming

I’m still enjoying my break from Instagram, though the thing I have come to miss the most over this last year is chatting with you all on Stories. It felt so personal and the connection was so nice. I hope to get back to it eventually, when I have time to myself again. But I’m also settling with the fact that it won’t be until at least the fall, when Stevie goes back to school. For the time being, this week I posted about my vaccine, Wear Red Day, and the city I love to live in.

Hope you’re all well as can be. Thanks so much for checking in!

loves,
Jaana