Hello! It’s been awhile! Hope everybody is staying well out there. We have been good-ish. Given the circumstances. I’m happy to report for this Week in the Life, all is well on the health and home front. We’re just dragging our butts through distance learning and trying to find little things to keep us busy the rest of the days. We’ve been very fortunate that our entire bubble (save for Stevie) has had the first vaccine, so while we feel somewhat at ease without the worry of getting sick-sick, we are still taking all the precautions — wearing masks and staying away from people as much as possible. It’s challenging, and even an introvert like me has started to miss the little social life we had. But we’ve gone this far and are willing to see it through to do our part.

So… down to business. I wanted to check in and maybe try something a little different here. I first took a break from the blog because I couldn’t bring myself to put together the graphics for my fall/winter capsule. Hahaha, it’s such a silly reason to leave it all behind, but that’s how much I hate doing those dang graphics. Then around the holidays, I took sort of an accidental hiatus from Instagram too.

I logged on to my account as always, and just got this weird vibe, that I didn’t really want to be there. And each time I logged on after that, I felt the same way. I rarely have major issues with Instagram. I know some people love to hate it, but I genuinely enjoy the people I follow. I’ve made great connections with other special needs moms, shopping addicts, fashionistas. And even met some of my closest friends through the app. If I found myself getting irritated, some short breaks here and there always helped me get my mojo back. So I always kinda loved it — save for a few occasions — and felt like a little time away would be just the ticket. Yet, it’s been over a month and I still don’t want to go back…

I truly feel like, for the first time in a long time, I don’t have anything to say. “Highly unusual”, is what you’re thinking if you know me! And “Preposterous!” is what you’re thinking looking at this long post. I don’t know what it is exactly, but over there on IG it simply feels like I’m contributing to the noise. With this step back, I have to admit, it’s been rather freeing. Sure, I still lurk every now and then for a few minutes. But not having to chase this feeling of content creation, keeping my audience engaged, staying relevant, and saying something meaningful makes a lot of sense for someone like me, who is actually quite boring.

On the other hand, I have always enjoyed sharing, probably a little too much in some cases. The Stevie stories, the outfit pics, the shopping addiction tips. It comes naturally for me to talk about our lives and bring people in who might otherwise feel they’re alone in their challenges. And when I really think about it, I do want to continue to share those things. Just maybe not in the way I’ve been doing it all along.

So today, I’m going to try something a little different. More along the lines of a newsletter-style report, sharing our week in the life. Essentially a list of things we’ve been up to and any relevant links. I enjoy the documenting of life and I hope it’s a little easier for me to keep up with; minus the pressure of creating graphics or writing grand stories (I’m saving those for my personal journal). And most of all, I hope it’s slightly more interesting than taking outfit pics every damn day. As always, thanks for being here and giving this old bird a place to land as I continue to explore out loud what I want to do.

Going

For my birthday, I dragged my boys out to hike in Pasadena. A couple weeks back, Stevie and I went to Desiderio Neighborhood Park and I absolutely loved getting a closeup view of the famous Colorado Street Bridge that I’ve driven over a million times. I had never realized how many trails there are nearby. So we went ‘sploring! Down to the Lower Arroyo Seco area on a trail alongside the river. It was perfect for Stevie and Fergus (as far as difficulty goes) and everyone was respectful of space and wearing masks. The best part for me was seeing how cool it looks once you get to the freeway bridges. Since they are all built elevated above the city, I’m kind of fascinated by L.A. freeways anyway. But seeing how high it was from the ground up was next level! I felt so small! Highly recommend.

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Eating

We’ve been eating at home so much the last 10 months, it was kind of a treat to order takeout this week! On Friday night, the weather was very cold and rainy, so nothing sounded better than the filet mignon pho from Mama Hong’s Vietnamese Kitchen. It hit the spot in a big way.

Wearing

This was, hands-down, my favorite outfit of the week. It was so chilly and I had several quick errands to run. Of course I debated just going out in leggings and a big snow coat to cover everything, but when it came down to it, this look seriously elevated my mood. I felt like a real city girl running around in my heavy boots and long jacket, buttoning up when a cold breeze came around a corner and sauntering along the sidewalk like I had somewhere important to be. It was actually just the post office, but nobody needed to know that.

Making

‘Tis the season for Valentines! I originally opted out of Stevie making valentines for his class, because it’s so much work for ME. But he insisted that he really wanted to do it — until it was time to actually make the cards, of course. But we kept it ultra simple, and they still turned out so beautiful. Watercolor on cardstock with the person’s name. Sweet and easy, yet effective. Thank god he has a small class!

Remembering

This might need a trigger warning for some of you who are uncomfortable with hospital or surgery talk. But every year around this time, between Stevie’s birthday and Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week, I can’t help but reminisce about his heart diagnosis and surprise emergency open heart surgery. He was just 2 weeks old, barely learning how to breastfeed properly, and we were new, sleepless parents with no idea what was going on. Thank god for medical professionals. Hearing that he was very, very sick, was absolutely the scariest day of our lives.

Learning

I am one chapter away from finishing Me and White Supremacy. Granted, it took me almost the entire year to finish this workbook, and there were long breaks between chapters. But I saved all my journaling to Penzu, so I can look back as necessary. It was eye opening in a lot of ways, and not always very much fun to be that honest with myself about my racial biases.

Following

If you guys and gals aren’t following sharonsaysso on Instagram, you are really missing out. She is not only dedicated to facts with her #factsrevolution, but she is constantly reminding us of our bias and delivering really solid, useful information about government. She’s also funny as all get out. Give her a follow if you haven’t yet.

Shopping Addiction Tip

Do you have any goals to cut down on your shopping? I would definitely start with a closet clean-out. I’m doing one myself, since it’s been a few years, and I’m selling some things over on Poshmark. It can be a big task, but very worthwhile. Get really honest with yourself. Keep only the things that fit well and that you’re excited to wear. The discard pile will probably make you feel things. I personally felt like throwing up when I thought about all the money going to waste. That’s normal. Get it all out of your house and start fresh. If doing an entire cleanout sounds too daunting, start with the current season. We are more than halfway through winter, so if there are things you haven’t worn yet, you can rethink keeping them. Up next… my personal favorite. Inventory! I’ll share more about my process next time.

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know if you like the new format of a weekly update. I’ll be back (I hope)!

loves,
jaana