Hello lovelies,

This past week and weekend has been a great pick-me-up.

From date night with hubby, tackling my new year’s list, and having breakfast at Cafe Knead in Muizenberg, to family bonding time and finally sorting out my spare room, writing space, and desktop, I’m feeling far more motivated now than in the past month.

The ‘great clean’ was long overdue but I’m happy to say that with two black bags full of items to be donated or swapped, and a wardrobe full of clothes and shoes I’ll actually wear (and I now know what items I need to add over the coming seasons), I’m feeling pretty good about life in general  right now. And the lack of clutter is a very, very welcome change. ^_^

Along with the wardrobe overhaul I added two pretty trays to my desk to organise my writing essentials, deleted bookmarks that I don’t need (who actually goes through the 130+ sites they bookmark anyway?) and did an email purge to ensure the websites and blogs I follow are still relevant to my interests, give me inspiration, and align with who I am and where I want to head to.

The above took an entire day to sort through, but I’m very satisfied that my digital and home detox will keep me on track in the coming months.

Though to be honest, it helped quite a bit that Eskom decided to do a mid-afternoon blackout yesterday – as there were no distractions or social media pings to waylay my day plans.

The Wardrobe Cull

The tips I used from A Pair & a Spare were invaluable, and if you’re planning a wardrobe cleanse, you should definitely check out her post series; it’s thorough, concise, and though a lot of it is common sense, it’s presented in such a way you look at it and go “huh, I should have done this ages ago!”.

Though I have a pile of sentimental items still lurking in one of my draws, I’ve decided if there’s anything in there I don’t reach for this summer – or do reach for it, put it on and then hesitate before taking it off again – it’s going to have to go by the end of the season (unless I learn how to do some DIY tricks – any that you can recommend?).

Some things I learnt from doing this include:

• I have a bad tendency to hang onto makeup that’s way past it’s ‘use-by’ date (that little cream lid with a number in it on most products nowadays stands for how long the product, after opening, is good until – who knew?!?)
• I have a ton of dresses I don’t actually wear (several landed up in my ‘sentimental’ pile)
• My jeans buying spree last winter (since I had only one pair then) was a good investment, but 2 pairs, of the 5 I bought, I have hardly worn due to a bad cut and fit – so into the “donate” pile they went
• I have a ton of comfortable takkie (sneaker) shoes that I’ve hung onto despite cracks & broken soles (why?!)
• My scarf collection (of 20+ scarves) needs to come out of the boxes and into play in my wardrobe – so any not worn or that don’t work can be gifted, donated, or repurposed
• I’ve got plenty of great neutral items in my wardrobe. Mainly navy, black and grey – so no more dark colour additions can be added to my current wardrobe unless it’s to replace a beloved item that’s too far gone to wear in public – with brighter colours and lighter neutrals to be added instead

Writing

Though I’ve still got a long way still to go with my novel, I’ve been trying to write at least 1000 words every three days (life’s busy, yo!), with plans to up this count in the coming weeks. I’m toying with the idea of creating a “Writing Wednesday” series, so stay tuned ^_~

 

Some TLC for body, mind, and beauty

I’ve been investing in my health lately, and with Epsom salt baths, fruit smoothies, micronutrients, a good probiotic, drinking lemon water in the mornings, and at least 1L of water a day. I can now state that my energy levels have come back in a big way (I was a tad worried I’d develop chronic fatigue but that luckily hasn’t happened).

I’ve started drinking more teas instead of that second (or third) cup of coffee – which I used to do but somehow fell off the wagon on that one – in this day and age it’s too easy to put on another coffee pot out of habit, when your body actually needs more hydration and not stimulation.

To go with the healthy inside, I’ve buffed, polished, moisturised, cleansed and started experimenting with nail polish and lipstick shades again (now that I have some motivation to make my outside reflect my inside). After my glandular fever I was sticking to moisturiser and eyeliner as my day-to-day options since having to think about what to add (lipstick, eye shadow, mascara, etc) were far too ambitious for me to attempt last week.

Sunday Plans

Later, I’m heading out to a braai to catch up with friends and the full cast and crew of Midsummer Night’s Dream, which I’m going to be the production secretary for. I’ve had plenty of experience both on stage and behind the scenes in theatre, but never in this kind of capacity. It’s a little daunting, but it should also be a fun learning curve and I’ll share any tips and tricks I pick up for the theatre lovers reading this later on in the year.

And that’s pretty much my week summed up, with the continual promise of adding more posts here daily now my motivation is back.

I’d love to hear how your week’s gone, and what issues you’re tackling!

With love,
Rose