1. This is probably super boring to share, but one of my projects for this year is to take care of my home a little bit better. While I am a person who keeps things mostly tidy and enjoys simple surroundings, I am pretty terrible at deep cleaning... and that makes me suuuuuch a Monet.
One thing that is helping me is my Inkwell Press planner* (pictured above), which has a section for "Home" on each day, so it's easy for me to schedule in my cleaning tasks for the day. I'm also following a version of this zone cleaning system (except daily instead of weekly). It is convenient that I have five rooms in my condo, so Monday is the kitchen, Tuesday is the bathroom, and so on, going clockwise around my very squarish condo. I dedicate about 15-20 minutes and do whatever I can in that time—change out sheets/towels, scrub surfaces, vacuum, etc. I'm finding that each week it gets easier as I have less to do overall. I'm also purging stuff like a mad woman and only keeping items I really love, which was my main takeaway from this (otherwise ridiculous) book. And the cleaning and purging is paying off; there has definitely been a positive shift in the energy of these cleaner spaces.
*I'm in love with my planner and will probably talk about it more in the future. If you're interested in the Inkwell planner and would like a code for 20% off, let me know and I can share my link with you! They also run sales through their Instagram quite often.
2. Mark and I hosted a little Oscar viewing party this weekend with some of his college friends, and we had a lot of fun filling out our ballots and playing Oscar Bingo. We all made a few fancy appetizers, and ours came out really well, so I thought I'd share the links to the recipes: butternut squash ricotta crostini with fried sage, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, phyllo-wrapped asparagus (with lemon aioli instead of the sauce in the recipe) and sugar cookie fruit pizzas for dessert. The phyllo-wrapped asparagus and the fruit pizzas were the crowd favorites, but everything was awesome (everything is cool when you're part of a team! ♫♪♫).
3. I've noticed as I'm getting older that I have a harder time interacting with people who outwardly express close-minded viewpoints, especially pertaining to social issues. And I'm curious to hear from other sensitive souls out there—do any of you have advice for how to respond when people say things that make you bristle? I can ignore random comments from strangers, but when it comes to friends and family making underhandedly racist, sexist, or otherwise ignorant comments, I find myself reacting very emotionally on the inside and never knowing exactly what to say in response. I guess I don't know how to balance accepting people's flaws/avoiding unproductive arguments and knowing when it'd be beneficial to speak up. It doesn't help that I'm not a particularly eloquent speaker, especially in the heat of the moment.
4. I don't know what's the deal with me lately, but I feel like my creativity is dead. I can still do things—the occasional blog post/video, journal writing—but I miss the days when creativity felt like a compulsion, something I had to do to feel like myself. Right now, it takes a mixture of intention and force for my creativity to show up. Many of the things I used to do like crafts, DIYs, and art journaling hold absolutely no appeal and seem almost pointless in both action and the end product. I'd always identified as a creative person and a maker, so I'm currently left feeling a little bit out of sorts. I'm hoping it's just a case of the winter blahs, but in the meantime I'm finding myself spending extra time on Pinterest, so I can feel like I'm being creative when I'm actually doing jack squat.
5. I watched the series finale of Parenthood a few weeks ago, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about the it since then. I'm so grateful that show existed. There have been many series I've loved over the years (e.g. Breaking Bad, one of the most flawlessly executed stories ever) but Parenthood felt special to me in a real, personal way. Aside from the show's ability to make viewers cry every week, I really loved how Parenthood dealt with family relationships and love in such an honest way, and I can't recall many other shows that have made me feel the way it did. While not all of the storylines were perfect (*cough*Max harassing Dylan and being praised for it*cough*), I commend the writers for creating such a compassionate and emotional look at what it means to be a part of a family.
Did this post resonate with you? Email me at rootswingswanderings {at} gmail {dot} com or join me on Twitter @cait_lindsey_ to share your thoughts. I'd love to hear from you!
