Another year! Another round up. Here are 34 new-to-me-this-year things I discovered last year that made my life better. (Please note, I use affiliate links on a few of these)
Pirate Ship : right in the middle of shipping out the 2020 planners my shipping system that I use to import addresses and print labels stopped working. The customer service team, that is usually quick to help, stopped responding. As you can imagine, I started panicking. But great news, it forced me to find a new shipping provider. I am loving Pirate Ship. It's super easy to import labels, save presets and batch ship orders. PLUS they offer cubic mail rates within the US.
a skincare routine : as mentioned in my post last month, I don't think it's the products I am loving but the ritual.
Flodesk : usually I resist switching something unless it fails me but after my success switching my shipping vendor I decided to move email newsletter providers as well. Flodesk is beautiful and improving every week (it's still in beta!). It's also $19 a month (with an affiliate link) instead of the $150 I was paying each month to another service. Best of all, you don't pay more when your subscriber count goes up so it's encouraged me to work on growing my list.
Fleabag : this was one of those shows I heard about for weeks and then finally dove into. The hype was worth it. It was perfect. Especially season 2. Pheobe Waller-Bridge is one of our generation's greatest.
hanging bench swing : when we looked at this house in late 2018, I don't even think the little balcony deck was a selling point. But then, once the house was painted white, it became beautiful out there! We added a bench swing and it gets used every single day.
Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston : I absolutely loved this book about the First Son and the Prince of England falling in love. I listened to it in about two days and had a smile on my face or tears in my eyes the whole time.
basket weave tile : we had simple 3x6 white subway installed in the girls' bathroom on the walls and around the shower and I love it so much we are duplicating the look in our master bathroom this month. To change things up a bit we are going with 2x8 white subway. I think it will be perfect.
iPhone downtime : one of my 2020 goals is to cut back on scrolling my phone. I turned on the downtime setting so every day at 5pm most of my apps gray out. Of course I can (and I do sometimes) google "how old is Pheobe Waller-Bridge" after 5pm but I don't mindlessly (or mindfully) scroll in the evenings and it's been a game changer. No headaches between my eyes. No low-grade anxiety before bed. And so (so) much more time for reading. (BTW, she's 3.5 months younger than me.)
"We can. We will. We must." : I watched the Netflix Cheer docuseries over a long weekend and just loved it. Especially their chant before taking the mat.
pattern free blue sweater : I had had this chunky yarn for awhile and after trying another sweater and failing, I decided to try and just wing it with a DIY pattern. I knit it in the round from the bottom up and then joined the body and sleeves to create a raglan neckline. My stitch pattern was R1: knit, R2: kkp, R3: knit, R4: kpk, R5: knit, R6: pkk. Repeat. Such a simple pattern but it made a really great textured sweater.
haircut : after 34.5 years I cut my hair short. And then shorter. I have always had thin hair but after two babies and turning 30 it was thin, thin. I hated it. Now it's still thin, but short! So it works. And I love it.
Avery leggings : this past year I tried some new sewing projects and this was one of the hits. Loved this pattern and made two pairs that are ankle length and exactly between the high and low rise versions.
Dinner by Melissa Clark : I don't like to cook dinner. In an attempt to turn it into more of a challenge and something more fun, we decided to work our way through the Dinner cookbook by Melissa Clark. There are 225 recipes and we made 66 of them before Paul deployed. I am stamping the date we made the recipe right in the book as well as jotting notes. We are going to finish when he comes home.
Lizzo's Cuz I Love You album : I was so late to this, but I am glad I finally arrived.
our dining room frame wall : I struggled to figure out a way to fill this space and this was easy, pretty inexpensive and I still love it.
Schitt's Creek : I totally thought this show lived up to the hype too. The whole family is just perfect but Moira is everything.
A Five Year Journal : before we were even married I kept a 5 year journal for a few months. (I so wish that I had kept it up, I don't even know where it is!) I decided in August to start a new one and it's been fun jotting something that happened or something one of the girls said each night.
backyard tomato sauce : we grew hundreds of tomatoes this summer and at the time, I didn't have many recipes for them so we made spaghetti sauce on repeat. Here was our recipe (just increase based on how many pounds of fresh tomatoes you have): 1lb chopped fresh tomatoes, 1T olive oil, minced garlic clove, chopped 1/2 small onion, 1/2t salt, fresh basil chopped, splash of red wine and then pepper and maybe more salt to taste. Simmer on the stove (with no cover; let that extra juice evaporate) for a few hours or in the oven for 1.5 hours.
Representative Ayanna Pressley's video talking about her hair loss : "I'm not here just to occupy space; I am here to create it." Love her.
a white house : we had the whole exterior painted the exact same as the inside, Cloud White by Benjamin Moore and I just love it.
Crime Junkie podcast : I stumbled on this and binged the entire series over a week. I like that they just get into it. No housekeeping. No "how was your weekend?" JUST GIVE ME THE EPISODE.
Scanpan nonstick pans : we got these as a housewarming gift and I just LOVE them for pancakes, eggs, grilled cheese...everything.
coffee table that opens up : I bought this used on a whim before we had any furniture in our living room and it turns out that a table that opens to hold all the girls art supplies is EXACTLY what I needed.
Scribd : I heard about Scribd when they offered me a chance to try the service as part of a sponsored post. I can say that me mentioning it here is not sponsored at all. I love SCRIBD so much and have listened to a dozen audiobooks in the past three months I have been using it.
Ellerie's drawing of the Statue of Liberty : truly my favorite thing she has ever brought home from school. "It was a gift from France and it represents friendship and says 'you are welcome here'."
Piper's abstract drawings : my girl has the most unique drawing style these days that involves tiny connected splotches of all the colors. I could watch her all day.
Paul's sourdough : around our anniversary, Paul and I took a sourdough bread class. The class itself was super boring but we got a sample of sourdough starter and Paul has turned it into loaves, croissants, English muffins and buns. We are both obsessed and the girls love "sour bread." Paul has gotten all of his recipes in the Tartine Bread book.
Binge Mode: Harry Potter : I devoured this podcast over the summer. I just loved it. Couldn't stop listening.
fake ferns : I have had about 10 ferns and all have died. I was thrilled to finally find fake ones. (This is two pack and each is HUGE! I would recommend ordering with a friend and then you each have a beautiful fake.)
having a color story for the house : if it's blue, green, white, cream, tan or wood it can enter. I love it because everything fits together and I can make decisions quickly. It works or it doesn't. The end.
leather scrap pouf : I ordered two leather poufs to hold my leftover fabric scraps. It's amazing how much they hold and this is such a better price than if you were to buy these pre-stuffed. They come from Morocco and definitely have a strong scent when they arrive. I kept mine outside in the shade for about a week and the smell is gone.
a big work desk : when we moved into this house I got two big Ikea kitchen islands (this is similar but mine is open in the middle) and put them in the center of the room. It's been absolutely amazing to have so much space to spread out work and sewing projects.
Big Dreams, Daily Joys : yep. I can't have a "things" round-up and not include my own book. It was a dream to write and it's been a joy to see and hear about people reading it. Books are my best friends and it's overwhelming to have my own out there in stores and on shelves.
"I want to be around people that do things. I don't want to be around people anymore that judge or talk about what people do. I want to be around people that dream and support and do things." : rounding it out with another Amy Poehler quote because who even am I if I do not?
ps: see last year's list here.
