January is one of those weird months, don’t you think? Feels like it can drag on for weeks on end, yet the days seem to be super short thanks to the lack of daylight hours! So I never tend to feel like I am very productive in January, even though it tends to be the month I feel most ready to make changes. I suppose I just need to warm up and ease into the new year, things usually pick up in February.
This month has felt busy though. Our annual family holiday to Bluestone, getting back into the swing of school runs, packed lunches and after school classes, and we had an influx of newborns all born within 2 weeks which kept Jon and I busy in the studio…so all in all its been busy!
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WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO
Well the main thing we have been up to is our annual family trip to Bluestone, which was totally lovely! We go every January (except last year, Thanks Covid!) but this was Effies first year so that makes it an extra special one for us. We love having a week to properly switch off and relax after the craziness of the Christmas period. And Bluestone really is the perfect place as it is just so chilled. We spend the days playing in the park or the activity centre, swimming in the pool or just having fun in our cabin. Our fav thing is the winter lights festival though, which didn’t disappoint this year!
I also spent a lovely night away visiting a friend in Hereford, the first time for me to go away without the kids or Jon in a very very long time! It was so nice to be able to eat nice food, drink good wine and have a lovely catch up with her.
WHAT WE’VE BEEN LOVING
I’ve honestly been loving discovering/rediscovering my own style a bit this month (no photos to prove it yet sorry!) I bought this lush lilac jumper from Boohoo to pair with the high waist jeans I had from there also. And I managed to bag myself these epic Lucy & Yak Dungers in their sale! And spent my Christmas voucher on these stunning Dr Marten boots with rose gold hardware. Finding the old fashiony bit of me since becoming a mum is pretty important to me, I’ll start to feel more like I have my own identity again, not just MUM.
I was also inspired by Lyndsey at Fizzy Peaches to purchase a One Line A Day Diary to start documenting the little highlights and happy things each day. I find we forget the everyday joys, the little things that make day to day life, so this is my way of remembering and reminding myself to be grateful.
We also restarted receiving Hello Fresh boxes and I am loving cooking new recipes and trying out some new tasty meals. If you’d like to try them yourself you can sign up here and get uptown £46 off!
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING AND LOVING
Reading – Well I set my Goodreads challenge for this year at 24 books, and I think it has motivated me as I am off to a great start! I finished 3 books this month and am half way through book number 4. I am having to read them all as kindle books at the moment (which means I havent even started on my TBR pile of actual books yet!) as I mostly read when feeding Effie or getting her off to sleep, so its usually dark and I cant hold a proper book…but at least I am still reading more.
PopCo by Scarlett Thomas – I really wanted to love it, as I loved the last book of hers I read (The End of Mr Y) but it was just really hard work. Overly complicated, overly descriptive and too in-depth when it just wasn’t needed or called for. The story was really slow and could have been so much better as the concept itself is a great idea
The Ladies Midnight Swimming Club by Faith Hogan – Oh my gosh I loved this so much. A really easy read even though it tackles quite heavy topics – Death, Cancer, Baby loss. I did find the whole thing incredibly predictable, but honestly didn’t mind at all. The characters are all so likeable and lovely.
The Perfect Daughter by Alex Stone – This was one of the Prime Reading free books this month so I thought I would give it a go. It is a bit of a psychological drama/crime book, about a missing boyfriend, overbearing and manipulative mother and lots of secrets. I found it an easy read, kinda predictable, and I really didn’t warm to the main character as I just found her constant questioning herself really irritating. But the overall story was good and I enjoyed it.
Watching – Well I have been utterly enjoying the new Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That. Even if others are hating it, I kinda love it! And it got me reminiscing about vintage SATC, so I have been bingeing that too. And not too overload Jon on the girly TV we have just started watching the Netflix series Snowpiercer too, which has us hooked already! And we enjoyed Angela Black on ITV. We’ve also watched a few movies and TV mini dramas too, here are some of them:
- Don’t Look Up (Netflix Movie)
- Call the Midwife
- Four Lives
- Death in Paradise
- How to be Single (movie)
- Black Work
- Butterfly
- Encanto (about a million times!!)
- Boss Baby 2
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED IN JANUARY
January was a generally busy month in our day to day life, so the blog got neglected a little, but I managed a few posts at the start of the month and had a few AD pieces so here is what you might have missed!
- The Books I Read in 2021
- Sibling Project (December 2021)
- My Top 10 Blog Post of 2021
- Pressure Cooker Honey Soy Chicken Recipe – Chinese Fakeaway Recipe
- Start Your Own Parenting Blog in 8 Steps
- Guest Post- Different Types Of Paper For Kids Art
- How To Make Your New Business More Engaging
- 7 Tips On How To Spring Clean Your House
- 6 Effective Ways to Keep Your Kids Comfortable When They’re Sick
- 9 Things To Buy When You’re Moving Into Your New Home
- 5 Ideas To Be More Sustainable At Home
- 5 Tips To Keep Your Smart Home in Great Conditions
- Four Ways You Can Maximize The Space In Your Bedroom
- Sibling Project (December 2021)
JANUARY GOALS REVIEW
I honestly didn’t even keep track of what my goals were this month as I was pretty busy, but now ive looked back on them I think I have done pretty well! lol!
- Meal Plan and Keep to a budget – £5 over budget so I think we can say thats a success tbh as I still have meals and ingredicnts that will run into February. We restarted Hello Fresh for a few weeks so meal planning has been pretty easy and its going well. We will be keeping it up for the coming weeks (If you would like me to write up some of our meal plans please let me know!)
- Sort and Organise the Kids toys – So I didnt completely manage this. I did all of Effies and we donated a load to our school playgroup, and we did the ones in Elians room, but the major bulk hasn’t been properly sorted yet, but I have organised most items now so they have a dedicated home.
- Start Decluttering – Umm yeah this kinda didnt really get underway. The odd bit here and there but nothing major has been decluttered yet
- Dedicate some time to read everyday – Ive been making sure to read whenever I am putting Effie down for a nap or to bed in the nights. Its not quite the dedicated reading time alone that I would really like, but it will do for now as it means I am actually reading a little everyday, which shows as Ive read 3.5 books this month.
- List a box of kids clothes on Vinted – Maybe not a whole box, but I have definitely managed to get half a box on and I’ve made a few sales already. I still have a lot more to sort and list though
- Earn £200 from side hustles to put towards debt – I paid an extra £200 off debt this month, mainly from blogging income so I am pleased with that
AIMS AND GOALS FOR FEBRUARY
I think February goals will be very similar/the same as January’s actually. Most of these are habits I am trying to build into my general life, or wider goals I am aiming to keep up for the year or until the reach a final end point (like paying off our debts!)
- Meal plan and stick to my budget – This went well this month so hopefully I am back on track with this and back in the habit of meal planning to be more efficient and cost effective
- Sort and Organise the kids toys – This didnt get that far in Jan, so I need to focus a little more on it this month
- Start Decluttering – Yeah…start!
- Dedicate some time to reading everyday – Going well so plan to keep it up during Effies naps
- Fill in my one line a day journal every day – I have been doing the journal all month, occasionally have to catch up a day or 2 but I dont mind that as long as every day is filled in
- Keep up to date with my Project 365 challenge on my other insta account – I decided to do this everyday little joys project on a separate insta too…to go alongside the journal really
- List a box of kids clothes on Vinted – So much clothing!!!
- Earn £200 from side hustles/selling to put towards debt
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