Inspiration

I went to my first Creative Mornings event today and it was so great! If you have a local chapter I would highly recommend checking it out. Great energy, a great talk and a lot of fun to do something productive that early in the morning.

Finally started listening to Call Your Girlfriend with my own Long Distance Bestie (hi girl!) and it literally feels like listening to my own conversations with her. If you like politics, feminism, friendship, and all things that are good and funny, listen.

In case you somehow missed it: NASA has discovered planets that could support life!!

Revisiting this piece about how to read more because I need to be reminded!

Full disclosure: I have not yet made the time to watch this TED playlist for physical and emotional self-care but I like knowing it’s there when I’m ready.

I also liked this list of responsible and ethical brands – both global and Canadian which might make it easier for me to make good choices.

Also if you’ve never listened to the No Coincidence, No Story episode of TAL, you can do so here. I listened to it again this week and got chills all over again. Life is beautiful, y’all.

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Wow, this was a big week. I feel tired, but happy. Things are flowing (so much abundance!!!) and I’m feeling so incredibly happy to be exactly where I am. After those years away, it feels amazing to be building community, spending time with my family, seeing my people, trying new things, making stuff and exploring new things. I’m incredibly grateful and asking: could every week be this wonderful? I think it could. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! xo.

 

I’m not crying, you’re crying. Reminds me of Lin Manuel Miranda’s beautiful acceptance speech.

This video also made me cry – it’s so jarring to hear these conversations (which is the definition of my privilege).

“I want to say that one day you and your husband will fight about missed flights, and you’ll find yourself wistful for the days when you had to pay for only your own mistakes.” This line was a part of a whole conversation with my bestie last weekend about marriage and money and partnership.

Related: turns out there’s a huge spectrum of how couples handle money, and I find it fascinating.

On this week’s edition of “Oh Good, I’m So Glad I’m Not the Only Person Who Sorta Feels This Way”: this.

I found out that Mark Manson did a book signing in Toronto 2 days after it happened – ugh! His most recent piece is called the Disease of More and it’s so, so good.

Take yourself on a date! It’s cute and fun.

I desperately need to develop a bedtime routine, so I liked reading this post.

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Cozy, lovely things this week: I had a long conversation with my Grandma. I got The Little Book of Hygge. I went to my second Tuesdays Together meetup and it was interesting and fun. I started a second penpalship with my friend Parker. I’m going to see my whole family this weekend. I started listening to Call Your Girlfriend (approximately 3 years late) and am obsessed. How was your week?

 

If you ignore both the obnoxious title of this post and its NSFW cover photo, it actually contains some excellent advice about relationships and finding “The One”.

Damn, I love Austin Kleon. Here he is with some thoughts on the lifelong, daily, creative journey and why you should do something small, every day.

I’ve had several in-depth conversations about money with different friends over the past couple of weeks and am still enjoying reading the posts in this money & happiness Facebook group. Such a juicy topic! I was also a huge fan of this article about money questions to ask your partner – and I’d encourage you to ask these questions to yourself, too, whether or not you have a partner right now.

Also worth considering: how do YOU define success, when you peel away all the layers of external “shoulds” and “musts”? “What could be more successful than carving out a life for yourself that allows you to live your values daily?”

In case you need some scientific research to motivate you to get outside more often.

I’ve been telling anyone who will listen that they must listen to Twice Removed – it is crazy good and so fascinating. Big ups to Katie for the rec! Go listen!

Made my fave frittata recipe for a potluck last weekend and it was a hit.

I have been using (and loving) Inbox for Gmail on my phone this week. I am especially fond of the “Snooze” feature for telling emails to come back later.

Also a fan of Noisli! I forgot about it until earlier this week but I find the rustling leaves + waves sound combo very relaxing. Especially in the winter when the outdoors feels way less appealing.

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I feel like I’m slowly regaining my balance after the past couple weeks of stress and anxiety. Small wins in this department: art before breakfast one day, a long walk in the sunshine, a visit home to see my mom and puppy, starting a new book, a visit to the dollar store (very easy, cheap way to feel rich & abundant). There were still long days with too much screen time and a brain that just won’t quit, but small wins are still wins.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

Anyone else feel like they’re losing their minds this week? Same. This might help. (A little.)

If you want to say thank you, don’t say sorry.

These are such great ideas for getting your mornings closer to where you want them to be.

I rediscovered the blog Smart, Pretty & Awkward this week – I used to subscribe but stopped somewhere along the way. She always has lots of great tips!

Yesterday I needed to let my brain relax a bit so I tried my hand at painting a triangle painting like the one in this post and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

I found out about AdoreMe this week – you get to take a style quiz and then look at pretty things so I’m a fan so far.

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This week got away from me a little bit. When I looked up, it was Thursday night, and I’m still feeling a bit off this week like last week. Things are weird in the world right now and I’ve spent way too much time watching Youtube videos and TV and reading scary articles and getting drained by it all. One of my intentions for this year was to unplug often and I’d like to remind myself to revisit that in the days to come.

This weekend my book club is meeting, which is fun! We read The Happiness Equation this month, which had some interesting concepts that should be cool to discuss as a group. I will also be trying my damnedest to get off of Facebook, Instagram, and the internet as a whole. I hope you have a wonderful weekend too!