Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday week! We had family in town and we got tons of snow, so we spent most of the week lounging at home in our jammies, rotating between Christmas movies and hot chocolate and sledding and snow days. We slept in, played games, made meals, and just had a wonderful low key and lazy holiday. As always, I think I’ll start and finish 42 projects just because Drew is taking a few days off but in truth, we really didn’t do much of anything (in a good way) and it was really what was needed. We’re now ready to start 2022 with a good reset!

We had a lovely New Year’s Eve at home with a few neighbors and my parents and we had a bonfire and toasted marshmallows and wrote down our wishes for the new year and tossed them into the fire. Then the neighbors went home and we rang in the New Year with pots and pan banging and cider toasting in our jammies. It was perfect! One of our favorite traditions is our tinsel tree where we take off all the ornaments and fill that baby with tinsel. I love it so much and never want it to come down.

I am always an optimist about a new year and love the changes and fresh start that come with it. I always feel ready to make some changes and to dream big and shake off old fears and worries. My goal for this year is to focus on what really matters, a happy and healthy home. We are in desperate need of some organizing and de-cluttering and fully plan to jump right in with that! We have a few exciting house projects planned and a few fun trips this year so we’re excited to hunker down and get serious with our budget again. Something that always feels so hard to start but sooooo worthwhile and good once you get going. I want to be more intentional with my time and what I allow into my mind and home. I want to say “yes” to my kids a little more and have fun and choose joy.

More new recipes, more trying hard things, more date nights, more patience, more laughing with my kids, more good books, more making out with my husband, more drinking water, more kindness.

Less of everything else.

We are always on board for a fresh start and I have a feeling 2022 will be all about that.

Happy New Year, friends! May it be the best one yet! XO

OK, friends. The moment has arrived. I have officially become an adult because I am in a book club! (round of polite applause while raising a wine glass please.) Seriously though, I have always wanted to be in a book club. A few friends who read good books and casually chat topics and themes while drinking wine and eating cheese? Yes, please!

A few months back, my friend Liz and I were discussing books and how we both love to read but it’s so hard to “make the time”. We were sharing book ideas and encouraging each other to try new books when I realized it would be so much easier to finish a book and “make the time” if I knew someone else was reading with me and we had a sort of “deadline” to complete the book by. We also realized that if we read more books just for fun (and not parenting or self help/organizing/best intention books) that it was more likely to keep us engaged. Kind of a selfcare project or ” me time” goal. 🙂 Thus, our book club was formed! So here are a few basics to get you started if you’re thinking about creating a book club of your own!

1. A small group of friends // so this one is totally up to you but for us, it was fun to have a small group of equally engaged readers to meet with. We have about 5-6 ladies who meet together every 4-6 weeks. I have found it’s nice to keep the group small so everyone has a chance to share. While I love a big crowd for certain things, it’s been wonderful to have like minded readers and to share our takeaways from the book as opposed to randomly chatting about kids, work, or social things. Don’t get me wrong, we talk about all those things but the main reason for getting together is book club and we all commit to reading the book which really helps keep on track.

2. Rotating houses // again, there is no right or wrong way to do this but rotating houses takes all the work out of getting together. We keep our gatherings to every 4-6 weeks so it makes it very easy to complete a book within that time frame as well as keeping the commitment level really minimal. You only end up hosting once or twice a year which is totally doable for everyone and we all bring a snack or dessert to share so it makes “hosting” super easy.

3. Picking good books // so there are literally thousands of book lists and recommendations for book clubs out there but we just threw a list of books we wanted to read out and all agreed on one and started from there! We discuss which book we’ll read next at the end of our get together and each gal can grab it on their own. Some like to purchase, others rent from the library, some listen on audible, totally up to each person. Like I said, we try to keep it as simple as possible! There have been favorites that we all loved and a few blah ones but I have truly enjoyed each read and took away something from each book. For the record, we have chosen totally different books each time and I think that’s been super fun to try new things and not get stuck in one particular style.

So far we’ve read: Open Book by Jessica Simpson, The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah, Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and are just beginning The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle. (book reviews coming soon!)

So there you have it! So simple, so fun, and I have seriously been so much more motivated to pick up a book to read, even on my own, than I ever have been before! I’ve also rekindled my love of reading and realized that I really do have the time and making it is so important. I really hope you’re inspired to start your own book club or at least pick up a good book and dive in! Happy reading! xo