Loving Lately v1.2019

Hello February! This year I’ll be sharing What I’m Loving Lately just once every few weeks in place of Friday Favorites. I’m happy to say I think I soaked up every possible second and enjoyed it during the first month of 2019. For once it doesn’t seem like time went by too fast. Perhaps it’s because I’m trying harder to be present and putting less stress on myself when it comes to blogging. That isn’t to say I have not put my all into starting the year with a bang!

January Blog Werk – What I Wrote About

From goal setting to picking a word of the year, from body shaming to spilling secrets about my marriage, I’m trying to put more of my heart into my blog posts. My post popular posts in 2019 (so far) have been regarding the expansion of our family – we just don’t know if we want any more kids – and a confession about my mental health. Have you been following along? Which post did you like the most?

What I’m Using

Without really trying, January became a “No Spend” month. I didn’t buy anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary for my family (even though I have a little bit of $ burning a hole in my pocket). That doesn’t mean I don’t have any favorite products from the last 30 days – thank goodness for Christmas gifts!

Beauty and skin care products have never been my thing, but now that age is creeping up on me (er, my face) I’m looking for the good stuff. I’ve inherited my Mom’s droopy eye-lids and thankfully discovered long lashes give the illusion I don’t have them. Someday I’d like to try lash extensions, but for now I’ve been LOVING this mascara duo:

You can read more details about my favorite beauty and skin care products here.

What I’m Reading

“This is Where it Ends” – Marieke Nijkamp
“Hate List” – Jennifer Brown
“That’s Not What Happened” – Kody Keplinger
Both of these YA books are about school shootings in some capacity – which I don’t know why I read anything about this topic because it always gives me nightmares. But these books are amazing. If you’re looking for heart-wrenching and heart-pounding stories, pick up any one of these. You’re going to be thinking a lot afterwards though about the scary world we live in.

“Side Effects May Vary” – Julie Murphy 
Another YA hit – Imagine you’re in high school and told you’re dying of Leukemia, so you do a bunch of not-so-nice stuff thinking nothing matters anymore? THEN you’re told you’ve gone into remission… so much drama, such an easy read.
“Ramona Blue” – Julie Murphy
The power of family and friendships, plus true love – all told by a fearless heroine with blue hair. A really cute book with deeper meaning snuck into the storyline. By the way… Have you seen “Dumplin'” on Netflix? Julie Murphy is the author behind that story too!

Did you know? I LOVE TO READ! So one of my goals for the new year was to spend more time reading and less time scrolling through my phone or watching Netflix. I did really well for the first half of the month, but then I got behind work-wise. February will be different…

What I’m Wearing

If you’re a New Englander you may have already heard of Dudley Stephens … actually this brand is rapidly becoming popular everywhere so you don’t have to live here to know their name. Two sisters (who live in Connecticut!) are behind the classic, comfortable, environmentally friendly stylish designs (their fleece is made from recycled yarn!). Aside from two turtleneck fleeces, I recently received a Poncho for Christmas. I wear my Dudley Stephens items on rotation and they’re perfect for the chilling temps we have here!

Dudley Stephens will be releasing new colors and styles sometime in February, so I’m hoping to snag a spring color!

Last thing I loved in January… keeping up my Christmas decorations. I just took the last few down and I’m so sad it’s all over! …. oh wait, we still have wreaths on our windows. Don’t judge!

Until next time…