April – a time for restoration, growth, and consistency.

Working from home these past few weeks has led to a lot of self-discovery.

For one, I didn’t realize how tired I’ve been for so long. My life has constantly been on go-go-go, and this period of being at home has really done wonders for my spirit. I’ve finally been able to rest without guilt — mentally, emotionally, and physically. I really hope to lean into that more as time goes on. I’m also trying to learn how to give myself grace this month regardless of what April brings. Because truly, that could be anything.

Word for the month: Embrace

I like to think that I’m flexible and easily adaptable, but when I take a real good look at areas in my life where I’m resistant, it’s all the places where change is happening.

For example, my new supervisor at work and learning how to adjust to her way of doing things. Or even the CQ blog content that I thought I was going to be writing in April compared to what actually makes sense to write now (given the circumstances of the world’s health).

In some ways, I’ve been resistant to both of those things - and it’s really stifled my creativity and left me feeling stuck. So, this month, I really want to focus on embracing change and allowing myself to be flexible in my decisions. I want to be ok with the fact that my game-plan changed… and lean into it long enough to create a new plan.

On My Calendar

Good Friday is coming up and I get the day off from work! It’s interesting how even though I’m working from home and have full autonomy over my schedule, days off still excite me. I think it’s because I can finally do whatever I want without my daily to-do’s hanging over my head. I’m thinking about watching the Passion of the Christ on that Friday. I haven’t seen it since I was in High School and want to revisit what it’s like as an adult.

This will be the first Easter in the past 24 years of my life where I’m not in a physical church. Weird…but also not really. It’s been incredible to see how the church has come together and shown that it’s not about a physical building but the people. I’ve come to enjoy and appreciate the connections i’ve gained through Zoom calls, and honestly my solo virtual church sessions have really been a blessing. I think for Easter I may dress up a little or at least make an Easter brunch for myself to commemorate such an incredible day in the Christian faith.

Other things on my (virtual) calendar for this month is a whole bunch of content creation. I really want to take advantage of this time, which means that I will be leaning more into my writing and content creation. I recently just started back up my newsletter (!) with my new blog posts and other fabulously curated things. So of course, more good things are on the way.

Inspired By

One of my latest quarantine activities has been emptying my closet of pieces I no longer wear or don’t want to wear, which has sparked the reaction that my taste in clothes and what’s actual in my closet don’t exactly align. I’ve recently been toying with the idea of a creating a capsule wardrobe, a minimal closet full of pieces you genuinely enjoy wearing and styling. But I would want to add some quality basics and a few more things first.

That being said, I’ve seen my style inspiration shift to classy minimalism. Solid colors. Soft oversized t-shirts tucked into structured linen pants. Ivories. Neutrals. Denim. Blazers. Give it allllll to me.

My style inspirations lately have been @k.els.e.y and @laurajadestone. I absolutely love the way their pieces look so effortlessly pulled together and chic without feeling stuffy. Trust me, chic and comfy is a hard combo to hit but they seem to nail it every time.

I currently have a H&M cart full of items that I have spent a lot of time curating (thank you H&M youtube hauls). I want to make sure that my first purchase of the year is worthwhile and can serve as the basis of my wardrobe that can last me for a long time.

upcoming projects

In terms of design, a lot of things have been inspiring me lately. Like I said earlier, I really want to use this time to expand and grow in my creativity, so I’ve been dabbling in executing different ideas I’ve gathered over the year. One of them is releasing some type of online magazine/coffee table book. I love the idea of having a curated editorial piece filled with value and aesthetics. I want beauty and content to co-exist perfectly, with little nuggets of goodness sprinkled throughout the pages. I’m really excited, and have been pinning beautiful spreads on Pinterest that are sparking my creativity.

Home Happenings

My home is turning out so beautifully! Honestly, I thank God that He lead me to a space that’s been such a blessing during this time.

My newest and best addition to my space is the shelf for my office nook. One of my friends helped me put it up a week into quarantine (yes, wasn’t social distancing then) and I love it so much. I was originally planning on putting two shelves up, stacked on top of one another, but since there is nothing else on the rest of my walls it looked too heavy. Once I’m finished decorating my living room, then I may try to put it up again.

I’ve recently been loving all of the different ways that people have styled their office corners (so much so, that I made a roundup blog post of all my favorites) and can’t wait to build this out with more plant babies and something to hide my cords lol.

The rest of my space is coming together nicely - I finally got some accent pillows for my sectional, and it’s getting around that time of the year where the sun is hitting my kitchen (!), which makes it look nice and dreamy in the afternoon.