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This is our third year going to the Whitesbog Blueberry Festival and it's one of our favorite June events!! This year was much cooler and cloudy than previous years. It was really nice to do some exploring, eating and observing when it wasn't a million degrees.
We also saw this amazing dog!! How cute and tough is he?
I love to visit and revisit the places we love around NJ. It's so great to see an area in all different weather. Where are your favorite places to visit in your state?
Here we are in in July and I've definitely been feeling that mid year slump. My unexpected blogging hiatus has lasted much longer than I intended, I'm having trouble motivating myself to get back started, I'm having trouble motivating to sew and art, I'm struggling a little to be happy and content at work. To try and change this mental slump, I've been brainstorming, reading, and watching some videos that might help inspire and motivate me!
One step I've decided to take is to reassess the goals I made in the beginning of the year. This is something I have never done before. It never occurred to me to change my goals mid year but why not? If the goals I set are not working for me, I should mold them into something that does. My goals should work for me as much as I work towards them.
Here are my original goals for 2018 and how I might modify them:
Be Balanced in Home Life/Art/Personal Endeavors and Work
Since 2015 working on personal endeavors as much as my job has been one of my main goals. At some times this works, at others it does not. In 2018, I would like to continue on this path but to change it slightly. What I find most difficult sometimes is splitting my focus, trying to keep my work, art, life and job separate but equal. This year I want to focus on keeping them Balanced.
Finding a balance between work and personal art and achievements is a constant struggle. Mid year, I want to take time to figure out what I need to do to be creative and productive in my non professional life. And happier in my professional one.
Sew and Quilt More
In 2017 my quilting fell off the map a little after a strong start to the year. I want to get back in the habit of working on quilting more days than I don't. I want to have more finishes in 2018 than last year. There are a bunch of projects (not quilts) that I have been wanting to work on; I'd like to get these done this year! I want to keep up with all my community sewing projects, like YOTS, OMG, and FALs.
This goal is taking a break. I have been unmotivated in sewing and feeling guilty about it. I know it's something I will always come back to so why stress myself out feeling bad about it?
Be a Better Blogger
I want to keep up my progress on my blog and set some goals for myself. I want to make sure I blog at least 23 days each month, explore my favorite columns more, create new content, and make bloggy connections. I want to get back in the habit of writing in my live journal, and use it more as a free flowing, personal, brain dump, style actual journal. I plan to get some items that will help me at work, but I plan to use them for my blogging life as well. I plan to try a standing desk. I have to learn to get better about answering comments!!
This goal still really motivates me!!! Every year I take a blogging hiatus and this year I feel like it was not planned but has already happened. With that out of the way, I can concentrate on blogging hard for the rest of the year! I can't wait to blog more and have some great content ideaas coming up. But LiveJournal doesn't work for me, so that's a no go.
Zero Waste Journey
Last year I began my zero waste journey. In 2018, I plan to continue this journey and take more steps towards becoming plastic free. At the moment, I feel like I still hold myself back from taking easy steps towards this goal, so becoming more mindful and incorporating more ZW routines into my daily life are key for this goal.
This is another one that I am even more excited and motivated about it!! I am so happy about where I am in my ZW journey.
Be Purposeful and Mindful in My Home Life and Relationships
This is a big goal, but I can break it down.
First and foremost, I want to spend more time with my husband and the cats, and make that time more purposeful. We live very busy lives and sometimes togetherness and quality time get pushed to the side. I want to make sure I'm mindful of the little things, like taking photos together, going on walks, exploring, beach combing, and being together intentionally. I want to make sure we are caring for the cats, appreciating where we live and the seasons.
I made strides in decluttering and keeping the house clean, happy and healthy in 2017. This year I want to get even better. I want to tackle a few bigger projects around the house, like finishing our kitchen renovation, fixing up our bathroom, organizing and purging the basement, plus more. I want to continue to take good care of the plants.
I want to continue to see and be mindful about connecting with my family and friends. This includes my immediate family, who live close, but also those that live far away, and friends near and far.
This year, I want to focus on gardening, taking care of our yard, growing food, and composting. Since moving we have wanted to make our property more comfortable and useful. This is the year to do that in earnest.
This is a big goal! But I think we are doing a really great job with this one. We spent 30 minutes the other night pulling caterpillars off our tomato plants and having a great time. That seems like a perfect embodiment of family togetherness and care.
Improve My Health, Wellness, and Mental Well Being.
A lot of things last year worked towards this goal, but in 2018 I want to be more mindful and more intent on really taking care of my health. In February, I turn 39 and I want to make sure that I get healthier and happier as I get older. I want to walk and exercise more regularly and purposely. I want to swim in the summer and learn to do yoga and home workouts. 2018 will be the year I can touch my toes!!
My first full year of having a capsule wardrobe is approaching and I have loved this challenge and routine. I plan to implement even more consciousness about my style and outward appearence to feel better about myself in 2018.
I want to continue to eat and be more mindful of having a plant based diet. I want to make sure that we are eating locally and sustainably as much as possible. I want to increase our health using suppliments, vitamins, essenital oils, and exercise. I also want to make sure I'm maintaining my health by taking my inhaler. My asthma has gotten worse in the last few months and I know this is due to not being strict on taking my meds and also not exercising properly.
Reading, drawing, sewing, creating, and organization have always helped my mental well being and this year I want to focus on all these areas. Watching tv does the opposite, so I want to be mindful of moving away from this fun but unproductive activity.
Another big goal!! Mid year I want to really concentrate on health so that at the end of the year, I don't fall in to laziness. I always struggle more in the Winter months, so I want to make sure I have some good habits in place before then. Everything mentioned in the goal has a place in my mid year review.
Make Time To Travel and Explore
This should be a priority for us but it must be balanced with being at home in our own space. Challenges like exploring one new place per month, doing an overnight every two months, seeing art once a month, going to the beach once a week, etc... might help strike this balance.
This hasn't been a priority for us, and honestly, I haven't thought about it too much. This might happen when it happens but mid year, it's not a goal.
Write 2 Letters Per Month
Writing letters gave me so much joy last year, but I never made the time to do it in a purposeful way. In 2018, I plan to change that.
I really want to get back into this!!
Create 1 Tattoo Per Month
I have very slowly been learning to do Stick and Poke tattoos. This year it's time to branch out and seriously improve this skill. One tattoo per mouth is really ambitious but it's a good goal to strive for.
No progress has been made on this, and it's not going to be a huge goal going forward. If it happens, I'll be happy, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it.
Save Money
We did a good job at saving money and at not over spending in 2017. 2018 is the first year since we moved to NJ that I will work full time all year and I want to have some money saved to show for it.
We've been really mindful of this goal and I think we are on the right track.
I think one of the biggest takeaways for me is to reassess my art and how to be creative. Sewing, tattoos, and other things I've tried to focus on are not doing it for me but I am inspired by clothes, blogging, and other new endeavors!! I'm ready to move forward in those directions.
Going thru my goals has really let me think about what I want for the rest of the year. I think I need a little while to ruminate and come up with my new goals list.
Have you ever changed your goals mid year? Did it help you stay motivated?
I posted a link to the official Plastic Free July website yesterday, but take a closer look at their resource page.
Banning plastic that causes waste and pollution might be a great long term plan, but there are consequences that have to be addressed.
How did I miss BullyPalooza?
I dogear!
I posted on my insta story, but ACV and my new shampoo bar are my current favorite thing!! My hair is soooo soft after!!
In 2017 I started my zero waste journey. Zero Waste is the goal, mindful practice is the action. When I use the term Zero Waste, that is my ultimate goal, but Less Waste would be a more accurate description of my evolving lifestyle.
Happy Plastic Free July!
2017 was the first year that I even knew what PFJ was, and it came right at the right time of my life. I was just learning about Zero Waste and the Low Impact Movement. I was thinking about it a lot at that time. But I wasn't ready to really paricipate in PFJ. I was a little at a loss as to how to even do that. But July 2017 was, if I can pin point it, the time where I really started my Zero Waste, Low Impact, journey. That was the month I first tried to refuse straws on the regular, I bought a water bottle and tried to use it, and that was when Low Impact became a serious undercurrent in my life.
So here we are a year later, and this year, I was ready for Plastic Free July! This year, refusing straws is second nature, bringing my water bottle is becoming the norm, I try to always get items in my own containers instead of a disposable container, we no longer use plastic wrap or garbage bags! Continuing these practices is part of my PFJ2018. I also created a list for my self for things to work on this year:
- Audit my trash for the month of July. I have done this before while I was starting out along my ZW journey, and I do it every once in a while to see where I'm at. This month, I plan to mostly audit our recycling.
- Take the time to recycle the items that are difficult to recycle. We are donating clothes, dropping off our electronics, bringing our plastic bags to drop off centers, and other annoying tasks this month. We still accumulate some of these items, so disposing of them properly is super important.
- Focus on building our garden for this year and years to come! We recently (finally) planted our front bed and now we are hooked! We cannot wait to create more avenues for us to grow our own food and rely less on conventional, and often plastic packed, fruit and veg.
- Utilize local farmer's markets! Summer is the best time for fresh fruits and veggies and I want to eat them all! The farmer's market is a great to get them, plastic free!
- Continue to refuse disposable plastics like straws, plastic bags, plastic cups and coffee cups, single use plastic containers, etc... and get better at it!! The more you practice, the easier it becomes!
- Preach! Mostly, I try not to be too preachy about my Zero Waste journey, but PFJ is the perfect time to let people know about the horrors of disposable plastics, give them some insight into my lifestyle and ideals, and to hopefully spark them to think to these ideas!
So far, I'm happy with how my Plastic Free July is going. How are you celebrating PFJ?
A little late but here are my plant observations for June!
Lots of flowers!! Veggie garden is started! Replated roses! Farmers markets! What do June plants look like where you live?
These little light green plants popped up in our blueberry bushes all in a clump? What are they?
This weird fungus also appeared! Can anyone help us identify it?
It was a great month for plants! Love living this plant life!
Fabric storage is a problem in our house. We always seem to have more fabric than we know what to do with. Not a terrible problem! This One Monthly Goal for me is to find some good fabric storage options and declutter and organize. I'd like to have the majority of my fabric neatly put away by the end of July.
This is an especially important goals for me this month as I will be taking a big step back from sewing for the rest of the year. Even though I'm putting sewing on the back burner, I want to make sure that my resources are available to me if inspiration strikes .
Linking up with Elm Street Quilts this month, as usual!
You know when you sit down to start something at your desk, or you set out for your morning run, or you get ready to walk in to an event, or work, and you say to yourself internally "OKAY"?
Like, "okay, let's get started", like "okay, we're gonna do this", or "okay, let's get down to business". That's how I approached June. Maybe that's how I approach every month (day?). I knew June was gonna be a thing. I just didn't know what thing it would be.
Turns out, June was great, but hard. June helped me sit down and reassess what my goals are and what the rest of 2018 might look like. We did a lot of our regular things in June, too! We saw family and friends, watchercats, we saw a lot of bees this month!
1) Bees, 2) Bees, 3) Bees... 4) and a sea princess.
The month started out for me in a different state so we did get to travel some in June. We got to visit beaches, pine barrens, and hang out in our city.
1) The cutest #myfavoritetrucksofasburypark. 2) Funeral home #watchercat. 3) Gazing. 4) and Yawning.
Since high season is here, June saw us working a lot! But we made time to tend the garden, have our first (and hopefully last) yard sale, and do household things, although never as much as we would like.
1) All the great signage. 2) Pink in Point Pleasant in NJ. 3) We replanted this rose and it had one big bloom. 4) Weekly challenge #1!
June was hard, but I feel it set me up for some great things to come. I have a lot planned for July, so let's get started, okay?
Last week I found myself in Cleveland Ohio and decided to visit the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.
This is a really sweet little aquarium on the West Side of the Cuyahaga River. It's under ground, housed in the lower levels of the FirstEnergy Powerhouse Building which was built in 1892. It's a gorgeous brick building and being right at the edge of the river makes one feel that they are going deep under the water.
This aquarium is pretty kid friendly, with touch tanks and little activities to do throughout. It is a little pricey to get in at $20 for adults. I understand that these attractions need money to survive as well as our support. But I often wish they could find a way to be more accessible as well.
By far the main attraction and the big finish for this aquarium is the shark tunnel! This is a really neat feature towards the end of the space and it's worth the price of admission!!
I found Cleveland to be an extremely nice and interesting place to visit and this aquarium was no exception. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you are in the area!
Has anyone else visited the Greater Cleveland Aquarium?
For the first months of the year I had the same One Monthly Goal and I still haven't completed it. I thought about keeping with it this month, but I thought I would take a break and make a goal that would, hopefully be easier to accomplish.
Last month part of my hiatus from this blog was also a break from the Mad Cat Quilts Block Of the Month in May. For June I want to get back into it so I'm making creating two MCQBOM blocks my June OMG.
So far, in 2018, I still haven't completed any OMG Goals:
Jan - Finish one small quilt - Not Finished
Feb - Finish scrappy quilt - Not Finished
Mar - Finish scrappy quilt - Not Finished
Apr - Finish scrappy quilt - Not Finished
May - Finish scrappy quilt - Not Finished
Jun - 2 MCQBOM Blocks -
I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts today.
May went by in a blur. I took an unexpected hiatus from the blog, saw so many friends and family, made new friends, found watchercats, worked on the house, took long walks, explored places new and old, worked hard, but had tome to rest, too. June started off in a new place and with a celebration. What will happen next?
Who else has a morning walk routine? I hope you all enjoy seeing one of my beach walks. If so, please subscribe to my channel. comment, or give a thumbs up!
Where is your favorite place to walk?
It might be an unofficial goal for 2018 (and every year) but I would love to get more tattoos this year. Actually, I think about my next tattoos constantly. Does everyone feel like this?
In honor of my future tattoos, I thought I would take a look back at my current tattoos. I hope I can remember in what order I got them!
Getting your first tattoo is so odd bc you have no idea what to expect!! It did not go as I was thinking but one thing was for sure, I loved it! This tattoo was not at all how I expected it to come out. I had had ideas of what it would look like, but it working with another person on art is always a surprise! My artist was Ryoko and she was working at Brooklyn Tattoo at the time.
I always get asked if I intend to put color on my tattoos, but I do not! I love my thin black and grey line work. I hope that all my tattoos are semmetrical, so this tattoo is on my left forearm, and I have another one of the opposite arm.
What is the story behind your tattoos?
I have been running low on inspiration for my Mad Cat Quilts Block Of The Month, so I thought it was time a group photo.
I'm not sure what the final layout will be and every time I see them all together, I'm more confused! It's nice to see them all in one pace, though.
Linking up with Monday Making, Move it Forward Monday, and more around the web!
What, you don't have a shelf full of droids?
Spring marks one year that I have done a capsule wardrobe. Now I'm able to compare my first spring capsule with this year's. There are a few of the same items from that capsule that made it into the latest one! Both have my signature colors of denim, grey, black, and some white. Both are colorful, far more than my Winter Capsule.
My previous Spring Capsule had mostly cool colors, but the new capsule has more warm jewel tones but with teals, and browns.
My first capsule was far more casual, in the newest one, I consciously tried to be more dressy and formal. I feel more more in tune with a personal style since I have been using the CW method! That was one of my goals, and I'm glad it's working!
With this spring, I also have been a little looser with the "rules" of this capsule. I have never followed the stricter rules that some people use, but this time around I feel like I haven't even completed this capsule and we are already one month in.
My first Spring, I was very rigid on purpose. I wanted to make sure I was trying this process whole heartedly. Now I feel so much more comfortable with capsules, I feel ok to play around with this one more.
Since my first attempt, I've been introducing more and more slow fashion into my capsules. This latest one has the most ever, and I've almost completely stopped buying fast fashion! Even if I tempted, I try and seek out a sustainable alternative. I also care much more about what my clothes are made of. Sure, I always knew cotton felt great, but now I look for wool, cashmere, silk, and linen, too!
How long have you been keeping a capsule wardrobe? Does yours change much season to season? What have you learned?
Yep, you guessed it. This month I'll still be trying to finish this scrappy little quilt.
So far, in 2018, I still haven't completed any OMG Goals:
Jan - Finish one small quilt - Not Finished
Feb - Finish scrappy quilt - Not Finished
Mar - Finish scrappy quilt - Not Finished
Apr - Finish scrappy quilt - Not Finished
May - Finish scrappy quilt -
Linking up with Elm Street Quilts and around the web.
April was all about flowering trees, the weather getting warmer, the anticipation of Spring and Summer. But let's face it, April was all about cats.
I got to meet a magical space lady, 'Lil Bub!
We saw so many #watchercats!
We hung out at home with all our cats, which is always a priority for us.
Work out of the house was busy this month and not too much sewing got done. I'm far behind in many projects, but it felt like a very productive month.
So many plans were completed in April! May is shaping up to be a whirl wind, so let's get going!
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While making the last Mad Cat Quilts Block Of the Month, I had scraps and extra time, and threw this block together right after.
I can't wait to do a group photo of this bom! I've been super happy with the way these blocks have come together.
Linking up around the web today.
Finally!! Flowers in my plant update!! This update is all about flowers, in fact. From the beginning of the month, with snow covered buds, to the end of the month when many trees and flowers are in full bloom, here are some pretty plant observations.
Can anyone tell me what these flowers are?
This crocus was hanging on for dear life.
Finally the magnolias are blooming.
Same tree...
...different day.
This apartment/tree set up always reminds me of Nola.
Yessssss.
What's blooming in your neck of the woods?