I just realized I missed a day in my Tuesday/Friday update schedule for the first time since I started, without being on hiatus, and without even noticing? Sometimes time just slips away from you.
So I thought I’d just check in, share some of my finds from the Internet with you all, since I am definitely plugged in way too much.
Congratulating my friend and NoVa Yelp community manager Gretchen on her engagement!!!!!
Congratulations!!
Just a super quick little update to let you all know what I’ve been up to these days. A March favorites round-up will be coming, and I have planned things out for this little space of mine. I hope you all like it (and that it pans out!).
I wear green one time a year.
That time is today. Yep, I got a new green dress. So now I have more than one, how exciting. Another update that you may notice is I have replenished my Mardi Gras bead collection so that I could add a gold strand to my look. I actually really like this dress. The only green I wear is emerald green (love me some jewel tones) and I love the fit and flare. It is a bit short for how flared it is (read: I can’t bend down without flashing my safety shorts to the world) but the flare is what makes it fun!
I still think that the article I shared last year by the Irish American who does not celebrate St. Patrick’s Day is worth a read. I only celebrate by dusting off my green clothing and sometimes watching the classic Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), The Luck of the Irish.
Also, I’m sharing this gorgeous video narrated by Liam Neeson for Discover Ireland for a quick look at Emerald Isle. (And also so you can listen to Liam Neeson’s silky smooth voice.)
How are you celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, if you celebrate at all? This blog post is essentially the extent of my celebrations!
As I’m in-between full-time jobs and/or possibly starting school in the fall (shhhhh), I have been more careful about where I spend my money than usual. (And I’m pretty frugal as it is.)
But you know what? Sometimes, experiences that cost money give you a lot more in return.
Also, I like to think that I’m investing in things to look forward to this year. Remember how I said that I said yes to more opportunities in 2013 and then didn’t do that in 2014? Well, time to say yes again.
Because I’ll admit, when I hit those mood lows, I don’t look forward to the next day, week, month, year, whatever. I get very stuck in the stress of living in the present and stressing over the past that I don’t even want to begin stressing about the future. It was really important during really difficult weeks of school for me to give myself something to look forward to at the end of the week so that I didn’t just give up in the middle of the week, no matter how much I wanted to. Even if it was something like: “Okay, Starr, you have three exams this week BUT if you survive them, you can buy an éclair for dessert on Friday. For lunch AND dinner if you want!” (Fact: I love éclairs.)
I hit a low like this last week. It wasn’t fun; I felt like I was just existing and it was getting really exhausting. Don’t get me wrong; there were no thoughts of self-harm involved here. You know that feeling at the end of a really long day when you barely want to change or wash up, you just want to collapse onto your bed and close your eyes and put the day behind you?
Take that and concentrate it and you’ll get an idea of what I was feeling. Very emotionally exhausted by life, specifically by worrying about life, and not seeing an end to that worrying anytime soon, which was exhausting to think about it and of itself. I just felt so… done. Spent.
So, this weekend, I’ve been giving myself things to look forward to, investing in myself for those days and weeks and months when I don’t want to do things and need to be forced to leave my room.
Here are a few things I have planned over the next few months that I’m pretty excited for!
Tickets haven’t gone on sale yet but I’m excited to see Stromae in person!
Also I haven’t been to a concert in a long time, so this will be fun
Linking to his US tour if you’re interested in seeing him perform in your city or mine!
I have other things going on, but these are the things I’m locking down just this week.
(And also I’m just super excited for Karen and Christine to visit, but that’s been in the works for some time now!)
These are gifts to myself, to reward myself for just surviving. I wish I didn’t need it, but some days I do. And it’s important to treat yo self, right? I’m still learning to do this.
How are you planning to treat your self in the coming weeks?
Stephanie over at Life In Limbo turned me on to PopSugar’s 2015 Reading Challenge. The idea is to expand your horizons with respects to the types of books you are reading. I know that I often fall into periods where I purposefully seek out similar book: my sci-fi phase, whenever I read a long series like The Boxcar Children, that time I checked out every book about dolphins that my library offered.
This challenge seems really different to me, and I know it would be really challenging for me to complete. Here are some that I found particularly interesting:
A book at the bottom of your to-read list
A book your mom loves
A book that takes place in your hometown
A book that came out the year you were born
A book with bad reviews
A book written by an author with your same initials
It’s a refreshing list that definitely will inject some variety to your reading list. I’m so used to seeing lists that follow a kind of Eat, Pray, Love model of suggesting books that make you laugh, make you cry, make you feel old, make you feel young, whatever. Not that those aren’t good books to read, but this list is a little quirky and I like that.
Stephanie has made a handy dandy Google Doc for you to fill in the titles of the books as you complete the challenge. If you’d like to follow along with PopSugar’s checklist, you can download their printable.
If you want to follow along with my 2015 Reading Challenge (we’ll see if when I complete it!), I am on GoodReads!
P.S. I’ve finished our January books – #GIRLBOSS and Bossypants. What would you recommend for February?
Hi all, so sorry to do this YET AGAIN but I am doing a very last minute personal improvement project with a deadline that is rapidly approaching. As I didn’t sign up for this little project of mine until very recently, I am scrambling a lot so I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay on schedule. I will try to use my procrastination time (of which there is sure to be plenty) to post some goodies up for you all but I must ask for your forgiveness as I possibly disappear for a week or 2.
Thanks and I hope your resolutions are all going well!
Yep, I got a new green dress. So now I have 
Sip of Starrshine 