As a business owner you wear A LOT of hats. That can be fun, and it also can be extremely challenging when you feel like you are constantly bouncing from one task to another. That’s where batch working and time blocking comes to the rescue. I discovered it a couple years ago, and find when I implement it, I am highly, highly productive. Who doesn’t feel amazing after a highly productive day of checking things off the list? 

I desperately need a vacation with palm trees and sunshine. Unfortunately, that is not in the cards this winter as we save for our destination wedding in June. We took one last winter and I remember it being the perfect way to break up the winter season. Since we can’t take a trip to somewhere warm, I asked Instagram what to do for the winter blues, and there were all sorts of great ideas to help with seasonal depression. In fact, so many great ideas that I wanted to share them for anyone else who may be struggling.

I know, I know, so many of you despise this holiday, but if I’m being honest, I love it. From the silly Valentine’s day boxes and cards in elementary school to coming up with something extra special for my future husband, I’ve always found the holiday charming.

Andrew and I have been talking about trying a grocery delivery service for weeks. We always see the Shipt shoppers shuffling through Meijer when we go, and some of our friends and coworkers use the service. We even know a few people who are actually shoppers for the company! All have said great things about using the service to get groceries delivered to their doorsteps.

Wedding planning is a full time job. The stress of planning and then the weight of financing is A LOT. Sometimes I have to just slow down and take a minute to enjoy my engagement and the process because this really is such a sweet time in my life.

This trip was way too good and way too affordable not to share! Seriously, we spent less than $2,000 on a six day trip, including airfare. Our condo was ON the beach. We couldn’t have asked for a better vacation than this.

I randomly bring up our empty double parlor ALL of the time. I love a cozy home and this room is just so bare and empty! If I had all of the money in the world, I would buy more furniture to fill it up, but that is just not the case. It’s also an awkward space. It sits between the dining room and living room and boasts a huge bay window and a fireplace flanked by French doors. The other sides of the room are open to the dining room and the living room. I can’t quite figure out what to even source for it since the layout is so complicated.

We redid my office slash spare bedroom right after we moved in since I work from home. We painted, purchased a bed frame, new linens, curtains, and I got a new desk, but I never got a desk chair! We have tried thrifting for one a few times, but none of the ones we found were height adjustable.

I randomly decided to paint our bathroom… black! Honestly, I was torn between white and black or just straight black, and we happened to have an entire gallon of Behr Limousine Leather in satin, so black it was. I have no regrets!

nstantly felt pulled in every direction, spread way too thin, and there were some points in the year I had major burn out. I would ghost Thoughtfully Thrifted and switch my energy to Thoughtfully Designed and vice versa. Some months I worked 80+ hour weeks and others I didn’t work at all.

You can’t sugar coat it. There isn’t anything comfortable about sharing your life on social media (at least at first). It’s awkward. All these fears and doubts creep into your mind, but the best way to get over doing Instagram stories is to DO Instagram stories.

Let’s just cut to the chase. Weddings are expensive AF. You go to hire a vendor, get a quote in your inbox and cry. I saw a fellow blogger equate wedding planning to crying over spreadsheets, and I hate to say it, but I was in the same boat.