Self Love Sunday | New Year, New Routines

We’re almost at the end of January, and I’ve been working at establishing some new routines this month! I don’t want to be one of those people who flood your feed with super positive “you can do it!” content when it comes to self care- we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and we’re all doing our best to simply exist right now.

Reese Witherspoon recently posted about new habits that she’s working on building, which came with some playful backlash from Ina Garten. I can see both sides- one one side, its comforting to start new routines. I’m overwhelmed with everything going on in the world, and it’s nice to just focus on myself for a bit and on building new habits. We’re two years into the pandemic, and things are shitty enough right now without wallowing day in and day out. I work full time outside of the home, I have a young son in school, I’m overwhelmed, and I need some routine and normalcy - I also need to feel good, and that requires some changes.

On the flip side, everything above still applies, and sometimes all I want to do is watch Netflix. It’s all about balance, right?

I received some self care items for Christmas and my birthday last month, and wanted to share some things I’ve been doing that have been helping with the January pandemic winter slump. Focusing on things I can control is keeping my mind off the things I can’t during this pandemic. Here’s what I’m doing this month:

Creating A Better Skincare Routine

I’ve always loved skincare, but in the past I’ve had a bad habit of buying items, using them for a while, and then letting them dry up or expire. I also buy items, use them up but don’t repurchase. Neither of those habits were helping my skin. My skin isn’t terrible- I don’t really get breakouts, and aside from 2 fine lines in my forehead that I’m considering botox for, I don’t have any wrinkles yet. My main area of focus with my skin is preventative maintenance and minimizing the appearance of fine lines and pores.

I took this photo below to show my lash extensions that I just had filled (I’ve been getting them for over a year now- let me know if you want to know more!), but it’s also a good representation of where my skin is now. I’m not wearing any make-up in that photo, but I was in the car, so the lighting may have been more flattering than usual.

My main concerns looking at that photo are large pores, and lackluster skin. I want my skin to GLOW. Since I’ve been getting lash extensions, I don’t really wear makeup unless I’m going to an event or having photos done, so I think less makeup is also helping my skin.

The last few weeks, I’ve been making small changes to improve my skin. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I LOVE products by The Ordinary, and received some new ones for Christmas. I’ve been working on creating a weekly routine for using all of my products. Once I have a set routine down, I’ll make another post to explain exactly what I’m using and in what order. I also have been making sure to use a day and night cream every single day. I even keep one in my work bag in case I forget to put some on before leaving the house.

I recently bought myself the Glamglow gift set- it was on clearance at Sephora for only $47, and the Supermud mask alone retails for $78 by itself. The set includes a travel moisturizer, a full size Supermud, and a full size cleanser. I’ve been using Glamglow products off and on for years, BUT whenever I get it, I usually keep it for a “rainy day” because it’s so expensive, and it often dries up before I use all of it. This time, I’m using it whenever I want and if I want to repurchase it when its empty, I will. I’ve been working on removing those limited thoughts of “lack” lately that have been preventing me from using items I purchase. There is always the opportunity to buy more. This weekend, Kris and I both used the Supermud, and I think he loved it too. I love it for minimizing the appearance of pores, and for spot treating any blemishes I do get.

I also received a ton of other skincare products for Christmas, and I’ve been using and trying all of them to see what works for me. I’m really loving eye masks lately, which is something I’ve never used before, but I find they do make a difference. I’ll make a post in a few months updating my set skincare routine!

Learning, reading and expanding

This month I’ve been diving into educating myself on a variety of topics, but mostly relating to finance and budgeting. We have goals for buying a house in the future, traveling, saving for Mason’s education, etc. In November I won a bit of money in a local 50/50 draw and was able to become debt free, and since then I’ve been obsessed with figuring out ways to grow wealth.

I’m going to write more about this topic in future posts, but at the beginning of this month, I committed to learning as much as I can about earning, saving, investing, budgeting, etc. These aren’t topics they cover extensively in school, and growing up money was always a taboo topic with my family. I knew which family members had it and which ones didn’t, but no one ever talked about how they made money, how they saved money, how they invested money for the future, or how to budget accordingly. I’ve already began teaching Mason about saving, and want to continue to talk to him about finances as he gets older. I’ll dive into my history with money in another post (because it’s not a taboo topic here), but for now I just want to encourage you to educate yourselves as much as you can! I received AirPods for Christmas, and I’ve been using them to binge audio books and podcasts all month. I downloaded Audible, which now comes with “Audible Plus”- a catalogue of “free” content you can download without using your monthly credit ( an audible membership is still required). So far this month, I have listed to two finance audio books (I’m on the third one now), and one about manifesting. I’ve also been reading free books on Libby (the free library app), and have several on hold. It feels empowering to be finally figuring all of this out, and I want that same feeling for all of you.

It’s winter, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic, so let’s not go overboard here- but smalllll changes can add up to feeling better. I have a new earlier schedule at work which means I no longer have time for Tim Hortons in the morning. That alone has been helping, because I’m making breakfast and iced coffee at home instead of getting take out. I also bought a couple of items to make me more excited about working on my health. I know that seems like it goes against working on my finances, but one thing I’m learning when it comes to spending money, is if it’s important to you, it’s not a waste of money (I’ll also get into that in another blog post).

Making Small Healthy Changes

I bought a Hydro Flask a couple months ago, and I LOVE it. I actually want to get a bigger one. It keeps ice frozen for a really long time, and makes me want to drink more water. Last month as a birthday gift to myself I also bought new white sneakers. I haven’t bought new sneakers in a few years, and used my birthday coupon to get the sneakers in the photo above for $40. For Christmas, my mom also got Kris and I new hiking boots, which we are really excited to use more once the ice melts a bit.

We’ve also been making an effort to eat meals at the table instead of in front of the TV every day, take our vitamins (I just got Mason a huge new jar of gummy vitamins at Costco), and just take care of ourselves the best way we can.

Little healthy changes if you can make them do add up, which is why I don’t disagree with the post Reese Witherspoon made. Drinking more water and getting outside once in a while IS good for us, especially now. It’s not like she was suggesting we all eat only kale and quinoa every day.

Have you guys made any positive changes this month? Tell me about them in the comments below! No matter how big or small they may be.

D