Loving: Minimalism! My mom and I are moving into a new apartment in September and I’m trying to focus on downsizing my stuff as much as I can to make the move a lot easier. I’m getting rid of my desk (and adding a night table), 98% of my books, and various other items. If it’s something I haven’t used in the past 6 months, it’s going to Goodwill. Even though our new apartment will have more space, there’s something about minimalism that excites and thrills me. I can’t wait to go through the rest of my room and our apartment. (Let’s hope I can get my mom on board, too!)
Reading: I’m finishing up The Book Thief for #twookclub right now. It is seriously such a good story and one of those books that’s going to stick with me for a long time. I’m also slowly making my way through 20-Something, 20-Everything. It involves a lot of journaling and soul-searching so I’m taking my time with it. But I am getting so much out of it!
Watching: Big Brother! This is my #1 summer show and probably my most anticipated show of the year! I get so caught up in all the drama, game-playing, and excitement. It’s a show you have to dedicate time to, for sure, as it’s on three times a week but it’s so worth it. It’s quite a guilty pleasure for me. And this year, with the addition of the coaches, it’s even more intriguing! (I’m also ready to become besties with Britney at ANY TIME NOW. She’s the best, really.)
Anticipating: Our move! I am SO excited to move into a bigger, much nicer place. We applied on Sunday, signing the lease soon. (We’ve been approved, just can’t log onto the website to sign the lease!) I really love everything about moving. The packing, the cleaning, the unpacking, the feeling of newness, getting to know a new neighborhood… it’s all so fun to me. (I may be eating my words come mid-September…)
Listening to: Right now, I’m in love with Rihanna’s “Where Have You Been”. It is the perfect song for the stationary bike. It really gets me moving! (It also makes me wish I still had access to spin class. I’m about 99% sure they’re playing that one out at spin classes!)
Planning: Some money goals. Our move is not going to be cheap and our rent is going up by $400 so it’s going to require a much stricter budget for me. I need to be smarter about how I spend my money and how I save. There are a few fun trips on my 2013 horizon but they won’t happen if I don’t tighten up my budget. (And I also want to have some fun money to play with!)
Working On: Myself. Trying to live a healthy lifestyle is not going well and I’m trying to figure out exactly why I’m sabotaging myself so much and what I need to do to achieve the place I envision myself. I feel like a broken record, honestly, but I also can’t go backward. I can only move forward. Maybe I need therapy. I don’t know. Or I just need to stop making excuses and get tough with myself.
Wishing: For a money tree to appear outside my window soon. I am stressing a lot about money and I think a part of that stress comes from the unknown. And knowing all my travel plans for 2013 are flying out the window. Boo. Boo. Boo.
You have some amazing stuff coming up! I can’t wait to hear all about the move and see some pictures of the new place. I love moving because I love having everything clean and organized, but I hate how strenuous the process is. So worth it though!
I’m with you about Big Brother – I love it! I’m excited to get to know Janelle because I didn’t watch her season and I’m a big fan of Brittany too!
Have you thought about some freelance writing? You’re such a good writer and and that might bring in some extra funds that will relieve money stress. I’ve thought about doing it myself, but haven’t really done anything about it. I know several people that do (one that writes the blurbs for Living Social!) and it makes them some much needed extra dough.
I watched Janelle’s season & her in All-Stars and COULDN’T STAND HER. She is one of my least-favorite Big Brother houseguests. But she hasn’t been too bad this year. We just have to wait & see because I know it’s coming… Ha!
I’ve been slowly looking into freelance writing (thanks for the compliment!). I joined elance.com but haven’t really looked at any of the writing gigs yet. It’s definitely something I want to chase after more to give me some wiggle room with my budget. 🙂
I hear you about the great feeling of downsizing. I definitely want to declutter a bit too (even though I won’t be moving anytime soon). A move obviously is a perfect opportunity to get rid off some excess stuff.
You have a lot of things happening in your life. I hope it all goes smoothly!
It just feels SO good to get rid of stuff that isn’t adding any value to your life anymore! It’s liberating. Hopefully you can find time to declutter because it just makes you feel so much lighter and in control!
I know what you mean, having a fresh start after a move is exciting! Good luck with the minimalism – I am trying to move in that direction myself, and it definitely feels good!
Re: changing yourself for the better. Are you attacking this goal on all fronts? Leo from ZenHabits says one goal at a time/one habit at a time works better. Maybe just try one little change consistently until that’s done. 🙂
I should take my own advice.
I like that advice! I’m trying to slow down with my healthy living goals, to take it one baby step at a time. I guess because I’ve been trying to get this right for so long, I thought I could just make a whole bunch of big changes at one time and I would get it right, but I obviously need to take a step back and not force myself to completely change every aspect of my life at one time. For example, this week and probably for the next few weeks, my only goal on Weight Watchers is to track my eating. It doesn’t matter if I go over my allotted points by a LOT, even if I do, still track. I have to get back into the habit of tracking because I think that helps keep me in check better than anything.
So yes. I love that advice. Very useful!
We LOVE Big Brother. I think half the reason I love it so much is because I watch it with Eric and I love watching TV shows with him. We are such diehard fans we streamed the first episode while on our honeymoon!! Haha!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE minimalism. You will see, getting rid of stuff is the most addicting thing ever! It’s SO freeing to not be bogged down by THINGS. I think my favorite part is going shopping and not wanting anything when I used to be consumed by materialism.
Oh, I hope I can get to that point! I’ve never been very materialistic, but if I can be able to go into a store and not get overwhelmed with all I WANT… that would be awesome.
I’m so with you on minimalism!! I was helping my boss clean out her office closet yesterday and I promised myself I would never be a hoarder!
Also, I’m glad you’re loving Twenty Something Twenty Everything – definitely good to take your time with it. I’m actually going through some sections a second time even! I was also about to borrow The Book Thief from my roommate, we are just completely on the same page right now haha 🙂
I can see me going through certain sections again in 20 Something, 20 Everything because some of them are so pertinent now and offer such great advice and journaling activities. It’s really been an eye-opener for me!
I’m about to move, too, and I really want to downsize a little bit. In part, because I will have less storage, but also because I just like having less to deal with. Good luck with budgeting! It’s definitely tough.
I’m trying to start practicing minimalism, too! I have a bunch of stuff in storage, but I thinking of having a garage sale to not just get rid of it, but make some extra cash! 😉
Do you think the reason you’re having a hard time with your diet/fitness goals is because you’re stressed about money? I know that’s the reason I’m having a hard time with mine! I’m stressed about money too, and I tend to eat more when I’m stressed. 😛
I love garage sales! I think I made around $200 at my last one. It was awesome! Definitely do it. It’s a great way to earn money AND get rid of all the stuff you don’t need!
I’m not sure if it’s money stressing me out… or just letting excuses get in the way. But I do tend to eat more when I’m stressed so it could be a factor in it!
It feels good to purge yourself of stuff and moving is a great way to force yourself to do it! I recently got rid of a bunch of books and something like 4 or 5 boxes of other stuff. It felt so liberating! It was all stuff I was keeping for sentimental reasons, but that I hadn’t used in a long time!
I’m now working my way through The Joy of Less which is really helping me understand minimalism and why we keep things around. I’m not a hoarder by any stretch of the imagination, but I know I keep things around for sentimental reasons or I think it’s something I “should” hold on to.
I feel like I’m missing so much going on in your life right now! Minimalism is key for your move, though. You need to budget and make sure that you can afford to come to Montreal 😉 Seriously, if any trip happens in 2013 it should be THAT one. I’ll make sure you don’t spend too much while you’re here, PLUS you’ll see lots of fun stuff. I SWEAR. Also BiSC. So… Yeah. Budgeting. Important. Me to though, so I hear you on that one.
I may have overestimated my travel plans for 2013 but I want to make some of them happen. NYC is a definite and I’d really like to make it to Montreal to SEE YOU and get to know your city! Just have to be smart with budgeting & saving & it can happen!
I’d love a money tree as well. I just need an uneventful month. I have gone from spending money on a surgery to a bridesmaid dress to hotels/etc for my trip, etc, etc. It just continues to add up and I keep waiting for a month with no new expenses and just the run of the mill stuff. I am hoping August is that month!
I loved getting ready for my move last year. I got rid of SO much stuff. I gave my desk to my nephew, donated a ton of clothes, and threw out bags of crap I didn’t need anymore!
I hope August is the month that things slow down for you and you can just relax a bit with no crazy expenses popping up. The next few months will be anything but for me, thanks to moving.
I am so excited for the downsizing and throwing away things we don’t use anymore. It’s crazy how you stockpile stuff over the years and keep things around for reasons that make NO sense!
ve been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thx again