Book Review: Happy New You by Brenda St John Brown et al.

SYNOPSIS: 10 Resolutions. 2 Friends. 1 Shot At Love. When Allison Gottlieb overhears her boss say she doesn’t have what it takes to make partner at the law firm she works for, she has a drunken meltdown in the middle of a New Year’s Eve party. But with the help of an old school friend (who she also had a crush on years ago), Allison decides to make some changes in her life and makes a list of ten resolutions that will help prove her worth to the firm. Over the course of a year Allison steps out of her comfort zone, encouraged by Mateo, but will she have to choose between her career and her heart?

Release Days!

Two of my favourite authors release new books this week! I was incredibly lucky to have received early copies of both of these novels (Thank You!!!) Marie asked me to do a beta read last year and her book is adorable as she always has hunky guys with swoon-worthy accents! Brenda sent me an ARC of her new novel for review, and I shall be posting that just before Valentine’s Day… That way I won’t give y’all any spoilers and you will have plenty of time to have your own blind dates in preparation for cupid 😉  In the meantime, I have another book review on a novel Brenda co-wrote called “Happy New Year You” that I shall be posting this month as it fits the whole new year/new you theme. I can hardly wait to hear what you think about both of these novels and be sure to check out the back cover description below!

Intentions for 2020

“Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet.” — Anne of Green Gables

It is a new year and a new decade. The perfect time to reassess your life and decide what changes you want to see. I used to make very specific resolutions –like “lose ten pounds”– but always felt guilty when I failed. Two years ago a friend introduced me to “Unravel Your Year”, a journalling workbook by Susannah Conway, that helps you reflect on the past year and set goals for the coming year, with monthly check-ins to help guide you through the year.

I had been too busy with my seasonal job (at a bookstore!) to plot and plan for the moment the clock hit midnight on New Year’s Eve, so I intend to use January as my preparation for the coming year. This will allow me plenty of time to think about what goals I wish to have, make schedules and checklists, and hopefully set myself up to successfully follow through. Unfortunately last year had so much upheaval I literally forgot about my intentions; it was a grit-your-teeth-and-hold-on kind of time for me.

One of the things this workbook does is has you choose a word to encourage you over the next twelve months. I struggle with picking a word every year, but there is one thing that helps: I pick a theme song. Something to lift my spirits when I need it, lyrics to inspire me, a word that will keep me going.

Book Review: The Home Edit by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin

SYNOPSIS: Instagram-famous home organizers swear by their signature approach to decluttering. This book guides you through editing your belongings and then arranging them in a stunning way that is simple to maintain.

AUTHOR: Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin both moved to Nashville with their husbands and were then introduced by a mutual Instagram friend. Clea, who had gone to art school, approaches tidying from an aesthetic standpoint while Joanna has a more traditional method based on function. This allowed the pair to combine their skills to create their own tidying company that utilizes their strengths.

Year In Review: 2019

This year has been filled with change for me.

The most obvious being, this past autumn, I finally put my days of living abroad behind me and moved back to Canada. It was hard to say goodbye to Ireland and the UK in some ways, but not difficult in others. I missed my friends and family so much that I decided not to do an extra year of travel and move back home. It seemed like it was time to settle down, get a career, and perhaps think about starting a family (or at least finding a boyfriend who I wanted to stick around for the long-term). However, I went from being employed at a full time job, having my own apartment, and being very independent to crashing in my childhood bedroom while looking for a job.

What you don’t know is that my worst nightmare came to pass while I was overseas. I dreaded the thought of any of my family dying while I was away, and that happened. Twice.

Cleaning My Closet: off-season storage

Do you put clothes into storage when the seasons change?

This is where Marie Kondo and Anuschka Rees differ. The author of The Curated Closet says to store away your autumn/winter clothes in spring and to tuck aside your spring/summer items in autumn, while KonMari method says to just keep it all in your closet. Personally, I do not know a single person who actually does store “off-season” clothing. Whether this is because I haven’t any rich friends or because we’re all Canadian, I don’t know.

Cleaning My Closet: shop ‘til you drop

I have not even finished reading The Curated Closet and it has already made a difference on my shopping habits. Ordinarily I’d go to the mall and wander from store to store, randomly browsing. I’d look through the racks, flipping hangers, checking out things until I got bored with it. Try on whatever was in my hand and decide whether something looked “good enough” to buy or not. In a couple of hours of shopping, I would likely have a handful of shopping bags full of stuff.