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It’s kind of crazy to think that’s it’s already October. Thanksgiving is just over a month away, I’ve got Christmas gifts and Holiday planning on my mind and it feels like March was just yesterday. Does anyone else feel like we just skipped over Summer?
Unlike September, I do feel a bit more excitement this month. The leaves are changing colors, days getting shorter, evenings getting cooler, and it’s that miraculous point of the year in the PNW during which the weather is cool and the sun is still shipping with that iridescent sparkle that I often associate with Fall. With October always comes a Universal feeling of slowing down that I feel even more so this year. I feel like we all understand by now that the holidays will look a little different this year; more intimate, more quality time, and less pomp and circumstance. I’ve always loved the holidays and oddly enough find myself more excited for them this year. Not because of the shopping and gift giving {although I do love that lol}, but because we might be able to get our immediate family together and dare I say, have it feel “normal”.
Outside of the holidays, this month I am trying to take a little more time for me and focus on the things that I like to do simply because I like to do them and they bring me joy. Whether it’s my friends, my family, the world in general, I realized over the course of this year that I spend a lot of time and energy focusing on others and their well-being and potential and as a result have little time and capacity to do the same for myself outside of a good Sunday ritual. While I really do love being able to work from wherever, with most of our time being at home, I’ve found that I actually work more and spend even more time in front of a screen on any given day. I plan to take a bit more time to continue to work through Lacy Phillips workshops, clear out clutter at home, read, write, and learn French {I’ve finally got a routine down and am having so much fun learning a new language!}.
With that I leave you this month with a question for reflection, how are you showing up for yourself?
On The Calendar
With my social calendar basically non-existed, my calendar these days is typically a mix of creative projects, online shopping deliveries {guilty} and self-care. Over the part year or so I’ve really come to enjoy Human Design and after listening to some of their podcasts {highly recommend} I decided to book a reading with Dana and Shayna from DayLuna. I also have my very first derma planing facial with Beth that I’m very much so looking forward to! I’m primarily doing it, one, to see what it’s all about, two, to help acne scaring from my teenage years, and three for a deeper exfoliation and to promote deeper product penetration.
I also have something very exciting launching this month! I recorded a podcast {something I’ve never done before!} with Krista, creator of the superconscious podcast and it launches this month! We talk about everything from professional burnout, to trying on careers for size, to how to navigate stress when you can’t remove the stressor. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts: Google, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, and iHeart Radio.
Reading
Still on a Gentleman in Moscow, sigh. Although, it finally peaked my interest. I’ve heard that it takes about 100 pages to get into it and sure enough, the last two pages of Part 1 had me captivated.
Inspired By
All things coats and fall fashion. Everything is screaming earth tones and I am totally here-for-it! If you know me, then you know that I have a mild obsession with winter coats. I feel like the past couple seasons I’ve been zeroed in of camel coats and think there’s a 50 Shades of Camel Coat Edit in the pipeline.
Listening To
I’ve really been trying to get back on my podcast game. With COVID and me simply not being in the car that much anymore I found that I just wasn’t listening to them anymore. Now I’m trying to listen to them whenever I get ready or while I’m cooking. I recently had the DayLuna podcast recommended to me and definitely binged a ton of their episodes last week. If are into Human Design or mildly curious about it, Shayna and Dana do such a good job of diving in and explaining it. I’ve also been dabbing in Lacy Philips podcast more and more. If you are interested in manifestation or navigating subconscious beliefs, it’s a good one!
Cooking
This is something new I want to start doing! Every month, I’m going to keep a list of any recipes that I’m cooking. To be honest, for most of 2020 I haven’t really been in the mood to cook, but with a little will power I think I finally got my groove back. We recently tried The First Mess’s Creamy French Lentils with Wild Mushrooms and Kale and I could not recommend it enough. We’ve made it several times since trying it! A few recommendations: instead of blending half of the mixture, blend 1/4 of it. I found that only blending 1/4 gave me more of a soup texture. Also, any green will do, we’ve tried both swiss chard and arugula and both were delicious.
XO
-S