Hello friends!
I’m here with some offerings. Some springtime unsolicited offerings that might help us ease into this new season. I love the transition from winter to spring. I love the way the light changes around the house and the days lengthen. I marvel at the bright green of the new leaves on the fig tree (it’s more of a bush – it’s a shock, really). I deeply appreciate these handful of incredible spring days we’ve had in New Orleans because they are short indeed. It all feels like a too-blessed-to-be-stressed situation aside from the fact that the last full moon did us all dirty and Mercury retrograde might be the end of us. But we have tools! They’re detailed below because we’re all in this together.
I’m taking some time these days to switch up some of the routines I may have settled into the past few months. Here are a few of the slight changes I’m making. Take them as an offering. Maybe there’s something useful here for you.
Back next week with a few new recipes for you. The spring offering below:
• I have a library of cookbooks. A truly wild amount of books -one might call it an issue. I keep the books I use most often on my kitchen shelves so I can pull recipes and inspiration from them while I’m hem and haw over what I can rustle from the fridge. This winter’s books were mostly roasting, meat, and baking but it’s time to switch the books to reflect more fresh vegetables and simple breakfasts. I’ve got: Tender, Super Natural Everyday, and Sprouted Kitchen Bowl and Spoon so far. The recommendation: Gather the cookbooks that will inspire you most for the next few months. Place them in an accessible place in your kitchen for easy meal daydreaming.
• You know what I want? Crisp , lightly raised cookies, and fluffy cake layers. You know what I do about it? Make sure I replace my baking powder and baking soda in my pantry. It’s important these little baking warriors be fresh and it’s easy to lose track of their freshness, especially if you don’t bake very often. I hustle my baking soda from the pantry over to the laundry closet and use any that’s left in my washer. The recommendation: Replace your baking powder and baking soda next time you hit the grocery.
• Spring has me wanting to plant ALL THE PLANTS. The problem is, summer is a beast and I have a lot of travel coming up that will keep me away from a high-maintenance garden. That’s ok! I’m going to plant a small kitchen garden. Something edible I can mostly keep indoors that I can pick from as I need a few cooking herbs. I’ll show you what I come up with in a future post. It’s gardening, light. The recommendation: Plant a small kitchen garden to bring new life to your space.
• I recently treated myself to a daylight alarm clock. It goes along with the fact that I no longer sleep with my phone (you know… our computer phones with alarm clocks in them) next to my bed. One morning, eyes barely even opened, I mindlessly opened Instagram and the very first picture was one that… well I just didn’t want to see – especially so fresh from my dreams. Sometimes Instagram is a sneak attack and I feel like I had gotten a little mindless with my phone and the way I interact with it. The new alarm clock helps me wake up more peacefully and start my day more mindfully. It’s a small shift that feels appropriate for spring. The recommendation: Try a few nights sleeping separate from phone technology and see how you feel with a different start to the morning.
• As the light changes, I feel energized to change up my exercise routine. I’ve been a post-work yoga person most of winter (when I can muster the energy to make it to class). These past few weeks I’ve switched up my routine. The morning light is so beautiful – I’m trying each day to be up with it. Trying. The recommendation: Change up or renew your exercise routine. Moving these bodies is such a privilege.
• As day fades and night starts to creep into my day I can find myself getting a little anxious. I try to take a walk or get outside at dusk – to do a little something to mark the end of a day and the transition into rest. If I’m home at dusk I pass through the house, drawing curtains and turning on lamps. I light a candle, turn the bedside lights on in my bedroom and turn down the bed. It’s a little ritual that calms my nerves and helps me ease into a chill evening. The recommendation: Find a small end of day ritual that feels good to you.
• I love a fresh set of sheets on my bed every week but since I’m in fresh spring mode I’ve cleaned my mattress cover, flipped the big ol’ mattress (something that’s got to be funny to watch because I did it all by myself), washed and ironed the bed skirt (yea… the bed has a skirt THIS IS ADULT LIFE), and vacuumed under the bed too. I’m tryna hit up these peaceful ZZZZZZs! The recommendation: Deep clean the bed, all of it.
• It feels like a few months into the year is a good time to remember some of the intentions we may have set for the new year. One of mine was to slow and steady save more money. (As a grown ass adult) I have one of those high-interest savings accounts that automatically deducts money from my checking and holds it nice and safe in a savings account that I basically forget about. This spring I’m going to take a look at those savings accounts, pat my self on the back for their growth and see if I can increase my automatic savings without feeling too much of a pinch. The recommendation: Increase your monthly savings, even if it’s only an incremental amount. Slow and steady wins the emergency fund. For more money words, see ProTips: Financial Planning.
• While I’m changing up some of the ways I interact with my phone, I’m also deleting apps and photos I no longer use or need or things that just don’t feel good or necessary. A cleanse, ya know? The recommendation: Take 15 minutes to delete any apps and photos you no longer need.
Last year’s springtime list was pretty good too! Hop on over for more refresh ideas! Springtime Adulting.
My love to you.
Take good care.
xo Joy
Ulla
Funny how some things go, I just read your post with my freshly laundered pillow on a drying rack behind me. The duvet was done yesterday and I slept like a new person and definitely recommend that whoever else reads this follows suit.
Also, I banned my phone from entering the bedroom some two years ago. For me, it was not so much about mornings but about avoiding that last look before switching off the lights. That, too, did wonders.
I’ll try out a few more of your ideas.
As always, they are much appreciated!
<3
(Also, I thought that the <3 thing was an ice cream cone for what was probably years before someone clued me in. Another dream shattered. Oh well …)