the Weekender

Happy 2025! This is your year to sparkle, friend. Mmmmkay?

girl holding a martini glass with glitter on a pink background

Miscellany:

1. Christmas was lovely. My mom hosted this year, and we enjoyed a full day together: exchanging gifts, eating, playing games, and eating some more. My sister and I wore these adorable matching Christmas Sweatshirts. Psst! They’re on clearance!

How was yours? I hope your holiday was filled with love, laughter, and memory-making.

Here are a few of the gifts I got:

Dremel for crafting
Heating Pad
Lots of gift cards
Nicholas Sparks new book
Bottle of my favorite white wine
This overhead camera holder from Canvas (so excited)

2. Our New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day was quiet and relaxed. We made lentil soup and burned a Bayberry Candle.

Lighting bayberry candles on New Year’s Eve is a tradition thought to bring prosperity and good fortune to your home in the coming year. The candle must burn all the way through, continuing past midnight, and it should be allowed to burn on its own without interruption.

Bayberry candles smell good, too.

3. Meet Bentley (formerly known as Dasher). We’ve decided to add the little stinker to our family and will finalize his adoption next week.

He is the sweetest little guy. He loves to play with Nash and take naps as often as possible. It’s hard to believe he’s only been with us for two weeks.

white puppy, a minipoo sitting on a rug with toys behind him

4. Do you use a planner? I’ve been using one for years and years. Sometimes, I overpay for something cute and fancy and don’t use it—womp, womp, womp.

Last year I used this one from inamio. If you’re searching for a planner, use the code SP251AUS to save 10%.

5. I watched a few movies since I took some time off. Here are a few of them:

Last Christmas (Max). I loved this movie. It was a little sad and emotional, but so good, and all the music was from George Michael.
It Ends with Us (Netflix) is very good. I also loved Lily’s vision board in a notebook for her flower shop.
Love at First Sight (Netflix). It’s a fun romantic flick.
Juror #2 (Max). I enjoyed this thriller/drama. The ending left some things to your imagination.
Carry-On (Netflix). Fantastic thriller/action movie. I like Jason Bateman.

I also caught up on Virgin River and watched No Good Deed (a short series) on Netflix.

*Watching movies/shows while closely watching a puppy goes hand in hand. Right? Haha.

6. Have you ever tried this no-sew solution for fixing holes in clothes? My sister and I have been using this product for a long time!

7. We did this!! How to blur out your house on Google Maps.

8. Did you see the Amazon holiday commercial featuring a singing janitor? It was a favorite of mine, so I did some research. OMG! This article explains the inspiration — such a great read. You can see an extended version of the commercial here.

9. Did you set any New Year’s goals or intentions? How about a word for the year? I’ve decided on two words for the year: Gentleness and Reflection. I want to focus on my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, and I think that can only happen with gentleness and reflection. I’m so hard on myself.

I also want to travel more, read, do more puzzles, and craft more this year. I did some crafting for Christmas and found it so relaxing.

Now it’s your turn. 😉 What are your goals and/or intentions?