Hi everyone, happy Friday! One of my goals for 2018 is to make more videos for myself and the blog, and another is to reflect on each month more instead of waiting until the end of the year to do a potentially overwhelming reflection. Today, we’re going to tackle both by recapping January!
January is a really tough month for me every year (as I think it is for everyone). One of the reasons I like New Year’s Resolutions so much is because it gives me a goal and a purpose during this otherwise bleak 31 day stretch. B and I got back into a gym groove again (let’s just say the last half of the year was not our most healthy), and I was pretty surprised at how easily I fell back into the habit of going. I really, really love the gym that we go to (I’ve been going there for almost four years now), and think it plays a huge factor into going. It’s possibly the least judgy gym either of us have ever set foot in, and the people there are so incredibly nice. I hadn’t realized how much I missed the act of just being there.
We also celebrated my Gramma’s 80th birthday this month! She’s somehow both the strongest and sweetest person I know, and if I turn out to be half the woman she is by 80 I will be pretty damn proud of myself. (She also looks amazing and when we got the invitation B said “there is no way your grandmother is 80!” so we should all take some pointers from her).
I go to more than my fair share of concerts, so over the years it’s become pretty hard to really impress me with one. While I firmly believe that live music can heal in a way that most things can’t, few artists can really blow me away with a live performance. The last concert that wowed me was New Politics and Andrew McMahon (who I’ve seen many times) at the House of Blues back in November of 2015. I’ve wanted to see The Killers live since I was 13 years old. That’s half of my life I spent idolizing Brandon Flowers and turning him into this untouchable musical God in my head. I constantly kept postponing it, thinking that he could never live up to the pedestal I had placed him on. After his solo album, The Desired Effect, crept it’s way into my Top Five Albums of All Time list, I knew I had to make it happen. B and I bought tickets even before ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ was released. The concert blew my damn mind, you guys. Everything from the visuals to Brandon himself was everything I could have imagined and more. So, yes, he did go back to back with Springsteen in my book. 15/10 would recommend.
One of my favorite parts of January is our schedule finally dies down. From September straight through the holidays, B and I had a packed social calendar, so winter is the time we have to relax and catch up with each other on some date nights that we had gotten put on the back burner.
B and I also went to Dave and Buster’s with my siblings one night, and had so much fun embracing our playful inner children. It was a day that the high was a whopping 1 degree, so it was nice to get out of the house, but stay inside!
I was lucky enough to escape the cold for nine days with a work trip to sunny Orange County. I did sneak in a little Vitamin D (and a few bare leg days), which I shared on my Instagram. My best friend and I visited LA and San Diego back in 2014, and it was really nice to be back. It’s one of the few places I’ve visited and felt like I could live there.
When I got back from SoCal, I was so ready to stop eating out for every meal! B and I spent the whole Sunday I got back researching meal prep options to find what might work best for us. If you’re interested in a full post on it, or have any good meal prep tips, let me know! While there’s been a little trial and error, we still have plenty of room for growth.
Check out my January video here. Due to the weird nature of January, it only has footage from California. I’m hoping the next months will be a little bit more inclusive of my every day life.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
xo, C
The Sol Compass 