How is January such a long month?! It seriously feels like it lasts FOREVER! I guess it’s the lull after the holidays that does but, it’s just odd how this month seems to drag. I’ve even been busy this month with tiling our kitchen backsplash, replacing our dryer and working on blog stuff, but it’s still so long. Now that it’s over, it’s busy season for our family. We have a major celebration every month from now until June. First it was my birthday, then Jesse’s, then Valentine’s Day, Mara’s birthday, our anniversary, Mother’s Day (it’s a BIG deal to our moms) and, now, Bellamy’s birthday. I love all of the celebrating, and everything being spaced out to once a month is a good pace, there’s just a lot of planning and logistics that goes into this time of year.
I’ve really enjoyed doing these Monthly Favorites posts, and I hope you have too! Since I like them so much, I’ve decided to keep them going this year. So here’s a few of my January 2020 favorites!
*This post contains affiliate links*
For several months now, Jesse and I have been making it a priority to have a weekly, at-home, date night. With two young kids going out every week can be a hassle and most of the time we are just too dang tired, so at-home dates have been perfect for us. Our favorite date night activity has been playing board games. Whenever we see something on sale at Target we pick it up and give it a go. A month or two ago I picked up Lost Cities and that has been our favorite lately! It’s a card game for two players where you try to collect cards of the same color and play them in ascending order to earn points. The tricky part is earning enough points to not be in the negative and hoping your opponent doesn’t have any of the cards you need. The game goes pretty quickly, so Jesse and I usually play 3-4 times. While he was home on holiday break we played almost every night.
I was in a podcast slump for awhile, but I’ve been back on it lately. I discovered the Thrive Blogger podcast a few weeks ago and have slowly been working my way through the whole thing. It’s full of tips, information and encouragement for bloggers. I always feel like I need to take notes while I’m listening because the information is THAT good. Now, this recommendation isn’t for everyone, but if you’re a blogger and you’re interested in learning more and growing I’d definitely give it a listen!
I know I’ve already monthly favorited a curling wand, but this one is different! Kinda. It’s BIGGER! Yep, I like my 1/2 inch Reminington Pro curling wand so much that I ordered another one in a bigger size. This is the 1″ – 1 1/2″ wand, so the curls are bigger and looser. Since my hair is only a little past my shoulders they look a lot more like waves, which is exactly what I was going for. I love using these tapered wands because I feel like they keep the curls from being too uniform. Depending on where I start wrapping my hair and whether I wrap it around the whole wand or stick to smaller area, every curl looks a little different. Once I set and spray the curls, I tousle my hair a bit with my fingers and I get more of a natural look. I still use my smaller wand too, but this has been my new favorite lately.
I got this toothbrush almost a year ago and it has been fantastic for me! I just had my second dental check-up since I switched and it went so well. My last two cleanings have felt shorter and go off without any issues. I didn’t have bad or unclean teeth before getting an electric toothbrush, I’ve actually always had pretty good teeth. My problem is my gums. I scrub my teeth when I brush, which is a big no-no and has led to me pushing my gums back over the years. The electric toothbrush helps me feel like my teeth are clean without feeling the need to scrub them. Usually when I get x-rays at the dentist they measure my gum recession and talk about my brushing habits, but this time there was no difference since last year. I’m definitely thrilled about that! Things have been working so well for me that Jesse actually asked for a toothbrush for Christmas too.
Since I’m started doing a lot more DIY projects around the house lately, I figured it was time that I actually bought myself a pair of gloves to wear while I’m working. For years, I’ve just used Jesse gloves because I was mostly doing jobs like sanding or assembling (aka using the drill). Now, I’m using the saws and other tools more, so I wanted gloves that actually fit and felt comfortable. I tried on every pair of gloves that Lowe’s had and these were my favorite. They are technically gardening gloves, but they felt just as thick as some of the work gloves and I feel like I still have some dexterity with them. I had a hard time finding gloves that didn’t make my hands feel clunky and clumsy. I have long slender fingers, so most of the gloves were long enough but so bulky on my fingers. These gloves are snug and comfortable, definitely a winner!
OOOH i need to listen to thrive- thank you for the rec!