Good morning, hello there! How were your collective blizzard experiences? We had a great weekend; my only regret was that we didn't spend more time out in the snow! By the time I took Charlie out for a walk on Saturday morning, the wind was howling and I could barely see, so my dreams of snapping some good Instagram pictures were crushed. We did end up taking Charlie for a walk around 9pm, and were able to run in the middle of the street with him because of the travel ban. Snow makes everything so much more beautiful; getting to be out in the storm, for however little, was wonderful.

So a little life update today! Here's the thing about me - I don't make resolutions because I break them. I'm absolutely terrible at trying sustained challenges. Part of it, I'm aware, is the fact that I do not believe I will succeed at a challenge where I hold the key to my own success. OOF that's a scary thing to write down, but I think you probably (unfortunately) know what I mean?

I have a family full of physicians- yup, a group of crazy people who spent years and years and years doing ONE SUSTAINED CHALLENGE in order to save people's lives. I am the baby of the family and I'm the only one who has not pursued this type of career. Perhaps you're seeing my hesitation with New Year's resolutions...

Very long story short, I didn't make any resolutions this year. The clock hit 12 while Raven and I were reading in bed (after a dinner out with my brother and sister and their spouses), we gave a quick kiss, then rolled over and went to sleep. And I was good with that! But, over the past few weeks I've seen some changes in myself that I would be lying if I said I wasn't pleased about.

First, I cleaned our closet. Mmm-hmm. I regularly evaluate and pare down my wardrobe, but friends who frequent our apartment on the regular know that I definitely let things slide sometimes. Our shoes were covering the bottom of the closet, my 2 billion scarves were on top of those, with a sprinkling of mementos from our Honeymoon scattered on top. No good. I created piles of pieces to donate and sell, then put the rest back.

But I didn't stop there. I decided to scrub our bathroom top to bottom. We started a compost pile (in our freezer, and we dropped off the scraps here). Then I went through every single book on our bookshelf and created piles to donate, store, and display. I dusted what we were keeping and put them back. I vacuumed, I organized, I was on fire. I was perhaps a little manic. Perhaps a little ADULT!?

I started working out! I found myself craving a good sweat and sore muscles; a little challenge, but nothing too crazy.

And I felt something shift with my brand; a desire to buy less, surround myself with cozy things; a shift to a more minimal, neutral aesthetic. I started pinning images like this:

Images that, 5 years ago, I would have felt neutral about at best! And all of this is happening at a time where business is slow. In wedding world, this is the off-season, and I find myself filling up the time I would be working, with projects for bettering myself. At first this realization scared the crap out of me, but the more I think about it, the more I find it energizing. I can't approach a client with a head full of dusty, year-old ideas and inspirations. I have to find time to get inspired and creative in my own right before I can put in wonderful work for my clients.

I always say to clients that in our closets we find two "style selves": the current self and the self from 2 years ago. We cling to our style from 2 years ago because, even though it doesn't really apply to what we're working with now, we feel sentimental about it; it informed our current aesthetic. So we take it, we acknowledge the work that it did, and then we discard it (Unless, 2 years ago, you bought an incredible pair of boots are in great shape that will eventually come back in style. There are exceptions to every rule.).

I feel a style shift in myself lately- silly me, how did I not realize it when I rebranded my entire business! Perhaps 2016 is the year I discard that old me - the one who never accepts self-imposed challenges - and set myself up for success.