August Goals

Happy Tuesday! We're still in California, so things have been a little quieter around the blog. I just can't believe how quickly this year is flying by. It's August already! A big month for my immediate family, as my parents' 30th wedding anniversary is today + it's my younger brother's 24th birthday! Quite the anniversary present ;)

Since we're in a new month (a week in, at that!) I'm sharing my monthly goals below, but first a look back at last month...

- Well, we got a sweet puppy, so my goal is to take him to Puppy 101 class and get him trained really well. He already knows come, sit and down! We went to his first class and it was hilarious. All the puppies were so distracted by other dogs + grass (Lincoln's favorite thing ever!) Hopefully he gets better in coming weeks!

- Enjoy Bloom Bash Chicago workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm SO excited for this workshop! This workshop went off without a hitch! So much fun!

- Go to the local crepe place with my husband for a Saturday morning date.  The best crepes I've ever had!! Can't wait to go back. 

- Also enjoy appetizers at the wine bar down town. We didn't do this yet, but we want to do it this month with some new neighbors of ours! 

- Have some friends over to swim and hang out by the pool during these warm evenings.  Did this once, but want to do it more! Gotta soak up summer.

- Go on a walk every evening with my hubby and our pup, Lincoln! (unless it's storming, of course!) Did it! So good for the soul and the legs ;)

- Go to the beach We went a few times and each was glorious. I was made for summer!

- Take family pictures with Lincoln! Did this last night! Sneak peek on Instagram.

- Hopefully book our tickets to California for August! Yes, the pup is coming too :) We're still in CA on our trip and we're SO glad we did this! Traveling with the puppy was a breeze. We had the best time introducing Link to my family.

- Get a few married couples together from our church and start a weekly bible study. Really looking forward to this! This is going to start in September...can't wait.

- Launch my new blog design-- hooray! It's coming along so well...can't wait to share it + some super fun giveaways! As you can see, this is done! I hope you love it as much as I do!

- This may seem silly, but I want to focus on not checking my instagram stats in July. Comparison is the worst, so I want to focus on being authentic and genuine instead of focusing on what others are doing. I'm really proud of myself in this area! I didn't check my stats all month and don't plan to in the coming months either. It's amazing what this does for your heart and mind.

- Start with some really exciting new client projects! I'm so excited about a few big projects in the works. One kitchen remodel, one new-build that's coming together, and one new home renovation...stay tuned!

- Start a new book. Or finish one I haven't yet ;) I need to finish How We Love. I also have a few others I want to dive into. Any chick flick novels you recommend for poolside reading?

- Movie night with a sweet friend who is getting married in a few weeks. We're going to watch some girly wedding movies. Top of my list: Father of the Bride, Runaway Bride, 27 Dresses... what are some others?!

- I'm designing and coordinating the above friends' wedding on the 26th in Michigan. Can't wait for these two to be husband and wife!

- Work out 3 times a week (I've fallen off the train...) and do 50 crunches every night before bed. My husband says he's going to join me in this challenge.

- While home in California, my mom taught me a lot about what vitamins we need to be taking + how to make vegetables taste really good, so I'm going to start implementing these things in our home. I REALLY want to help our family (though just the two of us now) down a healthy and responsible path. We're going to start having spinach salad 3 times a week to get tons of greens. I don't eat fish or seafood, and that contains a lot of omega 3's that are vital for your body, so I'm going to start taking flaxseed oil to get some of that vitamin. 

- Plan a night away for our one year anniversary in September! 

- I'm not going to buy a single thing in August. No clothes, no home decor, no shoes, nail polish (always gets me in the store! ha), no plants for outside...nothing. You get the picture. I want to focus on being content and not focus on stuff. Who wants to join me?! 

- Show you a recent client project reveal...starting tomorrow on the blog!

What are your goals this month?!xoxo
interior design website / services / portfolio
PS. Check out the Rent the Runway Clearance Sale! Things are up to 80% off to BUY! Just had to mention, since I love rent the runway for all my special occasions! 

July Goals

Happy JULY! I always love this month...it's finally really warm and sunny here in Michigan and the June gloom has worn off. Sometimes we get thunder storms (like this week) but the warmth in the evenings is so nice. I love it! Between my husband's family and mine, we have about 10 celebrations and birthdays this month. It's kind of crazy!

I'm sharing some goals for July below, but first a look back at June.

- Send some friends who live out of state encouraging notes. Did this last weekend!

- Pick my dad out a Father's Day & birthday gift then ship it off to California! I wrote about some Father's Day gift ideas here. We also want to Facetime with my parents on either of these celebrations. We got him a Tommy Bahama's gift card since my parents are going to Hawaii in a few weeks!

- Help my brother and sister-in-law create a gallery wall of wedding photos in their dining room. It turned out SO cute!

- Try some new recipes on the grill since the weather will be nice. I tried a Hawaiian chicken marinade which was delicious!

- Have a wonderful time at our Bloom Workshop next week in Traverse City, Michigan!  I feel like I say this every time, but truly this was one of my favorite workshops!

- Get into a routine of working out 3 times a week. This is going to be hard for me because I just hate working out...I wish I was kidding ;) But the gym is in our complex, so it's ridiculous if I can't make it there!  I had been doing really well on this until I got a stomach virus a few weeks ago! Trying to get back into it now.

- Make meals for 3 couples who had babies at our church.  Yay for friends with babies!

- Celebrate my husband's birthday!!! (First married birthday for him-- so fun!) I want to bake a homemade SOMETHING for him...please send me recipe suggestions! I didn't end up baking anything because it was SUCH a busy week, but we did celebrate it by going to a local brewery with friends!

- Spruce up our patio for summer. Yes! We added the cutest magnolia wreath! I still want to add a few more things, but for now, it's looking better! 

- Follow along with the Romans bible study on She Reads Truth. It's been really good!

- Well, we got a sweet puppy, so my goal is to take him to Puppy 101 class and get him trained really well. He already knows come, sit and down!

- Enjoy Bloom Bash Chicago workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'm SO excited for this workshop!

- Go to the local crepe place with my husband for a Saturday morning date.

- Also enjoy appetizers at the wine bar down town.

- Have some friends over to swim and hang out by the pool during these warm evenings.

- Go on a walk every evening with my hubby and our pup, Lincoln! (unless it's storming, of course!)

- Go to the beach

- Take family pictures with Lincoln!

- Hopefully book our tickets to California for August! Yes, the pup is coming too :)

- Get a few married couples together from our church and start a weekly bible study. Really looking forward to this!

- Launch my new blog design-- hooray! It's coming along so well...can't wait to share it + some super fun giveaways!

- This may seem silly, but I want to focus on not checking my instagram stats in July. Comparison is the worst, so I want to focus on being authentic and genuine instead of focusing on what others are doing.

- Start with some really exciting new client projects!


What are some of YOUR goals for July?!
xoxo

interior design website / services / portfolio

June Goals

I took an unintentional little blogging break for a few days and that's because it was sunny and beautiful here + I just had to spend the time at the pool and around town with my husband! We had such a fun weekend. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I had my small group girls over from church (they're in high school) and we watched A Walk to Remember. You know why?! Because they hadn't seen it or even heard of it! Can you believe that?? Needless to say they loved it :)

Anyways, it's June! That means it is time for me to think about some new monthly goals and reflect on last month's goals.

- Launch my new interior design website and blog revamp! Can't wait for this-- it's long overdue. I think you'll really like the updated look. So this is half done! My new website is live here (haven't officially "launched" it yet, but will be soon with some fun giveaways!)

- Finish the book I'm reading (The Broken Way). Just a few more chapters to go!

- Have a blast in Texas with my family next week celebrating my sister in law's graduation from Baylor! We had a great time!

- Take lots of pictures at Magnolia Market to share with you, try something from their new bakery (no matter how long the line is!), and get one souvenir from the shop. Hopefully I can control myself ;) My business partner, Ashley, is also flying in because we just might have a special little meeting with Magnolia. Hopefully we can share more soon! Our time at Magnolia was amazing. I shared this post here about our trip, but Ashley recently got her film scans back from our time and they are even MORE beautiful so I'll share those soon!

- Clean out our garage. This sounds so boring, but it really thrills me. I might have a problem ;) My husband did this a bit...yay!

- Try some new recipes on the grill since the weather will be nice. Didn't quite get to use the grill yet (we've been gone a lot this month!) but we DID grill with friends at our air bnb we stayed at over Memorial Day.

- Blog some client design projects! This also includes taking final reveal pictures of a client's house that is finished. I blogged about a client project here! Still need to get those reveal pictures done :)

- Pray more with my husband. We've been a little better at this this month, but can always improve!

- Send some friends who live out of state encouraging notes. Ah! I dropped the ball. Moving this to June!

- Go on our Memorial Day lake getaway trip with some other couple friends!! Can't wait for a little R&R. This was the best weekend!! Highly encourage you to find your people and spend quality time with them!

- Stop comparing (looking at you, Instagram). Replace comparison with giving and serving. I think I did A LOT better with this in May. I didn't check my instagram numbers for the whole month which was really healthy. I always want to work on improving this.

- Send some friends who live out of state encouraging notes.

- Pick my dad out a Father's Day & birthday gift then ship it off to California! I wrote about some Father's Day gift ideas here. We also want to Facetime with my parents on either of these celebrations.

- Help my brother and sister-in-law create a gallery wall of wedding photos in their dining room.

- Try some new recipes on the grill since the weather will be nice.

- Have a wonderful time at our Bloom Workshop next week in Traverse City, Michigan! 

- Get into a routine of working out 3 times a week. This is going to be hard for me because I just hate working out...I wish I was kidding ;) But the gym is in our complex, so it's ridiculous if I can't make it there!

- Make meals for 3 couples who had babies at our church.

- Celebrate my husband's birthday!!! (First married birthday for him-- so fun!) I want to bake a homemade SOMETHING for him...please send me recipe suggestions!

- Spruce up our patio for summer.

- Follow along with the Romans bible study on She Reads Truth.

***

What are some of YOUR goals this month? Let's keep each other accountable!
xoxo

interior design website / services / portfolio

May Goals

I can't believe it's May, guys. FINALLY the weather is looking up. It seems like just yesterday I was a shut-in here in our apartment while snow was falling outside our windows. Today I'm really thankful for some sun, although I know we'll get our fair share of showers this month as well. Hopefully we'll be seeing a lot more peonies, too! :) A new month means new goals, so here we go!

- Soak up some sun in California. PLEASE let there be sun during my trip! Not a lot of sun, unfortunately, but still had a great trip!

- Enjoy the Giants opening day with the family! It was a blast, even though we lost :(

- Celebrate Easter with my family. So excited to see my brother and his wife for Easter. It's been so long since we've been home at the same time. What a fun day we had! So thankful for this.

- Spring Clean our lives: I mean everything! Clean the windows, dusting, sweep the garage, purge my closet, clean out our cars, my purse, the fridge...every.thing. We're still doing this a bit, but we did the main things (windows, floors, closets!) Feels SO good.

- Start nailing down details for our June workshop in Northern Michigan. If you want to learn how to arrange flowers and try your hand at watercolor calligraphy, you should join us! This event is almost filled up, it's going to AMAZING!

- Find a new book to read. I'm thinking The Broken Way by Ann Voskamp. Has anyone read it? I'm 5 chapters in and LOVING IT!

- Post my new hair tutorials here on the blog for you. We shot them last week...you're going to love them! Yay! I shared a few tutorials in this post, more will be coming to the blog really soon!

- Do something fun outside with my husband. We were able to take quite a few walks last month, which was a treat!

- Launch my new interior design website and blog revamp! Can't wait for this-- it's long overdue. I think you'll really like the updated look.

- Finish the book I'm reading (The Broken Way)

- Have a blast in Texas with my family next week celebrating my sister in law's graduation from Baylor!

- Take lots of pictures at Magnolia Market to share with you, try something from their new bakery (no matter how long the line is!), and get one souvenir from the shop. Hopefully I can control myself ;) My business partner, Ashley, is also flying in because we just might have a special little meeting with Magnolia. Hopefully we can share more soon!

- Clean out our garage. This sounds so boring, but it really thrills me. I might have a problem ;)

- Try some new recipes on the grill since the weather will be nice.

- Blog some client design projects! This also includes taking final reveal pictures of a client's house that is finished.

- Pray more with my husband.

- Send some friends who live out of state encouraging notes.

- Go on our Memorial Day lake getaway trip with some other couple friends!! Can't wait for a little R&R.

- Stop comparing (looking at you, Instagram). Replace comparison with giving and serving.

print available here

What are some of your goals this month?
xoxo

interior design website / services / portfolio

April Goals

It's the first week of a new month and like usual, I can't believe another month has come and gone. I'm SUPER excited about April...even if it means lots of showers. Because after showers comes pretty May flowers, and that's the best sight! The arrival and promise of spring is certainly anticipated, especially in this cold part of the country. It offers hope and new life, perfectly in time for Easter even. Anyways, it's time to lay out my goals for April!

(ranunculus at Trader Joe's right now...go get some!! Only $4.99!)


First, here's a look at my March goals...

- Hang the gallery wall photos of our wedding. DONE! You can see the post here.

- Find a refugee organization that we feel will serve and love those in need and donate to them. We still need to do this!

- Cook a new recipe. I think I'll try this Kalua Pork recipe that one of my readers sent me!  It was yummy! I also tried another good pork taco recipe and lasagna skillet.

- This month also happens to be a season called Lent. Instead of focusing on just not buying clothes or home decor this month in order to save money, I'm actually going to switch my focus to the fact that I don't NEED any of those things to make me happy or feel better about myself. The only thing I really need in life is Jesus. It's easy to get caught up in material things and what we feel we need to be happy, when I actually think things often take away our joy. This has been going really well. I'm planning to write about it in the coming week!

- Memorize a new verse every week or two. Right now I'm memorizing Psalm 18:6. I got a white board that's magnetic and put it on the door of our garage, so every time I come home, I read the verse.

- Enjoy the St. Patrick's Day inspired symphony down town! It was SO good! I even teared up at a few points because it was so moving.

- Get all of our Bloom Bash Carmel Valley ends tied in a pretty little bow, in time for our workshop on April 11th! I'm so excited to be back at our wedding venue!! Done! We are so excited for our first workshop of the year in just a few days!

- Host a Noonday Collection party at our house for some of my girlfriends! If you guys haven't heard of this amazing jewelry company, check it out! The beautiful pieces are made in other countries by women who wouldn't have jobs, if it wasn't for Noonday. So this company employs and empowers vulnerable women in other countries. It's AWESOME and I want to be a part of it!! This was one of the most fun nights of the month! Loved hosting it and can't wait to get my jewelry in the mail. You can see the party here. 

- Finish Nothing To Prove, by Jennie Allen. Love this book! Such a great read! Now to find a new one:)

- Blog some of my new clients' design plans! Check! I did that right here. 

- Soak up some sun in California. PLEASE let there be sun during my trip!

- Enjoy the Giants opening day with the family!

- Celebrate Easter with my family. So excited to see my brother and his wife for Easter. It's been so long since we've been home at the same time.

- Spring Clean our lives: I mean everything! Clean the windows, dusting, sweep the garage, purge my closet, clean out our cars, my purse, the fridge...every.thing.

- Start nailing down details for our June workshop in Northern Michigan. If you want to learn how to arrange flowers and try your hand at watercolor calligraphy, you should join us!

- Find a new book to read. I'm thinking The Broken Way by Ann Voskamp. Has anyone read it?

- Post my new hair tutorials here on the blog for you. We shot them last week...you're going to love them!

- Do something fun outside with my husband.


Keeping it simple this month. What are some of your goals? Let's keep each other accountable!

xoxo

interior design website / services / portfolio

March Goals

It's a new month, which means new goals! I've really enjoyed sharing my goals with you this year.  Hopefully you've sort of enjoyed hearing them, too ;) Maybe you're even inspired?! First let's look back at last month's goals:

- Continue spending some quality time with my fam in California. So grateful to be here for another week! My mom and I are getting massages together this week and I can't wait. It reminds me of all the fun things we did right before our wedding. I had the greatest time with my family and only wish we could do it more often!
- Put final touches on my husband's Valentine's Day present. He loved it!! I got him a silicone wedding ring for him to wear at the gym and in water / on vacations, but turns out he wears it every day because it's so comfortable. I got him this one! I also got him a coffee cup warming coaster for his desk at work and a bag of coffee beans from California. He is a coffee snob ;) 
- Celebrate our first Valentine's Day as newlyweds! My husband is planning this date, so should be fun! It was really fun! We went to a delicious dinner at one of our favorite places down town.
- Hang the gallery wall photos of our wedding. The frames are here and the pictures are ordered and on their way, so hopefully I'll be hanging them next week!
- Seriously, Michaela. Order the wedding albums ;) I can't even...I might take this off my list of goals ;) Although I am finally doing this tomorrow! 
- Continue work on my new website and blog design (yes, coming soon!) Really excited about this!
- Write a blog post on the best things we registered for. I have so many thoughts on this, so it should be a fun one to write! DONE! You can find it here.
- Do not buy anything new. No clothes, home decor...nada. Practicing self-control and being disciplined in this area is always good. I DID IT!!! And I'm doing it again this month. I'll be sharing more about this soon on the blog.
- Create a hair tutorial post for the blog, since I got a lot of comments from readers saying they'd love to see those. Time got away from me last month (the month was short, okay?!) so we're moving this to March.
- Be more intentional about praying together as husband and wife. We did a lot better at this in February!
- Find a refugee organization that we feel will serve and love those in need and donate to them. Since most of my February was spent in California, we didn't get to do this. Moving it to March as well!
- Cook a new recipe. I think I'll try this Kalua Pork recipe that one of my readers sent me! Thanks, Rebecca ;) I haven't done this recipe yet, because we tried Blue Apron last month and it was amazing. I am doing this pulled pork recipe this month, though!

- Hang the gallery wall photos of our wedding.

- Find a refugee organization that we feel will serve and love those in need and donate to them.

- Cook a new recipe. I think I'll try this Kalua Pork recipe that one of my readers sent me! 

- This month also happens to be a season called Lent. Instead of focusing on just not buying clothes or home decor this month in order to save money, I'm actually going to switch my focus to the fact that I don't NEED any of those things to make me happy or feel better about myself. The only thing I really need in life is Jesus. It's easy to get caught up in material things and what we feel we need to be happy, when I actually think things often take away our joy.

- Memorize a new verse every week or two. Right now I'm memorizing Psalm 18:6.

- Enjoy the St. Patrick's Day inspired symphony down town!

- Get all of our Bloom Bash Carmel Valley ends tied in a pretty little bow, in time for our workshop on April 11th! I'm so excited to be back at our wedding venue!!

- Host a Noonday Collection party at our house for some of my girlfriends! If you guys haven't heard of this amazing jewelry company, check it out! The beautiful pieces are made in other countries by women who wouldn't have jobs, if it wasn't for Noonday. So this company employs and empowers vulnerable women in other countries. It's AWESOME and I want to be a part of it!!

- Finish Nothing To Prove, by Jennie Allen. Love this book! (Pictured above)

- Blog some of my new clients' design plans!



Alright, that's it for March. I'm trying to keep it a bit simpler :) What is one or two goals YOU have for the new month?

interior design website / services / portfolio

December Goals & Friday Sale Finds

via my instagram

Happy DECEMBER! Once again, the year is flying by and I'm trying my best to savor each new season. Like I mentioned in the beginning of November, I'm here sharing my goals for the month with you to help motivate me and keep me on track. Here's a look back at November's goals:

November Goals:

- Make a yummy new soup/stew in the crockpot.  I made this stew this week and it was great!
- Go to Chicago together to shop and see some new sights. 
- Wake up early (I struggle with this!) to have tea + breakfast with McCann before he leaves for work. Oops! Still need to do this ;)
- Order prints from our wedding for our family.
- Order wedding prints & get frames for our gallery wall. We've been so busy this month, I haven't had time to get to this. Moving this task to January, after the holiday shuffle!
- Make at least one DIY decoration for our apartment for Thanksgiving.
- Spend a Saturday morning at a coffee shop together, like we did often while dating. We sort of did this, just on a Sunday, not Saturday!
- Have a wine & Skype night with my parents.
- Start finalizing dates & cities for The Bloom Workshop's 2017 schedule.
- Finish my new website up and get ready to launch it! Almost done!
- Take some progress photos of a few client's homes to share on the blog. Also need to schedule photographing a finished home!
- Bake something delicious to share for Thanksgiving. I made the mashed potatoes and green bean caserole! 
- Get our Christmas cards chosen & ordered!

Now for the new month ahead!

December Goals:

 - Get our tree up and decorate our little home. I can't wait to show you a peek!
- Take our trip to California to spend time with my parent's for Christmas! I can't wait to see my family and do a few fun things with them. We'll probably take my husband to "Christmas in the Park" in San Jose one day, since he's never been there. Always a fun memory!
- See the new Will Smith movie "Collateral Beauty"
- Get through all of my design consultations before Christmas + check in on my client's progress.
- Bake my grandma's sugar cookie recipe and use my Christmas cookie cutters.
- Order our stockings. I'm thinking of these that are on sale!
- Get all the final details together for The Bloom Workshop's 2017 schedule launch. We're almost there!!
- Make the egg caserole on Christmas morning that my mom always made for us. It's delicious! I'll try to share the recipe here.
- Get a wedding album made.
- Attend the Christmas Eve service at church.
- Continue through the She Reads Truth advent bible study.
- Really try to take a pause and remember what Christmas is truly about. Giving thanks for our Savior's birth.


What are YOUR December goals? Let's keep each other accountable :)

A few noteworthy sales for your weekend and gift shopping!

1. J.Crew: 30% off your purchase + FREE shipping with code SHOPGIFTS

Check out their gift guide here-- it's full of the best things!

2. J.Crew Factory: 50-60% off everything! No code needed. This scarf is SO cute!

3. Nordstrom Sale: Lots of great finds for winter. Be sure to check out their stocking stuffer gift guide-- so many fun little goodies! (Stockings are my favorite!)

Sale:

Stockings:

4. LOFT: all these sweaters are on sale for $30 or under!

5. Anthropologie: EXTRA 40% off sale items! I love this white top. I tried it on in the store a few weeks ago, but now that it's on sale, I might pull the trigger!

If you haven't gotten holiday cards yet, these are really sweet and 40% off $15! Now that's a good deal :)

6. West Elm: 20% off all in stock items.

7. Mac Makeup: 25% off. This is the only place I buy lipstick. I just love their colors and the taste of the lipstick, too ;) Weird, I know. This is one of my favorites!

Happy weekend!!
xoxo

interior design website / services / portfolio

26 + November Goals

Photo: Ashley Slater Photography / Dress: Rent the Runway / Flowers: The Days Design


Today I'm 26. I'm not sure how exactly this happened, but it's here! ;) Today is one of my favorite birthdays because I'm spending it with my new husband (who has already spoiled me!), but also a bit sad because I'm not with my family. Thankfully we were able to spend the weekend together in Arizona for my cousin's wedding. They even sang happy birthday to me when we were eating dinner one night. So special! I thought today would be a great day to start a new series I'm going to do each month: share my monthly goals!

November Goals:

- Make a yummy new soup/stew in the crockpot. Recipes welcomed ;)
- Go to Chicago together to shop and see some new sights. Here are a few things on my bday shopping list!
- Wake up early (I struggle with this!) to have tea + breakfast with McCann before he leaves for work.
- Order prints from our wedding for our family.
- Order wedding prints & get frames for our gallery wall.
- Make at least one DIY decoration for our apartment for Thanksgiving.
- Spend a Saturday morning at a coffee shop together, like we did often while dating.
- Have a wine & Skype night with my parents.
- Start finalizing dates & cities for The Bloom Workshop's 2017 schedule.
- Finish my new website up and get ready to launch it!
- Take some progress photos of a few client's homes to share on the blog. Also need to schedule photographing a finished home!
- Bake something delicious to share for Thanksgiving.
- Get our Christmas cards chosen & ordered!

Come back next month to see how I did with these goals!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and all the sweet comments you leave throughout the year. They mean so much to me!
xoxo

interior design website / services / portfolio