Genuine Note—Month of May
After what has felt like a long slump, May has me buzzing with a renewed creative energy.
I snapped this photo on a walk—it has been so beautiful outside and I am certainly soaking it alllll up. The past few weeks (since starting quarantine) have been particularly draining for me. I’ve been so busy with work, most days, I’ve hardly been able to get outside. I let my own self-care suffer, and it definitely permeated into my creative sphere. When the calendar hit May 1st, I very intentionally set some boundaries that have since (only 11 days in) boosted my mood and creative energy.
Here are some of the things that have helped me to refocus and re-prioritize:
These dance workouts in the morning that I talked about in this post. Suchhh a mood booster, am I working out or in da club?
Meetings—I feel like every day is a meeting tornado. I am being way more intentional about the number of meetings I take on in a day and scheduling in much-needed breaks. The work will always be there, so for me, it’s really about giving myself permission to not be a robot haha. Closing the laptop at 5 pm has also helped me feel less drained.
Write things down—I know this sounds simple and cliche, but I’m sometimes so busy that I don’t make this a practice. It helps so much to get the to-do list out of my head and organized.
Vitamin D—we have a tiny little balcony that I like to call Lottie’s balcony (Lottie is our one-year-old pug) and I have been enjoying either my morning coffee out there or a glass of wine before dinner. It reminds me of our honeymoon this time last year in Europe and doing the same at our hotels.
I also just love May as it feels like the official start to summer. Here are some things I’m looking forward to most this month:
The smell of spf at upcoming beach trips (Santa Barbara is still open and spf is one of my fav scents)
A closet refresh! I plan to go through my closet (I do this every few months) and order some new spring/summer upgrades. This gets me very excited for the season ahead and memories to be made.
Videos (!) — would this interest you guys? Sometimes I feel like I have so much to say that it’s hard to explain everything in writing. I am excited to start exploring video content on Create Genuine this month!
New skincare—as I said in this last post, I am quite obsessed with Honest Beauty (a new discovery for me). I’m particularly blown away by this, this, and this. More on these items coming soon in a week-long skincare routine post. I (like the rest of the world) seemed to have an initial quarantine breakout, definitely related to nutrition. It’s nice to feel back on track with my skincare routine and these products helped.
Al Fresco Dining—I am definitely missing eating outside at restaurants, but that doesn’t mean we can’t cook a fun meal and dine on the balcony.
Fresh colors—I am excited to start experimenting with a spring/summer color palette from lips and blush to fun colors and prints in clothing.
Reading a book—sound simple, but I am excited to finish reading Girl Stop Apologizing this month. Make time for downtime!
Create Genuine Instagram—With all this chaos at work, I haven’t put as much time and focus into sharing content on Instagram. I am going to channel all this creativity I am feeling into building out that space. Come and follow along if you aren’t already! @create_genuine
What are you looking forward to this month? Overall, I need to slow down and enjoy the little things and rituals in my favorite season. I know things are still very sad and challenging in our fight against this pandemic, but I am hopeful our efforts are making an impact.