Life Lately: Winding Down 2021 and Welcoming the New Year

Happy first week of 2022. I hope your new year is off to a good start. I very much appreciate the heartfelt and supportive comments on my last post. I have read every single one of them and will be revisiting each and responding throughout this week.

I was pretty wiped out when we arrived home from Florida last week. I dropped Finn off with his dad as we were getting back into town last Tuesday evening and spent the next couple of days not doing much of anything. It’s so interesting, I read social media posts and listened to podcasts that had complete opposite approaches to the last week of the year. They were either encouraging embracing rest and nothingness or hardcore promoting using the time to get super focused and goal-oriented for the new year. I chose the former and felt zero shame for my lack of productivity. At one point I literally Googled, “why do I feel so tired.”

The biggest takeaway from my final week of 2021 is that I rediscovered the joys of taking a hot bath so that’s definitely going to become a thing again this winter.

For the record, I don’t believe there is a right or wrong way to do the last week of the year. I think it depends on the year you had and where your head and heart space is at the end of it. I can reflect back to other years where I’ve had a lot more energy and drive this time of year. This was not one of those years but I am feeling better now.

NEW YEAR’S EVE

On New Year’s Eve I went to the gym to get in one last workout of the year. I came home for lunch and then decided to call and see if I could get an appointment to get my nails done. Luckily, they were able to fit me in at 4p. I had a manicure and pedicure and it was a really nice treat. I could have stayed in that massage chair all night! Charlotte friends, I’m loving the new Sassy Nail Bar location in SouthPark. Very modern, clean and they have the best chairs I’ve ever been in!

I was on the fence about whether to go out for New Year’s Eve for several reasons but I ultimately decided to get myself over to Dorie’s house and I’m so glad that I did.

There were only three of us (and her pups) and it was perfect. We watched the Georgia game and then the Miley Cyrus and Pete Davidson New Year’s Special. I had planned to leave at halftime of the Georgia game and be home by 10p but then I got comfy on the couch and didn’t move for four hours. I made it all the way to midnight.

Throughout the night we snacked on pizza, wings, charcuterie, Dorie’s famous artichoke dip (need to share the recipe on my blog!) and my salted fudge brownies.

NEW YEAR’S DAY

I slept in until about 8:30a on New Year’s Day, made a smoothie, did a little work and then had an urge to get out for an afternoon adventure with the pups. It was 75 degrees and I wanted to spend time outside doing something active. I decided to take them to Crowders Mountain State Park for a hike. I packed a lunch for the car and we hit the road. It’s about a 45-minute drive from my house. Benji and Zoey were beyond excited to be going somewhere in the car.

We ended up hiking a little over five and a half miles and a great time was had by all.

The first three miles of our hike was wide trails. Then we spent about a mile with rough terrain and rock scrambles. I usually hike in sneakers but I was glad I wore my real hiking boots since I was managing the dogs and the uneven terrain. I had to hoist Zoey up here and there but Benji was incredible. He is so athletic and agile, and his legs are so long and springy. I swear, he never even seemed one bit tired at any point in the hike. I brought lots of water for me and the dogs and we took several long water breaks.

I loved this New Year’s Day with the pups and it filled my cup so much. Hiking is something that I really enjoy and would like to get back to doing more often. We were all so happily exhausted at the end of the day. I came home and put my feet up with a cup of ginger tea and then took a hot epsom salt bath.

THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF THE NEW YEAR

I was at the gym shortly after it opened on January 2. I owe you guys a post about this but I am very into lifting consistently right now and loving being back in the gym. Here’s the workout that I did.

I was home by 10a because Finn was getting dropped off. I rarely go longer than two days without seeing him so five felt like forever! We spent the day snuggling, cooking and “just hanging out” as Finn likes to say.

I got him this kinetic sand kit for Christmas and he’s obsessed. We’ve added all sorts of fun things to it like dinosaurs, cookie cutters and tools. I held off on kinetic sand for a while because I’d heard it was super messy but I honestly don’t think it’s any worse than Play-Doh and it’s pretty easy to clean up. Worth it for the amount of time it keeps his attention, for sure. He’s been playing with it for long stretches of time for the last few days, just like he does Play-Doh.

I’d also like to report that we are still quite attached to Godzilla over here. Finn asked if he could come to bed with him last night and I said, “of course!” He carried Godzilla upstairs, put his head on a pillow and tucked him in. He even gave Godzilla a kiss goodnight. I was smiling so hard at this whole scene.

Finn is back at preschool today and I’m trying to get myself back into a more normal routine. I have done some brainstorming around blog posts that I want to write and I have a pretty solid list. If you have any requests for things you’d like to see from me in the new year, I’m all ears! 🙂

QUESTIONS

How did you spend New Year’s Eve and/or New Year’s Day? 

Do you enjoy hiking? 

Any blog requests for 2021? More life? Workouts? Recipes? Anything else???