Lightening Up

Well, Alex left yesterday for three weeks, and I am flying solo once again. Whenever he leaves, I always like to start some kind of project. It helps the time go faster when I am working on something specific. You know, because I don't have enough going on to begin with. (On an unrelated note, I have already fished a golf ball out of the toilet this morning. How's your Monday going?)

And my baby daughter looks like Hitler when she eats peas, but I'm trying not to dwell on that.

I've decided that my project this time is to lighten things up--physically, mentally, and visually. I have been working on shrinking my stomach lately. That is the first step of lightening up (for me), and it means I just have to eat less all the way around. That's difficult for me, as I tend to eat portions as big as my husband. I just really enjoy eating. But I am trying to eat significantly smaller portions and to not eat after 7pm. That part is also huge for me, too, as I tend to sneak down into the kitchen around midnight and binge on carbs. I've been pretty good the past few week, and I am already a couple of pounds down.

Mentally lightening up is an easy one for me. I am just focusing on things I can do instead of things I can't change, planning things to look forward to, and thinking about the positive things in life instead of the negative. The beautiful sunshine that we have seen in Florida for the past couple of days surely helps. Bobby is in a sour, no-pictures-please mood and has been antagonistic to his sister this morning, so I think we may go down for an early nap and then take a long afternoon stroll out in this beautiful weather.

Visually lightening is the most fun. My downstairs feels a bit disconnected. My kitchen and dining area feel bright and light, while my living room feels dark and a little too warm for my taste. I do like the reds and mushroom colors, but they aren't "me," and I'm just kind of over them for the moment. 

Luckily, I have neutral furniture, and changing up the color scheme is a matter of simply swapping out accessories. I can easily and painlessly switch the ottoman and pillows out for the wood coffee table in our guest house. Then all I need are a couple of different pillows, a new painting, and a few different colored accessories. I can paint some artwork myself (it won't be a Van Gogh, but it'll suffice), and I can spraypaint some accessories I already have. Then I'm considering re-painting the backs of my built-in bookshelves. They were white when we moved in, and I painted them the mushroom color that they currently are, which made a world of difference (and for the price of a sample of paint!). But I'm thinking that repainting them a nice blue/gray/green will make a big difference for minimal effort and cost. I'm liking these color schemes:

Another thing that I am thinking will lighten things up is switching out the lamp shades on our lamps. We currently have these heavy brown shades that are opaque and block a ton of the light (doesn't this negate the point of the lamps?). Some simple, inexpensive white shades should give off a lot more light and brighten up the space a ton. 

I am also excited about adding in some bright, fun colors to my wardrobe. I tend to go for neutral colors, as those are more versatile. But I also tend to buy neutral jewelry, like gold, and then I'm left with a completely neutral closet. My workout wear is the worst. I haven't bought workout clothes since 2008, and everything I have is grey, black, and white. I'll admit that I don't work out a ton ever these days, but who wants to with such blah workout wear? I maintain that you are more likely to do something that you don't want to do if you can do it in style. I was silently judging people shopping in Walmart yesterday, and I passed a very bright neon activewear section that stopped me in my tracks. These tank tops were on sale for $3, and this fun jacket was less than $10. That's pretty remarkable, so I scooped them up, and then immediately went home to go for a brisk walk with the kiddos. They also had some yoga and running capris with fun pops of color. I'm typically more into Target than Walmart, but you can't deny that those are a great deal!

And in the spirit of lightening things up, this little beauty can crawl now! Hooray! 

Not.

Happy Monday!

Keep on keepin' on!

-Annette