My February To-Do List
Ok so I know we're almost halfway through with February, but I thought I'd share some of the items on my To-Do list this month.
1. Sift through my makeup & skincare stashes to declutter old and un-loved products. I did a mini IG story series clearing out my makeup collection. I'm tossing out some products and also placing some un-loved products in my bin for friends and family. Friends - - please come by my place and shop my stash / grab some goodies!
2. Bake some treats for Ollie ! I made some pupcakes for his birthday early last month and have some unsweetened / unsalted apple sauce and peanut butter that has his name all over it. I was walking through Williams Sonoma the other day and was able to find a mini dog bone cookie cutter which would be the perfect size for treats. I'll probably be making enough for Ollie's brother and any pup-friends that may want some!
3. Get organized with PR gifts. I've been so fortunate to work with some incredible brands recently and I'm excited for all the posts to come! I can get overwhelmed with products and easily lose sight of what I want to create. I've dedicated a little section of my bullet journal to documenting when products come in so I have a better idea of how to churn out content. I also use the checklist function on my Notes app to make mini to-do list checklists of when I receive a product, photograph it, post it, and reach back out to my contact. I've been thinking about doing a little excel sheet to monitor this better but I'm not too sure if that would just be another redundant step or if it would actually be helpful.
4. Get organized with my IG posts via Planoly. I heard about this app via Mili (@sharmtoaster) and it's so nice to be able to see what my feed would look like! While I'm all for a spontaneous feed, there's nothing wrong with also having a beautifully cohesive feed (especially for all you visuals out there). There are so many times when I'll post a photo only to realize that I clearly have a favorite photo style to photograph which can leave me with 2-3 similar photos in a row - - which is a bit of a bore visually. This also allows me to write out longer captions with more details so hopefully that can supplement mini posts that I don't feel are "worthy" of an entire blog post. Let me know your thoughts on that!
5. Get ahead with Spring Cleaning. I'm really trying to cut back on my belongings - my boyfriend loves to remind me about how little he has and how much more stuff I have than him (lol). I'm working on letting go of products and have gotten better about it recently as it does bring me more stress than joy. I've gotten better about letting things go over on Poshmark so be sure to check out my closet (@chiy)! I'm also doing donations as my boyfriend and I are collecting up a box (or two) of un-loved items in our stashes. I'm looking into companies that accept donations for gently used bras + makeup, so if you guys have any suggestions for any companies or charities in the U.S., please send it to me! Or if you're from the Bay Area and know of any locally based charities/shelters that come to mind, please holla at ya girl.
6. Get my butt over to the optometrist and get my eyes checked on. My vision has been flailing lately and reading has been a lot more strenuous on my eyes. I'm also starting to be cautious about driving at night as my vision just doesn't seem like what it used to be. Fortunately the days are getting longer again and my commute home is now in daylight again. I'm debating on what type of glasses I want to get and depending how much my insurance covers, I may get one in stores or just a regular ol' pair from Warby Parker. An Oliver Peoples store popped up at the mall near me (!!!) and I'm so so tempted to get a pair from them. Although my wallet cries at the thought of it already haha. *fingers crossed insurance can cover some/most of it!*
7. Get my butt off the couch and werk out. I'm working on getting into a routine and I know it'll pay off in the end. I've been a follower of Kayla Itsine's BBG program for years and I'm hoping to have one of those nice before/after type results haha. Once the weather warms up a bit more I think I might take on swimming again as our complex has a nice pool! I used to swim competitively in high school and much prefer exercising in a pool rather than on land. I'm feeling the burn - but it's a good kind of burn - and I'm trying my best to keep at it. I need to start eating better so that my exercising efforts will show through.
8. Work on this blog space. I've been wanting to tweak some designs to this blog but just haven't had the time to really work things out. I've also been so terrible about commenting back to everyone's messages which I'm quite disappointed in myself with. I love that people take the time to leave me comments and I truly do read them all! I usually catch them over on my Disqus email notification but usually don't have time to respond while I'm at work. I'm working on catching up with these so fear not, I'll get back to you lovely readers soon!
I know next month is going to be quite a busy month for me work wise - it's that time of year when I'm doing a ton of overtime and crying to myself about how much work I have. I thought it was going to be smooth sailing but after talking with some coworkers today, I think we'll be needing to pick up some extra work to help other teams out. I'm trying not to let myself get too overwhelmed or stressed out by all of what's to come and hopefully I can keep a level head about it!
What are some items on your to-do list for this month and next? I'd love to hear them!