How was your week?
I’ve been loving summer with its milder weather, plus Mike’s off work now, and I’ve been seeing friends every single day. Lots of dinners and ice cream runs and spending an hour reading a pile of books with two boys on my lap. It’s lovely and the perfect precursor to leaving Ohio in 6 weeks.
6 weeks! I’ve done a lot of leaving people and places in my life (we moved overseas every 3 years growing up), but not as an adult. I’ll try not to think about it yet, as per your advice.
On to some good reads and listens!
Highly Recommend:
This was the best article I’ve read in quiet some time: The Minimalist Pixie Dream Girl: Who She Is And Why I Hate Her. As someone who totally ascribes to the idea of minimalism and whose life has been made better by it, I think there’s something akin to greenwashing but with minimalism that’s been plaguing the blog and Instagram world. It’s kind of obnoxious and irritating for all the reasons the post enumerates. Maybe I’m a messy minimalist who lives in the real world, because this: “…clad in her loose button-down and boyfriend jeans, messy bun the perfect amount of messy, gold rings adorning her long, elegant fingers. She’s sitting on the bed, usually laughing at the camera, while all of the delicious food goes untouched because she ~takes care of her body~” so does not describe me or anyone I know. There’s a lot of groupthink that happens online and right now faux-perfect-minimalism is in, I suppose.
Another great article I read about the addiction we have to our phones gave some practical, actionable advice. “If you’re in a situation where you’d excuse yourself to go to the bathroom, you should also excuse yourself before reaching for your phone.”
I super enjoyed this Office Hours FM podcast episode about blogging and such with Amy Lynn Andrews. She’s so down-to-earth and approachable and I gained a lot from it.
I could so relate to this post about how $100 seems like a lot all at once, but can be painlessly frittered away one crappy Forever21 dress and latte at time. I have gotten rid of many clothes over the years that were impulse purchases and am finally getting to the point where I will spend more for better quality. (But I strongly dislike shopping, so that’s another beast to hurdle. Sometimes I’ll just purchase something so I can be done.)
I read the minimalist post and could not agree more. I walk a thin line between being motivated by the minimalist fad and being discouraged. I’m going to read the internet/reality post next. I definitely reach for my phone sometimes because I just don’t want to be there.. Not the best habit.
Hey Ashley,
So glad you enjoyed the interview with Amy on the podcast! I appreciate the shout out!
Carrie
I will definitely read that post of Brian Gardner. Seems like a good read. The Financiel Diet piece is also somewhat a good read for me. Great finds Ashley!