KonMari and Gratitude
Thinking about joining the KonMari Craze that’s sweeping the nation? We have done it. We are doing it again. It is awesome, and we have some tips to make it all a little easier. Read on!
Hello! I hope you all are well in this new year! It is cold here which is such a pleasant change, and we had snow last weekend. So lovely!
As I have written before, my word for the year is gratitude, and I am working to practice gratitude every day. I am journaling. I am praying. I am giving thanks. I am writing thank you notes. And I am KonMari-ing my house again.
Perhaps you have heard of Marie Kondo, the Japanese guru of tidying. I first read her book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying a few years ago, and I did a first effort at decluttering our home. But then we moved… so now that we are settled into our new home and lives here in Colorado, it is time to do it again.
This week I have written all about our efforts to “KonMari the shit out of our house” — as my husband so eloquently put it. I also have a few tips for tidying in case you decide to join the rest of America that has gone #konmaricrazy !
If you do decide to KonMari your life, I also have reduced the price of my ebook about selling children’s clothing. The principles in this book apply to selling any kind of collection — sneakers, purses, jewelry. And the book is only $5 right now!
In gratitude,
Angela
Thanks a Thousand
I have a whole new section of my website devoted to gratitude this year where I have a guide to writing thank you notes, a review of Thanks a Thousand, and much more!
About fifteen years ago I had the world’s most boring job. There were days when I had nothing to do. Nothing. So I stocked my office with stationery and started most Mondays writing letters and thank you notes.
I left the job, but I kept those habits. This week my first task each day is to write a few thank you notes for the gifts and hospitality I received over the holidays — all of which I wrote down in The Nice List.
My word for 2019 is gratitude and writing thank you notes is one of my gratitude practices. I am not always perfect about doing it, but I feel so much better when I have. Not out of guilt but because it is good to meditate on your blessings and the gifts of time or talent that your receive from others.
So this is my thank you note to each of you! Thank you for supporting me in this new venture. Thank you for buying copies of The Nice List — and for telling me how you have used it! Thank you for being good friends and cheerleaders! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
On one of the opening spreads in my 2019 planner, I wrote this quote: “It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” Brother David Steindl-Rost made that observation, and I encountered a version of that quote in AJ Jacobs’ latest book — Thanks a Thousand — where Jacobs sets out to thank everyone who made his cup of coffee possible.
I have a whole new section of my website devoted to gratitude this year where I have a guide to writing thank you notes, a review of Thanks a Thousand, and much more!
I would be most thankful if you would drop by and check it out! 😉
XOXO
Angela
Bubbles for the New Year!
We are cozied up for the New Year with our closest friends — a group we have gathered with at New Years for almost two decades. Such joy! As I think back on 2018 and forward to 2019 I am filled with gratitude and joy. Thank you to all of you for your love and support in this new venture — supporting The Nice List, reading all things Mid Modern Mama, and supporting me on social media, too. Thank you!
Gratitude is my word for the year for 2019, and I’m beginning the year with a brand new section on Mid Modern Mama — all about gratitude. I hope you will check it out. There’s a guide to writing good thank you notes, suggestions for host and hostess gifts, and a guide to keeping track of gifts received, too.
I also have a review of AJ Jacobs’ newest book — Thanks a Thousand — which chronicles his quest to thank everyone who makes his morning cup of coffee possible. It is a great read!
But for tonight — be sure you take Aaron Sherman’s list of Bubbles for New Years to your local wine shop! He has some wonderful suggestions for your New Years toasting pleasure.
Above all, I wish you joy and love and peace as we bid 2018 farewell and welcome the New Year. I’ll raise a glass to you, my dear readers, tonight. Thank you for your support! Here’s to an amazing 2019!
XOXO
Angela
A Life of Gratitude
I hope you each had a Merry Christmas! I am recovering from strep throat — super-fun! But I am taking a little down time today to make sure my thank you note lists are up to date. Did you keep lists of gifts as they were opened at your house? .
Making these lists is part of my practice of gratitude. I used to think of thank you notes as a chore, but I have turned them into on of my habits of gratitude in the last few years. After all, they aren’t just good manners; thank you notes are a means of expressing your Thanks after receiving a gift.
So before you put away all of the gifts you received, take a few minutes to write them down and give thanks for such thoughtful blessings from your family and friends! .
I have lots more about gratitude and thank you notes today in a new section on MidModernMama: Gratitude.
I am launching this new Gratitude section with a piece on How to Write Fabulous Thank You Notes and a list of suggestions for Host & Hostess Gifts. I also have a review of AJ Jacob’s new book, Thanks a Thousand where he sets off to thank everyone who makes his morning cup of coffee possible.
And just for fun I have a new list of Bubbles for New Years — champagne and sparkling wine to ring in the new year.
I hope you will stop by and check it out! And thank you! Thank you for being my loyal readers and for setting off with me on this new venture!
XOXO
Angela
Happy Santa Lucia Day!
Today is the Feast of Santa Lucia — an Italian saint who over the centuries became very important in Scandinavian countries. Santa Lucia Day is a day celebrating light in the darkest days of the year, and sharing with your neighbors. It is one of my favorite parts of the Advent season!
Tonight we will be having a Scandinavian smorgasbord including Swedish meatballs, homemade lefse, and krumkake — all traditional Scandinavian foods. My family roots run to Norway and Denmark. My husband is Italian. So Santa Lucia is the perfect holiday for our family!
I’ve written quite a bit in the last few weeks about our Scandinavian traditions, Santa Lucia Day, and the books in our library that connect us to our heritage through the Christmas holidays. I hope you’ll take a look!
God Jul!
Angela
And the stockings were hung...
Our Christmas stockings are done, but it took almost six years for them to be completed. That is today’s story…
I finally finished them! A few days ago on Instagram I posted this…
I figured if I declared it publicly, then I really would finish those stockings. And I did. It has taken me six years to get them done, though. Bambino’s stocking was done right away. Don’t worry! That child has not been deprived in any way! But when I started this project, I actually prepared for five stockings. Infertility has its way of making even the simplest projects a little more painful at times.
I made Bambino’s stocking for his second Christmas when he was 18 months old. But I was working at a church when I started this project, so getting one stocking done that Christmas season was an accomplishment.
Every year since then I have had a reminder set on my calendar: “October 15 — finish the Christmas stockings.” And every year I snoozed and then rescheduled that reminder. It made me angry. It made me anxious. And it made me sad.
You see, these Christmas stockings became so much more than decorations for me. Sitting together in a drawer in my office were the embroidered pieces for stockings that are not to be. When I made Bambino’s stocking, I embroidered a few extra pieces in hopes that perhaps lightning would strike twice, and we would have a second miracle baby.
But a few weeks before Bambino’s third Christmas, the doctors told us definitively that it just wouldn’t happen. We were a one-and-done family. That Christmas was one of quiet grief. We clutched Bambino closer, treasured his chatter and his joy all the more, and contemplated a change in our life’s storyline.
The next Christmas we were packing to move across the Bay. The following Christmas we moved across the country. And the next we moved back to California. Each year I snoozed that reminder and reset it for the coming year, hoping that it would be a little less busy, a little less agonizing to finish those stockings.
I’m not sure how it happened, but here we are with three finished stockings — Mama, Daddy, and Bambino — hanging on the mantle. It is done. The other bits of embroidery are tucked away — they won’t ever be stockings, but perhaps some sweet pillows for the window seat.
And my heart is full.
To read a bit about how I created these Christmas stockings, click the link below!
More Christmas links…
Budget-friendly gift suggestions for everyone on your list! Lists include:
My Favorite Gifts | Gifts Under $15 | Gifts for Mid Modern Lovers | Gifts for Children | Books to Give Gifts to Make | Wines to Give | Bubbles for the New Year
Wine! Wine! Wine!
The party invites are starting to come in... but what wine should you take for a hostess gift? Or to impress your boss? Or serve the in-laws? Never fear! Mid Modern Mama has these questions, too, and I called in an expert -- Aaron Sherman, sommelier and all-around-awesome guy.
In the Wines to Give list on The Nice List Giving Guide, Aaron has a whole range of wines to recommend for the holiday season. Wines for giving, sharing, and enjoying!
Cheers!
A
The Nice List Thoughtful Giving Guide
It’s here! The Nice List Thoughtful Giving Guide! I am so excited to show you what I have been working on for the last few months. There are gift suggestions for every budget including an entire list of gifts under $15! And for all you Mid Modern fans — there is a list just of Mid Modern gifts, too!
Budget-friendly gift suggestions for everyone on your list! Lists include:
My Favorite Gifts | Gifts Under $15 | Gifts for Mid Modern Lovers | Gifts for Children | Books to Give Gifts to Make | Wines to Give | Bubbles for the New Year
And a giving guide is nothing without books. I have pulled together seasonal book recommendations for children and adults alike.
Happy shopping! And happy December!
Ciao!
Angela
Last call! I have just a few copies of The Nice List left! Grab yours before they disappear for a whole year!
Order Now!
