Kicking Off the New Year in 2022

This podcast was transcribed using Descript. Please forgive any typos or errors.

Brittany: Hi friends. Welcome to Life with Loverly I'm your host, Brittany Sjogren. I'm excited to share my heart with you beyond the 15 seconds we get on Instagram, grab an iced coffee and let's do life together. Hello friends. How are you guys feels so good to be back in the podcast room, took a little two week sabbatical, which was much needed and so nice to just refresh recharge, spend time with family. In my job, it's 24 7 all day, every day. Of course it can be as much as little as I want, but I think over the years, I've just loved the connection that I have with my listeners and followers and readers. I just genuinely enjoy what I do and producing content for y'all.

So it's hard for me to step away and I force myself to take a week off almost two years ago now. And that week off changed me. I was at a breaking point where I was just like, oh my gosh, I have to cancel everything. I feel like I can't breathe. I didn't have a second to clean my house.

I was so stuck on wanting to hang curtains in my master bedroom. It was a tipping point for me. I was like, I have to take a week off because I need to hang these curtains. And there was so much more into it than just that. Ever since I took that week off, that led to another week off.

 Last year I took a week off after Christmas and it was so nice to spend time with family, with the girls. We went on vacation last year and so then I just continued doing that throughout 2021. So at the end of Christmas this year, I decided instead of one week, I'll take off two weeks.

 That was so nice because I felt as I was halfway through my first week I was finally, like letting go work related things and starting to actually relax and do things that I wanted to do. So I really felt like I utilized the full two weeks this time to just take some time and. Chris and I actually went on a vacation, just the two of us.

So that was really nice. But anyway, backing it up a little bit, just in case you're interested in our holidays. I thought that my holiday would be very family oriented and we had all these big plans to do cookies and big family meals and all of that. But my dad actually had some issues with his blood pressure right before the holidays. So everybody was just being very cautious. Also it seems like I know at least 10 people who got COVID over the holiday. We were just being very cautious, which turned into a very intimate Christmas for our little family of four. It was actually so much fun. It was like their first or second Christmases where they were really able to understand, like we're gonna open presents.

We spent the entire day on Christmas morning and day opening gifts. It's not because there was like a plethora of gifts to open. It was just, we would open one gift and then they would wanna open it up and play with it. And then they would integrate it with their other toys that they loved. And look, mommy, Minnie's playing with the cookie set. So we weren't really pushing, okay now let's open another one because we didn't have a timeline because we were just gonna be at home the four of us. It turned to be so much fun because we like stopped and ate breakfast and then opened up some more gifts and played with those gifts.

 I feel like they like intentionally played with everything that they opened. Which was really fun. I'm sure that will probably be the only year that it was like that because next year I'm sure there'll be way more into opening them and that type of thing. But we just had such a good time.

 Chris and I, we've never done this before, but you know what are rules? We mentioned several times, like you get to create the rules with your family around traditions and around holidays. So we just really enjoyed that. Then right after Chris's parents came down and we got to spend some great time with his mom and then with his dad and the girls absolutely loved being with them. They live in Massachusetts and we don't see them a ton, but we've definitely been a lot more intentional with having them come down and spend time with the girls. My mother-in-law was amazing and was just like, I feel like you have things that you want to do around here. So I'm going to watch the girls and you handle whatever you need to.

 I went crazy organizing my house. I went through clothes. I went through closets. I went through the girls' closets and just was able to spend time being like, okay, they haven't worn this or this doesn't fit. Let's put in a donation pile. I think I took eight giant black trash bags to a donation center. And it felt amazing. It felt so freeing to clean up some areas. I like Marie Kondoed my house. So that was really nice to do. And then I was able to see my friend, Anna. Oh, some of you guys might know a few years ago, Anna, she used to work for me and she now lives in New York. She's an influencer and is amazing, but she worked with me for almost two years when she lived in Atlanta.

 So we always try to see each other when she's back visiting her family, or if I ever get to New York again I will definitely be staying with her. So we were able to spend an afternoon, we went to Woodhouse Spa Avalon, which is my absolute favorite Spa ever. So if you are looking for an awesome place to go, I highly recommend them. We just had a spa afternoon and it was so nice to just chill and hang out with friends and not have to worry about work and doing anything. I think truly everybody deserves time off. And then Chris's dad helped me complete a project. And by help me, he completed the entire project and I brought the vision and I gave the direction and then he did it all.

So there wasn't a lot of teamwork there, but he redid our bathroom on the first floor. We have, I always call it a half bath, but there actually is a shower. There's a glass door and a shower, which we've never used, but it is attached to a room that could potentially be a bedroom. We painted it.

We wanted to get like a new mirror, a new light fixture. The towel rack was like in a funky location. So it just needed a little bit of a facelift. It was really like a one day project that my father-in-law helped do or he did, but that looks amazing. I can't wait to share with y'all on Instagram, what that looks like we're partnering with TJMAXX.com to bring it to life.

 I'll be sharing all of those details in January. We just did some at home things and hung out and the girls were outta school. So we just spent a ton of time with them. And it was great to have that intentional time before we started a new year. And then Chris and I actually were able to scoot away and we went down to The Bahamas for four days, really three days. That was nice to just relax. I read two books and just turned my brain off. I didn't feel obligated to take any outfit photos. I did still take some outfit photos because I was like, okay. I feel like I should tell my friends on the internet about this cute dress that they should wear on spring break one day.

 There'll be a little bit of that, but usually when we go on trips, I put all this pressure to come back and give you guys all these outfit ideas and here's what you should pack. And I love to do that, but I also need a break from that and it was so lovely to just sip champagne by the beach and read a book and not worry about a timeframe or a timeline for the day.

 We had a great time doing that. One of the books that I read, I took two books with me. One was a novel and then one was more of a self-help book, which I'm still reading, but I'm going to talk about in a second, because I already love it so much. I'm only a few chapters in. But the novel that I read I've actually talked about it on the podcast before it's called Without a Hitch, and my friend, Mary Hollis, she has a blog. And her Instagram handle is Mrs. Southern Social, but her book was amazing. She wrote this book last year and sent me an advanced copy to read. I just hadn't had a chance to fully sit down and read it. I read it in two days. It was so good, but I loved it so much because it

kind of told this story of this girl that thought her dreams and everything she had planned out and thought about for her life was going to go one way and then that didn't happen. So then she was forced to figure out a new path for herself and that was within her career, within her love life and her friend group. I just feel like that story is very similar to what a lot of people in their twenties, thirties go through. It was a story of like triumph and how she overcame that and how she was happy about the outcome. There was some romance to it that wasn't the premise of it, but it was also very interesting because it's about like wedding planning and it tells so many different like stories of different bridal parties and how extravagant some of these weddings can be. It's based in Dallas. So it was like a lot of like socialite weddings that they were planning. It was just so interesting. I think I've always loved wedding planning. So reading about this, It just really kept my attention, but then it also had this other meaning that I really appreciated.

 I felt like I was like, oh, okay. I love that this girl had came out on top at the end. So I'll put the link for it here. I think it's an easy read and a great novel. So if you're interested, that would be a fun one to read. And then the other book that I am currently reading a friend of mine actually gave me this book a few weeks ago, and it's called the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, which I will put a link for it as well. I'm only three chapters in and I'm already like, I have not pulled out a pin to redline a book since college. And I could not find a pin fast enough in my beach bag. Is so good. And I think, several times on here, we've talked about we just all have time or what, we wanna change things, but in all reality, like how, and this book really breaks that down for you.

 It's a Christian based book, the author is a pastor and you don't think of how busy pastors are and everything that they have on their plate. From the outside, it just looks like, oh they're doing a great job especially some of these pastors over these megachurches. He really goes into how that was weighing on him and how he gave it up, but how that benefited him and turned his life around completely. He gives steps on like how to do this yourself. Like I said, I'm only a few chapters in, but there are so many things already that I'm like sticky note, stick that on my mirror. And when I'm feeling like I can't handle anything like this is what I'm coming back. I'm really excited to finish reading that. Like I said, I'll leave the link for that. If you've ever read it, let me know. Feel free to send me a message or an email. I would love to hear your thoughts on it too, because I feel like it's a life changing book that one of my friends gifted a few of us in our friend group.

 I feel like it's just been cool to see how we're all taking it in. Anyway, that's a little bit about what I was doing while I was on a social media hiatus. I also have Nichelle in the room with me today. 

Nichelle: Hey guys

Brittany: She has been holding the fort down with the rest of the team while I've been gone.

 I know, we talked about our word of the year at the end of last year, but we just wanted to go into that a little bit more. And again, encourage you guys to think of a word of the year or, just do something to better yourself. This is an easy way to do that.

Last year my word was kind. I loved incorporating that throughout my life and just in different circumstances. I will continue to do that. And I think there's even ways within my business ways that it was, let's handle a situation based off of kindness. 2020 was a wild year. I was like, I've got to be kind to people and be kind to my kids and be kind in general. Not that I wasn't before, but really focusing on a word helps you remember things. 

Nichelle: I think even when things are going on around you, they were in 2020 just that word helps put your head in the right mind space of taking it all in too.

Brittany: I think everybody needs to be grounded a little bit every now and then.

Nichelle: For sure. 

Brittany: So this year, my word of the year is fearless.

Nichelle: Love it.

Brittany: It's funny. I was telling Chris, I was like, my word is going to be fearless. And he was like, that means I'm gonna have to be fearful. He was joking, but I don't mean oh, we're gonna just jump off.

Nichelle: Let's go step skydiving today 

Brittany: I think it's more like I am such a planner and I want to know what's going to happen before it happens. I think sometimes that holds me back in making some decisions or taking some leaps or trying new things. I just want to be okay with trying those new things or taking that leap and knowing I'll be able to handle it, whatever comes from that.

But I think there is a fear and that has ultimately stopped me from doing some things that I've wanted to do or areas that I've wanted to grow Loverly Grey and I've just been like, ah I'm not ready for that yet. Or was I ready? I just didn't take a leap of faith.

 I wasn't encouraged to figure it out when we get there. I think there's some big things coming for this year. It's a going to be a year where we can make a really big impact. For me, I just want to remind myself that I can be fearless in making these decisions and know, and trust that I will be able to handle whatever outcome happens.

I've been working with a therapist over the last, maybe three months. I think she's really helped me the think about things differently. And my mindset has changed on a lot of things, which has like now allowed me to want to be fearless in some of these decisions.

So I think there's a lot that kind of goes into it, but that's where we are right now. And. So that's what we're doing.

Nichelle: I love that. It reminds me, and I'm going to butcher the actual quote, but it's something to the effect of oh, fear, it's uncomfortable. Good. It means you're growing. 

Brittany: There was a lot of growth that happened last year, but a lot of fear came with that and a lot of anxiety.

 How can we like flip that and use it to our advantage? 

Nichelle: Absolutely. 

Brittany: That's gonna be really exciting. 

Nichelle: I think it is. We discussed a little bit about having a like work word of the year, too. Yeah. So we're gonna be working through that now that everybody's back in the business, we're gonna work through that. Even incorporating our personal words, into that. Because I think it would only make us all stronger at the end of the day. Speaking of just trying to ensure that we meet all of these goals through, fearlessness and all of that, we're going to do a vision board next week.

Brittany: Yes.

Nichelle: We thought that would be so good just to have on the wall as a reminder, every day with our words included in it. 

Brittany: Yeah. I think that'll be helpful for all of us to encourage each other and Hey, if you're having a bad day, let's look back at our vision board and here's your word of the year. What does that mean for you today? It's just another way to encourage those around you and sharing your word with other people. Speaking of, what is your word of the year? 

Nichelle: I'm going to use strength. 

Brittany: Okay.

Nichelle: It was originally going to be strong, but the more I thought about it, it was strength. My mental strength of being able to overcome any obstacle, my strength and my confidence. Strength physically again. Dusting off that garage gym, getting back in there. Just strength in general. Especially in my job and what I do, it's something I do want to be strong in. In every aspect of my life, I have to remember that there's strength involved. I just want to be prepared with that this year, but I also thought I heard somebody say that they used three words this year.

Brittany: Okay.

Nichelle: Just because sometimes they felt like their word didn't really apply to a situation and they looked for guidance, but they were covered by three words. It wasn't too much. It's not like five, you're all over the place. But three points for the year that you can remind yourself. If you have to lean back on something, you have somewhere to go for that. I really love that. I don't know if that's where I'm going to go, but I love that option of knowing that I don't need to know it right now.

 Maybe it's something that I fall into later in the year. But I thought that was a really good idea.

Brittany: Yeah. I like that a lot, because I think in different areas too. The word kind, isn't getting put up on a shelf. I feel like for me, this exercise every year is going to be building onto what I had the year before. So if that means adding to it this year with a second word and maybe one is more like my word just in general is fearless. But maybe in my personal life, it is something else or within my family life, it is something else. And then having them work together somehow.

I don't know. I think I love that idea of having more than one. If it is applicable to you. 

Nichelle: Absolutely. Mine was grace last year. Because I am one of those people I'm so hard on myself. It could be so small. Hey, can you take the trash out? If I didn't feel like I did it right. I am going to be hard on myself. So working through that last year I felt like I came a long way. Strength at an on top of grace. Now I've given myself a little bit of grace now I've gotta become stronger. I've really got to put my heels down and be as strong as I can in those beliefs.

Brittany: I'm excited to get our team and hear everybody's words and do our vision board and just get going in the new year. One thing I felt this last year too, you have to pick your battles. Sometimes when I take off that first week in January, I feel like I don't get a good start into the new year. I think starting out next week with a vision board and sitting down and going over goals, setting expectations, all of us getting on the same page, it's going to be so nice. That can be our kickoff. So I think doing that is going to be really important. 

Nichelle: There's so much pressure around a new year's resolution or starting the new year. New you. There's so much pressure around that, that you can start any day. Don't ever believe that if you miss the beginning of the year, that it's too late. You can start tomorrow. , you can start right in this moment. It's never too late. 

Brittany: If you're listening to this podcast in February, feel free to pick a word of the day and go for it. I just hope that you guys are encouraged by this. I loved the feedback from last year and make sure you follow over on Instagram, on Life with Loverly. We're going to be sharing some words of the year. I love hearing other peoples, but then there's words that I'm like, wait I wanted that, but I didn't know how to label it and that makes perfect sense. So we'll give you guys some ideas over there too, if you're, looking for something, but we're really excited for this year. There's a lot of really awesome things happening. We are expanding. We are growing our Loverly Grey team here in Athens. If you are local and you are looking for a job, we would love to talk to you right now.

We are hiring for a digital media manager. So if you feel like you would be interested in learning more about that, please email us. My email is in the show notes, so you can feel free to send us an email there, but we are growing. I think we will continue to grow. This is not going to be the only position available this year.

So really excited about that. We also have some amazing guests coming onto the podcast within the first quarter of 2022. I can't wait. Next week's going to be our first guest I can't wait for you guys to come on board and listen, my sister-in-law is going to be on. She just started a new business that I think is going to be amazing.

You guys are going to be really interested to hear what she has to say. So definitely come back next week and then we have several other guests lined up that I don't know. I just wanted this podcast to be a place where we shared life and what's going on. Like my tagline says like more about Loverly Grey past the 15 seconds you hear on Instagram.

But I also want this to be a great resource for you guys. And I feel like I love the interaction that I have with people. And being able to bring that to you guys is what I love to do. So if there's anybody that you are wanting to hear on the podcast or a type of person or a topic that you want us to cover, please feel free to email your topics and your ideas as well.

We always appreciate the feedback too. So I'm really excited for where this is going. I think there's tons of potential here and I just love that this is another way that I can serve you guys and just share a little bit more about my life and about what's going on behind the scenes. So more of that will be coming in 2022, but until next time we will talk to you later.

Thanks for listening to today's episode. I can't wait to continue these conversations with you over on Instagram at Life with Loverly until next time.

That was perfect.