It’s such a shame the weather here in Calgary this past week hasn’t been the greatest. Where has the sun gone? And snow in September, what?? It’s led me to spend a loooot of my time indoors and online. Luckily, I’ve found some great gems to brighten up my gloomy days and keep my mind occupied — and now it’s time I share them all with you! Grab your hot cup of coffee or tea, keep it close, and keep on scrolling.
This week, why don’t you …
1. Check out this funny + always relatable video about everyone’s upstairs neighbours?
Lately my upstairs neighbours have been driving me insane. I’ve met them both and they’re lovely people, but since I’ve been spending a lot of time inside at home, I’ve just been noticing them a lot more. Like do they ever sleep?! And do they just slide their closet doors open & close all night??
But then it reminded me of last year in my old apartment when my roommate & I were asked by our downstairs neighbour if there was something wrong with our water system, because she could hear water running in the middle of the night (spoiler alert: it was us running the dishwasher at midnight…). I also have a downstairs neighbour right now, and who knows what she hears or what she thinks I’m up to!
It’s like how that saying goes, whenever you point your finger at someone, there are three fingers pointing back at you. Or to paraphrase, whenever you think your upstairs neighbours sound like a herd of elephants, your downstairs neighbour probably thinks she lives under a hippo. Oops.
2. Try doing a 10-minute tidy every day this week?
My room has been in a constant state of disarray since I moved in (6 months ago!). I’ve tried blocking off several weekends to organize and arrange everything once & for all — but each time, I’ve managed to get distracted and fall into a rabbit hole within a half hour of starting (Sidenote – examples of rabbit holes I’ve fallen into, straight from my search history: “how to get abs”, ‘best ab exercises”, “One Direction karaoke”, “healthy salads that don’t use lettuce”).
Then I found this article from The Everygirl and decided to try this quick cleaning method out. I’m actually someone who really enjoys cleaning, but I’m also a bit of a perfectionist with it (surprise, surprise) and get easily discouraged when it’s not up to par with the Pinterest image inside my head. And then I just end up not doing it at all (surprise, surprise pt.2). I’ve had to reconcile my absolute ideal level of clean with a level that I could consider “clean enough” for the moment (i.e. putting my books and papers in piles rather than randomly scattered across the floor). Breaking up my cleaning into bite-sized 10- to 15-minute chunks every day is helping me manage my mess. And, because I’ve told myself it doesn’t have to be spotless and perfect, I actually get on a roll and spend time cleaning for a lot longer than intended — and I get a lot more done than originally planned.
3. Watch this amazing X Factor Audition save?
(and start watching The X Factor UK with me!!!)
I have yet to watch The Greatest Showman, but just from hearing Scarlett Lee’s rendition of “Never Enough” I am SOLD! Goosebumps. Streams of tears down my face. Standing O.
P.S. mini-spoiler: The part when Simon tells Scarlett to prove herself by singing reminds me of The Lizzie McGuire Movie when Isabella says those four words that shook the world …
4. Try this writing exercise to help you set your priorities in order?
After doing this 4 burners exercise I realized that if I keep at the rate I’ve been going, I will quickly burn out. It’s so hard to pick just two burners to focus on at one time (Like, can’t friends and family be grouped into one so I can focus on a third thing?? And where is the burner for dating??), but I understand the sentiment behind it. This exercise helped me visualize how easily we can spread ourselves too thin when we try to do everything at full power all at once.
5. Find a pep talk you really need to hear today?
Back in my early university career / Tumblr days, Rachel Simpson’s blog Daily Pep Talk From a Best Friend was my favourite to follow. I think around the time I discovered it, positive affirmations were only just beginning to become prominent on the interwebz. I loved reading Rachel’s sassy + peppy posts! The right words seemed to show up right when I needed them, and when I read them I’d think, “Wow, it’s like she KNOWS me”. Her posts never failed to make me feel better. Although Rachel doesn’t regularly add new posts anymore, I still like going back now and again and picking a pep talk to read at random. Rachel has written the words I’ve always been too shy, unsure, or hesitant to say about myself.
I hope you enjoy these ideas for your week 🙂 Leave me a comment down below, or feel free to message me @livesformondays on Instagram. Tell me if you’ve tried/watched/checked any of these links out and what you thought of ’em!
I hope it’s sunnier & warmer wherever you are! Happy Monday ❤
xo, M
Lives for Mondays. 