JANUARY IS A GOOD MONTH TO…

I wanted to come up with a series I could feature on the blog and I thought it would be fun to do a monthly list of things to do based on that month. Given we are kicking off the first month of the year, I thought it made sense to start now!

I don’t know about you, but I struggle a little after the Christmas decorations are down and I make the switch from Christmas music 24/7 back to my regularly scheduled Pandora list. (Yes, I’m THAT person. Christmas tunes from November through January 2^nd!) But then I realize there are many things to pick me up in January. So, without further adieu…

January is a good month to…

Organize: You don’t have to go bat sh*t crazy and organize every aspect of your life. Just cleaning out the junk drawer, one closet or one room feels amazing. If you’re anything like me (OCD over here) cleaning out one drawer or closet leads to a chain reaction of some full-on piles of donations. Even getting your tax paperwork organized can alleviate the stress of doing it all a week before April 15^th!

Get together with friends: Now that the holiday madness is over, connect with friends you may not have seen in a while, or maybe you only got to talk to them briefly at a holiday gathering. It’s nice to have one or two friends or couples over for a nice leisurely evening to laugh and catch up over dinner.

Try a new recipe: If you’re cooped up because of the cold weather, what better time to try a new recipe you’ve bookmarked but haven’t made yet? I know I have a binder full of those! (I’ll be posting about this delicious buttermilk blueberry puff soon!)

Read a book (or magazine): I’ll admit, I’m awful when it comes to reading books (just ask my book club peeps!), but I can get on board with cozying up to a fire on a cold day with a magazine and some soothing tunes in the background.

Tackle an indoor DIY project: Here in the Midwest, there are no outdoor projects happening in January (other than shoveling snow, gah!). So, January is great for working on an indoor project in your home. It can be a simple room spruce up like switching out pillows or linens, or you may be motivated to tackle a bathroom reno. Last year I had a couple of side chairs restored that my grandfather made for my parents – you can read more about that here. Big or small, the feeling of accomplishment and enjoying something new and different to look at helps alleviate those Winter doldrums!

Schedule a fun activity: Find something fun to do in your area. Maybe it’s a walk through a Botanic Garden (indoors over here, obvi!), a visit to a museum, attending a concert, trying a new restaurant, taking a class, bowling or a movie. It’s easy to find fun things to do to get out of the house for a few hours if you thing about it.

©Photo Chicago Botanic Gardens

Those are just a few top of mind ideas. I’d love to hear any other ideas you might have. Just leave them in the comments below!