I woke up this morning and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. As I opened my drawer for the toothpaste, I decided enough was enough and I should clean the drawer.

Seven hours later, I had cleaned all of the bathroom drawers and all of my bedroom ones. I did not eat anything or do anything else. Little boy kindly brought me two teas during that time. I listened to “Klara and the Sun” and just worked.

It was absolutely not the plan for today but I am so glad I did it. It had been over ten years since I cleaned everything this thoroughly. I feel like my drawers can breathe again.

Amazing the amount of stuff you can accumulate in that time. I will say it also made me think about all the ideas, stories, thoughts and beliefs I’ve accumulated during this time too. I bet they could use some revisiting and sorting and shedding too.

Yes to impromptu cleanups!

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes

Last summer, as part of adding some fun into my days I subscribed to two monthly boxes.

One of them was a collection of snacks which was fun for a while but ended up not being as tasty for me so we stopped it a few months ago.

The other one was @ipsy which is a makeup sampler set. You get 5 items each month for $12. You can take a survey first so it’s more catered to your skin/hair etc.

I don’t wear makeup often and know nothing about skin care or how to put make up on to be honest. But I’ve still loved getting this little surprise in the mail each month. Because of what I prioritized I have received a lot of moisturizers and great brushes which I had none of. And now I’m slowly building a small stash of lipstick, blush and other things. Looking at this makes me happy which is a lot to say cause I usually hate waste and things that I don’t use but this doesn’t look like waste to me it just looks like possibility which is super fun.

I’ve also just started following them and I love everything this company is about so that’s just a complete added bonus that I hadn’t anticipated.

now I just have to start watching some videos and learn how to use all these products. I love the fact that it’s all small samples so I can use them and then decide if I like them and go all in. This is not an ad. I just put all my stash together today and realized how happy this little thing is still making me.

So here’s to small happinesses today. Finding ways to add a little bit of color and joy to these bleakish days.

Yes to adventures and fun with make up and skin care!

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes

Today at work we had a half a day summit which was about recharging. I’ve had so much work lately that I thought it would be ridiculous to spend half a day talking about recharging instead of just getting my darn work done.

I was so wrong.

The event was so inspiring and calming and relaxing that I felt good all day and I still have a lot of work and it will still all get done. I’m glad I took some time out today and listened to smart and thoughtful people.

I need more of that in my life.

There’s always more work. It’s like sand, it fills into all the moments I have in my life so it’s my job to create space for what I want first and then let sand take over the rest.

Yes to being inspired. Yes to creating space.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes

I miss life before covid. At this point, I miss it every single day. I am tired of the sameness of every single day. Wake up, exercise, meetings, bed. Very few other things in the middle and mostly the same food every day.

So tired.

And if I could change it, I would do so without question.

And yet, I am so grateful to get to spend a bit more time with my kids. I would not have wished this upon them in any way. And I also know that in a matter of minutes they will be grown up and gone, creating and living and hopefully thriving in lives of their own.

So, amidst this terrible experience, I am grateful for a little more togetherness with these people I love so much.

Yes to togetherness, yes to seeing their smiley faces and getting hugs in the middle of the day.

#yearofyes #karenikayearofyes