I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, crafter, and blogger living in rural New England. As seen in Martha Stewart Living, Food Network Magazine, and more!
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Tagged with: Happy New Year
HAPPY NEW YEAR! To celebrate everything is 15-20% off in our Etsy Shop (our biggest sale of the year), December 31st, 2021 through January 7th, 2022 - no coupon code needed.
Wishing you all a healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year!
Take 15-20% off everything in our Etsy Shop, 12/31/21-1/7/22
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If you’re like me you probably get sucked into your phone too often, falling down the rabbit hole of continuously scrolling Instagram and Facebook. But it’s a New Year, new beginnings right? I recently took a good look at who I’m following on my personal and blog Instagram accounts and did some purging… in fact between my accounts I unfollowed thousands (previous to this I had never really unfollowed anyone!) and in doing so it greatly simplified my social media checking routine, spending less time online.
First, I know I personally feel a little hurt when I realize someone unfollowed me (why don’t they like me??) - but if you’re reading this and I unfollowed you please realize it’s nothing personal at all. Over the many years I’ve had social media I have followed thousands of accounts, but I’ve never actually reevaluated their relevancy to me as time went on and cleaning house was long, long overdue.
Here are some types of accounts that I unfollowed:
Accounts that are “Dead”: As I went through my lists, I found hundreds of accounts that have been “dead” for years… blogs or business accounts that have gone out of business or people that for one reason or another have just stopped updating a particular account. While these accounts aren’t cluttering up my feed, they aren’t doing anything for me either so I unfollowed them.
Accounts that Don’t Reflect Our Current Stage in Life: And then there’s accounts that used to be relevant to me but aren’t anymore… for example years ago when we were first starting our family I followed lots of baby-centric accounts and businesses. However our kids are all past the baby stage now and I just don’t need to know about the newest bottles or baby carriers these days. It’s definitely bittersweet closing the door on that stage in our lives but the practical reasoning is we just don’t need to be up-to-date on baby trends anymore. So any irrelevant accounts to our current place in life were unfollowed too.
Accounts that I was Following “Because Everyone Else Is”: There were plenty of accounts I was following strictly because they were big-name brands/companies or ultra-popular influencers or bloggers. I was mostly following them because I felt like I should be, even though most of their posts were essentially ads and I didn’t find following them enjoyable myself. I’m personally not a huge fan of impersonal/overly-commercialized posts so I unfollowed a lot of these types of accounts too.
Accounts that I Follow in More than One Place: I have both a personal and blog-related Instagram account and realized there were quite a few accounts that I was following in both places… this was kind of redundant as I was often seeing the same posts twice. I really didn’t want or need to see the same things over and over so I would decide where made the most sense for me to follow an account and would then unfollow it from my other account.
Accounts that Bring Me Down: Do what’s best for your mental health and your self esteem! Are there accounts that you follow that are too pessimistic? Or too perfect and it makes you devalue yourself subconsciously? Get rid of them. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life - only follow accounts that raise you up or inspire you in a positive way.
Accounts that I Don’t Enjoy: As I went through my lists of who I’m following I realized something - I honestly don’t enjoy fashion bloggers (no offense to any fashion bloggers out there!). As much as I love a good outfit inspiration I am not into “fast fashion” and I’m not someone who constantly buys clothes or the latest styles. I actually think it’s really bad for the environment to constantly consume clothing and accessories that will only be worn a few times (and a lot of these influencers will only wear items for a post or two then get rid of them). Fast fashion isn’t something I condone or enjoy so I won’t passively support it by following all those influencers.
I made this mistake myself… when I first decided to clean house I stayed up really late one night and was determined to work my way through my list and clean it out in one go - but then Instagram blocked my account for 24 hours. If you do too much of one action in a short amount of time (like unfollowing other accounts), Instagram will flag your account as spam and lock you out temporarily… and apparently if you keep it up they will keep locking you out for longer each time, potentially banning you permanently (so scary!). Getting locked out for 24 hours was very frustrating, but it made me realize I have to tread lightly moving forward. When you’re purging, make sure to never unfollow more than a few accounts at a time and make sure to continue to use Instagram as you normally would (liking, commenting, engaging with others like usual). Purging your feed will be a work-in-progress for a while and will take time.
Did you know you can “mute” accounts too? That way they don’t show up in your feed but you’re still following them. There were some accounts that I was following that I still wanted to follow to show some support, but were totally cluttering up my feed and driving me nuts… for example maybe you have an old school friend who has taken an endeavor into MLM sales. As much as you might love this friend and want to support her, you don’t want to see ten posts a day on essential oils, or fake nails, or eyelash serum or whatever it is that she’s constantly pushing. You’ll still show as a follower to her and it would be good idea to make a note to occasionally hop on over to her account to engage in a post here and there - but it’s not going to constantly fill your feed with stuff you’re not interested in anymore.
If you haven’t already, it’s also a great idea to turn off Notifications Off across all your platforms. Seeing those little “dings” constantly come up when friends post, like, or comment can be overwhelming and drag you into checking your phone every few minutes. If you turn these off you’ll be less tempted to constantly check your phone - and make a point to only check it at certain times during the day. I have already had my notifications turned off for years now (it’s something I made a point to do a long time ago), and I will continue to keep them off.
After you’ve made sufficient progress purging who you’re following, you’ll notice that your feed is full of things that you actually want to see - no more “junk” that you used to waste time scrolling past everyday. Your feed will be full of accounts that you find positive, intentional, and inspiring - not to mention following less accounts will make it quicker and easier to catch up on recent posts every day.
And another positive side effect of my purge? It seems to have reset the algorithm for what I typically see in my feed. There were a lot of accounts I was following that I honestly had totally forgotten about because I hadn’t seen any posts by them in my feed FOR YEARS. But as I made progress purging who I was following I started to see those long-lost-to-me accounts in my feed again and it was so refreshing! I was able to re-discover a lot of accounts that I used to love following and it’s wonderful to finally see their posts again in my feed and reconnect with them. (And if you rediscover an account you want to see in your feed again, make sure to like and engage in their posts so Instagram will learn to continue to show them.)
Going forward this is something I definitely want to keep up with. I had neglected reevaluating who I was following for years and since I had let it get out of hand it took weeks for me to slowly purge since I had so much catching up to do. From now on this is something I’ll plan on revisiting at least once a year (I even put a reminder in my calendar for next January as part of my New Year’s Resolutions). Your social media feed should be enjoyable and inspiring, and it should be more efficient to check - by actively managing it hopefully you will see an improvement in your social media experience too.
So far I’ve really only tackled Instagram but I am planning on working to purge who I’m following on my other social media accounts too (especially Facebook and Pinterest) for the same reasons.
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Happy New Year! Can’t believe a new year is here already. Overall 2019 was great and here’s hoping 2020 is even better and more productive! This morning we went out to breakfast with family and then the kids and I went on a short snowshoe hike, which was a fun start to the New Year!
I have several personal and professional goals for 2020 and thought I’d share a few of them:
Learn to ski. Even though I’m a life-long New Englander, we didn’t grow up doing winter sports so I never learned. Now that our kids are learning (and doing amazing) I need to catch up ASAP!
Use less plastic. We already make an effort to recycle as much as possible and not be wasteful but watching the documentary “Broken: Recycling Sham” on Netflix was eye-opening. So much of what people put in the recycling bin ends up in landfills or the ocean in the end, as a lot of plastic is too difficult or expensive to recycle and it’s sorted out and discarded. (PS - if you haven’t watched this documentary yet, I highly recommend it!)
Purge, purge, purge. Every year I have a renewed sense of motivation to go through our house and purge un-needed items. It feels so good to get rid of things you don’t need and make your house a little “lighter” and cleaner. After the holidays our house feels too heavy again, so it’ll be good to go through toys, books, etc and reevaluate what is getting used, what has been outgrown, and what is no longer needed.
Post more regularly. This last year I’ve just been feeling busy with the day-to-day… and the blog wasn’t updated as much as it should have been. I want to be better about sharing DIY projects and our day trips around New England, and hopefully 2020 will be much more consistent and productive!
Do you have any goals for 2020? I would love to hear them!
First Day Hike - 2020!
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We’ll be spending the next week with family and planning goals for the year ahead. Please let me know what kinds of blog posts you’d like to see from Birch Landing Home next year.
Happy Holidays and see you in 2019!
Hand-painted Lobster Buoy c/o The Lost Buoy.
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Every New Year, there's an inspiring urge to finally accomplish all that you've been meaning to do. As someone who tends to get caught up in the everyday, I love this motivation to see the big picture and write down what I'd like to accomplish the coming year.
The biggest blessing of 2017 was definitely adding to our family with the birth of our second daughter at the end of the summer. The pregnancy and new baby stage kept me pretty busy throughout the whole year, and so Birch Landing Home took a bit of a backseat for 2017. Nevertheless, highlights for BLH this year have included being quoted in Parenting New Hampshire Magazine and adding another wholesale account to our roster. I also got the opportunity to work with some of my favorite international brands including L.L. Bean, Nûby, and Safety 1st as well as many wonderful New England-based companies including Hills & Trails, Woodboogah, and Cobalt Sky Studio.
I have a lot of professional and personal things I'd like to accomplish or improve for 2018 - here are some of them:
This past year, Birch Landing Home was put on the back burner while I focused on family. Family always comes first, but this year I want to get back into the working groove and grow BLH more. I have some great ideas for new products to add to the Etsy Shop and DIY projects to share on the blog. I'd also love to do more work with both international brands and New England-based buisnesses.
(I also have an incredibly exciting collaboration lined up for the spring that I can't wait to share with you all!)
While I ran throughout my first pregnancy, this time around I just couldn't so I stopped running and haven't gotten back into it since. I don't know if another Half is on the books for this year with the new baby, but I'd love to at least get back into a regular running routine and do a few fun 5Ks.
Going through the house and systematically purging everything in the beginning of the year is something I really look forward to. It's so refreshing to go through everything and donate or sell whatever you haven't been using for the past year. Now that we have two kids the amount of "stuff" has exploded and I'm looking forward to getting it under control.
We've been so busy with work and our own family we haven't had the chance to visit enough with family and close friends this past year. We're way overdue to visit some great friends and you can never spend enough time with your family. This is an important priority for us in the new year.
Getting up early before the rest of the house really helps me get a jump on my day. This was something that had been part of my routine but has fallen by the wayside over the last few months. There's just something so motivating about getting up before everyone else, enjoying a cup of coffee in the peace and quiet, planning out your day, and getting a jump start on your to-do list. Days when I get up early are so much more productive and let me focus more on the kids and other important tasks the rest of the day.
I'm really looking forward to more hiking and camping trips with family and friends this year. There have been a couple of hikes that have been on our "to-do list" forever and it's high time we finally do them! There's nothing better than getting outside to recharge.
One of our favorite things to do as a family is day trips and weekend trips around New England to explore all the great things this area has to offer. Usually we do a couple trips every year and this year I'd love to do even more if we can - especially in Maine and Vermont. I'd also like to share our knowledge and put together more New England Travel Guides for the blog.
What are some of your goals for the New Year?
Photo from Free Nature Stock
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New Year means time for new Resolutions. Usually they boil down to a lot of the same things, and a big one for us is always saving more where we can. Every year everything gets more expensive - groceries, gas, clothes, healthcare, etc but our paychecks always seem to stay the same.
I decided to compile some of my best blog posts on saving money and I hope it will help you jumpstart your savings too!
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Merry Christmas from Birch Landing Home!
Hope everyone has a healthy, happy Christmas with friends and family. I'll be taking a little break from the blog and social media this week to enjoy time with our family and hope you'll be doing the same - it's important to unplug every once and awhile :)
Thank you all so much for all the orders this season - it's been my busiest yet and I am so thankful to all of you! Thanks so much again and Happy New Year!
Photo coursety of @lifeofalley
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For a while now I've been striving to get better about meal planning, so a few months ago I designed this weekly planner to keep in our kitchen and see if it helped. After using this method for several months I'm happy to report that it has been a HUGE success and wanted to share it with all of you who may have staying organized, planning meals ahead of time, or reducing your grocery bill as goals for 2016!
This weekly planner can either be printed and written on directly - or you can print, frame it, and simply write on the glass to keep reusing it (which is what I have done). I love having it under glass because it means it's always on display and easy to refer to, and it saves a lot of paper and ink. I didn't include too many photos of it it in our kitchen because it was so hard to photograph.. the glare from the glass makes a decent photograph nearly impossible.
Pro-tip: Write on the glass with a Sharpie to avoid smudges, then erase with a little 91% rubbing alcohol.
To write on the glass, you can use a fine-tip dry erase marker or a Sharpie marker. I prefer the Sharpie because it writes cleaner and won't smudge.
"But how to erase it!" you ask?
No problem at all: simply put a little 91% rubbing alcohol on a paper towel and it wipes off with no problem and no residue.
Example
Every Sunday I sit down and first fill in all the daily "to-dos" for the week. These are things that have to happen that day, like appointments. This gives me a sense of what the week will look like and how much time I may have to cook dinner that day, etc. Days we won't be home means I don't have to cook (wahoo!). Because I lay it all out ahead of time I can plan ahead for groceries... leftover potatoes from Monday can be thrown into Tuesday's chili. The chicken I buy can be portioned out for dinner on Thursday and Friday. Planning ahead means less waste and saving money in the long run (and you know how hard I try to save money on groceries).
"Goals for the week" is where you put in projects and goals you can pick at over the course of the week when you get spare moments. I feel like this list makes me more motivated (and accountable) to be productive when I have down time.
{Download free PDF of our Reusable Weekly Planner HERE}
So that's my Reusable Weekly Planner! It's been a huge help to keep me more organized, more motivated, and save more money on groceries. I hope that it will be as helpful for you!
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