I Resolve... to Go Easy on Myself.

The feminine urge to say "screw it".

I was going to do a whole issue about resolutions, but given the news cycle, I decided it felt a little forced. In these times, simply surviving and thriving is accomplishment enough, right?

I usually love January’s optimism. By now, I tend to be over the holiday hump, finished schlepping through airports and fighting down highways. I can finally exhale! I’m home, in my happy place, focused on getting things organized for the new year ahead. The sense of renewal is palpable.

But this year, I write to you from a United Airport Lounge somewhere in Denver, chipping away at a 3-hour layover on my way to Carmel, California. I’m en route to visit my boyfriend’s family in their hometown. I feel insanely lucky that my flights haven’t been canceled (though my connection to Monterey looked dicey there for a sec), and that we feel well enough to see the trip through, both having contracted and recovered from COVID in November. After a dutiful quarantine (and then some), my trusty Cue assures me I am negative and fit to fly.

Do you know about the Cue? It’s pretty slick. Hillary Kerr (hers is another newsletter I enjoy reading) shared it recently, and I snatched one up. Essentially, it’s a little device that executes FDA-authorized COVID self-tests, delivering results in 20 minutes or less with the same excellent accuracy as the standard PCR test. I ordered a kit that came with 10 tests and administered one last night before my flight early this morning. I was so impressed with its ease and convenience, I immediately bought stock in the company (ticker is HLTH). I recommend the Essential Membership, which IMHO is the most cost-effective route.

So all the little new year projects will have to wait until next week, because today, I have every intention of soaking up these last moments of 2021 in beautiful Carmel and visiting friends in San Francisco.

But don’t think I’m not already plotting my projects, making little lists, and checking ‘em twice.

Project number one! I LOATHE our bed pillows. Loathe. I’ve tried to mash them, fluff them, pile them up, and forego them entirely. And while my boyfriend could probably fall asleep on a slab of granite, I am cursed with Princess and the Pea syndrome. Nothing is comfortable.

So I treated us to new sheets. And more importantly, new pillows. I walked in the door yesterday after a long travel day, and there the boxes were. I grinned with glib self-satisfaction. Soon, I’ll make the bed, humming happily, poised for the greatest night’s sleep of my life. This will fix everything!

I’m not going to link the pillows yet, we’ll see if they work first. If they don’t, I guess I’ll finally try Ambien.

I hosted an “Ask Me Anything” Q&A on my Instagram last week, and one of my favorite questions was from a woman who was building her wardrobe with longevity in mind. Simply put, she needed recommendations for investment pieces that were high-quality enough to be heirloom-worthy. It got me thinking about the things I really wear a lot, and how they’re not just boring workhorse basics, but genuinely cool things with some substance to ‘em.

So I put together this edit for her. The streamlined nature of the collection soothed me, and I realized I want my closet to feel like that again. I declare it time for a new year clean-out.

Once my bed is sorted, as my second act of 2022, I’m going to perform a sartorial exorcism — also known as the “mega purge”. Using Allison Bornstein’s method, I have every intention of ruthlessly thinning out my wardrobe.

And that’s going to be it for my new year's refresh. No “detox”, no empty promises to stop saying the f-word. I’d like to do a dry January, but we’ll see what the news has in store… wine may be necessary.