Hello, darling friends! As always, it is such a pleasure being back with you on the blog. Over the past few weeks, so much has happened, but the two most exciting things are: I started a Substack all about my love of contemporary art, tips for adding more art to your life and sharing interviews with fellow enthusiasts, designers and artists; and daylight saving time ended. In addition to those two bits of news, today, November 4th, is officially one of my favorite days of the year.
Admittedly, the day before Election Day is probably a weird day to be called out as a favorite amongst many other special days in a year. And in full transparency, it’s less about the date and more about the marker in time: the Monday after daylight saving time ends and a cozier season starts. For me, this season has always been one of my favorites. November and December are arguably the best months of the year not just because of the holidays but because of the slow down we may see in our lives, the chance to experience snow (a girl can dream, okay?) and the built in excuse to hunker down in our homes on those cold, dark nights. Again, I know many people dislike this time of the year for my last point made but something I’ve started doing over the past few years is truly leaning into the darkness of the season and finding ways to celebrate it.
Why today’s post is in your inbox: Everyone is talking about their winter arc (as always, I’m about two weeks behind because you guys know I don’t have a TikTok lol) so I figured it was a great time to talk about a favorite winter arc component of my own: moody Monday evenings. Let’s get into:
- First, moody Monday evenings start during the day. Since this is a work from home day for me, I take part of my screen-free lunch time to get any home tasks knocked out. I’m usually good with checking off my list during the weekend but on weeks when there’s overflow, like this week, half of the time I make for an intentional lunch is spent finishing home tasks.
- Second, moody Monday evenings start precisely at 4:45pm. My last work meeting ends at 4:30pm so I give myself 15 minutes to write down anything I need to know for tomorrow, close my laptop, clean the office desk and change my clothes. This timing is fairly important given that the sun is setting earlier and I don’t want to miss the light for my next step.
- Third, I am putting on sneakers and getting out the door. One of my favorite ways to end the work day during this season is with a walk. Depending on how late we are in the season, this walk is anywhere from a 15 minute jaunt around my main block or up to a 30 minute stroll around a few of my favorite blocks. This is a great way for me to wind down from the work day, get some steps in and help my circadian rhythm understand the day is ending with the sunset.
- Then it’s time for a long overdue, forever favorite, lavish bath and/or shower routine. This is the ultimate “everything” shower and/or the hour long bath with bubbles, an audio book playing and a sparking water in hand. Of course, this step has to be followed by a matching set of pajamas and a lip mask.
- Then, and probably the quickest step of all, whipping up dinner. Since I am back on Factor75, I have meals I can easily pop into the microwave and plate in less than five minutes. When I don’t have this subscription, I will stick to a 10-15 minute dinner option like a turkey wrap with a side of fruit or leftovers from the weekend. Since the entire point of this evening routine is to set a relaxing mood, I don’t want to exert extra energy preparing a big meal.
- Before the main show of a holiday movie, I have to set the scene: all the lights turned off; candles are lit in the living room, dining room and kitchen; some type of tea is brewed in a favorite mug; and and the coziest of blankets have been secured. Since the space is so low lit, I make sure to turn my tv on the darkest tone setting so my eyes are not stressed.
- Next, and maybe my favorite part of this routine, a holiday movie. Yes, even the very cheesy, incredibly predictable, and often poor quality holiday movies are such a joy to look forward to. By this time, it’s close to 7pm/7:30pm, and it’s officially dark as can be outside. I keep a playlist on Youtube of holiday movies all year around so I always have a ton to pick from. There’s also a few I always go back to like Almost Christmas and the Merry Liddle Christmas series with Kelly Rowland.
- Once the movie ends, I am fairly relaxed and ready to head to bed by 9:30/10pm. On the evenings where I’m not quite ready for bed, I give myself 20-30 minutes to do whatever I want as long as it doesn’t involve a screen. So I’ll read a physical book or put together a flower arrangement from the Sunday farmer’s market pick-up or complete a brain dump on a notepad.
- Like almost every other night of the week, I spend the last bit of time before bed picking up the main spaces, rinsing my tea cups and water bottle, letting Max out for the last time and setting up anything I need to be ready for the morning.
- Finally, we’re off to bed! I really lean into this “earlier” bedtime and the joy of getting at least 9 hours of sleep. I always sleep so poorly on Sundays so with this moody Monday evening routine, I can give myself a restart at the top of the week helping me to be prepared for the busiest days of the week, Tuesday and Wednesday.
And friends, that’s all (well, if I can say that after almost 1000 words)! Even before I had a name for this routine, I loved it and shared with friends IRL because it was such a saving grace for me to easily transition into the darker seasons while also giving me a fun thing to look forward to after a busy work day.
I would love to know more about your Winter Arc! Let me know in the comments, via DM and/or reply to the email note you’ve received as a subscriber. Thanks so much for reading, friends! xo
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