Winter Break + New Services
It was a good—and long—winter break. Our daughter was off school two and a half weeks (the longest break in the history of winter breaks) and I decided I’d truly unplug for the bulk of that time, too—and I did. It was nice. And needed. A little restful, even.
We traveled to Illinois for a long weekend to celebrate Christmas with most of my immediate family but returned home to Austin the night after Christmas. We spent our winter break sleeping in—as much as I physically could because I’m learning the older I get the more challenging that can be—relaxing, looking at Christmas lights, going out to dinner, taking walks, baking homemade pizza, drinking martinis and wine, completing some organization projects I’ve been putting off and am excited to now have completed, and just enjoying the time. The latter can be challenging for me and if I wasn’t already aware of that, it became abundantly clear on New Year’s Day.
We started a new tradition a few years ago, and admittedly it’s a little Pinterest-y. To be better about expressing gratitude—and forcing my family to do the same—we started writing down on scraps of paper what we were grateful for on any given day throughout the year and putting them in a little basket in our kitchen. The first year “we” did it, most of the submissions were from yours truly. I know this because, on New Year’s Day last year, 2023, we ate a yummy brunch and took turns reading the submissions from the year. When we finished I thanked my family for humoring me with the experiment and assumed we were laying it to rest. Much to my surprise, they said how much they liked it and insisted we do it again and promised to be better about participating. So we did. And as we read through our 2023 submissions on New Year’s Day 2024 (with the same delicious brunch that I can’t recommend enough), I cringed a little bit every time one of mine was read because nearly all of them said something about being productive. It really bugged me. Being productive isn’t a bad thing, but I was surprised how many times I leaned on that as something I was grateful for—a productive day.
Ironically, before we read our gratitude submissions that morning, I had spent zero time on my phone and instead laid on the couch drinking coffee. I read Let’s Eat, Dan Pelosi’s new cookbook that I was gifted for my birthday, and otherwise just laid there doing absolutely nothing. I don’t make resolutions (nor do I have a word of the year or anything else like that) but I’m making a conscious effort to spend less time on my phone (it doesn’t qualify as a resolution because it’s a constant battle that I’m usually losing) and also to slow down (also a semi-ongoing effort). Period. I felt good about my UNproductive morning.
Fast forward to this week, our daughter returned to school and I returned to work. I was really good about unplugging 99% over break, I’d say. I answered a few emails and posted a few things on Instagram but other than that, I was off for the holidays. But it felt good to get back to it. Admittedly, I do best with a schedule and a routine; I’m a creature of habit. And whether I like it or not, I feel good when I’ve accomplished something, big or small.
This year, I want to accomplish BIG things. And I’d love to help you accomplish BIG things. I’m making some changes to my business this year that feel good and right in the interest of my clients; I’m excited about them. When I launched JGP Styled Me last year, I never imagined how much I’d learn along the way. And this year I’m acting upon what I learned. I feel really good when I help women feel really good about themselves, so I want to do more of that on a bigger scale this year.
To start, I’m streamlining my services based on what I learned working with my clients this past year. I previously offered a lot of different services but I’ve whittled it down to three: 30 Days of Style, Travel Styling and the Seasonal Wardrobe Refresh. I invite you to explore each of the new styling packages here and keep an eye on Instagram where I plan to share a bit more context soon (follow me there if you don’t already). As always, my inbox is open if you have questions.
