Inspired By In January 2025

I’m writing this post in the Hampton Inn in Elmira, NY. Tomorrow morning I take the 6 AM flight to Detroit and after a stop in Minneapolis I will end up in Portland, where I’ll be for the weekend visiting Emily and the kids and seeing her new house and going to yoga and doing all the things. I cannot wait.

Happy About

January is my birthday month. This year it was number 72. I am often mistaken for an adult because of my age, but numbers don’t tell you anything. My friend Jim and I have now started counting revolutions around the drain rather than the sun. We’re happily swirling the vortex. It’s fun, and a trip.

G feted me royally for an entire week, culminating in a sweet dinner at The Cellar in Corning, NY.

Here we are all fancy:

Another cool anniversary in January was the second year of posting here every week without a miss (except for Thanksgiving which I take off intentionally.) I’m proud of myself for that. Gold star, Kath.

Re-thinking

I have always been a winter-hater. I have indulged in endless whining and complaining to anyone who will listen about how it fucks with my dosha, drains my life-force and on and on. I have tried saunas and SAD lights—anything and everything to make the blech go away.

But no more! I have become a winter accepter! And all because of this great book that convinced me that winter is a MINDSET and all I needed to do was change my MINDSET and I could actually enjoy and appreciate winter. Seriously, if you are a winter hater, read this book. It’s so well written and engaging and I think it will help anyone who doesn’t have a mind of winter, to cultivate one.

Here’s G and I enjoying 11 below:

One of the things I have always appreciated about winter is its interiority. Winter is for introverts. Introverts who would rather stay home and read fat books in front of a fire with a nice cuppa, than be social. I am doing that now with this one:

I’m reading it on my Kindle and have been reading it forever and it refuses to end, which is perfectly fine because the story is so engrossing. I’ll probably finish it on the plane tomorrow, but maybe not.

Fashion

I’m still thinking about clothes and fashion. I really like this woman I follow on Instagram named Jenine Jacob. She has a smart take on fashion as an expression of personal power and a way to confront the patriarchy. If I wasn’t writing this post on my IPad, I’d link to her here, but you can find her at Jenine.jacob on Insta. Here’s what she looks like:

I’ve also started indexing my wardrobe on an app called INDYX. You take pictures of your clothes and the app takes the background out so your clothes look like paper doll clothes and you can mix and match them into outfits while you sit on your couch. It’s really fun. Much more fun than trying them on in front of a mirror. Find it in the App Store. The logo looks like this:

I found this vintage I.Magnin blazer at the bottom of the $6.50 basket at Pastimes last week. It’s amazing! Check it out:

My friend Zee calls me The Wizard of the Bin. I can’t believe I find these things. If you saw the utter disaster I paw through to find this stuff you would be appalled. I am appalled. If anyone I knew saw me, I would be mortified. And yet… Six dollars and fifty cents. For that. Covered buttons. Leather trim. Fully lined. Omg.

When I went home, I styled it out on my floor like this:

Home Improvements

While I mess with my clothes, G messes with wood. She took our built in dining room cabinet from this distressed white, to a matte black, even repainting the hardware. It looks so nice!

Yoga

Classes have been so cozy and sweet and warm in January. I started off with a Hot Power Yoga Class at the beginning of the month, and have kept the space heaters going strong since the temps have been mighty low. (Notice how I didn’t bitch about winter here?)

Walking

On our Friday walk this week, Nikki and I were startled by a Bald Eagle. There were actually two of them. This one sat, big as you please, right on the tree we walked past. Nikki didn’t even have to Zoom in. This was how close it was.

I am posting this a day early because I’ll be in airport world all day tomorrow. So it’s Wednesday, January 29th the Lunar New Year. This is the year of the Snake. The snake symbolizes renewal, wisdom and transformation.

If there ever was a moment in time when these qualities were in high demand, it is now.

Happy Lunar New Year! Stay mindful, everybody. And make art.

Love, Kath