week 53 // the week that was celebratory + slow

after the christmas excitement, came the week that felt like a cozy hibernation vacation. on monday morning, my love and i woke to a snowy ground outside our window. it wasn’t much, but enough to make it finally feel like winter. and the perfect timing for weather that just calls you to slow down and stay inside. so, we did just that. (minus my 10 minute walk out in our backyard  to capture this photo).

i made lots of coffee. and in my new chemex coffeemaker that my love gave me for christmas. i felt totally cool, retro, and like such the coffee snob. and the coffee was delish. talk about a slow living act of intentionality. it really does allow you to feel and experience the process of crafting your cup of coffee.

on tuesday, we did get out a bit. after my love’s appointment downtown, i was to met her up so she could use her gift card at one of our fave stores, weekday. before meeting her, though, i made sure to leave in just enough time to take a slow walk through the city part by the river. it was sooooo cold. but, so incredibly beautiful.

then we snuggled at home again. had a few people over for a long and cozy afternoon fika (coffee and such) and watched jessica jones on netflix. done with that series. and i totally recommend it. i did a crapload of blogging and preparing for all of the new stuff that’s going to be happening here. i seriously loved having so much time to really write and plan and dream and prepare. 

finally, it was new year’s eve! we went to our friend’s apartment to get him, and grab a cab together to the party we were all going to.

our last photo of 2015!

after dinner, a music quiz, just hanging out, and with about 10 minutes to spare, those of us at the party bundled up and quickly made our way out into the cold and to a nearby hill/field/open space area for the midnight countdown. what i had no idea about was that there would be a cozy campfire, grilling, chinese lanterns, and amazing fireworks. it was truly magical little celebration. a great way to ring in the new year!

we slept until some ungodly, almost lunchtime, hour and then we sat and sipped coffee for a few hours, just talking about how amazing 2016 felt already. it truly did – does. like there is something magical swirling around. some kind of incredible energy thrusting us forward into this new year.

after a few hours, i for dressed and headed off to work. to the photo boutique where i work. we were going to meet there for 5 hours to do inventory. the work was intense, but the time flew by and before i knew it, i was home again and settled in for a cozy weekend.

and, boy has it been a cozy weekend. it totally snowed some more. so, we stayed in the entire weekend. the whole freaking time. saturday, we read, blogged, and listened to music for hours. candles lit. blankets around us. and so very cozy. in the evening sometime, we started the netflix series making a murderer. and we got hooked. like, we watched 7 episodes. 7 whole hours. yep. we did that. at 2am we crawled into  bed to sleep some, only to wake this morning to finish the last 3 episode. oh my god. it was so good.

so, we absolutely enjoyed each others’ company this weekend. just being out own little family. taking it easy. cozy-ing up together. and soaking up this last day of vacation together.

Netflix weather. ? from Elizabeth Reynolds McGuire on Vimeo.

tomorrow my love heads back to the hospital as her day treatment resumes after the holiday break. and i have 3 days at home before i begin my new job. eeeeek! i’ve got so much that i want to do before i start on thursday! including reading a book, planning blog posts, and organizing some photos. plus, i’ve got some life coaching appointments booked. which is super awesome cool.

my dear friends, i do hope that your first weekend in 2016 has been exactly what you’ve wanted and needed. and i hope that you are all rested and inspired and filled with excitement + hope as we begin our first week in 2016!

earth • soul • spirit

just so you know, my weekly lookback posts will now be on sundays. and on mondays i will have my weekly post on my theme of the month.

sundays will be all about finding the sacred in everyday (with my posts being the same as they have always been, photos + thoughts from the week that has just ended). and on mondays i will have a weekly post that goes deeper into the theme for the month, following the pattern that i started in december with my reclaiming darkness theme. many of you have said to me that you enjoyed those december posts on darkness, so i thought i’d continue that tradition in 2016.

january’s theme is intention, as you saw in my playlist post from yesterday. so, i’ll write more about intentions tomorrow, and every monday, in january. i hope that you follow along!