January 2021 Month in Review

Welcome to February! Hard to believe it’s already the second month of the new year—have your new year goals and resolutions already worn off? Or are you still staying motivated? Hopefully the latter! Today I’m sharing my usual monthly recap, including some of my favorite products lately, my favorite outfits from January, and the goals I’m setting for the new month. Hope you enjoy!

What’s New?

• Today marks the first day of week 4 of my university’s winter quarter. The quarters are 10 weeks long and by the time March rolls around, I’ll be officially done with my Criminology major!
• I crossed off my first bucket list item of the new year last Friday, which was going to a hot springs in the wintertime. Now that I’ve done it, it was kind of dumb having the ‘winter’ specification—going to a hot springs in the winter is NO different than going in the summer. Oh well, it was still a blast!
• I got a lavender Instax polaroid camera as a late Christmas present and it has been SO fun taking pictures of everything (and then immediately taping them to my bedroom wall—finally getting all the college Pinterest vibes).

Favorite Outfits from January

• I loved the mix of edgy and preppy vibes in this blue and grey outfit from my New Year, New Goals blog post. I’ve worn this outfit several times outside the blog and was excited to finally get real pictures in it.
• I think this 70s inspired look was my favorite of the month! I always get so many compliments on these pants, and it was an overall really fun photoshoot, styling the outfit with the 1970 Volkswagen Fastback.

Most Popular Posts from January

• Thrifty in Leather
• Why I’m Not a Trendy Shopper
• Wearing Your Scarf as a Skirt?

What I’ve Been Loving

• I am obsessed with this Bed Head hair crimper that my brother got me for Christmas. It takes a lot longer than curling my hair (as expected), but it lasts SO much better than curls. When I use a curling iron, the curls mostly fall out by the end of the day or definitely by day two, even with hairspray. But crimping my hair lasts until I get it wet, even without any sort of spray. Plus, I just love the big hair vibes!!
• I’ve been wearing my new black knee boots nonstop, which you can buy here (although they’re pretty expensive when not on sale!). I used to have a pair of knee boots from Nordstrom Rack, but I wore them to death—literally, the soles fell out. I was picky about the boots I wanted to replace my old ones, and the Clarks ones I received for Christmas are perfect. They go with so much, and I’ve missed being able to style my knee socks.
• I’ve also been wearing a new perfume lately, Good Girl by Carolina Herrera. I’m horrible at describing scents, but it smells so good! It has tuberose, jasmine, and tonka bean (as if I know what those individually smell like).

What I Watched

• The Midnighters—Entertaining and very suspenseful, but lots of plot holes!
• Wonder Woman 1984—I was disappointed with this sequel. It also had plot holes, I thought, and was rather cheesy. But hey, Gal Gadot is SO cool!!
• Just Mercy—Been wanting to watch this for so long and finally did with my dad when he dropped me off at school. It was so good and I highly recommend it! It aligns a lot with the kind of stuff I learn about in my Criminology major, and the film really inspired me to do something meaningful with my education after graduation.
• “Gilmore Girls”—I finally finished this! I think Rory is so annoying and I don’t understand the hype about her, but I still loved the show. It was good for watching in the background while doing other stuff, and I love the extravagance of the East Coast life.
• “Gilmore Girls: Year in the Life”—Did not love this so much… especially the ending!
• “The Crown”—It’s taking a long time for my boyfriend and me to get through this, but it’s so interesting.

Quote of the Month

• Last Month’s Quote: “Don’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘good’.” I’ve been reminding myself of this quote constantly and have found it so helpful.
• February’s Quote: “You were born an original. Don’t die a copy,” said by John Mason. A good ol’ self-love quote to kick off this month of love.

Goals

• I fell SO short on January’s goals. I finished the month with 1,144 Instagram followers, gaining only about half of the number of followers as I was hoping. I had such a good start to the month but then hit a stagnant spot about two weeks ago! However, I did have my best blog views ever in the month of January, which is exciting and worth celebrating.
• In February, I need to hit 1,255 Instagram followers to stay on track for my goal of 2,000 by the end of the year… That seems like a very unrealistic number, though. If I have any hope of hitting it, I need to bump up my engagement on others’ posts a lot this month. For number of visitors on my blog, I need to hit 1,800 in February to reach my yearly goal, which will definitely be doable by linking up diligently, engaging on others’ blog posts, and getting back into my Pinterest grind. I also plan on pitching to my first brand and starting a college linkup this month—stay tuned!

. . . . .

This Month in 2020: How to Save Money Shopping with an Excel Spreadsheet | When Fashion Blogging Turns Dangerous | Valentine’s Day Favorites

This Month in 2019: Super Stylish for the Super Bowl | Trend Tester Series: Tuxedo Stripe Jeans | 3 New Approaches to Resolutions and the New Year

This Month in 2018: Airport Travels | Keeping It Casual | Pom Pom Details | Winter Getaway to San Diego: Part 1

This Month in 2017: Green Leopard | Beginnings of Bold | Pine | First Purchase

. . . . .

What I’m Looking Forward to In February

• Donating blood for the first time. (Okay, so I’m not looking forward to it, but I’m looking forward to crossing it off my bucket list!)
• Registering for spring quarter classes.
• Working towards my goals!!!

Isn’t this outfit so fun?? The camel sweater and faux fur link scarf and cuffs are all borrowed from my mom. I thought the camel and red made a really unique color combination, especially for Valentine’s Day coming up. The red accessories are sold out, but White House Black Market still has the scarf and cuffs available in several colors! So cute.

What are you looking forward to or hoping to accomplish in February? Leave me a comment below! Hope you have a great start to your week and month.

 

Miles of smiles,
Grace

 

Camel Sweater: Borrowed from my mom | Skinny Jeans: JCPenney, $25, last worn here | Faux Fur Scarf and Cuffs: White House Black Market, borrowed from my mom | Leopard and Black Booties: Crown Vintage via DSW, $35, last worn here | Elephant Clutch: Francesca’s, $20, last worn here | Leopard Belt: Francesca’s, $9