Hi guys!
I hope you are all hanging in there. Since my last post, I’ve been transitioning more into my work from home lifestyle. It is such a privilege to be able to work from home, I have to say. Having worked mostly in the hospital setting prior to this summer, and literally being in the line of fire, dealing with the threat of physical aggression and emergencies on the daily, even prior to COVID, I am ever more grateful to be able to work from the safety and comfort of home. I used to roll my eyes when my outpatient colleagues complained about working from home when I couldn’t. I promised myself I would never complain about it if I had the chance to do the same. And now here I am working from home, enjoying it, and exercising immense gratitude. Of course, if I was limited on space or had to deal with a bunch of kids at home, I’d probably complain too, so to each their own.
But getting back to the topic of getting dressed: during my work hours, I’m mostly wearing non descript monochrome tops. On my off hours, I’ve been wearing more vibrant tops like this one. As you all know, tie dye is really in right now. I’ve especially been enjoying tie dye in neutral tones and bold contrast like this one. If you’re curious, I’m in my office in this photo. We recently re-arranged some things in our apartment, and moved this flannel rug from Target into this space. I think it looks good in this room because it is otherwise lacking in color and pattern.
Have you guys started decorating for Christmas yet? We started a little bit before Thanksgiving because we literally had nothing else better to do. It didn’t feel right to go all out given we aren’t having people over for the holidays but we wanted to add little festive touches here and there to lift our spirits. The HB bought a little 5 foot live fir tree, and we decorated it with LED lights, pom poms, jewelry and stuffed animals that we already had at home. This is our first real adult Christmas tree as a family. And I do want to start collecting ornaments we can use in the future, but I’d rather take my time with that. In the mean time, I decided to just DIY it with stuff we had at home rather than rushing to buy a bunch of junk ornaments that I might regret later. Have you guys seen the video of Amanda Brooks’ Christmas shop and home decor? I’m loving her collection of mushroom ornaments!
Our tree looks better at night when it’s lit, but here’s a picture of it in our living room:
I picked up a poinsettia from the grocery store as well. I just love those deep red leaves. Aside from this, we have a holiday wreath on the front door. Our apartment complex is having a holiday door decorating contest this year, which I’m excited about. I’m thinking of DIY-ing some cardboard cut out reindeer for something slightly over the top and cheesy. Fingers crossed we win!
We don’t have a real fireplace, so occasionally I’ll put on the yule log video on the TV. This year, there’s plenty of 4K quality videos available on youtube to choose from. They look so real! And make you feel warm and cozy just watching. I think the HB will kill me if I start playing holiday music, but I might start testing the waters soon, lol.
But anyway, let me know what you are doing around the house during the holidays this year, big or small. Til next time, stay safe!
Dr. it girl 
I hear you on the junk ornaments! Several years ago I started picking up an ornament (or something that would work as one, like a keychain) on all my trips and now have a tree full of fun memories. It took a while to get critical mass but was so worth it!
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Nice, I do like the idea of re-purchasing things as ornaments, especially if it’s from a fond memory of a trip somewhere.
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I have a collection of ornaments collected over the last 15 years that I really enjoy so I agree with you on taking it slowly.
On another note – I really want to thank you for your mask recommendations a few posts ago. I got the Ilwoul masks and they work very well for me. They fit my face closely so my glasses don’t fog but the design means that there is space to breathe easily. Several teachers at my school also use them now.
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Happy to hear it works well for you too!
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Since I just replaced my light fixture over my kitchen table, I have lights on the brain. Did yours come with the apartment or did you add it yourself? The fire videos are great – we have a fireplace but I’d put them on if we didn’t! In a way, they can be even nicer if you don’t really need the heat but want the ambiance. Let us know how the door decoration contest goes!
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I always wanted a hanging light fixture over our dining area. Ours came with the apartment. Oddly, I’ve never had one before and think it makes a huge difference to the ambience.
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I love being able to WFH. However, this time will be short-lived. Once the COVID wave at work dies down I have no doubt management will want me to show up to some of the meetings in the main building again. WFH is definitely a “to each their own” type of situation. Some people have families/pets that make it impossible to focus. Others simply need to separate work from home – literally – in order to get work done. I would gladly WFH all the time if I could. I have my work area and that’s it. I personally think I get more done when WFH because I’m not being interrupted all the time from people. This has forced me to really up my emailing skills and be succinct and informative, which I think is a good skill to have.
We haven’t done too much decorating yet. I had some time between calls yesterday so I put garland on our stair rail. Plus it was snowing here yesterday, so I wanted the house to feel a little more holiday-cozy.
We’ve gone the slow route as well with collecting ornaments. I had some vintage ones from my family and we bought some IKEA ones (but hardly use them), but that was all initially. Over the years we’ve collected ornaments from all the National Parks we’ve visited. Sometimes we’ll just buy one, but some vacations we’ve come home with a few. We extended this tradition to all places we’ve visited away from home. We have quite a few ornaments now.
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I would love to see your ornaments. And I hear you about WFH being better. I don’t miss getting interrupted every 10 minutes back when I was in the office. I really don’t know how I got anything done. It’s probably why I used to stay late almost every day.
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your apartment looks verrrry soothing and calm. what are the framed photos in your office??
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Thanks. I have several frames. The one that you can see in this photo though is actually the stock photo that came with the frame. I will replace it with something else but have not decided on what yet. I have another frame with my diploma and another one with art work from a former patient on this wall (which you can’t see in the photo).
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oh — and how walkable/comfortable are the velcro sandals??
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The footbed has a sort of memory foam material in it, so it is relatively comfortable. But the sole is a little heavy and there are some plastic parts so it could rub your foot the wrong way depending on your foot. I think they feel fine for brief walks or trips to the grocery store. I would not wear them for longer walks or trails though.
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We decorated for the holidays for the first time this year! Nothing too exciting, just a very small artificial tree (4 feet) and some lights. Just something to cheer us up a little.
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Nice. A tree and some lights is all you need for some good holiday ambience!
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