What Saved My Life in April

Oh, April. What a month. It both lasted a million years and flew by in a second, somehow?! It was a month spent totally at home (literally only left like twice, except for walks), full of lots of working from home, crossing things off my bucket list, and feeling grateful for spring + nice weather to keep me sane.

Here’s what saved my life in April:

ps— affiliate links are included in this post!

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five-star books:

• The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister (review here)

• A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily P. Freeman (review here)

• The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez (review here)

shows + movies:

• Schitt’s Creek (i’m rewatching on Netflix because I just need it right now)

• Too Hot to Handle (Netflix series)

• Love Wedding Repeat (Netflix movie)

podcasts:

• The Popcast (Knox + Jamie)

• The Good List (Tsh Oxenreider)

• That Sounds Fun (Annie F. Downs — specifically the Quarantine episodes with Eddie Kaufholz)

• Unlocking Us (Brene Brown)

music:

• Good Vibes for Weird Times (the playlist I made for these weird times, with relevant song titles and solid jams)

• wishful wanderlust (a playlist with all songs that have city/state/place names. because even if we can’t travel right now, this at least helps.)

• I got really into the Jonas Brothers album this month

• Also Niall Horan

• And Lennon Stella

everything else:

• reading a book a day this whole month

• recording weekly podcast episodes

• reading the NYT on Sundays (and turning them into collages), tuning out news the rest of the week

• Keeping a daily log of everything I do

• Yoga with my dear friend Marisa

• making cookies (these!!! so good.)

• closing my Apple Watch rings every day

• long walks around the Fan and taking pictures of everything blooming

• oil cleansing my face at night

• my best friend had her first baby!!!

• spring, in general

• starting the #listmakerchallenge (find it here)

• doing #the100dayproject (also found here)

• experimenting with new hairstyles

• tea in the evenings out of my favorite mugs

• doing lots of crafty things

• being outside as much as possible

• new workouts on FitOn

• worshipping in my living room and dancing around

• doing sidewalk chalk art in the front yard

• crossing things off my quarantine bucket list

• virtual counseling sessions

• purging my closets and bookshelves and junk drawers and everything else, too

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ps— if you’re curious, here’s everything I read this month:

• The Jetsetters by Amanda Eyre Ward (1 star // review here)

• Untamed by Glennon Doyle (4 stars // review here)

• Writers and Lovers by Lily King (4 stars)

• The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister (5 stars // review here)

• Beach Read by Emily Henry (4 stars // review here)

• The Nobodies by Liza Palmer (3 stars // review here)

• Kill Reply All: A Modern Guide to Online Etiquette, from Social Media to Work to Love by Victoria Turk (1 star // review here)

• The Herd by Andrea Bartz (3 stars // review here)

• A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live by Emily P. Freeman (5 stars // review here)

• Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley (4 stars // review here)

• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (4 stars // review here)

• Cut Flower Garden by Erin Benzakein (4 stars // review here)

• How to Walk Away by Katherine Center (4 stars // review here)

• The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (4 stars // review here)

• The Holdout by Graham Moore (3 stars // review here)

• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (3 stars // review here)

• Single State of Mind by Andi Dorfman (2 stars // review here)

• The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams (4 stars // review here)

• The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez (5 stars // review here)

• Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams (3 stars // review here)

• Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane (3 stars // review here)

• If I Don’t Know by Wendy Cope (2 stars // review here)

• American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld (2 stars // review here)

• Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays by R. Eric Thomas (4 stars // review here)

• The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver (3 stars // review here)

• Bread of Angels by Barbara Brown Taylor (4 stars // review here)

• Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed (3 stars // review here)

• In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (4 stars // review here)

• Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig (2 stars // review here)

• One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline (4 stars // review here)

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