Take a chill pill.

Lately, I've realized that I've been feeling a little on edge... often.  There's no particular reason that I can think of, just the regular day-to-day agenda: eat/sleep/work, taking care of Molly, doing little things to make our house a home, spending time in the evenings/weekend with Brian.  But for me, the little things that need to get done and are on my neverending "to do" list tend to compound into one big "OMG what/when/how am I going to get this done?!?" very, very quickly.  

I am admittedly 150% Type A.  High maintenance, easily wound up, very competitive and self-critical, and things have to be done RIGHT NOW THIS VERY SECOND.  Delightful, right?  In my defense, I get things done, and I do them well, and thankfully Brian is the complete opposite so he balances my crazy out when I get a little too highstrung (bless him).  I also know that I want to take way too much on sometimes, and that's my own fault, but I get so much happiness and pleasure out of completing a.  

Take today, for example: I ran to HomeGoods on my lunch break for a little breather, with the intention of finding two bedroom lamps, small lamps for our built-ins, a few pictures frames, sheets for the guest bedroom, and a few things for Easter.

I left the store with a bag of Lindt Easter truffles (for my own Easter basket, post-21DF), an Easter candy bowl, two Easter mugs and a tiny ceramic bunny.

Basically nothing that I needed.  I know that I would have felt better if I left having spent money on the things that I actually needed for the house, but as I circled the aisles, all I could notice were the women around me who had baskets full of awesome, coordinating... stuff, things that I would never see on a shelf and put together to match in a room.  That stresses me out-- I can earmark a thousand catalog pages and Pin a million things, but when it comes time to recreate something on my own, I shut down and cannot make a decision to save my life.  So I buy things like ceramic bunnies and candy that I can't eat for three weeks.

Long story short, I desperately need to take a chill pill.  I was thinking last night that I had way more time for fun stuff before we moved into our house, which makes no sense, but I was more relaxed!  I would take an afternoon to go browse Michael's and Pier1, get a mani/pedi, stroll through Target, etc. without hesitation.  I love to craft and would spend hours putting together a holiday wreath or banner or some other project that I found on Pinterest.  All in all, I don't take time for myself as much any more, and I think that leads to the stress-- I come home, take Molly out and play with her for a bit, get dinner started, pick up Brian from the commuter rail, and by the time we've cooked and eaten dinner, we're both worn smooth out so we catch up on the DVR and chat on the couch until it's time for bed.  It's a nice routine, but I need to shake it up a bit.  

I've decided to start making a little list each month of things that need to get done, and things that I would like to get done.  Oddly enough, lists keep me sane, and remind me to do the fun little stuff in addition to the boring grown-up things.

On my fun little list for the rest of March...

-Print, frame and mail my Grandpa wedding pictures (he was unable to attend and I'm doubting he's seen any pictures from the big day).

-Get a mani/pedi this weekend with a fun spring color (any of these will do...):

-Make an Easter wreath for our front door, and put a fun vignette together for our entry table-- these pretties have caught my eye!:

Hopefully these little projects and treats will help me to slow down and smell the roses (if this snow ever melts and we can see them)!