Last month I told you that this was a difficult confession. And that's really what it feels like. A confession. I strongly dislike sharing it because it feels BAD. But I've always promised to show up raw, and raw, you shall get from me. It's interesting though because when I talked about this last month, many ppl responded to that email letting me know they could relate.
So sometimes, our biggest vulnerabilities are what actually connects us the most. And suddenly, we feel more seen than we ever would have.
Have you read Daring Greatly by Brené Brown? Or watched her TED Talk on the Power of Vulnerability? I swear everything that woman says is worth making quotables.
"Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness."
I started Peggy's Playground to connect with you. In a digital world, we all crave NEED connection and just plain humanity!
Personality Assessments
Continuing the confession. I actually loved this discovery overall because I felt like I was given permission to be exactly who I was meant to be. I've taken CliftonStrengths in the past (several times 😳) but it had been over 5 years and I was so curious to see how my top-top strengths evolved as I've grown. Turns out they did. And I immediately felt weight lifted. I felt seen. I felt relieved. I felt *dramatic pause leading to epiphany* motivated 🤩
I told you in last month's Playground I would share my results. Like, ALL of my personality test results 🤗 & I reallllly want you to respond and tell me yours if you haven't already.
And even just knowing that my strengths include ideation and activation helps me embrace that part of myself. Each strength has a positive and negative opportunity. Sometimes it's helpful that I'll have ideas and take action, and sometimes it's a good reminder to pause and breathe before doing so. Anyway, I can't recommend it enough. And Individualization is my #6 so that proves that I seriously want you to tell me yours 😜
Procreate Bootcamp
Bootcamps are my favorite programs to run every year. I LOVE the live workshops sooo much because I get to see people progress their skills week after week.
More than that, though, I get OBSESSED seeing how people interpret the prompts during each week. Prompts are limited to a specific subject matter, color palette, overall theme, a challenge element, and a technique to use.
Sharing some from a recent prompt because they're just too good 👇
SAME prompt, interpreted by the brilliant minds of (from top left to bottom right): Jennifer Egan, Pat Ciula, Lainie Childers, Eleni, Heidi Holbach, and Maryann J
Temperature Blanket
I hopped on this train. I had no idea this was even a thing but the idea of crocheting one line of color coded yarn according to the high temperature of each day, to end the year with a full blown blanket makes me feel VERY excited.
I'm not doing the traditional design either. I stumbled upon Toni Lipsey's blog and she has a tutorial for a gorgeous alternative version. I also learned Tunisian crochet because of it 🤗 win-win!
Favorite Finds
Show me your wares! Hot finds! 🔥
From essentials to splurges, these are my picks for this month …
& none of these are sponsored. I paid real dollars 💵
-
Ok so eeeaaasily my top pick is something I put off for a longgg time because it felt unnecessary, but I finally jumped in and I have no regrets.
I wanted high quality vinyl “backdrops” (vs poster board) for demo filming and taking photos, and not only did I find some that are amazing, but I was able to customize the EXACT COLORS I WANTED, and you can put 2 colors on the same sheet! I overlap all 👏 the 👏 time 👏 so this was way too exciting.
You can even name the vinyl sheets, which brought me even more joy and was a sufficient temporary fill for my dream job naming nail polishes.
In case you're wondering (you're probably not 😂), I paired a poppy orange with a light, warm pink and called it something extremely original: Poppy & Pink 🤓
but then I got more creative and paired a warm lavender with a yellow-orange and called it Sherbet Sunset. And finally, I paired a mint and bright yellow and called it Electric Seafoam. Kinda wishing I would have called it Seafoam Banana now though. I said no regrets, but as I type this …
Anyhoo, I just checked and it looks like this link will hook you up with BOGO free. Not joking 🤯
- My second top pick is simple. These writing pens. I've had my cutie learning hat 👩🎓 on all month and these pens, particularly the “Camel Yellow” color (looks like yellow-brown ochre) has made furiously taking notes quite enjoyable.
And my monthly can't live without item…
- Never have I loved a chapstick quite like this one 😚
Random Fact
This month's Random Fact For No Reason is:
The word sherbet has always been SHERBET.
Never sherbert. It's true. There is not a second R.
Personal Musings
1. These are the colors I chose for my temperature blanket. They're so random 😂 and so bright
2. We had a crazy ice and wind storm that knocked our power out intermittently for a week. I got to bring out the whole gang of brass candle holders. Y'all, I'm so serious when I say that this storm knocked over 380 trees down and 850 power lines (more than 157k ppl lost power). I got real primal and sat by my candle light beading so too many bracelets.
3. Update on VR: Y'all, I'm a proud nerd to say that I have beat almost all Beat Saber levels on expert. You read that right. Let's compete 😆 (why isn't there a light saber emoji)
4. I impulsively chopped 7 inches off of my hair. Speaking of hair, I found my second ever gray hair! I earned it, let me tell you. I've been waiting for 4 years since that first one.
5. It used to take me about a year and a half to finish a book. In the month of January, I've made it through 2.5! And I highly recommend both of these. Local Woman Missing is an entertaining, multi-faceted suspense and Darkest Minds is a solid post-apocalyptic vibe YA (think Hunger Games and Divergent)
6. My favorite purchase in a long time: Elina & I got matching Gemagotchis. Have you seen these?!?! THEY ARE EVERYTHING.
WHEW! I can't believe either of us got to the bottom. Thank you for being here and for letting me be a little part of your day. It means more than I can say. I hope something inspires you like whoa today. See you soon!
Don’t miss the next monthly digest overshare!
Who knows what’ll be in these emails, but I can promise you that they’ll be entertaining (to say the least). You can make sure you get the next one here!
