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The east coast is about to be hit by a major snow storm this weekend – and I have to admit I’m a little jealous. I was in a remote area of Montana last week – completely cut off from most major conveniences and more importantly a cell phone signal – and it was glorious. We played in the snow, we cooked, drank good wine and talked (face to face, no emojis necessary) for hours. It felt civilized. It felt refreshing. It was a wonderful reminder of what matters most. So to all my friends on the east coast, hunker down and love every second of it. There are very few opportunities to take it slow these days.

That leads straight into the theme of my top five must-click links of the week: the continued search for simplicity!

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Since I’m all about simplifying this year, the next place I want to tackle is my closet. I’m tempted to try the capsule wardrobe trend, but in the meantime I’m just going to try these expert closet organization tips.

Blogs We Love Wanderlust

No matter how many things I have going on at home (like this, this and this), I always dream of where I can go next. This 72 hour trip has me craving a return to one of my favorite cities in the world.

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If you love minimalist but warm and personal design, then you’re going to bank major decorating inspiration from this home tour.

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I’m sticking to my cook at home resolution by making simple comfort food (I never resolved to detoxing!).

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Efficiency and simplicity often go hand in hand. Here are 12 universal skills that will help you succeed at anything. I’m taking notes.

Happy Friday friends!

image via the blog & the city  

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Since it’s a new year, this is a whole new site and I’m all puffed up with new year-fueled ambition, I thought I’d kick off a new Friday tradition: five favorite things from around the web. I never said the idea was ground breaking.

Rather than personal anecdotes or a massive laundry list of links, I want to offer you a tightly curated list of things that will dramatically improve your life, or will at least entertain you for a minute or two! So I hope you enjoy.

I also want to take a hot second to thank everyone for all the kind words about the new site. Your comments, tweets and notes meant the world. SO much work went into this puppy and it’s just so rewarding to know you’re pleased with end result. Because truthfully this site is ultimately for you, not for me.

PPS – congratulations on making through the first work week of 2016! These five things should help you goof off for the rest of the day.

 

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We’re only eight days into the new year. It’s not too late to start better habits! I’m definitely planning to focus (hint, hint) on this productivity tip in 2016.

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We’re not the only ones who did a little sprucing up over the holidays. My dear friend Jeanne (you might remember her from this series – should we bring it back in 2016??) debuted a redesign of her site and I’m smitten!

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Sure, we all try to be on our best behavior the first week of the new year. Maybe the first month. But I love that Camille Styles is embracing wellness as a way of life, not a fad.

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Whenever you’re having a bad day, click here. No srsly, you’re gonna want to bookmark this.

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If January isn’t National Soup Month, it should be.

 

lead image by brian w. ferry for lonny.com