At the end of 2015, as the holiday break set in, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel the itch to travel anywhere. I stayed home, took a bunch of days off, didn’t do any “work stuff” beyond checking my email and settled in. I’m idealizing it a bit because it was harder to unwind than I anticipated. But all in all, it was good. It doesn’t how much you Love your job; you need to give yourself space to think. To dream. To ask yourself, “What do I really want?”

Oh boy, do I want a lot of things out of this year. It’s an interesting balance I’m trying to achieve this year because while I want to accomplish a lot of things, I also want to simplify.

Simplifying makes more room for the things you want to bring into your life while pushing out all the clutter and the things that no longer serve you.

Over the break, I Cleaned out my closets. Cleaned out my office. Traded in unused air miles to subscribe to new magazines. Started reading Zen Habits again (because if you want to lead a simpler life, this is the ultimate place to start). Used a credit to book a ticket to New York to help one of my BFF’s clean out her closet. And really, just lived. I went on long walks and visited plenty of coffee shops with Joey and Rocky, tried out a bunch of new bar happy hours with my dad, spent time at my grandparent’s cabin near Mt. Hood, cleaned out my email inboxes and put in a few quiet days at the office reflecting and prepping for the new year.

It was wonderful.

Looking Forward, this year is going to be a big one. I’m dedicated to growing and diversifying Branch and with that, there are 4 big project collaborations in the works with a new one rolling out every few months. I’m taking on less of the work I don’t want and more of the work I do. Everything feels good.

With so many new interests and projects where does that leave this space?

I’m going to be tightening up my posting Schedule to give you more Helpful content and less filler. That was a goal of mine last year as well and I want to keep pushing forward. My thought has always been that there’s no point in half-assing anything in life. Give it your all….or don’t do it at all.

Going forward, there will be a new schedule that looks like this:

Mondays and Wednesdays: Helpful, inspirational posts about design, style and travel — much like it’s always been.

Fridays: A new format of Link Love and The Week In Pictures rolled into one, called The Week + Links. It’s a way to continue sharing helpful, inspiring links I’ve found around the web mixed with a photo (or two) and a more personal, behind the scenes look into what I’m up to. The blogs I love most have a personal touch — they let me into someone’s world and see things through their eyes sand it’s important for me to keep that connection with you here.

I hope your 2016 is off to a wonderful start and I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

How was your break?
Did you take any fun trips?
What’s got you most inspired in the new year?

Thanks for joining me over the last nine years, whether you’ve been here since the beginning or are just stopping by for the first time today. I appreciate you and hope you find something helpful and inspiring as you read along. —Shauna

Photos: Made U Look Photography.