Welcome to my weekly post where we take a break from money-related posts and I share about what I’m loving right now and give you a little peek into our life from the past week.
I went to ALDI this week and was sad to see this sign. If you’re unfamiliar with ALDI, they’ve always sold their product at a flat rate per package/item. I believe that this by weight change will mean that their prices are a lot higher. 🙁
In better news, I was super excited about this outfit I got from Stitch Fix this week. And even MORE excited that they extended the incredibly popular deal to waive the styling fee on your first box. Have you signed up yet?? If you haven’t signed up yet, you can sign up here.
Quill is getting SO big!
I am loving this Home Care Checklist! It’s part of the Intentional Moms Toolkit membership and you get a new checklist every month — along with a meal plan and grocery list, self-care plan, Bible reading plan, and much more!
I’ll be sharing more about this really cool program this week, but you can check it out here. (You can get 25% off when you use coupon code MSM at checkout!)
And I just had to share this photo of Kaitlynn with her cousin, Atlas, that I took when we were back in Kansas for Thanksgiving. Is it not just adorable??!
Maybe you’re having one of those days? Where it feels like you’re failing and woefully behind? Where it just seems like everywhere you turn, something (or someone) is falling apart?
Can I just gently whisper this to you? Some days, you just do the best you can do. And that’s enough. Nothing good is accomplished by calling yourself a failure, by heaping on guilt, or by beating yourself up.
So just take a deep breath, do the next right thing, and know that your best is the best you can do. ❤️ (And also, go watch this short video I recorded on a particularly hard morning from this past week.)
During this Christmas season, I especially encourage you to remember this. If sending cards or making cookies or seeing the lights or buying gifts are things you love and that bring you joy, by all means, please make those a priority. But don’t spend this holiday season miserable doing things you feel like you “should” do, or that a good mom “always” does, or that you’re “supposed” to do.
Give yourself space and grace to breathe, to live, to love, to savor this holiday season. To enjoy the moments. To linger. To slow down. To appreciate.
And remember: it’s okay to re-write or tweak our holiday to-do lists or to lower our expectations of ourselves… because people are more important than projects and present is better than perfect!
This December, I want to choose relationships and real-life over put-together and perfect. And I’m intentionally going to embrace the life right in front of me, focus on really listening to and investing in the people in my life, and stop wishing I had it “more together”.
I think it’s going to be a good month! Happy beginning of December to you, too!
Links You Should Check Out:
- Are you hoping to live with more intention in 2018? Take Michael Hyatt’s FREE LifeScore Assessment right now! With this tool, you’ll discover where you currently stand so that you can move toward the best version of yourself. This assessment tool measures all areas of your life: business, relationships, finances, health, and more. It’s pretty cool!
- I’m excited that we are offering a sale on our wildly popular Choose Hoodies. We also added two new ones! And they are just $22.95 shipped through December 10, 2017. This would make a GREAT Christmas gift idea! Get yours here.
- Did you see this HOT deal? You can try Stitch Fix for FREE — there’s no styling fee and no shipping! (They extended this deal!)
Sammy says
I noticed the same thing when I went to Aldi, it means I’ll have to think about what I put in my basket instead of just blindly putting things in!
Amy says
My aldi cashier said the change was great on things like grapes because people would stuff bags from others and pay the flat rate. He thought as long as it stays on grapes, bananas and select apple sauce it should be ok price wise (definitely better for them too)
Amy says
Apple sauce!? Oh auto keyboards…
Kristy says
I think Aldi’s change was good. At my neighborhood Aldi, people frequently open bags and add more produce to the bag than it was packaged to have. If Aldi didn’t make this change, the affect of this behavior may have led to a loss of profits and overall price increases.
Crystal Paine says
Oh! I hadn’t thought about that perspective! Thank you for sharing!
Suz Harty says
As I lay here crying and reading…..trying to remember to breathe….thank you for your openness and kindness. One thing at a time, the best I can do……and that picture is so cute.
Crystal Paine says
I’m so grateful that it encouraged you!
Julie Swihart says
I just finished reading “Present Over Perfect” based on your recommendation, and loved it so much! The line I remember best is “Unconditional love changes everything.” Thank you for always sharing from your heart and strengthening ours!
Crystal Paine says
I’m SO glad that you loved it! Yay!
Claire says
I’m so excited to see that you and your kids are using Ann Voskamp’s “The Wonder of the Greatest Gift”! I preordered this (and got the discounted rate, whoo-hoo!), and we are loving it. I always wanted to do a Jessie Tree, and this is a very manageable way to do it. And I much prefer having a version of an Advent calendar that we can re-use each year, rather than getting a new one each year.
Crystal Paine says
I’m so glad you are enjoying it!
Megan says
Our Aldi has still had really good prices on produce even after changing charging by the pound. Grapes have frequently been $0.89 per pound, which is comparable to the previous sale price when sold per package. And I would think that this would be appealing for people who don’t buy large amounts of produce at a time so that they’re not forced to buy more than they actually need or can use.
Crystal Paine says
That’s great to know that you’ve not felt there’s been any price increase. From what I was calculating, it seemed like it was going to definitely be higher. But that was just one week… hopefully we’ll see some of those lower per pound prices here!
Betsy says
It’s true about Aldi–I have always gotten their grapes at crazy-low prices, like $1.69 per BAG. Usually several pounds. Last time, after they made this “per pound” change, I was suddenly buying $5 worth of grapes. I know to be MUCH more alert now— Seems like some things are still per package, but some aren’t, so you have to read the tag very carefully–