Anybody else feel like the past several days/weeks has been extremely busy and stressful with interrupted sleep?

Just me? Ok. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a WONDERFUL season of life but it’s just been very BUSY.

I also hate that word, BUSY. People wear it as a badge of honor and I don’t like doing that because I think everyone is busy in their own right with whatever tasks they prioritize.

In my world, when I’m preparing for an event (let’s say a craft show, vacation or a family/friend event) I tend to obsess over that and forget everything else I’m “supposed” to do.

Insert the things that give me mental clarity: doing the dishes, laundry, prioritizing Lexi’s need for walks, etc.

I’ve always been like this. I can vividly remember telling a friend back in 2011-2012 that I was having a hard time focusing on making the gym a priority because work was so busy. And my apartment was a disaster. And if I could just get that cleaned I would be in a better head space to focus on ME.

Also, flashback to my childhood. When the house was messy I would vividly remember telling my siblings and dad to just “leave me alone to clean.” Habits run deep I suppose. 

I feel the same way now. My house is usually always “clean enough” meaning if someone showed up unexpectedly you might find a few dishes by the sink and definitely dirty floors and a dirty downstairs bathroom.

Those things I’m fine with.

It’s the other chaos in a “transition phase” that drives me crazy.

Currently I have my office downstairs somewhat tore apart from its usual because I have all of my craft show items stored in there because I did a craft show last Thursday and I’m doing another one this Sunday. I couldn’t leave the items in the truck and I didn’t want to haul them back upstairs.

So, I have no craft table to craft on.

In the thick of adding 3 new products to my website. Which all had to be created …. They didn’t just arrive “made.”

I completely took over the dining room table and the coffee table in the living room to print, weed and prepare my vinyl. If you’ve been to my house, you know I have a HUGE dining room table.

I also took over the back yard last Saturday with tore up Culver’s French fry boxes to spray paint these new 3 products. While Brandon was trying to mow.

Yes, great timing, Alison.

{Life Hack} Did you know Culver’s will save French fry boxes for you to pick up if you need them for a move? We kept a bunch and they also double as great boxes to tear apart to spray paint items on!

You really thought there wouldn’t be a TikTok for this blog post, right? 

@alisonkepner

New products in the Essentially Alison shop! Link in bio! ##gettingcrafty ##vendor ##fyp

♬ Way Back Home - Shaun

Anyway, I’ve been excessively apologizing all week for the chaos that I created in our house and I should disclaim, Brandon does not care.

But, I CARE.

My mental energy suffers and gets depleted quickly when I live in chaos.  

My brain craves organization even in the simplest things as: putting my makeup back in the bag, emptying the overflowing garbage, cleaning a dirty sink, making my bed, putting things back where they belong (and being consistent with the location of these things so you can always find them.)

I’m a firm believer that if you are walking from point A to Z and it will take less than 30 seconds to put something away, even if it means walking upstairs or downstairs, just do it! It’s a good way to get your heart pumping as well!

Anyway, the last few weeks have been really busy and we are looking at the calendar for a really busy next few weeks too!

Last Friday night, we went to Caustic Bingo at Rock N Wool Winery, highly recommend if you’re local to WI. That was a much needed fun night but I paid for it on Saturday when we were trying to get some outside work and garage prep done. Saturday was a long, hot, tiring and productive day. 

Sunday filled my cup in other ways, getting to see all of my siblings and their little people as well as my parents and grandma. We haven’t all been together since Christmas 2019. That was more emotionally draining than I thought it would be – I think it’s true that we have to re-learn to socialize within large groups. I for one did not speak to everyone there as much as I would have liked too which thinking about it after kind of broke my heart that I didn’t get one on one time with a couple people I wanted to.   

Take that busy weekend and insert a crazy couple work days and your end result is an exhausted Alison.

That is why my dad always says “do what’s best for Alison.”

I gave my mom a download of the weekend events coming up and she and dad always tell me “be kind to yourself” so I’m trying to insert some self-care time for ME. That means making it a long weekend. I have the vacation days and I definitely have cleaning to do.

I am about 98% ready for the craft fair on Sunday as well, in case you were curious. I have been getting up at very random hours lately and this morning I was adding the inventory at 4:30 am. And then I fell back asleep in the chair and luckily my Mac didn’t fall to the ground!

If you’re curious on what I have going on, I have a link here for the 3 new products I added. I wanted something fun for the dog lovers and also tried to add a few “kid” items that weren’t clothing. A little fun for everyone. 

Looking ahead to the next blog post I’m pondering doing one of my favorite shower self-care items. Beyond that I’m thinking of doing a fun giveaway for my birthday in July.

I don’t think I can narrow down to just one Love Language because I simultaneously love Giving Gifts and receiving them while also giving and receiving Words of Affirmation and clearly I love to help people with Acts of Service.

I figured the birthday giveaway falls somewhere on the Love Languages spectrum … and because I love a lot of things and this blog is Essentially Alison … so ya know, it tracks.

I also have quite a few fun custom projects coming up that I will work on after the vendor fair is done on Sunday! If you are in need of a custom project, please check out this link to a Google Form to let me know what you would like!

Fun fact

I'll be creating my first custom TikTok order next week! Stay tuned for a TikTok about that FOR SURE. 

I’m signing off for now, finishing out my last day of work for this week but I look forward to seeing some of you this coming Sunday at the Outdoor Summer Market benefiting the OccuPaw Guide Dog Association! I’m also looking forward to some rest over this long holiday weekend.

I didn’t really review any fun products this time around but all the thoughts and opinions expressed are indeed my own.