What inspired me this year

The eight things that made all the difference ✨

I’m thrilled that one of my favorite features to write on Substack is also a favorite for you! As the year winds down, I’ve had the extra joy of revisiting these monthly inspiration roundups and recalling the brightest moments of 2024.

If you’re looking forward to more inspiration in the coming year, I’ve just introduced a new benefit for paid subscribers: access to my Digital Vision Board Toolkit. Now is the perfect time to start crafting a beautiful and creative 2025.

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Let’s Recap the Year!

Here are the eight things that brought me the most joy and inspired my creative work:

🍹 Pina Colada Smoothie

I made this Molly Baz recipe on repeat, even after summer ended. While I took a lot of liberties with the ingredients list (sometimes adding spinach, experimenting with different yogurts, and usually omitting the dates), I never skipped the fresh ginger — to me, she’s the star of this drink.

🌙 Sleep Stories

A late-year discovery! Through my husband’s work, I recently gained free access to the Headspace app and fell in love with their sleepcasts—soothing stories that help me drift off. My favorites include Dreamy Artist Studio, Enchanted Moonlight Library, Hushed Theater, and Listening Lounge & Tea.

🪞 Skincare

By far, the most impactful change I made this year was prioritizing my skincare. I started seeing an aesthetician, did MOXI laser treatments, had a few hydrafacials, and started a new regimen at home. It’s boosted my confidence, reduced my reliance on makeup, and eliminated the time I used to spend experimenting with products.

This is my “high maintenance so I can be low maintenance” thing for sure. 😂

📚 Library Requests

I’ve always been a library girl but I’ve spent more time at mine this year than ever before. Something new I started doing this year is to make purchase requests. When a new book comes out (or is about to come out) that I’d like to read, and I don’t see it on the library’s system, I fill out an easy online form asking them to buy it. They’ve approved every request and I’ve read many great books this year as a result!

💆🏻‍♀️ Lavender Heat Pack

Our thoughtful cat sitter gifted this to us last Christmas, and it’s become my ultimate comfort item. Its shape is perfect for soothing aches, whether I’m reading or winding down for bed. I loved it so much that I bought a second one for myself and more as Christmas gifts.

📽️ Movies

I’ve long identified as more of a tv-series girl, but with so many of my favorites concluding last year, I turned to exploring old (but new to me) films this year.

There’s a channel called Cinema Classics that I keep on in the background in my home office that adds instant coziness. Additionally, I keep a running list of old films I’d like watch in my phone and have put a nice dent in it. Some of my favorites include: Woman of the Year, Holiday, and Talk of the Town.

Though this was a (fairly new) movie that I HAD seen before, one of the most special and memorable moments of the year was getting to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood AT Quentin Tarantino’s movie theater.

Lastly, I’m so proud of the work that my sister Laura and I did on our movie podcast, Film to Table. We saw a nice influx of views to our YouTube channel at the end of the year which is rewarding!

If you’re not following yet, listen here or watch here.

🍸The Great Gatsby

This classic completely dominated the end of my year. Between rereading the book, revisiting the Baz Luhrmann film, seeing the Broadway adaptation twice, and playing its soundtrack on repeat, I have a newfound appreciation for this iconic story.

If you’re looking to dive 😉😉 into Gatsby’s world in 2025 as the story turns 100 years old, I think that you will be delighted by F. Scott Fitzgerald’s brilliant prose, a great second-chance love story, complicated characters, and of course all the fashion and cocktails!

🎨 Watercolor Books

I started the year with a goal to create more art away from the computer, and watercolor became my favorite medium. I first purchased Emily Lex’s watercolor books as a Mother’s Day gift for my mom and an extra for myself. We’ve enjoyed several painting sessions together—both in person and virtually!

These books have also become a relaxing solo activity for me after long days. We loved them so much that we bought more for Christmas and can’t wait for more dreamy painting sessions.

❤️ Share Your Favorites

I’d love to hear what made your year sweeter! Share your favorites in the comments—I know our community would love to read them too.

✍️ Creative Exercises/Journal Prompts

1. What high-maintenance-to-be-low-maintenance thing would make your daily life run more smoothly?

2. What story most impacted your year? Consider sharing it with a friend, exploring its variations (adaptations, music, sequels), or creating a piece of fan art or fiction.

3. Identify three activities or rituals that bring you peace. Are you practicing them daily?

☀️ Five good things

When we can recognize the things that bring us the most joy, we invite more of them into our lives. Here are five things that made me happy this week. Share yours below!

Five good things that happened this week:

1. We kicked off Holiday week with a nice dinner and a round of Seinfeld-themed Festivus trivia with friends!

2. Christmas Eve dinner with my family was short and chaotic as always, but we packed in a lot of love before we had to dash off to the airport. My highlight was drawing my nephew Alex. He sent me off with a picture he drew of my martini. 😂

3. Christmas Day with my husband’s family back here in Florida was slow, cozy, restorative, and filled with lots of puppy cuddles — exactly what I needed after a whirlwind in NYC.

4. So many bookish people have cited God of the Woods by Liz Moore as their favorite book of 2024, so you can imagine my delight when my turn came up at the library, just before the year ends!

5. I squeezed in two more old, but new-to-me movies this week and both were a delight: The More the Merrier and Going My Way.

💬 Share your intention

Whether it’s a giant leap, a tiny to-do list item, a habit change, or something else, there is power in accountability, and this is a safe space to share your aim. Some weeks, we’ll fail, others we’ll soar, but with support, we’ll always keep going together.

Until next week, get out there and make something beautiful.

Michelle

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