January Five Things // From The Inspired Abode

Happy New Year! And even more exciting, happy first month of the new decade – the roaring ‘20s! The new year always feels exciting to us – it’s a time to reset, set resolutions & intentions, and give yourself yet another chance to get one step closer to the person you want to be.

We’re back with this month’s edition of Five Things. Take a look below to see what we’ve been loving this month – and please do share your own monthly musings with us!

Monthly Musings January 2020 // The Inspired Abode

Credits: A Fabulous Fete (top left), The Magnolia Table (top right), Fashion Jackson (middle right), Rue Daily (bottom left)

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING…

Our favorite network TV guilty pleasure is back. Who else is watching The Bachelor this season? We love that Peter isn’t just fame hungry & plans to continue being a pilot until retirement. Now let’s hope one of these girls is good for him! We’re also looking forward to the return of This Is Us on NBC on January 14th & A Million Little Things on ABC on January 23rd.

If you haven’t watched the 3-episode documentary, Don't F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer, you need to get on it. We thought it was going to only be about cats, but it gets into so much more. Try your best to avoid searching online about the subject until you’ve finished all of the episodes. We wish we could say more, but we want you to be as shocked as we were.

Now that it’s award season, we’re trying to watch some of the Golden Globes nominated films since they’ll likely be nominated for an Oscar once the nominations come out! We really enjoyed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood & The Joker was so good & eery.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO…

We’ve been loving acoustic & cover versions of songs this month – like “Latch (Acoustic)” by Sam Smith, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Haley Reinhart & “Eastside (Acoustic)” by Benny Blanco, Halsey & Khalid.

We’re big fans of Hilary Kerr’s Second Life podcast & recently she launched an episode featuring an interview with Reese Witherspoon. We’ve loved her ever since Legally Blonde & Sweet Home Alabama, not to mention the movies & series she’s produced lately (Big Little Lies anyone?), but listening to this interview made us love her even more.

WHAT WE’RE EATING & DRINKING…

We got each other cookbooks for Christmas, so we’re excited to try some new recipes from Joanna Gaines’ The Magnolia Table cookbook and Wine Food: New Adventures in Drinking & Cooking – while mixing in recipes from our fave new Half Baked Harvest Super Simple cookbook. So far we’ve tried Joanna’s grilled cheese strips & tomato basil soup (which is served at Chip & Jo’s restaurant in Waco) & loved it – so easy & delish!

Update from last month’s five things: we tried the Vanilla Chai Tea White Russian from Half Baked Harvest & absolutely loved it. Highly recommend!

WHAT WE’VE BEEN EYEING…

We were both thankful to receive Nordstrom & Abercrombie gift cards for Christmas, so we’re eyeing these pieces: this feminine chiffon bodysuit, chic trench coat & cozy half-zip sweater. Also been loving gorjana’s “Lena Huggies” earrings, which we just received in the mail!

We also got planners for 2020 from Emily Schuman of Cupcakes & Cashmere’s collaboration with BlueSky & Target – they’re so cute! We got the black & brown leather styles (not available online), but we also love the stripes & a dark floral print available in-store.

We’re also determined to set better financial goals in 2020, so we started by purchasing @MyWealthDiary’s wealth-building dashboard. It’s essentially a Google Sheet file in which you track your spending, income, and goals – we’re analytics nerds & love all of the various spreadsheets & findings.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO…

Our co-founder & in-house designer, Kelcy, is heading to northern Minnesota later this month for a cabin trip with her boyfriend’s family. The temps are going to be freezing, so she’s hoping for snow & looking forward to bundling up in sweaters!


We’d love to know what you’ve enjoyed watching, listening to, eating, drinking & what you’ve been eyeing and are looking forward to. Let us know in the comments section or send us a DM on Instagram! Don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest to see what inspires us daily!

Want to read more? Take a look back at The Inspired Abode in 2019, drool over one of our favorite restaurants: North Italia, & shop the look for a chic, natural living room you’ll love. We also launched our first (of many) newsletter on NYE & we’re excited to connect with you all that way. If you aren’t already subscribed, we hope you’ll join us by signing up here! We also recently launched our very own e-design packages! If you’re looking to revamp your bedroom, living room, kitchen, or office before or in the new year, we can help!