Bonjour!
Thank you for being a part of Joie de Vivre this year! I started 2022 with some bold plans and a commitment to posting once per week – which I mostly did. I also revisited and revised my Joyful Living Mission Statement to reflect my personal values of authenticity, sustainability, and joy.
As we say goodbye to the old year and ring in the new, I always get a little nostalgic and sentimental. Okay, A Lot nostalgic and sentimental; who are we kidding here?
2022 was a very special year for me. I was pregnant with and had my first bébé, which I may have mentioned a few (hundred) times (le wink). And you, dear reader, were nothing but patient with my ruminations on pregnancy, parenting, and Big Maternity. You are a saint!
And so, as Le Chien snoozes on the couch and Le Bébé plays on the floor and Muppet Family Christmas (1987) and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) run in the background, I’m reflecting on another year with the blog.
Read on for a recap of some of my favorite articles from 2022 – and check out my 2021 blog recap here!
Pregnancy & Parenting
In case you haven’t heard, I was pregnant this year and had a bébé in May. Wait, I didn’t mention this every thirty seconds for the past year? (Le wink encore.) But seriously, my pregnancy and new bébé are a big deal to me – I’m old, I’m an only child, I’ve waited for this my whole life.
And so I wrote about totally new and surprisingly fun topics. It all started with my popular ode to maternity pants. And continued with musing on shopping for baby clothes, decorating a nursery, and wrangling baby gear and baby bottles. I also lamented the Big Maternity conspiracy to both undermine our confidence in ourselves as parents and sell us expensive, trendy things we absolutely Do Not Need. Le woof.
For more posts like these, check out the Family page!
Food
I always love writing about food and entertaining at home, and tried to share a few new recipes and party ideas this year. From apple fritter cake with maple icing (mmm) to Greek yogurt-berry coulis parfaits (mmmmmm) to Halloween candy bark (mmmmmmmmm), we ate very well chez nous once again. *chef’s kiss*
For more posts like these, check out the Food, Entertaining, and Recipes pages!
Joyful Living
Even as I run around the house cooking, cleaning, and mini dachshund-tiny human wrangling, self-care is never far from my mind. I know being a perfectionist is ruining my life, and I tried this past year to really reevaluate how I approach things and how I spend time taking care of myself.
Some posts focused on self-care and depression for the preggos, but really these tips are for tout le monde. I hope to do even better next year. Progress, not perfection!
For more posts like these, check out the Joyful Living and Wellness pages!
What I’m Looking Forward to in 2023…
- Taking care of Le Bébé, the joy of my life. Watching him grow, play, and eat. And eat. And eat. We are blessed with a healthy, happy, hungry boy.
- Setting aside one hour per week for art journaling and scrapbooking.
- Planning our family’s first post-pregnancy/post-pandemic trip. Any trip. Anywhere. Literally anywhere. Well, maybe not Florida. Or Texas. Le woof encore.
- Enjoying the second half of L’Husband‘s parental leave.
- Trying to exercise more – swimming laps, practicing yoga, “working out” on our new elliptical. Hashtag whether it takes.
- Sleeping.
With several new projects on deck for 2023, I’ll be taking a brief vacance from blogging at Joie de Vivre and try to post once per month.
Bonne année et à bientot – see you in 2023!
What was good for you in 2022? What are looking forward to in 2023?
Merci for reading and please subscribe and share!
À votre santé,
Katie
Joie de Vivre 