Hello & Welcome to Heart Meets Home
my 2025 goals + 10 favorites from 2024
Hello friends! I’m so excited to be writing my first Substack newsletter to you all. It’s been a goal of mine for a while to start a monthly newsletter (and who knows, maybe it will become so fun that it’ll turn into bi-monthly ?!) so I have a place to share more long-form writing, more about our family and motherhood that perhaps I wouldn’t want to share on my public blog, and of course all the fun things that bring such delight in my life, like interior design, houses, baking, gardening, running an efficient home (this type A gal loves a system!), entertaining, celebrating, being a good friend, wife, and mama. Each month I’ll be sharing a little something from the heart— something a little deeper than I would share on Instagram or my blog — and then some extra fun things, maybe a recipe, some design tips and such, tucked in, too.
The tag line for my interior design business is “where heart meets home”, and I thought using that as my substack title fit perfectly for what I hope to create with my newsletter. You, and the other people you share your home with, are what makes your home your safe place, somewhere you enjoy being, somewhere core memories overflow and certain smells evoke sweet emotions, where traditions build your family culture, and where so much of life happens. Your home is special because of the heart you put into it; the life that is lived there. I’ll share from my heart + we’ll talk about the home and everything that goes on inside of it. I hope this monthly note feels intimate and special — sort of like I’ve invited you over into my home for tea & a pastry each month to chat!
If you’re new to my corner of the internet, here is my family! This is my husband McCann, and my twin 19 month olds, Brooks & Sawyer. We also have a doodle dog who didn’t make the photos ;)
Thanks for being here and I hope you enjoy!
In today’s newsletter:
+ Thoughts on the new year & a few of my personal goals
+ 10 of my favorite things from 2024
February is the New January
Two weeks ago, I shared on my Instagram stories about how there is no world in which I am ready to go with my new year’s goals, word for the year (if I’m even doing one!), and the like — much less a reel sharing them all — the first week of January. I am happy for you if that is you, but I’m sorry, I am still recovering from everything that the holidays bring! As my family lives in California and we’re in Michigan, our holiday always involves cross-country travel, and with two 18 month olds thrown into the mix, I need about a week to recover when we get back ;) We put Christmas away, cleaned the house, got back into our routine, and THEN I had some brain space to think about 2025. I feel like February should be the new January, just to give us a bit of extra time to get our thoughts together and really take inventory of what worked, what needs to change, what habits you’d like to cultivate.
In sharing this, I found I was not alone (thank goodness!) and many of you felt the same way about just truly not feeling ready to dive into a new year right off the cuffs of a lot of family gatherings, busyness and emotions the holidays can bring.
So, if you’re like me, maybe you’ve just started thinking about some goals, or ideas for how you want your new year to look. I have a couple I’m going to share today, but I’m leaving room for more to come to me and some of these to change. A quote I heard many years ago and has always stuck with me was “there’s nothing special about January 1”. Sure, it’s the start to our new calendar year, which many people find can be a good time to reset and create new habits, but let’s remember that those things can also happen in April or September.
I think one thing that can trip people up, myself included, in goal setting is setting too lofty of a goal that when it doesn’t go as planned or they don’t reach said goal, they quit altogether. I find myself trying to set very attainable goals so that I can have the satisfaction of reaching them. Does anyone else do that?! I probably just revealed a lot about my personality and gave away the fact that I really don’t like to fail ;)
Without further adieu, here are a few goals I’ve set for myself for the year:
+ Monthly meal prepping: I’ve always done a weekly meal plan, but I love the idea of sitting down ONE time instead of four times / month to plan out our meals. I did it for the last 3 weeks of January and I already feel a weight lifted off and think I’m going to love this strategy! With this, I also want to be mindful about making more food so we can have more leftovers. Working smarter, not harder is the goal. (Side note: if I could hire out one household task, it would without a doubt be a chef. It’s my biggest pain point in running our home.)
+ Read more & keep track of the books I’m reading: I think I read 10 books last year, which to be honest was a good number for me, considering I had small babies and then toddlers. I want it to be my nature to reach for a book instead of my phone this year. My goal is 15 books. I know it’s not a ton, but it’s more than last year, and it feels attainable! I started a GoodReads account with a “want to read” wishlist and my “have read” list, so I can actually keep track this year.
+ Parent with intention: This is longwinded, but perhaps you’ll resonate…we’re now out of the “keep the babies alive” phase and into the “parenting” phase with the twins. Everyone has their favorite seasons with babies and toddlers, and I’m going to be honest— I much prefer babies. This toddler phase has been very challenging for me. My husband and I were saying the other night that we feel like we’re constantly redirecting, shaping/molding their behavior, teaching and correcting.
Having two toddlers of the same age / communication abilities is certainly not easy, but we want to raise them to be respectful, well-mannered, and fun little boys, so this stage takes a lot of work. The easy choice would be to sit on the couch and just say “ no hitting your brother!”, while the harder choice would be to get up, model the correct behavior, have them apologize, hug and then help them share. Let me tell you, I do not want to make the hard (correct) choice a lot of the time. I am tired ;) But something my husband read in his book he’s working through right now has really stuck with me. It said we need to think of ourselves as “coaches instead of babysitters”. While a babysitter would address the behavior, a coach would address the heart, the why behind the behavior, and actually hope to mold their child into making better choices the next time. This is really the mindset we want to go into parenting with. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it’s good, faithful work!
+ Check with each other before spending: we’ve gotten in a habit of just purchasing things we “need” here and there without running them by each other. We’re saving for a larger home, so we want to be really diligent this year.
+ Come up with “signature” dishes my family will remember forever: this one I am very excited about. I want my kids to be able to say one day “my mom makes the best ____!” My goal is to start finding a few treats, meals, etc. that will become a favorite for our family— something my kids will ask for and love through their life. I have a favorite summer no-bake smores treat, my crowd-favorite flank steak tacos, and an overnight french toast casserole (the Magnolia table one) that I have loosely perfected, but I’d love a few more up my sleeve.
+ Go on a solo vacation with husband: this doesn’t even need to be long, maybe 2 days! But getting away together would be so life-giving, and something we want to prioritize this year. I cannot even imagine waking up slowly and not having two little mouths to feed / bodies to dress / teeth to brush within the first few hours of my day! Remembering who we are outside of “mom” and “dad” will be so good for us.
+ Regulate my emotions before dealing with the kids’ emotions: I’m just going to be honest…it’s not always easy for me to keep my cool. One of the quickest emotions that bubbles up is anger. It doesn’t manifest in a physical way, but sometimes it causes me to raise my voice, or just be angry in my head which leads to loud sighs of frustration (just me?!), bitterness, etc. I realized, though, that if I can’t regulate my own emotions and get them under control, how can I expect and teach my children to do the same? So this year I am going to work on coming into difficult teaching moments with my own emotions under control. Maybe that means I have to step out of the room for a second before intervening, or asking God for help out loud as I approach. I will report back on how this goes, and if this was or is you, I’m open to helpful tips and encouragement :)
+ Take on an interior design project or two that excites me: since having the boys, I have done a bunch of virtual and in home design consultations, but haven’t dove back into full scale design projects. I haven’t had the capacity, and that is okay. My priority is to be home with my boys while they’re young! But I do miss being creative and seeing a project through. It’s hard to figure out the balance of who you used to be, the gifts the Lord has given you to use, and your new role as a mom that comes with about a million sub-jobs all wrapped up in that one title. I’m excited to say I’ve already started working on a kitchen renovation. It’s going to be so beautiful. I can’t wait to share it with you!
+ Be consistent with this newsletter: I can’t wait to be in your inbox each month :)
2024 Favorites:
Before we move on to 2025, I’ve got to shout out a few things — and I do mean THINGS — I loved from 2024.
My husband got me this fruit bowl for Christmas and I am absolutely giddy over it. It’s just the coastal / textured touch my kitchen needed!
A friend recommended this eyebrow gel and I’m so glad I took her rec. At $10, it’s so well priced and worked incredibly well. I have dark brows and I got the 3.0 shade. I could see how the clear shade would also be nice to have.
My skincare routine: Ever since starting to use this serum that tightens, hydrates, helps with an even skin tone, reduces inflammation, and aging, my skin has transformed. I kind of can’t even believe it’s working so well! I use it every morning and every other night. On the off nights, I use this serum. It’s an AHA serum, so it gently exfoliates and brightens your skin, giving it the smoothest texture and reducing fine lines, discoloration, and more. I also just added in this moisturizer and this eye cream. I’m obsessed!
Pathos plants: I have 4 in my house now and they’re just the happiest, most maintenance plant I’ve ever had. I love the trailing vines they create. Mine are doing so well in low lit rooms.
Dolce Vita Boots: I needed a new pair of booties this year, and this pair has been the winner. The square toe, low heel, and waterproof nature are some of my favorite details.
A couple new makeup items: Merit bronzer, Merit blush, Merit perfectionist stick, and Ilia’s Tint Skin moisturizer with spf 40.
Kitchen Scissors: to those of you who have used these multiple times per day for years, you will be shocked by this. I have only ever used kitchen scissors for opening packages of food related items, and sometimes to cut herbs. I saw my babysitter using them to cut the babies’ food and my mind was blown - ha! I now use them for everything, I need a second pair!
Mom’s One Line a Day journal: My mom gave this sweet journal I’ve been wanting in my stocking and I already love it so much! It has enough space to write one little note about the day. But the best part is, the journal has space for FIVE years worth of entries on each page. So on each date, there’s 5 spaces allotted— one for each year. My journal will contain years 2025-2029. It’ll be so fun to see what I wrote on January 26th of 2025 when I’m journaling a few years from now. So far, I’ve written cute things the boys say, what we did that day, anything that was challenging, etc. There’s only room for one sentence, so it’s very attainable!
The Bodyguard book: one of my top 3 books of 2024. So cute, funny, super clean, heartwarming. Finished it so fast!
Getting dip manicures once a month: this is bougie, I totally get that. But there is just something about having your nails done that makes you feel so put together. Like, my hair and outfit could be a total mess, but I still feel good ;) My dip always lasts forever (4 weeks!) It’s never cracked or chipped, it only grows out, so it’s very low maintenance.
Primally Pure Lip Balm: never have I loved a lip balm so much! In fact, I’ve never found one that doesn’t make my lips irritated. I got this at My Favorite Things holiday party, so I’ve been using since December, but I am obsessed and will buy it on repeat. Bonus: their deodorant is by far the best natural deo I’ve ever tried.
Well, that concludes my first newsletter! Thank you for reading and being here. You can always reply to this email with questions or a note to say “hi”, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
xoxo
Michaela
Love this so & very happy for long-form content from you! 🩵
I'm on my 2nd year of my line a day book and I'm now more motivated to fill it out as it's such a surprise to see what I wrote a year ago for each date!