Cheryl Shops

Just about a year ago, I pledged to cut down on the Canva-collage posts and feature more original content here, and while I think I've been doing a pretty good job of that, there have been some extenuating circumstances in my life recently. I am making this sound way more dramatic than it actually is—long story short, Sean had surgery a few weeks ago and is on crutches and thus we can't do a proper photo shoot at the moment, but hopefully we'll have a new one very, very soon (e.g. next week). In the meantime, my birthday is next week and to be honest, I really enjoy writing these birthday wishlist posts. They're a little self-indulgent, yes, but hey, it's my birthday.  So for old time's sake, here's what I really, really, really want for my birthday this year. 

On a Friday afternoon in March 2020, I grabbed my laptop and a few files from my desk, thinking I'd be working from home for a week or two until the whole Coronavirus thing calmed down. And here I am, two years later, still working from home. I miss seeing my coworkers' outfits and gossiping with them after meetings, but I really don't miss commuting downtown in a packed bus every day, nor do I miss my tiny cubicle with zero privacy. At first, I worked from our living room—it's nice and sunny there, plus our couch is super comfy—but when it became clear that I'd be working from home for much longer than a week or two, I decided a more permanent setup was necessary. I am lucky enough to have a two-bedroom apartment, and in the nearly eight years I've lived here, our second bedroom has functioned as a kind of multipurpose space—part guest room, part game room, part office. But as I noted in my bedroom makeover post last year, spending so much time inside has caused me to re-look at all the rooms in my home with razor-sharp focus. Since I'll be working from home indefinitely—and at least half the time once my office reopens—I decided that the second bedroom needed to be a dedicated office space (sorry, visitors, you can stay at the hotel down the street!). Here's how I gave my office a complete makeover. 

Yep, I'm back with yet another review of Spanx pants because you know you love them. Up next is the Leather-Like Jogger, otherwise known as the faux leather jogger, which is one of Spanx's bestselling styles. I was a little apprehensive about trying this pair because I was a little disappointed with the Faux Leather Leggings—TLDR: while they suck you in like a vacuum, they don't look anything like actual leather. But after seeing these all over social media, I decided to cave and take a chance on them. Here's my honest and unfiltered review of the Spanx Leather-Like Jogger. 

February means many different things to different people; it's Black History month, my best friend's birthday, Super Bowl Sunday, Presidents' Day weekend, Groundhog Day, and, of course, Valentine's Day, which, even though I'm in a relationship, is kind of the worst made-up holiday of them all. I've decided not to do any formal Valentine's Day content this year; you dear readers tend not to be very interested in it, and since every other content creator is doing V-Day gift guides and outfits and such, you have many other places to find ideas, should you need them. That said, this could pass for a date-night look, although I feel like it's an outfit my girlfriends would appreciate more than my partner. I always dress for myself first, but when I go out with friends, I do find myself reaching for something that I think they'd like, whether it's a fun dress, a power blazer, killer shoes, or all of the above, as in this look. Since Galentine's Day is coming up on February 13th, here's what I'd wear.