life lately ; 13 - january 2026

 I usually start of the month feeling pretty confident about the year, while everyone complains about the stillness, the cold, the return to the mundane. I occupy my time with little to do lists and enjoying the chance to be a homebody since everyone is doing dry jan or hiding the fact that they’re broke (we all are babes x). This year however, I feel as if there’s been a shift for me. January dragged. The streets of London felt wet and hardly anyone was in a good mood. People on the train got on my nerves easily and I skipped one too many days at the gym. I spent most weekends at home reading romantasy books and feeling a sense of yearning to be loved by a wizard with brown hair and glasses who gets jealous easily and- yeah it’s been tough lol. It’s okay. 

*Also posted on Substack 

Life in January

• Met up with friends for a lovely catch up, with one of the flying in from Amsterdam for the day! Missed her a lot and to be honest I missed the whole gang! We saw a leopard dyed poodle as we gossiped in the pub, and had a Sunday roast that put me out of commission for a good while.

• Made a small 50 piece puzzle of artwork The Scream by Edvard Munch. I loved it and now I want to get more of them to do monthly! It was a little easy, so I think a nice 100-200 piece puzzle will be up my alley (not making the same mistake of trying a 1000 piece puzzle in one go…)

• I had a creative itch to scratch and made collages of my friends and co-workers personal style. I absolutely adored doing this and it reignited my love for collage art. I want to do more of this for my blogs, my personal curriculum, and perhaps some art pieces.

• Ranked lord on my Luna Snow and Jeff in Marvel Rivals. As a support main I felt it was only right I try to and lord them since I enjoy playing them so much. Now Invisible Woman and Adam Warlock have some friends. The next supports I want to lord will be Mantis and Cloak and Dagger as they’re pretty meta this season, but first I want to level up my dps mains Phoenix, Bucky, and Moon Knight so I can lock them in comp without fear.

a snippet of my ‘all pins’ on pinterest

Achievements both small and large

• Got through most of my January goals and feel much better for it. Some left unfinished include posting my top albums of the year (which might just become a current loves post?), and clearing out my desk which I admit I have been stalling on because it seems so daunting at the moment.

• Updated the reports at work to be more streamlined and efficient. A lot of our tables were pulling incorrect metrics so we couldn’t accurately report on our CRM campaigns. Excited to have gotten over the bridge so we can fully focus on marketing for Valentines!

• Stuck to a healthy social media schedule on Pinterest and Instagram. This wasn’t a goal of mine as I didn’t want to overwhelm myself and I want to make sure it stays as a hobby. My monthly Pinterest views have increased by 3k, and my IG accounts are starting to feel more like me!

What I’ve loved this month.

• TV: The Traitors season 4. spoilers I usually want the traitors to win for the drama of it all, but I also pick a few faithful to root for just in case the traitors become unbearable to watch lol. Luckily that didn’t happen and I was able to see my favourites through to the end and watch them win! So happy for Stephen and Rachel, my favourite traitors since Harry. I’ve also enjoyed Bridgerton Season 3, as I prepare to watch season 4.

• Books: Uprooted by Naomi Novik. A battle with the woods, enemies to lovers. Witches, muggles and fantasy creatures unite. 4 stars. Not wanting to detach myself from the world building of this story, I found myself deep in the depths of ao3 hell reading fanfiction on Nieszhka and Sarkan. Read my review here.

• Anime: My Hero Academia season 8. I am gutted to have finished this anime. There is nothing I love more than a hero who makes you want to support them and Deku had me tearing up all season with his resolve. I also enjoyed a rewatch of Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, one of my favourite shoujo anime/manga.

• Music: My old school Japanese pop playlist. If it’s not something you’re familiar with, I implore you to broaden your musical horizons and explore Japanese pop, soul and rnb tracks. I’ve curated a mixture of artists from Utada Hikaru to w-inds. Aside from older vibes, I think I’ve listened to Soranji by Mrs Green Apple on my commute to work all month.

My camera roll makes me think i’ve done fuck all this month but when I take a moment to recap, I think this level of activity is a nice, gentle start to the year. This February I think I’m going to continue to take it easy but with more emphasis on returning to the things that bring me joy. I don’t have anything planned with friends this month so I’ll prioritise a few dates with them and hope they stick.

I hope February brings lots of cute and fun moments, for you too.

Minae x