April 2025 Goals & Intentions

This post initially appeared in the Monday morning newsletter on 4/7/25.

Happy Monday! I’m back after a two-week newsletter hiatus and excited to talk about… April planning! 

March and April are always tough months for me. Even though it’s not quite winter anymore, the lack of sun and rollercoaster weather (you never reallllly know if those warm temps are here to stay) can throw me off. Layer in some work and life stress, and I found myself slipping into some not-so-great habits last month. 

Especially in moments like this, I really lean on my monthly planning and intention-setting ritual. As arbitrary as it might seem, there’s something about turning the page on the calendar to a new month that gives me a fresh wave of motivation. It energizes me to reflect on how I want to spend my time in the month ahead and be more mindful about the habits I’m carrying forward. 

So, even though we’re already a week into April, I’m embracing that new month energy and using it to reset and refocus for the month ahead. I think it’s going to be a great one! 

Before we dive into April planning, let’s take a moment to reflect on March.

The highlight of the month was definitely St. Patrick’s Day weekend here in Chicago with my mom, childhood best friend and her mom. It was a ton of fun – lots of great conversations and laughs!

It wasn’t the best month in terms of achieving monthly goals, but that’s OK! The purpose of monthly goals is to guide my actions, not to strive for perfection or check every box. 

March goals & intentions:

• Daily walks outside. Absolutely not haha. This one’s getting rolled over into April because I do think it’s a valuable habit. I just couldn’t stick with it last month. There were definitely a couple strings of days where I didn’t even leave my apartment in March, which probably contributed to that general ‘blah’ feeling.
• Finish recapping our wedding and designing our photo album. Some success here! I still need to write a ‘part 2’ as a follow-up to part 1, but we DID create and finalize our wedding album. We used a company called Artifact Uprising and we are very happy with the result! 
• Start a new morning journaling routine. I did keep up with a simple morning journaling routine for some of March, which I consider a success. It did help me, especially when I was feeling particularly stressed. 

April 2025 Reflection

Anything big happening this month?

• I’m headed home to Florida for a week in the middle of the month. I cannot wait to see my parents and soak up the comfort of being home.
• My birthday is this month! I’ll turn 31 this Friday. After spending a lot of time thinking about my 30th last year, I feel like this birthday will be a bit more low-key, which honestly feels right. I’m taking the day off work and have some fun plans with Matt that I’m looking forward to. 

April 2025 Goals & Intentions 

• Get dressed and go outside every day. Well, every day in April starting today. We’re keeping the bar low here – athleisure and a quick walk around the block totally count. But I think doing these two small actions will make a big impact on how I feel. I did a big closet cleanout last weekend that’s making this feel even more doable. I plan to snap a quick photo of my outfit and of being outside each day to document this! 
• Take a beat to celebrate milestones. This includes my birthday and few personal things we’re excited about this month. The last few months have felt non-stop, so I want to be intentional about pausing to celebrate the good.
• Take a break from regular manicures. I love getting my nails done, but as I think about ways to simplify in general, I’m ready to take a little break from the regular manicure schedule (monthly pedicures are still happening!). I still want my nails to look nice though, so I’m working on getting my at-home routine dialed in.  
• See the Michigan Ave tulips! Every spring, tens of thousands are planted in the medians along Michigan Ave. According to this countdown, they should bloom at the end of the month. It’s one of my favorite spring traditions in the city, and I want to make sure I make time to see them this month.

What are you looking forward to this April? 

From the archives: April 2024 | April 2023