life update Archives - Just to Claireify

A Brief Update + Thoughts on Busyness

April 27, 2025 by Claire Leave a Comment

Hello, friends. No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the planet. Nor am I pregnant, sick (well, I have a head cold at the moment but that isn’t the reason I haven’t been blogging), or shutting down the blog.

It’s just kind of been one thing after the other since the end of March. We had a packed spring break with playdates, doctor’s appointments and the general chaos of four kids at home for a week. Then K, C, and I started a new toddler-and-me class, Eric’s parents came to visit and suddenly it was Easter. Now we’re staring down the end of the school year–so many festivities!–and summer camps, more holidays and family birthdays, and getting our garden up and running.… Read More »

I Left Instagram–Here’s Why

January 27, 2025 by Claire Leave a Comment

Please excuse the lack of post last Monday–norovirus was wrapping up its stay at our house and my head was in a thousand different places!

I’ve been thinking about this—and other offline-ing life changes—for a while. Finally pulled the trigger this week! So if you’re looking for @justtoclaireifyblog and wondering if I blocked you for some reason… nope! I just don’t exist on the ‘gram anymore.

I’ve written a lot about my tenuous relationship with social media on the blog before (see my social media and privacy tags for my musings through the years). At times, I’ve felt like there’s something wrong with me because I feel like I just can’t handle social media sometimes. Instagram is impactful in particular—although Facebook and Reddit aren’t blameless either.… Read More »

We Bought a House!

February 25, 2023 by Claire Leave a Comment

My usual Friday post did not make it to the blog yesterday because we were doing something a little different: closing on a new house! Our current lease is up in a couple months and we happened to find a house that’s perfect for our family 🙂 It’s similar to our old house but with a few differences that make it better suited to our lives now. (Buying and selling your first house is definitely a learning experience, isn’t it?)

One of my favorite parts is that our new house is a short walk from my mom’s. Little e is asking me when he can walk to Grandma’s by himself… I told him three is a little young yet, but it will happen soon enough.

And I’m excited to have a little more space–not too much, I learned from our last house that I don’t want a huge space to furnish and clean #lazy :P–and be able to personalize it too.

Now, it just needs to be spring so we can get to gardening and enjoying our new backyard. Of course I already have grand plans for raised beds, berry bushes, some kind of playhouse for the kids and a grill/dining setup for summer nights. The weather here just needs to follow suit!

xx Claire

Summer 2022: Memories & Plans

June 20, 2022 by Claire Leave a Comment

Hello friends! I’ve been very very sparse on the blog lately. We’ve had an absolutely crazy June, so I just wanted to briefly update you on where I’ve been + summer plans for Just to Claireify.

This month so far:

Both kids started summer swim lessons
We saw my aunt who visited from out of town, who we hadn’t seen since we got married!
We’ve been working on a variety of small home improvements, both hiring out and Eric & my dad DIY’ing some
Catching up with old friends over phone and in person
Spending some time at the local pool
Attending our college reunion
Continuing to declutter the house–we brought another trunkload to Half Price/Goodwill over the weekend
And many other things!

That being said, I really miss writing, both on here and my freelance work. I got my first “big” paycheck in the mail today from something I submitted a while back (and by big, I mean more than $10-20 :P). And I don’t do it for the money at all, but it’s nice to think that I could spin it into a career someday when my kids are a bit older and more self-sufficient.

This summer, I’m planning to stick to topics that are a big part of my personal experience/goals right now: decluttering/minimalism, routines, and feminine inspiration. As always, let me know in the comments if you prefer other topics I can add in 🙂 I’m staying away from the personal posts right now since that’s what I’m comfortable with. Maybe they’ll return in the future!

xx Claire