If you’ve been reading my blog for at least a day, you’ll know I’m all about practical advice.
I don’t do woo-woo.
But in saying that, I do strongly believe that life is for living and having fun. So why can’t we be a little whimsical sometimes?
Enter… romanticising your everyday life.
This trend is exactly what I’ve been turning to lately as a 30-something girlie because I’m not going to lie, life has been life-ing recently, and I’ve been low-key struggling.
I haven’t felt like my usual anti-burnout self. I feel more exhausted than usual, more anxious, and a lot more overstimulated.
And look, I’m super aware of how this sounds. I get to live in Bangkok, work for myself, and wake up to a life I absolutely love every single day. So, technically, I have zero right to complain.
But the reality is, even when you’re living your dream life, 80% of it is still mundane.
Most of my days aren’t spent exploring temples or working from the beach. They’re spent replying to emails, doing laundry, deciding what to eat for dinner, and dealing with the same bullshit everyone else deals with.
My routine is pretty much the same every day: eat, work, sleep, repeat. It’s not glamorous or Insta-worthy. It’s just normal.
And I think that’s what’s been giving me fomo.
I’m scrolling through Instagram, seeing other women in their thirties hitting massive milestones and feeling like what I have isn’t enough, even though this is literally what I worked so hard to build.
As a chronic doom scroller, I know this is how burnout starts — restlessness, constant comparison, anxiety of always feeling behind, and never being fully present.
So, I’ve been stepping back a bit and making a conscious effort to focus more on what I do have. (I guess, you could say I’m learning to fall in love with the boring bits of daily life.)
Because if you think about it, life isn’t made up of big, defining moments.
It’s mostly about doing the same shit over and over and over again, and I think it’s worth making those things feel good too.
P.S. If you’re new here, hey! I’m Thalia. I help burnt-out girlies like you build a life that’s aligned, magnetic, and unapologetically yours. Every week(ish), I share content on burnout recovery, self-development, finding joy, and career growth. Subscribe here so you never miss a debrief.
101 ways to romanticize your everyday life in your 30s
These are the exact things (and more) I’m doing to romanticize my everyday life.
I know this is such a gen z trend, but I’ve tried my best to millennial-proof this list (less aesthetic, more realistic) as much as possible, and it works! Promise.
I suggest choosing around 2-3 ideas that resonate with you the most and incorporating them into your weekly routine rather than trying to do all 101 at once — that’s not the vibe.
The whole point is to add small pockets of joy to your week, not create another overwhelming todo list.
P.S. I encourage you to save this post (like now!!) so you can come back to it whenever you need to.
1 | Your home
I hate to admit it, but the home is where most of our life happens. It’s not just where we sleep. It’s where we eat, rest, think, recover, and exist. And if it doesn’t feel good to be in, that matters.
These are small ways to make your environment feel like somewhere you actually want to be.
- Make your bed every morning
- Eat breakfast in bed on a wooden tray
- Swap out your white bed linen for something floral or gingham
- Put fresh sheets on your bed midweek, just because
- Do a jigsaw puzzle on a rainy Sunday
- Buy yourself flowers for no reason
- Light a candle while you work
- Open the windows first thing in the morning
- Listen to music on a vintage record player
- Watch the rain from a window with a hot drink
- Rearrange a small corner of your home
- Set up a movie night with a projector, blankets, and cushions
- Watch Amélie — it’s basically the film version of this entire blog post
- Make a playlist for every mood
- Keep a beautiful notebook somewhere you’ll actually use it
- Use your best crockery on a random Wednesday for no reason
- Invest in one candle that costs slightly more than you’d normally spend
- Create a cosy corner: a chair, a throw, a lamp, a book
- Read for 10 minutes before bed instead of scrolling
- Put fresh herbs in a glass on your kitchen windowsill
- Cook with music on and treat the whole thing like a little performance
2 | Slow down and be present
This is probably the one where we’re most terrible at. We’re so busy rushing through the day that we forget to stop and look at what’s happening around us. And then we wonder why we feel so exhausted all the time.
Romanticizing your life starts with actually being in it.
- Go phone-free for an hour in the morning
- Stretch before you look at your phone
- Listen to a guided activation and be in the moment
- Take random photos on a Polaroid camera throughout the day
- Listen to music while getting ready instead of rushing in silence
- Watch an entire movie without multitasking
- Leave your phone in your bag when you’re out in public
- Listen to an audiobook you’ve been meaning to start for months
- Bring a book with you and read while you wait for something
- Notice the seasons changing and let your routine shift with them
- Always look up
- Eat one meal a week with no screens, no podcast, nothing — just eat
- Let yourself be bored for 10 minutes and see what comes up
- Give yourself permission to do something slowly that you’d normally rush
- Put your phone away an hour before bed and actually notice how you feel
- Notice three things you walk past every day but have never properly looked at
- Let your meals take longer
- Lie on your back in the park and watch the clouds go past
- Pay attention to what you can smell, hear, and feel on your morning walk
- Sit somewhere pretty and just be
3 | Get outside
There’s something about being outside that resets everything. I don’t know the science behind it (something to do with serotonin and endorphins), but biology aside, there’s really nothing more beautiful than Mother Nature.
- Go for a long, weekly walk in nature
- Take the scenic route home
- Head to the local park and feed the ducks
- Walk somewhere you’d normally drive
- Watch the sunrise or sunset this week
- Take yourself on a solo date
- Visit a local market just to wander
- Take a different walking route and notice what’s there
- Journal in a coffee shop for an hour
- Go somewhere alone and enjoy your own company
- Spend time in nature with no agenda
- Eat lunch outside, even if it’s just on a park bench
- Find a local spot you’ve never explored and go this weekend
- Walk barefoot on the grass or sand
- Go strawberry picking
- Visit a museum or gallery just because you feel like it
- Find a spot with a good view and make it your regular golden hour spot
- Go for a walk after dinner instead of going straight to the sofa
- Sit in a coffee shop you’ve never been in before with absolutely no plan
- Watch the world go by from a window seat or coffee shop terrace
- Go for a walk after it rains
4 | Nourish
Romanticising your daily life isn’t just reserved for your surroundings. It’s about taking the ordinary things you do for your body, like eating, getting dressed, etc. and doing them with a bit more intention.
I guess this category is where the main character energy can start to evolve.
- Eat lunch away from your desk
- Bake bread (process itself is the whole point)
- Cook a new recipe you’ve been saving
- Try a new coffee order
- Make a simple meal feel special by plating it like a Michelin-star chef
- Treat yourself to a proper pamper day — it will make you feel loads better, I promise
- Buy something that makes you feel sexy
- Wear a pink floral milkmaid dress, and allow yourself to feel feminine and cute
- Spray yourself with the fancy perfume even if you’re not going anywhere
- Run a bath with heaps of bubble bath and Epsom salts
- Read a juicy fiction and drink wine from said bath
- Buy one ingredient you’ve never cooked with before and make something amazing
- Set the table properly, even if you’re eating alone
- Buy the expensive olive oil
- Cook yourself a proper Friday night dinner instead of defaulting to takeaway
- Eat outside when the weather allows
- Put on an outfit you love on a day you have nowhere to be
- Stretch for 10 minutes before bed
- Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual and notice the difference
- Make one meal entirely from scratch while listening to this playlist
5 | Your inner world
This is the category that actually makes the others stick. You can light all the candles and eat all the nice meals, but if you’re not also paying attention to what’s going on inside — what you’re grateful for, what you’re proud of, what you want — this trend will start to feel extremely shallow very quickly.
- Write down what you’re looking forward to this week
- Think of one thing you’re proud of and actually sit with it
- Keep a joy jar — drop in a note whenever something good happens, read them back at the end of the week
- Practise gratitude, but make it specific, e.g. don’t just say “my health”, say “the strength of my body for getting me through a 60-minute yoga class”
- Reflect on your biggest lesson from the past month
- Plan one small act of kindness you’ll do today
- Think of a tradition you’d like to start
- Reflect on a turning point in your life and how it shaped who you are now
- Write a letter to a friend instead of texting
- Send someone a voice note instead of a WhatsApp
- Build one weekly ritual that’s non-negotiable
- Try out a new hobby with zero pressure to be good at it
- Celebrate your small wins — they count more than you think
- Collect your favourite quotes and actually reflect on them
- Re-read an old diary entry and sit with how far you’ve come
- Write yourself a letter for future you to open in a year
- Start a core memories album on your phone with screenshots, photos, anything that made you smile
- Make a mini bucket list for the season you’re in right now
- Call someone you’ve been meaning to properly catch up with
- Think about what your life looked like five years ago, and sit with how much has changed
Final thoughts
None of the ideas on this list requires loads of money, a perfectly aesthetic home, or 10k followers on Instagram. They’re extremely realistic for any 30-something girlie who’s just trying to make her everyday life feel a little more intentional.
And that’s really what romanticising your life comes down to.
It’s not about documenting the perfect morning routine or living somewhere that looks good on a grid. It’s about paying attention to your life while you’re actually living it.
Because I bet it’s 100% worth showing up for.
You’ve got this.
Thalia xx
