Weekend Wellness 10.08.17

So much focus is put on eliminating bad habits from our lives. However, I’ve found that starting new, healthy habits is just as challenging if not more challenging, than eliminating bad ones. For most of my adult life, I’ve been focused on trying to start one habit: become a morning person. I am a true night owl. I re-energize at night and it’s hard to turn my brain off. I’ve tried everything from limiting before bed screen time, to sleep inducing teas and lotions and evening meditations and journaling. While they definitely help get me to bed earlier when I put in the effort; no matter how much I sleep the night before I am not a morning person. I’m slow, I need my coffee, and will always need to set an alarm. However, I’d love to be that person that by 9 am has already worked out, showered, and is working hard at the office.  But the reality is, I’m just not there yet, but I’m not giving up either.

What is one habit you are trying to start (and do you have any new ideas for me to breakthrough on mine)?

My Nighttime Skincare Routine

If I had to describe my skin in three words it would be sensitive, hormonal, and combination. I need skincare products that will treat my hormonal acne while not drying out or aggravating the rest of my face. The quest to find products to meet my trifecta of needs has been a long one and turned me into a self-proclaimed product junkie. However, one product line that’s been a mainstay in my nighttime routine is Sunday Riley.

The U.F.O. Ultra-Clarifying Face Oil paired with Good Genes is a strong dynamic duo that doesn’t dry me out while still treating the annoying breakouts that can pop up on my chin and jawline. While I’m not at glass skin status yet, I at least *feel* like I am on my way.

What products are you loving for your nighttime routine?

P.S. If you haven’t yet read about my morning skincare routine, you can check it out here.

Thursday Inspo 09.21.17

Weekend Wellness: 08.20.17

Goal setting is a huge part of my life. It is something I do regularly and always in writing. Why? It gives me something to reflect on, refer back to, and track my progress accordingly. I find without writing my goals down on a regular basis, I feel like I lose direction. For me, it’s extremely important to do big picture goal setting 2x a year: around the New Year and around my birthday. I find those are the two times per year when I really reflect on the trajectory of my life and where I need to focus my efforts. However, each week I do some planning and goal setting to help ensure I have a successful week. Regular goal setting helps keep me centered and focused, especially when life feels hectic.

How often do you set goals and how does it help you? 

Why I Keep Failing at Blogging

I will always wine, but never whine about being busy.

A quick scroll through the recent posts of W&W will show a very sporadic posting schedule, with large gaps between updates. Each time my blog efforts lapsed, I'd try and bounce back with a personal post explaining why I’ve been MIA or how I planned to get back into the blogging groove.

Despite my most organized efforts and flawless content calendar, each time of getting back on the wagon it would only be a few months before I’d fall off again.

I’d beat myself up mentally, being frustrated with the fact that I couldn’t stick to a schedule. I’d read so many blogging resources, like the WWW e-book blogging guide (which is fabulous BTW), yet couldn’t master my own content schedule.

It wasn’t until recently reading this blog post from Zanita Studio that it hit me as to why I constantly failed:

I was trying to do too much.

I had an amazing content calendar with themes and ideas for posts for 6 days of the week. No wonder I couldn’t keep up! What was I thinking?

As the Zanita Studio post brilliantly points out:

“Now, if you’re just starting out, that’s a lot of content. I don’t even post 5 days a week and I’ve been blogging for 7 years now. You probably don’t want to start out with guns blazing until you have a solid, loyal following who actually care what you have to say, otherwise you’ll be creating all this content for no one.”

As someone who works a full-time job, recently took on a second job on the weekends, and trying to make a blog work (like so many bloggers!); trying to do too much is kind of the theme of my life.

With that said, I love this blog and have so much fun working on it and I’m not willing to give it up. What I am willing to do is less. I commit to posting regularly, but less frequently (i.e. starting out with just once a week instead of almost daily), and will not mentally beat myself up if/when I don’t get to them. My new focus is trying to take on less in life and only give energy to the things that really, truly make me happy.

My new mantra: get shit done by doing less.

I'll drink to that! Celebrating my new life mantra.

Weekend Wellness 09.18.16

Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a peaceful start to your morning. This week the focus is on finding joy. I personally get a lot of joy out of a quiet Sunday morning with my cup of coffee. This is usually the time where I do my weekly planning, which really helps me stay on track for the days head. Setting intentions, goals, and plans in the peace and quiet of my home (and in my PJs) really sets the tone for the week. What brings you joy?

Weekend Wellness 08.21.16

Maybe I am old school, but I find that a personal, hand-written note goes a long way in showing someone gratitude. Regardless of the mode of delivery, I always try to put my words of thanks in writing; because let's be honest, who doesn't love getting a "just because" card or text from a friend? Like many other simple acts of kindness, showing gratitude can be easily overlooked or forgotten. However, this week I am going to make it a priority to let people know how much I appreciate them. How will you show gratitude this week?

Weekend Wellness 08.14.16

This is a question I try to reflect on daily to build a habit of gratitude. From this habit I've realized that all my responses can be simplified into one category: my health. I try to live in a way that nourishes my body, soul and mind, to try be the best version of my self every single day. What are you most thankful for?

Weekend Wellness 08.07.16

Random text messages from family and friends, a well-timed corny joke, a glass of wine, Harry Potter weekends. Whatever makes you smile (and feel free to share in the comments!) I hope you find joy in it this week.

[Recipe] Sweet & Salty Breakfast Parfait

I'm not a morning person but I love breakfast food, it's my favorite meal of the day. During the weekday rush my breakfast needs to be a "grab and go" meal, which means I likely need to prepare it in advance (a.k.a the night before). Also, planning and preparing my meals in advance ensures I'll make a good food decision that will keep my energy high all morning instead of sugar crashing on something less healthy. I've been trying out a couple of new recipes lately and had a lot of leftover ingredients in my pantry, which I would normally just find a way to incorporate them into a breakfast smoothie. However, I recently changed up my breakfast game to include parfaits and I think I've found the perfect sweet and salty breakfast combo.

Here's the scoop on my new go-to breakfast:

2 Tbs of granola [I like Open Nature's Chocolate Hazelnut Heaven]
1/2 Tbs of pumpkin seeds [raw, unsalted]
1/2 Tbs of sunflower seeds [raw, unsalted]
1 Tb of dried fruit [dried cherries & berries featured here]
1/2 c of yogurt [I like Fage Total 0 Greek Yogurt]

Also, if you are really into prepping your meals in advance I recommend putting all the dry ingredients into a snack-size bag and the yogurt into one of these little containers. This parfait is the perfect blend of sweet and salt which also makes it an awesome snack to have on hand when mid-day sugar craving kicks in. Bon Appetit!

Thursday Inspo 2.11.16

Lost in Thought

I am a strong believer in goal and intention setting. For as long as I can remember I've made new year resolutions. I loved the idea that everyone, everywhere took the new year as an opportunity to refocus on themselves, set goals and prioritze their needs; even if it only lasted a few weeks. Every year my resolutions always focus on self improvement and the idea that you can always do more to be better. 

With that theme always in mind, one of my (many) 2016 resolutions is to be more mindful; mindful of myself, those around me, my emotions, habits, relationships, etc. I can easily get swept up in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of life and the needs of others. So, I'm consciously making an effort to be more mindful. 

I've been on the hunt for some good meditation and mindfulness apps to help me with this goal and found UCLA's free guided meditations. UCLA has an entire research center dedicated to mindfulness, which produced the free series linked above. Lately, I've been loving their body scan for sleep meditation and their mediation for loving kindness. If you have additional apps or tips for being more mindful in 2016, I'm all ears!

Thursday Inspo 10.29.15

Thursday Inspo 7.16.15

DIY SPA Experience

I love creating little luxuries at home because even though I'd enjoy spending every weekend in a spa, my bank account assures me that is not realistic. To bring the zen home, I recreate a spa like atmosphere in by pouring myself a glass of wine, turning the lights low, putting on a relaxing Spotify playlist, lighting some candles and drawing myself a hot bath. These are some of my most calming moments when I can really be still and clear my mind.

So when it came time to do a little gift swap with some girl friends, I wanted to literally box up my at home spa experience and share it with them. I put all of my favorite little luxuries into one adorable white and gold box from Paper Source with fun little instructions for each. 

Keep scrolling for details and let me know in the comments how you create your little moments of luxury at home!

I always keep mason jars around the house for situations like this. Whether I'm whipping up a new smoothie or creating a DIY beauty product, they are my storage go-to. Also, if you haven't tried a lush bath bomb, stop everything you are doing and immediately try it out. Two words: GAME CHANGER.

When I give a gift I like to stick to themes. Both a color theme for the wrapping and packaging and a theme for the gift. Obviously here I am channeling zen, white and gold (before it was an internet meme). 

#WhiteandGold

The flip side of this cheeky label says Drink Me! 

This lemon sugar scrub comes from another blog I follow, One Good Thing by Jillee (link below). The recipe is so simple and uses ingredients everyone has around the house. Best of all... it totally works.

Spa Contents

Aura Cacia Lavender Essential Oil // Lush Bath Bomb // Lemon Sugar Scrub Recipe // Champagne Candle similar here // Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco

Supplies & Packaging

Gold Dot Gift Box // Burlap Wine Bag // Chalkboard Labels // Mason Jar // Chalk Marker // White & Gold Shredded Paper Filler // Gold Tissue Paper

Friday Five 7.25.14: Smoothie Edition

Photo credit L to R: Stacy Spensley, VegaTeam, Calvert Cafe & Catering, Lori Stalteri, Mervi Eskelinen, Jigisha, Stacy Spensley

I love a good smoothie, especially for breakfast. It's perfect for kick starting my day with some fruits and greens. I'm notoriously not a morning person, so I make these up the night before and store them in mason jars in the fridge - they are ready to grab and go with me in the morning!

This week's Friday Five is dedicated to some of my favorite morning beverages. 

1. Chocolate Love Smoothie - Goop. Oh my, this smoothie is just absolutely divine. If you have a sweet tooth, I cannot recommend this one enough. It's super simple to make and is absolutely delicious. I like to use SPIRU-TEIN chocolate protein powder.

2. Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie, a Katy Perry favorite says her celeb trainer Harley Pasternack. If you loved pb&j's as a child (or still love them now, like me) this smoothie is what childhood dreams are made of.

3. The Flat Belly Smoothie - Popsugar. I love the combo of the pineapple and blueberries in this smoothie, which definitely help mask the taste of the kale in this drink - sneak & delish.

4. Green Monster Spinach Smoothie - Iowa Girl Eats. I love the texture of this smoothie. The use of the spinach makes it extra lush and velvety. Plus it tastes great too.

5. Cinnamon Apple Smoothie - Popsugar. This smoothie is as American as apple pie - mostly because it tastes like one.  This recipe calls for adding protein powder, but if you don't have any available you can easily leave it out. 

Bottoms up!

xx

WHERE: Martha's Vineyard

Where: Martha's Vineyard.

Eat: As many lobster rolls as possible. My favorite was at McPhail's in Edgartown.

Sleep: In Edgartown. I stayed at the Harbor View Hotel, but renting a house is a great option, too.

Drink: At Bad Martha's.

Do: Rent bikes and ride around the island, shop at the Vineyard Vines in Edgartown. 

When: Late summer (July or August).

Wear: Your best Lilly Pulitzer/Vineyard Vines/nautical apparel.

The ferry from Woods Hole to MV

 Harbor View hotel from the water

Gorgeous sunset at the Vineyard

The taps at Bad Martha's.

The insane lobster roll at McPhail's

Jumping off the bridge where Jaws was filmed

Friday Five 04.04.14

Happy Friday, all!

This week's Friday Five is inspired by "spring cleaning." I love the spring; the weather gets warmer, the sun is out and the cherry blossoms in DC start to bloom. But most of all, I love spring for the renewed sense of energy it gives people.  So this week's post is dedicated to every type of spring cleaning you may do - whether it's cleaning the home, clearing your head or recharging spiritually - there's something for everyone. The photos above reflect some of the spring cleaning I've done in my life lately.

1. Dr. Oz's 3 Day Cleanse - I've had a couple colleagues start this cleanse, and I've just begun to dabble in it. I prefer the morning tea as just hot lemon water if you are trying to cut caffeine too (gasp!) The epsom salt and lavender bath is absolutely heavenly.

2. Daily Candy's Office Design Ideas with "Domino"- I had to include this link because one: I'm a sucker for a well designed office space and two: in solidarity for Daily Candy closing up shop this week. They sure will be missed. I absolutely love all of the design elements in this feature.

3.  #100 Happy Days - I'm willing to be you have probably seen this hashtag pop up on Instagram or in your Facebook feed lately. I absolutely LOVE this challenge and it's something I've taken on myself. However; I'll be honest, I'm not all in on sharing my 100 happy days on social sites, but instead taken to journaling it. It has been so rewarding and really allowed me to not only focus in what makes me happy, but also realize those who are negative around me. I definitely encourage everyone to take on this journey.

4. Nouvelle Daily's post on how to declutter a space - If you are taking on a spring closet cleaning in the coming days or weeks, I highly suggest reading this post. There are so many great tips on ways to pare down your wardrobe and really only keep what you actually wear. I finally got rid of 5 pairs of jeans that I've been hanging on to for years (as pictured above) - and I don't even like jeans!

5. 20 Ways to Get Happy Instantly from FitSugar - Not ready to make the leap into the #100HappyDays challenge? Start small with this great post from FitSugar.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'm headed off to Nashville.

XO