52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 11 - Someone Who Inspires You

My Auntie Dorothy inspires me more that anyone else I know. She's 99 (ah-mazing!!!), and just the best person in the entire world. When I was a kid, she was always up for adventures, and as she's aged she handled every challenge with absolute grace. Case in point - She has macular degeneration, and when she started to lose her vision she never complained once. She just ordered a magnifying machine to help her read.

I've learned by her example that how you choose to react to things determines a lot about how they turn out. She's shown me that by being calm and facing life with open eyes, things fall together the way that they are meant to. I can only hope that I can continue to follow her lead and make her proud.

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 10 - List 5 Things You Like About You

Disclaimer: I'm doing my best to stay on a regular posting schedule, but my mom is really sick and my time is no longer my own. I'm trying, but sometimes when you're in a sea of doctor's appointments and hospital visits, words don't come so easily right now.

ANYWAY...

1) I'll start with an easy one :)... My eyes are hazel green, and I have a brown stripe in my left one. One of my cousins has the same stripe in her left eye as well, and I like to think that it bonds us.

2) I'm loyal. I love fiercely. Even though I've been burned, I hold onto a quote from Wayne Dyer - "How people treat you is their karma; How you react is yours." It speaks to my soul!! I'm definitely not a doormat or blind to bad things that happen, but I think there's something to be said for realizing that you are in charge of your behavior. Just because someone treats you badly or is just a complete asshat doesn't mean you have to respond in the same way.

3) I'm a prankster. Anyone who knows me will tell you I lovelovelove pranks. I decorate friends' lawns/coworkers' offices for their birthdays, surprise ppl for random reasons, and once even switched out two of my coworkers' office furniture (i.e. them discovering it was the BEST morning ever). I never do anything mean, I swear. I just love smiles and sound of laughter. They make life so much more fun. And, life is short. You gotta celebrate what and when you can, even if it's just a Thursday.

4) I'm obsessed with my animals. True story. I prefer them to most people.

5) Probably the most random thing, but I'm hyper-organized and always prepared. You need a Bandaid or a Tide pen? Ask me. I got you.

Weekly: Maintenance

Current nails shot while working (along with a kitten scratch on my pinkie...). Just two abstract lines on a base of OPI's Rosy Future (bottom third) and Nails, Inc's Porchester Square (top two thirds of the nail). Not my best work, but not bad either.

Morning Reading

I want to live in all of these. So beautiful.















via desire to inspire

Winter Skin Saviors

Hi Guys!
Here are three products that have been getting my skin through this winter season!

Whole Foods Dry Skin Hand Cream - Can you tell I love it? One of the littles is for my bag, one is a back up, and the big tube is for home. It's so thick but not at all greasy, and both scents are fresh but not overpowering. It's the best cream I've ever tried and is seriously like $3.

Revlon Kiss Balm - Newest addition to this group.  Can you see how flat the top is already? I've only had it about a week. It's so good.

belief  The true cream -  I really like this moisturizer. It absorbs quickly and doesn't have much of a scent. It claims to last 26 hours, and while I'm not totally sure about that, it does leave my skin feeling hydrated all day.

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 9 - How Did You Do & Feel?

Well, last week didn't exactly go as planned...

I had the best of intentions, but only did two of the three things. (I didn't babysit because my mom ended up being much sicker than first expected and I didn't want to get anyone else sick.) However, since "taking care of mom" ended up being much more intensive than first expected, maybe it counts for two things?

How do I feel? SO. DARN. CONFLICTED. I was supposed to go back to LA on the 9th, and that obviously didn't happen. I haven't really felt homesick at all since I got here in October, but crap. The last two days have been torture. I want to pack up and drive off asap. And yet, I'm so grateful I'm here to care for my mom.

That's enough for me right now. I'll figure the rest out later. (Fingers crossed?)

That Hygge Life

Hygge is a Danish lifestyle concept that is full of greatness and, even if you've never heard of it, is completely necessary for your life.

While hygge can be a little tricky to pronounce, it's super easy to achieve. (In case you're curious how to say it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7p2NkAJss) There's no direct translation in English, but in How To Hygge, Signe Johansen describes it as a feeling of coziness, kinship, and conviviality. Isn't that just the best word ever?

My fascination with hygge began last fall when I visited Stockholm. (I know - Stockholm is in Sweden and not Denmark, but the idea is definitely present there even if they don’t use the word.) I spent a week walking around this beautiful city & ended up falling completely in love with it. The energy was calmer, but still positive and fun.  It was so different than Los Angeles and I made it my mission to incorporate hygge into my daily life as much as I could when I came home.

Since that trip, I've Googled, read a ton of books, followed a bunch of new Insta accounts (this one is my fave: https://www.instagram.com/hyggelife/). Now, it’s a full-blown obsession. 

Here are my personal keys to achieving hygge on the daily:

CANDLES        

Because it got darker much earlier in Sweden, homes and restaurants all lit tons of candles at dusk, giving the whole world a soft glow. I’d be walking to dinner and was struck by all these families taking time to be together, just strolling around in the warm light. I know I’m romanticizing it, but it was truly lovely.  Now, I light candles whenever and wherever I can. They're a relatively inexpensive way to make everything prettier, they smell good, and there’s something comforting about having them burning. So, light 'em up!

GET OUTSIDE

Scandinavians are the freaking happiest people on the planet, and I'm convinced it's because they're so active - especially outdoors. Even though most of us can't snowboard or ski daily, just taking a ten minute walk can make the biggest difference in your mindset. Do it, and do it often. I know the Glitter Pups are much happier now because they get way more (albeit sometimes shorter, oddly timed) walks. I just take them whenever I can, even if it's just around the block. It's made a huge difference for all of us.

COFFEE

I'm half Swedish, and coffee hour was "fika" in our house when I was growing up.  Fika is also a big part of hygge. Warm drinks, yummy snacks, and chatting with friends are all good for the soul, and making a point to do it daily is important.

I try to make it special, even if I'm just making coffee for myself at home. I use a pretty mug an choose either something homemade or from the bakery section to snack on. Nothing fancy or expensive, just something not preprocessed.

EMBRACE THE SIMPLE

This is what I love most about this whole thing - it's so easy. You don't need to buy any special equipment or exotic ingredients to make this happen. I mean, if you need a reason to buy cozy sweaters, slippers, and great coffee, here it is. No question about it. But it really is more of a mental thing than a physical one. Complex and overblown have no place in this way of being, and that's what makes it perfection.

Please let me know if this inspired you at all and if you've been able to work any of these into your lives! If you did, what happened?

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 8 - Express Gratitude to 3 People

OOHH! Some actual DOING as opposed to just writing about gratefulness. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it's important to analyze and journal about this stuff but I'm more excited to actually take some action.

Here's what I chose to do:
1. Run an errand for a friend because they can't go.
2. Babysit friends' kids.
3. Take care of my mom.

I'll report back next week with the results!

Morning Reading

https://food52.com/blog/18797-want-to-understand-more-about-what-you-re-eating-read-this?utm_campaign=activity_feed&utm_medium=email&utm_source=food52

While certainly not a New Year's resolution, one of my goals is to be even more mindful and knowledgeable about what I eat. While that idea is simple,  this quote from the article is not (and it's terrifying):

Later, last winter, we discovered, from emails released in a FOIA to the US Right to Know Campaign, that an executive at Monsanto had actually enlisted my attackers to go after me on Monsanto’s behalf. That was quite a realization, to find my name in those emails.

Attackers? How can companies do that? Why would they want to? It leads me to think there's something to what she has to say. HOWEVER, I was equally surprised to see such harsh and negative comments attached to the post. Are they real? Plants? Too many questions.

All I know for sure is that I need to do more research!

Morning Reading - BIG things are happening!!

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2017/01/rare-astrological-event-all-of-the-planets-align-turn-direct-its-time-to-leap/

Are you ready?

Evolution

Last year was all about discipline for me - studying it, figuring out where I needed more of it, having a total breakdown of it at the end of the year...

2017, however, is about evolving. The only thing I can say for certain about 2016 is that everything that wasn't working for me - even the stuff I was trying to ignore or push my way through - came to the fore and kicked me in the ass. HARD. I'm still trying to sort through all the mess, but I know that I have a lot of work to do.

Now to figure out where to begin...

First DIY Project of 2017

Pray for me.








I just can't buy any of the premade ones for the glitter kittens. The patterns aren't cute, and they're all so expensive. I was a Girl Scout! I got this.

This is the greatest thing I've ever seen.

via Sprinkle Bakes
This put me in the best mood and makes me want to attack 2017 with so much energy! (I also want to eat the cake!)

52 Weeks of Gratitude - Week 7 - A Friend (1)

I am the luckiest person in the world. I'm in my 30s and have had the same core group of friends for most of my life. (No joke, we met when I was 8.) We know we're not "normal," but are eternally grateful for each other. We all have other friends, but there's something special about this group. No one knows us better, no one else has been there for all the big moments (both good and bad), and no one can make us laugh harder :) I'm not a #blessed-er, but if I was, it would be about them.

I love them all, but if I had to pick one to write about it would be my friend, K. She's the kindest person I know, and is without a doubt one of the biggest grounding forces in my life. She is the one that I go to when I have a crisis, partly because she is judgment-free and partly because her advice is always unique and heartfelt. She thinks about things in a different way, and I always leave our conversations with a sense of peace. I know people say their spouses make them better people, but I believe that can apply to friends as well, and K does that for me. She's the best.

Who are you grateful for in your life?