You know how it feels when something happens, something entirely out of the blue, and suddenly you are very aware that things have changed drastically? Maybe only slightly, maybe only for awhile, but at that moment it hangs on you like a dark, heavy cloud, and you have to somehow find a way out.
I will post about my Ireland adventure soon, but if I'm being honest, I just can't do it yet. It certainly had its surprisingly incredible moments, but it had moments too upsetting to completely understand. And they aren't done yet. Unfortunately, at the end of my senior year, things have changed. They had to eventually; I could feel it impending for years and years. The timing is just pretty crappy.
But for now, I need to focus on getting my degree, starting my life, and enjoying time with my friends and my wonderful boyfriend at the end of our college career. For now, I am leaving what has happened where it is until I can sort through it.
Now, with all that depressing nonsense out of the way, I'd like to talk about something a little happier:
I was nominated for a Liebster Award! The nomination goes to an up-and-coming blog and offers up a little info about the blogger. With so many new faces around here, it came at a pretty good time!
I was nominated by the lovely Christiana over at Sunkissed Tangles. She's new on the blogging scene, but her blog has lots of helpful beauty tips and adorable photos of her and her fiance. Stop over and check it out!
Now, to begin:
RULES:
1. Answer the 11 questions the blogger who nominated you asked.
2. Give 11 random facts about yourself
3. Nominate 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers
4. Create 11 questions for the nominees to answer
QUESTIONS FROM CHRISTIANA:
1. What is your favorite thing to blog about? I love to blog about weird things that happen to me. I have always thought of life in terms of stories. If I'm going through something difficult, beautiful or hilarious, I get so excited to tell other people about it. I sometimes have to stop and remember to actually live through what's going on instead of thinking "When I tell people this, I should start with this sentence..." As a journalist, it happens. 2. What is the hardest thing you have experienced blogging so far? Not getting discouraged. There have been many, many times where I have stopped and thought "Why? What is the point of putting my life and my ideas out there like this?" When that happens, I just remember that it is important. Having a voice is critical and empowering, and it doesn't matter if one person or 50,000 people read your writing; someone is still hearing you. And that's worth it, because words can be a very powerful force. 3. What is your favorite animal? Any that are my own! In terms of like...visiting the zoo (or the barnyard?), I like llamas. Because come on...they're hilarious.
But my own pets, my dog I call creature, my 2-year-old Betta fish Lloyd, and my boyfriend's cat and dog, are all my favorites. They can take any bad mood away because they're adorable. Even Lloydy. 4. Where would you go if money was no object? I would go on some kind of retreat meditation thing. I am not good at quiet and/or relaxing in general, but I have always wanted to go somewhere beautiful where I can meditate all day and just drink a lot of tea. Maybe pick up some tai chi tactics. That's my dream. 5. How many siblings do you have? Oh boy. Four! Four younger brothers. One is 20, two of them are 19 and one is 14 or 15 (I can never remember. He is eternally 10 in my mind.) One is fully related to me, and the rest are step-siblings. 6. Most awkward/embarrassing moment today? I woke up at 5 a.m. because of jet lag. So I am at Starbucks in my pajamas and I'm pretty sure I haven't looked in the mirror yet. Which may be for the best. 7. What is your favorite place? This coffee shop downtown here. I started writing my fiction series there last spring, and now I go there when I need inspiration or a creative refuge. It reminds me of happy times and fantastic almond butter croissants. Also, near any body of water. 8. Why do you blog? I have always been a writer. But working at so many news outlets showed me that I needed a creative outlet for my sanity. So it started that way. But then I realized I really enjoyed the sense of community that the blog world fostered, and knew I wanted to be a part of it. So I blog because I have faith in that network. 9. What is your dream job? I ask myself this daily. Let me give you a rundown of all the things I have wanted to become, in sequential order: -Inventor -Comedian -President of the United States (I wrote a speech when I was 9. I talked about college and gun control, naturally. That's why I had so many friends as a child.*Not.*) -Interior decorator -Wedding planner -Meteorologist (I checked out every cloud book in the library when I was 10. I can still tell you my favorite cloud is the strato-cumulonimbus. Another reason I had so many friends.) -Journalist -Author -?
That is an unanswered question for the time being, but some kind of author is still up there pretty high. I have a few books going right now, so we'll see! 10. Who is your favorite person in the whole world? Or one of them? This is a difficult question. I'm pretty fond of most of my family. They all have their quirks and I love them. And I adore my boyfriend; he is one of the most unique people I know and he is endlessly patient and supportive. And my friends all have fantastic traits. I turn to each of them for certain situations and they definitely keep me sane. Uh...I realize I didn't actually answer this question. Emma Stone? 11. What's your best piece of blogging advise? Reality! I love blogs that toss a hefty dose of "real" in with their pretty pictures and DIY posts. That's the best. It's awesome to laugh out loud or feel like you can relate to someone through their blog.
RANDOM FACTS: 1. I have this silk nightshirt named "Shirt" that I stole from my mom when I was a baby. They tried to get me to slowly let it go when I was about 12. Failed. It's on my bed right now. 2. I am all into learning about astrology, numerology, ghosts, past lives, various traditions of other religions, etc. Anything mystical fascinates me. 3. I looked like "Mini Me" from Austin Powers as a baby. Seriously. 4. My family used to own a very successful circus a couple generations back. Then a great uncle drank away the fortune. 5. I had a lot of beads as a child. I think my parents thought I made jewelry with the beads. But I actually played "war" with them where the biggest bead tried to eat all the little beads. 6. I have been on TV four times: Once to sing when I was 8, once as part of a Democratic Congressional debate (I was a student panel participant) and twice because I was interviewed by the news. 7. I am obsessed with holistic health. I hate taking any kind of medicine, so I am in the process of learning about vitamins and herbs and their various healing properties. Get excited because I can pretty much guarantee all that is going up on the blog. 8. I was the creepiest little kid. I saw ghosts and told people what would happen in the immediate future and other weird stuff like that. 9. I am a major morning person. It's my favorite time of day and pretty much the only time I am super productive. 10. I am AWFUL at sports. I come from a family of athletes and I SUCK. To give you an idea: In junior high, the kid with the broken arm or sprained ankle was often chosen before me in gym class. No hand-eye coordination. None. 11. I am fairly introverted. I need a whole lotta' alone time to feel balanced. That includes shopping, getting dinner and taking plenty of walks by myself. I call them self-dates, which may be weird, but that's okay.
MY QUESTIONS: 1. What are your goals for your blog? 2. What is the best piece of blogging advice you have received so far? 3. What would your dream home look like? 4. If you had to relive one moment of your life, which would it be? 5. Whose wardrobe would you steal? 6. Is there a quote or saying that inspires you? 7. Where do you go when you have a totally free day? 8. What was your most recent trip/vacation? 9. What is your guilty pleasure? 10. What is one place you'd love to see before you die? 11. Why did you start blogging?
I am still on my trip in Ireland, but as a quick update, I wanted to say that things took a drastic, unthinkable turn. Possibly a blessing in an awful disguise. But it sent me on an adventure I never expected, dragging poor Tom along the way. On our own.
I will tell you, he has been incredible.
More to come when I return, but for now, I will leave you with this:
Happy Friday. Can you believe Easter is next weekend? Geez, it was just Christmas!
(I already sound like I'm 80, so that's good.)
Anywho, today I have the adorable Jessica from North Carolina Grown stopping by to talk about health and wellness tips, especially for the (hopefully) impending springtime!
And that bright and cheery print at the bottom? Uh, I'll take five of those please.
Stop by and visit North Carolina Grown, I know you'll love her blog as much as I do!
****
Hi there Morning Glory readers! I'm stopping by from North Carolina Grown! I'm from NC, but currently residing in Utah with the love of my life. I can not tell you how excited I am for Spring to be here! The fact that warm weather is finally approaching us! We can finally start working out outside and it seems to me that it is easier to be healthy when it's warm outside. Something that also coincides with being healthy is not having a lot of stress!
No one ever wants to be stressed out. Especially when warm weather is coming, like Spring and then Summer. Spring is the time to start anew! Maybe some of my own personal tips can help?
Tip #1- Spring cleaning is a known phrase for a lot of homeowners, apartment owners, mothers, well, really just everyone. A time when the house you are living in takes priority over everything else. Okay, maybe not to that extent. To make it a little less stressful and to not dread Spring cleaning coming around, why not do it at the end of Winter?! As in do it a little earlier. Get it out of the way before the warm weather comes so you can really enjoy Spring.
Tip #2- Try putting flowers up around the house. I actually have flowers everywhere and I love it. All fake, but still very effective. Usually when one receives flowers, you become happy. So flowers help tap into your emotions and help induce a positive attitude. I would love to have real flowers everywhere. Tending to plants is soothing and stress relieving.
This is what I have beside my door...
Tip #3- Walk outside a little more. Exercise is definitely a stress reliever. I'm not saying go run 6 miles outside, just a leisurely walk around the neighborhood or the nearby park. Try to get your mind off things or the other way around and give yourself time to think about things in life! A little quiet time to yourself can help in a lot of situations.
Tip #4- When the weather is appropriate, open the windows. Fresh air never hurt anyone. Nature can be a huge stress reliever. The sun can brighten up a mood or even the sound of birds outside. Bring that sunshine in and load up on the Vitamin D you were missing out on this past Winter!
Tip #5- Plan a trip. Spring break is here or coming soon! (Except poor Dallin and the other BYU students, no Spring break for them unfortunately). So for those who do not have that, try and plan even just a weekend away. Away from the place that gives you stress. Even with Spring break; doesn't have to be a huge planned out vacation to the Cayman Islands, even though that would be wonderful. Just a simple little getaway can be such a relaxing thing. Nothing wrong with going home either :)
Maybe they work for you, maybe they don't. But everyone should love to be stress free!
This is what I have up in the household right now :)
Thanks again to Heather for this chance to talk to you guys! You're welcome to come over to my neck of the woods, NC Grown!!
Sandy and I have been BFF's since high school, in dance gym.
Because we could not dance. So we bonded instead. We also passed notes in math class senior year. Neither one of us did well until I dropped it for freshman art, and she went on to ace the course.
I just adore Sandy. She's smart and funny and gorgeous, and I compare us to Jess and CeCe on New Girl. Perhaps just because I'm awkward and she's a model, but that's a good enough comparison, no?
She's much too far away in Iowa, but one month from now, we will be reunited!
Anyway, Sandy, her fiance, and her roommate started a blog recently, and I was so excited that I wanted her to guest post for me pretty much immediately.
I will shut up now and let her take over, but be sure to stop by and show them some love!
I'm Sandy! I'm honored to do a guest post for my dear Heather. I've known her since sophomore year of high school and we've been attached since. I couldn't ask for a better bestie.
And now, the point of this post!
If you're anything like me, its difficult to commit to a diet. I'm all talk when it comes to sticking to a regime/exercising. The initial excitement of coming up with rules for a diet and grocery shopping (and buying workout clothes I never use but spend a fortune on), it ends there.
But after numerous failed attempts, I think I've zeroed in on what to do to keep my mind strong and focused on doing what I set out to do: get healthy and happy.
To the sweet tooth's (ME!!)
Ugh, no matter how well I'm doing during the day, there is always a time of night when all of a sudden, I can't get my mind off chocolate and ice cream. So here are some easy ways to indulge and not be horrible to your diet.
1. Banana with 1-2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter and a tablespoon of Nutella. You can even add a little bit of fat free Cool Whip. Just spread it all over the banana and eat! Its seriously satisfying.
2. Baked apples. YUM. Just take 2-3 apples (Honeycrisp holds up best) and cut out the cores and place in a glass dish. Mix a cup of old-fashioned oats, 1.5 cup of vanilla almond milk, 1 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg, and sweetener (that's optional). Stuff the apple with the mix and pour everything that's remaining (including the milk) into the ban surrounding the apples. Preheat your oven to 400 and bake until your apple is firm but soft on the outside. Your milk should have been absorbed by the oats. Bake for about 30 minutes. Top your apples with low fat vanilla ice cream or Cool Whip. To add sweetness, add natural maple syrup.
To the serial non-committals and beginners:
1. Friends are motivation. The more you recruit to diet or exercise with you, the more likely you are to stick to your plan.
2. Look for group fitness classes! Honestly, when you're working out with a bunch of other people, you're less likely to stop halfway through or get too lazy to continue participating. Fun (and heavy cardio) options include kickboxing and Zumba.
3. Don't bite off more than you can chew. To jump from no exercise and poor eating to cutting junk food out completely and going to the gym every day of the week is a HUGE change. Start slow, if you're starting from nothing, plan on 2-3 days of cardio a week and cutting meat out one full day a week. Make it a rule to not eat after dinner or walk to class instead of taking the bus. Cut the number of calories you eat by 100 a week until you're eating how much you expect to be eating to lose weight.
4. Motivate yourself! Put a dollar in a jar for every workout you do. After a month, you have enough to eat out with your friends or buy something small and for yourself.
5. Keep a log of EVERYTHING you eat during the day. No matter how small or insignificant. Studies have shown people who calorie-log lose more weight.
6. Drink water! I used to hate water and looooveee sugary-carbonated drinks. Start to cut out how much non-diet soda you drink. Once you've made a complete switch to diet, start to limit yourself to one soda a day. Over weeks, cut out another day of no soda until you eliminate the habit completely. Indulge once in a while though! Like when you eat at restaurants, etc. It gets easier and no one will be prouder of you than yourself if you stick to your goals.
Thanks for reading! My roommates and I are newbies to the blogging world and just published ours online. So visit! http://3collegeroomies.blogspot.com/
Currently, Tom and I are attempting to finish up some work before we leave.
By that I mean he's doing engineering homework,
and I just made this:
To try to make sure we're properly sleep-deprived by the time we get on the plane tonight (so that we can fall asleep at a normal Ireland time,) we went to IHOP at 5:45 a.m.
And now it's snowing.
Perfect nap weather, but I'm trying with every fiber of my being to stay up so I don't have to drug myself into sleeping on the airplane.
It doesn't help that my dog keeps napping and yawning at me, essentially just to mock.
*You adorable jerk.*
Anyhow, as I have mentioned before, I will be off the grid until next week, so I have a couple guest bloggers lined up to talk to you about food, health and fitness, so be sure to stop by and visit!
Ireland photo dump to happen when I return.
To all of you on spring break, enjoy your time off,
I always think, "I will stick to one main color, like blue, so everything matches and it just works."
FALSE.
Brilliant packing idea, but I can't stick to it. I bring my favorite items from my closet at that moment and call it a day.
But I do have some items I have a very, very hard time leaving behind, and tend to make traveling a whole lot easier.
So since we leave for Ireland on Monday, and head north to my home today, Tom and I have been busy packing. These are the essential items I usually toss in my carry-on:
1. iPod: Because duh. I've had that baby since the summer after I graduated high school and it's still going strong.
2. Homedics personal humidifier: So I got this for Christmas, and I LOVE it! But I will say I am a little paranoid about bringing it on an airplane. I mean, it's advertised for airplane travel. But I feel like a fine, mysterious mist in the air might freak people out. Even though it would be adding some much-needed moisture into the dry airplane breathing air.
3. My water bottle: It's by Rubbermaid, and I love it because it doesn't make any weird kind of sucky noises (you know what I'm talking about) and it's HUGE. I am always thirsty. Constantly. I drink like five of those a day. Hopefully this time I just remember to empty it before the security line. Like that one time I tried to bring a dagger on a plane because I thought it was my box of chocolates...a story for another time.
4. The Body Shop almond body butter: This stuff is super luxurious and it smells delicious. I have always loved anything almond-scented, and this one's extra yummy. It's probably the best body lotion I've used, and I have used my fair share.
5. My secret lip balm recipe: Well, it's not that secret. Vaseline + Peppermint Extract. Boom. That stuff is great under anything, to use at night, or especially just before getting in the shower. The heat seems to help it absorb. I think it's been my chapped-lip saving grace this winter.
6. Too-Faced Budoir Eyes: I love little makeup sets, and Too-Faced always has the prettiest stuff. This one in particular includes a lot of soft purply beiges and light shimmers, and that's pretty much what I wear all the time.
7.Babylips chapstick: Another winter lip helper. Other than my own vaseline stuff, this is great to carry on and has worked better than most other chapsticks I've used.
8. Covergirl Lash Blast Volume: Classic. I've used this one for years. I don't wear mascara often, but this one has always been the best.
9. Badger Body Moisturizer: I'm really big on organic products, and I've loved everything from this brand. This body moisturizer is pretty much pure coconut oil, and since it's a little thicker than regular lotion, it'll be great for the cold irish weather and chapped hands that I get from the cold.
10. Benefit Erase Paste: I have used this concealer for over two years now, and I can honestly say it's the best I've used. It's a little pricy but it lasts forever. Since I don't use foundation or anything, I just dot this on where I need it, and it blends in really naturally to my skin tone.
So those are my top ten items! Do any of those make your list?
And just for fun, here are the shoes I'm bringing. I'm limiting myself to four pairs, which is unheard of, so here are the ones I settled on:
1. Trusty "Carpe Diem" Toms: I have had these for a little over a year and a half. I thought these shoes were hideous at first. But I loved that they supported a cause, and when I actually put them on, I was floored at how comfortable they were! They're easy to wear, easy to wash, and are pretty much the greatest shoes to wear to the airport because you don't have to fumble to get them off in the security line.
2. Restricted Roosevelt shoes: I got these shoes on sale at DSW and thought they were adorable, except I fully expected them to be uncomfortable. Wrong. They required zero breaking in and are great to walk around in.
3. Bare Traps flats: I just started breaking these in today. They are very supportive, and despite the one bad online review they got, I do really like them. I have such a difficult time finding comfortable flats, so while these do have to break in a little, I think I will get a lot of wear out of them. They were on sale at Macy's last week.
4. Bare Traps Boots: My boots were also Bare Traps, but I got them at the super-super boot clearance sale at Macy's, so I can't find them online anymore. But they are AWESOME, so comfortable, and they do great in the snow and/or rain. Which there will be a lot of in Ireland.
*****
When I'm gone next week, I have a few of my favorite bloggers lined up, so be sure to check back!
Remember this post where I was all excited about trying a cleanse for the first time?
Something about the word "detox" just lures me in every time. Like our bodies have some kind of Chemical X floating around and the only way to get it out is via magical cleanses.
Well...let me tell you about that cleanse. If you're interested in trying it out, here is my experience. It could be completely different for you, but I don't think I will be trying it again anytime soon.
So the day before I started it, I cooked up all the food and felt pretty excited to try it all.
This is the quinoa with prunes and almond milk breakfast. I actually thought it was pretty good with a bunch of nutmeg and cinnamon added to it.
(I took pictures of all the food but some most of them are gone...)
So the day I started, I went about my day and felt fine until lunchtime. The breakfast and mid-morning snack were good and kept my pretty full.
But then I got really hungry at noon. When I had a teeny tiny berry smoothie to eat for lunch. Seriously, it was like a cup of smoothie.
As someone who eats CONSTANTLY, that had me a little worried.
So I drank that and was still starving. Then, after two hours of shaking and lacking focus, I got a Snickers bar. (Probably not part of the cleanse?)
I immediately felt better and more stabilized. This means one of two things:
1. I hadn't had enough calories at that point and so the Snickers bar helped fill me up.
2. I am a complete sugar junkie who needed a fix.
I think it's probably a little of both.
So I kind of fell off the cleanse train by the evening. I was still eating well, but added a lot more substance to the vegetable soup dinner.
Then the next day I craved a cheeseburger like crazy (thank you PMS) and proceeded to eat my weight in chocolate the rest of the week.
I'm thinking my timing was a little off.
Because we leave for Ireland on Monday, I wanted to eat well this week to keep myself healthy for the trip. So I set up my own kind of "cleanse" that I could actually stick to.
To give you a rough idea of what I had, here is a typical day:
Breakfast:
-Hot water with lemon (and cinnamon, sometimes.)
-Oatmeal with almond milk, almond butter and berries. (My all-time favorite breakfast. One of the only meals that keeps me satisfied until lunch. Or, well...at least 10 a.m.)
Mid-morning snack:
Plain yogurt with strawberries and agave nectar
Lunch:
-Hot tea
-Spinach salad with apples, mushrooms, avocado, walnuts and a little olive oil.
Mid-afternoon snack:
-Half an avocado with cottage cheese and a dash of garlic powder (or any spice of choice) on top.
-Any kind of green smoothie (I prefer one with a few handfuls of kale, half an apple, juice of half a lemon, a few stalks of celery, a banana and some pineapple.)
So that's what I've been doing instead to prepare for spring break and just generally feel good overall. I have also been doing daily workouts from Blogilates, which I LOVE because all of her workouts are fun and usually filmed somewhere pretty, like the beach, and makes me forget that my life looks like this right now:
I would be too embarrassed to tell you how much outside feedback I sought out today.
Help on why my throat felt weird after having soy latte, what other people's tips are on moving in with a significant other, what the general Internet thinks about certain diets, etc.
These things may not seem that bad. They might even seem helpful.
But then I realized something. A lot of my expectations of how I might be, can be, should be, stem from what other people say.
Things I didn't even think were an issue before,
suddenly become an issue when someone online says it is.
Like random body parts that should look different,
ways I should be spending my time,
how I should act and think as a female.
They are things I don't even realize are settling in, calling me out in the back of my mind.
Like I need constant reassurance from the expansive variety of voices on the Internet and in my daily life.
Web MD thinks I'm dying. Some random forum thinks I should be married before moving in with my boyfriend. Magazines point out "must-haves" for each season. Even people in my life, real people who aren't just behind the computer screen, have some kind of input on what I should be like.
And honestly? I'm a little sick of it.
It's hard to block out all that noise when we are so, so inundated with it. It's hard to know what's floating around in my mind as an actual thought, or as someone else's judgment. And so often, I deeply crave a disconnect. A complete shutting off of it all. A chance to reset and recharge.
I wonder what I would be like without the input from TV shows, websites, blogs, and generally every other medium out there.
I wonder if I would be happier or less worried.
Unfortunately, I think I would be.
Even more unfortunately, I don't know how possible it is to achieve that kind of feedback purge in our society.
It's convenient and fun to have so much information at our fingertips.
But I think it's also suffocation.
I'd like to ponder something without Google butting in or Pinterest answering my question.
Just once.
But that's up to me. And honestly, "Internet research" is one of my great loves.
And my undoing.
This post doesn't come with some pearl of wisdom on how to balance the two.
Mostly it's a rant.
But hopefully it's one we can all relate to.
Because the ultimate question, the one I have to ask myself time and time again, every single day, is not "How do we avoid all this input, feedback and information?"
I can't ask that question, because I think it's basically unavoidable.
I got barely enough sleep to function, and took pictures like this:
(Super photogenic. All the time.)
So anywho, this week I have some things in store to make up for my absence last week,
and ONE WEEK UNTIL IRELAND!!
I am so beyond excited. I have been waiting for so long (as is proven in this post.)
Now there is lots of packing to be done and family to visit, and this last week of school before our trip will likely drag and drag and drag.
But I've been so busy that it kind of snuck up on me, and I'm grateful for that.
Oh yeah, and the week I'm gone I have some guest bloggers lined up, so that will be a good time!
The blog theme of this week that I have chosen is Spring Break prep. I don't know what that means yet but I'm sure I will find out.
Also, yesterday I attended the first baby shower for a friend. Weird? Yes. All I could think about was the time I killed a cactus and how much work an actual human being must be.
(I will be back here, to Ireland, in a few short weeks.)
There are days where I get caught up in the minutia.
In the drain of a long night spent writing papers.
Or a weekend spent watching TV.
And I crave more.
I remember that I have dreams,
and places I want to see.
I want sea salt in my hair and sunshine on my skin,
and mountain winds blowing around me.
I want to meet all kinds of people and hear their stories.
And tell their stories.
And I want to be more than a job or a degree or a name or an address.
There are moments when I can feel life coursing through my veins,
but those are few and far between lately, drowned out by the sounds of my own concerns for the future.
At the heart of the issue is that question that lingers, always, at the back of my mind:
"What was I born to do? Why am I here?"
Every now and again something subtle will give me a clue.
My heart relaxes and I take a deep breath, and I am contented, at least for that instant.
But it goes away as quickly as it comes, and I can never quite tell what it meant.
It seems to say, "You have a purpose. You have a destiny. And you're living it now."
What I'd give to bottle that feeling.
Until then, I stumble around, tossing endless possibilities around in my mind, thinking that maybe it's something so simple I have overlooked it entirely.
It's certainly not a paycheck or a title. It might just be fresh air and a cup of tea. Or meeting up with an old friend. Or kissing my boyfriend at the end of a long day.
It's hard to part with the idea that a career is our identity. It's hard to accept that we will always be more than what we have or what we do, because that means it's more difficult to find.
In the spirit of spring cleaning, (and going off of last week's detox post,) I have decided to try a cleanse.
For me, I'm not looking to lose weight. I just kind of want to "spring clean" my system, and undo a little of the damage from the past two weeks or so.
(i.e. croissants, cupcakes, cake, beer, etc.)
But if a cleanse also helps at getting the ol' body ready for bikini season/wedding season/peeling off the sweater season, then so be it!
So the cleanse I have decided is the Dr. Oz 48-hour cleanse. Pros? It does not involve starvation, and the recipes seem like they're probably pretty good and easy to make.
Cons? Well, nothing yet. Except that I have never done a cleanse before, and am not sure what it will be like.
Some of my preliminary thoughts on this:
-Why in the whole, wide world of produce are artichoke hearts in a smoothie? Because Dr. Oz said so. He could probably tell me to toss in some sardines and I'd do it. Begrudgingly.
-I don't know if I can handle the lack of baked goods/chocolate. Seriously, I am a sugar addict. I eat pretty well most of the time, but that sweet tooth gets me every time! However, I do like a good challenge, so bring it on.
-Epsom salts baths, eh? I tried one tonight. Personally, I'm just excited that someone reminded me there are alternatives to showers, and they are awesome.
-The weekend would not be a good time to start a cleanse. Just throwing that one out there. The weekend is the time for pancakes and wine and all that.
So I start this up officially today, and I will report back on my thoughts periodically over the next 48 hours. Get excited!!
Has anyone tried this cleanse, or something similar? What are your thoughts?
As one of my New Year's resolutions, I decided that my friend Salwa and I should be pen pals.
She lives in Chicago, and since I'm three hours away, we don't get much time to really talk.
And since both of us love the written word, I figured resorting to snail mail would be ideal and romantic. In like...a friendly romantic way?
There is something so timeless and therapeutic about putting pen to paper and spilling your thoughts, especially to a very good friend.
And it definitely doesn't hurt when that friend sends you chocolate and lotion from Lush along with it, right?
Right.
Plus, I find it so much easier to include every detail of a story and evoke all the proper emotions in a letter than I can in person, or even via email. I like to underline and circle things and doodle, and email emoticons just aren't the same.
And I mean...getting an envelope in the mail that isn't a bill is pretty much the highlight of any day.
I am waiting to write back to her until I am in Ireland, with her souvenirs in hand.
(P.S.-That is happening three weeks from now!!! I bought a raincoat and everything.)
Speaking of my new raincoat, I got it at a thrift store.
Along with this cozy blue sweater, which I will likely live in for the next month and a half or so.
Ahhh I want spring so bad, but I hate relinquishing my sweaters!
