May 28, 2014

What's Working {in May}

I have never appreciated spring as a season. I guess growing up in Seattle never felt terribly different from winter. Is there truly a difference between rainy, windy and thirty degrees and rainy, windy and forty-five? In Santa Barbara, our weather hardly fluctuates. I bet you could guess the weather of any day of the year with startling accuracy—75 degrees, sunny, slight breeze. But somehow this year it has felt like spring and I really like it. I’m noticing the blooming trees and flowers in our neighborhood. I appreciate our mild days and cool nights, and I’ve been spring-cleaning and redecorating fearlessly! With Tovi and I both working from home, two active mobile kids, and one dog, it feels as if every inch of our house and space and time needs to be used well right now. We need simplicity and efficiency. There's absolutely no physical, mental, or emotional space for things that don't work. So here’s what has worked in May:

+ Working out as soon as the kids go to bed. There was a point in March when I was working so hard that I actually made myself sick. Migraine headache, throwing up, sick. Tovi said enough was enough, and he has really helped me to build some healthy routines back into my day. One of them is working out as soon as the kids go to bed. It’s an obvious transition in the day, so changing outfits doesn’t feel too weird (does changing outfits keep anyone from working out? Just me?). If you don’t have a regular workout time, I recommend this one!

+  Crystal Light Energy sticks. I’m sure this is not the healthiest trick in the book, but it works! In the afternoon, I stir one of these little powder sticks into my water and have a great boost of energy for the afternoon.

+ Anchors in the week. With Cruz we walk a fine line between helping him to anticipate what’s coming up next in the day or week and helping him to learn flexibility. One way we do this is to have “anchors” in our week; there’s something that happens every Monday, Tuesday, etc that he looks forward to, and then we can fill in the remaining part of the day with non-routine activities. Playdate Tuesdays! Music Class Thursdays! I love being able to schedule our week around these fun anchors.

+ Peaches Skincare. The combination of having a second child and turning thirty really started to show on my face. My skin started getting dry and full of fine lines and I didn’t look or feel like myself. I’ve been using Peaches for a month and my face feels young and fresh! Peaches is a local skincare line (I purchased it at the spa), but you can also order online. As higher-end skincare lines go, it’s totally affordable and I think it’s absolutely worth the price.

+ Anemone bras. My friend Annemarie introduced me to these stretchy bras. They are perfect for nursing and layering a low-cut shirt. They are comfy. They come in tons of colors. And best of all? On Amazon Prime, they’re like $12 for a 2-pack.

+ Honest Co. Conditioning Spray. I am not an Honest Co groupie. I’ve tried other products before and found them to be just okay, but I really like this conditioning spray. London’s curls are growing in, and this spray does a nice job of keeping them from getting too frizzy or wild, while keeping them sweet smelling (a bonus, as she regularly conditions her hair with green beans and sweet potatoes).

How about you? What's working in your life right now?
xo

1 comment:

  1. Good stuff! Are the bras super thin so that the nippies show through? No like that... And I'm needing some help for my girlies curls.

    Barely anything is working over here as we desperately drag ourselves toward summer, but we've resorted two times in the last week to dollar tacos (M-F, 4-6pm) at Taqueria La Colmena. They are the BEST street tacos in SB - I promise.

    Also, I drink coconut kefir soda everyday because it gives a good dose of healthy probiotics, tastes delish, and is so easy to make. http://shesourceful.com/2013/02/04/coconut-kefir-soda/

    And my friend just got me this fun new gray/purple nail polish called Commander-in-Chic - http://www.drugstore.com/sally-hansen-complete-salon-manicure-nail-polish-commander-in-chic/qxp253351 I'm liking it!

    This multi-use wrap has been fun, (but doesn't always look as good on me as the models) - https://binabrianca.com

    I'm spotty with exercising (some assisted pull-ups on the bar wedged in our bathroom door frame here, some sit-ups while nursing there, etc.) but I've been doing more posture stretches that feel great: http://shesourceful.com/2014/05/16/in-praise-of-posture/

    Good to connect with you. =) That is all.

    ReplyDelete

comments make my day. xo.

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