In honor of National Bubble Bath Day on Jan 8th I wanted to compile the necessities for the perfect bath, I’m pretty excited there is a day to celebrate one of my favorite hobbies. (not sure if bathing is a hobby but it has its own holiday so we are going to count it!) I have compiled my must have bath products. I made sure to get this list done a few days early so you have time to purchase all of the necessary items for the perfect bath… don’t worry, I’m looking out for you)
My schedule varies, but I usually wash my hair on Monday, for a fresh start to the week, and again on Friday or Saturday. Some people are shocked when I tell them I only wash my hair about twice a week, but its not good to wash your hair everyday, especially if you have thin and fine hair like me. If you didn’t already know this, listen up! If you could careless about your hair, you might be reading the wrong blog post.
I like to think of New Years as a fresh start! (most people do) And to be honest with you, I have never created a list of resolutions, primarily because life becomes so busy and many times resolutions get lost or forgotten half way through the year… but not this year! This year I am going to set my resolutions and give it my all. The key to setting resolutions is making sure they are attainable. For example: I can make one of my resolutions to travel to the moon, but that isn’t realistic. Here are the things I am going to tackle in 2018….
I have a few financial goals I want to achieve in 2018, such as pay off debt and create a larger savings account. I want to add more to my retirement fund each month, I know it sounds boring but seriously saving for the future is so important! (you guys I am adulting!! I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds.) BUT I have always dreamed of hosting a massive lavish wedding, building my own house, traveling, eventually having kids, and finally retiring in style. (why does everything cost so much money?!) So this requires saving here and there. I will be creating a blog post in the near future to talk about the steps I take to save money!
I want to strive to be healthier in 2018. (don’t we all) Especially this winter I have gotten into the habit of being lazy with my workouts and my meals. I go for the easy recipe instead of the healthy recipe, I think it’s partly because the days are so short this time of the year. (jumping up and down that the days are finally getting longer) I want to hit the gym 3 times a week and avoid processed foods. I am still going to eat some of my favorite fatty foods, just in moderation. I want to find my new favorite foods this year, foods that have less calories and more nutrition!
This year I want to explore new ideas and new adventures. I have been wanting to see new parts of the world for a long time. I visited Japan in 2014 and I caught the travel bug. Immersing myself in new cultures, trying new foods, and seeing new sights is exhilarating. When I go home I feel like I have a new found appreciation for the little things. I will be making an effort to plan a few adventures in the year to come.
I am taking my life by the reins and turning it in the direction I want. I have dreams and goals that I want to achieve. I want to invest in my marketing career, not only in this blog but also my Marketing Specialist job. I want to market my self in the blogosphere and in the business world as a confident capable woman in my early twenty. I can do anything I put my mind to! (you can too) This year I WILL put myself out there and achieve my ambitions.
I have been trying to do this for YEARS! This time around I am creating a game plan. I am only allowing myself to use heat tools once every two weeks. (expect some heatless hairstyle tutorials to come your way) I am restricting my hair washing schedule to twice a week. (yes I promise I still shower everyday, I just don’t wash my hair) If you are going to use this tactic to help keep your hair from becoming a greasy mess, dry shampoo will become your best friend! I will also be doing a hair mask once a week and taking vitamins. (To see the Hair, Skin and Nails vitamins I use click here) My hair grows SOOOO slow so I will try anything to move that process along!
I get so busy with my job, maintaining a social life, keeping up with housekeeping and now I spend most of my free time creating content for this blog. I’m not complaining, I enjoy being a busy body, but I am going to try to make a conscious effort this year to step back and breathe. I want to take some time out of each week to relax, get back to the basics and have a night just for me. I find myself getting burned out when I work nonstop, I will be trying to take a healthy approach to get as much work done as possible in the upcoming year and keeping stress at bay.
I hope you all have a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let me know what you think of my 2018 resolutions and share your’s with me in the comments!
“Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day spent in the warm circle of family and friends.”
Every year I stay with my parents on Christmas eve, even when I was away at college or when I have lived in my own apartment. It just doesn’t feel like Christmas eve without Mom’s Christmas cookies, classic movies, and most importantly being surrounded by family. My favorite holiday tradition is our Christmas Morning routine.
Each Christmas starts just as the last, we all mosey downstairs to the living room. Coffee is made and the smell fills the air. Then begins the time-honored tradition of Christmas movies, starting with Christmas Vacation. Christmas Vacation is the go to movie for my family on Christmas day. It never fails to remind us all of the importance of the day while giving us a good laugh. You really can’t help but laugh at Eddie, the cousin who is just a bit unusual; lets be honest here, we all have that one family member who is a bit out there but you still love them no less.
That being said we can all relate to Clark Griswold, the main character. Clark seems to never catch a break throughout the entire “Christmas vacation,” he deals with family disputes, work frustrations and rude neighbors. We can laugh about these moments because most of us have been there, but no moment through out the movie makes us laugh as hard as Clark’s rant. If you have seen this movie, you will know exactly to what I am referencing. (If you don’t know what I am talking about or haven’t seen this movie you need to sit down NOW, watch and prepare for a good laugh!)
Once this movie has concluded we proceed to breakfast. Breakfast each year, without fail, is a family recipe named “Chipped Beef.” This dish starts out by sautéing dried beef in butter, add a little flour and milk then begin to stir until a gravy forms. From there all you have to do is add some diced boiled eggs, and a bit of salt and pepper. To serve, you ladle the gravy mixture over cut up toast and voila! It is so simple yet so delicious, and a Christmas tradition.
After all have cleaned their plates it’s time for presents! This is one of my favorite parts of Christmas because I put a great deal of thought into my gifts. I love to see each family member’s reaction when they open my gift.
I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and get to spend the holiday with your loved ones! Let me know in the comments what your favorite Christmas traditions are!
We all have Pinterest boards that we constantly pin new ideas and recipes to. I am going to give one of those recipes a shot and blog about it. I will do all of the cooking so you don’t have to, and let you know how it goes!
I made a few tweaks and suggestions, so here we go!
First you need to gather all of your ingredients…
(not pictured: brown sugar)
The original recipe that I wanted to try out called for Apple Juice, however I used Apple Cider because in a recipe like this using a less filtered juice would add more flavoring.
This is a is slow cooker recipe, you won’t need a large crock pot either. I used a medium one because lets be honest, the amount of food that would fill a large crock pot would be way too much since I live by myself.
I started off by adding brown sugar, then pouring in the apple cider. Up next, add in vanilla extract, lemon extract, orange extract, and all spices.
Now stir all of your ingredients and set your slow cooker on low. You can sit and watch it simmer or like me, you are a busy person you and run errands during this time. I came home 2 hours later to my apartment smelling like citrus and spices, which just happens to be my favorite fall and winter scents, so I was thrilled! (Note: the longer you let the spices simmer in the cider the more intense the spices and the cinnamon will taste.)
Next, add the garnishes!
I used a mandolin to slice the fruit easily and quickly! I was originally using a knife to slice the fruit but then realized there was an easier way to do this, it made such a difference. These are fairly affordable, I stumbled across particular one at Walmart and it works great! I use mine for a multitude of dishes and slicing fruits and vegetables.
Now you’re ready to serve! (This is can be very sticky so be careful when ladling to serve and don’t spill it like I did. Oops!)
If you would like to make this an adult beverage I would recommend adding Crown Royal Apple Whiskey, I was experiments and it ended up being delicious. I’m not a huge fan of whiskey, but you couldn’t taste the signature whiskey taste.
I left the recipe for you below… Let me know in the comments if you tried this out, and how it turned out!
Optional: Crown Royal Apple Whiskey
