I went into the weekend knowing that it was full of work and social commitments along with a list of things I wanted to get done around the house. Around 3 p.m. on Saturday I came to the realization that there was no way that I could do everything that I committed to doing and rather than pushing through and exhausting myself, I took a nap, went to a yoga class and cancelled my evening plans. This is a big step for me because I am very much of the “go, go, go – more, more, more” mentality.
I spent most of my Saturday as a team leader for the MOXY box crawl. It was their first event in Charlotte and big success. We hit five CrossFit boxes and did workouts at each. We ran from place to place. My team covered 4.2 miles and completed 5 workouts over the course of 3 hours. Pretty awesome! We were so lucky to have the best weather ever for the event. It was so much fun and I loved meeting so many other CrossFitters in Charlotte.
I went immediately from the box crawl after party to my friend Sarah’s launch pop-up shop for her new online dress boutique, Social Dress Shop. The dresses were AMAZING. I was a little underdressed in my workout clothes though and Sarah asked if I would like to put on a dress. Ha. Story of my life.
Sarah, on the other hand, looked fabulous. She is trying to show me her ways but I am a slow learner. 😉
After a nap, yoga and a polish change I decided to stay in and watch the UGA/Auburn game rather than go out. My freezer provided a delicious dinner of Trader Joe’s veggie lasagna and gorgonzola foccacia. The Dawgs crushed Auburn to win the SEC East!
Brunch this morning after teaching hot class was an egg scramble with spinach, feta, salsa verde and avocado. And then I embarked on a home project frenzy. I went to Home Depot and Sherwin Williams to look at paint and get samples and then pulled every single item out of my pantry, fridge and freezer and proceeded to throw out FOUR trashbags of food. I sanitized and cleaned out everything. It was seriously depressing as I absolutely hate food waste. There was so much stuff that was expired, frozen forever, etc. I am definitely going to try to be more mindful of buying what I know I will eat moving forward.
Do you know what else I hate? Picking out pain colors. Ugh. Bathroom options. Do I want light or dark?
Bedroom options. Thank god for sample paint. The green to the left was too minty and the gray to the right was too purple. What do you think about the green in the middle? Green bedrooms are supposed to be “relaxing” but I don’t know if I want to go green or gray. I can’t do a blue shade because my living/hall gray ended up being way blue. HELP.
Then I abandoned cleaning and paint drama at 3:52 p.m. and decided to go to yoga at 4. I needed a mental break and knew it would be waiting for me when I got home. I’m going to talk about this more in depth later this week but you can’t get it all done and be what you want to be if you don’t take care of you. It’s just hard to accept sometimes. I think I did a good job practicing that this weekend. Baby steps.
How do you know when to back off? Can you do it?
I honestly like the grey/purple color! My room was a green similar to that last year, and I just couldn’t take it anymore for some reason. It was just too much.
I’m not a big fan of green, so I’m probably not much help 😉 I like the grey!
I have to say that I love the green! I’ve had green bedrooms as long as I can remember and they really are peaceful and relaxing. And really, I’m not biased because of my name…
Hey Jen,
Love the clean sweep of old food to make way for a fresh start.
Some tips on choosing paint color… (Hmmm maybe this will be my next blog post :)). Try painting the sample color on a piece of white board and then taping the sample in the middle of the room’s door. This is important for 3 reasons-
(1) you’ll get a truer read of the paint color (not a blend of existing wall color and new)
(2) you can move the sample board around the room to test the new color in several places and in different lighting conditions
(3) you’ll see the new color surrounded by the trim/door color that it will be up against. This removes the existing wall color from influencing your decision because it will be gone anyway!
Hope that’s helpful! 🙂
Totally agree with the sample board – and checking it against the trim! White doesn’t look so white next to all colors, and if you’re like me, you will get irritated with forced trim project. I love a green bedroom, but a green with a blue base and rather than a yellow base.
I painted a bathroom black once (had black and white tile floor and white tile more than halfway up the walls). I liked it for a little while, but then it got old very quickly. It took a lot of Kilz to cover it up.
Have fun! Paint can always be changed!
Oh, and I don’t back off well. I usually go until I have a mini meltdown, then cancel all plans and sit at home with my dog. My friends and family have come to expect it. They see it coming before I do, so it’s never that shocking. I’m lucky to have them – because I must drive them nuts.
sara – i just did new paint on white today and you’re right…it makes the BIGGEST difference. i couldn’t believe it.
yeah, i’m going to pass on the dark bathroom.
oh and isn’t it maddening when everyone tells you to slow down because they see it coming and you refuse to acknowledge it? i do the SAME thing!
I hate it when people try to tell me about me, which usually makes me even more committed to plowing forward at 100mph. It just makes the meltdown worse. You would think I would learn one day, but I’m 31 and no signs of change so far-
I think we are soul mates 🙂
donna – thank you so much for the tips. i really appreciate you taking the time to comment.
i tried the samples on white today and it was a total game changer. i couldn’t believe how different everything looked. i’m struggling so much with this.
Crazy…Just a few hours ago I published a post on how much I hate wasting food and my best strategies to try to avoid it. I can totally relate to that sinking feeling whenever I have to pour out sour milk or toss moldy fruit.
I’m no paint expert, but I usually prefer lighter colors for smaller spaces like bathrooms to provide a more open feel. Also, I’ve lived in several houses with green bedrooms and have always liked them. I can’t speak for gray, though. Good luck! I usually get too distracted by all the fun paint color names…When I was in elementary school I chose “Cinderella Blue” for my bedroom!
i will so check that post out. what a coincidence!
Not sure I’m much help here. I usually love dark, rich colors. I actually like the gray over the green!
I wanted you to know I made your pumpkin chocolate chip bars yesterday and they are SO good! Next up is your white chicken chili 🙂 I was looking for something to fix and take to work for lunch this week, and thought that would be a great choice.
Have a great week!
amy – i’m so glad those turned out will for you. i love how soft and caky they are. let me know what you think about the chili!
I have started learning “you can’t do it all” the hard way. For me, when I literally can’t breathe, I know that I am starting to do much. Quite literally I will have difficulty breathing and taking a deep breath overall. Not cool. I have also started looking at my to do list in the following manner: 1) Does it need to get done now? 2) Will what I am doing have an effect within the next 24 hours 3) What has higher priority? 4) At the end of the day, if I skip one of these items, will it really matter tomorrow?
So very hard to do, but slowly trying to teach myself that I don’t have to do it all. We all try so hard to please everyone else around us, terrified of what they all might think, when in reality most are trying to do the same. If we stop and just take care of ourselves and stop caring about what others think, imagine all the stress that might go away? At the end of the day you need to be happy with you. 🙂
Amelia,
I really like your last paragraph. I feel like I spend way too much time worrying about not missing things/ events/ parties/ dinners/ etc. in order to keep people happy.. .when all it really does is cause me so much stress. It’s so hard to not feel this way.
amelia – i like your strategy for evaluating and backing off. so much of it is wanting to be perfect and do all/be all for everyone else. but you really do have to take care of you before you can be all those things.
Good for you for backing off, Jen. I’m definitely of the same mentality–go, go go, faster, faster, faster, multitask, etc.–so it’s difficult for me to downshift and take it easy. When I do, though, I always know it was the right decision, and I don’t regret it.
The box crawl sounded fun!
I love the online dress boutique idea!
Paint, I am a dark, rich color person. My living room-kitchen are red, my bathroom is brown, and a spare room is desert sand…so I wouldn’t go with the green.
I am not a paint expert either, but I love the grey! My husband did the Moxy Box Crawl and loved it! Such a great idea. He is hoping it becomes an annual event 🙂 Alhough, I too hate food waste, it feels so good to purge, clean and sanitize!!
jess – how fun your husband did the event. it was great and a beautiful day for it!
I can tooootally relate to what you’re saying, and had a very similar experience this weekend. I’m happier when I’m busy and have lots going on, but it’s a fine line, and I can often overextend myself and then just wish I had more time to relax and do something for myself. My realization kicked in Sunday- I really needed to get myself to the gym, but I also knew my body would really suffer if I didn’t get a nap in. It was a hard call to make, as I benefit so much from the gym as well and really need that time (I’m sure you can relate!), but the nap was really a priority. Just realizing that and being ok with it is the hardest part!
clara – i’m so happy to hear that you were able to back off and choose a nap over working out. it’s hard for me too but i always know it’s for the best when my body is sending those loud signals that it needs a break.
Paint color?? Pick a happy light bright color that you won’t get tired of looking at. Throwing out food?? If you know anybody with free range chickens, they love scraps even if it is moldy. Next time you to the farmers market, ask the egg man if he would want your freezer burnt food for his chickens.
that is so interesting. thank you for telling me!
Good for you for learning your limits! That’s not always easy.
Choosing paint is so hard, and I’m getting ready to pick all new colors since we’re moving. I lean towards grays and usually pick 2 or 3 shades to go through the whole house. Then I add color with curtains, rugs, etc. Although it’s not terribly fun to paint, it’s a pretty inexpensive change, so if you don’t like what you pick, don’t be afraid to change it–said the girl who took years to repaint a blue bedroom she didn’t like 🙂
yes, i’m trying to go with neutrals that i can build around. it’s incredibly frustrating because nothing looks the same on the wall as it does in pictures and on swatches.
My bedroom is clary sage (from sherwin williams) and I do find it very relaxing. It is more of a gray/green.
my bedroom is Balboa Mist from benjamin moore – it’s in the White family but it’s a greyish color and i love it!!!
i’ll check it out! 🙂 more colors!
I have a green bedroom and I love it! Watching Auburn get crushed every game this season has been rough but I’m excited for Georgia! I want them to beat Alabama!!
I know what you mean about the grey looking blue. I had a plan for the bathroom, yellow and grey. I picked a paint color called Bedford Grey. I finished the painting looked around and realized it was BLUE! So now, I have a yellow and blue bathroom…ugh! It’s so hard choosing colors, good luck!
i know, my living room and hall are BLUE now. you cannot call it gray. it’s blue. so hard.
Just to give you an idea…our fireplace room is BM Revere Pewter on top and White Dove on the bottom! It’s all going to look great!
oh i might need to come look at the revere pewter again!
I like looking in Pottery Barn catalogs at their paint samples. You can see the colors in the rooms as well to give a better idea of what it looks like in a bigger space. Restoration Hardware also has paint that is great and has some nice color choices. I wanted a warm buttery yellow in a living space many years ago. I picked out the color and my sweet husband surprised me by painting the space while I was at school one day. Our living room was glowing yellow and looked like we could run a daycare in the space! Needless to say it was repainted he following weekend in a darker grey-green that suited he space much better. Have fun in making your color choices!
kim – thanks for the tips on PB and RH. i will check that out. i feel you on the colors. they look SO different on the wall – it’s crazy! your story is so sweet and funny!