I appreciate the comments that you guys shared on my last post. Reading through them felt like a big hug. There were some vulnerable and honest shares and great suggestions around social media limits. Thank you.
While I am all about acknowledging and naming your feelings and meeting yourself where you are, I also believe in the power of looking for positives and doing for others. In the spirit of looking for the positive in the everyday, I spent today creating a mental list of 10 good things that I wanted to share with you in a blog post.
1. SALTED CARAMEL ICE CREAM BARS
I’ll start on a sweet note! I have been stocking the freezer with ice cream and ice cream bars now that summer is in full swing. I thew these Salted Caramel Ice Cream Bars in my cart during my last Whole Foods trip. They are delicious and I would highly recommend but why are there only three in a box!?
2. TARA BRACH MEDITATIONS
I always need meditation in my life but lately it’s been a super important thing for me to prioritize. The teacher who has been resonating with me most over the last few months is Tara Brach. Her meditations are so calming, grounding and empowering. You can find them on her website and she also pushes them out to her podcast.
3. FINN’S HAIRCUT
Finn was LONG overdue a haircut since salons were closed for so long. I finally took him to get one yesterday and oh my gosh, I can’t even stand his cuteness. I swear, this haircut catapulted him from toddler to little boy! The experience at the salon was excellent. Me, Finn and the stylist were the only people in the salon and both the stylist and I wore masks.
Here’s a before picture so you can fully appreciate the after effect. 🙂 It always tugs at my heart strings to cut his curls off the back but I love him all cleaned up.
4. MR. CLEAN MAGIC ERASER
The Magic Eraser has been a magic stress reliever, haha. I love cleaning projects that give you instant gratification and this one delivers. These things are EXCELLENT for all of the dog and toddler smudges and dirt that show up all over my walls and baseboards. FYI: just be gentle with your scrubbing. More is not more with the Magic Eraser. It can strip paint if you’re too aggressive.
5. OUTDOOR YOGA TEACHING
We started offering outdoor yoga classes on the back patio at Charlotte Yoga. I taught my first one this afternoon and it felt pretty crazy to teach a class to students at the studio for the first time in over three months.
6. READING – HELLO SUMMER
Reading has always been and still is the best way for me to unwind, relax and get to sleep. My last read was Mary Kay Andrews new book Hello Summer and it was a perfect summer read.
7. NAILS + SKIN
This one is random but I can’t tell you how many times over the last couple of months that I have looked at my nails in awe because they’re so strong and healthy. Nail salons being closed and a forced break from nail polish has completely transformed the health of my nails.
Also, I haven’t had polish on my toenails in almost one year. Last July I broke my left big toe when I dropped a shower door on it and had to have surgery to remove the toenail and repair the nail bed. I avoided pedicures while it was healing and then the regrowth was so weird that I didn’t know how I could paint it and not draw even more attention to it. It’s grown back better than I could have hoped (they told me there was a 50/50 that it would grow back) but it’s far from perfect.
Stay with me…I have a point. I used to paint my nails because I thought I had “bad nails” and thought they looked bad unpainted. Now that I’ve detoxed from nail polish, I look at my unpolished nails and think they look perfectly fine.
This doesn’t mean I’ll never paint my nails again but I don’t plan to go back to constant polish with no extended breaks.
And SKIN! I am 6+ months into my new skincare regimen with Carolina Facial Plastics and I could not love the products more or be more pleased with the results. I also credit skin health to infrequent makeup wearing and taking a break from teaching hot yoga over the last few months.
QUESTIONS
Tell me about some simple but good things in your life right now.
What’s your favorite instant gratification cleaning activity?
Has anyone else experienced improved nail/skin/hair health in the last few months?
I love MKA books! She has the best stories. Check out Kristy Woodson Harvey’s new book, Feels like falling. Her books are great too. She is from NC.
Yes, Mary Kay Andrews writes great stories for sure! Thank you so much for the recommendation. My grandmother and I share a kindle account and we’re always looking for new books and authors. I will check it out!
Good things! I am now following Tara Brach. Been looking for a podcast in meditation and haven’t found one I like. Thanks for the suggestion! I have a 4 month old baby who is breastfeeding and I’m a first time mom. It’s important for me to look for the good in these long long LONG days of new baby and COVID lockdown. It’s bad here in AZ.
I appreciate this post as well as your previous one. Finding a balance between the negative and positive can be hard. I am grateful the public library is open for curbside pickup; the Y has been awesome following social distancing guidelines, and making sure members do too, so everyone is safe. I’ve been going to the farmer’s market first thing to avoid large crowds. Peaches, eggs, and homemade bread are worth it!
I love the idea of this post so much! Ive been trying to see things with a ‘silver lining’ perspective a lot more since we’ve been in quarantine. I think it helps keep my mood stable and going down the the black hole of negativity…which is very easy for me.
I am very grateful our summer pool was able to open (even out here in NC, but with 50% capacity) and my kids love getting to feel like something is ‘normal’ again.
I am also loving the extra family time with my three children and husband, taking life a bit slower and making different memories than we probably would have if we were still in our busy go,go,go schedule of life.
Yes! I definitely need a hair cut but I feel like it’s so much healthier since I’ve been just letting it air dry for several months (why break out the flat iron when there is no where to go!)
Totally agree that healthy, bare nails are fabulous! I have only had a handful of manicures in my life, usually for weddings, and always dread the month or two of weaker nails after because of how damaging they are between the filing and cuticle trimming.
Favorite cleaning activity: simple microfiber pad mop – a quick pass takes care of the worst of the dog hair and tracked in dirt from outside. I bought four or five extra pads so that I can always have fresh ones even if I’m not caught up on laundry ?
YES! I’ve totally noticed how healthy and strong my nails are after having not had a manicure in the past four months. And my cuticles are in good shape too. I’m still not ready to go polish-free on my toes though! I think I’m going to hold off on any manicures for the foreseeable future.
Another thing I noticed is that I’ll be able to stretch out my beauty regimen (hair cuts, brows, facials, pedicures, etc) a little longer between appointments. I did it during the lockdown and it wasn’t *that* bad. Plus it’ll save me some money not going as often!
OK, I swear I am the only person on the face of the earth who cannot figure out Magic Erasers. Seriously – what do you do with them? I feel like they’re more useless than a regular sponge!