My friend Robin is a pilates instructor and founder of The Balanced Life. I’ve mentioned Robin before, but it bears repeating that she has one of the most balanced, authentic voices in the fitness community. A balanced approach to fitness during the holidays? Now that’s something I can get behind. And while I love the sweet treats and celebratory foods that come with the season, my goal come January is to feel fit and healty while also feeling like … Read More
What’s In My Bag: Influence Conference Edition
Tomorrow I’m leaving my favorite people (and my baby for the very first time overnight!) and heading to Influence Conference for the second year in a row. Conferences? Gah, conferences. I have such a love-hate relationship with them because my secretly introverted self feels so. dang. uncomfortable. But once I just do the dang thing? It’s always worth it. I’m working on going out of my comfort zone more and more these days, and I think it’s doing me a … Read More
Mid-Year Reset
In my “When Life Needs White Paint” post, I talked about a mid-year reset to start fresh. Although I’m no longer in school, I love the idea of starting new habits and intentions at the beginning of the school year. There’s something SO much more inspiring about starting new goals and routines in September than in the middle of the winter in January. Anyone with me? Today we closed on our new house. There is more work to be … Read More
Budgeting Post-Baby: Grocery Shopping and Saving
I suppose it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one area of our spending that was a little out of control was our grocery and food budget. Grocery shopping is somewhat of a hobby for me when I have the free time and I love testing and trying out new products, so although we had a budget, I rarely stuck with it each month. We’ve waffled between various different grocery stores over the years: Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Cub … Read More
Updated Top Knot Tutorial For Longer Hair
Lately I’ve been wearing my hair up in a top-knot more and more. As my hair has gotten longer it’s my go-to easy style for looking semi put-together while not having to spend a ton of time on my hair. Because, let’s be honest, I just don’t have a ton of time to spend on my hair these days and my hair is looking less than stellar thanks to that dreaded postpartum hair loss. The struggle is real, y’all. Since … Read More
Budgeting Post-Baby: Saving at the Salon
Today I’m continuing on with the budgeting post-baby series and talking about how to save money on your hair. Once upon a time in college I got into a habit of coloring my hair with boxed drugstore hair color. I think it was the worst my hair has ever looked, but it was so much cheaper than getting it done at a salon and my budget was tight. Now that we’re re-evaluating our budget post-baby the money spent at the … Read More
Ainsley 3 Month Update
Likes and Dislikes: Little Miss Ainsley is non-stop action and personality these days! I love continuing to get to know her more and more and she truly is so much FUN to be around. Ainsley Loves: people singing, being lifted into the air again and again by dad, playing in her Jumparoo bouncer, eating, watching her puppies run around the house and laughing at mom and dad Ainsley Dislikes: having to wait to eat, waking up early from naps (she gets super … Read More
Budgeting Post-Baby: Cutting Cable
Having a baby has a way of making you seriously re-examine your budget. You start to think about the little luxuries you enjoy every day and then realize the money spend on those luxuries could (and probably should!) be going toward more important things your child’s college fund. Although we felt we were in a position to have a baby, when we sat down to re-evaluate our budget post-baby, it was a big wake-up call to make some changes. We … Read More
Will You Promote That Product?
Blogging and sponsored posts and content. Ugh. Does just reading that make your eyes roll or your stomach churn? It’s a tough topic for bloggers, their readers and the companies that want to promote their products. When blogging was first getting started people felt like they were selling out for simply having ads on their site but these days ads are almost a given and sponsored/custom content is where it’s at. While I’m a blogger, I’m also an avid blog-reader … Read More
Social Media Accountability
I’ve been blogging for quite a few years now. When I first started posting recipes to the web from my college dorm room the world of blogging was quite different than it is today. There was no Instagram, blog Facebook pages weren’t a thing, Snapchat didn’t exist and Twitter was still in its early days. Over the years I’ve met a number of bloggers and online “friends” that I’ve followed on social media for years. Some have turned into real-life … Read More
There is no shame in formula (and other truths about motherhood)
Photo by Gina Zeidler www.ginazeidler.com www.ginazeidler.com/blog I really don’t mean to stir the pot with the title of this post, but I’ve had so many thoughts flying around in my head as I reflect on the first 12 weeks of motherhood. Those first months are full of self-doubt and questions, especially when your baby doesn’t go “by the book” the way you had planned. Ha! Does any baby? For me, when things with Ainsley weren’t going the way I thought they … Read More
Quick Brown Rice and Lentil Salad
Friends, let’s be honest: I haven’t exactly been knocking it out of the park in terms of cooking creative, healthy meals since having a baby. We’ve been eating relatively healthy, but it’s been mainly in the form of quick foods like smoothies, protein bars, pre-made salad kits for Joe’s lunches and simple grilled foods. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s hardly gotten my creative juices flowing in the kitchen. That said, even if I had the time to cook more … Read More