Month: June 2018

Motivational Monday: Take Small Steps to Declutter Your Home

For the past month I had let receipts, bills and general paperwork pile up in my living room. During the week I kept thinking I needed to clean my apartment but never made time. So, as I was leaving this weekend for a getaway I knew I HAD to clean this week. Once I got home on Sunday I spent three hours decluttering my home. An hour in the kitchen, bathroom and living room.

While I did this I listened to the podcast-Fit, Fierce and Fabulous by Courtney Bentley and then YouTube- Amy Landino’s channel-Amy Tv. I highly recommend having something educational play while doing mindless tasks because you can focus in on learning something new!

Now that my space is decluttered and clean, my mind doesn’t have to worry about when I’ll need to make time to clean. I find that setting time frames for myself makes it easy to get tasks done. This also helps to not make the chores last all day. And you can get a little Me Time in too-my Me Time was working on my blog.

If you still have cleaning and organizing to do after your set time frame is up-set up another date and time for when you’ll get this done. Having this planned means holding yourself accountable and not letting it drag out for a month, like I did!

Tip: Use a planner to write out your goals so you can visualize what your day will look like to get the project done.

Does decluttering your home make your mind less anxious?

Beauty Giveaway on Instagram

Hi Everyone!

I am partnering with Tiffany Williams-skincare specialist of Naturally Lovely Kinks, to giveaway her top sellers. You will receive a hair and body gift basket that includes: Nourishing Lavender Chamomile Hair Spray

Natures Seduction Body Lotion

Apple Turmeric Radiance Scrub

Hair Pudding Rosemary Delight and Knot Free-Knot Today-Knot Ever Hair Conditioner.

Naturally Lovely Kinks provides 100% organic skin and haircare products. I love that the products are handmade, organic, vegan and rich in vitamins. I’ve tried the Natures Seduction Body Lotion and it provides hydration all day! Tiffany is an incrediblely motivated woman who inspires everyone to be positive and be themselves. Check out more of her products on her site:

http://www.naturallylovelykinks.com

To participate:

Follow @StylesToMakeYouSmile & @NaturallyLovelyKinks on Instagram

Like the post on NLK page

Tag one friend, you can tag more than one person for multiple entries.

Giveaway for US residents only.

This giveaway is not affiliated with Instagram in any way.

Winner will be announced on NLK IG page on 6/23 at 4pm EST

A Special Father’s Day Post

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! I thought I’d share some lessons my Dad has taught me over the years. But first a little background: He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, ran a family owned restaurant, worked as the Chief of my grandfathers Country Club and is a semi-retired successful businessman.

How to cook pasta-this something he learned growing up and passed down to my siblings, nephews and I earlier this year-See the post I wrote about here: How to make fresh pasta

The fun of cooking-When I was growing up he would cook me pancakes with an A in the center!

He can always tell you what the weather forecast is!

A love for cooking for family and community-During the holidays he cooks a prime rib dinner and Italian soup, and chicken and burgers for the annual family summer picnic.He works the church dinners which serve hundreds of people.

How to be a good sport-He danced with me during my senior year dance recital to I’ve Had the Time of My Life. He and my Mom dance every Friday night with friends.

He’s shown the work it takes to be a successful businessman which is long hours, dedication and partnerships.

A love for his home-He always does a beautiful job with the landscaping around the house, he has a garden and has hanging flowers on the front and back decks.

He has an incredible knack for knowing directions! Wherever you are, he can tell you exactly what roads lead home.

Love you, Dad!

Motivational Monday: Body Positivity

Last week, I posted a picture of me on my Instagram at Pure Barre, ready for class and received a lot of positive feedback so I thought I’d share more today. Here’s what I wrote in the comments on IG:

“I’ve found the best way to be body positive is to be mindful of the workout I’m doing rather than focus on my weight or giving up during class. I know the more classes I attend and the healthier I eat my body will adjust to being tone.

When you find a workout you’re passionate about it’ll make wanting to workout easier.”

Many people found the message inspiring and I hope you do too! I’ve learned that every time you enter the doors of a gym, studio or decide to workout on your own-you’re far from giving up. I’ve also learned that there’s a difference between giving up from exhaustion and giving up mentally. You need to fight the mental saying of “I can’t” and keep going because if you’re in a class, the class doesn’t stop so if you stop because you tell yourself you can’t do something you’ll only stop to get back up. But if you stop from exhaustion it’s okay to give yourself a break.

As far as weight goes, if you’re attending classes regularly and eating healthy the weight will come off, just be patient.

How do you deal with body positivity?

Tips for Weekly Meal Planning

If you’ve made yourself a weekly food budget, you know how important it is to stick to it. The question is: Are you making the right decisions when it comes to buying food based on how much you eat per week? Do you under or over buy? As I mentioned in other blog posts, I’ve realized the importance of buying freezer meals-they last longer than fresh food and you don’t have to eat it all at once. Also, buying food in bulk can save money in the long run. When it comes to fresh food, you need to decide what meals you’ll be eating the food with or else it will go to waste (I’ve been guilty of this!). This all comes down to weekly meal planning.

Make meal planning easier by knowing: Exactly what you’re going to eat every meal, how much food you need to buy, the cost of the food and what foods will last the week or longer.

Tip: It’s also helpful to know what you already have at home that can go with your meals, so it’s best to make a list at home. I’m guilty of making a mental list of what I need and spend way too long at the grocery store trying to remember what I already have at home.

Basically, the longer your food lasts, the farther your money will go. Personally, my meal planning is about 50/50 with fresh and frozen/pantry items. Because I know what fresh items I need to buy each week, it will save time on meal planning. I can incorporate the fresh foods into weekly meals without over planning on what to eat. This also saves me from buying extra food-like if I want a small dose of something but don’t plan to incorporate it into another meal then I’ll wait until I plan an entire meal around that specific food.

What are some tips you have for meal planning?

Motivational Monday: Make Use of Your Time

What would you do if you had all the time in the day to do anything you wanted? Would you start a new hobby or work on one the one you’re currently doing, travel, workout, spend time with loved ones.

Did you know that we spend our free time doing exactly what we want (within our means)? Whether we need a break to just watch a movie/TV show or scroll through social media. But what if you could turn that time around and spend it doing something that will make you really happy? What if you spent that time doing one of the things mentioned above and it inspired you to start something new?

Sometimes when we take a break, it will inspire us to be more creative. Thoughts will come pouring in about what we should be doing. All we have to do is listen to them and then take action. Whatever that thing was that came to mind was there for a reason and it’s telling us that this is what we want. Maybe it’s to travel to another country, go visit a friend in another state, join a group that interests you, start a new career or move to new state.

If you decide to move forward with your thoughts, make a plan to execute, save money if needed and see where it takes you! Once you get there, write down your thoughts from how spending this time doing what you wanted made you feel and recognize if it’s something you’d do again.

How do you make use of your time? Has something inspiring ever come to you where you listened to it and it changed you? Please let me know in the comments!

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