For the last year, I have been using whatever shampoo and conditioner that would make my hair manageable because I’ve done very little with it since I rarely left the house. There are so many different brands and kinds out there that I’ve talked about and truly loved. However recently, I really noticed that my hair needed some TLC after I was styling my hair every single day. Usually I can go a week in-between washes and give my hair a break from the heat. But now that my social calendar is getting full and I’ve been doing my hair everyday, I need a new shampoo and conditioner to keep up to keep my hair healthy and protect it from heat damage.
In my shower, I have Redken’s new All Soft Mega Shampoo and Conditioner to help detangle my long hair and keep it moisturized. The shampoo makes my hair soft and shiny and works really well if you have thick hair like me. The conditioner keeps my hair from getting tangled which has been a problem lately because my ends are dry. I love a conditioner that keeps my hair moisturized for days post-wash. A surprising ingredient in this duo is Aloe Vera which I think is the secret ingredient for soft, manageable hair!
Back in the day when I used to get my hair done at the salon, I loved walking out because my hair was always silky smooth. For years, I’ve been using Redken because that is what the salons use to get that silky smooth hair at home. Redken has a very large line of hair products that are specially formulated to treat your hair no matter what the issue is. I love when Ulta has a sale because that is when I stock up on the large bottles. I use the Redken Extreme shampoo and conditioner every few washes to really condition my hair.
Happpy Friday! We have been having such great weather lately and I have been taking advantage of it everyday! I’ve been reading in the backyard and going on long walks around the neighborhood in the evening. It’s been HOT but you won’t hear any complaints from me. The world is slowly starting to get back to normal so we are excited to leave our house and do errands again. Jake and I were excited to run errands last weekend because we had a car and didn’t have to carry what we purchased home. This weekend, we are going to Lowes to get some supplies to finish our backyard. I did all of the weeding and prep work this week and I’m excited to make this space pretty.
It was just announced that there is going to be a revival of the tv show, Dexter in late 2021. I binged it in college twice because it was so good! Turns out that Jake has never seen it so I’m doing a rewatch while he watches it for the first time. In my free time, I’ve been watching the Real Housewives and at night I’ve been watching an episode or two of the HBO show, Big Love. I started it years ago and then got busy so I never finished it.
This week I sat down to write and schedule a bunch of product reviews that I typically share on the blog on Sundays. I’ve been trying a lot of products recently and I’m excited to share them with you. On Monday I have a hair appointment so I am so excited to get my hair cut and styled. The last few weeks my social calendar has been getting busier and busier so I’ve been having to do my hair and wear makeup. My hair needed some TLC after all of that heat so I’ve been using my Redken shampoo and conditioner. There will be a full review of what I’ve been using this week so come back to the blog to read more. I have also been using this eye cream every night to help with my dark circles and puffy eyes. I’ve seen a difference after only a week so I will definitely be repurchasing!
We went to Target last weekend and it felt like Christmas morning walking through the store doors! Of course we went in without a list and Jake was nice enough to let me walk up and down every single aisle. I picked up this dress that I featured on the blog this week, this white eyelet top, and some new sandals. Can you tell I’m excited for summer?
Last week I finished reading The Jane Austen Book Club and just started The Virgin Queen since I’ve been on a historical fiction roll. I also ordered the Bridgerton books and found the books with the original covers for $5. Sharing my link here to get them.
On Sundays, we like to have pasta and try different recipes. I wanted to keep it simple so I made my own red sauce with a can of tomato paste, can of diced tomatoes with 3 chopped roma tomatoes and a bunch of seasoning. In 2020, we stopped eating processed food and I’ve had a fun time making our meals from scratch. I used to think it was really intimidating or would take too long but this year has taught me that I love to spend time in the kitchen. This love has been put on hold however because our dishwasher broke. We had someone come look at it and it’s still broken. Now dinner is whatever won’t dirty a dish!
Trip to Target last weekend. Seems silly but after not having a car for more than a year, we get excited about errands now.
Full fridge this week after a grocery run.
A lunch date at Panera with Jake.
Took advantage of the nice weather and walked to Rittenhouse in this outfit.
Reading everyday in the backyard has become a favorite part of my day.
Staying committed in working out every single day. After months of working out I am finally starting to see a difference.
Shared a round-up of some fitness clothes I have my eyes on right now.
One of our first things we did with our new car was to go to Target and walk up and down every single aisle. Kudos to Jacob for being so patient while we shopped! We walked in with a list and somehow we walked out with way more things than we planned on getting. As an impulse buy I grabbed this cute dress I saw because it was only $15 and just thought it would be an easy summer dress to throw on. Right away I loved the way it looked when I got home and tried it on. I loved the ruffle hem on the bottom and was easy to throw on for errands. I’d recommend sizing down because the hem flares out. I’m wearing an XS and right now I’m usually a small/medium.
Hopping on real quick to share what I’ve been up to and realized I forgot to share last weeks favorites because life has been so busy! Last weekend my parents came up from North Carolina to spend a few days with us so they got the full tourist treatment. I shared what we did in this blog post. On the night they got to Philly, I hosted a little happy hour at our house for my parents and cousins who also live in Philly before we headed down the street for dinner. We tried a new place called Sally and not only was it so great to go out to dinner again but I could cry tears of joy for the happiness I felt with my big family all at one table again. It had been too long! Jake and I are celebrating because we also finally purchased a car together after being car less for a year plus. We cannot wait to use it for trips to the beach this summer and most importantly to be able to go to the grocery store with a car. Jumping for joy over here!
Jake has been working until 3am every day this week which means I get full control of the tv. I’ve been catching up on the Real Housewives and the new HBO show, The Nevers. Hopefully we can find time this weekend to catch up on Mare of Easttown which has quickly become one of our favorites. If you didn’t watch the SNL skit they did about the show recently, it’s worth watching!
Used this sample size Lancome Idole mascara this week and I am very impressed! I’ve always been a big fan of Lancome mascara and this one adds volume while looking very natural.
I shared a review of the Loreal Everstrong shampoo and conditioner on the blog this week. I was shocked by how much volume I was able to get with my hair when I blowed it out with a hair dryer and even when I let it air dry. This morning in the shower I ran out of shampoo and kept squirting the bottle to make sure i got every drop out!
Made a stop at J Crew Factory while in New Jersey last week and fell in love with these sneakers right away. Super comfy and I love the subtle pop of pink. This headband is also a great dupe for the ones I saw at Anthropologie but a much better price. Last weekend I wore my new headband and sneakers to the zoo and I’ve worn both pretty much every day since. It’s so nice to buy new things to wear and actually get to wear them outside of the house 🙂
This week I finally finished reading The Jane Austen Book Club and started reading The Virgins Lover by Phillipa Gregory.
Does anyone else get anxiety before they leave the house these days? I do and found this article about social anxiety and the pandemic very interesting.
Most importantly, we got our second dose of vaccine. WOOHOO!
After being carless for a year +, we finally got a car.
Had fun exploring the city with my parents and I’m excited to do more things in the city this summer.
Our roses are starting to bloom in the backyard
Fun trip to Jersey to see old friends
Went to the Philadelphia Zoo to see the new dinosaur exhibit. It was so cute!
After living in Philadelphia for four years for college and then three years full time now, I’m amazed how much there is still to do here! Recently my parents came to visit and we wanted to see as much as we could in Philly because we are all finally vaccinated. I thought it would be fun to share what we did on my parents short visit because I feel like we did so much in just a few days to get the full Philadelphia experience!
My parents got to Philadelphia late Sunday afternoon so my cousins nearby came over to my house for a little happy hour before we headed out to dinner. The one struggle right now after not being fully comfortable to dine at restaurants the last year is that we have so many options of places to go to! We decided to go to Sally’s down the street and I am so happy we went because it was so delicious! Everything on their menu sounded delicious so we got a bunch of small plates and four pizzas to try. The staff was so friendly and the food is so good so I highly recommend!
The next day we walked over to Rittenhouse Square which is one of my favorite parts of the city. Since I live nearby and go so often, I wanted to take my parents on the route I walk to run errands since I’m usually on the phone with them catching up while I’m walking there and back! I took them to my favorite streets to walk past and pointed out my favorite houses with the best architecture. Even though we have been in this house for a few years now, I am still in awe of this city. We browsed at books at Shakespeare and Co. after walking through the park and walked up and down Walnut and Chestnut. My parents lived in Philadelphia for 4 years in the 80s so it is a little different than what it looked like back then! When Jake got off of work, my parents drove us out to Ardmore to buy a car and we met up with them for dinner and drinks at the Iron Hill Brewery after. I love living in Philadelphia because the suburbs are a short drive away so we really do get the best of both worlds!
On Tuesday morning, my dad woke all of us up early to go to Reading Terminal Market because he really wanted a Pennsylvania staple, scrapple. If you do not know what it is, you are not missing out! We had breakfast at a cute little diner inside Reading Terminal Market and then walked around to look at all of the different food stands. The market has some of the best local food in the city and you can try a bunch of things in one visit just by walking around. We picked up some sweet treats and I picked up some fudge to bring home to Jake so he didn’t feel left out while he was at home working. We had some time to walk around in that part of the city so we walked through the new Fashion District Mall. It opened up just before everything shut down with the pandemic so we got some relief from the heat outside by walking around and did some window shopping. They really have everything in this mall without having to drive far out of the city to shop.
We drove past my old apartment closer to Center City and circled City Hall which is one of my favorite buildings in the city because of the architecture. In the car I pointed out where we go grocery shopping and other places we run errands. My parents were shocked by how much walking we do in the city but I love any excuse to walk around the city ❤
That weekend after my parents left, Jake and I went to the Philadelphia Zoo to celebrate both of us being vaccinated. It’s a short drive from our house and it was so much fun to walk around and look at all of the exhibits. It has been on our list of things to do for so long and right now they have a dinosaur exhibit that is similar to the Jurassic Park attraction at Universal.
There is so much to do in this city and after a year of staying home, we have a very long list of things we want to do this summer! It’s the perfect city to walk everywhere and be able to try lots of restaurants. Even with a short visit with my parents we did so much and they were exhausted when they went home!
It’s a Monday morning as I sit at my table and write this, still in pajamas, with a warm cup of coffee to keep me caffeinated. Getting out of bed recently has been a complete opposite of the last few winter months. My body is naturally waking me up when the sun rises and while I try to sleep in, my body wants to get up and start the day. I’m sure the rising temperatures and that warm sunshine are helping me get out of bed in the morning. I’ve found that I am bursting with energy and want to do everything and anything. With this burst of energy in the early hours of the morning, I’m also going to bed before midnight. Something that annoyed me at first but now I love getting into bed at night and reading a few chapters of my book before bed. After a few weeks of this routine, I decided to stick with it and make it permanent thing.
I setup new ringtones for all of my alarms so I don’t snooze through them and if my body doesn’t wake me up, a new tune can help me get out of bed at the same time every day. This took a few weeks to get used to but turning into a morning person has always been my goal and this year it’s going to happen!
A perk of being the only one awake in the morning, besides the cat, is that I get to have a little me time. Usually I just hop right into getting housework done in the morning before I start doing work in the afternoon. With this warmer weather (somedays) I’ll make a cup of coffee and grab a magazine before heading to the backyard to enjoy my coffee. Ed comes trotting with and loves to lay in the grass and roam around. Just giving myself a few minutes outside to drink coffee or water the plants or have a few minutes to myself puts me in such a good headspace.
On Sundays, I love to create one master to-do list with everything that needs to get done for the week no matter how small. Then I schedule time to get it all done in my Google Calendar so I can get it all scheduled ahead of time and it’s not so daunting.
How you start your day sets your mood for your entire day. For so long I felt so rushed from the moment I got out of bed and with a few little changes I can give myself time in the morning to start my day on the right foot. No matter how busy my week is, I love to wake up early to make time for myself and glance at my calendar knowing I have time to get it all done. Only you can control what mindset you will have for the day and with some pre-planning, you can make it a more positive one. Once you are relaxed and have some caffeine in your system, get dressed, and make it a good day!
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