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Finding Joy

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Our days look a little different than they did just a few weeks ago. I find that I have more free time and not much motivation to do anything. I’m usually a homebody and will try to go for a daily walk to stretch my legs and get some fresh air. Now with the quarantine, knowing I can’t leave my house makes me a bit anxious. My step goal rarely gets accomplished so I’ve been doing at home workouts to stay active. Right now I am adapting to my new “normal” and new routines. It took some time to adjust and some days are better than others. One thing that has helped me tremendously is starting to journal and writing down a thing or two that brought me joy. It could be finally organizing the linen closet or sunny skies after weeks of rain. Just find one thing in a day that brought you joy and cling to it. There is a lot of talk of fear and uncertainty in the future. Instead of dwelling on the unknown and freaking out, I find joy in my day even if I have to go out of my way to create it.

Here are a few things that have brought me joy during a time of uncertainty.

  • Slow mornings with coffee
  • Writing to do lists in the morning
  • Writing in my journal each day
  • Washing my hands with scented soap
  • Doing all of the laundry and putting it away right away
  • Deep cleaning my kitchen
  • Swapping out the living room couch pillows for Spring
  • Calling my mom who is a doctor to get advice on how to stay healthy
  • Having a house instead of a small apartment
  • Daily showers and using all of my products
  • Reading a bit each day
  • 15 minute work outs in between Netflix episodes
  • Sunny days
  • Putting on real clothes

Finance Goals for 2020

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After my new job and moving to a larger house in 2019, my finances this month look very different than how they did January of last year. This year, I really want to focus on saving my money and spending my extra money on vacations and experiences. There are also other things that I want to do this year like cooking at home more, reading more books and spending more time making my house a home. Here are a few things I am doing in 2020 to stay motivated!

  • Set up multiple bank accounts.
    I bank with PNC Bank and I am able to move money easily from my checking and savings and then put money in different savings accounts based on long term and short term savings.
  • Budget Spreadsheets
    I actually got inspired by Jake because he keeps a tally of every bill paid and balances on all of his accounts. I want to track where I spend my money and document my savings goals.
  • Create a Minimum in Checking Account
    I can proudly say that I have never bounced a check because I always keep a thousand dollars in my checking account. Since I know what my monthly expenses, I can have enough money in my checking account and move the rest to my savings. Then once payments start coming out, I will move money into my checking account to keep myself at the minimum.
  • Meal Plan
    We are good at keeping a balance of eating out and cooking at home. So this year I want to keep it going by meal planning and making lists when we go food shopping so we eat in more.
  • Investing with Acorns
    Honestly, I’m not that interested in the investing part more of the savings part. Acorns is an easy easy way to round up your change from every day purchases and a $5 a month goes into an account that is invested. It’s an easy way to put money into savings without realizing that money is missing from my account. I started doing this a few months ago and was amazed how much money was in my account just from round ups!
  • No Shop Months
    Last year I was on a really tight budget and went months without buying something just because I wanted it. It’s been nice to have some extra spending money and now I’m looking forward to having a few months of no shopping challenges.

Life is Better in these Pajamas

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During all of the moving craziness, I started to feel a bit overwhelmed. My entire life was in boxes, I couldn’t find anything, I kept tripping over things because they weren’t where they belong and because of that I was being really hard on myself. Things had to get done, my to do list was forever growing and we needed a lot more than I thought we did for the new home. On one of our trips to Target picking up a few essentials, we walked by the pajama section and these pajamas caught my eye. When I touched them and realized how soft they were, I immediately was like oh my gosh I need these! Seems silly, but I was so excited to go to bed that night with pajamas that matched and were soft!

pajamas

Life is messy and unpredictable. It’s not easy and sometimes the easy things are more difficult because of unforeseeable bumps in the road. During the move, I was so tired and so critical of myself because no matter how I planned, I could not get everything done in my timeline. Sometimes we need a reminder to take some time for ourselves. To treat ourselves to a cozy blanket or just new soft pajamas. It actually took me over a week to find and then unpack my box filled with pajamas so it was so nice to actually have a set of pajamas during all of the chaos. I swear I washed the pajamas frequently and they were just as soft as when I first bought them!

Here are some things that helped me stay sane during the move….

  • Cozy pajamas duhh! Super soft and the price was right!
  • Taking a long shower. There were a lot of late nights and I would feel so gross. I cannot even begin to explain how much better I felt after taking a shower and having some time to myself.
  • A made bed. Okay, seems silly that with everything else going on that I kept the bed made but it was nice to have something inviting at night when I was ready to collapse and fall asleep.
  • Keeping the bedroom neat. The rest of the house was a disaster but I made Jake and I keep the bedroom clutter free as much as we could. I can’t sleep being surrounded by a mess so it was a nice escape during the of boxes.
  • Unpack the kitchen first. It’s usually the easiest room to unpack and it’s nice to say that at least one room is in order while you unpack the rest!

memorial day weekend sales guide

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I am sooo excited for a three day weekend! They don’t come often so I hope to get as much relaxation, fun and time in the sun in as I can. We had an early dismissal at work on Friday so I made plans to meet up with a friend for a late lunch and to do some shopping in Rittenhouse. After not being in the retail world for a while, I kinda forgot how amazing Memorial Day Weekend sales are. Since I was out shopping with a friend, I didn’t get that much time to browse at everything on sale. Now I’m curled up on my couch in my jammies working on my laptop browsing online doing my research to find all the sales. A lot of my favorite recent purchases are included in this sale and I would definitely recommend taking advantage of this sale if there is anything you had your eyes on lately.

MDW Sales Round Up

Aerie // 40-60% off
babe tee // perfect beach sweatshirt

American Eagle // 20-60% off
denim shorts // mom jeans

Anthropologie // 40% off sale items
just purchased the mouse cheese board // candle

DSW// up to 60% off clearance
block heel sandal // steve madden heels

J. Crew // 40% off everything and 50% off clearance
long sleeve ruffle neck top in eyelet // spaghetti strap dress in lace
eyelet swimwear // my favorite lightweight sweater for work

J. Crew Factory // 60% off and 50% off clearance
check out all of my favorite J. Crew Factory finds here.
tee shirt dress // tie neck tank top

Loft // 40% off
check out all of my favorite Loft finds here.
lace cami // floral strappy cami // floral blazer // scallop shorts

Old Navy // 50% off tees, tanks, swim, shorts and dresses
pixie pants //

TV Shows I’m Watching Lately

Published on by blonde rosie2 Comments

My favorite thing to do after work is to come home and put on comfy clothes before heading to my couch to binge watch a few episodes before going to bed. In between episodes I will get up to make a quick dinner or tidy up a corner of my apartment and as a reward I get to watch another episode. 

With my work schedule, I get home late at night so I don’t always get to watch my tv shows live. On Saturday mornings, I will catch up on everything on Demand or Hulu but I think I got spoiled with Netflix being able to binge multiple episodes at one time. I’ve been known to binge watch multiple seasons of shows found on Netflix or Hulu in a short amount of time. There are so many hidden little gems that I feel are overlooked because they weren’t pushed enough when they were on air or they are made for Netflix. 

I thought it would be fun to share what I have been watching lately…

The Bold Type

Honestly, this show gave me work and friendship goals! I immediately fell in love with the characters and the relevant plot that is fresh and rarely seen on tv. Finally, a show about millennials that I can relate to! 

Younger

This show has been on the air for a few seasons now and I am sure you haven’t heard of it. Now I dare you to just watch one episode and not stay up until 3am binge watching. It is about a mom from the suburbs who gets divorced and gets a job for a book publishing company. Problem is that she only could get a job by lying about her age. It is full of laughs and reminds all of us how easy we have it sometimes when it comes to technology! 

Dynasty

It is all the gossip and drama we loved about Gossip Girl in a new show that follows

Southern Charm

I don’t know what it is about this show, but I am obsessed! It takes everything we love about reality tv and adds some class that most shows lack.  It follows a group of friends living in Charleston showing their day to day lives, drama and what socialites in the South are like. 

Chrisley Knows Best

 I can rewatch old episodes for hours whenever I need a good laugh. Some of it is scripted, but the shenanigans they get into are hilarious! It is my favorite show when I want to multitask with something easy to watch on tv.

Desperate Housewives

It is one of those classic shows that I never watched so now that I found it on Hulu I cannot stop watching!