How to start working out again… when it’s been a while!

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Summer is around the corner and I’m looking forward to warmer days and spending my time outdoors as much as I can. However, my body is not ready for those little shorts and cute tops so I’m committing to getting a bit more toned to feel more confident. After wearing leggings or pajama pants all day this past winter, I didn’t realize that I was slacking on my personal fitness goals until it was too late. While my body is not ready for a high intensity work out class, I am giving my body some grace and going to take things slow to get back into the routine.

First, get those workout clothes out of storage and put them in one place that you can easily get to. I try to always change into workout clothes before working out because it’s a way to tell my body that it is time to MOVE. If I can, I will put on leggings and a workout tank first thing in the morning so it’s a reminder to get my body moving throughout the day. If you need some new workout clothes to get you inspired to sweat, buying new leggings or shorts has been shown to help motivate working out!

Right now, we have a routine where Jake and I both do a quick workout as soon as he gets done with work so we can get it out of the way and enjoy our evening. Some people prefer working out before work but we prefer to do it at night because we are not morning people! Whatever works for you, try to do it the same time every day so your body gets used to it and starts to expect some sweat instead of dreading it. Also helps prevent life from getting in the way and forgetting a workout when you plan ahead.

Plan for a 20 minute workout so it doesn’t seem like a bigger task than it is. I’ll put on a playlist I created on Spotify and just start. 20 minutes a day doesn’t take too much time out of your day and I have less reasons for excuses when I remind myself it’s like listening to 5 songs.

Now that you are dressed and ready, the next hurdle is usually, “now what?” I created a board on Pinterest where I save workouts that I can actually do, nothing too high level or intense to look at for inspiration. While scrolling on Instagram, if I find a workout that looks fun, I also save it to a folder on Instagram. To keep the workout moving, I like to stick to the same workout routine everyday so I don’t have to think too much about what’s next so I can keep moving. When I have a workout routine, I can usually keep going for a lot longer than the “20 minute workout” I planned on doing.

Water. Lots of water. I fill up a cute Starbucks tumbler first thing in the morning every day and keep refilling it throughout the day. When I have water nearby I’m less likely to grab a sugary drink when I’m thirsty.

Try for daily walks when the weather is nice. It’s something I love to do when it’s warm outside so I try to get dressed first thing in the morning and plan my day around going on a walk when the sunshine is shining. Those days that are cold and rainy are my rest days ha!

Affordable Retinol with Olay

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In the next few weeks, everyone is going to be making appointments to get haircuts, manicures, and doctors appointments. Don’t forget to schedule that dermatologist appointment too! I remember going to the dermatologist every year growing up with my mom because of my acne. I would walk out of his office with a dozen prescriptions including a prescription for Retinol. My mom told me that one day when I was older, I would wish I could get Retinol for free with a prescription because of all of the wonderful things it could do for the skin. Retinol is known for reducing fine lines, improving skin tone and reducing pore size. After a year hunched over a laptop working with very little sunshine, my face needed all of the help it could get! These days there are so many products that have Retinol in them but some can be pricey and some are just not as good as what you can get from a dermatologist. Olay is a brand I have trusted for a long time so I decided to try the Olay Retinol 24 night moisturizer and see what would happen. Since most days I don’t leave the house and when I do, it’s not worth putting on makeup, I wanted my skin to look good enough where I wouldn’t need to wear makeup. Over time, I noticed that my skin looked clearer, less splotchy and looked good enough without foundation. I. was most excited about my skin texture and my acne wasn’t as red and went away faster than usual when I was using the Olay Retinol 24 moisturizer at night. For full transparency, I want to admit that my skin is very sensitive which is why I could never use the prescription Retinol because it would irritate my skin. With the Olay Retinol 24 moisturizer, I didn’t notice any irritation, but to be safe, I alternated wearing it every other night with a super moisturizing night time cream and the Olay Retinol 24 moisturizer. It gave me the same desired affect I was looking for and was able to get more use out of the jar.

I leave the jar on my bathroom sink so I can easily apply the cream to my face, neck and chest when I get out of the shower before bed. It takes two seconds to give my skin the nutrients it needs to look healthy and looking great without any makeup!

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Regenerist Retinol24 Night Moisturizer

Walks Around the Neighborhood

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If you have been a reader for a while, you know how much I love a long walk. The last few months have kept me indoors because of the cold weather but once we got that 40 degree weather, I was eager to get back outside. I’ll admit that my jeans were a little snug but I was excited to get out of pajama pants and into real clothes. My route doesn’t change much and with my daily walks in the fall I have explored most of our neighborhood. Overtime I watched my neighborhood go from blooming trees, lush green sidewalk landscaping and warm sunshine rays to crunchy leaves and a cool breeze. Nowadays on my walks, I see dead tree limbs, bare bushes and dirty streets caused from the never ending cycle of melting snow with a new layer of snow before the rain can clean the streets. I’m hoping that the warm weather stays and brings life back into the many gardens and trees in our neighborhood.

For a neighborhood we recently moved into, I could walk these streets with my eyes closed. One thing I got out of this lockdown was being able to get familiar with each street and block. I was spoiled living in a beach town my whole life where everyone knew everyone. In a city, it’s a big world and I can feel small living in it. Neighbors rarely talk to each other with the hustle that comes with the city life. With everyone at home the last year, I’ve noticed railings have been painted, sidewalks repaired and other home projects keeping neighbors busy. When I walk past fellow walkers, we give each other an awkward wave as we step aside to let the other person pass or a head nod as we acknowledge our fellow walker. Cities are not meant to be this empty so when I see people, we are eager to make eye contact and smile even though it’s hidden under a mask. There is this sense of grace we are giving one another; a lighthearted joke and smile as a way to communicate, “I feel the same way.” I’ve had more conversations with our mailman and our Amazon drivers before 2020. I hope when this lockdown ends and things start opening up again, we continue to give one another grace and know how far a smile goes to brighten someones day. The once invisible workers are some of our most valuable workers keeping us safe and comfortable at home. I can only hope they get the praise they very much deserve.

Walking past businesses and restaurants in Rittenhouse makes me smile to see the busy foot traffic and creative efforts to make outdoor dining safe and fun. Philadelphia is not a quiet city and it’s working hard to stay relevant and busy. This time last year I was itching to get out of our house and missing our “old normal”. I found walks to be therapeutic and a great way to get some exercise in. It doesn’t matter where you live or how much money you have in your wallet, anyone can go on a walk and get inspired.

Getting A Deeper Clean with the Bissell Powerlifter Swivel Lift-OFF Pet Vacuum

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Bissell Powerlifter Swivel Lift-OFF Pet Vacum

Since we have been spending more of our time at home, I have been vacuuming more throughout the week. Not surprising as we both work, live and eat all of our meals at home so it’s going to get dirty at times! My most needy roommate is Ed the cat, he has adjusted to us being home 24/7 so he moves throughout the house to find a comfy place to nap and often leaves a trail of hair behind. We are all adjusting to our new normal right now and one of my new routines is a new cleaning routine with some new tools!

Last year, I purchased a vacuum and when I saw the pet model and the standard model, I didn’t know if there would be much of a difference. In the end I just bought the standard version because it was cheaper and thought it would work just as well. So far it’s been great and I have had zero complaints to clean up after my cookie crumbs and dirt that accumulates in our older house. It wasn’t until Bissell reached out to ask if I wanted to try a pet model vacuum. With Ed we thought it was a good thing to have and see if there was that much of a difference between our regular vacuum and a pet model.

Not knowing when the Bissell Powerlifter Swivel Lift-OFF Pet vacuum would arrive, I did my usual vacuum routine earlier in the week. When the new vacuum arrived, I took it out of the box and wanted to see if it was easy to use not thinking it would pick up anything since I just vacuumed earlier in the week. Our guest room slash my new office is rarely used and is carpeted so I wanted to see how it worked in that room. It was lightweight, easy to push and the swivel feature let me easily get to the corners in the room without using the attachment. It’s a small room so my jaw dropped when I saw how much dirt and hair was in the vacuum.

I pushed it down the hallway to our bedroom which has a rug over our hardwood floors and when I finished vacuuming the room that I just cleaned, the canister was completely full! The Bissell Powerlifter Swivel Lift-OFF Pet vacuum is an easy way to do a deep clean around the house. I can honestly say that I am so impressed with this vacuum and it has made cleaning up very easy.

Easy Everyday Contour

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Kevyn Aucion Contour Book

I’ve been getting ready in the morning a lot more lately and having fun using new makeup products that I’ve purchased the last few weeks with all of the good sales going on. My favorite product right now is the Kevyn Aucoin Contour Book 3 and I seriously love it! I’ve used other contour kits in the past and I spend more time trying to blend the shades to make it look more natural than I’d like. The Contour Book 3 has all you need to contour, highlight, and an ombre blush giving you plenty of options. I love the powder is translucent enough to look natural and easy to layer for more color. 


I like to apply Sculpting Light below my cheekbones, the top of my nose, and then the edges of my forehead. I’ve found on days that I want to take pictures, I use the darker shade Sculpting Medium along my jawline because it gives my jaw definition and hides my double chin that likes to make an appearance once in a while! 😉 


Next, I like to apply the highlighter, shade Beam, above my cheekbones, dab the sides of my nose and make a V with my brush on my forehead. A reminder that when applying a highlighter that less is more! Sometimes when I apply too much my face can look shiny, therefore it looks oily which it’s not. 


I love the ombre blush because I can swipe right with my brush to get a natural color on my cheeks or swipe left with my brush to get a darker color. With a clean brush, I like to make a 3  on the side of my face starting at my forehead, around my eye towards my nose, and then along my jawline. I have found it does a good job of blending all of the products on my face so they look even and natural. 


This Countour Book has been so much fun to play with recently and it’s difficult to mess up because the shades are all very natural looking. On Zoom calls with my family, I like to take the extra step of contouring when I get ready because the video can sometimes wash me out. When we took our family Christmas card photo, I used the darker shades so my features would stand out in the photo. In the winter months, I can get very pale and contouring is a great way to get some definition in your face that you can lose when you don’t have any coloring. For the summer months when I have a tan, I can use the darker highlighter shade Flash and darker bronzer color without having to get a new contour palette. Instead of fussing with a ton of products, this one product does it all and makes it super quick and easy to apply.  I hope this post has helped inspire you to try contouring and realize it’s not as complicated as it seems! 

Friday Favorites 1.8

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When I sat down to start this post a few days ago, I was so excited about what 2021 had to offer. I woke up with this new energy and motivation to have a good year. Recent events have put me glued to the tv and scrolling Twitter looking for updates and answers to this unfortunate historic moment. It would be wrong of me not to mention this week’s events before I start talking about my favorite things. What we can do today is get informed and hold the people responsible for the riots accountable. Unfollow, use your vote, and send emails. 


We started off our 2021 watching Black Mirror and WOW. It’s a show I’ve been putting off and I’m happy we spent the long weekend binging it. It’s definitely different and made me put my phone down for a bit. Crazy to think how much we rely on technology and how much social media controls our lives.
I also got sucked into the world of Bridgerton and it’s the perfect show to start 2021 with! Excited for another season to see what Lady Whistedown will write next. The costumes and sets are amazing and as a nerd who usually criticizes period dramas because they are inaccurate on certain details, Bridgerton tells the story beautifully and accurately displays the social scene in London so well. And the soundtrack is on repeat in our house all day every day!
Some exciting news is that the Magnolia Network premiered this week and there was a sneakpeak on HGTV this week. So far, I am obsessed with Joanna’s cooking show. She isn’t a professional cook at all and she wanted to make mistakes on camera so it wouldn’t be an over-produced show. The Magnolia Network is available on the new Discovery+ streaming service which is free for some Verizon Wireless members for a year! YAY! Makes me want to plan a trip back to Waco, TX asap!


Earlier this week I shared on my stories the Beekman 1802 X Schitt’s Creek set and it’s almost too pretty to use. Their current collection is sold out but they will be releasing a Valentines Day on January 21st! I worked with Beekman 1802 over the summer and can say that their products are a one of a kind.

Jake gave me this NYX lippie set that is on sale now for Christmas and it makes me look forward to being able to go places without a mask again.

This year my big goal is to use all of my products so I have more shelf space. I’ve been so overwhelmed with clutter lately in our only spare closet so I need to use it or toss it. I’ve been “shopping” in my closet and making things easier to find so I use them more.

Making it a goal not to buy anything this month but that doesn’t mean that Jake can’t order anything ha! But seriously, I’m excited to save as much money as I can this year for big purchases (car) and a much needed vacation. My last big purchase recently was a big grocery run before we returned our rental car coming back from North Carolina. I can’t begin to explain how excited I was to do a big grocery run and how cheap it was since we weren’t shopping at the small grocery store down the street. It’s the little things we sometimes take for granted that make me smile most!

Finished Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden over the Christmas Holiday and wow, it’s a book everyone should read as we go into a new presidency. It made me cry, bring me comfort reading Biden’s foreign affairs experience and excitement for this new chapter. Currently on my nightstand table is Little Women to start off the new year with a classic. 


At the top of my list is my new Macbook that Jake got me for my birthday. I’ve been without a laptop for years and was using a work laptop for a while and then a free Chromebook we got when we signed up for our Cable package with Verizon. I was able to check email and write up blog posts but found it difficult to do much else. I’ve been an Apple product girl for forever and missed the feel of this keyboard! Jake says he got me this laptop so I can apply to jobs but he’s been really supportive of me investing time and energy into Blonde Rosie. 


I’ve been wearing my new Kendra Scott necklace every day that Jake got me for my birthday. He knows I love anything that sparkles and it was such a great surprise to open. Also got the earrings to match 🙂


I gave Jake an amazing Ew, David Christmas ornament for Christmas and I think I’m keeping up our tree a bit longer just because I love seeing it on there so much. 


Starting off the new year committed to working out and I’ve been doing a really good job of doing a 30 minute intense work out every day. Don’t see results yet but it’s definitely become a part of my day that I look forward to. 


I’ve also been really committed to healthier habits like eating healthy, taking vitamins and having a scoop of Vital Proteins collagen in my coffee each morning. I have the collagen on the counter next to the Keurig as a reminder to use it each morning and my vitamins are next to my coffee mugs so they are easy to take and not forget about them. 


I’m slowly starting to take down Christmas and just leaving the garland up so it’s more of a winter themed at least until the end of January. I’ve been using some new storage container that I talk about in a recent blog post HERE.