Why We Choose Chewy For Our Pet Needs

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Shopping for pet supplies doesn’t make my weekly shopping list that often but when they do, it is usually needed urgently. Since Ed and I moved to Philadelphia, I have been relying on having our pet supplies shipped to my front door because there is just no way that I would be able to haul litter and food from the store to my home. I used a few different sites but when we moved to our house a year ago, I wanted to try Chewy and see if it was all that different from ordering from Target or Amazon. So far, we have loved it with zero complaints! The prices were so low that I ordered all new pet supplies for Ed along with his food for our first order. Since then we have been choosing Chewy for our food and toy needs for Ed.

There is a $50 purchase minimum for free shipping and let me just say that it is hard to meet that requirement because of the discounts on products we use daily. Chewy makes it easy to shop because of their very user friendly website and list of suggested items you may want to purchase. It has all of the name brands that I know and trust along with other pet needs and accessories. Instead of searching, browsing and researching reviews, I can easily search for what I need on Chewy’s website and click to add it to my cart without worrying if it will work for us or not. Also, I need to add that their customer service is amazing. I had to chat with someone over chat and I got a real person who answered quickly. They also sent Ed a Christmas card!

Since there is a spending requirement for free shipping, I like to order the biggest size of everything we need and I’ll throw in a few cat toys for Ed because they are soooo inexpensive. I like to do it this way because normally I would have to pay for an overpriced smallish bag of food because it was the only thing I could transport back home and I would be back in a few weeks to stock up again. Chewy makes it super easy and convenient because we can go months without having to reorder or running out of anything. Plus, I don’t have to pay extra for the weight of anything or it affect delivery time. I am also very impressed with their two day shipping and everything arrives at our front door right on time.

You can subscribe to auto-ship and you can tell Chewy how often you need items to shipped to your home. There is also a questionnaire for your pet so their analytics can suggest the right items for your pet. I don’t auto-ship my pet supplies because we can go months without having to reorder supplies because I order multiples and large sizes of everything to meet the shipping requirements. Another helpful thing is I can easily reorder from our previous shopping cart so I don’t have to search and add items again – takes maybe five minutes and everything is delivered in 2 days. It seems silly to love a website that ships pet supplies but I have been realizing how much time we spend going to the store, shopping, overpaying and then bringing items back home we use daily when we could easily have them shipped! I’ve tried ordering from other sites and sometimes there are shipping delays or an item is out of stock or I have to read through a dozen reviews to make sure the product is actually legit and then I have to question why it’s upcharged so much to get it shipped quickly.

If you are your furry friend are living busy lives and want to simplify a few things, get your pet needs at Chewy.

Be Intentional With Your Time

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I woke up late on Saturday and didn’t have much motivation to do anything after I woke up so I just laid in bed scrolling on my phone. There was a time that I would relish when I would wake up to a rainy morning with time to scroll on my phone. Instead of enjoying reading the news updates on Twitter and getting inspiration from photos in squares like I usually do, I got bored and put my phone away. Luckily, my parents called on speakerphone as they were making cupcakes for their neighbors. I got to talk to them about the weather, what their garden looked like and a promise that a photo would be sent shortly. We did the usual check in and reminder to stay indoors – this was directed to my dad after he told us he wanted to play a round of golf with friends. It really is true that we need to emphasize the staying indoors more to our parents than us young people! Luckily, my mom with her doctor title and me as the concerned daughter won and my dad will not be playing golf with the guys this weekend!

After a long conversation on the phone with my parents, I changed out of my night time pajamas and got into a matching set of “daytime” pajamas or comfy lounge wear as we started to call it. I made an easy breakfast and a cup of coffee even though it was late in the afternoon. I checked my email and deleted the ones with the subject titles that mentioned “SALE!” because I am doing a no shopping rule during the quarantine and I can proudly say that I have not purchased anything besides groceries and other essential items. I also filled out the Census questionnaire which was really easy and quick to do – kind of a bummer when I was hoping it would take up more than 5 minutes.

I’ve been good with keeping myself busy this past week. I like to create a to do list with a list of a few things I am grateful for each day while I drink my morning coffee. I’m cleaning and catching up on laundry and spending time in the kitchen making dinner. My mom commented that I was getting through this with a smile in my heart and it made me realize that the way we think about this time in our lives can impact our day so much. There are days that I am bored and don’t have much motivation to do anything or I stress about our finances. There are so many times in my life that I wish I could have a week to let my mind rest or to catch up on everything or to get to that long to do list. I’m being lazy because it’s what my body needs but I am also being intentional with my time at home. I’m also creating a routine that helps me find structure during a day without much to create it like usual. I like to start my mornings emptying the dishwasher and tidy the kitchen while listening to The New York Times Daily Podcast as I wait for my Keurig to get started. It’s enough of the news to stay in the know but not too much to feel overwhelmed. Then in the afternoon, I like to work on a project to keep me moving. I deep cleaned our kitchen and I’m rearranging our first floor to make it more functional. I’m finally unpacking a few more boxes from the move and working on our guest room/office. I added photos to an album that have been in a box for years and I organized my box of treasured items and cards late one night while watching Netflix. I’m making my bed each morning because I have the time to do it and spend a few minutes to do a short work out to keep my body moving. Make a to do list and check the item off proudly once accomplished, even if it’s tidy like washing your face in the morning or brushing your teeth at night before bed.

There is so much uncertainty right now as we go into another week of us being unsure when things will go back to normal. For now, I don’t want to dwell on that. Instead I want to be intentional in how I use this time I have at home. Even if you are working from home right now, make your bed each morning, find a project, big or small, to accomplish each day and go to bed at your normal bedtime.

Stay safe…. Stay inside…..but most importantly, be kind to yourself.

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

How Going To Bed With A Bedtime Helps Me Sleep Better

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My schedule has looked a bit differently lately and while there some changes that can be nice like having time to actually drink my coffee in the morning before it gets cold, there are some changes that I need to get rid of. One of them is that my bedtime has become later than it should be. Seems silly to say that I have a bedtime at my age but I’ve known for a long time that my body needs sleep and a lot of it. In high school, I went to bed at 9pm and scheduled my classes in college so that I could balance my work load and sleep. A part of growing up is learning that you have to do things for yourself like grocery shopping, cleaning your own home and setting your own bedtime. It’s easy to stay up and watch another episode but you and your body will probably regret it the next day.

I noticed on my Fitbit that my hours of sleep were declining and I was groggy in the morning. Clearly, something needed to change. I needed to get my nights in order so that I could have more productive days. Here are a few things I’ve been doing to make sure I get a good night’s sleep.

Melatonin

Melatonin helps you fall asleep which I think is where most of us struggle. I like to take a gummy an hour before I am going to go to bed and I find that when my head hits the pillow, I quickly fall asleep.

Shower

I like to shower at night and I’ll use a face mask, exfoliate and use a relaxing scented body wash to unwind. It’s my way of telling my body that I am ready to go to bed. There is nothing better than taking a hot shower, putting on fresh pajamas and getting into bed!

Reading

If you want to go to bed and get a good nights sleep, turn off the tv and read a few pages before bed. It’s tempting not to put on movie to fall asleep to at night but I have found that every time I read a chapter before bed, I am asleep after only a few pages.

The Right Bedding

Hopefully you wash and change your bedding once a week to begin with! I like to change my bedding on Sundays so I can start the week with clean sheets. I also wash all of my blankets at least once a month and like to swap them out when the weather changes. I invested in cozy bedding and the perfect pillows since it’s where I spend at least 8 hours a day – I want to be able to enjoy them and be comfortable!

Set an Alarm to go to Bed

Seems silly but I have an alarm set on my Alexa 15 minutes before my bedtime as a reminder to start getting ready for bed. You can also set reminders on your phone with your nighttime routine to keep you on track to going to bed on time. Having the same nighttime routine every night helps train your body to get tired before bed.

These are the things I have been doing that have really helped me go to bed at a normal time and get enough sleep to be in a better mood and have more energy the next day. I hope you find them as helpful as me. The biggest change for me to get a good nights sleep is having a bedtime and sticking to it. Right now I am slowly going to bed a few minutes earlier every few nights so I can wake up earlier to get the most out my mornings. Who knew that when we grew up we would get so excited about going to bed early? 🙂

How Creating an Elevator Pitch can help with Personal Growth

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It was one of those nights that I couldn’t sleep so I was laying in bed making a to do list for myself, my version of counting sheep. This to do list quickly got crowded with a lot of little thought bubbles because I wanted to update my LinkedIn bio and it made me realize I wanted to update my blog’s “about me” page, my Instagram bio and such. It made me ask myself, “Who am I?” and then my mind went blank. I didn’t really have a good answer. So I asked myself “Who is Rosie?” and I thought of the book sitting on my nightstand with the author’s bio on the book jacket with a nice photo of a woman who has the perfect outfit and blow out. If someone had to write my bio on a book jacket, what would they write?

Professionals suggest that you have an elevator pitch ready so that you can quickly summarize your past, present and future goals in a sentence or two that describe who you are. This can be what you do, where you work, what value you have at your job, and something to catch their attention. I thought it would be clever to apply the same elevator pitch strategy to answering the question of “Who am I?” The same elevator pitch is often said when you meet a new person and start to get to know one another. I imagined myself getting coffee with someone and what I would say to introduce yourself. This approach helps make it less business oriented and help explain who you are in a more authentic way.

Once I had a few things in mind, I typed up a little bio of myself similar to what I would see on a book jacket for an author. We are the writers of our own life so why not have the same approach when describing who you are? Since I was writing it as if I was going to have it printed in a book that I wrote, I chose more confident words and highlighted my accomplishments that I often overlooked. I typed it up in an email and sent it to myself to have so I can easily refer to it when I know I will be asked to “Tell me a little bit about yourself” – a question often asked during interviews and mentoring events.

Once I had my book bio page and elevator pitch written, I took the opportunity to see how I could improve myself so I could therefore add anything that would benefit my bio. Is there community service you wish you did? I would do countless of hours of community service as a college student and would like to get back to it. Was fitness once important to you but got pushed aside once life got busy? For years, I was committed to my gym routine and was really strong because of my Pilates classes but now I’m not sure when the last time I took a class was. I could go on but I think you get the point.

I’ve updated my bios and have a prepared paragraph to answer the dreaded “So, tell me a little bit about yourself” question. Instead of being a deer in the headlights, I have something prepared that I am proud of and can be used for my personal growth as well when I see on paper how I am summed up in a few words. By doing this, it can help you look at your career path with fresh eyes and see what hobbies or passions are missing from your life. It was fun for me to do and I hope you get something from it to!

Weekend in New York City

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Growing up in New Jersey meant that New York City was always a quick train ride or drive away. I was lucky to be able to make the trip at least once a year to sight see, walk around Central Park or see a show. You would think that after all of this time that I would grow bored of the City but that is the amazing part of New York City – there is always something new to see or do!

For my birthday, Jake got me tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child along with a booking us a room at a nice hotel room so we could enjoy a long weekend in the city. What was nice about getting a hotel room was that we didn’t have to rush to see it all and got to have a place to go back to during the day to rest. I thought I would write up what we did over our long weekend in New York City because we tried to avoid doing the major touristy things and have a relaxing weekend.

FRIDAY

We took Amtrak into New York and were able to get really affordable tickets because we planned so far in advance. Since we were staying for the weekend, we took a 10am train so it was nice to get the extra sleep and not have to wake up super early like we usually do! After we got into NYC, we went to the hotel to drop off our things. Since Jake does a lot of traveling to New York for work, he has stayed at numerous hotels in the city so he was able to find a really nice hotel for us. We stayed at the Knickerbocker Hotel and everyone who worked there was so nice and friendly! We had planned on walking around the West Village before our dinner reservations at 7pm at Serra at Eataly but it was raining pretty hard by the afternoon. We ended up grabbing a late lunch at one of the food stations at Eataly. We both got pizza and a glass of wine to kill some time before our dinner reservation and stay out of the rain! The seating was limited so we sat at a counter that overlooked where they made the bread and it was fun to interact with the staff and see behind the scenes of the bakery. We made our way back to the hotel to nap a bit before dinner and then make our way back to Eataly for our dinner reservation. Everything on the menu is delicious and definitely get the cheese board! They turn the rooftop into a themed restaurant. In the summer, they have greenery everywhere and the ceiling is removed so you can dine outdoors. We were there when they were changing over from winter greenery to spring greenery but it was still really nice!

SATURDAY

We had tickets to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway and we knew it was going to be a long day since the play is in two parts. We slept in and took our time getting ready to head to the show because our hotel was only two blocks away from the theater. After the first part of the show, we grabbed lunch at The Counter in Times Square. Usually I am anti any restaurant in Times Square because it’s crowded and filled with tourists. The Counter however was amazing and the food was so good! We were able to sit down right away at the counter and had a good chat with the waiter. I try not to eat red meat because it doesn’t agree with my stomach but I have to say, that was probably the best burger I ever had! The staff was really friendly and we didn’t feel rushed which can sometimes happen in restaurants. It was the perfect break in between parts of the show and from there we headed back to the theater. The show was SO GOOD and a must see for any Harry Potter fan out there. After the show, we went to one of Jake’s favorite places to go when he goes to New York for work, Virgil’s BBQ. We definitely went back to the hotel full and ready for bed after a fun filled day!

SUNDAY

It was our last day in New York and luckily the weather was amazing! We checked out of the hotel at noon and were able to leave our suitcase with them while we did some walking around. We had coffee at Ralph’s Coffee which was on my to do list for a while now. There was a little bit of a wait for a table but not bad. I was also pleasantly surprised how affordable a coffee and croissant was! It was a short walk to Central Park so it was nice to walk and enjoy the warm sunshine! It was definitely a trip with a lot of eating so it was nice to get some walking in to burn it all off. Since I had never been, Jake took me to Serendipity 3 for an ice cream sundae to finish the trip. We did some window shopping as we made our way back to the hotel to pick up our suitcase and then made our way to the train station.

It was so nice to have a relaxing trip giving us enough time to see a show, walk around and try new restaurants. We have already made plans to visit again next Spring to do some more exploring!