Tag: blog

I have to keep moving or else I won’t be able to get up again

Published on by blonde rosie1 Comment

Last night I got home from work and went straight to the kitchen to heat up a Lean Cuisine and sit on the couch to quickly eat. My parents were in shock to find me laying on the couch in my work clothes falling asleep instead of watching the Oscars. Me missing an award show, this never happens! My parents looked at me in horror as I skipped watching an award show to crawl into my bed instead. I forced my body to walk upstairs to bed, threw on comfy pajamas and climbed into bed. It was around 10pm and I set my alarm for 6am.

I complain how busy I am, but I have to remember that in the fall I quit my desk job to live this life because this is how I function better. I love having a full day of things to do. When I don’t have anything to do, I get restless and need to do something. (Which is why every drawer or closet in my house is OCD organized.) When I have free time I tend to get a little blue. If I have a day off of work and don’t start my day with an activity, I will sit down and getting back up again is next to impossible.

My life has been very chaotic lately, with two jobs, traveling, doing adult things like cleaning and laundry, catching up on my TV shows, while trying to find time for a social life. At work this morning I realized that the last day I had off was last Monday… seven days ago and my next day off is Wednesday when we have a 6am flight to Florida. A typical work week is two days a week at my job at a college and 3-4 days a week at J. Crew. I’m exhausted,but when I had a week off and didn’t work, I was so bored and found it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. As much as I complain about how busy I am, I love that there is always something to do. And as busy as I am, there is always time for me to be able to get everything done in the day with a few helpful tips.

My Planner For my birthday, three people got me planners because everyone knows that I love to be organized and have everything planned out. I would be lost without my planner because on Sundays I like to plan every hour out ahead of time so I know what to expect for the upcoming week. I leave my planner in my car because that is where I start and end my day, so I can always grab it easily. My work schedule is always changing, so I like to plan out what day I can do laundry, vacuum or set time aside to watch a tv show. It seems silly to schedule in time to shower, but I know that if I don’t plan to shower right when I get home from work, I will go to bed with dirty hair because I am too tired if I wait! On Sundays I get out of work at 8, so that usually leaves me time to make outfits for the upcoming weekend.

Plan Outfits On Sunday Night I spend my free time on weekends doing laundry, so on Sunday nights, I spend an hour or so picking out outfits and putting them aside in my closet. It is a pain to do every week, but I light a candle in my room, put on a tv show and make outfits for the week. I appreciate it in the morning when I just roll out of bed and already have an outfit ready and I don’t have to waste time trying to find a shirt that matches my pants!

Make Cleaning A Priority I wasn’t much of a clean freak before and I rarely cleaned my room or cared if I made my bed. Now that my life is nonstop all day, having a clean room makes going to bed a bit more peaceful. I spend a day once a week to just tidy up my room, vacuum, and put dirty laundry in the hamper and put clean clothes back in the closet. Being organized allows me to get ready in the morning faster and I am a lot calmer when I everything is in its proper place. On my bathroom sink I only have the products I use daily and have all of my extra hairsprays away in their proper space. If I don’t, I waste time looking for my contacts and knocking over hair products. On my vanity, I have a small cosmetics container and it holds the makeup products I use daily, so I don’t have to waste time getting ready in the morning.

Declutter Over the summer I purged my bedroom of clutter and put momentos in a box and threw everything out that did not have a purpose in my life. It seems a bit harsh, but I just felt this freedom and calm not having so much stuff in my room. Having clean surfaces in my room just brings more life into my room instead of having it full of clutter. Every three months I go through my closet and usually find 4 bags full of clothes to give away. If I have a day off, I pick a room and go through everything in the room and decided if I really need it, if it can be put away in storage, or if it should be donated. Most recently, I purged my basement and oh my gosh there is so much room in there now! My parents think I am crazy, but they appreciate the linen closet that is no longer overflowing with sheets and towels!

Schedule Showers One of the craziest items in my schedule is when I put down in my planner when I shower. I know this sounds crazy and I do shower every day, but there are days when I carve out an entire hour to shower, which turns into an hour of me time. A time I can do a face mask, a quick mani or just lay on my heated bathroom floor in my towel and scroll on twitter. If I don’t schedule “me time” in my day, it just won’t be done!

Meal Planning I am not one of those girls who counts calories, but I recently started to eat Lean Cusines for lunch because it is an easy grab and go in the morning. But I also spend my nights before work getting small plastic containers and filling them with different snacks. That way I can quickly grab pre-made snacks and a lunch in the morning. I need to snack all day or I get crabby!

Reading Before Bed This is a recent change I made in my life and I have seen a lot of positive changes. I would usually just fall asleep to a movie or Netflix show, but now that I commit to reading 20 minutes before bed, I am usually falling asleep within 15 minutes. One of my biggest complaints in life was that I did not have enough time to read before bed, but now that I commit time to it every night, it is something I can do to help me fall asleep.

Even though my life is chaotic and I have a million things to do,  I stick to my routine so I am able to get everything done. I keep lists with me so I can check items off as I complete them. There are weeks that my laundry piles high and my sink is full of dishes, but I don’t let that get to me. This morning I showed up to work an hour late and just laughed it off. My boss insisted I get a cup of coffee and take a minute to settle into my office before I got started on a work project. Most importantly, I have my parents who help out whenever I need it. On busy mornings, my dad has breakfast waiting for me in a paper towel so I can eat it while I drive to work or dinner ready when I come home from work after 10pm. Guys, I am so tired, but I cannot imagine how tired I would be if I did not have my routine. Being busy forces me to create structure in my life and that’s when I’m happiest!

Hope you all learned a bit on how I keep my life organized to live a busy life. Feel free to post your tips below in the comments. Any advice is appreciated!

splurge or save

Published on by blonde rosie2 Comments
splurge or save

 

For this weeks Wear It Wednesday, I wanted to do something a little different. Today I am sharing some of my secrets to get name brand cosmetics for cheap! I am known for giving presents and finding a good bargain. Today for my blog followers I am sharing my secrets, but feel free to tell all of your friends because it is too good not to share!

I love Sephora like any other girl, but it pains me to spend $30 on mascara. However, when I spend $30 and buy the expensive mascara, it is impossible to go back to drug store brand. One of my favorite places to shop is TJ Maxx. If it is your birthday or it is gift giving holiday, there is a 98% chance I purchased your present at TJ Maxx. The other day I was bored and wanted to get out of the house, so of course I drove to TJ Maxx just to browse. Yeah, browsing did not last long especially when I went over to the cosmetics section. Today I am going to share a post about splurging and saving.

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Here are the products I picked up on my last TJ Maxx trip. I know, right!?!?

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This Too Faced Sugar Pop eyeshadow pallet is usually $36, but I found it for $10 at TJ Maxx. The packaging was too cute even though I knew I didn’t need another eyeshadow pallet. I love Too Faced eyeshadows because of the high pigment colors and they last all day, I  cannot wait to try it out!

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I know that the Too Faced Melted Metal lipsticks were very popular during Christmas. I was thrilled to find them at TJ Maxx for only $7 because they sell for $21 at Sephora. Score! Lately, Too Faced is started to promote a matte version of the Melted Metal lipsticks, so expect to see a lot of the original on clearance to make room for the new products.

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This was something I did not need…but had to have because it was only $6 at TJ Maxx. Right now I think these are no longer on the market because I could not find them anywhere to find out how much they sell for. But good for us because we can buy up the old product stock for super cheap! I know Kat Von D products are very popular at Sephora and when I used the blush I really did notice a big difference from my usual blush.

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My biggest secret is where I get my Essie nail polish. I actually own a lot of Essie nail polish…but I have never paid full price for it. In my opinion, Essie is the best nail polish out there. I used OPI for years, but found it would chip after day two. For me, Essie nail polish will stay on for an entire week, so I need Essie in my life. I purchase my Essie at TJ Maxx for usually $3 or $4. That is like more than 50% off! Only downfall is that you can’t control the colors they are selling. There are times I come home and I have already purchased the color because they get very few colors.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks post and take advantage of my shopping secrets!
I will definitely let you guys know if I find any more good products at TJ Maxx and let you know on the blog.

 

winter & pastels

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wear-it-wednesday

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Here’s a look I wore back when we had snow in Jersey! It was the day my family and I  were going to Ikea to buy me a new dresser. Before leaving the house I threw on my Lululemon leggings, a black long sleeve shirt and Uggs, an outfit I have been wearing literally every day lately! After I looked in the mirror I told myself I needed to make more of an effort before leaving the house! In the winter months, I feel like all I wear is the color black, I literally live in my Lululemon leggings and Uggs.I have been making more of an effort to wear color during these cold, winter months.

I finally had an excuse to wear some of my birthday and Christmas presents! This sweater is from Banana Republic and while I cannot find the exact one, I did link a similar one below. It is so cozy and perfect for the winter months. I find myself buying boring black sweaters, so I love that I finally had a colorful sweater in my wardrobe. I am blessed with friends who spoil me because also I got a Tory Burch bag for my birthday that has been on my wishlist for a while. It was the perfect addition to this outfit for our little outing. I scored Tory Burch boots when they were on major sale during Cyber Monday.  If you are going to invest in new boots, I suggest investing in Tory. Just wait for a sale and it makes the purchase a bit easier!

Click HERE to get my outfit details!

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sharing my love for swedish organization

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I went to Sweden!

Okay, just kidding…  I went to Ikea!

Ikea’s philosophy is when you make room for organization, you make room for a better start to your day. In 2017, I think we can all make room for  better days.

Last week I started a new series on the blog called “#goals”. We all create resolutions in the new year and create goals for ourselves, but do we actually keep them after February? Every week I want to update you all One of my biggest goals that I have every year is to clean my house and declutter my life. Last week I started a Home Organization Challenge on Facebook and started with the kitchen.

Last week my family and I went to Ikea for a day trip. I love Ikea because everything in the store is made to create an organized home. If you know me at all, you will know that I love everything in my life to be organized. Now that doesn’t mean everything in my life is always organized either (currently staring at a chair in my room covered in clean laundry that still has to be put away). I was walking through the store and I kept gasping with things I *needed*. My mom kept saying I was having an “O O” or an Organization Orgasm LOL GUYS, I just really like to have a clean and organized home. While I was there I picked up a few things to help me in my Home Organization Challenge. You can’t have an organized home without the right tools and a plan.

You can have a big kitchen or a little kitchen,  but if you don’t have a proper organization system, your kitchen will always be a mess. When I was at Ikea we picked up some drawer organizers and I immediately rushed home to organize the drawers. Everything has a place in the kitchen. Doesn’t this drawer look so much more organized? Even the junk drawer is organized (ish).

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I swear one of my favorite hobbies is cleaning my kitchen. I usually spend two to three hours cleaning it. Yes, I am that crazy! But now that I spent all last week cleaning, organizing and purging my kitchen, my weekly clean up will be a lot easier. Everything has its own place in the kitchen. If it didn’t fit, I donated it or moved it to another place.

While I was cleaning and taking every thing out of the cabinets, I also collected Christmas and summer kitchen items and put them in their proper boxes downstairs in the basement. It’s something that always happens every year as the holidays go by and we forget to put away kitchen items, but once I put everything in its proper place I found a lot more room in the cabinets. Who knew under the kitchen storage could look so organized?? This organizer came from the dollar store, so if you can’t get to an Ikea you should go to the dollar store to pick up some storage containers. 

This week I am continuing the Home Organization Challenge and  working on my pantry. I just cleaned and organized it in September, so I am sure this will be an easy week. The pantry in our kitchen is big and it is where everything just gets thrown in when we want to clean the house quickly. But after I created a new organization system in the pantry last fall, it is very easy to tidy it up a bit every few weeks.

 

Let me know if you are joining me in the home organization challenge and  know how your progress is going in the comments!

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14729288_10154644277493149_5963420652412623641_n.jpgI have never been a big fan of New Years Eve and have spent the last few years in bed watching When Harry Met Sally with a glass (bottle) of wine. The last few weeks I have been busy at work, working both jobs seven days a week, spending all of my free time shopping for presents and then staying up late to wrap. Christmas was a very somber day in my house. It was just my parents and I, and without little kids around the house the day loses its magic. I had a few days off for my birthday and Christmas, and for the first time in months I was able to sit and do nothing. My body would not let me sleep and I was a little restless lounging around on the couch all day. I am used to doing laundry, reorganizing drawers or purging my closet on a day off, but I forced myself to lay on the couch and watch Gilmore Girls for hours. It was harder to do than it sounds, I promise!!

A few days of doing nothing made me appreciate doing nothing. I need to schedule doing more of it during the months ahead. With my anxiety and mental health, I work best when my schedule is constantly booked and I have a million things to do. But in 2017 I need to have more lazy days to sit around with dirty hair in a sloppy bun and fun pajamas. During my hours of Netflix binge watching, I had time to reflect on the past year. A lot of these memories are hard to relive, but I am happy they are in the past and a new year is beginning.

2016 was the year of postponing my own happiness. 2015 was a year of accomplishments and chapters in my life ending. 2016 had so much to offer, but instead, I put a pause on my life to take care of others. I do not regret the decisions I made, but I hope in the next year I can start to make some decisions of my own. For months I kept telling myself that I will start working on my career later, or start to build friendships when I had more time, or start to date again when I was in a better mental state. I went through so much pain, worry and difficult times this past year. But now that I can sit around with my family in our newly renovated house, and I know that everyone is happy and where they need to be. Of course when I write this my dad is recovering from surgery from earlier in the week. I hope that 2016 brings good health to my family, because I do not think I can go to a hospital one more time! I have also learned that if I can make it through this year, I can make it through anything. I don’t have a lot of career victories or life accomplishments this year. I just quit my job and got a part time job in retail while working at a college office a few days a week to pay the bills. I went to college hoping to get a degree in something that will let me help people. But now in the real world I realize that financially I am not able to get a job in social services and still be able to pay rent. Hopefully this will be the year that I move out of my parents house and unpack boxes labeled “future apartment”.

The one good thing about a new year, is that it gives us this time to reflect on the past year, see what we want to change and find ways to improve our life. Cheers to 2016!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! I started this blog over a year ago because I was bored and needed a hobby. My parents still don’t understand how this thing works!! Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and like my photos on social media. I hope my life adventures have encouraged you to go to Target because you saw something I found or you like an outfit I posted. I know that we are all on similar paths and journeys, and I hope my posts give you some inspiration. Love ya lots!

xoxo,

Rosie

 

Mother’s Day Gift Guide

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Mother's Day Gift Guide

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It is almost Mother’s Day so be sure to start finding unique gifts to remind your mom how much you love and appreciate her! Don’t forget a card! It is best to start shopping now instead of the Saturday before when all of the cards are gone at Target and there is nothing but leftover St. Patrick’s Day decor! It will be here before you know it.

My mom loves William’s Sonoma so I try to go in and get her something little since I cannot afford anything in that store! My go to is kitchen dish towels and they are almost always on clearance. Also, you can’t go wrong with one of their mugs! You can also ask them to gift wrap it with tissue and ribbon- free of charge!
My family is slowly getting away from using plastic water bottles so a Swell water bottle is the perfect gift for at work and the gym. It keeps beverages cold all day and is so cute!
An easy gift is an Alex & Ani bracelet because it allows for a personal and thoughtful touch! And a girl can never have too many!
My mom LOVES flowers in the home. But because to keep up with fresh, live flowers is so time consuming and expensive we have a lot of fake flowers around the house. If you buy good ones they look just like the real thing! And no mess of having to throw dead flowers out at the end of the week. At Marshalls or TJ Maxx you can purchase a vase with fake flowers that look so real! Target also has some more fancy ones but are a little more pricey.
It is a nice thoughtful gift that literally lasts foreverrrr.

My families Mothers Day tradition is to go to the flower nursery because it is something my mom did with her mom when she was an adult. We buy our flowers for the summer as a family and spend the afternoon gardening outside. It is a lovely tradition but also makes us productive. The end result is a house surrounded by beautiful flowers grown with love.
What are some traditions you and your family do?