Travels – Atlanta

Recently, we traveled to Atlanta to meet the newest member of our family, our nephew. It was a great trip. We really miss this little person we just met and hung out with for only a few days. ❤ He loves to be sung to, found ice shaken in a cup to be the funniest thing in the world, and is growing way too fast. We are in love and have to get back to Atlanta ASAP! So glad we were able to make the trip and focused on getting to know the little one. Here is the break down of this trip.

Fitness

Walking and a little yoga or stretching was mainly the only exercise during this trip. Our nephew loved to just be carried around in a upright position, but you had to keep moving! I walked hundreds of circles around the varies levels of my in-laws home just to keep him smiling. Additionally, we took a short walk as a family, I took a morning walk one day (the beautiful flowers above I spotted everywhere that morning), I stretched before bed each day and yoga one morning. The trip was an active rest break from my typical workouts.

Activities

With our nephew being so young and hating being in the car, we primarily hung out at the house or did things close to the house. We arrived in the morning on the first day. We ate lunch at the house, went for a short walk, played with some toys, picked up take-away from an Asian fusion restaurant and then passed out early from waking up at 3 AM to catch a flight.

Day two, I went for a hour long morning walk and returned to enjoy breakfast with the family. Until lunch we mainly just chatted and played with baby in between each of us getting ready for the day. We went out for lunch and to Target, then returned home to chat and play more until baby’s bedtime. We ended the day playing Wits and Wagers and chatting before getting some sleep.

Day three was pretty chill as well. I did about 20-30 min of yoga in the morning, ate breakfast with the family, helped my sister-in-law keep baby distracted in the car while we picked up groceries, ate lunch, played and chatted with baby, ate dinner, and played card games before bed.

Last day, I only had enough time to enjoy breakfast with everyone before heading to the airport. I took the MARTA, which offered me some beautiful views of Atlanta on the way to the airport. This trip is a good example of different priorities than most vacations. I was there to make memories with our newest member for our family and loved every bit it! He has already grown so much since he was born and we cannot wait to see him again this Fall during a family wedding in New Orleans.

Food

Thankfully, my sister-in-law is a nurse and keeps things pretty healthy. Breakfast was hard boiled or scrambled eggs with avocado/cheese and salsa. Lunches at home were simple salads and our lunch out on day two was at Grub Burger Bar where I got the Hippie Chickpea burger. It tasted like falafel with all the Mediterranean sides on top, YUM!And yes, I also got a combination of onion rings and sweet potato waffles fries because it was my treat while I watched others down milkshakes. ;^P

Dinner was homemade from scratch bolognese over spaghetti and buffalo chicken and black bean nachos loaded with more veg than you would expect (corn, olives, greens, etc.). Day one, we picked up Doc Cheys, where I chose a sesame noodle special they were having at the time. It was very delicious and I was able to get it with tofu as my protein.

We did not really eat dessert or snack while we were there, since the meals were so filling and we were busy with getting to know our nephew. I felt like the chill environment and focus on creating memories as a family kept me from doing the typical vacationing with family eating… a combination between loss of appetite, over indulging too much and eating when you are not hungry because they are relentlessly offering you food no matter how much you say no. Any one else have this problem?

Preparing to Move

I am moving and although I have feelings of anxiety over the matter, it will be great to wake up next to one of my best friends daily and share our daily lives together. Also… looking forward to have all our belongings under one roof, no longer confusing where a condiment or pantry supply is and paying one set of bills!

We have been living in semi-neighboring cities for about 5 years now. Easy drive in 2 hours or less, however no decent place in the middle for each to commute from and too far for one of us to affordably commute from one city long term. Albeit, I get the joy of commuting 4+ hours a day for the month of August. At least I can sleep or do things on the train.

With the fact that I do not have a gig lined up after the last day of August and we will be moving again within ~6 months, we needed to make this move as cheap as possible to be within our means. Here are some steps I have taken to make this an affordable move for us:

• Downsize. I have been doing this in a few ways:
  • Purge. Packing up to move is the best time to sort through one’s belongings because who really wants to not have to pack and haul everything.
    • In our case, we have duplicates between the two apartments. No one needs 2 toasters, 2 microwaves, etc., therefore I either sold, donated or gave away these items. I do not want to just throw things away when they are still good items. Plus, I made a few dollars and our landfills were saved from additional non-biodegradable waste.
    • I especially took this opportunity to take clothes/shoes/accessories that no longer fit or that I simply dislike to a resale shop and then donated what was left to a place like Goodwill. Goodwill recycles the items that are not in good condition, unlike most of the more accessible donation bins around town. Thus, saving our overflowing landfills again (I try to do what I can and after researching it, Goodwill seems like the best and most accessible option for donating with the least amount of waste, but please tell me if you know of a better option).
  • Sell as much furniture as possible. To avoid getting a truck to have to move ALL the things and to make a bit of money, we sold most of the furniture at my place through Craigslist. My dresser and TV stand sold within an hour of me posting them. Last thing I have to sell is my bed, which I have waited to post anything about to have something to sleep on for a bit longer.
• Bring items with me each visit. Since I knew for a while that I would be moving back in with my partner and we visit each other at least once every 2 weeks, we have been working slowing to move things back. My last day in my lease I will only have a large suitcase to hop on the train with.

I have one week left in my place. It is bittersweet to leave this city and all the things I have grown to love here, but my future looks bright.

Natural Product Review – Shea Moisture Mascara

Sorry if you do not use makeup, but this is a product I really have fallen for and want to review it. I have to say, this is the most difficult beauty item to change for me. Mascara is something I have struggled with the idea of living without (I mean… I know I could, but I just do not want to). I use mascara 5-6 days a week and am strict about replacing mine every 3 months, especially after seeing friends get sties and pink eye from using questionably old eye makeup. Three months for using one tube of mascara is what my eye doctor recommends and seems to be the general consensus in the beauty community.

However, finding a natural mascara without all the junk for less than $10 is difficult. Most are over $10 and for how often I buy mascara, that is just not budget friendly. After narrowing down the natural mascara options due to price (which left less than 10 to chose from), I thought about what I really loved most about the Maybelline mascara I had been using for the past 8+ years.

Top: with makeup, Bottom: no makeup

My natural lashes are ok, but I really like how my eyes look with more voluminous lashes. Since my hair is dark brown, I use black shades to help them stand out even more. I also appreciate a formula that never flakes because having your cheeks dusted with black specks is not cute.

After reading a lot of reviews and hemming and hawing over the 2-3 options I had to choose from, I purchased the Shea Moisture Absolute Volumizing Mascara in black. I figured Shea Moisture got it so right with my shampoo, how could they go horribly wrong with makeup. So far, no regrets! Here are my pros and cons:

Cons

• Silicone brush/wand. I know some ladies love them, but I do not. I have sort of become use to it, but honestly I still prefer a bristle brush.
• Ball tip. The ball tipped wands seem to hold a lot more product than you need so they really just make you a gloopy mess.
• Not as much volume as my old mascara. I realize it is better for me and it does improve the volume of my lashes, but I do not get ladies asking me where I get such natural looking fake lashes from anymore. Sad.
• The brush of the Ultra Curl and Define mascara from Shea Moisture is the WORST. One time, my subscription of the volumizing mascara could not fulfilled since they were out of stock. So I opted to try the other mascara from Shea Moisture and that brush… messy is the best way to put it. I had to clean up so many smudges and my lashes clumped together a lot. I looked like Raggedy Ann. So much lash coaming needed. I used it for 2 weeks and pulled the wand from my old tube out, washed and disinfected it throughly and switched the wands. I feel like the formula must be the same and it is just the brushes that are different.

Pros

• The formula/look it provides. I like how smooth and thick the formula is, so I can get the added volume I like. It also does not flake, or at least it has not done that to me. There was one comment I read where they stated it flaked.
• Affordability. With the subscription online at Target (so that I have it automatically delivered to me every 3 months) it costs $8.62, which is the cheapest natural mascara I have found.
• Accessibility. Always available at Target and Ulta, but I have seen it in a few other stores as well.
• Cruelty free. No animals were harmed in the making of this product.

Blog-iversary!

I have been writing this blog for a whole year. Sharing my life, product reviews and experiences openly through this venue has felt influential. I appreciate all the likes, comments and support from those who have read my blog. Writing has been a great weekly practice for me and I feel as though I have learned a lot about myself in the process. In addition, this means its my birthday again and I am excited to share with you how I celebrated.

What I have learned…

I really thought of myself for a long time as a weak writer and story teller. I had this assumption that because I had done poorly in a subject (in my case English grammar and literature) when I was in school that I could never write well. I feel that I can communicate my points and keep things concise.

I also thought I was not interesting enough. I do not live a very dramatic life nor am I a thrill seeker, but it seems like that is not what people are looking for. When I look at who I follow on social media and blogs, I realize I am looking to see how other people live to become inspired and feel secure in the actions and feelings I challenge myself on. I get the sense that others are like me in ways I was once made to feel was uncool. Learning from others and sharing myself has made me more confident with my intelligence, awkwardness and capabilities.

I do not let the haters in. I had a few not so nice comments through this blog and Instagram. I wondered how they would make me feel before I began this journey. I really did not think of the negative comments as something about me though. I feel they are more about the pain that person may be going through. Although, I wish they would find a different way to express their pain, I really hope things become better for them. I want a lovely life not just for me, but for everyone.

What I did for my birthday, affordable and balanced

I started this blog on my 30th birthday and tomorrow is my 31st year. I am someone who prefers a low key celebration with close family and friends, such as a BBQ that is focused on just bringing those I cherish together. I like some adventure, while I enjoy the things I love most (eating, moving and laughing).

This weekend my partner came to visit and yesterday, we ate like the French. A delicate pastry for breakfast, a steamed mandoo as a satiating lunch, a shared slice of Bavarian raspberry torte for our sweet afternoon treat and a healthy, hearty dinner of falafel beet hummus salad with a bratwurst. We focused on eating the delicious things that we would miss in this town.

As for activities, we explored a couple neighborhoods and worked on designing a computer for me, since the computer I have been using will be returned to the museum on my last day of work. My partner is a computer and electrical engineer, so he this is something he loves being able to show me how to do, especially because it can be a much more affordable computer. The first computer he built for himself lasted from 2009 until just a week ago… thats 8 YEARS! It cost as much as the last machine I purchased from HP, which only lasted 3 years…

As for tomorrow, my actual birthday. I am going to wake up and have a slice of cake for breakfast. Yep, I purchased a special slice of cake from one of my favorite places just to eat for breakfast on my birthday. It was one of the things I really wanted for my birthday and it only cost me $5. I will Instagram this beautiful slice for you. 🙂

Thank you for reading my posts each week and look forward to more on the way! I am looking forward to what this next year brings 🙂

Trying to Maintain Balance with Visitors

Recently, my sister visited. Visitors mean I can not stick to my plan as well as I usually do when solo or with my partner because I want to show her a good time. Not that my plan is not exciting, I just want to show her things around town that are incredibly delicious! However, I do not let a visitor turn my whole life upside down.

I woke up before my sister as I typically do before most of my guests. I have always tended to be the only early bird in my family and group of friends. So I was able to workout like usual. Even if my guests wake up at the same time, I either offer that they can join me or they are understanding and use that time to get ready for the day. I have never had anyone question me on why I chose to workout while they are visiting. Exercise is important for your health and I would never expect someone to pass on something so valuable to hang out with me an extra 30 – 90 min.

My sister was in town for a conference, so she had lunch meetings planned. We had some meals at home because she did not feel up to eating out for every meal. Thankfully not too many of my friends and family can afford to eat out every meal. I like to show my guests the town in the way I enjoy it, on a budget! So we might splurge on a special meal, but mostly we hop around from place to place grabbing an empanada here, a vegan biscuits and gravy there to enjoy bites from the best places in the city.

I try to find a balance between my daily life and showing my guest a good time. For instance, if someone wants to visit you and they plan their trip during a work week, they can not expect you to just take those days off. You want to be a good host, but people can entertain themselves. I never want to turn a friend or family member’s life upside down when I visit and actually prefer to experience them in their natural habitat and state of life. So that is how I play things when folks come visit me. You want to listen to what they want to do, while also letting them know when you have your own things going on.

Do share how you try to maintain some balance when people are in from out of town in the comments below!