High Five for Friday: June 22

Remember last week when I said we were getting our kitchen redone? Yeah, well now we're getting our bathroom redone too! 😂😩 So this week was obviously a doozy (complete with a toilet on the lawn)! Let's see what brought the sparkle:

• I'm always in awe of the mountain views that I see from the highway when I'm in Reading. So after therapy and teaching yoga on Saturday, I decided to try to find a place with a good view. I literally pulled over, googled something like "mountain view Reading," and ended up at a scenic lookout point like ten minutes away! Can you believe how gorgeous this is?! 😍

• I made some serious strides in my relationship with Brindle Pinky this week! She turned up meowing in our backyard on Friday night but hid from me, as per ush. I was able to slowly get closer and closer, with very low expectations, and she was climbing all over me in no time!! What is this life?! Just call me the cat whisperer!

• I got a mini-psychic reading on Tuesday! You may recall that I am not a touchy/huggy person, so I nearly died when "Physical touch is important" was one of the cards she pulled! I could feel my whole energy change, it was really interesting. Maybe I'd be more down with physical touch if it came from a gentleman in a feathered cap?

• Ok, this is a total General Hospital geek-out moment that no one will care about but me, but humor me. So back when I started watching GH in grad school (2009), I was really drawn into that brutal Kristina-Kiefer storyline and fell in love with Kristina/Lexi Ainsworth. I follow her on IG and saw some time ago that she was also in yoga teacher training. (Clearly, we're meant to be BFFs.) I don't know what possessed me to comment on an IG pic she posted yesterday in pigeon pose, but I did, and YOU GUYS SHE LIKED IT AND RESPONDED. WE'RE TOTALLY ON THE ROAD TO BFFHOOD NOW.

• Lastly, I give you the aforementioned toilet on the lawn. And if you have a toilet on the lawn, you're going to want a sink to go with it, right?

stay classy ✌🏻

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

High Five for Friday: June 15

What a week this has been! It started with a total kitchen renovation (that's still in progress) and ended with the U2 concert! Only one of those things brought the sparkle (😂)... so let's see what else did!

• At dance night on Friday, I felt a real passion for the healing qualities of yoga and movement. I was also thinking of ways I could harness that with my newfound ability to teach, and then I pulled this card. OKAY UNIVERSE HI! 😂👋🏻

 💃💃💃

• My new favorite show is Total Bellas on E! Does anyone else watch this?! I don't even know how this started (it’s not like I watch wrestling), although I did start following Nikki Bella on Instagram after she was on DWTS last fall. You guys, I am so sucked in. I am legitimately worried for Nikki and John's relationship, and I love Brie and Bryan. (I also really love that, on this show with two glamazons, Bryan’s just this crunchy granola dude who really loves his seed subscription box!)

• Remember when I went on that retreat in January? Well, that’s where I met Garett (my first yoga student, you might recall!), and he has become a very dear friend in the last six months. Garett owns a cheese shop in Colorado and is donating a portion of the sales this weekend to the Suicide Prevention Hotline. Suicide has affected his life very differently than mine, but he was kind enough to include me in this initiative. Garett bravely shared about his experience with suicide on the store's Facebook page, so you can read more about it here. And if you're in the Littleton area, definitely stop by and support him! They also take orders over the phone. I did call the suicide hotline (or, rather, Kristin did, because she is a goddess) the night before I went inpatient back in 2013, so this initiative is near and dear to my heart. In light of the recent celebrity suicides, I’ve seen a lot of skepticism over the idea that suicide hotlines can actually help, but it really did help me. ❤️

• U2! Pops and I had never seen them live before, so he was very gung-ho about seeing them on this tour. My interest in them has waned over the years, BUT I did used to love them—I even did my ninth grade research project on them in Mrs. Smith’s English class! 😂 The concert was sort of weird, not gonna lie. I mean, they sounded great, and I know they just did a whole Joshua Tree tour, but NO songs from that huge album?! Come on, throw us a bone here!

• Lastly, in honor of Father's Day, I give you this golf headline from April because I still can't believe that I not only know who these people are, but that I also have ~feelings~ about this outcome. (When will Rickie Fowler when a major championship?!) That's the dad effect right there! 😂

Hope you have a great weekend! xo 

High Five for Friday: June 8

Let's see what put the sparkle into this week!

• So when I did my yoga teacher training, I had no aspirations of actually teaching--I really just wanted to be in a community and also forced to do yoga more. So naturally, I now have a student! 😂😂 And I taught her for the first time on Saturday! I got to incorporate two of my loves, Victorian poetry and dance, into the class, and she seemed to like it, so I was basically doing cartwheels! haha

• This has not been a bad anxiety week, hooray! On Tuesday, my therapist even said that I was the best she'd ever seen me, anxiety-wise! (I've been seeing her for almost three years, so WOW/YIKES!) In my June goals post, I talked about how my hormones seem to be affecting my anxiety, and I’m still a week out from ~that time of the month~, so this is very interesting. I did really feel quite good on Tuesday, like focused and together, rather than edgy and obsessive. So it is possible! I am capable of feeling that way! Good to know! 🎉😂

This guy also brightened up my Tuesday!

• You guys, I started reading last week. Like, an actual book. For FUN! 😮 I think being an English major twice over really killed my love of reading (because it became so much like work), so I'll take this sudden desire to read! A few years ago, I bought a bunch of my favorite random library books from like fifth and sixth grade from Amazon, and one of those '80s YA gems is what I suddenly wanted to read last week, go figure.

• This week's Weird-Ass Song comes to you courtesy of Cher. That broad sure can rock an '80s power ballad. This is an excellent song for belting out in your car, in case you were wondering. And the video is basically Dirty Dancing with bigger hair, less clothing, and more candles. 💯 for sure.

• Lastly, I have no idea why Jesse Williams (aka Jackson from Grey's Anatomy) is posting memes about rompers, but this made me laugh out loud while also being TOO REAL at the same time. 😬

A post shared by jesse Williams (@ijessewilliams) on Jun 3, 2018 at 3:01am PDT

Hope you have a great weekend! xo

May 2018 Budget

Guys, hold onto your hats--I didn't buy ANYTHING in May! The three things I'm going to mention here were actually bought in April, but after my April budget post.

It seems like when my anxiety goes berserk, I can't handle shopping anymore. I can't focus on anything, so the idea of walking around looking at things, when I might burst into tears or start panicking, just seems like way too much to deal with. I would say that this is good for my bank account, buuut all of my money in May went toward extra therapy, yoga, and meditation! At least those are positive things to be spending my money on, I guess!

ANYWAY! Here are a few tops I picked up at Plato's Closet at the end of April (when I was really feeling the color green, apparently!):

1. Green Gap tee: $5
2. Green tank: $7
3. Blue Gap top: $7

TOTAL: $19

I've been really stressed about money lately, but I can live with spending only $19 on clothes/accessories/make-up/skin care in a month! I've been really into soft, slouchy shirts lately, and the Gap shirts definitely fit that criteria! And I've been looking for a dressy-ish tank or blouse to wear with skinny black pants because I literally have two tops like that, and I wear them to everything. I need to mix it up!

Did you get anything fun last month?

June 2018 goals

Let's see what's on the white board this month!

1. Try three more new things: GUYS. I thought for sure this would be the hardest goal last month, and I CRUSHED IT! So I decided to give it another whirl this month.

2. Get my hormones tested: I'm really starting to think that my hormones are affecting my anxiety. I've been noticing that my anxiety and obsessive thoughts get worse closer to my period. So while I'm never thrilled for blood work, I'm really curious if it could give me some insight and possibly a path toward relief.

3. Stick to budget for real this time: You'll see below why this one got off track, but I want to give it another try in June.

4. Keep up with meditation: I inadvertently joined a meditation class in May! (I was supposed to teach a yoga class that no one showed up for, and the meditation class was conveniently happening right after, so, hey!) I have a lot (A LOT) of resistance to breathing and sitting still and, well, not distracting, but I do want to give this meditation thing a shot.

5. Secret goal step #1: OooOOoo so mysterious! haha Nah, I'm just not ready to get into this one on here yet. But I think including it will help to keep me accountable (...maybe).

And how did May's goals go?

Do three new things (or, at a minimum, three things I don't regularly do): Well, let’s see... I taught a yoga class, drove to two new places, got energy healing, met with a potential private yoga client, went to three new yoga classes, and started going to the aforementioned meditation class. This is huge for me!! 🙌🏻

Get up early to start my day with a Kalyn Nicholson YouTube video: This goal was going along fine until major anxiety derailed a solid week, and I've had a hard time getting up early again when sleep is an alternative, haha.

Make budget and stick to it // pay off credit card: I did pay off my credit card and was doing fine with sticking to my budget until the anxiety storm hit. Then came extra therapy sessions and doctor's appointments and supplements, and I couldn't get myself to do things like, say, getting out of bed, let alone balancing my checkbook. So the budget went off-track. I'm just glad it was due to regular therapy and not retail therapy for a change! 

Self-freaking-care: Hmm... I did make self-care a priority when I was forced to (during the anxiety storm). The next step, I guess, is integrating these things into my life when I'm only feeling low-grade anxiety. 

Taking alone time for myself at home: This did happen sometimes, hooray! 🎉

Well, as usual, this month's tarot card was spot-on. Although when I pulled it, I was rather concerned by the number of fiery sticks!

Holding my ground? Courage and persistence? Fear about not being able to win everybody over? ✔️✔️✔️ 

What are you working on this month? How do you manage intense anxiety?

Linking up with Nicole at Feel Good, Dress Better!