Guess what I did this weekend?

Makeup-schmakeup

I got IV hydration from this clinic in town! I know! It's sounds sketchy, but it isn't. It's a lounge of eight or so leather recliner chairs, two televisions, and 45 minutes of relaxing while getting an IV of electrolyte fluids.

I had heard about this being done almost a decade ago. It stuck in my mind though I thought it was completely insane. Then last year, the ThIVe Hydration clinic opened in my little town and slowly but surely I started thinking about it in a new light. Especially because it has been a rather hot Summer and I never feel as if I'm really hydrated enough.

Cue to two weeks ago when two friends I had told about it tried it and were total converts! "I slept so well!" One of them told me.

"My skin looks and feels so much better." The other one said.

So Sunday, the hubs and I booked two leather chairs (and watching Coming to America- classic) while we got our little IV's. Mine hurt a little bit, but IV's always pinch a little on my teeny veins. The hubs was fine though.

Afterward we kept trying to figure out if we felt any different. And the funny thing is- we did! I could feel it internally. Little aches from being chronically dehydrated weren't as noticeable and we both were a little hyper and weirdly, rather giddy too.

That's right! We had more energy, felt a little silly and giggled a lot more than we usually do as we ran errands.

Will I do it again? Honestly? I probably will. It felt nice to be topped off in the fluids department. Like a car. Oh! And we slept really well too. Now, it's $50 a pop if you don't have a membership, so it won't be a regular thing, but it was worth it for sure.

Would you try it? I'd love to know!

P.S. This post is not sponsored by ThrIVe Hydration.

Have a truly wonderful day!

An idea!

PL

Lately I've been thinking about something...

I've mentioned the negativity detox last week. I've been doing sort of okay with that (could be better and will be). I've been thinking I should do a real full body detox. Not a cleanse, not just a good long soak (though both of those sound appealing), but a real-life detox top to bottom, from the rooter to the tooter, so to speak. 

Lately, I've just been thinking about how good it would feel to focus on one part of me at a time and just devote time to care for it. For example, a week of intentionally caring for my skin intensely, or my liver etc. Does that sound insane?

I already care for myself pretty well, but I could definitely do better. I don't really "treat" myself the way I'd really like to, either. Plus there are so many awesome ideas on Pinterest for DIY spa crafts! So, and bear with me here, I thought I'd cull together six treatments/detoxes/etc. to try focused on one area at a time for a week to a week and a half at a time. I know some will stick and help me to maintain long term self-care. Here are some of the things I want to research to work on.

*Lungs

*Skin

*Eyes

*Liver

*Hands & Feet

*Muscles

*Heart

*Digestive Tract

*Mind

*Sinuses

*Throat/Voice/Esophagus

What do you think? Think you'd want to try to focus on caring for your body in such a manner? I think no matter what you do, as long as you care for your body, your body (mind and spirit) will show its appreciation. 

Stay tuned on what I end up doing! I hope you have a truly wonderful day, buds!

The adventures of Lulu & the KonMari Method!

Progress, baby!

For those of you who read pretty regularly, you will remember that I have mentioned this book several times in the past. Well, funnily enough, my Mom bought it for herself and immediately became motivated to reduce her belongings.

Last week, she loaned me the book to read. I knew I would love it, because the book Scaling Down was a huge influence on me in the past and a motivator to do this tiny house experiment. I didn't realize how illuminating and special Marie's book would become to me (and funny too!). It has motivated me to try the "great purge" experiment, in order, and follow all the steps to find my "click point". That is the point in which you discard, donate, remove by identifying the items that "spark joy" instead of just throwing stuff out. By identifying the joyful items, "the getting rid of" becomes sooooo much easier and more rewarding and you find your personal level (click point) in which you are joyous by your home and belongings and don't feel the itch to acquire more. All I could think as I read that idea was... I want that.

I have been on the quest for balance and peace for years and most recently have made great strides in figuring out ways to make it happen for me. My favorite part of the read was where I am asked to envision the life you live in your head and solidify it. Descriptive and clear details as if you already have that life instead of dreaming of it. I did so (I won't share, as those kinds of things are kind of personal). But basically I kept finding a pattern in the words I used. Clean, peaceful, sanctuary, well-appointed, cosy, bright, happy. I felt so good reading over it that I wrote this down in my notebook: "May 12, begin the project by going through your clothing and loungewear. Be ruthless."

As the week dragged on and the book got better and better, I started becoming anxious and little kid- excited about pulling all of my clothing into one place, identifying whether it sparks joy or not then removing it if it doesn't (you also must thank each item you get rid of for teaching you something or fulfilling its duty- hokey but it totally works psychologically). Yesterday was the day (and my day off incidentally) and I happily took my hiney to the storage unit (my ultimate goal is to reduce that bad boy by 2/3 and get a smaller, less expensive unit this summer) and pulled out all of my clothes (not jewelry or shoes). I brought them to my little cabin and spread it all out on the front porch.

It was quite the ride to hold each item in my hands and find the joy (or not). It felt good to grow the pile of donations piece by piece as well. In the end I counted that I owned 154 items (scarves, belts, tops, bottoms, dresses, lingerie, layering pieces, coats etc.). Here are the stats (now be aware that I have much less than I did a year ago as I have been getting rid of stuff actively since then but even after all that, I was still shocked by the excess):

Tops: 43

Bottoms (pants, skirts): 13

Layering pieces: 15

Scarves, Hats & Belts: 24

Lingerie: 17

Dresses: 11

Coats: 3

Swimsuit/Robes: 4

The halfway point!

After I took a good look at everything, I added a few more things to the donate pile and threw a few things away too. In total, I ended up giving away 40 clothing items (and three hangers) and throwing away 21 for a total of 64 items removed from my house/storage. I kept 93 items (three of which I can only keep if I get them repaired).

I have a feeling I'll get rid of even more as the process goes on. But still! 40% of my wardrobe has been removed (in an hour and a half) and I don't feel like I am missing a single thing. Seriously! There isn't one thing I miss or have thought about since and I'm a sentimental fool, y'all! I also know every single item by heart that is in storage (fall/winter) and anything I forget about will get tossed or donated as I come across it throughout this process.

All in all, this feels incredible and I am so excited about going through more and making space for my life to blossom to new potentials (can one pluralize 'potential' I wonder?). I'll post more about it as it goes along!

I hope you have a truly wonderful day!

A Gossip Fast

Pssst.

Ugh. Gossip is the worst. I don't know one person who doesn't do it. Some of my guy friends are the worst culprits too, but I'm right up there and so are a lot of other women I know. A bit of news is one thing, but lately I've been noticing all the bad juju gossip coming out of people's mouths (mine included). I go through phases of noticing it too. Sometimes it just rolls right past me, other times I feel stuck in it like the tar sands.

It's human too, I've noticed. People need to feel connected and sometimes the quickest way to connect is to bash the same thing. Movies, etc. But- straight up gossip sucks. It's toxic and dangerous. I caught myself the other day making a little gossipy remark about a mutual someone and afterward I thought..."I should call (the friend I was gossiping with) and ask her not to mention what I said to anyone." How crappy is that?! I then scorned myself. If I'm worried about someone hearing my snarky opinion then I shouldn't be saying it all willy-nilly! Totally common sense, but I feel it is not at all common practice.

So, with that- I'm taking a gossip fast for one week. Everyday harmless chit-chat is fine, but if it turns ever so slightly to the "dark side" or if I'd be embarrassed if the person in question heard what I was saying then it's a no-go!

Do you think you could do it? I know a lot of people who say they don't gossip but I've heard them do it regularly! Being mindful of the effects of what we say is one way to control the overall ecosystem we choose to exist in. I'm all about the positive and healthy ecosystem so I'm working harder on my part of it. Care to join me? I'll write how it went for me after the one week is up (Wednesday the 11th)! Cheers!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Post-birthday care, cleanse and detoxification!

29 Dogs Who Made Huge Mistakes.

Now that the birthday festivities are over, I'm taking my last day off (for a while) to get organized for the week ahead. I was all over the place this weekend, not minding my budget as much as I should and indulging in all kinds of wonderful treats. Nothing too out there, no record-breaking in the booze department, no Nutella-slathered craziness. Just...more indulgence than usual. I don't feel (too) bad about it, I'm just glad I have a day to recover!

In that vein, here are some other "recovery" tips and what-nots to aid in getting one back on their feet after a weekend of debauchery and fun! Just because you fell so far off the wagon you can't see it down the road anymore, doesn't mean you can't dust yourself off and start taking good care of yourself again. Right?! Right!

*Morning Green Smoothie. I make a version of this at least once a day to get my fruits and veggies in one fell swoop. The key is to keep the ratio 2 fruits to 1 veggie so it tastes awesome and not salad-y. I'm about to go downstairs and whip one up for myself! I like it because even if you ate hot wings and pizza for three days (ahem), and you do this one thing- you feel awesome for it and it snowballs into overall better care for oneself.

*Drink too much? I'm adding this one early since Mardi Gras is in a week. Here's a super yummy "mocktail" to cleanse your liver. Take it easy on your livers (and kidneys), guys! Drink more water while you're at it, okay?!

*Ten easy yoga poses that promote detoxing and the cleansing of the body!

*Here's another easy one: Five Daily Detox Routines.

*I've heard several times that dry-brushing does more than make your skin pretty. It's also an important tool in cleansing your lymphatic system as well as your overall circulatory health and your body's ability to remove toxins. It's the cheapest and easiest thing on this list apart from just drinking water! Check out this information on it. I'm convinced and will be giving it a go today!

*Give reflexology a try. I've been interested in it for ages, but have never done it. After looking over these reflexology charts I had to laugh because two of my chronic areas of pain are correlated to places on my feet where I've broken bones that have never healed correctly. Regardless of whether you believe it works or not, give it a try. At least your tired feet will have a little massage by the end of it.

I hope you have a wonderful day!