Today's post is brought to you by H2O!

January azalea. photo by moi.

Good morning, friends! This year I decided to take a challenge every month of the year. January's was to stay as hydrated as possible. I had read that it can improve your skin, give you more energy, help you lose weight etc. etc. so, I gave it a try!

It is recommended for women to drink around 2.2 liters of water/fluids per day. That equals nearly 75 ounces. All in all, I drank an average of 95 ounces a day which is over that recommended amount; however I was still thirsty so I kept on drinking. A few days I only had 50-60 ounces and I woke up with bad headaches the next morning.

It took discipline to keep up with how many ounces of water I drank a day. Though, after a few days it became a game to keep track and ended up helping me with my memory a bit. By doing that, I automatically drank more water and less caffeine and alcohol. In fact, I think I only had one or two cups of caffeine the entire month and haven't had any since (with no headaches or withdrawals from it).

I also found that no matter how much water I drank, if I had a glass of wine I felt like crap the next day. I can be an idiot sometimes, therefore it took me a few tries before I figured it out. My body has completely gotten used to and prefers water. That's quite a capital benefit! I also stopped craving my evening glass of wine as I did before. I saved about $40 on that alone!

My skin does look better, so my mom says. But I didn't see the changes as much as I had hoped. I think it's because we had a fluke cold spell and the air in my house is dry and hot. I can tell though, on the days that I don't have any wine in particular that my skin is far more glowing and clear. As if I have a soft-focus lens on my face- sweet!! The days I have wine or go below my comfortable threshold of water intake, my skin looks a little dingy and the redness around my nose and cheeks comes back. You would think vanity would be my game changer...but sometimes I'm a bit thick.

When I would get bored, I drank decaffeinated berry tea and that would push me to get past the "boredom wall". The boredom wall is this thing I have in my mind where I start to crave things that aren't super great for me such as booze, sugar, convenience foods etc. because I'm bored. I used to give in to it almost daily. This experiment helped immensely in realizing when I had approached a boredom wall and what I could do to get past it. Surprisingly, by buckling down in those moments and drinking more water or decaf tea, the wall would almost always disappear with the cravings. I found that having little mandarin oranges around helped a lot too, due to the water in the fruit, but also the sugar (hello hypoglycemia!).

Results: drinking more water makes me feel awesome, save money, make better choices and look better.

Would I do it again? Heck yeah! In fact, I've kept it going and am currently on Day 39. It feels good, y'all! I highly recommend it.

Would you consider doing monthly challenges with me too? I'd love to know! February is all about yoga!

-Lu

Aloha!

photo by moi

Hello strangers! We're three weeks into a new year and I have to say...I'm a fan. Don't get me wrong...2015 was a year of some pretty great and much-needed changes for my little family unit. However, I'm digging the 2016 vibes so far (though still super sad about Bowie and Rickman).

What have y'all been up to?

'Round here, it's been a lot of cooking. A lot. Still working at the same place. Quite a bit of meditation, not nearly enough murder-mystery reading and exponential hours reviewing and maintaining our finances in the hopes of kicking their asses this year.

I've got a lot coming up in the next month. Groundhog Day (a total and complete real favorite of mine), Mardi Gras, my 34th birthday and Valentine's Day all in the next 3 weeks. Almost every favorite holiday at one time. I'm already exhausted and simultaneously exhilarated. It's so much awesome wrapped up in such a short amount of time, I kinda want to run away and be quiet on the wintry beaches instead. Typical ambivert.

That's what is happening in my neighborhood, y'all. I'm not gone, I'm just...working through some stuff. And I'm super happy to check back in with you wonderful folks. Truly!

All the love, y'all-
Lu

A little boost!

After the storm. 9.16.15, by Me!

I am so inspired by this gal! THERE ARE NO LIMITS BUT THE ONES IN YOUR MIND!

A note.

Sunflower, Mama's house, 2014.

Elizabeth Taylor was once quoted as saying "You realize who your real friends are once you've been involved in a scandal." I haven't been a part of any scandal that I can think of, but I think I can twist this quote to fit what I have been going through lately to say the following:

"You know who really loves you once you're in the middle of a (nervous) breakdown." 

I'm not licking wallpaper or anything, but the past few weeks have been tough. I have been enlightened of a lot of things pertaining to my personal journey (an hell- just myself!) that are getting the much-needed attention it has previously been deprived of. 

I also, just as importantly, want to take a minute to say "Thank You" to everyone who has chimed in, checked in, offered support, advice and wisdom. Thank you sincerely. It has been a great deal of help, more so than I was prepared for. I am humbled and appreciative. 

I hope you have a truly wonderful day, y'all! 

Top Three...good things!

Y'all, I'm going to be honest with you (as I'm wont to do ad nauseum).  I've been having a hard time at the new job. I'm trying to stay positive, but it's been a challenging first two weeks. Deeply challenging. I'm not sure what's in the cards, if it's a match and suddenly will click into place (I've had it happen before), or if it's just a royally screwed lemon. Time will tell, but if you've been wondering where the heck I've been, I hope that helps explain it.

Not that all things are bad. Nay, good happens every day! What are my Top Three good things that happened and/or exist today? Funny you should ask, because!

#1. There is a chill in the air every morning that is the whisperiest whisper of FALL!!!!! It feels so amazing even though it's a blistering sauna by 5:30 every day. It's still coming!!!

#2. I have been able to laugh even though I've wanted to punch walls and/or cry every ten minutes. No seriously! I've had at least a dozen decent giggle fits today! Nothing like it. Best drug there is!

#3. I've had my sweet boys around me all night. Little, Big, and Papa. I sure do love those rascals. They make me feel loved even when I want to get all Incredible Hulk.

(The Hubs is gonna be so mad I posted this, but I love this picture of my guys giving me their "intense look").

That's it for me today. I am definitely trying to have more of a presence this week and I do so apologize for the sparseness lately.

X's & O's, y'all! I hope you have a truly wonderful day!

Question!

Ever want to disconnect? Do you have the vaguest concept of what that would look like or entail? Twenty years ago it was just normal. Now? Totally weird.

I dream about that. Of living a life of peace and simplicity. Sure I love Netflix, and I'm sure my passion for Supernatural and Gilmore Girls are two of the reasons I have never published any of my writings outside of a short story in college.

I oft wonder what life would look like without it all. I remember it. I liked it. I crave that simplicity several times throughout the day.

Guess what I did? I went and got a job that is centered around technology and cell phones and tablets. Whuh? Why, Lulu, why?!

Sigh. More on that later. In the meantime, I read this article and it has my head swimming in the magical ether of possibility.

Tell me what you think after you read it. I'd love to know!

I truly hope you have a wonderful day!

Top Three Ch-ch-changes!

Hey guys! Well, today's Top Three coincides nicely with the happy cyclone of activity in my world these days. Wanna know about it?

#1. After four years at my job, I have put in my notice. It's been a helluva ride, these past four years, and I feel I've emerged from it a better, wiser person. There were some really hard times (my thanks to every person that had to listen to me bitch about it for nearly half a decade). There have been amazing people and lots of laughs and shoulders to cry on. I'm super grateful for that and I'm taking that with me in a heart-shaped velvet box, so to speak. Today is my last day. Afterwards we're all meeting up for drinks and laughs and probably tears. Some of the people I've worked with are so special and we all worry a little that we won't see each other as much as we really want to (like high school graduation). But we're going to try.

The opportunity to work in this place came to me when the Hubs and I were going through some serious LIFE stuff. I was (though I didn't quite realize it) in the throes of a serious bout with depression. I wasn't coping with anything life had to hand me and frequently sabotaged myself. I took the job out of sheer desperation and it became an island in a tempestuous sea. Sometimes it actually became the tempestuous sea and the island was something else altogether. I won't lie about that. There were many nights I came home and wept and drank copious glasses of wine because though the people I work with were becoming special to me, it wasn't easy to get there and the job itself was throttling my psyche. So today is the last day I officially work there. I'm very thankful for what it taught me, the people it brought into my world and the person that has been sculpted from every chip it seemed to be hacking away from me. Turns out, there is a method to the madness, y'all.

#2. I'm starting a new job!! I'm so excited and so terrified. It's in a similar field except I will no longer have to sell, sell, SELL! Or work an insanely always-changing schedule. I will have off a day or two around holidays (17 years of retail says what?!). I don't even know what to do with that, y'all.  I'll be one of those people who has weekends. I cannot wrap my head around that one. Like at all. It doesn't seem real. Of course, I'll be learning new skills and working with a new bunch of people who hopefully won't totally suck. Hopefully I won't suck at this job either! Here's hoping!

#3. My Fall haircut. It isn't earth-shattering news but it is a change! After a sweltering summer and wearing my hair in a ballet bun for four months, honey- I'm ready to have a new look. I was going to wait until the first day of Fall to really kick it off, but I kinda had to with the new gig.

The first picture is right when I got out of the salon...it's a little too perfect, but that's what happens when you go to the salon. I call that my "A Little Bit Country" look. The one on the right is more my style. A little looser and textured. My "A Little Bit Rock & Roll" look. The last image is what I'm aspiring to, minus the slightly vacant eyes.

So, what do y'all think? I love it and can't wait to see how it looks when I get it long like it is in the "inspiration' picture. I really dig it.

Anywho, guys! I hope y'all have a great weekend and think good thoughts for Little Lulu on Monday. I'm so nervous!!!

XOXO