Tag: relaxing

Looking back on my winter bucket list! ❄️

Good morning! 

I was reading a post from LA which was about checking in on her winter bucket list. I thought this was such great idea to go back to your winter bucket list and see if you accomplished anything on there. Plus, winter is basically over and I have already started on my spring bucket list so there’s no better time to do this than now!

My list:

  • Drink hot chocolate and watch a movie in my pj’s w/ my husband yes, did this a lot of times.. maybe just once with hot chocolate though
  • Bake cookies and decorate them (sprinkles, frosting, etc) did bake cookies, just didn’t do the decorating part like I wanted to
  • Go see Christmas lights at least 3x yes! Saw many Christmas lights
  • Buy presents for family, wrap them, and put them under the tree yes! Had a post about this too, hours and hours of wrapping, but worth it
  • Go ice-skating we went at least 2x
  • Visit Chicago and see the lights + ice skate we did end up going to Chicago and we did get to see all the lights, but the line to ice skate was like 2+ hours and we weren’t going to wait that long so maybe next year
  • Plan an upcoming vacation yes, planned our Gatlinburg, TN trip 
  • Watch as many movies as I can during my free time YES! Watched sooooo many movies it was ridiculous. I think 2018 was the year I became a movie lover 
  • Write my 2019 goals yes + got a planner and updated it to the max
  • Decorate a gingerbread house with husband no, didn’t end up doing this sadly 
  • Scrapbook was able to sit down and do it once, but I needed more supplies so until next time
  • Read yes! I actually got to read a lot this winter and I’m super proud of myself because I used to NEVER read books 

I’d say I got most of this list done, the couple things I didn’t get to do was probably because we decided not to do it! Before I found my list, I really thought I wasn’t going to end up checking any of these off because usually I write a super long list and end up doing like 2 things only. I’m surprised, but it was a fun winter so it makes sense! 🙂

Thanks LA for the great idea! Everyone should check her page out, she’s awesome! 

How we spent our Valentine’s Day! ❤️

Hi all!

First off, Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️

This is one of the first Valentine’s Day that we have actually done something! I mean that in a way as, we never took it seriously. Yes, we would eat chocolate together and all of that good stuff, but we never took the time to actually celebrate and do something special. We thought since we’re married, we might as well celebrate and make it fun! I had to work yesterday, but when I came home I set everything up for this little surprise I was planning. It wasn’t anything really over the top, I just wanted to spend it at home with my husband, relaxing.

I had a vision in my mind, but I needed the supplies! A couple days ago when we went to Trader Joe’s, I grabbed some blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cupcakes, and macaroons. Originally, I wanted to just melt some chocolate in a bowl and have us dip the strawberries in there. But as I was cutting up the strawberries, I changed my mind. I thought all of the fruit was sweet enough and we had the macaroons, plus the cupcakes! I had a bottle of Sparkling Moscato so I set that up with two wine glasses on this tray. This whole thing was set up on the floor in the living room. I found these LED candles that I bought a while ago and knew exactly where I wanted to place them. I started putting them on the table under the TV and lit a really good smelling candle. I also added my tulips in the middle. It looked so pretty! I had these lanterns filled with lights so I put that out too on the floor next to the table. Next, I put a red blanket on the floor with some pillows and started setting up the food.

Once that was all done, I turned all the candles on and found a Spotify playlist, it was literally called “Valentine’s Day Tunes” or something like that. But it was perfect. I told Mirhad he can’t look until I’m done. So finally, it looked perfect. I started playing the romantic music and I called him out and made him close his eyes until he was standing in front of it all. He LOVED it! He just kept saying how it looks so nice and how this is so sweet! We sat down and started eating (of course) and just enjoyed each others company. 

After we were finished eating, we started watching the Ted Bundy series which was super good (he’s so messed up) and we finished within a day! I recommend if you haven’t watched it already. Now I think all we will be doing this weekend is watching crime shows 😂

So yeah, that was our Valentine’s Day! Very chill and relaxing. I have some pictures of the thing I set up, with a video! 🙂

 

 

We found our perfect honeymoon destination! 🏝

Hi all!

My husband and I got married last May and it’ll be a year since we’ve been married in about 3-4 months. We pushed off our honeymoon to save some money and pick the perfect destination since we didn’t have a wedding. After doing lots of research and thinking, we’ve decided we want to go to Hawaii! At first, we looked at going to Honolulu, but I think we are leaning more towards Maui. 

We chose Hawaii because we’ve never been there before and it seems like a great place to spend a couple days relaxing and exploring. The top two places we’d go to would be Honolulu and Maui. Honolulu is the capital, so that means there will be lots of tourists. We had a friend who said it’s kind of like when you go to Florida, like that kind of vibe. And then Maui is more exploring, hiking, beaches, and mountains. I think Maui would be so much fun especially if we could find like cool little waterfalls and stuff like that. It would be lots of fun exploring the area instead of being in a touristy place. 

Another plus about Maui is that it’s closer than Honolulu, it’s the island right before it. 

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The red pin is where Maui is and you can see it’s a little closer than Honolulu. The flight times aren’t THAT much of a difference. We would have to fly from our city to LA or somewhere in California and then to Hawaii. The total flight time would be 8 hours and 35 minutes. So 4 hours from here to LA and then from LA to Maui would be another 4 hours. And that’s IF it’s a flight from here to LA, if it’s somewhere else it’s probably going to be more like 11-12 hours. That’s a LONG flight that I’m not sure I’ll be able to sit through, but it’ll be worth it!

Was looking for ideas of what to see in Maui and found this awesome video! Now I’m wondering if we’ll need to rent a car, hmm…

But really though, so many turtles!!!! Would be so cool to see one snorkling! 

Here’s another good informative video, I feel like I’ve watched this before – I’ve watched pretty much every single video on this youtube channel (don’t judge me) and now I’m really looking out for things to see!

When we book our flights and hotel, I will be posting my travel essentials for this trip and more! Stay tuned! 🙂

 

Planning for my Tennessee trip! 🌲

I love planning for trips, it’s one of my favorite things to do. Even if it’s a short trip, I still like to plan out the stuff I’ll bring and the stuff I don’t want to forget. So even though this trip is only 3 days, I still go all out 🙌🏼 I’m hoping for this weekend trip to be very social media free, I want to just unplug and relax. I think all of us need this so the only time I would be using my phone would be to take pictures and videos, in which I will also be using my camera.

So, the weather is saying there is a chance of snow/rain and I already am thinking about what shoes I’m bringing. Probably my duck boots, since those are great in the snow and rain. And since it’s a short trip, I don’t have to bring too much clothes!

The list of stuff I’m bringing:

Clothes

Pretty much just comfy clothing like:

  • leggings
  • undershirts
  • hoodies
  • hats
  • gloves
  • scarves
  • fuzzy socks
  • my slippers

What am I packing in my little book bag?

  • my camera
  • camera charger
  • phone charger
  • a good book to read
  • my iPad (only for movies at night if we’re bored or during the car rides)
  • a healthy snack
  • my notebook and a pen
  • my chapstick
  • deodorant
  • a body spray

Something random I might bring along is a couple board games like Sorry and UNO. That might be fun to play with the fam if we get bored (which is probably not going to happen because there will be amazing views and a nice jacuzzi to go along with them).

That’s what I usually carry when I travel anywhere. A smaller book bag is easier for me than carrying a purse. I’m not bringing any makeup for this trip because I feel like it’s pointless since it’s such a short trip and also, I don’t think I’ll need it 🙂

So yeah, that’s pretty much all I’ll be bringing! The car ride is 7 hours long so let’s hope it goes by super fast. It will be a good trip!

Tips for happier flying and a more enjoyable flight! ✈️

We all get excited to go on a vacation and if we get to fly out somewhere we know that eventually it gets boring on the plane. On my last trip, we had a four hour plane ride and I was losing my mind half way through it. I wish I had a list of things that would’ve improved that flight and made it more enjoyable which is why I am making a list of tips for future reference and for anyone else out there that gets bored on flights 🙂

  • Download games on your phone/iPad
  • Listen to some nice, relaxing music – since you usually don’t have Wifi on a plane unless you pay for it, I download a playlist on Spotify to use offline
  • Have a comfy pillow or blanket with you
  • Bring a coloring book or download a similar app on your phone
  • Bring your favorite snacks if you don’t like what they serve on the flight
  • Meditate – I have an app called Headspace that is great for this
  • Use essential oils to relax you
  • Make yourself comfortable
  • Bring a notebook and write down your thoughts, plans, goals, or lists
  • Read a good book
  • Plan out your week/trip if you haven’t already or a future trip
  • Buy a crossword puzzle book – I got a set of 3 game books that had Sudoku, word search, and a crossword
  • Clean up your phone – delete apps you don’t use, organize your pictures, clean out your contacts list, etc.,

So that’s my list, what do you do on a plane to make it more fun or relaxing? 🙂

My Winter bucket list ❄️

Every Winter, I write this little bucket list of things I want to do and most of the time, half of the stuff on there doesn’t get crossed off! This time, I’m making it a bit shorter so that maybe I will be able to cross more things off. I love the holidays and the warmth it gives me, so this list is essential to me.

My list:

  • Drink hot chocolate and watch a movie in my pj’s w/ my husband
  • Bake cookies and decorate them (sprinkles, frosting, etc)
  • Go see Christmas lights at least 3x 
  • Buy presents for family, wrap them, and put them under the tree
  • Go ice-skating
  • Visit Chicago and see the lights + ice skate 
  • Plan an upcoming vacation
  • Watch as many movies as I can during my free time
  • Write my 2019 goals
  • Decorate a gingerbread house with husband
  • Scrapbook
  • Read

So there’s my super short list. I think I can do most of the things on here, I really want to go see the lights in Chicago and ice-skate, but if it’s too expensive we may save that for next year.

What’s on your list? 🙂

West Coast Road Trip Pt.4: Yosemite!

After SFO, the next stop was Yosemite. We let ourselves sleep in, got up, had breakfast, and started our road trip to Yosemite. So it’s about 3 hours and 20 minutes to Yosemite and we got there pretty fast.

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Last year when we went to Yosemite, we came from Lake Tahoe so it was faster overall. The side we came from last time was very pretty, but this time there weren’t a lot of good views. There were some parts that were cool, but mostly it was just trees and dead trees from the recent fire. Some parts were scary to drive through, but nothing like the first time we went!

When we finally made it to the part where it has two road options, we decided to go towards the beach side because our Airbnb was that way anyways and Mirhad just couldn’t wait to see that. We didn’t have time to go back and see the falls on the other side, but that’s for next time! It took about an hour to get to the beach area and when we got there, Mirhad fell asleep right away on the sand.

It was as beautiful as the last time we were there. We stayed at the beach for a good hour, soaking up some sun and just relaxing after our long drive. After chilling for a bit, we decided to explore the area and take some pictures since we couldn’t drive to the other side. We got some cool pictures though using the self timer on our camera so it was fun to click the button and run quickly to get in a good pose.

We got hungry after a while and went to this gas station to eat. We had a REALLY good burger, we were actually shocked as to how yummy it was. This was also the same gas station we went to last time we were in Yosemite so it was cool to reminisce on those memories. After we ate, we grabbed some snacks and we started driving towards our Airbnb. I didn’t expect the Airbnb to be SO nice. We had mountain views and everything we needed. Although, we didn’t really spend time outside when we arrived… we went straight to bed as we knew we had another day of driving ahead of us. Next up, Vegas!!!

TGIF!

Happy Friday!!!

So glad it’s Friday, it’s been a busy week and I am happy to relax a bit this weekend and get some stuff done that I should’ve gotten done a while ago lol. Hate the feeling of having something to do on your list and you just never get around to it… so annoying!!!

Mirhad and I made this chicken veggie thing in the crockpot and it didn’t turn out as good as it should’ve 😦 last time we made something with the crockpot, we had a bunch of chicken + potatoes… I think that’s what made it taste so good lol. So I guess we’ll have to through it out and try something else next time. 

Mirhad woke me up at 6am this morning to wake up for work so I can help him with this idea he had so I’ve been up since 6 and working since 6:30. So I guess the good thing about this is that I can stop working around 2:30 😀 

Today I have some stuff I need to get done, but I am just going to do them throughout the day. #1 is organizing my bills and seeing what’s left to pay. Sometimes being an adult sucks lol, I miss those days where I didn’t have to worry about utility bills 😦 oh well, I think it’s worth it!

But yeah, I’m trying to think of what else?? I really want to make that blog post today about what I need to buy/bring on our trip, I hope I can sit down today and just get started on that. It’ll help me later on so I don’t have to panic last minute and look for things I need. 

One question…. WHY ARE HOTELS IN VEGAS SO DAMN EXPENSIVE?!??!?!? Like come onnnnn, this is way too overpriced! Ugh, I need to think of an alternative or get lucky and find something cheap. So I am currently on a hunt to find the best place, it’s only for one night so how hard can this possibly be lol. 

Okay that’s it, rant over! Did I really rant tho?? Idk maybe lol.

See ya! 🙂

How I spend my “me time” + ideas ✨

Hi all!

“Me time” is super important to me because I think it’s an essential to happiness. Taking time to be alone, give yourself some love, and take that time to rest and rejuvenate. So here’s how I spend that time. 

I usually like to take a Saturday and spend a couple hours for this. The first thing I like to do is either take a bath or a nice shower so my face is fresh for the face mask I am about to apply. After I apply my face mask, I’ll sit down in my quiet space (which I made sure is clean and organized) and pick something to do. Of course, I can’t relax without a candle being lit! 

So by then I have already picked something I want to do, I usually pick something like this:

  • Blog
  • Watch a movie I’ve been meaning to watch
  • Catch up on shows
  • Catch up on my Youtube videos I subscribe to 
  • Drink coffee with my husband (this relaxes me, so if I am feeling like I don’t need to be alone at the moment, he will join)
  • Read a book
  • Read the news
  • Read some interesting Buzzfeed articles
  • Write a to do list and things I need/want

Yes, there’s SO MUCH you can choose to do! Maybe even just lay there and think about your day or meditate, craft, treat yourself at the salon, or go outside and explore some nature. There’s so much to do. I haven’t been able to meditate for some reason, I tried doing it with my husband, but I end up laughing at him lol. I can’t keep it together hahaha. 

I think everyone should have some “me time.” I believe it helps us in these ways:

  • Helps us relax
  • Gives us some time to think deeply 
  • Makes us more productive
  • Gives your brain a break + a reboot

So take some time for yourself and let your mind speak to you!

Things that keep me organized 🌻

Hi all!

For me to function correctly and get stuff done, I need to be organized. So, I’ve decided to share some tips on things that keep me organized!

  • Use a planner
    • I like to plan out my days when I can or at least have an overview of my schedule. It helps me organize my day and remind me of anywhere I need to be. Sometimes if I don’t know what I am doing for the day or don’t have some type of a schedule, I start freaking out and feel like I lost control of my day or it’s going to waste doing nothing
  • Write a to-do list everyday
    • Writing to-do lists helps me figure out what needs to be done, whether that list is for the day, the week, or for the month. This is also a good reminder for things you have been meaning to do, but always forget about
  • Creating a relaxing workspace/environment
    • Writing a to-do list and writing in your planner is fine to anywhere, but what really gets my brain flowing is if I am doing this stuff in a relaxing environment. I like to clear my desk or area I am sitting in and light a candle if possible, get myself a cold glass of water and begin thinking. This helps me personally get my brain flowing and it kind of helps improve my memory as well for some reason, I remember things much better

Those are really the top 3 things I do to keep myself organized. I think the key to getting stuff done, even goals is organization. Maybe some people can be unorganized and do it, but for me.. I need to have my shit together 🙂