I appreciate the comments that you guys shared on my last post. Reading through them felt like a big hug. There were some vulnerable and honest shares and great suggestions around social media limits. Thank you.

While I am all about acknowledging and naming your feelings and meeting yourself where you are, I also believe in the power of looking for positives and doing for others. In the spirit of looking for the positive in the everyday, I spent today creating a mental list of 10 good things that I wanted to share with you in a blog post.

1. SALTED CARAMEL ICE CREAM BARS

I’ll start on a sweet note! I have been stocking the freezer with ice cream and ice cream bars now that summer is in full swing. I thew these Salted Caramel Ice Cream Bars in my cart during my last Whole Foods trip. They are delicious and I would highly recommend but why are there only three in a box!?

2. TARA BRACH MEDITATIONS

I always need meditation in my life but lately it’s been a super important thing for me to prioritize. The teacher who has been resonating with me most over the last few months is Tara Brach. Her meditations are so calming, grounding and empowering. You can find them on her website and she also pushes them out to her podcast.

3. FINN’S HAIRCUT

Finn was LONG overdue a haircut since salons were closed for so long. I finally took him to get one yesterday and oh my gosh, I can’t even stand his cuteness. I swear, this haircut catapulted him from toddler to little boy! The experience at the salon was excellent. Me, Finn and the stylist were the only people in the salon and both the stylist and I wore masks.

Here’s a before picture so you can fully appreciate the after effect. 🙂 It always tugs at my heart strings to cut his curls off the back but I love him all cleaned up.

4. MR. CLEAN MAGIC ERASER 

The Magic Eraser has been a magic stress reliever, haha. I love cleaning projects that give you instant gratification and this one delivers. These things are EXCELLENT for all of the dog and toddler smudges and dirt that show up all over my walls and baseboards. FYI: just be gentle with your scrubbing. More is not more with the Magic Eraser. It can strip paint if you’re too aggressive.

5. OUTDOOR YOGA TEACHING

We started offering outdoor yoga classes on the back patio at Charlotte Yoga. I taught my first one this afternoon and it felt pretty crazy to teach a class to students at the studio for the first time in over three months.

6. READING – HELLO SUMMER

Reading has always been and still is the best way for me to unwind, relax and get to sleep. My last read was Mary Kay Andrews new book Hello Summer and it was a perfect summer read.

7. NAILS + SKIN

This one is random but I can’t tell you how many times over the last couple of months that I have looked at my nails in awe because they’re so strong and healthy. Nail salons being closed and a forced break from nail polish has completely transformed the health of my nails.

Also, I haven’t had polish on my toenails in almost one year. Last July I broke my left big toe when I dropped a shower door on it and had to have surgery to remove the toenail and repair the nail bed. I avoided pedicures while it was healing and then the regrowth was so weird that I didn’t know how I could paint it and not draw even more attention to it. It’s grown back better than I could have hoped (they told me there was a 50/50 that it would grow back) but it’s far from perfect.

Stay with me…I have a point. I used to paint my nails because I thought I had “bad nails” and thought they looked bad unpainted. Now that I’ve detoxed from nail polish, I look at my unpolished nails and think they look perfectly fine.

This doesn’t mean I’ll never paint my nails again but I don’t plan to go back to constant polish with no extended breaks.

And SKIN! I am 6+ months into my new skincare regimen with Carolina Facial Plastics and I could not love the products more or be more pleased with the results. I also credit skin health to infrequent makeup wearing and taking a break from teaching hot yoga over the last few months.

QUESTIONS

Tell me about some simple but good things in your life right now. 

What’s your favorite instant gratification cleaning activity? 

Has anyone else experienced improved nail/skin/hair health in the last few months?