I stopped caring

BeachI stopped caring about having blog posts pre-written and ready to go live so many days per week. I stopped caring so much about this website, because does it even truly matter that I update you all on the newest beauty products, or what I’m doing that day? No one on the internet really notices if I’m gone for a day or two, and I shouldn’t care either. So I stopped caring. Hense the lack of Friday and Monday updates the last few weeks. With the exception of this Friday update ;)

I’m no longer comparing myself to other bloggers. Even though it sucks, I don’t care that X company doesn’t want to work with me. When inspiration hits I’ll blog about it, even though yes I still blog Monday thru Friday. I have a lot of thoughts, okay? :) But this is supposed to be a hobby for me. It’s not my job, so why should I stress so much about people not commenting, the perfect photo to post, or publish on Instagram.

Scott NancyInstead I worry about not spending enough time with my little family. Spending time with my new friends, enjoying the outdoors, exploring the city, meeting new people, taking Alfie on extraordinary long walks, dipping my feet into our pool, going to the beach, bouldering again, practicing yoga, and getting more into distance running. That’s all that truly matters to me, right here, right now.

Bettering myself, and not having it to prove it to anyone.

feel good tooAs hippy-ish as it’s going to sound, there’s no other way to word it than I feel so at peace with everything right now. I’m relaxed, I’m enjoying life, I’m enjoying iced coffees by myself at coffee houses. I feel confident again (with a little help from eating healthy, boy my stomach looks awesome again, finally).

My blog when I lived in Ontario was my life. I think I turned into that outlet because I was lonely, and stuck in a rut. I had a few friends but I still felt alone. I do miss my co-workers and friends in Ontario terribly, but this was the change I needed. I find myself to be more at peace down here in California. I think this is where The Guy and I were meant to be.

I don’t know how this new revelation formed, but I’m definitely enjoying it.

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Thinking Outloud Thursday #1

My first Thinking Out Loud post. Thought this would be great for those lazy weeks where I just want to type a sentence per photo, instead of telling a story or write a full blog post on just one topic. Here, we go!

1. I have been so incredibly warm this week in our town house that I saw actual water droplets on my cheeks and nose while making the bed. Why did I not jump in the pool? #FirstWorldProblems.

LaSportiva climbing shoes2. After 75 minutes of yoga, and THREE hours of climbing, Ellen and I were still crushing 5.10c’s. I’m so proud of ourselves.

Año Nuevo State Park3. Jessica invited me along to the beach with her family last Saturday. I can just sit at the beach for hours (which we did) and enjoy the ocean, and play in the sand (like the child that I am). I enjoyed every minute of it.

Burger Santa Cruz4. Once we had our beach fix, Jessica told me about this burger joint in Santa Cruz, appropriately called, Burger. It hit the spot.

Alfies new bed5. I bought Alfie a new day bed, identical to his old one that I reviewed four years ago (note how different puppy face Alfie looks?!). I got the first one for free to review, from this site called CSN (which no longer exists) but I’m glad I found an identical one, and decided on a different colour this time. They made some improvements with the new bed, a removable cover! Finally. Note I called it a day bed because he sleeps in his crate at night in our bedroom.

Speck iPhone case6. This is the prettiest phone case I’ve seen in a while. I gave it to Jessica, because it’s an iPhone case from Speck, and I have a BlackBerry.

Computer History Museum7. The Guy and I went to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View last weekend and had a fantastic time reminiscing about things we used to have as kids. But one thing that stood out to me was the Google self-driving car. Have you heard of it?! It was insane and we were behind one on the freeway going to the museum.

Google8. After the museum, we were in the same vicinity as Google’s headquarters. I wanted to see what it looked like there, so we took a little tour.

Google donut9. I like your the bigger-than-lifesized food, Google!

10. Unroll Me is a non-gimicky website, where it unsubscribes you from whatever e-mails you choose to unsubscribe from, all in one click. It’s pretty awesome. But some companies are sneaky and keep putting you back on their list. I’ve been using it for a few months, and I’ve been meaning to tell you guys about it. But keep forgetting to!

Sunshine Grace11. Got a new perfume from Philosophy, it’s called Sunshine Grace and smells like summer. It’s gorgeous, I can definitely smell some hints of coconut, and vanilla. Perfect scent for these California sunny days.

Skoop12. Lastly, I’ve been trying to incorporate post workout drinks to refuel my body after a boulder session, or a run. Skoop sent me some products to try out. More on this, later!

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Our bedroom reveal!

Redecorating-the-master-bed30 seconds within getting into bed, I’m in a deep slumber. I’m not sure if I’ve always been that way, but my Husband constantly lets me know how he too, wishes he could sleep as restful as I do. I blame the pillow top mattress he picked out for us a few years ago. It is SO comfortable. Unfortunately for him he doesn’t get much rest, and tosses and turns all night long waking up more tired than he was the night before. Half of the problem is probably because we have a double-sized bed. Despite our lean frames, I’m thinking we need to up size. Due to us being in California, I think a California King bed would be suitable, no? ;)

It was due time to have an adult bedroom and finally be matching and relaxing.

before-after-bedroomHere is the before and after photo of our bedroom.

And more…(click to enlarge the images)bedroom-before-and-after bedroom-1Quite the difference! For the longest time my night table was a rubbermaid bin that I still hadn’t unpacked since moving here in February.

That all changed when I went shopping.

I bought some bed linens from the Steven Alan collection at West Elm and our new headboard is the Safavieh Axel from All Modern (and now costs $50 more?).  His night stand (the glass top one) is from Ikea, ages ago. I’m talking circa 2006 when I moved up to Ontario, and lived with a room mate I found on the Guelph University website. She took me to Ikea and there I bought that $20 “night table”. It’s so tiny. The new one (on my side) is from Overstock.

night-standPretty, right?

I applied on Bloggers Required website, to have a chance to review the Buckwheat Pillow by Hullo. Primarily because it intrigued me, and one cannot have enough pillows. I like to sleep like Princess and The Pea. The run down: We used to sleep with two huge 20″ velvety grey pillows from Ikea that acted like a headboard, and then I use two very fluffy malleable pillows, while my husband prefers the more firm pillow that barely makes a dent where his head would go.

As funny as it sounds, there’s an adjustment period to getting used to this $79 pillow. I found it interesting that you can adjust the fill on the hulls in your pillow. And if you really hate it? There’s a money back guarantee option.

Hullo-pillowThinking the Buckwheat Pillow would dig into my face like other feather pillows do (then get passed off to the husband because I hate the pokeys), I was pleasantly surprised it didn’t sneak out of the layers of cotton and dig into my face in the middle of the night.

Hullo-hullsWhat else can you really say about a pillow? Reluctantly, I let my husband borrow it for a night and he decided to keep it. Fair enough, I wasn’t liking the “relaxing noise” of the pillow myself, and prefer my fluffy pillows. Not that it entirely matters to me with a pillow, but the Buckwheat Pillows are organic. Here’s a snippet from their site:

Natural Buckwheat Pillow Organic All-Natural Materials

From the 100% organic cotton twill case, to the carefully sourced and selected buckwheat hulls, we make our buckwheat pillows in the U.S.A. with the finest materials available. Our premium buckwheat hulls are grown and milled by American farmers. Buckwheat pillows contain no animal products for those interested in a vegan lifestyle.

My main issue with pillows I’ve had was freaking feathers sticking into my face and scaring the crap out of me. I’ve since forgo’ed buying feather pillows because of that.

I’ve been known to spend upwards of $60 for a single pillow, and I’ve since boycotted feather pillows because my main issue with them is that I woke up with feathers stuck into my face, arms and stomach. Painful.

Anyway, what do you think of our bedroom reveal?

alfie-on-bedAlfie seems to like it.

I have to say, the flowers were a complete prop and usually I keep them downstairs so I can smell them all day long. I thought they added to the photograph, so I added them in before I shot the after-photos.

How often do you wash your bed linens?

When is the last time you got a new pillow?

What are your favourite flowers?

Matching night stands, or no?

Do you like out bedroom setup now?

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