Nail Polish Organization Tip

Today I'm changing it up a little bit here on the blog!

I don't have any food pictures, exercises, or recipes to share but rather a fashion tip! I'm not a fashionista by any means but I do think that this little tip is something worth sharing.

I absolutely love painting my nails. Sometimes I paint them two times a week just because I love all of the different colors so much it's hard to choose just one! I'm always trying out new designs and color combos and this little trick has came into handy, especially when I need just the right color.

Whenever I buy nail polish I stick a toothpick into the jar and then dab a little bit of paint right on top of the lid.

This helps a lot when I am looking at all of my colors at once (see photo below) and it also helps me see what the color looks like when dried. How many times have you caught yourself in the middle of the nail polish aisle with little paint swatches all over your nails?

By adding a little drop of color to the lids I am able to quickly see what colors I have in my box of polish rather than take them all out and look at the bottles. I also love that if I have a big date planned, a wedding, or other event where I want my nails to match my clothes, I am able to match the already dried nail polish to the outfit! I don't have to guess which one will match the best and then be disappointed when it doesn't match the dress!

Question:

What do you think of my little life hack? 

Do you want me to share more of my amazing beauty secrets here on the blog? Ha!

Double Chocolate Chip Paleo Protein Shake

As I've stated before, I'm really bad at getting out of bed in the morning. Really, really bad. But this morning I was able to wake up right away with a little help from my needy kittens. They have taught themselves that the alarm corresponds with them getting fed so when the alarm goes off, they jump all over the bed and meow until I get up. Somedays I can sleep through it, others I can't.

What am I supposed to do with all of that extra time? Instead of sit on the couch until it was time for work, I decided to make a healthy and delicious protein shake for breakfast. It included lots and lots of chocolate. What better way to start a Monday morning than with chocolate? I'm pretty sure I will have the best week ever because of it!

A few weeks ago, Artisana was kind of enough to send me a few samples of their coconut butter squeeze packs. I absolutely love coconut so these have been perfect for adding to my morning smoothies or for quick pre-workout fuel.

I have also heard that by combining coconut butter (or oil) with chia seeds you are bound to have a ton of energy! I honestly didn't even need my morning coffee this morning because I didn't feel sluggish after drinking this.

This smoothie can easily be tailored to fit what you have on hand. For instance, if you don't follow a paleo diet, use regular milk & whatever protein powder you have on hand. If you do follow the paleo diet, I highly recommend you check out the Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I am able to find them at Meijer and other health food stores and they are soy, gluten, dairy, egg, peanut, casein, potato, wheat, fish, sesame, shellfish, tree nut, and sulfite free! The dark chocolate chips do contain cane sugar, but if you aren't crazy strict on your paleo diet, I say they're ok every now and then ;)

Ten Years Later

A few weeks ago I promised my mom that I would drive home to help her clean, organize, and rearrange the storage room in the basement. This room holds everything from Christmas decorations to extra microwaves (thank you college dorm life). There are boxes of toys and stuffed animals, boxes full of birthday cards, trinkets, old clothes that should never see the light of day again, and so many photos.

Instead of just throwing the box of photos to the side and continuing on with the cleaning "fun" I decided to take a break and go through all of the photos. It's so strange to me to actually hold pictures in my hands as the new norm is to have them all on your phone or computer. This also makes me want to print every single picture that I have and put them in a big, old fashioned photo book just incase my computer were to randomly die and I lose every single one. (Are these considered old fashioned now?) 

Out of all of the photos, this one really stuck out to me.

This photo is from the summer of 2005, almost 10 years ago! I'm pretty sure it was taken on my 13th birthday. Ethel, my black lab was about 3 years old at the time and the only white speck on her is that tiny little spot you can see on her neck.

When I was 12 I volunteered at a local animal shelter and was told that I wasn't allowed to bring any animals home. Well when I was working there I wanted to save every single animal I saw but this sweet pup stood out to me. Every time I took her out to play she was so sweet and loving. She had a sister, Lucy, that had already been adopted so she was left on her own. I begged and begged my parents to let me bring her home. When I say begged, I literally had to ask about 100 times and tell them that I would scoop poop every week, take her to the vet, and buy her dog food. They finally gave in! So we all loaded up in the van, I gathered together every penny I owned ($50) and we headed to the animal shelter to bring Ethel home! The first night all of us kids slept in the living room with her on the floor in our sleeping bags and we've been in love with her ever since.

Fast forward 10 years and look at us now.

Still best friends! Just a little bit grayer - her, not me... yet ;)

It's crazy how fast these years have flown by and the changes in her! Looking at these two pictures side by side, I can hardly believe that it's the same dog!

Boy, oh boy do I love this girl!