Dealing with Anxiety in the Age of Corona

Looking for more self care articles? Be sure to check out this post on self care here!

Y'all know I love fun, colorful, whimsical content. But in today's ever changing environment, I would be doing you guys a disservice if I wasn't churning out some content that might help deal with what is going on in the world these days. Even if only one person reads this, if they can take something away from it that is helpful in any way at all, that matters to me.

So by now, we're all probably sick of hearing about COVID-19, but unfortunately it is unavoidable: it's everywhere! It's absolutely terrifying, and for someone who already stresses out on a regular basis about normal everyday issues like cleaning the house & being on time for appointments, layering a debilitating, life threatening, incredibly contagious disease on top of that is a recipe for a panic attack (or 5).

The New Normal: Tips for Working from Home

With the pandemic comes a whole slew of new vocabulary words and practices which have all become the "new normal": social distancing, self-isolating, quarantine, flatten the curve. In an effort to do all of these things, many businesses and places of work are now either closed completely or have adopted a policy of working remotely. With that comes many challenges, depending on your situation. Got kids? Hah, it just got 10x harder (I speak from experience), but it's 100% manageable. 

In Full Bloom: Spring Look Book Ft. Ann Taylor

Disclaimer: this post is sponsored by Ann Taylor with clothing gifted by the brand in exchange for posts. All thoughts & opinions are my own..

Me in winter: long sleeve shirt under a muted toned sweater, fleece lined black leggings, and 8 blankets on top of that.

Me in spring: HELLO COLOR & PRINTS!

It's almost spring! The warm temps are finally here and my bold & bright wardrobe is slowly emerging from the depths of the rubbermaid containers where it has been living for the past 6 months (the struggle of sharing 1 tiny barely walk-in closet with your hubs). I love spring for so many reasons, but a big part of what really gets me excited for the season is just the fashion! Since I don't live in sunny vacationland (Florida) 24/7, I can't really put my Lilly Pulitzer outfits on repeat year round, and while I do have some bright & fun sweaters for fall/winter, I mostly just opt for whatever is going to keep me the warmest from October - February. But come March, I emerge out of my little fleece cocoon, because it's finally warm enough outside to not need puffy jackets, Uggs, and quadruple layers of clothing (really though, you guys would think I lived in Antarctica with the way I talk about "winter" in Tennessee. My beachgirl blood just can't take it).

Shop With Me: In-Store Event with Ann Taylor

It's almost the first day of spring, and I'm so beyond excited for the new season! Winter has felt like it's lasted for forever + a day, and it's basically been monsooning off & on since the middle of February. I don't know about y'all but I'm burnt out on wearing oversized sweaters, muted colors, and opting for warmth over fashion. My spring & summer looks are 1,000x more fun to put together than winter, so March couldn't come soon enough!

To kick off spring, I partnered with Ann Taylor for a fun event. They have so many great pieces right now that you can snag from their spring collection (give me all the bold colors and florals, please)!

Brunch Like A Local: Ruby Sunshine Restaurant Review

You know that sinking, defeated feeling you get when you slink into a fast-food breakfast joint at 10:35 AM, only to be greeted by a smug-looking cashier who says (in the most condescending way possible), “Sorry. We just stopped serving breakfast” (yet you can clearly see a stack of chicken biscuits basking in the warm glow of the heat lamps behind her)? OK, thanks for nothing, KAREN.

This is why all-day brunch joints are my new best friend. What’s not to love about stuffing your face with (stuffed) French toast at 1:30 on a lazy Sunday afternoon, while gossiping over grits with your besties? Lucky for me, Ruby Sunshine just opened up here in Chattanooga, and I am 110% here for it! (Because Karen isn’t going to dictate what time I can eat pancakes, thankyouverymuch).

Good Hair Days: R+Co Product Review

Ever since I had my daughter, I feel like my hair has taken a turn for the worse. I suffered some postpartum hair loss and when that finally subsided, I was left with some seriously strange texture to my hair. It felt so different, tangled easily, and trying to run a comb through it was like brushing with a cactus. I pulled so hard one night that the handle of my brush literally broke, and that scene from Princess Diaries started playing in a loop in my head ("You broke my glasses!" "You broke my brush.")

My hair has finally returned to somewhat normal status, but now more than ever, I am always on the lookout for great hair products to help manage my new mane. I am so glad I discovered R+Co hair products because they are truly outstanding! All of their products are cruelty-free and created without parabens, sulfates, or any of that other yucky stuff you just don't want in your hair products. One thing that instantly caught my eye when I was browsing their product line was how they "theme" each product. "R+Co is about an experience," so all of their packaging & fragrances are designed to "enhance that experience and evoke a feeling, place, style or attitude." So I took this idea & ran with it. 

They sent me a few products to test out, and I loved them so much that I just had to put together a whole post about them. When I find great products that I truly love & believe in, I just have to share with y'all. But full disclaimer here, while I was gifted these products, I was under no obligation to do an entire post about them (& all thoughts & opinions are my own). I just love them that much. So here we go!

Galentines Babes Take on Nashville

If you're not into celebrating Valentines Day, it's ok. I totally get it. There's so much pressure to impress your loved one(s) with heart shaped mystery chocolates (what is that filling anyway!?), fancy dinners (just deliver a pizza to my house & I'm golden), and over the top dates (then again, I wouldn't say no if a limo arrived to pick me up). It seems like every year, we try to one-up the year before, and eventually, you either run out of ideas or just get so exhausted from it all that you just decide to stay in & eat leftover Chinese food from the safe confines of your couch. But even if you loathe Valentines Day, there's one other made up holiday that you should absolutely be celebrating: Galentines Day!

Officially celebrated on February 13th, Galentines Day is a day all about those special ladies in your life. Thanks to Leslie Knope, we now have a completely legit excuse to spend an entire day brunching with our besties over waffles & mimosas, followed up by a luxurious spa day of mani-pedis & lounging poolside in a private cabana somewhere warm & sunny. Ok, so that's really more so just my ultimate girls day fantasy, but the brunch part, I can definitely do. So I did!

Must See Chick Flicks

I have zero shame in admitting it: I love a good chick flick. They’re fun, they’re cheesy, & they’re usually complete escapism. This time of year, I love loading up my Netflix queue with rom coms & pulling out all the chick flick DVDs from my stash (yes. I still watch those). So I thought it would be fun to share a list of my favorite girly films (& also tell you what you NEED to be streaming right now)! February is a great time to spend cozy nights in watching movies, while cuddled up on the couch with your pets (because my hubs sure as hell isn't sitting through double features of The Notebook & How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. My pups however, have no choice).

Pre-Valentines Breakfast Date at Syrup & Eggs

I'm one of those people that procrastinates, hard. I plan vacations on the fly (like 3-days-before-we're-supposed-to-leave-oh-shit-what-are-we-doing-with-the-dogs kind of fly), I buy birthday cards weeks in advance but then put off mailing them until the day before (sorry, Dad!), and I may or may not have speed-read The Iliad and then wrote an entire essay on it all in one night for a college history project due the next day (the pinnacle of my procrastination career). So when it comes to Valentines day, I'm that person that waits until the last minute to think up something DIY-ish & cute, but ends up frantically calling every restaurant in town trying to get last minute reservations when my Pinterest idea goes up in flames (literally. I told y'all I can't cook).

So this year on the actual 14th, I'll probably be staying in with the hubs (ordering takeout & watching SNL reruns), since we've got a toddler with a 7:30 bedtime and babysitters are a rarity these days (especially this year, with Valentines being on a Friday! If you hadn't booked a sitter 3-4 months in advance by now, you're not going anywhere, honey). But who says you even have to celebrate Valentines on Valentines? And why does it always have to be a fancy dinner? It's fun to do the whole dinner & a movie thing for date night & wear something other than fleece PJs once, maybe twice a year, but when you procrastinate so much that you never even book a sitter in the first place, you just take the fam to breakfast instead - because hey moms, you're up at 6:30 on a Sunday anyway, so why the hell not?

Galentines Gift Guide (AKA: things I bought based on packaging)

Let’s talk Galentines gift guide! Wait, don’t you mean Valentines? No, girl, GALentines. Because let’s face it, if you’re a girl reading this, looking for Valentines gift guides (as in gifts-for-your-man), you’re in the wrong department, babe. You need to take yourself on a date to Victoria’s Secret, grab something cute (& that makes you feel cute), and hand deliever that jazz in person with a beer in one hand & a pizza in the other because literally nothing on this list I’m about to share would be of any interest to our red-blooded male spouses (pro tip: those bacon bouquets on Pinterest are a great man gift & 100% easy to make. I speak from experience & I am a horrible cook.) We all know Valentine’s Day is more for us ladies anyway (we want to wear cute pink & red outfits, drink Prosecco, and gossip over brunch while instagramming the whole shebang).

That being said, girls are WAY more fun to shop for anyway. It is because of this reason that places like Target & TJ Maxx are time warps. One minute, I’m walking through the aisle putting diapers & milk in my cart, and the next I’m waking up at home, post-blackout, with a chocolate raspberry face mask still on, next to 2 bags worth of dollar spot tea towels, Valentines socks, and cartons of Prosecco cotton candy. I don’t ask questions anymore. To quote the Baby Yoda show, I’ve just accepted that yes, “This is the way.”