Book Review: Girl, Stop Apologizing

Why I picked it up: Um...because Rachel Hollis is basically the best...at life. And I love her. And  I love that Rachel’s brand is all about empowering women and taking control of your life and going out into the world and doing ALL THE THINGS that you want to do. One of her mottos is “Made for More” and I truly resonate with that on such a big level.  She’s a great personal growth guru to follow on social media so you can be inspired by her on the daily. (see her links at the end of the post),

What I Learned: Well, I could literally go on and on for days on this, but you don’t have that kind of time and neither do I, so here’s a bunch of quotes that literally made me go- “HOLY SH*T, there’s so much truth to that!” PREACH, SISTER!

• “Have you ever considered how much of your current life is made up of your choices and which areas are really just the things that were expected of you?”

• “I was raised thinking that my real value was based on the role I would play for other people. After all, being deemed a good wife or a good mother or a good daughter is rarely based on how true you are to yourself.”  And later - “We’ve been taught that we don’t have any value without the good opinions of others”.

• “The second I start to give inordinate weight to any of it [other people’s opinions], is the second my priorities get out of alignment.”

• “It matters what YOU think of you.”

• “Confidence is the belief that you count on yourself- that you trust your gut in the place you find yourself.”

• “Sis, the problem isn’t that you aren’t accomplished. The problem is that you don’t give yourself credit for the things you have done.”

• “Is your schedule populated by things that will make your life better or is it dictated by everyone else’s wants and needs?”

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"The problem is that most women I know don’t struggle to show up for others; they struggle to show up for themselves.” — Rachel Hollis

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

Flexible Meal Planning For Two

Meal planning- we’ve all heard about ad nauseam at this point. While I also tend to roll my eyes when someone talks about meal planning and prepping, I can’t deny its benefits. What to have for dinner and packing lunches can be a huge source of unneeded decision fatigue and meal planning really is the key to streamlining that part of your life so that you can better focus on the things that really matter.

When most people talk about meal planning, they are usually referring to cooking for a full family- spouses, kids, etc. I don’t have any children, so my husband and I are just cooking for two. Because of our lifestyle at the moment, we really don’t need to have a strict and structured meal plan- we have a bit of wiggle room to go with whatever we are feeling in the moment.

However, our work schedules don’t always overlap much- my husband goes to work early and therefore goes to bed early. I’m a night owl and my job means I'm often working evenings. Having food ready for my husband to have when he gets home is really nice so that he can stick to his sleeping schedule and I'm not rushing around like a crazy person, trying to get dinner done.

What I’ve started to do is pick three meals per week. I find recipes on Pinterest, and I follow some recipe bloggers like Emily Bites and I signed up for emails from Yummly, which has been super helpful on coming up with ideas.

I try to go grocery shopping just once a week. I grab what I need for meals that week and any regular groceries that we are out of, so that I have everything I need on hand to make dinners and pack lunches for the week.

I write the meals in my planner to remind me of the “plan” but I don’t really assign them to a specific day. I try to make a meal every day that I am at home, which for me is about three times a week. I try to make as much food as possible while I am cooking so that we can have leftovers for lunches or that my husband can warm up when I’m out of the house.

The point that I’m trying to make here is that meal planning and prepping should be totally customized to your lifestyle. If you’ve  tried meal planning in the past, but felt like it didn’t actually work out for you, it’s probably because you’ve tried to do it just like someone else you know or someone else you saw on the internet. When it comes to meal planning, don’t feel like it has to be perfectly structured to work. Make it work FOR you and for your lifestyle and it’s far more likely to stick.

P.S. Here’s a recipe we’ve loved recently- https://www.eatyourselfskinny.com/healthy-turkey-lettuce-wraps/

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

Routine Redo: My Cleaning Routine

One of my goals this year was to revamp all of my routines. After moving to a new house and getting a new job with a completely new schedule, the structure of my basic habits were just a hot mess at the start of the year. When it comes to keeping up with chores around the house, I wanted to find a system that was simple, easy and attainable. We’re all busy, and somehow on top of everything else we do in our lives, we’re supposed to be a functioning human that has clean clothes and clean dishes and clean toilets. (Hands in the air emoji). Here’s what’s been working for me:

IDENTIFY ONE NON-NEGOTIABLE: I decided to choose one area of the house that would be my priority for keeping clean every single day. For me, and probably for many of you, that area was the kitchen. Let’s face it, food and dirty dishes can get gross and somehow, if my kitchen feels clean, my house automatically feels cleaner. So, the kitchen gets my attention every night. Loading the dishwasher, wiping the counters, sweeping the floor, etc. There are definitely days where I come home late and tired so I wait till the next morning, but I am keeping up with the kitchen on a daily basis.

FIGURE OUT HOW OFTEN YOU REALLY NEED TO DO SOMETHING: I took out a piece of paper and just wrote down all the specific cleaning tasks I like to do in each room, like “dust living room”, “vacuum master bedroom”, and “clean master bath shower”. And then I made a choice on how often I wanted to do that task- Weekly? Bi-Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly?

I personally find that I don’t have one huge chunk of time on a given day to just clean my whole house in one shot. It’s much more common that I have little pockets of time available here and there. I used this handy free printable from Day Designer to plan out and schedule a day of the week for each cleaning task..

GO DIGITAL: Now, I’m a paper nerd, forever and always. I have a paper planner that I use every single day, but I do use Google calendar for a few things, including my cleaning tasks. What’s great about digital calendars is that you can set a task to repeat according to your schedule. So when I want to remind myself to clean our master bath every single week, I put it in on my calendar for Wednesday and set it to repeat every single Wednesday. It’s set and I never have to remember! You can set an item to repeat, daily, weekly, monthly or even every few months. What’s especially great is if you push an item off to another day, you can move the calendar appointment and then it automatically shifts every following appointment back to stay on with your schedule.

That’s the routine that’s been working for me lately! How do you guys clean your house? In small pieces like me? Or do you blast some tunes and have one major session a week?

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

Make Your Own Home Wish List

Keeping with the spring cleaning/organizing/decorating theme I’ve been talking about this month, I wanted to share how I plan for all of the things I want to buy and the projects I want to do around the house. Even if you’ve been in your home for years, homeowners know all too well that the list of projects for a home are never-ending. With my goal this year of setting up, decorating and organizing our house, the list of things I want or need to buy is as long as Santa’s, I tell ya. If I were rich, this would be no problem because I could  buy it all and do it all at once. Sadly, though, I’m not, so I’ve set up a wish list system to manage it.

At a basic level, making a list just ensures that everything floating around in your brain gets placed into some permanent format, like a spreadsheet or a physical list. My wish list is a huge help with prioritizing projects and deciding which ones should happen first before others. It gives me a much better understanding of the full scope of the projects we are working on and stops me from making random impulse purchases that aren’t really a priority. I am a step-by-step person, so I like breaking huge lists down into smaller sections that are more manageable.

Here’s how you can make your own:

Decide where to keep it- You can use an actual pen and paper, a special notebook, a spreadsheet, a notes app on your phone or as a list in your email server. I personally use a spreadsheet (shocker!), cause I like to sort them and organize them, and especially because I like to add links to items I am considering buying.

Decide what goes on it- I tend to put EVERYTHING in here- purchases from $5 on up because I like to keep it all in one place, but you could set a dollar limit or a time limit on it, such as “any item over $100 goes on the list” or “anything we need to buy in the next year goes on the list.” I have categories in my sheet for small, medium, large and long-term purchases based on the approximate cost. You could also make separate lists for each room, or each type of project, like “electrical”, “plumbing”, or “outdoor”.

Keep it updated- The items you keep on the list will change many times over. You’ll decide that you no longer need things, you’ll find a better solution than the one you originally intended, or find that you already had something that fills a need you had put on the list. Every now and again, you;ll have to go back to the list and update it with things you did end up buying and things you don’t want on the list any longer.

One of the things I like best about this list concept is that you can go back and see all of the things you’ve crossed off and accomplished. When you’re in the middle of something as big and ongoing as projects to do around your house, it’s easy to forget how far you’ve come. It’s really gratifying to see projects that you’ve completed and how far you’ve come.

What projects are you working on at home right now?

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

Book Review: The Home Edit

“As we always say, you can have the item or you can have the space, but you can’t have both!”

— The Home Edit by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin

Why I picked it up: So many reasons! 1. I’m a bit of an organizational enthusiast, so I nerd out over this stuff in general all the time. 2. I follow them on Instagram and they are hilarious and 3. The book came out a perfect time for me, as we moved into our new house and spring cleaning season hit.

What I Learned:

1. In the book, the authors emphasize that their combination of organization combines function and design in a way that makes spaces not only look great, but stay organized for the long term. “Sprinkling this extra layer of pixie dust inspires people to maintain their organized spaces. Which is the whole point!”

2. It’s okay to get rid of things. I’ve discovered as I’ve tried to clean out our belongings before and after our move that I do feel a lot of guilt about getting rid of things that I don’t want, either because it was a gift, or it was expensive, or because I personally bought something that I shouldn’t have. When looking at an item you feel you bought by mistake, they urge “Don’t double down on the mistake by keeping it!”

3. Not every item will fall into the keep or discard pile. I loved that they spent time in the book to point out that there are some items that won’t fall into the binary choice of keep or toss. Something that is sentimental, but you don’t use everyday should be stored away in a basement or attic. That way it’s safe, but it’s not taking up valuable space elsewhere.

4. Label, label, label! As stated in the book, “We believe that this [labeling] is actually the secret to long-term maintenance.” This could be especially helpful in my case, as I’m the one doing all of the organizing. How’s my husband supposed to know where things go if I don’t tell him somehow? The thought of labeling things seems a bit too permanent for me, so I might look into labels that can be erased/changed if needed.

Do I think having a perfectly organized home is absolutely necessary? No, I really don't’t. But I do see the benefit in getting spaces organized if you have the time, brain space, cash and resources to make it happen. Getting the containers to organize every closet, cupboard and drawer in my house sounds daunting, so I’m going to try to break it into small pieces. Hey, they recommend starting with just one drawer.

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Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

Spring Clean Your Life Challenge! Four Easy Things

Ah- there’s nothing like a new season to make you feel refreshed and renewed and excited for the months to come. There’s definitely something special about spring, especially for us Midwesterners who have just survived winter, that makes you feel motivated to get life moving again.

This is likely why spring is often associated with cleaning, organizing and decluttering. Those activities are my favorite all year round, but even I’ve been hit with the extra urge to get my life and my spaces together. Here’s some things I’m looking forward to sprucing up:

1. My fridge- You know what happens here. There’s likely some expired food in your fridge, and likely some spills and stains on the shelves. If you want extra credit, you could totally organize your food into clear storage bins a la The Home Edit, but I’m saving that for another day and just discarding and cleaning it up.

2. My car- UGH my car! Sometimes I feel like I live there. You too? Spring is a great time to get your ride all spiffed up. The warm weather is the perfect excuse to run through the car wash (or wash it yourself), vacuum it out, get all of the shoes, bags, and miscellaneous junk out of the car and back to where they belong.

3. My closet- This is an intimidating one. I’m sure many of us have tons of clothes and nothing to wear. The change of season means you’ll be wearing some new items that you haven’t in awhile and maybe there’s some winter stuff that no longer fits, is in good shape or is something that you like to wear that you can donate or sell. It’s a good time to go through all of your clothes and discard what you don’t want and then reorganize all the stuff you do want.

4. My purse- I actually like to switch my purses out every couple of months, so spring is a good time to clean out my wallet, clean out my purse, replenish my hand cream, lip balm and hand sanitizer and reorganize everything. Your purse is a lot easier to carry when you’re not lugging around a ton of extra receipts, coupons and random change.

Are you ready to refresh your life for spring? Take on this challenge with me and handle these four things right along with me! I will be posting all week on Instagram with my progress on the challenge so you can follow along and spring clean with me!

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

The Positives of Social Media

Let’s face it - social media gets a bad rap. We are bombarded all the time with notions such as “Social media is all fake”, “People waste too much time on social media”, and “Social media just makes people feel bad about themselves.” We’ve all heard this before, right? Well, I’m here to tell you- I sincerely disagree. Social media is NOT all  bad.

Can it be overwhelming and toxic? Sure can. But so can other meant-to-be-positive things in our lives like family members, friends and coworkers. Are there fake, pretentious people on social media? Heck yes there are. But there’s also incredible, positive and inspiring people online. It’s all about who you CHOOSE to surround yourself with, and more importantly, who you choose to NOT surround yourself with. If your social media feeds are making you feel bad about yourself, then you are not following, friending or subscribing to the right group of people.

Personally, I have found such amazing resources through social media. YouTube is solely responsible for setting me on a path of personal growth and development last year and the reason I started this blog. Twitter has connected me to a diverse group of friends from all over the world who hang out together online and meet up at events all over the country. Daily Instagram posts from my favorite social media personalities encourage me everyday. My endless scrolls through Pinterest boards have inspired ideas for everything in my life- from my home, to my work, to my relationships and my health.

In the age of the Internet, we have EVERY opportunity readily available to us to learn, grow, develop, change and enhance what we do and who we are everyday. You just have to seek out, weed through and connect to the right humans.  

Take a look at my list of favorite social media accounts for some awesome people I love to follow. And- (insert shameless plug here), make sure you are following me on Instagram and Facebook. I post inspirational and positive stuff there daily. : )

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

The Cassa- Guest Bathroom

Happy March and happy first Cass-a update! I’m kind of cheating on this first room, as the room really did’t need much. The space is small and the Smoke Infusion wall color was already there when we moved in. It is a room that gets used often, though, so it;s nice to have it fully decorated.

The first thing I purchased for the room was the white and blue medallion Shower Curtain from Amazon. I had no idea how well the color would match from looking at it online, but it was a PERFECT match when it arrived. There’s enough white in the curtain that the medallion pattern doesn’t overwhelm the small space. I bought a brushed metal curved shower curtain rod to update the plastic teal one that was there and also added some textured brushed metal curtain hooks.

The hand towels for this bathroom were a stroke of luck. I happened upon them at Kohls while I was looking for kitchen towels. I’m happy I got two of them since Kohl’s no longer carries them. The do have a Bath Towel on clearance right now in the same pattern.

The Hand Soap is from my favorite place, Bath and Body Works. This scent smells good but also matches the color scheme of our house.

For wall decor, I found white wood medallions at a Home Goods store.  Their selection changes all the time, but here’s a similar product on Wayfair. medallion wall decor.

The blue mason jar vases are from a local craft vendor, but decor like this is super popular now so you could find something at almost any retail store or make your own.

This set of wall hooks were a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law. I believe it was from Kohls, though they no longer have it. They do have many other options though-  Wall Hook Search

For the picture spaces in the frame, I didn’t want to put any actual pictures in there, so I took a close up picture with my phone of the medallion wall art, printed it off at home and cut out different sections of the image to put in the frame instead. I also considered using printed scrapbook paper, but I didn’t have any on hand that matched.

I do also have a bath mat for the floor, but since the shower is rarely used, I don’t keep it out. It takes up a lot of physical and visual space. I’m super happy with the way the room turned out. I was afraid that it was a bit too matchy-matchy, but I guess i like matchy matchy because I genuinely love everything that’s in here.

I likely won’t touch this room again in the near future as I’m moving on to other rooms, but if I did, I’d maybe incorporate an accent color or accent material for some variety or buying another textured bath mat. On to the next project!

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

Book Review: The Bravest You

““Refusing to be brave isn’t living-it’s called hiding.””

— Adam Kirk Smith, "The Bravest You"

Why I picked it up: When I picked this book up at the beginning of last year, I was facing a ton of change at home, at work and in my personal life and I was looking for any insight I could find on embracing that change. As a routine kind of person, I tend to resist change. I prefer the safety and security of things that are certain and proven by time. Bravery is not natural for me; I’m more of a cowardly lion. So… you could say I was asking the Great Wizard of Oz for some courage.

My Key Takeaways from the Book:

Complacency: Kirk Smith talks a lot at the beginning of the book about complacency and how being stuck in a state of complacency really comes from fear and doubt.. “It is in complacency that people keep to themselves, slog through a day at work, go home and then do it all over again, without ever moving outside of their comfort zone.” Fear of the unknown and the doubts I had about myself were keeping me in a place that was comfortable, but not a place that was challenging me to be better and moving me forward towards the life I wanted. He also points out that complacency is dangerous because “It isn’t always a quick jolt that knocks us off course. It is often a slight veering off course over a long period of time.”

Fear of Inexperience: In the book, Kirk Smith says that the fear of inadequacy commonly keeps people from moving forward, simply because they don’t think they would be good at doing what they really want to do, having never done it before. He challenges that by saying. “When we are passionate, we seek to know as much about our pursuit as we possibly can. In the process of doing this inadequacies- real and imagined- are almost guaranteed to fade away.” He goes on to say later that practice is the “enemy” to inadequacy and that “fear is only as powerful as your unfamiliarity allows it to be.” If you are afraid you aren’t good enough to (do that thing you really want to do), go and learn more about it. Taking action to learn more will prove to yourself that you are good enough.

Letting Go of the Past: “You cannot allow that which is already done and gone to hold you back indefinitely,” Kirk Smith says. It’s easy to chain yourself to the limiting beliefs you have about yourself because of something that has happened in your past or something that someone said to you in the past.  “You might as well begin using your past for good,” he urges. “The past chains us to our inadequacies.” We all have things in our past we aren’t proud of. But continually beating yourself up over them will not move you forward or help you reach a point where you are the exact opposite of what you were in the past.

Try It: Buy On Amazon

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Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

How to Work With A Travel Agent

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everyone! As we are currently planning an anniversary  trip to Ireland, this holiday seems like the perfect occasion to talk about our vacation and what we’ve been doing to plan for an overseas trip.

As much as I want to go on this trip, I was genuinely overwhelmed with planning for a trip in a foreign country I’ve never been to. I contacted a local travel agent to help do the leg work for us so we could focus our time on other things we have going on. Having her make the actual reservations and research took a huge list of to-dos off my plate. Here’s what you should know about working with a travel agent:

Most travel agents do not charge for the majority of their services; they earn money from the hotels, transportation services and tourist attractions that they book for you. Ours didn’t charge us to book our flights for us, though I’ve heard that some do. Our agent said that the only charges we could expect was if we needed to make changes to our reservations AFTER they were booked. Because of that, we spent a good amount of time going back and forth with her to get the itinerary just right before committing.

In my initial email to our agent, I tried to include as much information about us and how we like to travel as possible. My husband and I aren’t tourist attraction, group-tour, big tour bus kind of people. Though travel agents do work with group tour organizations, they can also create something custom for you as well, so don’t be afraid to venture off the traditional route if that’s what you want. We’re renting a car and planning to road trip through the country and instead of paying for hotel rooms, we’ve opted to buy vouchers for a network of bed and breakfasts throughout the country as they are much cheaper. We won’t be spending a ton of time in a room and we wanted the flexibility to plan out our route as we went.

Speaking of vouchers, I made sure we had a list of properties that the vouchers covered so I could be sure there were enough locations and availability for our trip. I also asked about any other fees that could be charged to us when using the vouchers so there wouldn’t be any surprises. We will still likely book the bed and breakfast reservations  ahead of time so that we aren’t in a bind at the last minute, but it was nice to lock in the rest of our trip without having to have our whole itinerary set in stone.

The first thing we bought was our flights and those had to be paid for at the time of purchase- I just gave our agent our card information over the phone and she handled the rest. For the car rental, hotel reservations and B&B vouchers, our agent quoted us one “package” price per person. We had to pay a deposit to reserve everything, and then she gave us a date when the rest of the balance was due.

Overall, it’s been really nice to outsource the logistics of planning the trip. It’s 100% something we could have done ourselves, but considering that it didn't cost us any extra money, it was great to not have to do all of the “paperwork” involved. Have you worked with a travel agent? What did you think? Where would you like to travel next?

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

When You Have Too Much To Do

SPOILER ALERT: FREE PRINTABLE BELOW!

Have you ever had one those days-or honestly, those weeks, months and entire seasons- where you have so much do to that you can’t even remember what all of the things even are? I’ve had a few of those lately when I was overwhelmed with everything swirling around in my head that I didn’t even know where to start or what to do first. Here’s what I did to get organized and start tackling my life:

1. Just write it all down on paper. (Or on an app on your phone if that’s what works best for you.) You’ve got to clear everything out of your head before deciding what to tackle first. Just make a list of everything- big or small- that’s inside your brain, and just write it out. You can focus on one thing at a time when you’ve reassured yourself that everything you need to remember is safely in one place for you to reference later. This is traditionally called a ‘brain dump’, but frankly that term grosses me out and I refuse to use it. Or, rather, use it again since I just did.

2. Decide what is urgent and important. Most articles on productivity will probably tell you to prioritize your tasks, but don’t give any detail on a strategy for how to actually DO that prioritization. Using Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix, here’s what you do:

Take a piece of paper and divide it into four sections:

1. Urgent and important

2. Important, not urgent

3. Urgent, not important

4. Not urgent and not important

Take your to-do list and categorize every item into a category. Be really honest with yourself here! Is it really urgent or just a task you’d prefer to do first because it’s easier or more fun?

3. Now that you know what is most important and most urgent, you’ve got to make a plan to actually get it done. Look at your schedule and ask “When do I have time to take care of this?” What I like to do when my days are extra crazy is plan out how much time I’ll realistically need to check something off my list. This stops me from trying to do too much in one period of time.

I’ve found that I’m actually better at guesstimating times than I thought I would be. When in doubt, plan more time than you think you’ll need. It’s way too discouraging to get behind your plan than it is to be ahead of schedule.

4. Start at the top of your urgent and important items and schedule them in one by one, with realistic expectations of how long it will take you to do them. Move on to important items,  then urgent ones, and lastly to the non-urgent, non important ones if you still have time. Consider asking for help with any task that you don’t personally have to do yourself. Spread the tasks out over days or weeks as needed and don’t feel bad for taking something off the list completely if it’s not necessary!

To help you out on the busy days when you need it most, here’s a free printable with the matrix for you to use!

Tell me more about what you do when you have too much to do? Do you make lists? I’d love to know in the comments below!

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

Winter Favorites 2019

Let’s be honest, winter gets a bad rap. The season is associated with gray skies, cold weather, and cold and flu season. As a tried-and-true  Midwesterner, I have to say tho- it’s not all that bad! As a matter of fact, as I write this, it’s all sunny and blue skies over here. As with everything else, weather is what you make of it. Here’s a few of the fun things I’m digging right now to brighten up my winter.

Mentha Lip Balm

This is my favorite lip balm ever. I use it year-round, but it’s especially nice in the winter when your lips constantly feel like dry sandpaper. I buy mine at Bath and Body Works, but you can also get it directly from C.O. Bigelow.

Eddie Bauer Blanket

This thing is so big and soft and comfy and yes, I basically live in it. I have many other blankets, but this one is far and away my favorite to snuggle up with every night. We found this at a Home Goods store, but you can also buy it direct from Eddie Bauer.

Rae Dunn Work/Relax Mug Set

LOVING THIS NEW MUG SET! I bought mine off of Amazon, but I know Rae Dunn is commonly sold at TJ Maxx and Home Goods as well. I love the textured ceramic material and they are really heavy-duty,

Long Open Cardigan

Winter is also known as cardigan season. I’ve been loving open cardigans like this one that I can easily layer over lighter shirts to keep me warm in the cold temps of my office or the actual outdoors. They work great with leggings, too, which is the basic qualifier for an item to be in my wardrobe.

Smoothie Recipes

Apparently my body is trying to cling to the summer months because I’ve had a HUGE craving for smoothies recently. They’re really easy to make and to customize to your preferences. Pinterest has a ton of recipes like this one for you .

Sunglasses

You have to shield your eyes in the winter too, people! I picked up some new sunglasses from Maurices and I feel like they trick my brain into thinking it’s warmer outside than it really is. Check out their online selection of sunglasses.

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

Why Can't We Take Compliments?

It happens to us all. You’re just out there, living your life, doing your thing, and someone you know compliments the shirt you have on. Or your boss tells you that you did great work with your last client. Or your mom says she’s always admired how good you are at telling stories or hosting parties. They, entirely well-intentioned and well-meaning, look to you with a smile on their face, happy that they have recognized you for being awesome.

And you smile back, partly because it’s just automatic and partly because that’s what is expected of you.  And you say thank you. But you can’t stop there; the panic coming from inside forces you to continue speaking and brush off their kindness so that they don’t think that YOU THINK you’re all that great. The internal dialogue goes something like this:  “Ah! They’re looking at me! Quick, say something self-deprecating and witty and they’ll move on.”

So of course you say that qualifying thing. You say, “Thanks, I’ve had this shirt forever, it’s not looking so great these days!” to point out that it’s not that cute after all. Or you say, “Thanks, boss, I’m really happy our team was able to close that deal.” so you don’t claim all the glory. Or you return the compliment, such as “No, I love your stories more! I must get it from you, Mom.” Sigh. Why can’t we just take a freaking compliment?

Now, I’m not saying let’s all be boastful assholes and all full of ourselves here, but I really do wonder- what has taught us to be so afraid of taking a compliment? Are we subliminally talking ourselves down because we don’t really think that we have a good taste in clothes or make really good cookies or have a way with kids? Or- do we KNOW that the compliment is based in truth but we wanting shy away from the attention? Do we just want to convince the complimentor and anyone else in earshot that we don’t take ourselves too seriously? Are we trying to keep THEM comfortable? Are we trying to keep OURSELVES comfortable? It’s probably a good combination of all of these things.

I don’t have the answers to these questions… oh, sorry… is that what you thought you were clicking on here? Oops, my bad. Sorry, kids, I’m still working on life in general just like the rest of the world. This is just a genuine observation from my life. And, let me just say- PLEASE give people compliments. PLEASE tell someone else that their kids are well-behaved or that their eye makeup looks great or that you really admire their taste in music. The world needs people who celebrate other people freely and often.

But maybe- the next time someone shines a light on you- maybe you could just say, “Thank you; I really appreciate that!”. Just give it a try. And I will, too. And maybe we’ll just promise to return the favor to someone else and pass it on. That sounds like a good place to start.

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

How I Make My Mornings Suck Less

(Notice that I didn’t say that I could make my mornings not suck at all. ) I will admit it- I’m not a morning person. Mornings? Like, nope! Nope, not at all. I am still somehow living with my college kid bedtime and haven’t had anything external (a job, a baby, a dog, etc) force me out of that pattern as of yet. As a self-identified night owl, here’s how I make my mornings more manageable.

1. Make EVERYTHING grab n’ go- I leave myself the bare minimum amount of time to get out of the house in the morning so I have no wiggle room for hunting down my gym clothes or that black tank top that matches my shirt or my mascara. My work bag and lunch bag are all packed up and ready for me to pick up and take to the door. My gym clothes/shoes are waiting on the table right by my back door. I permanently keep my make-up in a travel case. If my morning gets away from me or I’ll need a touch up later, I toss the whole thing in my car and I’m good to go.

2. Avoid the What-to-Wear Drama- I want to make as few decisions in the morning as possible. I don’t actually “lay out” my clothes for the next day, but as I’m brushing my teeth before bed, i’ll ponder what I’d like to wear based on what meetings I have, the weather, whether I feel fat or not, etc. Then in the morning, I already have an action plan and I can just walk in to my closet and grab what I need instead of rifling through my clothes five minutes before I need to leave.

3. Find the fun- Even morning people need a little pick-me-up sometimes. (Right? I mean, I wouldn’t know…). Using a fun mug, or a cute pair of sunglasses, or putting a delicious smelling air freshener in the car can put a little pep in your step even when you don’t feel like it. Listen to a podcast, an audio book or a playlist that you love to bring up your morning mood. Heck, even changing the labels on your alarms to fun names with emojis can put a little smile on your face.

4. Do Something You ENJOY- If you’re like me and you’re TRYING to be a better “morning person”, planning to do something you really want to do first thing in the morning can actually make you WANT to get up. For example, the idea of reading in the morning feels super nice and peaceful to me, so I’ve been incorporating just ten minutes of reading a book in the morning before I start to get ready. If you try to get up early to do something you aren’t actually looking forward to, you’re going to hit the snooze, don’t kid yourself.

Tell me about your mornings! Do you get up and head right out the door or do you need a few hours to get set for your day? If you have any tips on how you became a better morning person, SHARE THEM BELOW! I’ll take all the help I can get : )

Have a great week ahead,

Meghan

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends

Book Review: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Unless you’ve been a hermit lately (which, by the way, is cool too), you’ve probably heard about Marie Kondo’s show Tidying Up on Netflix. Have you been watching it? I’ve seen a few episodes and I have to say my favorite part was when she walked into a messy room and went, “I am excited. I love mess!”

If you haven’t seen it, Marie is a Japanese organizing expert and the show is based on her best-selling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which I just so happened to have read in November. If you’re also obsessed with her show, the book may just be for you. Here’s my review:

Why I Picked It Up:

In general, I love organizing things. Sorting, color coding, labeling, etc- I’m all about it. At the time I picked up the book, we were deep into packing up every single item we owned to move into a new house, so I figured it was the perfect time to read it.

What I Learned:

In all honesty, Marie’s deep, spiritual approach to tidying up is a bit out there for me, but I did take away some good perspectives that influenced the way I have been approaching setting up our new house.

• It’s all about the JOY. You should only keep things that bring you joy. and you should only purchase new things that bring you joy. According to Marie, people get so caught up in what to throw out that they forget to put thought into CHOOSING the things they keep.

• Marie is not a minimalist. She will not tell you to get rid of everything; only the things you do not truly love. In her eyes, it’s okay to have stuff, you just have to really like it.

• Her strategy for conquering the tidying is to collect all of the things you own that are in the same category- say books, for example- from everywhere in your house and put them in one big pile so that you really get a good idea of what you have. And for ease of use, the items you keep should be all be stored in the same spot.

• One handy tip that I found was that she recommends to get rid of the packaging on your items that have words, as they create a lot of visual chaos. And when I think about all of those stunning pantry pics I’ve see on Pinterest, she’s totally right. All of the products are stored or contained in a clear or solid container without words.

““When it comes to the things I own, the clothes I wear, the house I live in, the people in my life- when it comes to my environment as a whole- though it may not seem particularly special to anyone else, I am confident and extremely grateful to be surrounded by what I love [and] by things and people that are...special, precious, and exceedingly dear to me.” ”

— Marie Kondo- The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

The Cassa: The Before Photos

Welcome to our new home! On the blog, I’ll be sharing a ton about our new house- how I’m decorating it, how I’m organizing it, and how I’m keeping up with it. Here’s some BEFORE photos for you! (These photos were taken before we moved in, so everything you see was the old homeowners’. ) Can’t wait to make this house the perfect place for us to call home.

Living Room

Living Room

Kitchen and Dining

Kitchen

Dining and Kitchen

Dining Room

Hallway/Laundry

Office

Main Bath

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Rec Room

Rec Room

Downstairs Guest Bath

Guest Room #1

Guest Room #2

Hey, I’m Mgehan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

How to Make a Vision Board

If you’ve delved even slightly into personal growth and development strategies, you’ve likely heard of a vision board. If not, here’s one of my favorite videos from YouTuber Lavendaire that explains the idea behind the exercise. I made my first one in September as I was starting my new job and as I started the new year, I wanted to create another one that aligned with my 2019 Goals. I’ve shared mine below, so tell me- have you ever created a vision board?

You can find tons of resources on YouTube or Pinterest if you want to know more about making your own. I created mine digitally, but you can also go the hands-on route and use newspapers and magazines to find the images that you think represent what you want for your life.

CHECK OUT My 2020 Vision Board Video on YouTube!

Hey, I’m Meghan

I’m here sharing content all about pursuing your own version of more and loving how you feel doing it. If that sounds good to you, stick around and let’s be friends!

What Should Your Goals Look Like?

What do I have planned for 2019? A lot of awesome stuff, that’s what! I feel like I finally have the right tools in my life to not only set goals- BUT- to actually DO THEM. I’ll share more about my favorite goal planning resources later, but for now- here’s my 2019 goals.

BIG THREE:

1. Start A Blog. Now, I could technically count this one as achieved (as you are here, reading said blog), but I can’t actually cross this off my list until I actually upkeep and maintain Morning Coffee all year long.

2. Take A Big Trip With My Husband. We love travelling together. Our last ‘big’ trip was to the East Coast in 2016. We travel locally often, but this year, we’ve decided to finally take that international trip we’ve talked about taking for quite awhile now.

3. Remake my Routines. (Especially my morning routine). I went through a lot of change last year. We got married, we both got new jobs, and we moved to a new city and a new house. While I am better at embracing change than I used to be, I also crave routine and structure. This year, I want to revitalize all my routines- money, cleaning, morning, grocery shopping and meal prepping, exercise, seeing my friends and family, etc.

Other Goals:

1. Curate my home. I want to spend a good amount of time decorating and organizing our new house.

2. I want to make a photo book and a gallery wall of our wedding photos. We spent so much money on those babies! I want to be intentional about using them well!

3. Take some online courses. I want to learn more about managing an online business and social media.

4. My 2019 Reading List. I want to read these five books, plus more I’m sure!

5. I want to explore my style and have more fun with my wardrobe. I have more freedom with my style now and I want to embrace and simplify wearing what I really love.

This isn’t a fully encompassing list, as there are many components to each of these goals, but this is the general list of what I want to get done this year. What’s on your list?

Hey, I’m Meghan

Welcome to Morning Coffee, a place where I’ll be writing every week- about my life and my goals, my house, things I love, resources I have and tools I use. It’s not only a place where I can feel joy in sharing my thoughts with the world, but hopefully a place where someone else, maybe you, can find entertainment, inspiration or camaraderie. Let’s be internet friends over a good cup of coffee, yeah?

My 2019 Reading List

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In the last six months, I have gotten back into reading for personal development. It’s been a huge shift in my life towards the better and something that I want to continue into 2019. Here’s what’s on my radar to read in 2019:

1. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert- This book comes highly recommended by many of the creatives I follow online. I’m looking to this one tol help me be creative and think open-mindedly about writing this very blog : )

2. Homebody by Joanna Gaines- I am on a mission to curate my new house this year, so this book (with a lot of pictures) definitely counts as productive reading, thank you very much.

3. The Home Edit by Clea Sherer and Joanna Teplin- Along the same lines as the book above, I am hoping this book gives me good inspiration for organizing all of the closets, cabinets, and etc in the house. I love their Instagram account, so I can’t wait to try this one out!

4. Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis- This one comes out in March and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! I listened to the audio book of her first book in this series - Girl, Wash Your Face, and Rachel is one of my favorite inspirational personalities.

5. The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck by David Ranson- Despite the fact that I love the snarky title, I am reading this one to try and gain some perspective on something that I personally struggle with- caring about what other people think. I’m not sure that this book is the “cure” for that, but it sure is a start.

Other than these five, I am leaving some space open in the year for things I find along the way or things that get released throughout the year.

Is there a book you think I should read? Tell me in the comments below and let me know what’s on your reading list!

Hey, I’m Meghan

Welcome to Morning Coffee, a place where I’ll be writing every week- about my life and my goals, my house, things I love, resources I have and tools I use. It’s not only a place where I can feel joy in sharing my thoughts with the world, but hopefully a place where someone else, maybe you, can find entertainment, inspiration or camaraderie. Let’s be internet friends over a good cup of coffee, yeah?

4 Times A Day I Check My Planner

Before I get started, let me just say- I realize that having a paper planner these days is basically the equivalent of chiseling into stone with a hammer and a nail. But- I’m not sure I’ll ever be an electronic calendar person. Physically writing things down really helps me remember them and there is a satisfaction that comes from physically crossing something off on a piece of paper that just cannot be replaced for me.

The planner I’m currently using is the Living Well Planner from Ruth Soukup. I used this planner for 2018 and purchased a second one for the new year. I like the pages that are included at the front of each month where you can put down a list of what needs to get done that month. There’s a little section in the weekly spread where you can jot down what you plan for dinner that night, which I find helpful, and there’s even a two-page budget section. (CHECK OUT ALL OF MY FAVE PLANNING PRODUCTS on my Resources Page).

I set up my year at in January, set up each month before it starts and then set up my week each week on Sunday. To follow through with all of that planning, here’s when I look at my planner every day:

1. First thing. And by “first thing”, I mean after I’ve woken up, made myself look presentable and had some coffee. I feel like my day goes haywire if I don’t at least give my day a glance first thing in the morning so that I actually remember to do all those things I put on my calendar for the day.

2. After lunch. I feel like this is the perfect time to check in to see how the day is going. Let’s be real, no one sticks to their schedule to absolute perfection. Things shift around as necessary. This is when I’ll rearrange things or push things off to another day if I know that it won’t realistically get done.

3. 8:30 PM. (ish). I’m a night owl and my husband is an early bird. He goes to sleep early because he works early. After we are both home from work, that’s our time to catch up, make dinner and relax with TV, etc. Once he goes to bed, I relish my alone time to get things done and prep for the next day.

4. Before bed. I love putting the day to rest before I clock out for the night. I check off everything that got done and shift around the things that didn’t. I check the schedule for the next day and head to bed feeling prepped.

Please tell me that I’m not the only planner nerd out there! What’s your system? How do you keep track of all of your to-dos? Comment below!

Hey, I’m Meghan

Welcome to Morning Coffee, a place where I’ll be writing every week- about my life and my goals, my house, things I love, resources I have and tools I use. It’s not only a place where I can feel joy in sharing my thoughts with the world, but hopefully a place where someone else, maybe you, can find entertainment, inspiration or camaraderie. Let’s be internet friends over a good cup of coffee, yeah?