Happy Friday beautifuls!

Have any of you have been feeling stressed out lately? Is work wearing you so thin almost to the point where you want to crawl under the covers and hide for eternity? When was the last time you treated yourself? For those of you who are battling the adult real world like me and are NOT granted a Spring Break, you’re probably in dire need of some TLC right about now, amirite? Some time to revitalize yourself, take a mental break, practice your down-time rituals, etc… How does a week sound?

Two words mother-lovers: self-care!

As you all know, the boyf’s been away all week sailing the Caribbean-blue! I thought that I’d die of boredom if I didn’t plan out my week. So last week that’s what I did as I was preparing myself for his departure. I thought how ah-mazing it would be to take advantage of the solidarity and treat myself to some of my favorite relaxation techniques rather than pass the time by just binge-watching Friends and playing on my phone.

I could honestly practice self-care way more than I do! None of us ever think to dedicate time to care for ourselves from time-to-time. Are people still getting offended if we want to spend time with only ourselves? Why aren’t mental health days a more common thing at work?

My advice?

Screw everyone, learn to say no, and treat yo’ self, gurl! By no means say that to your boss, but like… you know what I mean? So here I am today – returning from a long week chock-full of relaxation and down-time. I’m excited to share with you 10 of my favorite self-care tips that I practiced over the last 5 nights. Let’s get right to it…

Sunday

Sunday wasn’t a great one because the inevitable dread of work hung over me like a helicopter parent and I was really just bummed about being alone. Chose to meal prep for the first time since well… the first time… lol. I chose one of the first a recipes I found on Pinterest that sounded pretty good AND healthy (always opting for both). Spaghetti squash w bacon & broccoli in a creamy, garlic cream sauce. All-around, cooking kinda turned into a disaster, so not a great start to the week (will blog about it later) but I’m at least proud that I successfully made my meals for the week.  I scooped each serving into their respective bowls and nose-dived into my couch by 9:30. While I drank a glass of red wine and watched Netflix, I wrote down a huge list of things I love. If you struggle with anxiety, this self-reflection tactic helps. In fact, I’m actually going to start trying it every time I feel anxious. Trust me, I know it sounds minute but imagine doing that everyday for a week. It put me in a completely better mood.

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Monday

The feeling that the week was going to be a long one was weighing down hard on me again this night. So I decided to kill some things on my to-do list. I had a couple of errands to run so ran those real quick then rang a friend who I knew was in town for the week. We decided to meet for dinner since it’d been well over a year since the last time we saw each other. It meant a lot to me to catch up with her because she’d been through so much in just such little time that I wanted to let her know that, “YES, hi!” I am still here for you. Plus I got to meet her 10-month old son, Kingston, and I finally got to hold him.

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Tuesday

Exhausted from the work day, I came home and got straight in bed for a hot minute. Absolutely didn’t feel like doing anything. Sometimes THAT is all you need to practice self-care. A few minutes shut away from the world. Sometimes I’ll catch myself scrolling through Instagram or Twitter for too long, but I just gotta snap out of it you know? Like, that’s not productive. I always feel bad when I waste a chunk of time on social media. But imperfection is OKAY. This week is all about self-care anyway and that’s exactly what I needed at the moment in time. Anyway. I jumped out of bed around 6 or so-ish. I went outside and decided have a mini declutter session with my car. Is it just me or is there something about simply cleaning that refreshes the soul? Like a much-need shower, I could feel for my car that fresh, new feeling. And it didn’t take too long because my car is already tiny hence preventing a hoarding problem. So I 10/10 recommend this tactic. Feeling lazy? Clean something. It makes me think “oh I cleaned this one thing. Let me clean more!” Your desk, your bathroom counter, your kitchen, the dishes, your pantry, your coffee table, etc. For the rest of the night, I binge-watched Glee. hah.

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Wednesday

I was the most excited for this night. I’d been looking forward to Wednesday for about a week to try a new exercise class. As you can tell by the cover photo, I got “tangled” into something that’s little different. Literally! My friend Michelle and I went to our first aerial silks class together at the Arkansas Circus Arts. Unlike your regular exercise class, aerial silks is fun and liberating. That’s probably why you can call it an art.  Exercising is one of the best self-care tips but you probably already guessed because of its multiple benefits. I felt quite at ease in the silks so that confirmed that it’s something I may like to pursue. But by all means, try something new and different for a change. Step out of your comfort zone! (But bring a friend. Because #socialanxiety).

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Thursday

The last night of my free self-care trial. Thursday nights are usually great for me because I tell myself I’ve reached Friday. “Woohoo, let’s drink!” And so that’s what I did. I drank the last of my boxed wine and drew a bubble bath. If you’re in your 20s and NOT investing in boxed wine and bubble bath, what are you even doing?! I take them frequently sans wine but this evening it just felt right. After soaking for about half an hour, I slipped into my favorite silk robe and decided to do a mud mask. Can’t do that around the boyfriend, right? I’m currently obsessed with using the Formula 10.0.6 brand found at Ulta. Afterwards my skin felt so refined! I like this bottle for the fact I can get multiple uses out of it. And it’s less than 10 bucks!

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Honestly, this has been one of the best weeks for me when at first I thought I was going to hate having the apartment to myself. Time seemed slower. I wasn’t busy or overworked. I just slowed down and took care of myself. It isn’t often that I’m left alone for so long that like… I actually have to come up with shit to do. That’s one of the things I strive to teach myself. Therefore becoming one of the reasons I’m searching for my own apartment. I missed out on the whole spend-a-year-living-alone-discover-yourself phase, but I’ll save that speech for another day.

Anywho ya lovelies, I hope you find time this weekend to relax and maybe do a few things for yourself for a change. These specific self-care practices may not work for you, and that is OKAY. You have to research and you may find a few things suited to you.

It’s all about doing what you love.

Seriously, gals. I love trying new recipes, making lists, finishing errands, watching Netflix, seeing my friends, taking bubble baths, and drinking wine. I catered my week to do all those things and now I feel amazing and refreshed. After a full and much-need week of relaxation, I’m ready to get out and have some fun! I’m headed to Dallas for the weekend so follow me on Instagram (@elizhastings) to see all the live updates!

xoxo EH