It’s been real, May, but I’m ready for the summer to arrive!
Lots of happy things happened over the past month, and I’m excited to share some of the events that happened and my exciting finds.
Hope May treated you just as well! Keep reading for a look at what month #5 had in store for my life.
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
Our First Wedding Anniversary – I’ll start with the best thing: we celebrated our first anniversary in this new married life! In honor of the little milestone, I shared an anniversary roundup of all the posts I shared around our wedding last year. We considered a wide variety of things to celebrate over the weekend, ranging from a wine country weekend to Disneyland to Vegas. We ended up just staying around San Diego, though, because we procrastinated planning too long. It was a lot of fun, though, and refreshingly low key. We started with hiking to Potato Chip Rock, which was one of my 2017 fit goals, then that night we did a fancy dinner at the most beautiful restaurant in La Jolla—the Marine Room. At high tide, the waves crash against the base of the building, and I was absolutely in awe of the view! The next day, to finish up our anniversary weekend, we did the champagne brunch at Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula, and it was perfection. Cheers to one year!
The Living Clearly Method – Another exciting thing that happened this past month? I found a book I actually wanted to read! I’m not a big reader—never have been. Plus, I spend all day writing at my job, so the thought of reading when I get home isn’t exactly at the top of my list. Despite this, I decided to buy a book that peaked my interest recently, written by Hilaria Baldwin (AKA Alec Baldwin’s wife, who’s a fitness/health guru and owns a yoga studio). A large portion of the book is simply her 5 principals for “living clearly,” which I thought were really interesting. There were yoga sequences at the end of each chapter, which I made a point to do before moving into the next chapter. I’m still reading through some of the recipes at the end of the book, but overall, I thought it was a great book an would recommend it if you’re interested in healthy living and yoga!
Crap Bag & Princess Consuela Banana Hammock Mugs – My husband gets me. We decided to get each other small gifts for our first anniversary, and this was part of his to me. Pretty sure my reaction when he handed me the pair of mugs was, “Are you kidding me?” Because I’ve been legitimately planning to buy him these for a couple years now. #FriendsReference #HesMyLobster
Anne Taintor – Ohhhh Anne Taintor products are the best. The pairing of a retro, pin-up image and the extreme sarcasm is perfection. I actually got this mug for being a bridesmaid in my friend’s wedding last fall, and I think it suits me.
Counting Macros – Once upon a time, I wrote about how to count macros. It’s consistently one of my most popular blog posts. Well I decided about a week ago to re-install the My Fitness Pal app to count my macros, just to get an idea how many calories I was consuming and my ratio of macros. Once you start doing it on a regular basis (and if you don’t go out a lot), it gets easier, and as I’ve continued logging my macros day in and day out, I’ve started to really like it. Although I usually go over the calorie count (since it doesn’t account for my workouts), I try to keep my ratio of protein to fat to carbs on par with my goals. It’s a great tool for keeping yourself accountable, even if you’re not obsessive about it.
Tea – I go through stages of loving tea and then not drinking any for a month or longer. Lately, I’ve been loving hot tea for something at night, instead of alcoholic drinks. I’ve noticed sometimes I just want a fun beverage—doesn’t necessarily need to be wine (though that’s the ideal option 😉 let’s be real). Now that it’s getting hotter, I’m all about the iced tea. Muddle some fruit in there, and voila! Fun, healthy drink.
New Gallery Wall – This bad boy took me awhile to put together. I created a little gallery wall situation in our house before we moved, and I had a bigger wall to fill this time, so I had to take a trip to Ikea to stock up on some more cheap, acceptable-quality frames to add to the mix. It’s not perfect (and a few of the frames are crooked here), but I’m so excited to have all our pics up!
Nutritional Yeast – I’ve been wanting to try nutritional yeast for awhile now, so when I saw it on a recent excursion to Trader Joe’s, I threw it in the basket immediately. What is it? It’s a deactivated yeast that’s often used in vegan and vegetarian dishes as a flavor enhancer or cheese substitute (especially parmesan). It has a nutty, cheese-like flavor and is packed with vitamins and minerals, including a lot of B-complex vitamins. Even though I’m by no means vegan, I really like the idea of incorporating vegan ingredients in different foods, and so far, I’ve been adding this as a topping for popcorn. I’m looking for new ways to use it, though, so if you’ve got any ideas, do share!
Anna Sun by Sun Kil Moon – I need to create a new workout playlist because it’s been gradually growing for awhile, with this as one of the more recent additions. Loving the upbeat, happy vibe!
Birkenstocks – As I get older, I’ve started to invest in better quality items and stray a bit from cheap fashion (though that’s still about half of my wardrobe). One area I’ve been really working on? Shoes. I’ve been wanting good quality sandals for awhile now, and after planning to get Birkenstocks for about year or longer, I finally shelled out some money for this pair of Mayari sandals. It’s taken me awhile to gradually break them in, but they’re feeling much more comfy these days. I really liked this style because they aren’t the typical Birkenstock style, so I feel a little less hippy-like. Regardless of the style, though, it seems everyone who has owned a pair of Birkenstocks absolutely loves them, so I’m thinking this was money well spent!
Congrats on your first year of marriage! And that’s awesome you’re trying nutritional yeast! I love adding it to my pasta! And it’s so good for us–packed with protein and often fortified with B12 🙂
Thank you!! 🙂 And pasta seems like a great way to use nutritional yeast. I’ll have to try it!