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2/27

My Wellness Rituals for Morning and Night

Over the past few years, I have fallen HARD for a wellness lifestyle. It started small, but over time I’ve worked on so many of my “bad” habits that my daily life and routines are almost unrecognizable compared to just a few years back. It’s so inspiring to me how much these small changes really add up over time. In this post, I want to share some of my favorite morning and night rituals.

A.M. Rituals:
–Waking up early. To be fair, this was not by choice—at first. After we became parents, we pretty much never slept in again, but I love being a morning person now! We wake up at 6:15 every morning and are typically out the door to take the kids to school between 7 and 7:30. I love that I am able to have breakfast with my family every morning and still be working by 8 a.m. I think waking up later SOUNDS nice, but in practice it never made me happy. Waking up to lots of texts or feeling rushed was never good for me. Now I always feel like I am ahead of the day!

–Morning coffee. I typically have one or two cups of coffee each morning, and I no longer keep drinking it throughout the day. This has been a good change for me so I can really enjoy and savor it every morning, but not overdo it to the point that I feel dehydrated.

–Drink lots of water. After my coffee, I switch to herbal tea, water and sparkling essence waters for the rest of the day. I try to drink a LOT of liquids earlier in the day. It’s made such a big difference in my overall health and mood!

–Morning skincare. Each morning, I rinse my face with water, use toner and moisturize with SPF. I don’t wear makeup every day, so those steps keep my skin feeling fresh even when I’m not.

–Reading blogs. People are always telling me they don’t “have time” to read blogs anymore, which I think is such a shame. In my opinion, blogs are so much better than social media because they go so much more in depth. Every morning, the first thing I do in my office is open all my favorite blogs (I use Bloglovin as my reader, so I just see the new posts each morning) and read all the posts I am interested in. It takes 10-15 minutes and puts me in a great mood! This is one of the only “me time” activities that I can rely on doing every single day.

P.M. Rituals:
-Early to bed. I am in bed by 10 almost every night lately and it makes me SO happy. I go even earlier if I am tired. When I was younger, I would have laughed at this, but I’ve learned to truly value a good night of sleep—parenting will teach you that! I LOVE SLEEP.

–Night skincare routine. I remove all my makeup every night and I swap between different favorite products. You can see the full list of what I’ve been using here. I love going to bed with my shiny “glazed donut” face … that’s my good life!

–Essential oils. I like to sleep with essential oils diffusing beside my bed. My favorites are Lavender, Frankincense and Fir Needle.

–Drinking less. I used to drink alcohol quite a bit. Now I save it only for special occasions. This was a difficult transition for me at first because wine was the main thing I looked forward to after a long day. I did several 100-day challenges to help get me where I am now, but I finally don’t miss it.

–Reading actual books. I mean, duh. This took me long enough. I listened only to audiobooks for a long time, but recently I started reading physical books before bed (and also on airplanes … I still prefer audiobooks the rest of the time). There is something powerful about reading a chapter before bed and getting away from screens. I try to put my phone on airplane mode as soon as I walk into the bedroom.

–Thinking a happy thought. This sounds cheesy, I know, but hear me out. I used to have a super bad habit of going to bed spiraling while thinking about all the things I didn’t get done or need to do the next day. I went to bed overwhelmed OFTEN. To change this habit I now have a rule that morning is the time I’m “allowed” to stress—not night. So I delay worrying about the next day until I’m in a position to do something and it has helped immensely. Before bed, I spend my last few waking minutes thinking about something happy like designing my daughter’s bedroom, what kind of vacation we should plan next year … anything that’s just a “fun” happy thought.

I’d love to hear your wellness routines if you’ve implemented anything that has helped you! I definitely think my 30s are my self-care decade because I’m always feeling motivated to make some sort of change or improvement. Especially small things that are simple to try! xx- Elsie

P.S. Here’s a link to my pajama top and bottoms (and they’re on sale!).

Credits//Author: Elsie Larson. Photography: Amber Ulmer. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

35 Comments | leave a comment

2/26

Easy Orange Creamsicle Gummy Bears!

Food, Healthy, Kiddo, Small Bites, Sweet

By Laura Gummerman

Have you ever made homemade gummies? While I’ve made my fair share of jello shots, gummies without alcohol isn’t really something I’ve tried in the past. But now that we have a toddler in the house, I’ve been making them a lot this past year and it’s so easy to do! These are great to pack in a lunch bag, have a handful for a snack at home, or use as a toddler incentive when you’re trying to get them to do something (hahaha). You can switch out flavors pretty easily with different juices, but right now this orange creamsicle is my favorite! I made the gummies in two layers because it’s extra pretty, but you can also save some time and make them in one layer as well …
Orange Creamsicle Gummy Bears (makes about 40 with this mold)

For orange layer:

2/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey (you can add more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons gelatin

For cream layer:

1/3 cup milk of choice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon gelatin

Reserve about 1/4 of the orange juice in a cup, add your gelatin and give it a stir. Allow the gelatin to bloom in the cup so that the liquid solidifies (should take less than 5 minutes). Add the remainder of your juice to a small saucepan and heat on medium until hot but not boiling. Once your saucepan of juice is hot, add the bloomed gelatin to the pot and stir until the gelatin dissolves.
Mix in your honey or maple syrup and use a candy dropper to fill your bear molds about 2/3 of the way full (the molds I bought come with a candy dropper which was super helpful). Allow the molds to set a bit in the fridge for 15-20 minutes. While that layer is setting, repeat the process of adding most of your milk to a sauce pan, but reserve a few tablespoons of the milk to mix with your gelatin and allow it to bloom and solidify. Add the gelatin to the milk once it is hot and stir until dissolved. Add in your vanilla extract and stir.Once your gummies have partially set in the fridge, fill each mold to the top with your cream layer and place back in the fridge for another 2 hours to fully set.Once your bears are set, simply pop them out of the mold and they are ready to eat!
Store bears in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. I add these to Lola’s lunchbox all the time, but I probably wouldn’t take them to the beach or someplace where they will be sitting in hot conditions for a long time—they may start to melt a bit!
How fun are those?! You can make lots of flavors of gummies and all you really have to know is how much gelatin to use per cup of liquid (most of them are about 3 tablespoons of gelatin to 1 cup of liquid), and you can sub whatever kinds of juices/pureed fruits you want! You can also make gummies with agar agar for a vegan option, but you may need to play around with the amount to use as it’s a little trickier to get the right ratio with acidic foods like citrus or strawberries (and it may not work as well for intricately shaped molds). Don’t be fooled, just because these are in the shape of a bear and you can see that little toddler hand reaching for them, this mommy gets in her fair share when Lola isn’t looking … yum! xo. Laura

Orange Creamsicle Gummy Bears

Servings 40 gummies

Ingredients

For the orange layer:

2/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey you can add more or less to taste
2 tablespoons gelatin

For the cream layer:

1/3 cup milk of choice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp gelatin

Instructions

Reserve about 1/4 of the orange juice in a cup, add your gelatin and give it a stir. Allow the gelatin to bloom in the cup so that the liquid solidifies (should take less than 5 minutes). Add the remainder of your juice to a small saucepan and heat on medium until hot but not boiling. Once your saucepan of juice is hot, add the bloomed gelatin to the pot and stir until the gelatin dissolves.
Mix in your honey or maple syrup and use a candy dropper to fill your bear molds about 2/3 of the way full (the molds I bought come with a candy dropper which was super helpful). Allow the molds to set a bit in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
While that layer is setting, repeat the process of adding most of your milk to a sauce pan but reserve a few tablespoons of the milk to mix with your gelatin and allow it to bloom and solidify. Add the gelatin to the milk once it is hot and stir until dissolved. Add in your vanilla extract and stir.
Once your gummies have partially set in the fridge, fill each mold to the top with your cream layer and place back in the fridge for another 2 hours to fully set.
Once your bears are set, simply pop them out of the mold and they are ready to eat!
Store bears in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks. I add these to Lola’s lunchbox all the time but I probably wouldn’t take them to the beach or someplace where they will be sitting in hot conditions for a long time—they may start to melt a bit!

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

8 Comments | leave a comment

2/25

5 Easy Ways To Declutter Your Countertop (This Time For Good!)

Home Decor, Kitchen, Organization, Tips

By Laura Gummerman

I am one of those people who is both organized and messy depending on the day of the week and how much is going on. Working from home adds another challenge since the dining room table is basically my office Monday-Friday, so usually my house is a mess during the week and then I do a tornado of tidying up—and it looks pretty dang good for the weekend. Repeat. Repeat. However, the spot that probably bothers me the most (and the hardest to keep clean all week) is our kitchen countertop. Maybe if we had a mudroom or entryway area that would divert some of the potential clutter to those zones, but we don’t, so it all seems to pile up on our countertop instead. We’ve tried to have “rules” about how long things can stay on the countertop, but they’ve never worked more than a few days. So I decided we needed to try something different and this time it’s been amazing how well it’s working for us! I’ll show you what I did:

Use a breadbox (or large tin) for storage: One of the favorite things I’ve done was get a cute breadbox to keep on the counter that I put all our supplement and daily vitamin type things in. Especially in the winter when we have a lot of extra supplements around to head off colds, etc., they all pile up on the counter and just make things look messy. I realized a breadbox would be the perfect thing to hide all those types of items but still keep them within easy reach when needed. Of course, you can use the breadbox or decorative tin to hide whatever you like, but it made a huge difference once I stashed them all in there.

Use cute bowls/planters/vases for small item storage: Instead of banning items like keys or sunglasses (or loose change—whatever!) from the counter, just give them their own spot! I got a planter—just the right size to hold a few pairs of sunglasses and it helps keep them handy for when I run out the door, but they are also contained (and almost invisible) in the whole overall countertop look. I definitely feel like a big part of the problem with messy areas is that things don’t have designated places, and once they do, it really helps minimize potential messes. You can also do a long tray like this and have smaller bowls lined up in it for things like coins, hair ties, or other super small items.

Choose colors that blend into the background for counter appliances: Even if it’s not cluttered, countertops that are stuffed with appliances can feel messy and overloaded. So I like to choose white appliances when I can and just keep the essential ones on the counter so they blend into the background and feel more integrated into the space (and that little white retro-inspired toaster is just so cute!). Of course, depending on your kitchen, different colors will do that better or worse depending on your color scheme, so take that into account when deciding what color to try. And for the record, I am never against a cute set of colored appliances (I was definitely torn between buying the white and the pink toaster!), but if your main concern is space and the counter feeling as open as possible, I would opt for the ones that blend in rather than stand out.

Have a designated place for papers and mail: This is a huge one for me. I have to have places for papers to go or the countertop ends up looking like an overworked lawyer’s desk a week before a huge case (or at least what I imagine that looks like from the movies—I’m not a lawyer!). Something like this or this is great because it gives you several slots so you can divide between checks to cash, bills to pay, important papers you may need to reference soon, tax documents—whatever (I also love Rachel’s DIY version as well)! Just make sure you get one with segments of some kind as it makes documents a lot easier to find if they aren’t all in one clump. You can also use something like this for your fridge if you are short on counter space (I still use mine)!

Add some shelves for more free counter space: I originally added those shelves in the kitchen to make room for some of the vintage glassware I have, but it’s also been great to keep things off the counter as well! Whether you are storing your favorite coffee mug you use every day, a Chemex, or some of your smaller containers I mentioned before that hold sunglasses or keys, shelves are an ideal way to keep things up and out of the way. And if those items also match the look and colors of the rest of your counter items, well then they really blend in and become part of the decor rather than random scattered items on a shelf.

I have to say I am thrilled so far with how it’s been going since I made these changes. It’s not that no other item is allowed to touch the countertop at any point, but it’s super easy to see where things don’t belong and then put them where they do belong at the end of the day, or when I have a few minutes to tidy up while I wait for tea to brew, etc. If you have one spot that is the hub in your home as well, I hope some of these tips will help keep your counters clear as well! xo. Laura

Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

14 Comments | leave a comment

2/24

Episode #19: Elsie’s Forever-ish Home Update

Home Decor, podcast

By Elsie Larson

Happy Monday! This week, we’re sharing updates from Elsie’s phase one home renovation, which includes all the renovations happening before they move in.

You can stream the episode here on the blog or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, and Stitcher. You can find the podcast posts archive here.

This episode is sponsored by our friends at The Home Depot! We’ve worked with them on several projects and love that they have so many options and resources for home DIY and decor. Some of our favorite posts have been this kitchen remodel, Elsie’s storage room, and Emma’s accent wall update. Their app has all kinds of features to help you get more done with your projects, so make sure to check it out!

Show notes:
First things first … our kitchen before/after. In this photo, the kitchen is not complete (AKA—please do not point out the ceiling gap … I KNOW lol … we are fixing that next), this is just showing what a big difference that JUST painting the cabinets can make.

I also wanted to give a shoutout to our painter, Davis Custom Finishes. If you are in the Nashville area, I highly recommend Asa and his team. They were so quick and the work is 10/10 professional! We will have a post up soon with DIY details if you are looking to do this at home!

Can you even believe the before/after in this photo is just paint? I love how it makes the counters blend in a bit more!

–Here is the new hardware we chose from Etsy!

-Here is Kelly’s pink kitchen that we mentioned.

-We talk about Nova’s bedroom makeover quite a bit and these are the ADORABLE sconces from Etsy!

-Here is the removable wallpaper we are considering for behind Nova’s bed. What do you think? Floral wallpaper or a simple mustard yellow painted wall?

-We chat about both terrazzo and Joy Cho’s home build. If you aren’t familiar, here’s an example of terrazzo as well as a link to Joy’s home updates.

-We’re very excited about our exterior paint job coming up, especially since we are using natural mineral paint that is good for the environment. We decided to work with a painter who is an expert in this area and we found Classic Finishes via Young House Love (Lance also painted their home)!

-We mention a couple past episodes! Episode 12, where we first shared details for new our home and upcoming move. We also mentioned Episode 18, where we share a four-step program for creating a mood board for the new home!

Thank you SO MUCH for listening! It means so much to us when you share our podcast! So whether you have shared it online or shared it with a friend, thank you! We have truly felt the love and positive energy! xx- Elsie + Emma

18 Comments | leave a comment

2/23

10 Things I Love Sunday

Window Shopping

By Keely Rust

Hi hi!! Hope you’re having a beautiful weekend—it’s the last weekend in February and I can’t believe it!!! I’ll be headed to Palm Springs next week to speak at Alt Summit (if you’re going, let me know below!), so I’m going to share a few of the things I’ve picked up for my trip. Most things are very spring and summer forward and pretty budget-friendly, and I’ve also got some random home items to share.

1. OK, first. McMillions on HBO. WHAT!? This show has taken over my life. #unclejerry

2. This brush. It is the most incredible brush I’ve ever used on my fine hair—it’s like a hybrid between a giant comb and a regular hairbrush. It’s gentler, and I notice there’s less hair in my brush than when I used a regular wet brush.

3. I found a hat similar to this one at a local store here in Nashville, but I love it and I think it’ll go with a lot. I like that this one comes in so many cute colors, too! That blushy light taupe is calling to me …

4. These cute espadrilles were only $20 in my size on Amazon. I see these exact shoes in a lot of online boutiques, but they’re usually about twice the price.

5. This cute round straw bag.

6. I picked up a few dresses from American Eagle—this long-sleeve peasant-y baby doll dress, this darling puff-sleeve number, and this striped wrap style. It’s kind of bananas—a lot of the places I shopped in high school are really stepping up their game and offering really cute pieces instead of a lot of graphic-heavy stuff. It’s fun rediscovering some of these brands!

7. A little out of my price range right now, but I’m obsessed with this shop. They have the BEST band tees and I love this Blondie “Call Me” shirt.

8. If you have a space that needs a shorter seating option, I am smitten with this chair!!! I really wanted to use it in our living room, but it’s too compact … sigh.

9. Just grabbed this rug and hope it works in our space! I absolutely love the colors and it’s an amazing price for an 8×10 hand-tufted wool rug.

10. This neutral accent pillow.

9 Comments | leave a comment

2/22

Gryffindor-Inspired Bedroom

Bedroom, Before/After, Bnb, Home Decor, Kids Room, Room Tour

By Emma Chapman

Today, I am sharing the another bedroom from the upstairs of our Harry Potter-inspired bnb—the Gryffindor bedroom!

This is probably the least dramatic before and after the internet has ever seen, but hey, just showing you what we really did. Mostly just removed some wallpaper, painted, and swapped out the ceiling fan. Other than that, we simply furnished and decorated this Gryffindor-inspired bedroom.

The color I chose for the accent wall in this room is Behr Morocco Red. Instead of bunk beds, I decided to do two twin-size beds plus a small dresser. But it’s the area rug and red velvet curtains that really make the room feel finished. I also found a cute stag table lamp at HomeGoods, which immediately made me think of Harry’s Patronus, so that felt like the perfect lamp for the nightstand. For the fan art above the beds, once again Keely helped me create something fun that speaks to this house. One print has a list of famous Gryffindor names, while the other has the house motto.

Here are a few Gryffindor-inspired bedroom items: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

And as I mentioned in the Hufflepuff-inspired bedroom tour, the bathroom in this room connects, so you can see another angle of it here. See the room sources before for more details and thanks for letting me share. Expecto patronum! xo. Emma

Room Sources: bed frames, area rug, nightstand, stag lamp and throw pillows / HomeGoods, Magical Objects poster, small dresser, owl cage, curtains, and door banner.

Credits // Author: Emma Chapman. Photography: Amber Ulmer and Emma Chapman. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.

6 Comments | leave a comment

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