Self care ideas that take under an hour! + Collab with some amazing blogger girls!

Hi everyone!

It's been a bit since my last blog post! I've been focusing more on my Instagram and Youtube lately. But today, I have a post that I'm really excited for! It's a collab with some lovely girls from the blogger community! All of their blogs will be linked below.

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All of us girls have posts going out about self care. We all have different and unique ideas, so definitely go check out the other posts! I'm so excited to read them also, we'll be posting all of the posts within the same week!!

The other girls in this collab!

-Zainab from Zainab Chats

-Maryam from infinitelyadaydreamer

-Pati from Pati-Cool

-Catherine from Cath Jane Blog

-Christina from Christina and Camera

-Meghan from Meghan's Teen Life

-Imaan

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1. Basic self care! - These ideas are things such as do a face mask, take a nice shower or bath, and just relax. Self care nights are significant to staying energized.

2. Watch a tv show- This is definitely something I do a lot. It could take anywhere from half an hour to an hour, depending on what show you choose. I like 45 minute tv shows, so that they are right in between. It's a good time bracket, as sometimes 30 minutes isn't quite long enough, and an hour is too long. My favorites are Gilmore Girls and Good Witch.

3. Take a nap! - Extremely simple, but a good way to refresh and re-invigorate yourself.

4. Read a book or journal - Definitely good. If you have a lot on your mind, it's always nice to get your mind on a different subject\story. Also, journaling to get out your feelings. In this stressful time, it's really helped me to have a place where I can absolutely vent.

5. Listen to some music! - Literally such a calming thing for me. I'm obsessed with Spotify.

6. Cook or bake something - This is super fun. I love making homemade pizza, or if I'm looking for something to bake, I really like cookies\brownies. Everyone needs some comfort food when they're stressed out, overwhelmed, or tired.

7. Organize! - One of the best ways to feel like you have your life together so that you can relax is organizing! If I need to feel organized quickly, I usually like to color code my calendar, write in my planner, etc. Also, working on organizing my closet or room is one of my favorite things to do.

8.  Have a dance party! - Sounds ridiculous honestly, but one of the things that re-energizes me and gets me pumped up extremely is a dance party! This goes along with #5 a little bit. Get on your best pump up music, and just dance and sing your heart out. Trust me, it's therapeutic. 😂

9. Exercise or go for a walk - You may not want to do this since it's not extremely relaxing, but if you're trying to get your life together a bit I definitely recommend this! It's refreshing, and I like to do this and then shower and have a cozy night in!

10. Call or zoom with friends! - This is definitely one of my favorites. If I need something to uplift me a little bit, I love to see if any of my friends can do a FaceTime or a zoom. Some nights they can't do it, but sometimes they can and it's really fun. We usually do it for the zoom limit of 40 minutes. We occasionally start a new one if we need more time, but it really depends. This one has been so crucial for me over the last couple of months and takes below an hour of course!

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I hope you enjoyed this post, don't forget to go check out all of the girls in this collab's posts about self care! Love you all SO much!

-Izzy

September Wrap-Up

Hi guys!

I cannot believe that it's October. That's so crazy to me! September was pretty good, despite school low-key being death. So yeah, let's get into this!

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What I'm Loving-

Desserts

Filming and editing Youtube videos!

Binge watching tv shows haha.

Fall decorations and lights!

Playing guitar! I've been obsessed lately.

Candles. They're so relaxing.

Making to-do lists! I love them.

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Tv shows and movies -

We still need to finish Gilmore Girls AYITL! The only episode we have left is the last one, so we really need to watch that haha. Also, as always, watching the original Gilmore Girls.

Still on season 11 of Frasier!

Julie and the Phantoms. Y'all. I am freaking in love with this show. I cannot. If you've watched this comment at me hahaha because AAHH it's so good.

Chesapeake Shores! I started it at the beginning of September and have been trying to get through it before my subscription ends haha. I'm on the last episode of season 2, it's such a good show!

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Music -

Window Pain by Dawson Hollow

Happiness (stripped) by Wingtip

The entirety of Anson Seabra's new album, Songs I wrote in my Bedroom!!!!!!!!!!! (y'all Anson Seabra's music is freaking good.)

Another Place by Alessia Cara and Bastille

The entirety of the Julie and the Phantoms playlist because IT GIVES ME LIFE. (that's honestly a bad pun if you've watched the show before.)

So yeah! That was pretty much my September. How was your month? Are you excited for October? Comment below!

-Izzy

August Wrap-Up

Hi everyone!

Today's post is another monthly wrap up! August was pretty good overall, really hectic! I started school this month, so things have been crazy. Let's get into it!

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What I'm Loving -

Pool days! These days are so refreshing to get an afternoon off of school! It's just a fun, summer day in the sun not thinking about chemistry conversions and algebra fractions.

At the beginning of the month, I read SO much!! I'll update you guys on that more later on, but I read a lot of books in a small span of time, haha!

There was this incredible sunset at the beginning of the month! It was absolutely crazy. I took lots of pictures. Also, this rainbow I saw when I was at the pool! 😊 Also, this moon though! It was at like, 1 A.M haha.

Some funny pictures 😂

Forever proud of my skills to make baked spaghetti.

My cat is so cute.

Some pretty nature.

I've been having to take pictures for my photography class lately, so I took a really cute picture of my camera!

I've been obsessed with Hallmark movies the last couple of days. And I mean obsessed. Here's one I watched a couple of days ago.

A random cute picture.

My High School orientation pictures!

A photo from one of my days of school. I had to cover up my school logo, haha sorry!

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Tv shows and movies -

We're slowly inching our way through Gilmore Girls, a Year in the Life. We're halfway through. It's definitely a ride, haha!

A lot of Frasier! We're finally on the last season, so that's crazy!!

I've been re-watching some Girl Meets World, and it's just such a good show!! I really wish they hadn't cancelled it.

We watched the 2 hour Kiera Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice, and it was pretty good! I liked the 6 hour one better, but it was still very good.

Obviously Hallmark movies! I've watched so many these last couple of days, oh my goodness. My favorite is Love in Design, but most of them are just so good!

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Music -

Happiest Year by Jaymes Young is SO good!!

Maniac by Conan Grey........ love this.

Okay I hate Tik Tok, but the songs I have heard from Tik Tok are way too catchy LOL.

The Love In Design soundtrack. Just yes.

Gilmore Girls music is forever a mood.

One night by Daniel Murphy, Anthony Sanudo, and Jared Palomar.

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So that's about it, how was you guys' month?

-Izzy

What Quarantine + Summer 2020 taught me.

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile since I wrote a blog post!! I randomly got this burst of inspiration to write this, since summer is slowly coming to an end and I'm thinking about how wonderful and lovely summer 2020 was. While quarantine was kind of terrible, it still taught me things. This will be a post about what Summer 2020 and Quarantine taught me, as the both definitely taught me things.

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Alone time is okay.

I'm way more of an introvert than I thought.

It's okay to be boring and just want to knit and read and watch tv. 😂

Big t-shirts are just the best.

I will always fall in love with boys from books.

There's a big difference in being alone and being lonely.

Zoom calls make being apart 10x better.

Who cares about a bikini body.

Trying out 10 different hobbies at a time is so freaking fun.

To-do lists are your friends.

You will always feel way better if you go for a walk instead of sitting inside all day.

Cooking is ACTUALLY FUN.

Gilmore Girls and cookies fix a lot.

Algebra > Geometry

Laying on the floor instead of doing anything is definitely therapeutic.

Unplugging at the pool is the best feeling.

Life doesn't suck, your day sucks. *wait never mind life does suck*

If you end your show on a cliffhanger and have nothing to do the next day, just stay up. A super bad thing to encourage, but if it's only until like 1:30 just do the thing.

Growth is such a beautiful thing.

I really hate working out.

Learning new stuff is actually cool and not nerdy.

TAN TAN TAN. You will regret it when you're in a cold dark classroom erasing yet another math problem and wondering why you didn't take advantage of it.

New music releasing is my favorite thing.

Reading a book might not be the most productive, but at least it isn't staring at your screen.

The outdoors are such a blessing.

Make memories. Take photos, take videos, and keep them forever to look back on when you aren't having quite the best time in life. Or, take videos of you while you aren't having the best time, so that when you are, you can look back and realize how much you've grown.

Call that person. Text them. Let them know that you are thinking about them and praying for them, because even though you might not realize it, they could be having just as bad a day as you.

FOLKLORE FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!!

Change never ends.

Have a structure and be disciplined.

God's love never ends.

People change, and that's okay.

Quarantine is freaking hard bro.

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So yeah! That's about it for this post, I hope you enjoyed! What did you guys learn from quarantine? I feel like I learned a lot.

-Izzy

Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award! Productivity tips, favorite quote, and more!

Hi everyone!

I am so excited to say that I got nominated for the Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award! Francine from Ancine's Alley nominated me, so if you haven't heard of her or don't follow her blog yet, definitely go do that! She is so sweet, pretty, and is just so kind! Click on her name above to be receive the link to her blog!

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Rules:

-Thank the person that nominated you and provide a link to their blog (thank you so much Francine!).

-Answer the questions that they have given you.

-Nominate 9 other bloggers and give them 5 new questions.

-Notify the nominees by commenting on their blog.

-List the rules and display the Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award logo.

-Provide a link to the creator of the Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award: Rising Star.

The Questions:

1. What are your top tips for productivity?

I feel like there are a lot of different ways to help productivity, but a few of my favorites are to:

• Come ready to work, not ready to procrastinate
• Keep a water bottle by you and make sure you've eaten, if not, you will get hungry and that will be all you can think about. Plus, water just helps me.
• Make a to-do list! Don't try to keep everything you have to do in your head, it will be much easier on a list. That way, you can check it off as you go.
• Turn your phone face down or turn on do not disturb. If your phone is constantly going off with dm's and notifications, you're going to want to check them.

2. What's your favorite motivational quote?

I have a couple of different ones, but these are two of my favorites:

3. What does an ideal productive day look like?

I think my ideal productive day would look like working on blog stuff in the morning until lunchtime, then after lunch I would film a Youtube video and then start editing it that night, also doing other productive things mixed in so that you could feel totally productive, not just with your blog. Also, getting a workout done haha :)

But also, if it was during the school year, my productive day would look like getting my whole day of school done by about 2 P.M., then filming a video, working out afterwards, maybe working on editing, and possibly making a dessert. xD

4. How do you get inspiration for blog posts?

This really depends on the day, honestly. My blogging game has been a lot better lately after reading Jenna Terese's post about her blog scheduling. It helped me so much, and now I make a blog plan of about 6 different posts I could do during that month. Then, I just figure out how which ones work with which dates during the month. It's been really great for me, and I've had great inspiration!

5. What are your top 3 book recommendations?

I really like this question! They would have to be:

1. 100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons - *my absolute favorite book on earth* (also wrote a whole review post on this one so I'll link it here.)

2. By Your Side by Kasie West - took some really cute pictures with this book as I intended to also do a review on this one, should I? Let me know in the comments!

3. This is what Happy looks like by Jennifer E. Smith - I don't absolutely love this one as much as the two above ^, but I haven't read much lately and before I went on my huge reading spree, I hadn't read much in years, so this is probably the best I have haha.

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I Nominate:

Rachel from Little World of Rachel

Nicole Dust from Legend of a Writer

Mikayla from Mikayla Holman

Iris from Get Up and Out

Emily from Emily-Rose

Elizabeth from Izziejordan

Grace from The Daily Grace

Gemma from Daily Gem

Grace from Grace Ariya

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The Questions:

1. What is your favorite summer activity?

2. Favorite stationary product and why?

3. How did you first get introduced to blogging?

4. How do you manage blogging and school + life?

5. Best tips for how to start blogging

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So that's about it!! Thank you so much again to Francine for nominating me, it means so much to me!

-Izzy

July Wrap-Up

Hi everyone!

July was a pretty good month!! I enjoyed it, so this is my monthly wrap-up.  I hope you enjoy!

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What I'm Loving -

The 4th of July was really fun this year! We usually go to our lake house, but we didn't this year because of Covid. While I really missed that, we made the best of it and just watched fireworks, attempted to catch fireflies for the first time, and then finished pride and prejudice. 

We found out that people have actually tried to replicate the old Disney Fairies website, and it's amazing hahaha. One is called We the Pixies and the other is called Fairyabc. (It won't link.)

Posting on my blog once a week has been so great!! Here are the posts from this month:

Delicious Summer Snacks!

Summer Playlist!

What I got for my Birthday 2020!

My Summer Morning Routine! 2020

I've done so many different digital drawings throughout July, they're so much fun!

I really enjoyed cooking and baking this month!! I've definitely gotten more into it during quarantine. I learned how to make baked spaghetti a few months ago, so one night I made it for a meal for my entire family and it was so fun and tasted so good! Cookies are just a must.

I've been definitely exercising more, and it's so good for my body! I've been going on walks every night, and then I did a Tik Tok dance workout one night by Madfit (I don't even like tik tok's but the dances are fun) and then yoga yesterday. 

There's been some crazy weather this month!! Its either been pouring rain, or really sunny and hot!! There is no in between.

We went blueberry picking earlier in the month, and it was so much fun! It was REALLY hot, but I enjoyed riding about an hour away to do it, and it was fun because it was something different!

We've been having a lot of pool days lately, which I absolutely love!! The pool is just my favorite place. :)

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Tv shows and Movies -

We finally finished Gilmore Girls this month. It was a very emotional experience 😂 We haven't watched A Year in the Life yet, but I'm very excited for that.

We watched the 6 hour Pride and Prejudice earlier in the month, and I usually hate Regency stuff, but it was actually pretty good! We watched 1-2 episodes a night, and it was pretty good!

The occasional Good Witch watching. I haven't gotten to watch too much of season 6 yet, but I want to!

We are officially on season 10 of Frasier. :)

We watched the 2019 version of Little Women. I am...... still angry ngl. I haven't read the book yet, so I didn't know how it ended. I'm so mad.

This week we started rewatching Kim Possible season 3, and it's just so funny oh my gosh! Such a good show.

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Music -

I enjoy\enjoyed listening to 5 Seconds of Summer's new album, CALM. I really love\loved it!

Joshua Bassett released his single this month, Anyone Else, and I can't even count how many times I've listened to it.

Um, just FOLKLORE. WHAT EVEN IT'S JUST THE BEST OH MY GOSH.

Also, Walls by Louis Tomlinson. Super good!

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So yeah! That's about all I did this month, how was you guys' July?

-Izzy

My Summer Morning Routine! 2020

Hi everyone!

Today I will be showing you my morning routine for the last little bit. Not the most productive but I've been really enjoying it. :) So yeah! I hope you enjoy!

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10:00 - Wake up!

I usually wake up naturally around 9:30 or 10:00. I know this is late to some people, but I'm trying to savor it while I can actually sleep before school 😂 and I go to bed super late so it's fine for me, haha.

10:30 - Social media and Breakfast

For the next thirty minutes, I just catch up on my social media stuff and all of my messages, and then I just grab some breakfast, which is different some days. Most days though, I just make some cinnamon toast. It takes five minutes and I just love it. I also just fill up a big bottle of water, and I try to drink two of these a day.

10:45 - This is kind of my free time before I get dressed and start up my blog work, so I just either will draw, spend some extra time catching up on social media if I didn't use it much the day before, or just anything else I want to do at the time.

11:00 - Making a to-do list!

This has definitely become routine for every day. I used to not do to-do lists, but they really help me get everything I need to do out of my mind and written down so that I can remember it all!! It also just helps me so much to be productive!

11:30 - Getting ready!

Even if I have no where to go, I get ready each morning by brushing up, washing my face, and picking out a cute outfit!! I always jam out to music while I get ready, so today's pick was Taylor Swift's new album, Folklore. Today's outfit was a black shirt from Dillard's, blue jean shorts from Old Navy, and some really old hoops that I have no idea where they're from.

11:45 - Devotion

As you guys know, I am a christian, so I like to start my day off well with a devotion. My mom gave me this devotional, Embraced by Lysa Terkeurst, and I really like it!

12:00 - Blog Work

I like to end off every morning by coming to this desk in our house's office, and getting set up with my computer, to-do list, and water bottle. I do whatever needs to be done for my blog that day. :)

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So yeah! That's about it. I hope you enjoyed this, and I can't wait for all of my August content!

-Izzy