After Nine To Five

See You Soon!

May 17, 2013 by Ashley

HAPPY FRIDAY!

We’re leaving for our vacation soon and I’m no where close to ready. But as long as I have clean underwear and my camera – I should be set, right?

The next week is probably going to be filled with too much food, far too many pictures than I could possibly know what to do with, way more walking than I’ve ever done in one week, and a copious amount of energy drinks to make up for the lack of sleep I’m pretty sure I’ll be suffering from. And yet all of that just makes me even more excited to go.

This road trip dates back to pretty much as long as I’ve known Nathan as it was one of the first things that really drew us together. We both loved to travel and apparently had yet to find someone we could do it with for a long period of time. So before we were even dating, we talked about taking a long road trip across the portion of the US and just shy of five years later – we’re finally doing it!

I have a few posts scheduled for while we’re gone and I’m sure I’ll be using Instagram, but I hope you guys have an AWESOME week and Memorial Day!

See you soon!

1 Comment
Filed Under: travels

Help A Girl Out

May 16, 2013 by Ashley

Happy Thursday everyone! We’re just a few days away from our vacation and OH MY GOSH I am so excited!

Today I’m letting Amber from My Three Bittles take over my blog with a request for your help. It’s super easy and (in my humble opinion) really important because it’s to help get shoes for her adorable children. So please take a few minutes, read through the post, take a few more seconds to head over here to vote and if you’re feeling extra nice - share her link with your friends and family! I’ve known Amber for quite some time now and I can promise you she deserves this (along with her littles!) so we would both really, really, really appreciate you taking just a few minutes out of your day to help this lady!

- – -

Once upon a time there was a fair maiden.
She wasn’t the fairest in the land but her husband thought she was pretty awesome.

Okay…. I have no idea what I’m talking about, it sounded good though.

Anyway, Hi guys!! I’m Amber and I blog over at My Three Bittles and I’m here today because I need some help. This month I was lucky enough to be part of an online styling contest through onlineshoes.com.

Here’s how I styled these adorable sandals.

amber

Cute, huh?! I thought so.

So anyway, I’m here to basically ask you to go vote for me (I’m the first one) and help me win!

The winner gets some money to spend on the site and I plan to buy my ittle bittles some school shoes for the fall. But I can’t do it without a bit of help. Head here to spare a vote for me. It literally takes 2 seconds. You don’t have to like anything or sign up for anything. You CAN put your email address in to win a pair for yourself though!

Thank you for your time and help! I truly can not express how much I appreciate it!

Click HERE to vote.

1 Comment
Filed Under: Friends

Handmade Wednesday: Road Trip Edition

May 15, 2013 by Ashley

Some of my favorite handmade finds this week:

What are your favorite handmade items this week?

5 Comments
Filed Under: Handmade Wednesday

My Own Wonderland

May 14, 2013 by Ashley

Brandon Christopher Warren / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

How is your week so far?

I’ve got vacation brain to the max. Every thing I do somehow feels like it relates to our trip, even if there’s nothing that easily links the two. Cleaning the cat litter box? Hooray – I won’t have to do it next week! Answering emails? I’ll be emailing photos of NYC and DC next week! Driving in the car? I’ll be taking the subway next week!

Endless.

And ridiculous.

But it just reminds me of why this trip is the perfect thing for me.

Maybe it’s just me – it sure as hell feels like it’s just me – but I have the urge to do something new all the time. And by all the time, I literally mean all the time. Every week, every day, every waking hour. New book, new song, new movie, new food, new place, new experience?

Can’t get there fast enough.

When I say it out-loud or even type it out, guilt creeps in. Fast and ongoing. I start to question my motives, my hopes, and my dreams. Is anything ever good enough for me? Does anything last long enough to keep my interest for more than a few hours? Am I just not appreciating what I have in life?

Deep down, I know none of this is true. I know that things are good enough for me, and that things can last long enough to keep my interest for more than a few hours, and I truly do appreciate the things in my life. But I still want more.

I’ve spent years apologizing for this trait of mine. One that is most likely one of the key traits that define me. I’ve apologized for wanting more, dreaming more, and needing more to feel at peace. I’ve apologize for my actions, ideas, and thoughts. Not because I truly felt as if I were doing something wrong, but because I felt like I was breaking the rules by being this way.

Our society has made it seem as if what I’m doing, wanting, and needing is unacceptable. It’s greedy, selfish, and impolite. Yet none of those feelings resonate with me when I’m awaiting my next big adventure. These actions aren’t fueled by the need for more from anyone or anything – they’re fueled by a want to immerse myself in life.

I have a thirst for living. How is that negative? How is a want to experience everything that life has to offer reflected in such poor lighting? And why is being willing to die trying such a

I aim to live with no regrets. Not because I never dig deep enough in life to regret something, but because I want to make mistakes that allow me to grow. I want to take risks because I want to reap the rewards. I want to try something new just because I want to say I did it – even if I end up hating it.

Because at the end of the day, I’m terrified of dying.

Not because of what happens next or even being gone. But because the idea of taking my last breath and thinking about the things I missed out on weighs heavy on me. Really heavy. Heavy enough that it’s always there, every single day, reminding me to dream just a bit bigger and go just a bit farther because there may be something truly amazing that’s currently just out of my reach.

And I think it’s my turn to experience those things that are just out of my reach instead of saying “maybe some day, when someone else isn’t around to judge my actions.” I think it’s my turn to say I’m done with the apologies. I’m done with the guilt for wanting to experience things and the frustration that stems from not fulfilling a core need of my own. I’m done with the emptiness that sits in my soul while I wait to find the perfect timing for someone to approve of my life’s choices. I’m done with waiting for my own version of Wonderland when it’s truly just waiting outside of my doors.

I’m using this trip to embrace myself, my life, and everything is has to offer. And I know I’m going to come back a better version of myself because there’s no better way to boost your inner self’s confidence than to surround yourself in things you thrive on with the person you love more than anything in the world for ten days.

Happy Tuesday, friends. :)

1 Comment
Filed Under: inspiration, life, travels

Happy Mother’s Day

May 12, 2013 by Ashley

momday

Wishing all of you lovely ladies that have children or even furry children the happiest of days today!

And if you’re looking to spoil yourself or a loved one, today is the last day to save $5 off orders of $20 or more in the shop! Use code 5OFFMAY to get the savings by midnight! Not applicable to Narwhal Boxes or lip balm subscriptions.

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Happy Holidays

In The Know

May 11, 2013 by Ashley

We’re officially a week out from our East Coast road trip and saying I’m excited it pretty much the understatement of the year. And while I am excited to get away from work and the same old, same old – I’m also really excited for another reason. Nathan and I are trip planners to the max. I hate planning, unless it’s for something exciting. Nathan loves planning for anything and everything. Combine that with a vacation and suddenly, we’re master planners and have the most detailed trip plan ever.

But not this time.

This time we decided to take a trip – a BIG trip – in less than a month and a half. On top of that, we booked our hotels and said the rest would be decided on the trip. As in while we’re driving or after we’re in the city. It’s completely out of my comfort zone, but I am so excited to just take things as they come and not have to keep checking to make sure we’re checking off everything in our itinerary. Because we planned the trip this way though, we decided we’d spend an extra $10 to get the mobile hot spot so we’d have Internet for our iPad while we’re on the go.

And here’s where MSN comes in.

The new MSN experience is available on Windows 8 devices and on iOS and Android mobile devices which makes it perfect while we’re on the road. We’ll be able to check the weather, find directions or which subway to get one, show times if we decide to visit Broadway, museum hours, and so much more with just a few clicks. Not only that, but we’ll be able to stay up-to-date on current events and check email/social media for the business when we’re working.

Have you checked out the new MSN experience yet? Share your thoughts below! Also, find out what others are saying about it on Twitter with the hashtag #MSNKnowNow.

This post was created in partnership with MSN. Find out more about the all new MSN experience at allnew.msn.com or see it in action on Windows 8, Android, or on iOS at msn.com

Overstimulated

May 9, 2013 by Ashley

Yesterday I went shopping.

I’m sure 99% of you are probably thinking “so what?” But 1% of you gets it. You get that it’s a big freakin’ deal for me to get outside of our house. And an even bigger deal to go into a store with someone other than my husband.

It’s the little things.

Back to the point.

Do you know what I did when I went shopping with my Mom? I shopped. I talked. I browsed. I did everything you’d normally do when you shop. But all that doesn’t matter. What does matter is what I didn’t do while I shopped.

I didn’t tweet. I didn’t take photos. I didn’t text. I didn’t (okay, I did a little) check my emails.

I wasn’t feeling mopey about my last two days that have royally sucked. I wasn’t wondering why my house wasn’t as pretty or as clean as someone else’s. I wasn’t comparing my clothes to those that are showcased by fashion bloggers. I wasn’t trying to find photographic moments of my life to post on my blog. I wasn’t trying to find some deeper meaning or connection with what I was doing to share here (although I am anyway so how’s that for being a rebel?)

Essentially I was there. In the moment. Enjoying it. Living it. Breathing it in.
Not wishing I was in someone else’s shoes, clothes, house, city, or career.

Do you ever think about life before you blogged?

I do. A lot.

And I think about the fact that I wasn’t nearly as hard to please back then because it wasn’t so damn easy to transport my mind into someone else’s life just long enough to resent bits and pieces of my own life. I didn’t know what hundreds of other people wore on a daily basis, or how they wanted their house to appear, or how beautiful some cities across this country are, or how successful so many people were, or how delicious their food can look, or how gorgeous their photography was.

Maybe I was sheltered, but what I didn’t know truly couldn’t hurt me.

Truth be told, I miss those days. I miss the little things. How Sunday mornings were meant for sleeping in, not catching up on blog reading. How life wasn’t lived like everything had to be documented, or inspirational, or over the top. How moments were enjoyed without a camera or the blinking cursor on how to write about it. How food didn’t have to look presentable – it just needed to taste good.

The list is endless.

And it’s no one’s fault but my own for getting caught up in a game I was destined to lose.

I want this blog to be about the life I live, the moments I get lost in, and the simple pleasures that make my life mine. What I don’t want is for this blog to be made up of moments only half enjoyed because I wasn’t fully there and was instead processing how it could be shared.

Here’s to more nights in the backyard during the warm nights doing nothing of importance. Here’s to trips to the mall with my Mom where we just catch up on life. Here’s to weekend days being spent in bed or watching movies. Here’s to food that is made to be eaten – not to be photographed. Here’s to saying yes to life and getting caught up in the moment with no regrets.

And here’s to my challenge to myself, and to you should you choose to take it. Take time out today, tomorrow, and every day after that and just do something you did before you began blogging. Don’t do it to blog about it – do it just because you want to. And if you do blog about it, great. If you don’t, that’s great too. But do it. Take five, ten, twenty, or thirty minutes – maybe even an hour or more if you can! – to just go back to the way things were for a bit. And appreciate the life you have, the person you are, and the wonderful things you do without having to document it, without having to justify it, and without having to compare it to someone else’s story.

8 Comments
Filed Under: inspiration, life

We Speak Now

May 8, 2013 by Ashley

Here’s the post:

Happy May Speak Now friends, both new and old!

Today is an exciting day for Speak Now

Today, some fabulous ladies have teamed up to link up and tell you that you’re beautiful.

Speak Now is all about beauty from the inside out.

We believe in your dreams + passions. We believe in you.

Today we want you to look in the mirror and tell yourself that you’re beautiful.

Identify what makes you feel beautiful. Make this feeling an obligation in your life.

Today we are here to remind you that you can do anything.

Today and everyday, you are lovely, you are perfect, you are bold, you are unique.

Today and every day- you are beautiful!

Speak Now is a women empowerment organization

built around the philosophy that self-love, self-respect, + self-confidence will make you beautiful.

We empower. We create. We educate. We inspire.

Link your blog up to connect with other bloggers who believe in the empowerment of women and help us spread awareness about the importance of women empowerment!

Once you link up, no community experience would be complete without a little welcome gift!
We are giving away a $100 visa gift card and any piece of beautiful jewelry from the Speak Now shop!

So link up, enter our giveaway, take a look at some of our blogging friends, and share our mission with your friends, family, and fellow blogging community.

We are an online community designed to believe in you.

Today, we want you to join our movement.

_________________________________________________________________________________

HOW TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY

& win a $100 visa gift card and a custom jewelry piece from our jewelry store

MANDATORY TO ENTER:

****MUST FOLLOW SPEAK NOW ON EITHER FACEBOOK, TWITTER, OR INSTAGRAM TO ENTER*****

*****MUST LINK UP BLOG BELOW TO ENTER*****

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES:

+1 for each // Follow Speak Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram – COMMENT FOR EACH

+ 1 for each // Follow via GFC, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for any of our co-hosts – COMMENT FOR EACH

+ 1 // Share Speak Now’s I AM BEAUTIFUL May link up with your FB or twitter friends - COMMENT FOR EACH

+1 // Spreading the word via status/tweet/instagram post- COMMENT FOR EACH

COMMENTS ARE OFF ON ALL WEBSITE’S CO-HOSTING THE EVENT SO YOU CAN HEAD ON OVER TO SPEAK NOW’S WEBSITE AND COMMENT TO ENTER!

{ WWW.WESPEAKNOW.ORG }

A very special thanks to Aunie of Aunie Sauce, Casey Wiegand, Keri-Anne Pink, and Salena Lee for sponsoring our link up!

How To Lose Followers {And Why I Recommend It}

May 3, 2013 by Ashley

{source}

Months ago, I hit a crossroads:

Quit my blog or change my blog.

Maybe it had to do with maturing, or business getting in the way, or maybe the politics of it all just got old. But what I was doing wasn’t working.

I posted about it, talked about it to friends, stressed over it with my husband, and strongly leaned towards quitting blogging all together. I was ready to walk away. Really ready. But then I posted about it again. And I really told myself that it was time. Time for me to find my place here, find the right words, find the right mixture for everything.

So I took that time. I cut back on posting, I spent less time on social media, I took a little longer to respond to emails, and participated in fewer blogger activities. I did everything that I needed to and wanted to do. And here is where I’m supposed to tell you that it worked out, right? That I gained more followers, and the page views grew, and my blogging life became perfect.

All wrong.

I lost followers. And I lost a lot of page views. And I missed out on opportunities because I was no longer striving for those things.

But something else happened instead.

I found joy elsewhere. My joy no longer stemmed from an increase in page views, or a sudden jump in followers, or an increase in opportunities for me to write about. It slowly crept into crevices of my life that needed to be dusted off for a long time. I started cooking again – actually using the stove and more than the microwave. I stepped outside – and didn’t feel guilty for it or that I needed to be photographing each moment. I took breaks – wasting time and not feeling like I needed to be go, go, go 24/7. I spent time playing with our dogs and relaxing with my husband – all without feeling like I was missing out on something online.

Online? I haven’t bounced back from any of those choices and honestly, I doubt I will. Blogging has shifted from being a focus of my life to a part of my full life and I am more than okay with that. In fact, I’m disappointed that I let myself think it was more than it truly is to me.

Offline though, I’m surrounded by things that build me up and give me strength. Things that help me feel balanced and whole as a person. Things that feel real, tangible, and important to my core being.

So would I recommend changing up how you blog and your entire online life, even if temporarily? Hell yes I would. If you’re guilty of doing what I was doing – chasing the wrong things, believing the wrong things, and trying to fill the shoes of the wrong person – then do it. Lose everything you don’t need to be amazing. Lose all of it. And don’t look back. Just look forward. And look at everything that you’ve given up, or missed out on, or forgot you enjoyed and embrace it. Engulf yourself in it. And then see if you want to go back to who you were or what you were doing.

You just might be surprised at how easy it is to be amazing without all of those things.

Filed Under: blogging, life

Conscious Cleanse Update

May 1, 2013 by Ashley

If someone told me I’d dream about eating pretzels two days in, I probably would have said there was no way in hell that I’d even consider this cleanse. While I have nothing against pretzels, they aren’t really a favorite food of mine so the fact that I’m feeling so bread derived that I dream about pretzels is a bit disheartening.

But outside of the bread cravings, it’s going really well.

We’ve tried a ton of new things that we haven’t had before like chia seeds, hemp hearts, and flaxseed. And I’ve learned to incorporate greens like spinach and swiss chard into normal meals without having them taste overly leafy. I’ve also managed to overcome my dislike for green smoothies by focusing on fruit that overcomes the vegetable taste they have without the right fruit.

We’ve made Chia Seed “Pudding” (pictured above) which is probably the weirdest thing I have ever made. And we made fried rice that has been the only fried rice we’ve made that I’ve ever actually liked. Outside of those meals, some hummus, salads, and green smoothies we haven’t really gotten far in the recipes they have for the cleanse. I’m super excited to try to make some cleanse friendly Tahini Almond Cookies tonight though. My sweet tooth will hopefully get it’s fix because as much as I love bread, I love dessert just as much.

But as much as I love all of the new things I’m trying and how healthy it tastes, one of the things I’m most excited about being able to tell when I’m hungry now. I’m not snacking just to snack – I actually know that I need to eat. I start to get a bit tired and feel myself running out of energy. Grabbing a handful of nuts or some fruit wakes me right up and gets me back to being my productive self. I honestly never thought that was possible. I have always been an anytime eater – eat when you’re hungry, eat when you’re bored, eat when you’re tired, eat when you’re working, etc. I just liked to eat. But now I feel like I’ve already broken the cycle and eat when I need to, no more and no less.

And the biggest accomplishment so far? No more headaches!

I started pre-cleanse meals a few days before the cleanse to ease into it and haven’t had a single one since I started that. I’ve had headaches and migraines at least 2x a week for as long as I can remember so this is the best thing since sliced bread. But I’m pretty sure a slice of bread would be the most delicious thing on the planet right now. It’s been rainy, it’s been cold, it’s been windy, and it’s been sunny so I’ve had my share of weather changes which sometimes affected them but I haven’t even felt the smallest one come on. This is doing wonders for my mood, my sleeping, and my productivity.

So even without the bread, I’m really happy with the results so far and am excited about the next week and a half.

Also, I don’t think I’ve ever talked about bread this much in one post.

I just want a sandwich.

Filed Under: The Conscious Cleanse