Years ago, I used to pack up on the last day of vacation and race to get home. Not anymore! I’m learning to make the very most of my minutes, hours…days! This last weekend was one for the books! I took my daughter to the Monterey/Carmel area for her graduation trip – lucky me! First of all, she is an amazing human and we have the best time together and secondly – I couldn’t be more proud. I never graduated college and I had a front row seat to see the blood, sweat and tears that went into a college athlete graduating college – proud is an understatement.

As I’ve said before I hope this weekly blog entry will help give you some ideas on how to spend your free time too. Our first stop was at a somewhat local winery that I always wanted to visit and never had – Michael David in Lodi, CA. If you haven’t gone yet, you should. The setting is beautiful, wine was great (and very affordable) and we heard the food and pies are delicious (we will have to try the food next time).

We did a little tasting and headed on down the road to our destination – Monterey. We stayed at the Monterey Beach Hotel. We will 100% be back. We ate breakfast there, and it was delicious (highly recommend paying for breakfast with your stay). We had shrimp tacos, that we ate down on the beach one night – SO YUMMY. They gave you s’mores kits to use out by the firepit every night and we were literally steps to the sandy beach! It was truly perfect. AND, if you need someone to help with your travel arrangements – my girl Casie with Fora Travel is AMAZING!

I debated staying on Cannery Row in Monterey and 100% made the right decision, this setting was so calming. We literally walked right outside our door to couches by the fire pit. You can also easily Uber to Carmel and Monterey. Definitely recommend.

Our weekend was filled with delicious food (The Fish Hopper is a MUST in Monterey), more wine tasting (SO many tasting rooms and wineries in Carmel), shopping (I even found a Sunday Funday glass), The Monterey Bay Aquarium, laughter, great conversation and beautiful memories.

I agree whole heartedly with the above quote. My friend has had a saying for years ‘Book the Trip, Make the Memories’. I promise you, you will not regret it. Just a weekend away is such an amazing reset. Now, we need a vacation from our vacation – we sure packed so much in. Don’t forget to fill your home and/or office with fresh flowers – you deserve it! As always, thank you for being on this journey with me – together we can make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. Cheers!

As I’m trying to still figure out this world of blogging, I’m also trying to figure out when to regularly post and what you want to read about. I had a beautiful and enlightening Sunday, so it dawned on me… Perhaps I should publish a blog on Monday to remind you to reflect on your previous week, plan for the week ahead and share different ways to celebrate your Sunday Funday! By the time you are done reading this, I want you to look forward to your next Sunday AND Monday. Yep, you heard me right, Monday too!

Through the years, my weekends have looked all sorts of ways. The majority of my younger parenting years were spent on a soccer field in various places. I love all of those years, they were crazy and chaotic and oh so memorable. You know, we were basically day camping in the dead heat when you typically had a morning game and then not another until later in the afternoon. I would bring my pad of paper and get my meals planned for the week and still be present with what was going on. My life is less chaotic now, but know that you can still find time in your chaotic day to do something that brings you joy to wrap up the weekend…even if it’s 10 minutes (I remember those days). Although I sometimes miss the chaos, I’m embracing where I am presently and truly enjoying the heck out of life! The key – you need to find the things that bring you joy, and do more of THAT!

What did my Sunday look like yesterday? Well, my boyfriend had plans all day with his buddies so I made it my mission to have a very fulfilling day… and I did exactly that. I laid in bed for a solid couple of hours after he left and read, I may or may not have fallen back asleep, scrolled my phone, looked at recipes and just completely relaxed. I got up around eight and got a great workout in. No days off! I am a huge believer in the way you start your day, no matter the day of the week, sets the tone for your entire day. After my workout, I made a healthy and tasty breakfast and sat down with my new cookbook and turned on my favorite cooking show. I planned my meals for the week and I’m excited to try a few new recipes. I made a ‘to do’ list for the day, making sure to add something that was a bit out of my norm, threw in a load of laundry and took off to treat myself to a pedicure. It felt amazing! That massage chair wasn’t too bad either. I came back and made a tasty and healthy lunch.

I truly contemplated a nap at this point because the next thing on my list was a tad outside my comfort zone. I talked myself into it, I was on a mission to mark everything off my list. I put on my bathing suit and jumped on my bike. I haven’t been on a ride by myself yet. It may sound silly, but being only a few months post-op from my ACL surgery, I was thinking about all of the ‘what if’s’. I went a few miles down the way to this great park where I can ride right down to the lake, with what felt like hundreds of other people. I parked my bike, took out my small blanket and waded in the cold water for a bit. I sat and relaxed for a while and had a nice little chat with my son on the phone, listening to the waves crash along the shore. There are so many boats out on the lake that it darn near sounded like I was next to an ocean. I threw my clothes back on, again very much outside of my comfort zone, got back on my bike and leisurely made my way back home. When I got home, I did a little tidying to start the week with a clean kitchen, finished the laundry and prepped my breakfast and lunch for Monday…oh, and made a delicious dinner (click HERE for this week’s menu and a glimpse at my yummy Sunday dinner).

When my boyfriend got home, we turned on a movie and made some yummy pop popcorn and relaxed for a bit. A movie and popcorn is definitely one of my favorite things to do to relax. We chilled for a bit and decided to go on a little ride. That little ride took us down to the dock. We saw a beautiful sunset on the left and off to the right was this magical glow behind the mountain. We sat under the stars and watched the moon rise (this was a first for me). It was truly so beautiful to watch the night sky transform, I can’t believe I have never seen that before. Please add this to your list…sunrise, sunset and moon rise. Simply stunning!

Ahhhh…The importance of a Sunday fun day. I sat and reflected on the week before, what I had accomplished and what I want to do differently. I planned for my week ahead personally and professionally. This doesn’t have to be a big hairdo. Jot down a few things you want to accomplish for the week or something maybe you want to do consistently every day, and start there. Make it easy and doable. Make a list of things that would bring you joy – a little self-care, if you will. Work these things into your Sunday. Remember a Sunday well spent brings a week of content!

When I say, I have planned my meals, I’m sure some of you want to smack me. Some of you think I’m crazy and some of you plan your meals too. Need a meal planner? I’ve got you… Click HERE to check out my magnetic side of the frig meal planner. Need a journal to keep in your purse, mine is the perfect size and great to keep on hand to jot down things that come to your mind or perhaps you’re running to do list for the week or grocery list.

So, are you excited to plan your next Sunday…AND not dread your Monday. If you do Sunday right, Monday’s are just another beautiful day to be alive…plus you are one day closer to Sunday! What do YOU do on Sunday Funday? I’d love to hear from you – drop it in the comments or shoot me a message. Don’t forget those flowers – go grab yourself a beautiful bunch to admire throughout your day. You deserve it. As always, thank you for being on this journey with me – together we can make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. Cheers!

Do you ever take the time to set an intention? Actually state out loud or on paper what you intend to do for the day, the week or the month? This is completely different from your never-ending to do list. I will focus on the task at hand today. This was my intention for today.

I was listening to a great podcast episode by The School of Greatness. If you haven’t checked out this podcast yet, please do. I am pretty good about journaling and setting intentions but you know when you hear someone say something a different way, it just clicks. Well, that is what happened for me. He explained in this podcast to set an intention for the day in the morning. Then he took this one step further and I took it as a bit of personal accountability. In the evening, reflect on that intention. Did you truly stick to your intention for the day? It’s interesting, I set my intention this morning while I was journaling and keep reminding myself of that intention and I have had an incredibly productive day. And we all know that I’m a member of the ‘something shiny’ club.

This doesn’t have to be a big long drawn out process. This can literally take you seconds…minutes. My intention for today was to Focus. Focus on whatever task it was that I was working on – laser focus. I ended up turning my DND on throughout the day to alleviate that distraction. When I was done with one intense task I was working on, it felt so good to not have any interruptions and to just get it done. In reflecting now, had I not had my DND on, I would have taken a phone call that came in and that would have distracted me from what I was working on and in turn, would have taken me longer to complete that detailed task I was working on . It was a work call that I missed and I was able to call them back in about 15 minutes. We need to remind ourselves that we live in an immediate world, but we don’t have to be immediately available all the time! Today I truly focused on what I was doing when I was doing it and it felt really good!

Here are some cool ideas for setting an intention. I suggest you say it out loud, write it down and say it out loud again. Make it stick and remind yourself throughout the day what your intention is.

There you have it…an easy little life hack that anyone can do anytime and boy is is powerful. I find there is SO much power in the ‘little’ things.

Remember…energy flows where intention goes. Gosh, that is such a great saying. What kind of energy do you want to bring into your day? Don’t forget to grab yourself some fresh flowers to make you smile – you deserve it! As always, thank you for being on this journey with me – together we can make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. Cheers!

Why oh why is there so much comparison going on? No two people, situations or outcomes are EVER the same. So why do we do this to ourselves and others? Let’s stop the comparison game…TODAY! Who’s with me?

Social media doesn’t help this situation at all. You see what people WANT you to see. Drink this and you will look like a super model. My family is picture perfect – look, the picture proves it. Invest in this and you will be a millionaire. Let’s be honest…nothing ever worth it is easy – good health, marriage/children/family life and earning a living. Life is digging in the trenches and doing the work and gosh, that is part of the beauty. The beauty is in the journey of life and all the trials and tribulations in between. After all, it’s that hard work to get to where YOU want (not where someone else is or wants you to be), that is where all the lessons are. You need to struggle and try different things to see what works and what doesn’t. BUT, life is not a one-size fits all type of situation. What works for you may not work for someone else…even if your situations appear to be similar. They just aren’t and that is OK.

Not only do we, as humans, compare ourselves and our journey to others…we try to compare our situations with others. Please stop doing this. My divorce is not like yours, and that is OK. My childhood was not like yours, and that is OK. My injury is not like yours, and that is OK. My child isn’t the same as yours, and that is OK. I could go on and on. You definitely cannot understand and/or have empathy surrounding a situation until you have gone something similar…I understand that whole heartedly – however, don’t rob the other person of their experience.

So please guys, let’s stop this toxic comparison game. Yes, even the ‘I used to be more fit in my 20’s’…uhhhhh, you aren’t in your 20’s. Stop comparing yourself with yourself. How about, if you want to change something about yourself, then do it. There truly isn’t a magic formula or pill (FYI…Jack and the Beanstalk isn’t real). Quite honestly, who gives a hoot what you looked like in your younger years – that isn’t your present. Embrace and love who you are RIGHT NOW! In order to get what you want, mentally, physically, professional and personally…YOU NEED TO PUT IN THE WORK! You are a unique creation and you should treat yourself as such.

Ha – that was a good one…pizza is delicious and so are YOU. Please make me a promise to stop with the comparing. Just DO YOU and be proud of yourself where you are in this exact moment. Who cares what Judy next door is doing or Bob on Instagram – what are YOU doing? Are you doing things that bring you closer to your goals and dreams? Please don’t forget to get yourself some fresh flowers to bring you a little joy. As always, thank you for being on this journey with me – together we can make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. Cheers!

Yes, we all wish for more time in a day. News flash – that is not going to happen. Do you truly ever stop to think about how you spend your days, your hours…your minutes? Do you spend your time doing the things you want and need to do OR do you say ‘I don’t have time’? Think about it and get real honest with yourself. I’m calling myself out as I type this. Someone posted the image below and it REALLY resonated with me.

Gosh that above statement is SO powerful! The issue isn’t time…it’s what you’re choosing to value. Wowzer! Where are you placing your value? We all have dreams and goals and shoot, some of us are in the throws of complete madness and I get it. I’ve been right there with you in the throws of madness – juggling young children, working full time, sports Mom, living in survival mode for far too long in my marriage and oh ya, everyone needs to eat dinner too…I totally get it! I’m in an interesting position to be able to reflect on ALL of that. I can say that I did a decent job of managing my time, but definitely didn’t put my focus on ALL the things I really wanted to or should have. No need to dwell on the past, but we can change our present…our future.

I was just reminded my someone very special in my life to be more present. I feel like we all need that constant reminder. With this ACL surgery recovery I’m going through, I can get down on myself in an instant – it’s very easy to do when you are limited and trying so hard to get back to good. However, this is a reminder to all of you to surround yourself with good people to give you those little reminders you need. No matter what kind of day you are having, perhaps you are being tested and are burning the candle at both ends or perhaps you are having the time of your life. Repeat after me – Today is my favorite day!

In the last two months, I keep going back to the same phrase – Live like you have no choice. It might sound morbid or harsh, but really…what if you lived every moment of your day like it was your last. You would make the most of every single second. Put your phones down and focus ya’ll – your time is so incredibly valuable. I’m here to remind you AND myself to stop making excuses and make time for what matters! Be on a quest to find that balance between being present and chasing your dreams. Love yourself a little harder and make sure you make time for YOU too – VERY important!

Don’t forget to fill your space with some fresh flowers, any way you can get them – pick them, buy them, tell someone you love flowers (sometimes people need a hint). These gorgeous flowers were from my work party and they are changing every day. I’m not a rose girl and these are perfect! As always, thank you for being on this journey with me – together we can make a difference in our own lives and in the lives of others. Cheers!