Friday-spiration

| The Bee Life

Great news! It’s Friday, we’ve made it through another work week, now we just have to make it through this day (5:30pm).

I’ve always been someone who has big aspirations, dreams and goals both personally and professionally.  I’ve worked hard, and I’ve reached my goals but not without roadblocks.  Recent roadblocks for me have been out of my control, like so many usually are. When roadblocks start adding up and are constant, it’s hard not to loose inspiration and motivation. I will admit the luster is dulling (probably because I just turned 25 and I’m having my midlife crisis – yes midlife crisis.)

A friend recommended the book #GIRLBOSS – and I finally got it for my birthday.  Late last night I dove right into it and was immediately inspired and lifted up, I wanted to share a few sentences that jumped out to me last night.

“Abandon anything about your life and habits that might be holding you back. Learn to create your own opportunities. Know that there is no finish line; fortune favors action. Race balls-out toward the extraordinary life that you’ve always dreamed of, or still haven’t had time to dream up. And prepare to have a hell of a lot of fun along the way.”

– Sophia Amoruso, #GIRLBOSS

I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me is that constant reminder to; “create your own opportunities” although the harder part is learning how to do that and then having the confidence to go out on a limb and do it. We are creatures of habit, and it’s terribly easy to fall into a space of comfort. But we need to keep pushing ourselves past that.

How do you stay inspired?

TGIF!

Transformation Tuesday no. 5

| The Bee Life

Another Tuesday, another Transformation.  Our bathroom has come a long way since it was initially revealed in TT no. 2.  Small fixes along they way have been made like a new faucet, a new mirror and finally our open closet shelving.  The closet in the bathroom was sort of an odd ball, but had so much potential.  We opted to keep it without a door but wanted to spruce it up by adding some open-concept shelving.

Before
It was just an open space with a few hooks, and horrible pastel blue color, just wasted space.

After
A pop of color was needed to add some contrast with the white shelving and accents. My glass holders are recycled from Bath and Body Works candles, a little soaking and scrubbing and they’re perfect for cotton swabs, Q-tips, and other necessities! Baskets were newly purchased from Target, to continue with the clean white accents, a few more are needed for various things and new white towels will be a future purchase too! I love that everything is in one place, a one-stop shop and organized – it’s perfect for me and B, and guests!

Our next project in the bathroom will be getting rid of the horrid flooring and tile on the walls! I need some white subway tile in my life.

House Hunters – Patio Season

| The Bee Life

Happy First Day of Spring!

As warmer days and longer nights are upon us, patio season is right around the corner!  I am so excited that we have our own patio space to enjoy this year.

Our front porch is the next space that needs to be furnished for warm weather enjoyment, and of course there are so many possibilities. Before we buy any furniture we’ll need to assess the space we have first, it’s not the biggest front porch but it’s big enough to accommodate a nice seating area. That’s why looking for compact pieces (like the chair set below) – is key, multifunctional pieces allow for items to be stored away when not being used for optimal space. Bright colors and neutrals are a must for my outdoor space, I am sure a few DIY projects will pop up once we get into it to pull those elements in.


01 / 02 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06

We will also be landscaping our front, so when everything gets done it will really pull together nicely.  I am so excited to get flowers and planters along with the furnishings, to create our own outdoor space, with greens used for privacy. Morning coffee on the weekends will be that much warmer when we have this space complete!

2 months in

| The Bee Life

What’s that saying? Something like…

“It takes 21 days to form a habit and one day to break it”

… Well it’s been nearly 2-months (30 days) since I got back into my workout routine, and although I am still not 100% where I want to be as far as frequency I am gaining traction! With work and my new circuit/interval training classes the availability and class times is something I have been needing to adapt too. I have been making 5:30am classes work, well sort of, it’s been easier when my aunts carpool with me, but when I am driving myself that internal mind-game of just getting out of bed is hard.  The thing is, once I am up and at the class, I am totally fine! It’s just getting my butt out of my warm snuggled self out of bed that is the struggle. It’s such a mind game. I am shooting for 3-days during the work week in the mornings and then a nice Saturday late morning class, still need to get those 3 early mornings down. I get stuck at one or two.

The positive side is that I have been seeing results, not to mention with Lent – I have given up some sweet temptations which are definitely tying into my results. No Starbucks, no beer, no sweets. I’ve surprisingly held to my guns the last 3-weeks, everything is dialed down significantly.  I’ve been eating better all around, smaller portions, trying not to eat out as much, lots of kale salads and fruits, limited, to no coffee and extra water and tea! I also haven’t been buying sweet treats from Starbucks with my morning coffee or a cookie to bring home for after dinner with B.

As soon as you start seeing results, everything becomes addicting. I am already getting that insatiable crave back that I used to have that drives me back every time and pushes me through the long run or the workout harder than the time before, and it’s awesome.


Image taken Monday at 5:30am Boot Camp (I am far left with pink sneaks!)

Here’s to staying motivated!

Monday Reflections

| The Bee Life

My birthday is a week away and with that another milestone will be marked. I am a little silly when it comes to my birthday, but anyone else’s birthday is always something to celebrate and I love to spoil.  I mean I always love a good excuse to get dressed up and eat cake but at the same time as the numbers start increasing (and yes I know in theory, I am not old) I am not as much a fan.

I was trying to think of my ideal age that I would want to go back too.  It definitely wouldn’t be any high school related ages. It wouldn’t really be college either, maybe late college. But at the same time I look back to three years ago and I realize how far I’ve come and there is no doubt behind the saying “you learn with age.” I of course am excited about all of the opportunities, possibilities and adventures ahead, but can’t fight that Peter Pan syndrome.

Here is my game plan: cringe whenever someone asks how old I will be on my upcoming birthday, after said birthday will most likely forget by default how old I actually am and proceed to lie about it or just have to think really hard. Continue to work on convincing myself that age is just a number and try not to dread every birthday from here on out. Also, I know that I won’t get any sympathy from anyone, especially since most of my friends are all older than me!

Thanks for listening to my Monday nonsense.

Transformation Tuesday no. 4

| The Bee Life

This TT (Transformation Tuesday) is one of my favorites yet. I totally underestimated what a change this would be, especially to such a small space. Our side entry aka ‘mud room’ was a huge eye sore, dark paneling, layers of old flowery wallpaper, and crackling ties.

Before

When we first got our keys in November, starting to tackle taking down the wallpaper was a random project that I worked on for one afternoon and then just stopped as I got to the third layer! And then it sat like that for weeks until finally I had the white paint open for another little project and I decided to paint over that wood paneling! Then B got into it, and we removed the rest of the wallpaper one afternoon … then I tore up all the floor ties, curious to see what was underneath, and after a few more rounds of paint… wah-la!

After

Rug / Roller Shade / Hooks / Shelf

We had all left over paint for the white and even the walls, which just looks so crisp paired together! The wall color is the same color we used in our hallway stairs going up to the second floor. Underneath the tiles was wood that was half painted and half not, so we decided to go all white again, eventually we would like to get some stone tile down. We bought a decent size rug, new roller shade for privacy and sunlight, and a floating shelf and some hooks to complete the coat area.  I grabbed the white standing shelf from another closet to finish the look. I truly can’t get over this, it’s so bright and big, for a small space, (it looks even better in person).

More things will be added along the way, of course, but this is one of my favorites so far!

Wednesday Reminders – Perspective

| The Bee Life

Lately there has been a lot of not so fun stuff happening, for a lot of people in my life and it really puts life into perspective.

It also leads to a lot of questions like… Why?
Or statements like… That’s not fair.

Sometimes things can easily be accepted by saying; “Everything happens for a reason.” But beyond the internal back and forth of reassuring and questioning, one thing is very evident, life and moments are so precious. That thing at work that might be stressing you out, or that petty fight you’re in with your friend, family or significant other, does it really matter? Do we really need to get all bent out of shape about small insignificant things, when there are much bigger things than ourselves happening? The answer is no.

So here is my challenge to all of you (myself included): do something nice for someone, even if it’s someone who you do something nice for everyday, go above and beyond. Write them a note, give them a compliment. Go apologize to that person you can’t get over a grudge with, be the bigger person. Smile today and be grateful.

My to do list for today

Weekend Update

| The Bee Life

Happy Last Monday of February!!

I know not all of you are lucky enough to live in the Midwest, but this past month has been freezing cold with snow-filled weekends! Living in a 100-year old house, and negative degree temperatures for consistent days in a row means frozen pipes.  Luckily(?) our frozen pipes are isolated and only in our kitchen, each time they freeze we learn something new… so long story short one of the fixes was putting in a new faucet.  B and I are now trained plumbers, thank you very much! Teasing, but we did it all by ourselves and it’s such a change physically along with hopefully helping the pipe freezing problem (we can now run cold and hot water at the same time) … and that was only Friday night!

Saturday morning I helped my aunts out while they went out of town and went over to feed their girls, Opa! the puggle and Maya, the black lab, also meaning Moz got to play with her cousins!  Of course Saturday morning was a mini blizzard, nonstop fluffy snowflakes falling and terrible, not plowed roads, so shoveling was a necessity. With bad roads and the beautiful snow fall, a relaxing day at home doing some little projects was the plan! Followed by a night-in, our own little happy hour with a cheese board paired with some Manhattans. And we topped the night off with DiGiorno pizza and a movie. We watched Sex Tape with Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, it was actually pretty very funny!

Sunday was productive and relaxing as well (well sort of).  Breakfast and coffee and some Millionaire Matchmaker in the morning, followed by Church, the gym and some shopping/errands (which of course went longer than expected).  Home to relax for a bit and do a few more little projects (can’t wait to share these soon!) before dinner with the aunts and of course, more snow!

It was a very nice weekend, it wasn’t over complicated with endless trips or errands, it was productive and relaxing all at the same time.  Hoping to have a few more of these in the future! Hope you are all staying warm, wherever you may be.

House Hunters – Centerpieces

| The Bee Life

One small decorating detail that I have been rambling my brain on is a centerpiece arrangement for our massive dining room table.  Ideally I would like it to be usable year-round, but allow the possibility to add holiday touches.  Surprisingly, Pinterest has not been much help.  I like portions of centerpieces I’ve seen, but not the whole thing, so I am just going to have to get creative!

Wishlist:

  • Something that is classic and clean
  • Fresh flowers (everyday)… but highly unrealistic – fake flowers are not an option
  • Year-round
  • Airy and light

At this point I am leaning towards different size glass vases/cylinders that would house candles.  I also like the idea of candlesticks, but I want to potentially do this for our fireplace mantle, which is also a constant thought and struggle – everything I see is holiday related!

Pinspiration:

http://myuncommonsliceofsuburbia.com/
http://homedesignlover.com/home-accesory/15-traditional-candle-centerpiece-ideas/
http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-dining-room-centerpiece.html

My search for that first piece to drive the inspiration is ongoing, even window shopping in multiple stores looking for that one piece has been unsuccessful, but I am determined! I can’t wait to share the end result, hopefully sooner rather than later. Until then any advice, pictures or tricks you did would be awesome!