IM DOING THIS AGAIN... | #IMDOINGTHISAGAIN

Welp, I’m doing it again. I approach it this way because I’ve done it so many times before. One of these times being extremely successful, more than the others. The other times? Not successful at all. I began once with a friend as a challenge and that’s where I got the most inspiration. I looked at it as a do or die situation because I held myself accountable against someone else.

I ended up being so happy with the results and looked at the process I created for myself as a scalable one. I of course am talking about losing weight. The weight began what seemed to “melt off” and I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked with the results and couldn’t believe I had created this beautiful process that I must admit, never became EASIER, for myself.

I went through so many phases during this weight loss process about five years ago (wow). I was scared, in denial, emotional, excited, hungry, thrilled, I could go on and on. For a while I honestly didn’t know if I was going to be able to make it through but for some reason, it clicked that time. I bought into the mantra of “When the pain of staying the same hurts more than the change” because it really spoke to me so much.

For now, on leg one of this journey again, let’s talk about some things that I know I’m good at. Because lets be honest, maybe what we need is a little more encouragement from ourselves to start. Maybe that’s what we’re all missing. Imagine if it were that easy? >>

SUN OF A GUN | TRUE CRIME PICKS

Al Capone's Beer Wars, John J. Binder

If you don't already know, I am 100% obsessed with true crime. If you follow me on Goodreads, you would probably be able to pick that up between some of the books I've read, and lots of the ones on my TBR pile. Getting specific, I have this deeper obsession with The Mob and all of the stories associated with it. I read about New York and New Jersey the most, but I've recently picked up some books about Vegas, Chicago and more and I cannot wait to hear stories about different locations as well.

For now, I wanted to share with you some of the upcoming True Crime books I am most looking forward to reading. Being the book obsessed person that I am, you can tell that some of the books pictured have specials deals. Because, you know, if you buy as many books as I do, you have to buy some of them on sale/on sites that give you them for discounts. Let's be honest with ourselves, more books inherently= more happiness. So however we can make that happen, we make that happen.

BOOGIE BOOTS ON | COUNTRY I LOVE

So if you know me at all (when am I going to stop beginning my blog posts like this?), you’ll know that I have an undying obsession with country music. To be honest, compared to most country fans, it is a fairly new obsession. I haven’t always been as into the genre as I am now, but I can’t imagine not having country music in my life.

As sick and as corny as this all sounds, it’s incredibly true for so many reasons. Something to know about me is that I am really not an emotional person. For some reason, country music has been one of those things that has gotten me to be a little more emotional. If you listen to the words of these songs, you will quickly realize that they are so incredibly filled with meaning and not just sung for shits and gigs. Yes, some of the music can be pretty sappy, corny and over the top, but what genre/song isn’t sometimes, right?

There’s just something about the hometown, chilled out feel of pretty melodies that make you feel at ease. Driving around town with windows down and country albums blasting is a feeling you can’t quite explain. I feel like I’m in somewhat of a minority of loving country music when I’m in the city, as there aren’t really man fans, but for some reason it makes me feel that much better about it.

That being said! I wanted to share some of my recent favorite songs/albums/artists with you. As explained, I’ve become a huge, extremely dedicated fan of country only about five years or so ago, but that doesn’t really mean anything when it comes to country. I still love it the same.

SUBSCRIPTIONS & SERVICES | WORTH IT?

I’ve really never been much of a subscription/online services type of girl. I definitely get a total sense that it’s a city thing. I always think of things like Blue Apron and Birchbox as total city services that only people who live there use, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I honestly can’t even tell you why I had this premonition.

Now I don’t know the analytics, demographics wise, of these companies and where they are most popular, but I just know that cities could only be the more popular area. While that might be true, don’t get it twisted, ‘burbs and beach girls use the services too.

Today, I wanted to talk about some of the services I’ve used in the past. I wanted to detail why I love them, what’s best about them, and some of them that just didn’t make the cut for me. Just incase you’re nervous about giving them a shot, come along on the journey of this blog post with me and let’s talk about it!

Skincare, DO ACTUALLY CARE

Regrettably so, skincare has not always been the most important thing to me. Now for most people out there, that is probably the scariest sentence you’ve ever read. If you’ve been with me for a while, you’d know that ever since I was younger, I have had eczema. Eczema, at some levels (mine), is an extremely painful skin condition that causes redness, swelling, irritation and more, that is basically completely out of your control. READ MORE>

MERMAID STATE OF MIND

If you know anything about me, you know that I am a mermaid at heart. I talk a lot about going to the beach, what I have in my beach bag, what my favorite products are for summer and I show you amazing summer photos of the sun, sand and marinas.

It just only seems right that I would have a few mermaid things in my arsenal, right? Well, yes you're right. I normally just spend a lot of time looking at pictures of mermaids online and liking a bunch of Little Mermaid themed posts on Instagram and obsessing over them. Now though, thanks to my friend Diana's amazing birthday gift giving skills and one trip to a bookstore, I have an even bigger collection of mermaid things that I thought I would share with you today.

Of course, I took it to my favorite place, the beach, for a cute little photoshoot with all of my beautiful mermaid things. I took these photos a week after a huge noreaster shot through the area, but aside from some of the photos that are more inland, you would never instantly realize it if you didn't know any better. The beach looks beautiful regardless.

WINTER WHITE

I love a good winter white. Of course by winter white I mean anything that has to do with wearing white in the winter. This year though, we've had at least two or three little mini snowstorms that have really brought out the winter white in New York City. As I said in my last post about Christmas, I always feel so much more thankful when I'm in the city because I don't have to worry about the woes that are NJ Transit, driving around, cleaning off my car, and shoveling off the steps around my house.

Snow without the worry is always so much more fun and enjoyable. I feel like I have spent a majority of my life defending myself and making the case as to why I HATE the snow. This year, it has been amazingly more enjoyable for the reasons above. There's a lot more to appreciate about snow and lazy weekends when you can just sit back and watch it fall without a worry. Then if you decide that you need something from the grocery store, you just walk outside of your apartment and get it. No tackling people for parking spots and yelling at raging drivers for driving too slow in icy roads.

The best part of all? How beautiful it actually is when you catch it looking just that good. Here are a few quick snaps I took a couple of weeks ago when I was out and about with some friends.