How to Rock and Enjoy Your Staycation

The pandemic has messed up a lot of travel plans across the world, and we have also been directly affected by that. With such a short window in the summer when both of us are free before I need to report back to school, there really was no way to go away for the vacation we had intended. 

I was still determined to have a fantastic summer. The problem was that we needed to have the feeling of actually getting away. Being cooped up in our home for months was difficult especially for J, since I’m a happy homebody. We realize these are totally first world problems, but with everything going on in the last few months, we had really been looking forward to getting away.

Staycation-ing was the only way for us to do things this summer, but it has been pretty good so far. I had a few questions about how we are accomplishing this, so I thought a short blog post on the topic could be fun!

A staycation is a great option when travel is not possible. Maybe you need to save some money, or maybe there is a pandemic and you can’t do any overseas travel. In any case, here are some ideas for your staycation that don’t involve chores. This list is not exhaustive, but I hope that it will trigger some ideas!

Staying Inside:

1. Settle down with a good book

2. Or write a book

3. Light some candles

4. Have a spa day

5. Try a new workout

6. Try a new recipe

7. Hire an in-home chef

8. Board Game night

9. Karaoke night

10. Plan a zero plan day

11. Try a new type of art

12. Do a mat workout outside - or any workout outside!

13. Have a movie marathon

14. Finish a house project, if that’s fun to you

15. Eat breakfast in bed

16. Eat breakfast outside

17. Sleep in and then take a nap

18. Create a staycation playlist

19. Bring your vacation theme home (Luau in the backyard? Mountains of laundry to climb?)

20. Take up a new hobby

21. BBQ everything

22. Rent an inflatable slide!

23. Truly unplug from work!

24. Create a blanket fort in your living room - or any room

25. Learn an instrument or practice one

Spending Time Outside:

1. Visit the closest beach. It could be the ocean, it could be the lake. Just pack your towels, some sunscreen, and spend some time by the water. 

2. Go for a hike or long walk

3. Explore a new trail

4. Go for a picnic

5. Fly a kite

6. Go canoeing or kayaking or paddleboarding

7. Do some gardening

8. Sidewalk chalk it up

9. Build a treehouse

10. Inflatable pool?

Staying Near Home:

1. Go out for ice cream after dinner and walk around

2. Explore a new neighborhood

3. Explore something new in your city

4. Use this anywhere travel guide

5. Pitch a tent in your backyard 

6. Try a new restaurant 

7. Go on a drive

8. Rent a convertible for the day

9. Find a friend with a pool and jump in

10. Check into a hotel in your city

11. Find a fun AirBNB close by

12. Explore a state or national park

13. Find day trips from your city

14. Rent bikes downtown

15. Go to a tourist attraction in your area

16. Do some museum hopping

17. Get a photoshoot done - or do one yourself

18. Set up an outdoor movie theatre

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What would you do to staycation? Let me know!

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Creating a Comfortable Desk Space

Now that a lot of us are stuck working from home (and some without home offices!), I thought it would be fun to do a post on creating a workable desk area. 

When we first moved, the hubs and I decided to merge our home office spaces into one room. Unfortunately, with me teaching classes and conferencing with kids most of my day, it doesn’t work for me to be in the office with him all day long, so I’ve had to resort to the dining room table for most of my sessions. Which is fine, but we’ll get to that.

Here are some tips (and some of my favorite products) to make sure your work-from-home office space is comfortable, workable, and enjoyable!

Make Your View a Pleasant One

Whether it’s staring out of a window or looking at some pretty art (there are some super cute prints online!) and houseplants. You know what makes you happy, so add it into your space!

Light, Light, Light

Make sure your space is well-lit. Nothing like dim lights to make you go crazy! I even like to add a candle or even a diffuser - less for light, and more for a relaxed atmosphere. 

Blue Light Glasses

Speaking of light, since you’re likely spending a lot more time on your computer now, it is totally worth it to get blue light glasses! I noticed a great difference and have experienced less headaches since using them! (They are super affordable on Amazon too!)

Leave Space for a Hot Beverage

I don’t know about you, but I need my tea lattes to keep me company pretty much all day long. They are a hug in a mug, truly. I was keeping them in a travel cup to stay warm, but my husband was generous enough to get me the amazing ember mug for my birthday that keeps my drink hot all day long! (Get yours on Amazon here)

Mind Your Temperature

I’m usually chilly, so on top of having a warm drink next to me, I keep a sweater and a small throw by my desk area. Let me rephrase: my favorite sweater and my favorite small throw - it’s the little things that keep me happy. :) 

It’s Okay to Relocate

Even with a fun desk space, I do like heading to a Starbucks every once in a while for a change in scenery. Since that isn’t really an option right now, I’ll settle for my deck, my cozy yellow chair in the living room, or even the kitchen or dining room table instead. I’ve been making pretty mean lattes lately that cost less anyway. Feel free to relocate to wherever you wish to be productive for the day. 

Add Some Personal Touches

Add some personal touches to your work space. Maybe it’s a picture of your family, a painting you’re particularly proud of, or even a card from a friend. I keep a tiny (I really do mean tiny!) little hippo figurine that my mom gave me years ago. It’s always on my desk and makes me smile.

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How do you make your desk space comfortable?

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Running Essentials

I started endurance running when I was in high school. My family was extremely confused when I started getting up before the sun was out and pushing myself up hills and around the neighbourhood. My dad even made me carry a whistle and keep my keys in my hand just in case - but I only ever saw one other person on my morning runs. It was an old man who walked forward and then backward. We had an understanding.

This post contains affiliate links

I think besides the high of feeling accomplished after a long run, or pushing myself to my limits, my next favorite thing about running are all of the faces that begin to look familiar that eventually become knowing nods and friendly waves.

Now that self-isolation has me upping my running goals, maybe you want to try the same! Today I’m sharing some of my favorite running essentials for taking on the trails with me. Enjoy!

Related: Six Free Apps I Use to Track my Health

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Do you run? What are some of your must-haves?

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Creating Excitement Around Celebrations with Basic Invite

It is likely that you or someone you are close with had to cancel a celebration due to our current global situation. I know we have had to cancel something of our own and friends who had weddings, showers, and graduations planned had to make difficult decisions to delay festivities, or make them viewable online in some creative form or fashion.

I know that some places are lifting shelter-in-place restrictions, but even if you are forced to be in the latter category, you can still give your event a personal touch that only you can do. A great way to do this is to send a personal invitation in the mail! I love a good digital invitation, and have definitely sent some in the past (even our wedding had digital invitations!), but right now, with pretty much everything being online, I don't know about you, but I find myself craving something real to hold in my hands. 

I’ve teamed up with Basic Invite to help you with great options for your personalized invitations, whether you need high school graduation invitations, wedding invitations, if you just want to send a letter on some of their beautiful stationary, or even thank you cards! They have some unique designs that are drool-worthy.

When I say personalized, I really do mean personalized. Basic Invite offers almost unlimited color options and gives you the freedom to change the color of each element on the card or invitation. They also allow you to order a printed sample (on top of the instant preview as you create it in the website!) before you place your final order so you know exactly how the quality is and make sure it is absolutely perfect! I love that. Did I mention that they also have over 40 different colors of envelopes and foil cards that are available in gold, silver, AND rose gold?! Yes, please!

My favorite thing about Basic invite is that they have an address capturing service. That means, you can store addresses in your account (and collect them easily from family and friends) and they print recipient addresses on your card orders at no extra cost! You may want to handwrite for a personal touch, but when you have hundreds of cards to send, this is a great option - especially because they look really tasteful.

If you need some graduation invitation ideas (they have clear ones to die for!) or any other announcement, invitation, or stationary needs, I would definitely head over and check out Basic Invite.

Right now, Basic Invite is offering 15% off with the coupon code: 15FF51!

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No matter what situation you find yourself in right now, know this: people love snail mail, and your family and friends still want to celebrate you and your accomplishments and milestones! Basic Invite can help you with all of those needs. Right now, Basic Invite is offering 15% off with the coupon code: 15FF51!

Connect with them on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter

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Decluttering Your Phone

Ah, Spring is in the air. If you’ve been around for a while, you know I adore Spring and everything involved in it - yes, even the rainy days! You also might know that I love a good declutter. I’ve talked about decluttering on the blog before and have even created an awesome decluttering/Spring Cleaning checklist that a lot of you have downloaded and used! Today, I thought I’d go one step further and talk about digital cleaning - starting with likely my most-used electronic device: my smart phone.

I got my first cell phone when I was 17, after getting my license. I really had no need for one up until then, since my parents pretty much drove me everywhere. If I was out and about, they either lent me an extra phone they had, or made sure I had quarters for the pay phone. That first phone, though not super smart, was great and did everything I needed it to. It called, and I could even send up to 50 text messages for free!! What a thought!

Now that I do pretty much everything on this little phone that fits in my pocket, I almost want to go back to the days where all my phone did was call and text. It isn’t a reality I’ve seriously considered going back to, but I have definitely tried to scale back on what I keep on my phone. Let’s look at a few areas you can start decluttering on your phone.

Contacts

I don’t know about you, but over the years I have accumulated so many contacts. As I was going through my phone once, I didn’t even recognize some of the names and I realized that my phone had synced all of the contacts in my university email one year - thousands of names and email addresses I would never use or recognize! I started by getting rid of all of those, and was left with a list that was much more manageable to go through. Chances are there are names of people you had to contact once (and will never contact again), and some incomplete names as well. I even found contact names like, “No Name” and 1-800 numbers! I know going through contacts can be pretty rough and can make you feel guilty if you choose to get rid of numbers, but trust me, it will be well worth your time when you are done.

Some easy steps:

• Go through each name, deleting names you don’t recognize or don’t need anymore

• Verify the correctness of the contact information of the names you choose to keep

Applications

For me, apps usually fall into one of three categories: The ones I use almost every day (ex. Instagram, weather, fitness apps, etc.), the ones I use from time to time when needed (store rewards apps, calculator, etc.), and the ones I downloaded that one time and never used again. Determine what apps fall under those categories and delete accordingly.

Some app tips:

• If you aren’t sure exactly what apps you use frequently and use an iPhone, check your settings under “General” followed by “iPhone Storage” for a list of the most used (and unused) apps on your phone.

• If possible, get rid of email on your phone. I got rid of mine over a year ago and have never, ever, once looked back! As a bonus, I now do not have to organize emails on my phone in addition! 

Photos

“WHY DO I HAVE OVER 400 PHOTOS OF MY CAT ON MY PHONE?!” was a real question I asked my husband thousands of miles above ground level. I had run out of things to do, so I figured I’d go through my photos and clean them out. Whoa, was I in for a surprise.

Some photos you may want to consider deleting:

• Those photos you took to reference later (first off, if you really did reference them later, I’m so proud. But consider getting rid of them hehe)

• Those photos you took of something ruhl quick to send in a text message

• Those photos that automatically downloaded when you opened up that group chat in WhatsApp (First off, turn that setting off!!! Second off, delete those babies)

• Those photos of your dog/cat/child (You have enough. Trust me. Choose your favorites, put ‘em in a photobook or upload to Instagram and send the rest into cyber abyss. Okay, fine. Keep one or two to show the stranger on the train who also has a dog/cat/child.)
  
  

If you like, you can keep a zero photo camera roll by creating a folder on Google Drive or the like to keep your precious moments on. You’d be amazed at how sane and satisfied you feel once your count goes from 4,252 pictures to zero.

Your physical phone

Of course I wouldn’t write about decluttering without adding some cleaning! Your phone is a breeding ground for nastiness. Trust me, it’s gross. If you don’t believe me, I give you permission to leave this website and Google it. Just type in “Is my phone gross?” and you’ll get plenty of good reads (Like this article from Reader’s Digest). 

Depending on your device, specific instructions for cleaning may vary. I use an Apple device and Apple advises the following for its products:

• Use only a soft, lint-free cloth.

• Avoid excessive wiping.

• Unplug all power sources, devices, and cables.

• Keep liquids away from your device.

• Don’t allow moisture to get into any openings.

• Avoid aerosol sprays, bleaches, and abrasives.

• Avoid spraying cleaners directly onto your device.

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So there you have it! It’s not so hard to declutter your phone. Do it all at once, or break it up and do it over a week. Are you planning on Spring Cleaning your phone this season?

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