New Series: Friday Five

Hello and happy Friday! I always mean to write more blog posts because I always enjoy reading others so much, but truthfully, they can take a LONG time (between 3-8+ hours depending on the depth of the post or how long the photo editing process can take) so I don’t often get around to them.

But I wanted to share more on here and thought it would be fun to do a new series called Friday Five where I share five things each week, and it can be anything from a new favorite clothing item, a new book I’m reading (also meaning to do more of this), a favorite quote, a random fact I learned, a new product, etc. So here are today’s five!

1. Place to add to your bucket list: Banff & Lake Louise

I recently got back from a trip to Canada where we went to Banff and Lake Louise and OMG this place was BEAUTIFUL. I’ve heard so many great things about these places over the years but didn’t never really believed it could be so amazing (I’m not much of an outdoors/wilderness person lol) but it IS. It’s like being in an actual Thomas Kinkade painting and it instantly topped one of my favorite places I’ve been to! I’ll have a travel guide up next week with all my photos and tips!

2. A Recommended Read: The Art of Racing in the Rain

I love reading. But over the years I’ve read less and less and instead I find myself watching T.V or looking at my phone before I go to bed/during my free time. I decided to purchase a book at the airport to read on my flight home from New York (instead of watching movies/editing to give my eyes a break from my phone) and I ended up choosing The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. I didn’t know what to expect , but after the first couple of chapters I couldn’t put this book down. I read the whole thing by the time we landed back home. The narrator of the novel is a dog (I know, strange, but don’t let that fool you!) and while that caught me off guard at first, it tells his story and the story of his humans from his point of view. I won’t give too much away but it’s a New York Times Bestseller for a good reason!

3. For Health/Fitness: Using A Stability Ball for Work

It may not appear so from my IG, but many of my days are actually spent sitting at the computer so I recently purchased this exercise/stability ball to help with my posture/strengthen my back. I still have sciatica pain from my previous corporate job where worked 10-12 hour days at the computer in a stressful situation and ended up having pretty bad back pain by the end of the 2.5 years. In my current job, it can having me walking around all day (when we are traveling) or it will have me at the computer all day. Lately I’ve been at the computer all day so I finally decided to try out and I wish I had gotten it sooner. Here’s 4 benefits to sitting on a stability ball at work. I’m also trying to be better at exercising more (that helps with back pain)

4. Clean, Cruelty-Free, Organic & Eco-Friendly(!!!): Hair Dance Dry Shampoo Volume Powder

I’ve been transitioning to all cruelty-free (and clean & vegan if I find something that works) beauty products. There are so many clean & cruelty-free brands out there, why shouldn’t I? I can’t even stand to think of all those poor animals (like beagles!) who are used at test subjects. So as I’ve run out of the product I was using, I find a new cruelty-free option (if it wasn’t already).

I will be writing a whole blog post about my clean & cruelty-free beauty products I use daily, but for now I wanted to share this amazing dry shampoo I just found! Dry shampoo is one of the things I would never give up (it’s one of my only beauty-must haves since I have oily and fine hair). As I ran out of the last spray of my Batiste dry shampoo, I decided to look for a cleaner, more eco-friendly option available. I found this dry shampoo powder one on Amazon and I have been LOVING it! I didn’t think I would care for a powder dry shampoo, but it works so great. Plus, not only does it not contain toxic chemicals, all the ingredients are organic! Here’s what it’s made from:

• Organic Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch 
• Organic Colloidal Oatmeal 
• Silica(A mineral, and a major component of sand, rocks, bentonite and other clay) 
• Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil
• Organic Olea Europaea (Olive) Leaf

5. Help teachers #clearthelists!

There is an amazing campaign that recently went viral to help teachers clear out their Amazon Wish Lists and I love the cause and using the power of social media for good! So many teachers spend their own money on school supplies and this is a great way to help our amazing teachers out and send them some much needed classroom supplies! I highlighted some of the stories I shared on my IG profile and you can also search the hashtag #clearthelists on Instagram and find hundreds of teachers who linked to their lists! You can buy one are a few things (anything helps) and when you check out you should see their gift registry address as an option so the package can be sent to them.