It has been a hot minute since I have talked about anything in my personal life here, so this post is a whole lot of miscellaneous items that I have started adding into my routine. As we all know, the pandemic really took a lot out of our day to day routines and (at least for me), it took me a while to figure out what my new routines looked like. To be honest, I am still figuring a lot out as I am sure you are too. I really try to take things day by day these days.

Finances

Figuring out and taking control of my finances was something that was really important to me this year and when the Pandemic hit, I felt like I absolutely needed to have my sh*t in order. I may have been on the over-cautious side when the pandemic hit and literally tried to save every penny that came in but I am so grateful I did. Now I put money into my retirement fund each month and am slowly building up my emergency savings fund.

I use Digit to automatically save for things big and small. I literally save up for rent 2-3 months in advance so that I never have to question it and I also have things like tax payments, Christmas budgets, rainy day funds, etc. automatically set to save for me. If you use this link you can get $5 towards your savings. The second thing I did was start using Ellevest. I had heard a lot about Ellevest over the past year and finally took the leap and swapped over my retirement fund to them. They have a lot of great free resources to learn more about your finances and their focus on women made this a no brainer for me. 

I know everyone is in a different place financially, so I wanted to share some of the important things for me when I was making these choices.

• I really wanted to learn and understand what I was doing with my money. Using a service like Ellevest made it simple for me to know exactly where my money was going. 
• I need it to be simple. As much as I want to have control over my finances I didn’t want to spend hours figuring out how to use a new platform. Digit and Ellevest really make it simple.
• I want money to be fun not stressful! Money is a transfer of energy and it should be fun and exciting. So anytime I look at these platforms I want to be so freakin excited to login rather than dreading it.

I would love to hear from more people about what they did or are doing to further take control of their finances. I have this book on my list to read next and I am taking this course now. 

Mindfulness 

I don’t know about you but when the pandemic hit, I could not sit still for fear of my brain spiraling. I stopped meditating consistently and was pretty wishy-washy on filling out my Gratitude Journal. Over the past month or so I have gotten back into a good routine and here is what it looks like.

• Filling out my Five-Minute Journal: this is a long time favorite and I am happy to be back in a good routine with filling it out. One thing that really helps me with any habit, especially this one, is not beating myself up for missing a day. It’s a journal. It’s okay. 
• Listening to positive affirmations from the Think-Up App: this is a new addition for me and it might seem a little woo, but I love it. I recorded myself saying a few different affirmations and it plays it back to me with music. I use this when I am brainstorming big new dreams, writing down all that I am grateful for, or just for a quick yoga flow. 
• Daily messages from StoryTeller: I am so so glad that I found this app. It gives you a beautiful quote/affirmation and then you can read more about that daily intention. This has definitely been a bright spot on days when I am feeling a little overwhelmed. 
• Daily meditation on Headspace: I have talked about headspace before and I still can’t get enough. They are such a great resource for me and the sleep casts are a must for anyone who struggles to fall asleep. 
• Taking CBD regularly: anyone else jump on this trend? I was sent some CBD products from Equilibria and quickly have fallen in love with them. My favorites are the gel capsules and the relief cream. I take the gel capsules daily and use the cream any time I have sore muscles or my jaw hurts from clenching. You can take 15% off your first order with code BEAUTIFULDETOUR at checkout. 
• Baths, all the baths! This is nothing new, but I find taking a bath to be an instant flip of the switch for me. If I am having a bad day or am stressed, I take a bath and come out feeling a little lighter and more relaxed. 

Working Out

I have always been a group workout person, so when the pandemic hit I didn’t know what to do. Immediately I ordered weights and quickly learned that not all weights come in a set and so I had one 3 lb and one 6 lb weight and they were completely sold out for the next couple months. I took this as a sign to take a step back and take the pressure off myself with working out. But as of late, I have been missing this part of my routine so here is what I am challenging myself to do for the next few weeks.

• 2-4  workouts from @rrayme’s IGTV a week.
• 1 virtual cycling class a week.
• On days when I don’t want to move, I am doing a 15-20 minute yoga flow class just to get my body moving a little bit.
• Hikes and walks over the weekend so that I can really enjoy this last little bit of summer. 

I am all for recommendations so let me know in the comments if you have enjoyed any particular workout plan.