How’s your week going? Have you ever wanted to do something but the biggest thing holding you back is “What will _______(friend, parent, people at work or online)” think of me?

It might be something “out of character” or unexpected to people around you. Or maybe you’ve taken that risk or made a change that people close to you DID NOT LIKE. It made them uncomfortable and they let you know about it.

Let me share a time I told my mom I was making a change and my Mom said “Why do you want to waste your life?” HA!

It’s really going to change how you have success in your life goals. Watch it here.

Wholesome Crazy Good Dessert

Holy moly these are SO good!

I offered one to any kid or adult to stop by the house when I made them and everyone wanted the recipe. I saw this on Pinterest and knew I had the ingredients on hand plus a bunch of people coming over and I’m so happy I tried it!

This lady is great! @thewomensdietition

Have a great week! If you’re not already following along on Instagram and YouTube. Come join the fun!

Love,

Christina

Some links are affiliate links where I may make a small commission if you click and purchase. Thank you for supporting my work.

So I meet a lot of new people through my kids. You know when you first meet someone and there are the typical introductory topics?

I change jobs/homes so often in my life, that every few years, I feel like I have to “re-write” my verbal resume so that I don’t look like weirdo with a blank stare when someone asks, “So, what do you do?”

When I was in the military and I’d meet non-miliarty people, I’d be stressed sometimes to tell them what I did for work. Would they think I was scary? Too aggressive? Not their type? I wanted them to know that I was a big thinker with a big heart.

I know, that really doesn’t give them any credit. Matching energies always connect.

I just never want a title to box me in.

I just want to be liked and that’s probably the reason I don’t want to write this honest post because-I just want you to like me.

I don’t need to be liked by everyone but I do want to have peaceful relations with the lovely humans in my world.

Wait…aren’t you supposed to stop caring about being liked after 40?

It’s funny because I’m remembering living in Japan and how the Japanese culture is like-even if you don’t like someone, you show respect and keep peace. Are you into this? I can see both sides but gosh do I love peace.

Now, as a mom of 4 and online entrepreneur, I find myself with a new fear. First, are people worried I’m going to secretly film them for my social media? Is everything just content to me? Do they think me taking selfies is all about how great I think I am?

Years ago I told my husband (who is allergic to social media) that I don’t do it “for me.”

I told him…

I actually talk about things like when Andi from the Navy asked me if I had a receding hairline (I have a giant five head) in front of a bunch of other Naval Officers and I just about died inside but acted cool as a cucumber.

I want to make people feel relaxed. Enjoy life. Get a perspective on how to see things more simply and easier to attain.

So in developing my new “All about me” like you did in Kindergarten, I’m thinking of a whole new way to express myself and I’m also figuring it out real time as I type so I don’t dilute it or shrink in hopes of you liking me.

In this article I’m going to talk about:

• Some ways I’ve been introducing myself lately and if it feels authentic

• The secret identity I’ve been holding in my mind

• The limiting beliefs I’m working on releasing

• The “I’m too…” I’ve been carrying for years

🎀 This is where it gets deep on my Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber where you’ll gain instant access to this and all paid articles (including my romance series). Thank you for your support!

I talk about things here that I don’t share anywhere else on the internet… Let’s begin!

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So last August I finally treated the huge vericose vein on my left thigh and it jumpstarted this health journey. It was a my blue jean theory.

When you feel good, you do more good.

When my vein was no longer a giant jellyfish staring up at me from my thigh, I stopped feeling unhealthy and that helped me to really convince myself that I’m a healthy person-inside and out!

That the was the switch in my brain. I started asking questions like:

“I’m a healthy person-what would a healthy person do when she woke up,” for example.

You can fill in the blank here, but some of the simple things would be:

drink water

take a moment to center

Mentally visualize your day

The problem was that I could do this for a bit and then I would go back to my old habits.

Then I found a way to make it stick.

So after a year, I wanted to give an honest review of this whole mindset based weight loss experiment.

In this article I’m sharing:

• The things I did to lose the first 13 pounds that I’ve completely stopped doing

• What I was wrong about when I started and what I’d do differently if I started today

• The habits that became so automatic I no longer think of them anymore

• What has happened with my relationship to the scale after using it to track my progress

• If keeping off 25 pounds now still feels like work

• The biggest test of my experiment: Whether or not I still have to ask “What would a healthy person do,” a year later

🎀 This is where it gets deep on my Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber where you’ll gain instant access to this and all paid articles (including my romance series).

I talk about things here that I don’t share anywhere else on the internet… Let’s begin!

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Are you cool as a cucumber going into the fall transition or is your head spinning like mine? HA! I’m telling you, that daily walk lowers my cortisol like nobody’s business.

So remember when I got extra weird and shared how I was doing new underarm care? I have something new and it’s way better.

I use a natural deodorant and I read that it can kind of leave a residue even with lots of scrubbing (I’m half Korean-I’m a scrubber). So I have started using Jojoba oil to break down any residue and then I scrub all that off with soap.

THEN twice a week I’m swiping this glycolic acid on (not after shaving) at night and rinsing it off in the morning.

I feel SO much fresher! Have you tried it?

An embarrassing breast feeding moment and how I’m accepting things that just seem annoying are on my mind this week.

Wholesome Banana Bread Bites

The kids and their friends (and adults) have been loving these around here and they are going to school as snacks too. I use something similar to this.

2 ripe bananas mashed

2 cups blended oats (not super fine)

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons Mini chocolate chips

1 tsp vanilla

Blob of honey (I added just a big squeeze from the bottle)

dash of salt

Mix, scoop (tightly) with a mini dough/ice cream style scoop onto wax paper tray, pop in freezer for about 15 mins. Melt peanut butter and chocolate chips together in a bowl to create a dollop on each one then freeze again to set the chocolate.

Store in fridge. Eat within a few days.

Based on this recipe but I made so many changes!

Have a great week! If you’re not already following along on Instagram and YouTube. Come join the fun!

Love,

Christina

Some links are affiliate links where I may make a small commission if you click and purchase. Thank you for supporting my work.

Woah, I thought, that was so smooth.

At the time, I was the kind of mom (of 2) who was baby-wearing an infant while carrying a thrashing, tantrum-toddler out of a playground. It was so bad that multiple strangers asked how they could help me and I just smiled and ran with my muscles burning everywhere in pain.

I didn’t know what else to do. I felt helpless and bad at my job. “How could I have prevented this,” I wondered?

Did he have stable blood sugar? Should I have left the park sooner so he more time to transition to lunch? Should I avoid that playground next time? Pack snacks? Is this going to make him hate parks or me?

The most painful thing about it all was my “non-pro mom” feeling of failure.

Over the years I started finding ways to anticipate resistance and head it off at the pass.

I learned from watching other parents and figuring out my own kids’ personalities/motivations.

Fast forward to years later and more kids- I was at a children’s science center in the cafe portion when one of my kids went into a major meltdown. Everyone was staring at me-it was a big one.

“What is that mom going to do,” they asked with their eyes.

I didn’t panic like I used to. I felt calm and I very quickly packed up our things and walked out. A transition, pointing out a distracting robot and change of scenery quickly switched off the outburst.

Even if those things didn’t work, I knew I could confidently exit the area in a way much cooler than I used to. I mean-this is a normal thing, right?

I had arrived. I saw people looking at me like a “pro-mom!”

Things that I become obsessive about over time:

• Packing every possible solution to any potential need/problem

• Rabidly adhering to schedules

• Anticipating every possible objection or obstacle to the next event or transition-leaving the park for example.

• Setting up the home so I could outthink their boredom or any disorganization chaos

• Blaming and becoming upset when my husband wasn’t working as hard mentally to super-anticipate and prepare like me.

I mean, couldn’t he see that the little desert before nap time was a totally bad move?

Here I was burning out just trying to prevent the:

Fights

Noise

Mess

Interruptions

Repeating myself

Everything taking forever-right before bedtime

But sometimes all the systems/planning/control helps and sometimes the annoying thing is just gonna happen and that’s part of PARENTHOOD.

I am learning to accept this and allow the annoying parts to play out…sometimes.

There are the problems I can solve and there is the price I pay for turning these “normal” things of motherhood into my failures.

In this article, I’m sharing

• The unexpected effect acceptance has had on my relationship with my husband

• What I’m letting my kids experience instead of trying to always prevent

• How I’m deciding what’s worth my mental energy and what’s not

• Why acceptance is not the same as giving up or lowering my standards (a big fear in my life)

• The mantra I use when my brain wants to scream “this could have been prevented.”

🎀 This is where it gets deep on my Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber where you’ll gain instant access to this and all paid articles (including my romance series).

I talk about things here that I don’t share anywhere else on the internet… Let’s begin!

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The thumbprint thingy is there to make your mental load lighter-as in, instead of typing your password to unlock your screen, you can bypass that brain rot and dive right into the abyss that is a laptop.

I knew that my dry little thumb was no longer working but I just couldn’t face trying to figure out how to re-code the thumbprint for my new lizard thumb.

Every time I would want to use my laptop, I’d fumble with the password successfully every 4 out of five times.

When I messed up the password a time or two, I’d curse a little and try again. I’d make a little empty promise to myself that I’d fix it and then go about my task.

This also made me annoyed at my thumbs, aging, SNS dip polish (I’ve taken a break), feeling rushed and technology life in general.

But, there is something much deeper than all of this and once I share it with you, you’re going to see the “two minute thumbprint update” in your own life.

It will change how you handle the annoying tasks and up level your life.

In this article I’m going to share:

• Why you’re avoiding the two minute thing that is holding you back

• The reason it’s never about the two minute thing

• What happened in my business when I fixed the two-minute thumb thing

• The trick I use to make the annoying thing feel smaller than the dread

• How the two minute fix spills into the rest of your life/home/biz/body

• Why the life you want isn’t on the other side of effort but on the other side of what you’re avoiding

🎀 This is where it gets deep on my Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber where you’ll gain instant access to this and all paid articles (including my romance series).

I talk about things here that I don’t share anywhere else on the internet… Let’s begin!

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Are you getting into a new routine? It’s starting to feel a little more normal making lunches and waking at sunrise. Dare I say that I like it?

I met a really cool woman (love her) and she said that she followed me on Instagram and mentioned how much I share about my life on there. I laughed with her over some things and I wondered if I really did share a lot.

What I mean is that I feel like I’ve only very recently begun to share the things I’ve been scared to talk about. It sort of started when I was a guest on the Not Young.Better Podcast.

Then this week I shared about my 16 year old mistake that just represented a lot of my stress and fears as a kid.

Sharing the real things has been something I have avoided for years. Did you know that what you’re avoiding is a sign of what you really want? I dive deeper here..

It’s even what got me to lose 25 pounds. If you’re avoiding your health, here’s the number one sign you’re ready for a change.

The most incredible new bra is changing my mind about wireless bras. OMG support, comfort and lift is amazing.

Here’s how the cafe curtain situation is coming along.

Weeknight Recipe: Salmon Bowls

Look, just get the Japanese BBQ sauce (I get it at Whole Foods)!

Bang Bang Salmon

Wash and Cube your salmon

Pat dry and put in a bowl. Coat with olive oil and lost of: cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and some salt to taste and toss around.

Bake at 425 on parchment lined sheet pan in the oven until cooked through (just depends on thickness of your salmon)

Cucumber Salad

Thinly sliced cucumbers tossed with: salt, soy, sesame oil, sesame seeds, rice wine vinegar.

I serve these with some edamame (refrigerated section Trader Joes).

Comes together fast and better than a restaurant.

Have a great week! If you’re not already following along on Instagram and YouTube. Come join the fun!

Love,

Christina

Some links are affiliate links where I may make a small commission if you click and purchase. Thank you for supporting my work.

You see, I was about to give birth to my double rainbow baby-my fourth baby, my first baby girl at nearly 44 years old.

If the scale had said 225 pounds, I would have giggled just the same.

Except 18 months of breastfeeding later, and at 153 pounds, I wasn’t giggling any more.

I felt droopy, sluggish, thighs rubbed so badly now that my hips had rotated back to their new spot (not where they were from “before kids” but where they go after pregnancy now).

I protected my milk supply like a nut ever since my first time when they told me I wasn’t producing enough. Eating intuitively AKA anything and everything I wanted was a part of that identity.

But now I was no long the breastfeeding mom. I was a 45 year old woman with 4 kids who wanted to wear tank tops and non stretch jeans while feeling like “me.”

Who is “me?”

Look, this is going to ruffle some feathers because there is this big divide between “love your body how it is” culture and “diet culture” these days. I'm gonna tell you what all this means to me.

Body silhouette

What I mean by this is, after I had my fourth baby I was between an apple or upside down triangle shape. My whole life I've been a pear shape. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt very strange seeing this totally new silhouette.

Yes, you can be the person who embraces their new shape and says oh how grateful I am to have had children or be alive and have such an abundance of food in my life.

Well, I decided that I was going to be the person that says, “I'm just one of those people who got to have kids and then also gets to enjoy a body that she loves.”

I'm gonna be honest and after losing 25 pounds do you know what I say to myself now? “I'm the kind of person who has four kids and looks hot at 46.”

That takes some courage for me to put out there. I'm here to be really honest with you because that honesty what's going to help YOU breakthrough.

I was afraid that nothing was going to change. I was afraid that if I wanted it to change, it was going to be too hard, too painful. What if I did the work and failed? How was I going to be my best self with zero extra time?

In this article I’m going to share:

• The #1 sign that says if your going to make a change

• Why you’re avoiding the version of you who is their healthiest self

• Why you have to shift your beliefs before the scale changes

• How to make the shift

• What happens on the other side of your fear

🎀 This is where it gets deep on my Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber where you’ll gain instant access to this and all paid articles (including my romance series).

I talk about things here that I don’t share anywhere else on the internet… Let’s begin!

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NOOOOO!

My custom teeth bleaching tray-but melted into a ball.

Maybe you use whitening strips or special toothpaste but I use the trays you fill with the stuff in a syringe you get at the dentist.

I had placed them in my pocket one morning after cleaning them, forgotten about it and must have thrown these pants in the wash. The dryer had melted them into an irreparable ball (I even tried to boil them). I was a sad sight at the stove.

This was a hard moment for me for a few reasons.

1. UGH the mental load of motherhood/running a household has me “messing up” in ways I never have in my life before-it’s just too hard to be perfect anymore.

2. My dad’s a dentist and he made these for me like 20 years ago (parents live far away now). They kinda have sentimental value and I feel like I let him down. PS he won’t even care and would be mad that I even wasted a moment feeling bad.

3. It brought up these deep feelings of shame and fear-growing up and being so serious about keeping my nice things nice and fear of bringing financial ruin upon my family if I did not do so.

I mention the cute pajama pants because those are a symbol of me getting over those childhood scarcity feelings. Having nice things even when they don’t “need” to be nice-like your pajamas.

In this article, I’m going to uncover

• The pressure I used to put on myself with material objects

• A much much worse thing I messed up with as a teen

• Ways I’ve found to overcompensate for this as an adult

• How I’ve found a way out of this loop whenever the feelings come up

This is where it gets deep on my Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber where you’ll gain instant access to this and all paid articles (including my romance series).

I talk about things here that I don’t share anywhere else on the internet… Let’s begin!

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Are your kids back to school? Phew we are rolling into that fall routine and I feel like I’m on a train that is moving me.

The colonoscopy went great! I had started to feel a little cold going into it and said to my body, “Oh you are not getting sick because I’m not rescheduling this colonoscopy or going though the prep again.”

Well my body listened and waited to give me a little stuffy nose a couple days after. Thank you! Ha! Read this (& share) to make your colonoscopy the best experience it can be.

This dress has been such an easy thing to throw on and feel cute (wearing small). A lady told me she wanted to steal my sunglasses off of my face. HA! PS you can also get them here for less. I’m having so much more fun getting ready with my healthier body (how I lost 25 pounds with minimal effort & time).

My secret to glowing skin.

I’ve been obsessed with our (read “my”) doll house! I recovered from the procedure this weekend by doing this fun little wallpaper project to keep me upbeat (the meds wear on my mood) and slow.

Here’s a before:

Check out the Doll House after with all the walls wallpapered here.

So I used to hang in mini mansions in high school. Think drawing room parties, waiters with champagne and Ivy League kids. I’m spilling the tea on how to expand your life for bigger and more- even when it feels impossible.

Have a great week! If you’re not already following along on Instagram and YouTube. Come join the fun!

Love,

Christina

Some links are affiliate links where I may make a small commission if you click and purchase. Thank you for supporting my work.

Disclaimer town-Remember that your doctor/medical office will have the specific instructions for you. This is simply MY experience. I hope it will give you peace of mind and helpful tips!

I had heard from some people that the “PREP” is so miserable. When they say “PREP” that refers to the preparation I did leading up to the colonoscopy.

Mainly it’s that 24 hours before where you have to only eat a liquid diet and take medication that will make you go to the bathroom until everything is cleared out of your digestive system.

Once I scheduled my colonoscopy (a couple months in advance), a nurse called me to ask questions like what medications/supplements I was on etc.

During the questions, I let her know I had lost 25 pounds and she asked what medication I took to do that. I told her I did it the old fashioned way and she was so excited for me.

I am taking some vitamins and herbal supplements that I stopped taking 7 days before the procedure.

I was given a very cool visual chart of the days leading up to the procedure that told me not to eat any nuts or seeds or quinoa a week before the appointment. Bye chia pudding and quinoa salad-I’ll miss you!!!

Fears I had-would I feel like throwing up the whole time? Would I be able to do all the prep or have to do it all over another day? Would I make it to the hospital without having an embarrassing accident - says woman who’s water breaks right when she gets to hospital in labor.

OKAY

This is where it gets good on my Substack. Consider becoming a paid subscriber where you’ll gain instant access to this and all paid articles (including my romance series).

I talk about things here that I don’t share anywhere else on the internet…

In this article I’m going deep into

• What no one mentioned about scheduling that I wish I would have known (oops)

• How I chose when to schedule my colonoscopy as a busy mom of 4 (ages 2, ,6,10, 12)

• What I purchased prior to the appointment

• What I ate and drank the day prior-what’s going to make this as enjoyable as possible for people who love to eat food and need to go liquid diet for a day.

• The type of prep I was given and preferred (there are different kinds)

• How I mixed my prep for the best taste

• Tips for physical comfort during prep

• Exactly what happened-day of procedure

• How appointment time affects your day & prep day

• My recovery-mental and physical (I didn’t expect this and wish someone had told me)

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When you’re pregnant, your blood volume goes up and there is more pressure in your veins so I figured that was it.

Then as I neared the end of that pregnancy and after birth, the vein grew into a really large, puffy and what the doctor later referred to as a “jellyfish” like pattern.

“Was that going to go away on it’s own?”

I don’t get to worried about health things. I have a faith in the intelligence of the body and if it does need help then it just needs a reminder or some attention brought to an area.

After some research, I saw that some vein procedures couldn’t be done until after breastfeeding. I had ways to go but I decided to just make the appointment for a consult to see how serious this vein was.

I found the top vascular surgeon in Austin, located about an hour away from me, got a babysitter and made the appointment. It felt wildly inconvenient, as well as a lot of time that could be used in so many more enjoyable ways (3 hours per appointment with driving included).

I kept coming back to how grateful I was for access to great healthcare.

The doctor told me I had a diseased main vein (no technical terms here-ask your doctor for you specific diagnosis). If I didn’t get it treated, it would eventually lead to real problems.

In this article, I’ll show you my before and afters of my leg (one bruising/graphic image-be warned).

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Are you feeling the pull of fall? I am when it comes to the upcoming shift into school schedule but it’s still in the 90s+ here in Central Texas. HA! It’s cats and dogs at our wild house!

Skin update-so 2 months after I had the TCA treatment for the very old acne scar on my nose, I had a micro needling appointment. At first it was like a miracle because the swelling made everything look smooth and perfect! I’ll share the pics in a separate post when it’s all done. I show on stories too.

PS I’ll be back to the gram regularly next week!

After a few days, the swelling went down and it looked worse! NO! Then after around 10 days things got better again. Phew! I’m seeing improvement! I really foresee a great result and it’s exciting although taking a lot longer than expected-natural collagen production takes time.

My BIGGEST self care lately has been learning how to rest and have faith that going at a normal human pace sometimes (baby steps) in life will just as ok as when I’m going full speed ahead. Are you like that?

I was writing down the amazing things that happened during the time I gave myself to slow down recently and it made me realize how good I have it. I didn’t realize the negative self talk I had for myself when it came to my work!

I’ve been playing with a new identity lately. We’re constantly evolving and the fun part is we can be whoever we want to be at any moment. What does your current wardrobe/uniform say about who you are on the inside?

There have been many years where I didn’t really want to answer that question but lately I’ve been into it.

Did you catch the cafe curtain saga? They arrived and the color was not giving the sunny vibe I felt from the online photos so they are going back. A reminder that clarity comes from action!

Have a great week! If you’re not already following along on Instagram and YouTube. Come join the fun!

Love,

Christina

Some links are affiliate links where I may make a small commission if you click and purchase. Thank you for supporting my work.

Well, even though I had managed my “family vacation” expectations, I still wasn’t ready for how I’d feel when we got home. Getting back into the swing of things looked different this time. WHY?

Because I decided that I deeply desired a different experience. I wanted to give myself permission to ease back into life and I wanted to still receive-but was it going to work?

What happened? Money, growth, accolades, rest, self love and a new experience in having a bigger life without doing more-without pushing myself beyond my limits at every opportunity.

If you’re someone who often finds yourself thinking, “I’m so busy doing so many things I don’t want to do when I don’t want to do them,” then this article found you at the right time.

✨In this article I’m going to share with you:

• Why you’re afraid to rest (where it comes from) and what to do so you can receive more in your life without pushing harder

• The exact things I’m doing right now to rest (and what I’m receiving 💸) as an entrepreneur and why I haven’t been on Instagram recently

• Behind the scenes of being a mom to 4 little kids who also rests these days-the help I have and how I use time

• The specific mechanism of why this works-I have to know this for me to be motivated to do it

• How I applied this technique to my 25 pounds of weight loss

Becoming a paid subscriber gets you access to the detailed parts of my life that are going to elevate your life.

PS. You’ll also get my romance series! Fun!

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That first summer I was newly pregnant with baby 3 and ran from one air-conditioned place to another while trying to remain decent in my clothing selections. I also created the “Texas chignon” I called it, which was a little low side bun (that wasn’t so cute with my fine hair). It was less a fashion statement and more a survival mechanism.

I remember doing an Instagram story one morning with my face all bitten up by mosquitos and just laughing. Hi, ya’ll (I still don’t feel comfortable saying this after 7 years here-is it being part Korean)! HA!

I kind of decided that Texas summers meant soggy hair, sweaty natural deodorant life and essentially wearing a bedsheet so that I would be covered but have air flow.

So much has changed over these past seven years! Since I began my health journey last August, I got into the habit of joyfully getting ready every day. That means hair curled, concealer, cheeks, lipstick and brows.

After about a year of heat styling my hair consistently, I realized the product I was using for heat protection was just a texture cream! Oops! So I ordered this heat protector and started experimenting.

OK WOAH this is botox for your hair. The only thing is-you only need a teeny bit and after a few weeks of trial and error I decided that half a pump is enough for me. When I used more, my hair was so moisturized that it would not hold a curl for more than a day even after hairspray. I like a three day hairstyle.

When I used just half a pump, it makes my curls look softer, and my hair looks more vibrant! WIN!

Specifically, I put the half pump of product in my hair after washing it and before blow drying. I do that at night usually and then the next morning is when I'll curl.

That saves me time. I like to break up my beauty into small bits.

PS this post contains affiliate links.

So now for the dress. Oh my gosh, this thing is so comfortable. I was so cool out and about shopping at Whole Foods and going out to dinner with the family in 101° today!

I bought it a few months ago, and the only size they had left was x small which ended up being way too tight. I saw him back in stock and gave it a go in SMALL this time and so glad I did. I want to wear this every day.

The best part is that it has the pads inside and like a built-in shelf bra so no bra necessary no worries about braw lines.

Next, I got these jelly shoes to wear with jeans and they are such a win! A quick Amazon order too.

OK lip gloss! The lawless one-I got the strawberry milkshake and then for the Callaway I have echo.

I actually layered them on top of lipstick and they are giving summer popsicle lips! So fresh and pretty.

I want to share a really personal side of this whole shopping and being excited about looking my best again. It’s not something I share lightly.

I keep hearing this phrase, “what is most specific is most general.” with that concept in mind, I will get specific about my feelings because that means that more people are going to connect with what I’m about to say.

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Hope your day has been great! We are still slowly re-entering the pace of home life after a couple of weeks away and wow it’s going a bit slower than I had guessed-but I’m embracing it (sometimes reluctantly)!

A couple of weeks on vacation reminded me how stepping out of your daily environment is magical for redefining your potential.

As in, there is something you want and the current reality isn’t there yet but you keep seeing it stuck where it is and it makes you start to believe that it will never get better.

For example, in my design life, it looks like cafe curtains for my dining room. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.

PS have you tried this dream technique to help me solve problems yet?

Breakfast Dessert

This has been such a yummy treat this week!

Chia seeds are great for your digestion and stabilizing blood sugar. This makes them taste like a creamy, special treat!

Chia pudding with blueberries (dairy free)

6 tablespoons of chia seeds

1.5 cup almond milk

3 tablespoons of maple syrup

Mix, let it sit then mix again and refrigerate for a few hours at least.

Grab my whole recipe book for simple, healthy breakfasts here.

Have a great week! If you’re not already following along on Instagram and YouTube. Come join the fun!

Love,

Christina

Some links are affiliate links where I may make a small commission if you click and purchase. Thank you for supporting my work.

So my dining room has been a spot of slow progress-we’ve lived here for almost 7 years! I’m always getting closer to my fantasy of this like Home Alone meets Vogue in the Hamptons meets Nancy Meyers vibe, breakfast nook.

I remember going to my next door neighbor’s house for the first time when we lived by the beach in Orange County and seeing her wall to wall Ballard designs bookcases and breakfast bench nook off her kitchen. AH! What a charming vibe!!! Obsessed!

It wasn’t exactly what I wanted but it was approaching. For our space, I wanted a little more of a collected feel. A mix of seating, textiles with different patterns, yes to the books and chachkas/plates/art.

So with our current home we have this dining room/family room combo off the kitchen and it is essentially “wall-less” because of all the windows (I can never have enough light BTW).

PS watch my video on how to make your home feel like you here.

Evolution of our dining room

My latest hang up (of one year) has been cafe curtains. This has proven to be a challenge because of the triple window situation that doesn’t allow for a simple middle support bracket. It would have to be on the window so this is a semi-DIY headache-or so I thought (I’ll get to that later in this article).

Cafe curtains would add some charm, cozy and textiles to this very sterile vibe in here but omg I want to re-do the window eventually and I already have both a woven shade plus a motorized roller shade beneath that…

Translation: Would all this work, time and cost be for nothing? Would it look ugly and cheap? Oh and returns…is there a human out there who loves returning things? Not I!

I want to be filling casserole dishes as I look up to the cutest little Norman Rockwell family eating in a charming spot in front of me that says “Wow, this a beautiful life.”

So that’s when I did something different and like the perfect set of dominos life can be when you shift your beliefs, some amazing things happened.

In this article I’m going to show you:

• The pattern break I made in my head that made me “place order” after staring at an amazon tab for months and how to flip your switch from decision paralysis to making s*** happen

• Where to start making your decisions from that completely changed my entire outlook on life

• The perfectly timed coupon that I noticed right after I made the decision to finally get “the pillows” and how to make these things happen for you every time

• What arrived in the mail and how it was wrong and perfect at the same time

• How to tell the difference between “this is a disaster” and “this is part of the process”

The pattern break I made in my head that made me “place order” after staring at an Amazon tab for months

Are you full of the “what ifs” when you are making financial decisions? A lot of mine comes down to time.

What if I spend hours of my life searching for the right cafe curtain rod? What if I eventually find it and it’s one million dollars? I order it then see an influencer share one from Amazon that is $20 the day it arrives?

Cafe curtains are “relatively newly revived” in the design world so places like Target and Amazon don’t have tons of options yet. But I’m the person who wants the trends before they’re fully “accessible.” That’s why I love small design boutiques and places like Round Top where it all shows first (usually at a premium).

I had started this journey almost a year ago and purchased these pretty little curved end pieces for a skinny rod or DIY rod but ran into more hiccups and stopped-too complicated!

So I reminded myself of this: If my thought process is that it will be hard to find, super expensive, might still not work and will be a wast of my time - that’s what I would get. So I shifted to this belief system:

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In all honesty I wasn’t too worried about the actual car. PS it was the worst rental car ever with dents in the back bumper, broken windshield and basically no shocks. It was the last summer minivan they had. I’m guessing our rental of it would be the last.

The Georgia plates were giving “I’m not from here so don’t mind me!”

Was that thing even street legal?

Ok, so I was more worried about that backseat seatbelt getting gross and later making my 6 year old feel sick in the car from the smell.

Recap-we were at a big family dinner and as soon as we arrived, our two year old, Stevie threw up from what we initially thought was car sickness but soon realized must have been a bug (probably from Disneyland) because she kept having episodes.

I contemplated rinsing my hair out in the fountain outside but quickly realized a group of people looking at me from a window of the restaurant. OKAYYY…

So we decided to take the poor kid home to the VRBO and the other kids would come home later with family.

She got sick again on the drive home with Chris driving as smoothly as possible, completely shirtless. Luckily it all ended around 10 pm that night and she was great for the rest of the trip.

This is part of vacation. There’s the unpredictable, the fun and the exhausting parts that overall make it so worth it.

To think, before this trip, taking 4 kids to target was something I had to hype myself up for. Today we got bagels and it was a breeze.

Ok, so the good stuff is below.

Upgrading to paid will give you the key freeing yourself from the trappings of the four walls around you no matter your current, visible circumstances.

I don’t share this stuff anywhere else on the internet. You’re going to see:

• How I now plan my trips in a way that works for me-not what everyone expects of me even if it it’s uncomfortable for some people. Just took a couple of blow ups-sorry family.

• What constitutes a “great family vacation” as a mom of 4

• How I create vacation memories so that the high points steal the show (even with the vomit moments)

• How I go from throwing out the kid routines on vacay to returning to a normal bedtime/less chicken strips & treats for kids etc.

• My exact re-entry plan into my own personal real life routines plus what changes/growth I bring back with me to level up my life

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Is it 100 degrees where you are today in the world? We returned to a very “cozy” Austin today and I can’t believe I was wearing a boat sweater (size down) just a few days ago in the Pacific Northwest. Gotta love that.

So I’ve been using this dream technique to help me solve problems a lot more lately and I’m breaking it down this week in my most candid video yet.

The ancient Greeks, Edison and Jose Silva made use of actively being a part of their dreams. It’s a weird little hack that will really surprise you-and help you!

This little dock off the back of our VRBO was magical to me. I felt like I was in a romance novel-a romance novel with little kids who wake you up at 3 am and “want to go out!” HA!

It was a great trip and we’re happy to be home. Looking forward to easing back into the routine around here. I hope you are doing great!

Have a great week! If you’re not already following along on Instagram and YouTube. Come join the fun!

Love,

Christina

Some links are affiliate links where I may make a small commission if you click and purchase. Thank you for supporting my work.

Where I live, there are a few really delicious spots but the 15 minute drive can even deter me from going so vacations are EXTRA fun when it comes to great food.

Our VRBOs do not have an espresso machine and since a daily cappuccino is a nonnegotiable for me these days, the cafes have been a daily delight for me.

The filled croissants at this place pictured were OUT of THIS WORLD!

Fun food is a huge part of any vacation for me. Like I said, where I live has a few great spots and a bunch of average ones so eating out on vacation is even more like Disneyland for my tastebuds.

So, how have I been eating these past couple of weeks?

But first a quick recap-I lost 25 pounds (I’m a 46 YO Mom of 4) this past year. I did it in such a radically different yet simple way that I created a course to teach women exactly what I did and it’s working for them now too.

I didn’t want to be on a diet. I needed something super easy for my full life with little kids. I didn’t want to give up pastries and girls’ nights…so I didn’t and I finally lost the weight that had felt so stuck.

BUT what about being away from my controlled environment, schedule and a fridge full of prepped food?

I knew we’d be running around a bunch with 4 kids and there also needed to be some down time.

In this article, I’m going to share with you:

• what actually happened with food these past two weeks (including the meal I would have panicked over a year ago)

• the part that was shockingly easy and the one thing that was harder than I expected

• the single belief that made my relationship with food on vacation so chill my husband noticed

• the habits that quietly kept doing their thing without me managing them, tracking them, or even remembering to do them

• my plan for when we return home and why it may surprise you

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