Glasses Shop

This is my second sponsored blog post, and I really only say yes to working with brands and companies that I, myself, love and feel good about sharing with all of you. Today, I'm collaborating with www.glassesshop.com to show off how to get away with wearing non-prescription glasses.

My mom has been a glasses wearer for most of her life, and as a girl growing up my mom was my beauty icon. On her, glasses were an endearing attribute, one that I loved because, for me, they symbolized her and all the beauty that I saw in her. As a kid, I never needed glasses, which most would consider lucky, but to my 10-year-old self, it came as a bit of a disappointment.

Now, that I'm a mom, and a maturing lady, I decided that if I want to change the way I look or take on a new style, or look a little more like my own momma, why shouldn't I? So, I ordered myself a pair of glasses; a cool transparent pink, wayfarer style pair. I wear them as an accessory, mixed in with some denim and a little bit of dirty, no shower hair :)

They have a great variety of glasses online, as well as prescription sunglasses. And for someone who impatiently awaits mail/packages, I was stoked to see them arrive at my door in one week! If you want to get your hands on some of these frames, RaisingGirl readers can use the code: GSHOT50 to get 50% off eye glasses and sunglasses with free lenses (sale frames excluded).

Photos by: Stefanie Meyer

    

It's good to be a little daring with your style, get out of your box and wear glasses if you want to. Dye your hair purple if it makes you feel more alive. I'm a big advocate for expressing your self with fashion. You do you. Let's see what Florence takes from that as she gets older...

Tracking My Cycle with Clue

Between the ages of 18-24, I didn't have a regular menstrual cycle. That's 6 years of my life, my womanhood, that I lived without a clue as to what was happening with my own body.

After seeing a nutritionist and getting some help with a long-term eating disorder, my body resumed its normal cycles, and I finally had a period again. After being clueless for so long, I now have this deep appreciation for my period. Many women probably laugh to hear me say, my period is sacred. But, the truth is, for me my period signifies that my body is on track, it's a reminder to myself that I have come a long way from the unhealthy girl I was for years. And, of course, my period will always be connected to my journey to having Florence.

A few months back, I discovered Clue, a company in Berlin that makes tracking your period and ovulation accurate, fast and friendly. And guess what?! They have an app and, ladies, it's free. I think I love my period even more, now.

I used to track my cycle by making little black "x"'s in the corners of my planner days. Clue helps me track all the things that come along with my periods like pain, mood, fluid, and sexual activity. There's even an option to enter good hair vs. bad hair days because we all know that is a real thing, am I right?! One of my friends who is a creative entrepreneur uses the app to track her motivation/productivity on a daily basis to help her identify patterns that affect her workflow.

The best thing about using the Clue app: it empowers me by providing a simple way for me to track my own period and see a complete picture of how my cycle affects me. 

What I Love about Clue:
-user friendly
-simple icon-based design
-tracks emotional side effects, as well as, physical ones
-it's free!

Do you track your period?

7 Tips for Dealing with Anxiety

Balance is something I talk about a lot. One thing that most people don't realize is that balance looks different for every person. Depending on the needs of your body, the work you do, the diet you eat,  your relationships, and your money; you are the best person to decide what things help you feel balanced. 

I've noticed that especially since I became a mom staying balanced in my head, body and spirit has become a lot more complicated, but even more necessary.  My need for a release after a rough day is non-negotiable. I've started to see a few things as essential to my well-being as a person first, and a mom second. When I take the opportunity to prioritize what makes me feel better it, absolutely, trickles down into my mothering. 

Mental illness runs in my family. We've got anxiety on one side, and depression on the other. I guess my feet were placed in the valley where the two things come together - I deal with both.

My first experience with depression started in college. It was during that time that I started to realize that I had all the symptoms. I went for days without sleeping and had no appetite, except for sugary things. I couldn't concentrate on any of my school work. Deadlines were physically crushing me. I have this memory that I consider to be my rock bottom. It's an image of me sitting in my idling car in the grocery store parking lot. I was hunched over the stirring wheel, letting the tears push through my eyes. I didn't know where to go, there was no where to go, but my urge to escape from this unexplainable sadness was so real. It made me numb from head to toe. If you've ever experienced anxiety or depression, you can understand that this pain is hard to talk about, even now, five years later.

Thankfully, I got some help that year. I went on medication and it helped me curb my depression through the roughest patch. I was able to graduate and enjoy my final semester. Since that painful winter in college, I've done a lot of research. Mostly, I've studied my own patterns and made notes about the things that positively correspond with my mental well-being. I needed to understand how to shape my life in a way that allows me to manage my mental health everyday.

Going into motherhood, I knew I was up against a big challenge. Depression and anxiety are very common experiences for women and their postpartum journey. What was I up against as someone who dealt with these things before pregnancy? I resisted from letting myself feel total doom, but I also didn't want to be blindsided again.

Through some analysis, I've found 7 things to be vital tools for helping me curb my anxiety and depression. I can almost always link my ups and downs to how well I've been taking care of myself. I find that when one or more of these gets way out of balance I can start to feel my anxiety revving up. 

My 7 Therapies     

Sleep.
Lack of sleep has by far been the hardest part about motherhood for me. Since adolescence I've always needed A LOT of sleep. Like ideally, 12 hours. I know, it sounds crazy but I've forced myself to get used to having less sleep and I just don't feel as good. I've also noticed that lack of sleep is the number one trigger for my anxiety.     


Limit Caffeine.
I just have to. For me, that means almost zero coffee, even decaf still has enough caffeine in it that it bothers me. I have to watch chocolate too. Caffeine is definitely linked to my anxiety. It also hugely affects my ability to sleep deeply. 

Move Everyday.
I've been a jogger since I was an early teen. I started doing it to lose weight in middle school and then kept it up. Now, it's my biggest mental release. Honestly, going for a run is my quickest most effective therapy. If I start to feel anxiety creeping up, I grab for my running shoes, load Florence into the stroller and get moving.   

Eat for Your Body Type.
There is an amazing book called, The Chemistry of Joy  by M.D. Henry Emmons and Rachel Kranz, which uses Ayurveda medicine to teach you what foods are best for your body type. Before I read this, I ate fine but once I made the connection between certain foods and how they made me feel, I've been able to use food as a way to balance my mind and fuel myself with the nutrition appropriate for someone with my body type. 

Find Your Outlets.
My ideal setting for decompressing is a quiet room, by myself, with a sketch pad and some colors. I draw to relax and escape. It's a perfect tool for me when I need to turn off my thoughts. Ideally, find an outlet that is easy to create for yourself and free, so it's at your fingertips when you need it most.  

Water.
I'm not talking about drinking it. For me, being around a body of water makes me feel at peace. Since I don't live close enough to walk to water where I live in the city, I take a shower or soak in the bath.

Stillness. Prayer. Meditation. Breathing.
If you have a mind that tends to race, like mine, you need to implement some form of stillness in your routine. I'm a restless person so I'm constantly moving, and because of that I often feel unsatisfied but exhausted at the end of the day. Call it yoga or whatever you want, but finding time to slow down, close your eyes and breathe can change everything for the rest of your day. 

What tools do you use for dealing with anxiety and depression? 

Finding Your Personal Style Post Motherhood

Last week my favorite podcast, Being Boss, did an interview with Tiffany Ima on finding your style. Hearing her advice was an answered prayer. I found solutions for so many of my style issues and I could not wait to write this post. 

After motherhood, I was at a total loss when it came to my own sense of style. As someone who finds a lot of joy and confidence in expressing myself through fashion, this was confusing for me.  My closet hadn't changed at all before and after having Florence and my shape hadn't changed dramatically either. So I couldn't really explain why I just felt awkward in my old clothes.

Until I realized, after being pregnant and now a parent, how I feel about myself has fundamentally shifted, and I decided my style needs to as well. 

For years I've been a consistent closet purger. I like to be able to see everything in my closet. I find that if I can narrow down to the few things I always want to wear then getting dressed is way more simple and I'm more willing to try new combinations because the choices are not overwhelming.

I have a tendency to immediately then start buying new things to fill up all the space I just created. Instead of taking the time to consider what I actually want to add to my wardrobe, I just refill it with things that seem like a good idea, or that I like the idea of and in a few months my closet is all congested again. 

So this time, I followed Tiffany Ima's advice and after doing my closet cleanse I came up with a few words to describe my new style and created a Pinterest board. The three words I chose are: sexy, comfortable/relaxed, and of course, minimalist. 

 I love this because now I have a goal for my style and I have some guidelines for when I'm shopping that will help me be happy in the long term. No more quick fixes with closet fillers. I actually want to take my time and slowly build my new, mom confident wardrobe.

Do you share my style problems? What are your solutions? I'd love to hear how you've embraced your post motherhood style.