Well hello there, little earthlings.
How goes it?
I hope you are having a fantastic day.
& had a GREAT month.
Here are some of my favorites from the month.
1. BY THE FIREPLACE PERFUME BY REPLICA
Okay, this shit is incredible.
I have such a distaste for scents.
I definitely prefer manly, muskier notes.
Is it just me, or does damn near every scent turn on you too?
Like, you spray it. Wow. Great. This smells good.
Twenty minutes later....must take shower.
I used one by Versace for a few years and when it ran out, I never bought another one.
Because it smells good to me.
It makes me want myself. 😜
Anyway, I wore that for like three years.
I've been dabbling a bit into travel sizes to see if I can find my new scent.
Have tried a few with epic fail.
Then this little bugger came along.
& he is perfect.
Highly recommend.
I promise you won't smell like a campfire.
Well, unless it turns on you like so many do on me.
I can't be sure what works well with your pheromones, but with mine...it smells brilliant.
I still only own the travel, but will be buying the full size.
HERE is the link.
& how chic is the bottle?!
swooonnn!!
2. DAE LEAVE IN CONDITIONER
This stuff is golden.
HERE is the link.
I have NEVER tried a leave in conditioner as good as this.
I actually went into Sephora to pick up their moisture mask, but they didn't have it so I snagged this guy.
& I'm so glad I did.
I wanted to tell you about it after my first use.
That's how good it was.
But, I waited and gave it a proper test.
I have NEVER been able to blow dry my hair and be done.
This stuff allows me to do that.
It keeps my frizz away, conditions & smooths and I swear it cuts down my dry time by like half.
If you dye your hair frequently, or wash it daily I encourage you to give this a go.
It will save your hair.
The moisture mask is HERE if you're interested.
3. JOURNALING
If you follow me regularly, you will know that I have spent the last few weeks "getting back to baseline".
It included lots of things. Exercise, healthy meals, meditation, work, shooting recipes, spending time in stillness and in nature, hanging with my kitties, reading, loving up my husband, etc.
But the best use of my time and the most beneficial has been journaling.
I don't know why I fall off the bandwagon with it so often.
It truly brings me so much peace and happiness.
I could not recommend it more.
& if you don't know what to write about just write about how you are feeling that day. If there is anything you can do to make your day better. What you can be doing today to reach a certain goal you have. What you like about yourself.
There is no rule to journaling.
Just open the page and start writing.
I often start my day not knowing a damn thing about what I want to write and end up writing on and on.
My favorite journals are Leuchtturm1917 A5 notebooks found HERE (I like the dotted ones, but you do you) or anything cute from Barnes and Noble.
4. AMERICAN AIRLINES
I know, this is random.
But, I vowed a little over a year ago that I would NEVER use United Airlines again.
& to be real, I'm sure that will be a false statement at some point in my future.
But I am going to try like hell to avoid them when possible.
Of course we have used American for years; probably a 50/50 split between the two, but I am highlighting them as the superior airline from now on.
Anyway, the last few trips have been via American and I've just been really happy with the travel times and the service.
Have a few more trips in the books with them and feeling good about my decision.
5. DATE DAY HIKE
Keith and I went for a hike last week.
It was actually so much more "remote" than we were expecting.
& we loved the hell out of it.
It was about five miles and really quite easy.
Just a few tight spots and slippery rocks.
Will definitely be back someday.
Like, when the ticks are done for the year.
We thought nothing of it.
But when we ended our hike, we were covered in seed ticks.
& I mean COVERED.
Hundreds of them.
I wish I would have thought to take a picture.
But, picture this.
Keith and I butt ass naked on our front porch picking ticks off ourselves and each other for over an hour.
YOU ARE WELCOME! 😁
Anyway, here are some photos of the hike.
A little snakey snake.
Okay.
Hold up.
Not letting you get to the next photo without an "i'm REALLY proud of myself moment."
Do you see that shoulder definition?
Yeah, I've worked really hard on that.
Really hard.
It may not look like much to some of you.
But to me, somebody who has EDS (a connective tissue disorder that affects the muscles and makes building muscle really, super hard) I am downright fucking proud.
My physical therapist and I worked on getting my biceps to activate, for I shit you not, just over an entire year before the muscle said, "okay. I hear you." That was almost two years ago now.
My shoulders were a bit quicker to progress.
But, like...building muscle for me is hard. Hard, hard.
Slow progress.
But I'm so happy with it, I could explode.
I can not express the amount of excitement I had when Keith showed me this picture after he took it.
Mind blown.
6. THIS SUNSET
I can not stop thinking about this night.
I went outside to do evening chores.
The sky was beautiful.
I snapped a few shots and got sidetracked in the cat cave hanging with my besties.
As I walked out, the most beautiful arrangement of colors in the sky stopped me dead in my tracks.
Full exhale.
I could not believe my eyes.
Then I fully sprinted down the lane to get this epic video and a few shots.
Could not have been any more gorgeous.
I can't believe this kind of beauty even exists.
It gut punches me every damn time I get to experience it.
I feel so damn lucky to have this land and a set of eyes that allow me to see the beauty surrounding me.
It sure makes me feel so small in this big world.
Yet so safe to know that I was chosen to inhabit it.
To experience it.
& I vow to make the most of my experience here.
That's all I have today, folks.
Hope you enjoyed your weekend.
xoxo
Kirsten ☀️