Getting Back from Vacation
I had a great little mini vacation from the end of January and into the first week of February. I spent a couple weeks in Orlando and Jacksonville visiting friends and family. My kitties came with me, so I had a number of the normal comforts of home with me. They certainly sang me the song of their people on the three hour drive to Orlando and back, but that’s another story. While the cats definitely have their routines and get a little catty if the schedule is interrupted, I always find adjusting my own routine to be more difficult. So, post-vacation, I’m getting back into the swing of things.
Post-Vacation Skin Care
All things considered, my skin care didn’t really fall off the rails this trip. I brought all my staple skin care products, which always helps — including my Obagi face wash (more details on that here!), a mini Indie Lee face wash, and a travel set of Biossance products I got for this very reason.
However, I still have to get back on track with my wholistic beauty routine, and that includes diet. I did a good job drinking water on this trip, but that didn’t fully counteract the indulgences of vacation. Whether it was wine or sweets, I definitely had some decadent food, which I find always messes with my skin. No regrets, though — you have to treat yourself from time to time!
So, for my post-vacation skin care, I scheduled a Hydrafacial and am going back-to-basics with my beauty routine. This means face wash, toner, serum, moisturizer in the morning, and more of the same at night, plus eye cream and a facial oil. So far, this is nipping the little breakouts I found developing post-vacation in the bud.
Post-Vacation Diet
When I say diet, I mean it in the broadest sense, not as a restrictive course of action. Typically, I eat a varied, plant-based diet. While on vacation, I ate a variety of food, to be certain, but definitely a lot more bread, cheese, and pastas than I typically cook for myself. Oh, and beer and wine. And sangria from Santiago’s Bodega. Oh…and Girl Scout cookies. Good stuff.
Anyway, after treating myself to all kinds of tasty treats, I found myself really craving fresh, crisp vegetables. I even found myself craving fruit — unusual, as I’m not a huge fruit person. Listening to my body, I picked up a bunch of lettuce, spinach, and vegetables to make a couple salads for the next few days.
Meal prepping the salad ingredients made it so much easier to eat a fresh, delicious salad for dinner the first and second night back. It can be overwhelming to dice up just enough vegetables for one serving, and I find that, when I set about to do that, I usually wind up feeling like I should just make a whole grain dish instead. Plus, this way, I had pre-chopped bell pepper, so when I did go to make a vegetable pearl couscous dish, part of the prep was already done!
Post-Vacation Work
This is part of my post-vacation routine regulation that I’m struggling with. I started working with a new freelance client while away and haven’t quite incorporated this new job into my routine. Plus, along with this newness, I’ve been trying to time-block parts of my blog and writing routine. Basically, I’ve been testing out lots of new stuff and not quite finding what fits just yet.
So, this week, I’m working on streamlining my time-blocking, ramping up my content calendar, and ensuring I get everything done well for my new freelance client (which is a great gig and I’m hoping will lead to more work down the line).
All in all, it’s definitely manageable. But, as someone who likes systems but isn’t used to creating them entirely on my own, it can be a little overwhelming. Even though I’ve been out of school for almost two years now, it is still strange to be fully in charge of my schedule. I’m so used to the built-in structure of undergrad and law school — not to mention, grade school and high school! — that the endless options kind of make me freeze up. I mean, I had been in some type of school program for twenty-three of my twenty-seven years. Some habits are hard to break.
I’ve heard a lot about the Indie Lee brand, but I’ve never tried anything myself. It sounds like a great post vacation skincare routine xo
Makeup Muddle
I’ve loved every Indie Lee product I’ve tried. You should definitely check their products out! Thank you!