Are you an early bird or a night owl? I’m learning to build my morning routine and make it the most efficient that it can possibly be. In actuality, I’m not very good at it yet and at least I know I’m more of a night owl than an early bird. My sleep schedule is one thing that could use a serious overhaul. But this post isn’t quite about that; it’s about my morning and night routine and a few special things that you may have noticed lately…

SUMMER ROUTINES

Waking up in the morning

Our mornings start late because our nights (aka dawn) are extremely late as well. It’s my natural cycle and as much as I try to break it, I usually come right back to it once my scheduled disciplined circadian rhythm falls off. Right now our normal is about 11 AM, ugh late I know. I need to start getting up much earlier to be a functional human during the day. Most of the time I wake with the daylight sneaking through our window blinds. Although for now, we have an alarm set for 11:30 AM to make sure we are up by then. Other days I wake up if I hear a text or notification come through on my phone (also a bad habit I need to break).

Taking care of the dogs

Maggie and Bouncer, our dachshunds, are very cuddly and sweet in the morning and then switch to a pushy side in which food and potty is the only thing on their minds. If I, as a human, don’t listen, then I’m getting an earful for an hour until I get up and do as they say. Dragging myself out of bed, I go to the bathroom and then turn the fan and air purifier off. As the two dogs practically jump out bed, I throw some PJ pants back on and fix my messy bun, rushing downstairs to let them out and fill their bowls. They eat pretty fast.

Morning caffeine

Some days I order us energy drinks, make coffee or make something to the effect of breakfast. I sit in my egg chair downstairs in the living room with a small blanket and my fuzzy socks scrolling my notifications and checking my emails. About ten minutes or so pass and the dogs are ready to be let out, I sit in the sunshine a few minutes and wait for them to do their business. Lately, they have wanted to stay outside a while and walk around and sniff everything.

I pick up Maggie (because she’s blind, if you didn’t know already) and we head back upstairs to relax a bit. Bouncer chews on his favorite dragon toy, I say ‘get your baby’ and he starts gnawing and chewing on it. I stick Maggie in the chair or on the couch and she will pass back out for a few hours.

Tidying up the bedroom

Back in the bedroom, I make the bed, pull the sheets up and re-fluff the pillows and tidy up anything that’s messy or bothering me. I can then move to get a shower and get dressed and ready for the day- even if I’m not doing anything. Post shower, I get out to dry off, de-tangle and comb through my hair before I pick out clothes for the day and finish by blow drying my hair. On days when I want to be a bit more put together, I make sure to do my skincare regimen and spend a few extra minutes straightening my hair or doing my hair in more than a ponytail. I have been using Tula skincare products lately and I’m really enjoying them, so I encourage you to try them. The cooling eye balm is my favorite.

Night time routine

And in the night time, I wind down by getting in the hot tub with my roommate for 15-20 mins and then rinse off again in the shower. I get in my PJ’s, and run the washer/dryer full of towels and dirty items from the basket. I will be sure to take the dogs out several times a night and turn off our twinkle lights at the end of the evening or sometimes right before we go to bed. I will almost always watch a movie or some YouTube videos at the end of the night.

Having a routine is really comforting especially when things are so up in the air right now. This year has been such a weird whirlwind so anything in the realm of normalcy is ideal. If you do have a routine, I’d love to hear about what special things you do to make your day start and end on the right foot. I encourage you to share it with me down in the comments. I will be sure to comment back and tell you what I think!

P.S

Most recently, I decided to have my blog redesigned. Yes, again. My friend and entrepreneur Aliie did it. She really listened to what I wanted and meshed my ideas with her design talent. The blog was not meshing with the true me before and even though I really liked it at the beginning of the year- the Home page was not working and functioning for me either.

I wanted to choose new fonts that were more appropriate and legible. As well as a new logo/header that felt even more true to the honest self expression of me. The layout was changed and the details were adapted to the new color palette. The inspiration originally came from the idea of a logo and I came up with my lotus tattoo inside a triangle. We agreed on similar hues to what I had just a but lighter and brighter and cohesive. She took time to recreate my pages and simplify the important parts. I had a few hiccups with formatting and use the first few days. She has helped me so much already with understanding the new Elementor editor and it seems easier to pick up and design little pieces throughout. 

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