It’s been a long time since I’ve done a post like this… but considering there is quite a bit going on in life at the moment I thought I’d share some things happening lately.
My weekly FMK readers may have noticed I haven’t been sharing blog posts on my consistent schedule lately. I typically share a new post Monday/Wednesday/Friday. But between preparing our new home to move into, work and travel, my schedule has been thrown off a little bit. Normally I would find myself just working through it. Keep going. Get it done. No matter what.
But as I take on more projects and my body starts having negative reactions to the stress I’ve put myself under, I’m slowly starting to realize I need to give myself permission to take more breaks. The Type-A in me wants to do it all, and do it well.
Stress
I didn’t realize I had put myself under so much stress until it was too late (I feel like it always happens like that, right?) … too late as in there was nothing I could do once psoriasis flared up. This particular bout of stress happened to make itself evident on my lips. It was not only annoying, but painful. Oh and stressful because when you have skin-related issues on your face, that in itself brings on more stress, you know?
Anyways my lips were irritated, patchy, blistering (sorry for the visual). I reached out on IG and heard back from several nutritionists and wellness practitioners about diet–avoiding inflammatory foods, sugar, caffeine, etc. I started to watch my intake of those foods, and even got rid of coffee for several days–yes it was kind of terrible. But really I didn’t see any true relief.
It was also suggested I think about what kind of stress-relieving activities I could incorporate into my routine. So I took naps, went for walks outside, and just found myself lying in corpse pose/savasana on the floor for 5 minutes at a time. I also decided I would lessen my work load for the week, and essentially not post here on the blog as normal. Just giving myself permission to skip a couple days of recipes/new posts took a lot of weight off. If you ever find yourself in that sitauation of being so stressed out and not knowing what to do, TAKE A BREAK. Seriously. Whatever the situation is, you can take a break from whatever is that you think “needs” to get done. Trust me, it can wait.
Chicago Girls Weekend
Last weekend I made a trip to Chicago to hang out with blogging buds turned real life friends Erin and Jess. We were texting each other beforehand about how the overwhelm of work and life was creeping in, and the remedy was clearly a fun girls weekend.
Erin basically toured us around Chicago showing us all of the good eats. And good they were…
We even got in a Corepower yoga class Friday night, and a killer boot camp class at BTY training Saturday morning.
Oh, we also happened to visit four different Whole Foods in the city. It was both ridiculous and awesome at the same time… Mostly awesome though.
So really the trip revolved around food, some workouts, a little photo shoot… but mostly food and laughs. The perfect girls weekend.
By the time I came home on Sunday my lips were almost fully healed. Stress be gone!
Our New Home
So something else going on right now is that Drew and I are getting ready to move into our new home! We’ve been painting a few rooms, packing up stuff slowly, and re-doing the kitchen cabinets. I don’t really have any good pictures at the moment but I’ll be sure to share some later on when we finish. I’ve been sharing parts of the painting process in my Instagram stories in case you’re curious.
I’ve learned that painting is a lot harder than it seems… I mean I went into the process with the whole mindset of “How hard can it be?”
When in reality I managed to royally eff up the second coat of the living room. Which I think is hard to do… but somehow I’ve managed to screw it up. You can see so many brush strokes when the light hits the walls. At first I was all “Oh I’ll be the calm and collected Ashley. No stress. We’ll just decorate the shit out of these walls…”
But now I am all “Good lawd those walls look atrocious…” And I would have to make the entire living room gallery walls to cover up all of the terrible paint strokes. So even though we’ve removed all of the tape and plastic (because I told Drew it was fine/good to go) we are going back to do a third coat. Because the true perfectionist in me just can’t handle seeing all of those paint strokes… Poor Mr. FMK.
let’s chat
- What is happening in your life lately?
- Have you been to Chicago?
- Are you good at painting walls?
Emily Weir says
So glad to hear your stress is lessening! Sometimes you just have to remove everything from your to-do list and focus on yourself. Also super jealous of your Chicago weekend; I was following along on Instagram and it looks like you ladies had loads of fun and ate all of the food. I definitely need to make a trip up there some time!
Virjinia Harp says
Oh no girl, I hope your stress is a bit better. Painting is hard work! I did it for a community service project in college and I sucked lol. Hopefully you will be moved in soon to your new home! 🙂
Aimee says
Congrats on the new home! I’ve only had to paint walls twice – once in my parents house when we moved in 8th grade and once 3 years ago in an apartment that allowed you to paint the walls. Both times were kind of a pain in the butt because of vaulted ceilings.
As for stress, I hope you get some relief soon. The past few months have been super stressful for me and my body definitely showed it. Luckily this week I got some great news and hopefully my body is on the mend!
Erin @ Erin's Inside Job says
Aw I love it! Just come back and everything will be healed. There’s always those stressful seasons but you can do it. Soon you’ll be relaxing in your dope ass kitchen hahahaha
Karen says
I’m in the process of painting a few rooms too, and it’s quite a skill!
And don’t worry…you’re not the only one who has visible brush strokes after the 2nd coat….lol!
Liz @ pumpkin & peanut butter says
Girl, I totally understand what you’re going through with all that stress. When we first moved to North Carolina 2 1/2 years ago, I was so stressed with my new job / move / life things that I got shingles 🙁 It was one of the most painful, horrible things ever, but it made me realize how much stress impacts our bodies and how I need to take care of myself even more during those stressful times. Glad you’re on the mend girl!
Les @ The Balanced Berry says
I love your life update posts Ashley! You definitely have a ton going on right now, and I’m so glad you’ve given yourself a bit of grace. Your girls’ weekend looked SO FUN and I had all of the FOMO following along haha.
Also OMG PAINTING IS SO HARD. I painted my room last year (which isn’t very big) and it was like the most serious forearm workout of my life. So hard.
Emily says
Ok so that’s tremendously wonderful that your lips were doing way better after a restful weekend. Those restful weekends are so essential. Sometimes I think it’s hard for us to take those, but we’re always happy that we do. 🙂
It's meg says
I am good at painting walls. I painted our living, kitchen, dining and bath all by myself. Kevin’s grandpa/my dad showed me a few tricks and I was good to go. If you’re still needing help, message me. ❤😘
Ashley says
Aw thanks Meg!! I might have to take you up on that. 😉 Especially when we get to the kitchen wall because I am pretty sure Drew will want to divorce me by the time we decide on a color there haha JK – but not really 😀