Shantelle Marie Photography

You Deserve a Mental Health Day

branches in asheville mental health day

As the condensed summer session for school is winding down, I find myself more and more averse to the idea of doing -literally- anything. Add on top of that the stress of buying a new car (which we’re hoping to finally have resolved on Monday) along with regular life stressors and I am one wound up little mama (thankfully without the stressor of kids yet).  I mean, this weekend was supposed to be two days of Andrew & I not leaving the house but Saturday turned into anxiety and running errands and car dealerships from 9AM – 6PM. This all has me thinking about the idea of mental health days and how helpful they were when I was in my pre-college days.

When I was younger, my mom would let me stay home from school and basically do whatever I wanted some days. I’d feel so much better the next day and continue on with life. Those days were total lifesavers. There are/were some days where I cannot force myself out of bed or the house. Whether it’s due to anxiety, depression, or any other number of fun things there is just no way I’m getting out. But now that I’m an “adult”, when I’m “just” tired and a little sick of never getting a minute off I feel totally guilty that I’m not doing one of the million things that are still on my list.

But you know what? That’s a bunch of wooden dimes.

Every once in a while (or weekly, if you need it) you deserve to take a mental health day to make sure you’re in tip-top shape. By taking part in a little self love and care you can often feel better and more refreshed than you would if you completed a million to-do lists! Need some inspiration? I’ve got you covered below (I mean in this post…not like, literally below).

• Order pizza • Don’t even think of getting dressed • Do your makeup super cute • Go see a movie • Bake cookies • Take a bath with epic music • Take a snack to the park and just chill • Play with a puppy/kitty/chinchilla • Only get out of bed for meals • Do something creative: paint, write, compose, bake, cook, dance, sing (the list goes on) • Go for a walk in a new part of town • Treat yo self • Plan a vacation • Go on a day trip • Don’t leave the house • Window shop • Dance • Watch your favorite movie • Binge-watch a show • Read • Play video games
• Do whatever the fudge you want.

Hopefully I was able to inspire a little something that will allow you to take care of who matters most: you! I’m off to finish out my mini-semester and then partake in some celebratory pizza and walkin’. I gotta hit my health goal for this week 😉

How do you show yourself a little self care?

Wishing you no wooden dimes,

Shantelle

A 6(ish) Month Update on those New Year Goals

Master Manolo Gracey Panda XVI is very tired from working on his goals (of sleeping).

Master Manolo Gracey Panda XVI is very tired from working on his goals (of sleeping).

How has it already been MORE than six months since I made these new year goals for 2015? This year has seemingly passed in a minute, but I’m sure that I’ll be saying that about every year forever. Because I’m a human with no concept of how fast or slow time should move.

Alright, moving on from the pseudo-intellectual talk.

I thought in the interest of keeping myself accountable I’d do a quick update on where I am with those goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year along with some of my newly developed goals! I’m really excited to see where everything is stacking up so let’s get reviewing.

1. Journaling – I did AWESOME on this until about March. I was writing every single day and then it started to be a struggle to find things to write about. Then I felt bad I wasn’t writing everyday. Then I stopped. If I hadn’t been so strict about writing every.single.day, it would have alleviated some guilt of missing a few days. But since I have started using the Horizontal Erin Condren Life Planner for this year I’ve been scribbling notes about the day. That’s basically journaling, right? 😉
Status: Success

2. Eat healthier – We’ve cut down on eating meat a LOT and make many of our meals at home using food we buy using the “perimeter” method of shopping, where you purchase most of your items from the outside perimeter of the store. When we do venture into frozen/canned/boxed we stick to the more healthy items.
Status: In progress (like, forever progress), but successful!

3. Go blond (or red) – Uh, total success. After 2-3 not-on-point-appointments (one of which I called to make less than a week after having my hair done to get it changed) my hair is an amazing combo of red and blond and I am PUMPED. I’m basically never changing my hair again (probably). So this one is totally checked off my list.
Status: Success + complete + awesome!

4. Work on French – Hahahahah total fail. I did try to find some local classes but…yeah. I’ve still got (less than) 6 months left to go though!
Status: Kinda failin’

5. Complete 30 Days of Yoga – I got halfway through before I got discouraged, sadly. We’ve been walking almost everyday now though and my weekly goals include doing yoga at least once a week, so maybe I’ll try this again!
Status: Reconsidering

6. Additional $1500 in savings – This is a hard number to reach but we are slowly getting there! The 52 Week Money Challenge is definitely helping and we’re also counting the extra change we get when using cash. Every penny helps, right?
Status: In progress

7. Spiritual home – After speaking with the pastors at Summit and finding that they would not accept LGBTQ members and then doing much soul searching, we decided to not continue attending that church. Currently our search has stalled but we are studying/learning at home, so there’s that!
Status: Stalled/reconsidering

8. Go to Disneyland – 3 MONTHS TO GO, Y’ALL. October 22nd here we come!
Status: In a (too long) holding pattern

9. Declutter & de-own – We made a crazy awesome dent in this when we had a yard sale back in March-ish. Got rid of a lot of old things that no one needed, made a little extra cash (savings!), and met some really nice people! We’re storing up stuff to do another one when the heat dies down.
Status: Success! But still working on it

I’m doing a lot better than I thought I would, if we’re being honest :) Here are some things I’m working on for the rest of the year:

• Doing the Color Run (less than 3 months!) • Run/jog half a mile • 16min/mile run/walk time • Consistently walking at least 2 miles, 3x/week • Getting a proper content plan in place & 1 week ahead on blog posts • Refining my style & overhauling my closet, and talking about kinda style ish things here

How have y’all been doing on your New Year’s goals? Let me know in the comments!

Wishing you less holding patterns,

Shantelle

Gingham Dreamin’

I’ve had a big crush on gingham for a long time now but no way (read: piece of clothing) to express my feelings for it. Though the pattern is most well known in its black and white form, gingham and summer go hand-in-hand for me. Yet it’s still versatile enough that it can transition into fall and winter with the addition of colored tights! Knowing this, you can imagine my happiness when I received an email from Loft that they were debuting a line of gingham pieces.

I’m not even joking when I say that I checked for my size at the local Loft and went right out to try and (hopefully) buy it that day.

It had already sold out of most sizes online by the time I got there so I was terrified that it wouldn’t fit. I got to the store right before rush hour. Found my size (after panicking that I couldn’t find the dress anywhere). Went to the dressing room. And ha.lle.lu.jah.

loft gingham dress

Um, excuse the banana split-eating grin but this dress is MAGIC. It transformed from a potato sack into the beauty above with a simple tie. Honestly I wanted to wear it out of the store, but I restrained. At least until I got home. Then I changed :)

I’m in love. My next gingham piece will be more form-fitting (I prefer fit & flare dresses) but this potato sack turns into wonderfulness in mere seconds.

Gingham Dreamin Magic

Dress: Loft
Shoes: Payless
Sunglasses: Target
Watch: Disney World :) (similar)

Do y’all like my garage door? I know, I’m so fancy. I tried this with a few different belts and reeeeally like the look of a braided brown belt. However it was too hot for life when I wore it for photo-taking (see gif) so I stuck with the tie! Makeup-wise (which you can’t see…just give me time to figure out this “style” blogging thing) I paired it with a cat-eye (as if I ever do anything else), a red lip, and I felt like a very cute 60’s school teacher.

Now, because I want everyone to feel as much joy as I do in gingham, check out some other gorgeous options for gingham magic (note: magic amount may vary by dress).

gingham dresses asos unique vintage forever 21 torrid plus size eshakti modcloth

Unique Vintage | Modcloth (WANT) | eshakti
Torrid | ASOS | Forever 21

Have y’all been enjoying the seasonless gingham lately? Show me how you styled it!

Wishing you all the magical ties,

Shantelle

PS – I was going to say “Schmidt-eating grin”, based off the amazing character on New Girl, and include a great gif/photo of Schmidt from New Girl grinning/being very full of himself but then I found too many and got sidetracked so I invite you to just scroll through the funny that kept me away from writing for a solid 5 minutes.

Why Seeing Movies is a Budget Date Dream

budget movie date night

The perfect date night situation.

I love taking my wife to see movies from time to time (this is Andrew, by the way). If you follow Shantelle’s instagram it’s a huge surprise, right? But it’s one of the most amazing things you can do, period. To start with there’s the anticipation of going to see a new movie, something you’ve never seen before but you’ve been checking out the previews for weeks (or months). And while the feature presentation is exciting enough by itself that’s only part of the fun. It used to cost an arm and a leg to see a first-run movie, but things are a-changing, people.

Personally, I’m a HUGE fan of the trailers before the film we paid to see even starts. When I go to the movies with my wife we are both transformed into movie critics for 15-20 glorious minutes. Every preview is an opportunity to decide if an upcoming film will receive the coveted “see it in theatres” ranking. There are a few other ratings we use as well, as any good critic should, so allow me to break those down for you:

1. “UGH, why?” – this rating is usually reserved for movies that probably should never have been made and/or many of the fundamental elements in the movie/their very existence is fundamentally troubling (see “Aloha”).

2. “No, no, definitely not” – this category is home to the vast majority of movies. It’s basically a catch all for movies where it’s painfully obvious from the preview that we won’t enjoy it (see “Run all Night”).

3. “Just plain dumb/Why?/Please I thought the end of times wasn’t nigh” – A category basically filled with Entourage-esque movies (see “Entourage”).

4. “Redbox!” – These movies are intriguing, but not worth the price of admission due to a high likelihood of the movie sucking. At times our suspicions are confirmed – the movie sucked, but in some pleasant cases cases we’re happily surprised to find they’re actually really good (see “The Duff”).

5. “Fine, we’ll pay” – Pretty obvious, we might not have otherwise paid to see it but the previews were catchy enough that we’ll be forking over too much money to see this (and it at times this pays off, see “Furious 7”).

6. Lastly, and the highest rating, “Add that to the planner RIGHT. NOW!” – You can tell from these previews that you simply must go see the movie in theaters or your life will be incomplete*! This final category of movies is also a source of consternation when the release date keeps getting pushed back until later and later in the year (see “Pan” and also my wife’s tears).

Critiquing movies is not only one of my favorite parts of going out to the theater, it’s imperative. Nowadays going to see a movie at the theater isn’t cheap so it’s important not to waste your movie dollars on a bad film. Adult ticket prices are usually $10 and up and even a matinee will cost you $8 a ticket. I won’t even talk about how expensive concessions have gotten because it’s almost painful to part with the price of a bag of popcorn. All of this is to preface a rather large budget date night secret with you/an amazing tip for when you want to see a movie.

budget movie date night

Shantelle is very excited about budget dating (and Cinderella).

Every Tuesday night our local Regal cinemas has a discount day where tickets are only $6 all day long on first-run movies (we aren’t talking dollar theatres here). If you’re also a Regal Crown Club member (which we are because it’s FREE), the tickets are only $5 a pop. Anytime we’re not sure about a new movie, we will wait and go see it on a Tuesday night. The tickets are cheap enough that even if we don’t like the movie (I’m looking at you “Far from the Madding Crowd”) we didn’t spend too much going to see it. The other benefit is that the whole reason they have the discount: very few people see movies on Tuesday nights. Even with super cheap tickets the theater is never crowded.

We have since discovered that more than just Regal offers this discount. AMC theatres has a discount day and I am sure that there are other deals out there as well, all you have to do is look. It seems like the discounts vary between theatres so I’d double check with your local big screen house to find out when they are!

In addition to the regularly discounted movie nights, the movie clubs through places like AMC and Regal have great deals. We earn free popcorn, drinks, and tickets on the regular which finally makes a movie date a budget dream.

Now, go forth and date at the movies on a budget (finally)! And since we’re talking about it, what was the best movie you’ve seen in theatres lately? Personally, I really loved InsideOut!

May your popcorn bucket always be full,

Andrew

*May or may not be completely true.

2015-2016 Erin Condren Life Planner Unboxing + Overview!

erin condren life planner 2015-2016

After many trials and tribulations, my 2015-2016 Erin Condren Life Planner is finally here! I’m super excited about this for two reasons: HORIZONTAL LAYOUT and it means a fresh start! Now, I’m not just here to talk about why I’m excited about the new planners, I’m also here (as always) to give y’all an unboxing and overview of the new launch…as well as do a giveaway again! That’s right – once you finish psyching yourself up about the prettiness of the planners, you can enter to win a Vertical Layout Rose Gold Life Planner! So without further adieu, let’s take a look at both the Vertical and Horizontal Erin Condren Life Planners…along with a quick comparison of last year’s! Check out the video to see the planners in more detail and read on for some photos and descriptive terms. 😉

As a refresher, you can check out my previous unboxing of the 2014-2015 Erin Condren Life Planners and then my 6 month update! Now, let’s start with the Horizontal layout, shall we?

Not going to lie, I reeeeeally like the horizontal layout except for one thing: it lacks some of the cute touches that the vertical has. However it’s not lacking in it’s own special touches and I’m head over heels for the coloring!

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Hello, gorgeous.

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A goals page!

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The month colorings are coordinated (sorry about the contrast in these two photos) and cute. Just like the new notebooks there is a note page prior to the start of the month with a quote on the opposite page. I love the extra room for notes and have started using it for budget items I know we’ll need that month and some other general things! The “Goals” section on the monthly view used to be “Notes” – which I honestly preferred.

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I LOVE YOU HORIZONTAL LAYOUT.

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Here are the sadly uninteresting graph and unlined horizontal note pages. Prior to these, the note pages are pretty cute (themed like the monthly designs) but nowhere near as fancy as the vertical planner design that you’ll see later :( They also reduced the number of pages in the back. It saves space but it makes me much more hesitant to use the pages!

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The Keep It Together folder is somewhat plain in the horizontal, but still contains the (ever unused) Perpetual Calendar! Plus hello cute (but also ever unused) stickers. There are a total of 4 pages of stickers: 2 already printed and 2 without any printing.

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I adore the new pocket! Previously, it just had a red line across the top under the seal; the dots are a vast improvement! These are the items that came in the Ready to Ship planner: some compliment cards, do it all dots, referral cards (you can add your referral link on the back), and a coil clip!

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Vertical time! Just like in the horizontal planner, there’s now a note page prior to the month with the quote on the page before the full month.

vertical layout erin condren life planner

I LOVE the changes they’ve made in the vertical. No more things telling you what to do along the bottom area, a cute flag area on the sidebar, and I like/don’t like that they’ve removed the calendar! When I used the vertical last year I would put a peppy sticker in the morning section of every Monday – this little square will be perfect for saving space but keeping the cute! I do miss the cute dots that used to line the sidebar though. RIP dots :(

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Adorable patterns in the note pages for vertical!

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Again, I adore the more subdued color palette of the horizontal but I really miss some of these cute touches that are only in the vertical. The chevron pattern and brightness of the Keep It Together folder are so happy!

erin condren life planner comparison 2015 2014

In case you don’t want to compare photos in this post to the other posts, you can see some comparisons here between the 2014 vertical and the new 2015 vertical and horizontal.

Erin Condren Life Planner 2014 2015 Monthly Weekly Comparison

More comparisons!

erin condren coil comparison

So the coil situation is a little less than spectacular. You can see in the photo above how much bigger the new coil is compared to last year. I miss the smallness! I would attempt recoiling but a) I’m terrified and b) rose gold :(

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I bought the Classic Sticker Book and the stickers are SO cute! The only downside is that there are quite a number of “tag” stickers (like Happy Birthday and For You) and I’d rather there just be stickers for the planner!

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The updated Party Pop Markers are so great! I’ve had an issue with the paint on the pens smudging though, which is a little odd.

Overall I am SO excited to be using the horizontal planner and I really like the updates that have been made to the vertical planner. I’m excited to see what’s in store going forward, but honestly, after the issues from this launch and ones I’ve had previously I may not be ordering again. Check out the video (way up at the top) for more information on some of the troubles I’ve had with Customer Service at Erin Condren (because it’s too long to type).

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Now for what you’ve all been waiting for: the giveaway! The winner will receive:

• 2015-2016 18 month Erin Condren Life Planner in Rose Gold Vertical
• A set of the Elastic Bands
• A code for a free personalized cover
• The sticker, postcard, and fancy box (plus, sealed with Hello Kitty tape)

This giveaway will only be open to US entries. Enter below using the Rafflecopter form!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Have you received your new planner yet? Let me know how you like it in the comments!

Wishing you all the entries,

Shantelle

PS – You can save $10 off your first order if you sign up for Erin Condren using my referral link! Yay savings!