by Joey | Oct 16, 2016 | Real Life
You know that scene in Forest Gump where he’s running forever in the same direction and everyone thinks it’s just the best thing ever? And then suddenly he decides I think I’ll go home now? That’s me right now. I think I’ll go home.
This year, I’ve come to the realization that I’ve kept hold of things, I mean white-knuckled-death-grip on things that were no longer bringing me joy or serving purpose because I never allowed for myself to entertain the idea of letting them go.
I don’t know how that happens exactly, but I’ve also come to the understanding that I’m not alone in this. I’m thirty years old, and only just now am I giving myself the permission I’ve needed to just be my damn self.
I’ve accepted my quirks and weirdness and would prefer not to keep any of it tucked away, hidden for fear of judgement. I’ve started to find my people, and with that I’ve learned what unconditional love and full acceptance actually feels like. And for the first time in my entire life I feel like I actually can do what I want, and that being myself isn’t anything to be ashamed of.
[Tweet “I want real and open and candid. I want purpose and relate-ability. I want to say what I need to say and maybe what you need to hear.”]
I want real and open and candid. I want purpose and relate-ability. I want to say what I need to say and maybe what you need to hear. I want to feel less alone, and I want you to feel like you’re not the only one who _____.
I’ve spent most of my life being told who I am and worse what I am. I was bullied in middle and high school for being quirky and weird, for not fitting in. I was called slut and whore for being friendly. I got chastised for talking too loud only to then have my silence misinterpreted as bitchiness. It always seemed that no matter which way I stepped, I was wrong. So after a while, I stopped bothering.
And that’s where I messed up. That’s where I failed. I stopped using my voice. I stopped trying. I allowed myself to be boxed in and bullied into submission. I allowed opinions louder than my own dictate my life.
I’ve chosen my own path. I’m doing my own thing. But if I keep it all to myself what the hell good is that doing? I’ve spent the majority of my life quietly rebelling, slamming my shoulders into the walls praying they’ll come crumbling down quietly.
And that stops now.
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by Joey | Oct 16, 2016 | Real Life
I called my mom the other day.
Mom? There’s pink mildew all over the walls in my shower.
Gross, I know.
And the truth is, I keep a pretty clean home. It’s not as clean as my friend’s house because I don’t have OCD…but it’s clean enough considering human beings live in it. And maybe I’m just one of those useless, selfish, entitled millennials, but I didn’t really ever learn how to properly clean my shower. I was allowed to spend my childhood running around outside with my friends using my imagination and getting dirty; I was rarely bogged down with a chore list a mile long.
Back to my dirty shower. It was pretty gross. Now, I don’t know why this is, but every place I’ve lived has had showers that behave differently. Take the house we had in Buies Creek for example. I could quickly wipe those walls down mid-shower and it stayed pretty dang clean. But this shower? No. Take two showers and it looks like it belongs to two college dudes who don’t own any cleaning supplies.
Just kidding.
It probably wasn’t that bad.
Now, I’m crazy sensitive to cleaning supplies and bleach. I blame it on that one time I mopped my entire kitchen with bleach in college. I didn’t know any better, okay? So now whenever I’m in the same room as bleach, I feel sick for days.
But you need something with bleach in it, my mom insisted. Apparently once mildew is involved you can’t really get away without it. Fine.
So I picked up the Kaboom No Drip Mold & Mildew Stain Remover with Bleach. Maybe it was the purple bottle, I can’t be too sure, but something about it made me think it would be the least offensive of the bunch.
What you need to scrub your shower:
- Kaboom No Drop Mold & Mildew Stain Remover with Bleach
- Rubber Gloves
- Scrubber brush
- Mask (or your dog’s bandana works just fine if you’re like me and forgot to buy a mask).
I sprayed that shit all over the walls and left it. I pounded out some work. I made myself some breakfast. I took my dear sweet time. And then finally, when I couldn’t ignore it any longer, I headed in.
Y’all. My shower looked brand freaking new, and I didn’t have to kill myself with the scrubbing. And better still, I never got that sick bleach feeling.
I’ve tried everything. over the years. We’re talking straight Clorox down to Borax. The real trick here is getting something that will STAY IN PLACE after you spray it. Especially if you’re dealing with pesky mildew.
Tell me your grossest shower story below!
by Joey | Oct 16, 2016 | Loves
I have a love/hate relationship with lipstick. I love the idea of it but kind of hate wearing it. It’s either uncomfortable or once I walk out into the light of day I realize it looks ridiculous.
And don’t even get me started on the kind of lipsticks you have to babysit.
You know the ones I’m talking about.
I tend to lean on the natural side of the makeup spectrum. I can totally appreciate a full on face of makeup, but that sort of thing just doesn’t fit into my life very often.
So when it comes to looking put together without looking silly, a your lips but better lipstick is a must. And trust me, I’ve been on the hunt for one for way too long.
And then I accidentally found a combo that worked like a dream!
Rimmel Kate Moss: 104 + Loreal Paris Colour Riche Balm: 818: Nourishing Nude
The Rimmel lipstick is a semi-matte finish, and if I’m totally honest I’m so over matte lipstick. It’s like the word fetch–stop trying to make it happen, okay? It looks good on like 2% of the population, and if you’ve got lined lips like mine, forget it.
So while I like the color, I rarely wore it. It was comfortable enough, but like most matte lipsticks it was slightly drying. No thanks.
Slipping the Loreal Colour Riche Balm on top was a game changer though. Not only did it soften up the color, it created a buttery, glossy, dreamy feel on the lips. Yes, please!
Better still, you can pick up this duo on one of your weekly Target trips (don’t lie, you know you’re there at least once a week).
Do you have a favorite “my lips but better” lipstick or combo? Share it below!
by Joey | Aug 25, 2016 | Throwback
Hi friends!
So it’s been floating around blogland a bit that people miss the old way of blogging, and I can’t help but agree. Remember six years ago when blogging was a glimpse inside someone’s life? I see people questioning why it’s not like that anymore, and honestly the answer is quite simple.
Six years ago there weren’t 1.2 million different ways to share a snapshot of your life.
I sat down this morning ready to share what’s been up in my corner of the web when I realized y’all already know.
If you follow me on snapchat (johodgespodges), you know I rearranged my office and finally put up track board. You also know that I’m getting sick but trying to pound out the miles because I set the goal to run 25 miles this month, and I’ll be damned if I don’t make it. What you don’t know is that my husband made fun of my twitter bird drawing then proceeded to erase it and draw one himself. I will say, his looks a lot closer to the actual bird.
If you follow me on
Twitter then you know that Bliss Creative got one of my
besties up and running with her
own style blog. You also know that my husband came home with a cookie for me from work yesterday, and it made me happier than a delivery of a dozen roses. What you don’t know is that I ate that cookie while watching BIP which is a total guilty pleasure. Bring on all the drama!
If you follow me on
instagram, you know that I spend a majority of my life behind a computer screen, and I’m running out of creative ways to display that. It wasn’t until a friend pointed it out that I realized basically every photo I share on Instagram involves my computer. What can I say…at least I’m real?
The point is, we’re running out of things to share because we share everything constantly. There’s nothing wrong with that–we’re all nosey little shits if you ask me. And I love getting a glimpse into someone’s mundane Thursday morning. But blogging has changed, and that’s alright.
With that said, Kristin and I have decided to bring back the Stuff & Things linkup on Thursdays! You’ll remember that there were absolutely no rules to this linkup, so you’re allowed to link up any kind of post! If for no other reason, I’d like to encourage you all to keep making the connections blogging used to provide. Taking the real life out of blogging seems to have stalled the development “blogging friends” and connection. Be sure to mark your calendars to link up for the Stuff & Things return on September 8th!
There’s something so special in that “me too” moment, so I hope you’re able to find a few friends along the way whom you otherwise wouldn’t have met.
Keep this in mind: if it weren’t for the old school way of blogging, I would never have met Myra, and we wouldn’t be rocking out
this whole business thing.
Anything can happen with blogging!
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by Joey | Aug 23, 2016 | Throwback
Okay, so I’ve been pulling myself out of a bit of a system breakdown lately.
Confession: I’ve never been the kind of person to procrastinate. I like knowing what I need to do and when I need to do it, and I definitely don’t like leaving things to the last minute. That’s when my Anxiety Ninja comes out to play, and I hate that bitch.
So I like to keep her locked up. Preferably in a dark closet where no one visits her, because I’m mean like that. Okay, I think I’ve gotten a bit off topic here…moving on.
The reason I fell into system breakdown mode is because I stopped making planning a priority and by the end of the day I’d suffer from what some might refer to as decision fatigue.
Basically, my brain is freaking tired. If you follow me on twitter, you already know that by the end of the day I can’t even be trusted to make a decision around what to eat for dinner.
The way I combat this in my daily life usually is to take the decision away from the moment. That’s why I’ve always been a big fan of planning. I just like knowing things.
I like to think of it as designing my day. While I try not to deviate from the daily plan, everything is loose and flexible. This habit has become especially handy now that I work for myself. The system breakdown I’ve been suffering through lately could be a very easy and comfortable place to unpack my bags and live. I don’t want to do that.
So how do you take the decision out of the moment? Well, here you go.
- Meal plan. This doesn’t only save you dollar bills at the grocery store and prevent you from wasting food, it helps if you’re like me and suffer from decision fatigue at the end of the day. Knowing what to prepare/what you’re having for dinner eliminates the what do I feel like dilemma.
- Schedule cleaning. Coming up with a cleaning schedule keeps you from dreading surprised guests…or running out of underwear. Your days are busy, I get it. If you leave cleaning up to when you have a free moment, you know you won’t do it. Trust me, I know…I spent too many hours folding clothes this weekend. When you break your cleaning down daily tasks, you also avoid spending hours on one specific task. Fun tip: Maintaining a clean house is less work than cleaning a dirty one. Scheduling it out also forces me to keep up with it–because once something is on my todo list, it’s harder for me to ignore.
- Schedule tasks. This one comes particularly handy for me as a business owner. It’d be really easy to fall into the Netflix trap or the overwhelm trap. In order to avoid both of these, I take some time on Sunday evening to plan out my week. I pay close attention to deadlines making sure to offer myself enough time for revisions and life. Knowing exactly when I’ll tackle a certain project or task helps keep me from feeling like I have too much.
- Designate days. I typically work out on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Knowing that helps me avoid the guilt of “missing” a workout on a Monday. I typically hit the Chiropractor on Wednesdays and Fridays, that lets me know I can set up shop at the Amelie’s down the street so those would be good days to knock out content. Knowing your habits helps you to be productive.
In this case, it also comes in handy that I’m a creature of habit. I tend to eat the same thing for breakfast daily (some variation of egg/turkey bacon/ carb. Right now it’s literally 1 scrambled egg, 2 pieces of turkey bacon microwaved for 2 minutes wrapped in a paper towel, and a piece of sour dough bread).
Recognizing your habits can help you plan out your week/day/life. Taking the decision out of the moment also helps avoid the emotions tied to that decision. The most specific example I can come up for this is that I write my book chapters on Sundays. I don’t get to decide if I want to write them on that day because it’s literally the only time I set aside weekly for it. If I don’t do it, there won’t be a book 2. Sometimes I don’t feel like it, but I make myself get over that.
Planning helps you avoid that whole avoidance thing.
Promise.
For more tips for productivity, habit tracking, and daily routines, be sure to visit the
Bliss Creative Blog. You can also follow that blog on
bloglovin‘!
