February Goals 2019

January is coming to a close and it's time to define the goals I am setting for the month of February! I'm so excited yet kind of intimidated to start, considering the start of my new year wasn't necessarily as positive as I would have liked. I'm here to prove that even though January has past you can still set goals and you can always change habits, the time of year isn't the only factor that influences that. I have a few parameters for my goals to increase my likelihood for success: 30 day duration, they have to be measurable and specific, and a limit of 5 goals per month. In the past, I've learned that one can endure just about anything for about 30 days. I love short term goals, to test one knew habits, and keep life exciting and fresh. If you've never attempted a 30 day goal, give it a try. After all it is only a month!

February Goals: 

• Successfully complete the first 5 weeks of Half marathon training
• Drink Celery Juice first thing every morning (This has had some crazy amazing benefits for me some of which include improved nail strength, improved skin, and better digestion)
• Meditate every night before bed for 10 mins (Right now I've been using the HeadSpace app and have been loving every minute of it) 
• Complete the Blogilates #100AbChallenge 
• Be consistent with my skincare and apply sunscreen everyday 

So there we have it. These are my goals for the next thirty days (well 28 days to be more specific). I will get back in touch at the end of the month to reflect on them and tell you how I think it went. 

Côte Non-toxic Nail Polish

Something I'm starting to dabble in this year is learning more and investing more in non-toxic, all natural beauty and skin care. Since I've started listening to more podcasts (on my drives to and from school) I've been more interested in understanding what goes in the products I put on my face, body, nail etc. Listening to one of my favorite beauty podcasts behind the beauty created and hosted by Serein Wu an episode was devoted to interviewing one of the founders of Côte.  An all natural nail polish and beauty company founded in Los Angles, California. Within the episode they describe what happens when toxic nail polish is put on the nails and emphasize the importance of seeking out more all natural options. Basically, in short the toxins in nail polish enter directly into your blood stream via nail cuticles. 

I've made my mission to start living my life more intentionally. I'm passionate about choosing cleaner options for myself. Atleast, the best I can with the information that's available to me. During my cleaning last week I decided to get rid of a big portion of my nail polish collection. I had way too many bottles of polish that I just wasn't using, they weren't making me happy anymore. I would say I downsized from a good fifty bottles to ten. I've kept a few of my favorite colors and polishes until I kind find dupes for those. 


Côte is a brand that I truly connected with. The podcast is definitely a reason I decided to give it a chance. You have the opportunity to learn about the background of a company, their inspiration, their values, and their future goals. I love being able to support a company run and created by women and products that are manufactured here in the US. Their products in general are fairly expensive at a price point of $18 per bottle. I'm looking for quality over quantity. I'm okay at this stage of my life having a handful of polishes I reach for and absolutely love. 

There are other brands that offer nontoxic options at a bit lower price points such as Essie and Zoya. It's really important to do your research before purchasing and understand that not all non-toxic options are the same. They have a range some called "3-Free, 5-Free, 7-Free etc." The number before "free" means that it is free of that number of common chemicals in toxins found in mainstream nail polish. Zoya is a 5-Free brand while Côte is a 7-Free brand.  The list of chemicals in mainstream nail polishes is incredibly long but here are the top three most harmful: Dibutyl phthalate-which has been linked to reproductive health/complications, Toluene-- which has been linked to negative affects on central nervous system, and Formaldehyde--which has been linked to allergic reactions and asthma. If you'd like to know more here is a link from a Huffing post article, How toxic is your nail polish really? 

From Côte, I purchased their Nude 6-Piece Travelers Set which comes with 6 travel sized nail polishes priced at $42. 

Nude 6-Piece Travelers Set (Left to Right): no.13 (always radiant rose gold), no.41(cool cappuccino cream), no.49 (adobe clay), no.12 (pearlized camel colored lacquer), and no.4 (balanced beige sheer)

I also purchased a base coat/nail treatment called Growth with Garlic (because I'm always looking for ways to get my nails strong and long) priced at $18. 

Growth with Garlic Nail Treatment

*For the record I used this nail treatment as a base and top coat (because why not)! 

I'm really excited about this brand. I love love their packaging, and the colors. The only thing is I wish their polishes had names. They do have identifying numbers, and if you click on them on the website they offer a color description and have beautiful photos. The first polish I chose to go for no. 49 which is described as "adobe clay". The polish applied smoothly with two coats and I've worn it for 2-3 days with minimal chipping, and overall feel very satiated. So if your interest has been peaked I encourage you to give some non-toxic brands a go! You don't have to do what I did and get rid of almost all your nail polish and start changing your habits, just start incorporating nail polish from brands you know have non-toxic values and goals in the future and maybe just maybe you'll find a polish you love.

no.49 (adobe clay) swatch

My 2019 Mantra

As I expressed in my previous post when 2019 rang in I wasn't feeling like my usual self . I was unmotivated, uninspired, and honestly a little blue about the holiday season coming to a close. I didn't have specific goals in mind this year and I wasn't about to force myself to set goals specifically because of a holiday tradition. Even though I love and fully support any new years resolutions made or even just attempted <3.

I don't know how other students feel but my break from graduate school has been from about December 20th and goes until Jan 22nd which in my mind sound great at first but now I'm ready to start feeling productive and get back into the swing of the hurricane that is my life in school. I'm not completely blaming my schedule for my lack of motivation but it let me wallow in my holiday blues a bit too long. All I can say is I'm getting back to my normal self in the past week or so. Figuring out what goals I want to set for the month of February (which I will make an entire blog post about).

These are the words that will guide my mind and goal setting for 2019. Here's how over the past two weeks it has already impacted my life:

• Cleaning out my room/Reducing material things (only keep those that spark joy)
• From makeup, to clothing, bedding, and decor. Yes, the Netflix series Tidying Up may have motivated me a bit here and I cannot tell you how at piece I feel in my own space now. 
• I'm not one who I would say even really had a lot of stuff but...I managed to fill up four garbage bags to donate. 
•  Focusing on loving my body and nourishing it with whole foods plant based meals. 
• Don't get me wrong over the past three years I've transitioned to a whole foods plant based diet quite gradually. For about a year and a half I've been 100% plant based which has change my relationship with food and altered my life entirely. 
• At the end of my last school semester I noticed myself not fueling myself with dense nutritious foods and relying on more prepackaged and processed vegan food to get me through. While to a certain extent that's completely fine for me and my body it was definitely too often and became a habit. 
• Everyday I notice more and more that I have in my life that others do not. 
• Regardless of where I'm at in my life and the fact that I feel somewhat trapped in school when all I really want to do is start my life and live in the real world I have opportunities that others do not which is outstanding and something I need to be more conscious of. 
• Actively and choosing to spread more love and appreciation towards others on a daily basis. 
• Choosing love over hate, criticism, or judgement. This is more powerful than you know. If you are at a low point in your life, if you feel lonely, if you feel sad, if you feel mad make a choice to exude love. In whatever way you feel comfortable. For me personally it's asking more questions, showing support, complimenting others, being active listener. This goes for my best of friends and complete strangers. 

It's only been a few weeks but this, this mantra really has resonated with me and inspires me everyday. It feels right. As for specific short term goals for February, I have some ideas brewing but you'll just have to wait to find out! 

Reflecting on 2018 New Years Resolutions AND How this year is different

Positives to writing down my resolutions in 2018:

• Ability to look back at them and take note of what I've actually accomplished.
•  I'm not perfect and no I wasn't able to achieve every resolution I set for myself but I was pleasantly surprised how many of them I did accomplish! 
• Feeling grateful for 2018 (rather then just looking forward to 2019 being better, realizing it was a pretty great year) 
• Visiting friends, going on trips with my friends, prioritizing my life and values (leaving a job that wasn't serving me mentally), gaining a defined and slightly bigger booty, and testing out a variety of solutions to my poor nail health (..#1 method: drinking celery juice every morning on an empty stomach...who knew?), and made my first every designer shoe purchase <3 
• Understanding that New Years resolutions can be positive and maintainable throughout the year (IF you let them be..the mind is a powerful thing). 
• Recognize what goals have been accomplished, let them go, and create new ones. 
• This by no means am I forgetting the goals I previously set but now, after a year of focusing on them they are a part of my routines and my mindset. 

What about this year? 

THAT being said it is now the middle of January, where everyone has created resolutions and I haven't. Something in me this year didn't feel the need to make specific goals just yet (and a holiday isn't going to push me to make goals I wont be committed too). I've always been one to support resolutions, any excuse to set some new goals I'm in support of (that is if they work for you and you actually are committed). I know there are those that feel like resolutions are stupid, impractical, or idealistic. My personal belief is that they do no harm but if they aren't for you, they just aren't for you! That's okay. 

For 2019, I decided to handle my goal setting a little bit differently the last two weeks I've been marinating over a mantra that I want to guide my goal setting throughout the year. A mantra, originating from Hinduism and Buddhism is a word, set of words, or phrase that is repeated. This repetition reinforces focus on the task at hand (most traditional used for meditational purposes). 

Towards the end of last year, I learned that I was super passionate about setting short term (~30 days), highly specific, measurable goals. For a month I gave up eating chocolate (something that I always become super reliant on when stress levels are high and I'm not fueling myself properly), then I focused on a months worth of yoga, and then a months worth of consistent documentation of habits etc. in my bullet journal. The mantra I've created will guide my goal setting and my passions throughout the year acting as a sort of theme. It will be front and center on my dream board (yes this is an actual thing I have in my room and switch up every now and again when inspiration strikes). 

I will share the mantra I've created for 2019 in my next blog post and give you a break down of how so far it is impacting my life. 

PS. I'll be sharing some short term goals I wish to set month to month, updating you on my progress of previous goals as time passes.