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Self-Care
The start of a new year always brings about fresh reminders of my values and offers a time to realign my habits, desires, and priorities. 2017 has been filled with a lot of re-grouping as many new passion projects have been added to my career plate. The initial thought in my mind is, what can I remove from my schedule to free up some time? I immediately think to cut down on yoga, infrared sauna appointments, grocery shopping, and cooking. But, wait. All of the things are so important to me. They exist as priorities to make a house a home + they are self-care necessities!
I have learned this year that you must take care of yourself to have healthy relationships, a healthy body, and a healthy home. You must learn to be self-aware and create space for the things that are necessary for your well being. Side note: accept your needs! Feeling selfish for feeding your emotional, physical, and spiritual health limits you from giving, living, and serving with the fullest heart.
In order to balance work, self-care, errands, and relationships, simplify your life. Here are some shifts I have made to bring more ease into the to-do's, which in turn creates time and space for self care.
- Wake up and read for 10 minutes to relax your mind and bring perspective to your day. This book is my favorite right now.
- Create a productive schedule for your day. My mom recently recommended listening to the podcast in this blog, and the productivity sheet has made my days uber-productive, yet I have more free time than ever. I am a big to-do list person, but this mind set has increased my focus tremendously. Aren't moms the best?
- Shop on Sunday for a week full of groceries. I am on week one of trying this, and it has been a game changer.
- Ask for help. If cooking dinner seems stressful one night, I ask my husband for help! Doing it as a team makes it so enjoyable and stress free.
- Get gel manicures OR leave them bare. This requires much less maintenance!
- Declutter your work space. A mind functions better in an organized atmosphere.
- Give yourself breaks. Go for a 10 minute walk outside in between projects, make a homemade latte, or call a friend!
- Set aside a specific hour or two a week to work on administration, paying bills, and budgets!
- Consistently clean out your closet and cabinets AKA expired goods, clothes you do not wear, beauty products that you won't use, and linens that are stuffed in a cabinet. If you do it consistently, it will never feel like a big, intimidating project.
- Breathe and enjoy life.
This series is in collaboration with some stellar ladies. Be sure and check out their posts on Self Care too: Kat Harris, Tutti del Monte, Danielle Bennett, Kate Labat, Joanne Encarnacion, Nikia Phoenix, and Chelsey Korus.
THE OUTFIT:
jeans | booties | striped top | sunnies (c/o)
images by felicia lasala
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Relationship Talk
Hey guys! Thanks for reading. Today we are talking love- with Valentine's Day next week, it's on the mind :) As you know, Lo is married to her best friend, Jason, and we thought it would be fun for her to dish on their married life! Keep reading for more! xo
MARRIED LIFE WITH LO //Jason and I have been married for a little over two years, and I must say first that being a wife is the best gift I have ever received. My abs have improved due to my consistent belly laughs, my character has strengthened from being lovingly challenged, my walls have slowly been knocked down due to feeling safe to communicate the good, the embarrassing, and the hard. I moved to an apartment in California six months before we got married, and have lived here over two years now. I must admit, marriage is such a learning process. It took us time to truly get each other on the most internal level and create a rhythm as a couple (and we are still learning and adjusting!). It took productive fights and misunderstandings and vulnerability to get there, but man is it worth it. I know we still have so much learning ahead of us, but it has been the most enriching journey to experience thus far. Not to mention, these two years have created such a solid foundation. Our priority is creating intentional time together to talk deeply, to not talk deeply, to crush, to flirt, to be adventurous and random, to lay in bed all day. We were both saying last night that we have never enjoyed spending time together as much as we do now! Jason is truly my best friend and my favorite travel partner, and life is so much better with him + living with a boy is so much greater than I ever imagined! I am thankful for how he leads our family spiritually, supports my passions, loves me fully despite my quirks, communicates with his whole heart, listens, takes care of me emotionally, intentionally develops community, and makes me feel like a priority! I am often overwhelmed with gratefulness that the Lord chose me to be his wife.
SHOP THE POST:
denim jacket | shirt | the jeans | sunnies
*images by felicia lasala
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Valentine's Day Wishlist
We are big fans of Valentine's Day. It's such a sweet, love-filled day and we can't help to get giddy over it. Below is our Valentine's Day Wishlist- it includes a few girly items that we would love to receive + they make great gifts for your bestie, sister, or mom. Links are below to shop and feel free to send this link over to your guy...:) Ideas can be so helpful! XO
stranded dry shampoo powder
french girl lip polish
voluspa candle
kosas lipstick
love themed undies
slip silk sleep mask
+ the denim jacket featured in the main image :) XO
*featured image by felicia lasala
Everlane's 100% Human Campaign
Everlane is a brand that we truly admire and love. You can see our previous posts about the responsible, minimalist, + cool brand here and here, as well as Lo styling Everlane pieces here, here, and here. Today we are celebrating a campaign that just launched- Everlane's 100% Human Campaign. Feel free to read more about their mission here, and shop the 100% Human collection here. The inspiration behind the campaign is the desire to celebrate that we as humans are more similar than we are different. At the end of the day we are 100% human, together, despite differences that we may have. How amazing and true is that? This campaign totally has us wanting to spread the love and kindness to all.*Lo's Everlane shirt, available here
image via Everlane
+ a few things that we are loving from Everlane...
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Welcome to the LSK Blog
We are so excited to welcome you to LSK! If you have been a loyal reader of lolo mag, we are positive that you will continue to love this site. If you are new to the blog, we are excited to have you here and hope to have you here daily for a few moments each day. The hope with LSK (short for Lauren Scruggs Kennedy, of course) is to make it a haven of wellness and honesty, a place where we support and celebrate each other, share tips for living our best lives, and ignite honest talk.
I am so excited to share with you how the healing and growth from my accident, the sweet experiences and adjustments after marrying my best friend, and the daily journey after moving to an entirely new city away from family and life long besties (tears) have ignited in me a desire to learn how to balance life. We want to invite you to a community where we can dream together, grow together, change together, and chat together!
There will be style inspiration still and plenty of fashion talk as well. In addition, we will be sharing recipes, juice shops and health spots, dreamy interiors, and stories of people gathering around the table. If you like the sound of all of this, you are in the right place! We want to say thank you to Julie Solomon for her passion and dedication to the vision of LSK, as well as Chase Jennings for his brilliant redesign of the site. Here's to the new year and this amazing journey! We are so thankful to have you along for the ride.
Love, Lo
Ten Online Reads 1.13.2017
Happy Friday, friends! Below are ten online reads that we have enjoyed recently, and think that you will too. We hope that you have time to enjoy these articles this weekend, over a cup of coffee or tea + a delicious, healthy breakfast. xo
*not really a read, but we are loving this beautiful tumblr account
*sixteen ways Geri Hirsch simplified her life in 2016
*the travel section of Annie Bing's blog
*seven American castles that are so dreamy
*pretty planners for 2017
*declutter inspiration for 2017
*coming to peace with your body's ideal, natural weight
*a cool satin bomber look from Lo's bestie!
*simplicity inspo for the new year
*a gorgeous winter barn party
xo melissa
Thank You and Here's to 2017!
We want to thank everyone for an amazing year in 2016! We have so much fun writing posts and connecting with you on social media. We are truly thankful for your support and interest in lolo mag! The blog journey would be nothing without you and for that we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts. There is something exciting coming in January, too! Lo has been working super hard on rebranding lolo mag, with a focus on wellness, honest talk, and balance. We could not be more excited for the refocused direction, and we hope that you continue this journey with us.
Have a fun, safe, and relaxing weekend and see you back here next week! XO
Q&A with lysa terkeurst
image via the proverbs31 facebook page
Lysa Terkeurst is the author of quite a few books including The Best Yes, Unglued, and most recently, Uninvited. She is also the founder of Proverbs31, a ministry that seeks to help women find and develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Lauren and I are both big fans of Lysa, her books, and Proverbs 31 and are so excited to share with you a Q&A series that we recently did with Lysa. Our questions and her answers are below! xo
-Hi Lysa! We are such big fans of yours and are so excited to be chatting with you today. First question- what was the inspiration behind Uninvited?Thank you for this opportunity! The process with Uninvited was a bit different than my other books. Most of the time when I write a book I’m on the other side of whatever issue I’m tackling. So, when I wrote Uninvited, I thought I was writing from the vantage point of looking back at past rejections to admit they were still affecting me and seeking healing. But God saw what was about to hit me and had me knee deep in studying how to handle rejection with a deep assurance of His unwavering love because He knew I would need this message most of all. I had no idea that the words I wrote in this book last year would be a pure gift from God I desperately needed this year. I didn’t know I would find myself curled up with the rough draft pages of Uninvited thanking God through my tears for the healing balm this message has poured over my soul. Rejection isn’t just a complicated emotion. It’s an utter devastation of what we thought was real and safe and secure. And it affects us all way more than we’d like to admit. We are all either trying to heal from a past rejection, deal with a present rejection, or fear that an unexpected rejection is just around the corner. So this book is about finding the acceptance and love we’ve always longed for and starting to pick up the pieces that we’ve been trying to put back together for years. I chose this topic because I want us to dig in to the core of who we are and expose and finally heal rejection’s deep infection. It’s not a tidy process. But it’s honest. And it’s good.-I am currently reading Uninvited and one of my favorite messages so far is the concept of Living Loved. It’s truly amazing how much better everything is when you come from a place of love, instead of insecurity, rejection, and fear. Do you have any quick tips how to get back to the feeling of Living Loved, if you have found yourself slipping away from that loving, safe place?Satan’s lies flee in the presence of God’s truth. So I think the best thing we can do is saturate our hearts with Scripture when we start to lose sight of God’s love for us. Some of my favorite passages to go to are:Psalm 91 | Zephaniah 3:17 | Colossians 3:12 | Psalm 139:13-16-You seem to have an amazing and tight-knit family! I follow your daughters Hope and Ashley on Instagram and love seeing their pics. Can you tell us about your family and how you guys stay so close, despite different locations and busy schedules?Four out of my five kids live in town which is an amazing blessing. Several years ago, our family started a tradition called Monday Night Dinners where we all gather together at our sticky farm table to share a meal and spend time together. It’s a constant in the midst of everyone’s busy schedules and our favorite day of the week. I think the secret to staying close is intentionality.-We know that you had three family weddings this year- so crazy and incredible! What was that like? Give us a few details :)I never thought or dreamed in a million years that three of my kids would get married in the same year. It was quite a journey filled with lots of planning and late night crafting sessions. Our oldest daughter, Hope, wed in February with an elegant, formal, uptown wedding complete with the unexpected twist of playing corn hole in our formal gowns. Ashley was married in the Alabama countryside in April with market lights, vintage furniture, a pizza and hamburger reception, and her favorite popsicles and donuts! Our son, Jackson, just said “I do” this fall in a lovely garden ceremony in Knoxville, Tennessee. I told each of my kids before their special day, “Embrace the unexpected. Smile at the crazy. Laugh at the unplanned. And relax. If you bring the happy, your day will be beautiful.” But this advice was really for day one of their marriages as well. The happiest couples are the ones who are able to embrace imperfections!-I am a loyal reader of Proverbs31 and follower of the Instagram! I don’t know what I would do without the daily encouragements that you and your team provide on the site and on social media. Can you share with our readers the concept behind Proverbs31?Over 20 years ago, I helped start a place where women could gather and learn God’s perspective on how to do life through the pages of His Word. Proverbs 31 Ministries exists because I desperately needed someone to help me connect life with God’s truth. And I still do. So, every day my team and I gather together to think through life-giving resources like our free devotions, First 5 app, online Bible studies, social media encouragement, and more. We’re so very grateful to be able to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth!-After writing that last question, it occurred to me that you are one busy lady!! Do you have any tips on how to wear several different hats, as many women do?Honestly, I have to say “no” to many things so I can give my “best yes” to the unique things that God has called me to. This doesn’t come naturally to me because I struggle with being a people pleaser! I wrote a book about this called The Best Yes where I share Biblical ways to prioritize in a world full of endless demands.-Your Facebook page is a favorite of mine and I am so thankful for your daily posts, quotes, and words of encouragement. What is your strategy when using Facebook to connect with fans?My deepest desire is to meet women where they are – whether it’s a mom in a carpool line, a wife facing a hard marriage, or a single gal trying to figure out what God has for her. So with that in mind, I weave together encouraging words to whoever might be on the other end of that computer screen or smart phone. It’s an amazing privilege to get to speak life into women around the world.-It’s tough to just pick one, but we would love to know your all-time favorite biblical verse, that you always keep in mind?That really is a tough one! I love God’s Word so much. I don’t think I could pick a favorite. But I do love Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” This brings me so much peace and helps me to remember that a pure heart doesn’t mean a perfect person. If my pure intention is to see God, I will. And while I can’t see the Lord’s physical form, I can see evidence of His activity all around me. This is my hope in the midst of hurt and the great joy of my life despite painful circumstances. The Lord really is the greatest love of my soul!
*Shop Lysa's books, here:
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Savoring the Christmas spirit
There is something so sweet about the holiday season- a sort of “magic” that fills the air, our homes, and everywhere we go. It’s an underlying excitement and joy that is unique to this time of year. We are making it our goal to savor the Christmas spirit and hold on tight to it, even after the new year. May we all carry it with us in to 2017, spreading good cheer everywhere we go. Below are a few ideas of how we can do this // xx meliss
-Smile always! A smile is seriously so powerful- it can easily spread joy
-Invite people over more to gather around the table for dinner at home- playing hostess is enjoyable anytime of the year
-Give a gift for no reason to someone special in your life or to someone in need
-Send cards as much as possible. Buy them, sign them, and send them snail mail. This could be for birthdays, thank yous, or just to say hello
-Dress up for fun. Even if you are just going out to dinner in your hometown, put on your favorite outfit and make it a special night, just because
-We say baking cookies, scones, and muffins is an all-year-long kind of thing. And to make it even better, whip up a big batch and gift some of them to family and friends
-Decorate your home with fresh flowers and other decor that makes your home space feel cozy and welcoming
-Keep that glimmer in your eye all year long! People have a certain “look” this time of year and we are determined to keep it past the holiday season