Have Fun, Relax, and Enjoy Life. Your Body needs it!

Relax!  It is so important to take time for yourself.  When you are full of anxiety, stress, and your body releases cortisol.  This makes your heart beat faster, your blood pressure rise, inflammation in the body increases, and your muscles contract and tighten up.  The list goes on!  All of these side effects to stress decreases your life expectancy.  This is why I am saying don't sweat the small stuff.  Dont worry about following the diet to the key, or what everyone else is thinking about you, or all of the items you need to get done!  Organize your day around having time for yourself or with the ones you love most.  

Find Projects that are fun, new, and exciting that you can share with friends.  For Christmas I made cleaning products for my friends and family with a goofy face of mine on the front.  DONT BE AFRAID TO BE SILLY.  I think that was the biggest lesson I learned in school.  Be yourself, learn to jump out of the box because acting like everyone else isn't going to help you feel comfortable or fullfilled.  I have always had problems with chapped lips, and dry skin.  So, I wanted to make a lip balm (which is made from beeswax, coconut and almond oil), face cleanser (made from oatmeal, lemon and orange zest, olive oil and more), and a face toner ( made with cucumber juice, vodka, and witch hazel).  Putting the picture on the front put a smile on everyone's face and at the end of the day that is what it is all about.  

Have Fun in the kitchen!

Brittany, my mother and I love to cook with each other and think of new recipes.  Yes, we will all share a bottle of wine on the weekends, but who is more deserving!?  Wine has polyphenals, an antioxidant which has been used in cancer research and other areas such as blood pressure.  Sure, wine is high in sugar, but the benefit of relaxing, the cortisol decreasing is worth it!  Just don't drink too much because then it can swing the other way.  No glasses being thrown across the room!

Paint, draw, cut things out of magazines and keep them for the future!

I was a painting major at Skidmore College, so to relax I love to create.  Cezanne made beautiful still lifes with fruit so here is my attempt to recreate his vision.  

I made this for Brittany for christmas with pastels 

Take a Day for yourself, get pampered.  

The other day I was going to head an hour and a half to North Haven to take a cross-fit class.  After a 50 hour work week I was feeling drained and tired, but I knew I wanted to go for the experience.  My Fiance Brittany convinced me to take the day off and go out with her and my mother.  We ended up having a great day which ended up with a pedicure.  Ok, so this is my second pedicure ever and I was a little nervous, but the hot rock massage on my legs after all the squats at the gym felt great, and I relaxed with green tea and a massage as well.  Guys, dont think this is just for women, open up, let your guard down, and do something new!

Have Fun with the kids!

Yes, children can be loud, hyper, and crazy.  But spending time with them helps us realize what it's like to have an open mind and play with out imagination.  Here are our neighbors playing with my balance balls and my foam roller.  They first came over to help us clean items out of our basement, which they weren't too excited about.  After learning they received a toll of an andes mint from doing one trip up and down the stairs, they started working faster. They learned a little about exercise, but mostly had fun with the cats and themselves.  After, we did some baking and decorated our own cupcakes. Teach kids to be innovative, imaginative, spontaneous, and open.  If you scold and yell at them too much, they will be closed off and reclusive.  We need to know they will be ok and at a certain time can differentiate between right and wrong, and when they do make a mistake, make sure they understand why it was wrong and ask them what they learned from it.