Travel Diary: Alaska

About three months ago I had just finished a book called The Great Alone, which is an amazing novel by Kristin Hannah that takes place in Alaska. The book completely transfixed me and I spent an entire weekend reading it and avoiding all human interaction and responsibilities. ha. After finishing the book, I knew I needed to goto Alaska ASAP. We also have some friends who live in Anchorage that we have been wanting to visit and so we quickly put together an impromptu trip and booked our flights! 

Alaska did not disappoint. Wow. Last week was a complete dream and so refreshing to the soul. The beauty and wildness of Alaska completely mesmerized me and I could sit and stare for hours at the serene mountains, bald eagles out the window, and the wildflowers popping up everywhere. After 2 weeks visiting family in California, it felt so nice to just unplug and relax with nothing to do and nowhere to be. We didn't pack everything in while we were there, we simply did what we wanted to and did rush ourselves. 

What we did:

-We stayed in a city just north of Anchorage called Eagle River. Our first day we drove up to the small towns of Wasilla & Palmer and we went into the cute shops, bought books at a local book store, and just explored!

-Our third day we drove down to Seward, a small fishing town on the Kenai Peninsula. It was a beautiful sunny day (apparently rare for Seward) and the boys hiked up a mountain, while my friend Ashley and I spent the day shopping, walking on the water, and drinking coffee from the cutest cafe's! 

-After a day in Seward, we headed to Homer which was just as cute! Homer is where Summer getaway dreams are made of. The Spit is a narrow peninsula of shops, restaurants, hotels, and condos for rent. It is in the middle of Kachemak Bay and overlooks the most beautiful mountains. I swear, Alaska is magical! 

-In the middle of road tripping, we would stop on the side of the road to explore, take photos, and goof off with our friends. The trip was filled with so many great conversations, realizations, and reflections. 

-GLACIER KAYAKING! The most adventurous thing we did on this trip was kayak in Bear Glacier! This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. There is only one company that has the equipment to get people to Bear Glacier by river boat and they only do this excursions for a couple month out of the year. We spent an hour in a long and bumpy river boat going through the wave-filled ocean to get to a small river where the glacier was. Outside of the glacier was huge icebergs that we got to kayak around. It was extremely cold & rainy the whole trip but it truly was an unforgettable experience. We went through the company, Liquid Adventures, for our trip and I would highly recommend them to anyone! 

What we ate:

Oh boy, we ate, a TON! One fun fact about me is that my favorite food in the entire world is Salmon! I'm not going to lie when I say that I could eat Salmon for every meal! We ate like royalty on the trip and I'm not mad about it one bit. Most days I ate a salad with salmon for lunch and then salmon and veggies again for dinner! It was pretty easy to eat healthy there because most restaurants just offered fresh fish and veggies! 

On top of Salmon, I indulged a bit and got hot mocha's a couple of times, which I never do normally! I try to have as little sugar as possible but it felt nice to indulge a bit on vacation! I also indulged in wine a couple of times while we were spending late dinners overlooking the ocean. I think it is really important to enjoy simple things like a good glass of wine, especially if you hardly ever drink alcohol like me and so it felt nice to treat myself! 

Places I would recommend:

-BEST pizza in Anchorage: Moose's Tooth

-Best coffee shop in Eagle River: Jitters

-Restaurant in Seward: Chinooks

-Restaurant in Homer: Fresh Catch

-Store for Alaska goodies: AK Starfish has the cutest stuff and I got pretty much any salmon-related product they offered! haha 

This trip made me realize that traveling truly is so good for the soul. Traveling gives you a fresh perspective on life, love, and the things your passionate about. I feel so refreshed and restored from this trip! I'm already dreaming about where I want to explore next... 

Here are some photos from the trip! I hope this inspires you for your next travel trip!! 

The Importance of Self-Care

One of the rituals that has completely changed my life in the past few months is practicing self-care. It sounds so silly and trivial but the effects of it have been profound. Self-care looks different to everyone and to me it also looks different every day. Somedays, it looks like making a cup of tea and reading a good book. Other days it looks like giving myself a spa day, taking care of my skin, and using my body brush and body oil. Yesterday, it looked like putting responsibilities aside and having a "paint day" with one of my best friends. Heather came over yesterday morning and I made us an antioxidant boosting smoothie and we sat outside in my front yard and just painted. It was so relaxing and calming. I could've sat on that concrete floor in my lanai all day painting with my watercolors. It made me realize that the simple things can truly be the most important things. We can heal ourselves by loving ourselves. How crazy is that. 

I want to encourage you that wherever you are in your self-care journey, spend 10 minutes today doing something for YOU! Take that drive out of the way to go sit at a park, sip your favorite coffee, listen to inspiring music, do ANYTHING that makes your soul come alive. 

If you need help developing your self-care routine, here are a few of my favorite products that I use regularly to show myself a little extra love! 

Aztec Healing Clay- I use this stuff to soak my feet in. (many people use this on your face but it can be too strong for it so be careful! If you need a great face mask, use this one) Bentonite clay is great for detoxing the body from radiation (which we get from our phones & computers every day) and for just giving your feet a little extra love! 

Body Brush- If you add only ONE thing to your self-care routine, it should be a body brush!! Use this to gently dry-brush your body before you shower to stimulate circulation & to shed dead skin! After I body brush, I exfoliate in the shower with this amaaaazzing microdermabrasion scrub and my skin feel so amazing and smooth afterwards! 

Rooibos tea- I have a cup of Rooibos tea every evening. No exception. This tea is a part of my night time routine every night and I absolutely love it. Not only is it warm & the most comforting caffeine-free tea your can drink but it has proven to have anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties that will boost your immune system! Its heavenly. Try it. 

Sesame Oil- On days when I need to give my skin some EXTRA love I will use put this oil all over my body after I use my dry brush. Sesame oil is great because its a warming oil but won't clog your pores. I put this all over my body and then hop in the shower and so when I get out of the shower my skin will be hydrated and soft but not oily! 

I would love to know, what is apart of YOUR self-care routine? Let me know in the comments! 

xo

Lauren

10 things I am loving right now...

I like most of my blogposts to have some time of educational or informational aspect to them but I just felt inspired tonight to share some of my favorite things that I am currently loving! These things will probably be extremely random but I love reading these types of blogposts and so I hope you enjoy it! 

PS- these photos are pretty much unrelated but they were taken by my extremely talented friend and if you follow any photographer on Oahu, you probably follow her. She's amazing! 

1. THESE sunglasses!!!! (all the heart eyes). I keep trying to justify buying them...Someone tell me I need to! 

2. Riding my bike at sunset. Recently, I've been taking a break from work around 6pm to ride my bike down the bike path near my house. Its such a refreshing time for me to reflect and process the day and enjoy the beautiful sunset. 

3. Thai food. To be honest, there isn't a ton of good food options on the North Shore (unless you want to spend an arm and a leg) but there is so much amazing Thai food! I could eat Thai food everyday if I could. Tofu Larb is my jam.

4. Turquoise oceans. The water has been extra beautiful and clear recently. I am absolutely loving it and trying my hardest not to take it for granted. I don't know how I ever swam in the ocean before moving to Hawaii. Nothing compares! 

5. 12 hour adventure days. The longer I live here, the more I've been learning that a "work-week" in Hawaii basically just means "work unless the weather is good". It's actually been a hard adjustment. I'm used to working hard during the week and playing on the weekends. Last week, though, I spent two days out of the week hard-core adventuring. From waterfalls and five mile hikes to giant swings with friends and swimming with sea turtles, we did so much in two days and it was definitely worth unplugging from work and just enjoying the present! 

6.  Sun Bum Leave-in conditioning spray. I swear, this spray is the only reason why I haven't chopped all my hair off yet! It makes brushing through my hair bearable. And that says a lot. 

7. Rose Tea. When I was in Sedona, Arizona I stumbled upon this amazing little tea shop! They had an amazing tea selection and I came home with a Rose black tea that is an everyday must-have for me now.

8. Plane Tickets. I've lived in Hawaii for only four months and have already gone back to the mainland twice. I also just booked a ticket to another island for next week. I definitely have the travel bug in this season of my life!

9. Face Sunscreen.  Did you know that sun exposure is the #1 skin ager?? It is SO important that you use a face cream with SPF every single day, even in the winter! This one is currently my fave because its light-weight, non greasy, and is SPF 50! 

10. Early Mornings. I am definitely not an early riser but recently I have been going to bed earlier so that I can wake up earlier. I am absolutely loving quiet mornings sipping coffee and getting a head start on my day! 

What are YOU currently loving? Share in the comments below!

Hugs + Kissees,

Lauren

Making New Friends

Since coming to Hawaii, i've been really focussed on getting settled into our new home, building my skincare business, going to yoga school, and starting this blog. Its been a busy and productive few months but one thing I have really missed is quality girl time. I live in a small town and i've found that meeting people isn't as easy as it was in grade school when all my friends were in my class and we would pass notes to each other. I keep in touch with all of my close girlfriends via FaceTime dates but its still not the same. I met a new friend (Heather) on instagram and then another friend (Lauren) while surfing and they happen to be best friends with each other! Us and a few others (including another Lauren) went on a sunrise adventure to one of the prettiest hikes on the island this morning and it was just what I needed! 

Despite the pouring rain that drenched us and mud that seeped into our shoes, we had a blast exploring Gods creation, collaborating on creative ideas, and getting to know each other better. I'm loving these new friends of mine and i'm excited for all of the adventures to come!

Hugs + Kissees,

Lauren

Travel Diary: Sedona

This past weekend, my best friend and I had the best weekend up in Sedona, Arizona. We both work for an amazing company, Rodan + Fields, and the company treated Jenna to pick a luxury weekend vacation of her choosing! She chose to go to the beautiful Sedona and she picked me as her guest! It also happened to be her birthday weekend and so we had lots to celebrate. We spent tons of girl time drinking wine and overlooking the beautiful view at our resort, we had a spa day, went on a jeep tour, shopped in the town, and aimlessly drove and explored new places. We also seamlessly listened and danced to the new Selena Gomez and Kygo son on repeat. It was basically the best weekend ever. 

During the trip, I had a lot of time to reflect on life and everything thats happened over the past two years since starting my skincare business. I have grown personally and professionally so much and I would have never been where I am now without it. I would have never have met Jenna or my many other friends I have met through this company and there's no way I would have been able to go on such an incredible trip. Hard work truly does pay off and I feel like this trip was just a small example to me that we can truly do anything we put our minds to and work hard in!

No matter what you do, I hope you do it fully and with everything you've got! It is the most incredible feeling to wake up each morning and know that you are doing EXACTLY what you are supposed to do. If you aren't doing that now, set some goals for yourself and your future and so eventually you can start doing what you LOVE!

I'd love to know, what is something you have ALWAYS wanted to do but never have been able to? Comment below and let me know! 

Have a great day everyone!

Lauren