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Hey Friends! Long time no talk!
There’s no use trying to go into some long something about why I’ve been ignoring my little corner of the internet here except for well... 2020 was weird and 2021 is still kinda weird. It’s all left me feeling incredibly uninspired and lacking creativity. Honestly, I still am but it’s starting to slowly turn around. Woohoo!
Tis the season. No, I don’t mean the Halloween season or the start of the holiday season. What I mean is tis the season that everyone starts to realize the year is almost over. With a few short months left in the year people are starting to try and finish out goals set for themselves, trying to reflect on the year so far and start closing out this year. I’m very much included in that “everyone” bracket, so here are a few of my thoughts on this whirlwind of a year so far.
Today, October 1st, marks one year of being a vegetarian! I’ve noticed in many conversations recently that although within my direct circle of people being a vegetarian is fairly normal and well understood that isn’t the case for everyone. I figured why not share a little bit about why I chose to stop eating meat and address some questions that are commonly asked when the topic of vegetarianism comes up!
I’ve been playing around in Procreate and Photoshop lately just for fun and to get the creative juices flowing and I’m sharing a handful of the creations that came from it!
As a lover of the ocean, and the water in general, I decided it was finally time to take a dive into reef safe sunscreens. I always am so passionate about protecting what I love, and part of that is being aware of the products going onto my body and in turn into our waterways! I tried out a whole bunch of different reef safe sun care options and here they are!
I’m really soaking in every ounce of late summer sunshine that I can lately! My days are overall fairly quiet and laid back, but I figured I’d share a few things that are currently sprinkled into most days.
Decided to draw inspiration from my own life and create my first mood board made entirely of my own photos and creations!
This past weekend I got on my first flight since March. I figured I’d share my full experience traveling from O’hare International Airport to give you a little bit of insight as to what flying looks like right now during this pandemic.
I stumbled upon an Instagram post asking who you are when you take away your job, your possessions, your accomplishments, where you live, etc. I thought it was a great journal prompt and I really enjoyed my answer so I figured why not give it a share!
As elements of “normal” start to be reincorporated in our lives, I’m sharing what that looks like for me and how I am incorporating the old normal with the new normal!
Today’s Rad Read is Some Like It Cold by William Povletich! Some Like It Cold is a story of 2 Great Lakes surfers who became major influences in not only their own community but also the surf community as a whole!
I am a woman who travels solo. I am a woman who has been taught over and over how to keep herself safe while at home or on the road. I have a bit of a problem with these teachings and I really realized it when the very things that I hate being told out of caution that I am a girl who travel was written in black and white on the pages of a travel guide.
Earlier this year I made the decision to start going to therapy. After going for a few months, I feel like I finally have a bit of an opinion of therapy and decided to share why I made the choice to go and how it’s going!
I’ve been complacent and comfortable lately which has led to me not paying enough attention to what and how I am consuming. Sometimes I need a reminder to walk the walk instead of just talk the talk about positively impacting the planet. Here’s what I’m doing right now!
I made my way to the Lake for sunrise yesterday. It had been a while and I’m so glad that I did. It was a beautiful mid week pick me up. As always, the Lake brought me a large dose of inspiration and creativity. Here’s a few words I strung together.
When I got sick in Madagascar I thought that was the lowest point in my travel experiences to date… boy was I wrong. Turns out my worst experience abroad would happen on my way home from Madagascar.
I’m not good at having emotional conversations verbally (I’m working on it), but I like to think that I’m pretty good at having them through writing. So with that said, this is for my sister. This is for her and her senior class and every other member of the class of 2020 who has felt like their world is shattering with the abrupt ending to their senior year.
When quarantine came around I figured it was a good time to sit down with a book or two or a few. Reading turned out to be a nice escape from the world when it started to feel heavy. Today’s list is the 7 books I’ve worked my way through over the last couple of months! The majority are fiction with a couple of adventure based memoir style books thrown into the mix!
What is the Water Lovers Watch list? It’s a collections of movies, documentaries, short films, YouTube series etc. that are water centered. Some are about surfing, others are about conservation and some are just about beautiful connections to water! With June 8th having been World Oceans Day, I figured now was a perfect time to share the first list!
January 1, 2016 I headed off to South Africa. My time from South Africa isn’t shared very much here on the blog because that South African adventure was pre Just Stay Stoked. I decided, 4 ish years later, It’s time to let some of the South African beauty live here on the blog. After all, most of the adventures that have been shared here are a result of that first, big, solo trip.
I peeked at my 2020 vision board taped to the inside cover of my journal one night and I remembered the words that I assigned to the year. I realized that while the original thoughts and plans that motivated these words seem quite far from what they mean to me now, these words have materialized into my life in ways that go pleasantly beyond their initial meanings.
We’ve all got that list of things we hope to accomplish, our dream destinations, adventures we wish to have. Today I’m sharing my bucket list of adventures I want to have- though the list is ever changing and evolving. While some of these are location specific, this is not a list of the places I dream to explore, that list is much longer. Today, we are talking activities, big moments, thrills, endurance- that’s the kind of adventures that are on today’s bucket list!
I picked up Get Out Of Your Own Way by Dave Hollis the day it was released and started it right then and there. It’s actually the first book I finished this year! Now that I've got one under my belt it’s been feeling easier to keep the reading going.
Earth Day is always a day that makes me take a moment to remind myself of why I care so passionately for this planet of ours and it serves as an opportunity to remind myself to take action daily to live in a way that is becoming increasingly better for Mother Earth. I sat this morning and jotted down some Earth Day thoughts- here they are!
I’ve shared about the time that a cut in my foot reminded me of my make shift first aid abroad and how cutting a mango reminded me of when that sweet fruit was one of my days biggest highlights, but today’s little thing that sparked nostalgia was a bottle of grapefruit rosé.
Music is such a huge influence on mood. It truly sets the vibe for the room. So in search for happiness and joy, I decided to compile a collection of songs from days that make me smile!
I found myself feeling a lack of purpose over the last week, not surprising since my schedule is almost completely empty, but just because I’m confined to home doesn’t mean I can’t have something to strive for! I’ve decided I’m going to work at making a schedule for myself, even if it’s just filled with hobbies and small things, and set some goals for the month.
I was recently scrolling through all the notes on my phone and clearing out the ones no longer needed. In doing so I stumbled upon a few little blurbs I wrote, most of them thoughts that were caught in a moment and meant to get transferred into my journal. I really liked this one, that must have been written at some point near some sort of choppy body of water, and figured why not share. Hope you enjoy this sweet little blurb!