One thing you’ll learn about me is that I’m BIG on self care. I’m a creature of routine, ritual and habit and absolutely nothing gets in the way of my daily routines.

Even back when Disneyland and Vegas were frequent vacation destinations I had a routine!

Every day I have a clear set of things I have to do when I wake up and right before I go to bed. Sure, some of these might be OCD driven but whatever, they help me get ready and help me end the day. Like signals for my body on what time of the day it is.

BRUSH MY TEETH

I’m a weirdo when it comes to oral hygiene, I  have to brush my teeth as soon as I get up and especially right before I eat or drink anything for the day. I once dated a guy who didn’t think it was necessary to brush his teeth when waking up and omg I don’t know how many times I’d throw up in my mouth every time he’d talk. I CAN NOT. I also have to brush my teeth before I go to bed, I have to! It makes me feel so much better

DRESS FOR THE DAY

Even if I’m staying home all day I like to get out of my pj’s and dress in home sweats if anything! I also tend to dress Tums out of her pj’s and into home clothes if we’re staying home. I also like to make sure her outfit for the next day is set on the foot of the bed and ready. That is until she realizes they’re there and starts throwing her socks around.

DRINK COFFEE

This might sound either basic or strange but I feel like I have to consume chilled caramel coffee in a glass bottle from Starbucks. Caffeine doesn’t do anything for me as far as keeping me/waking me up so I drink it through out the day. And yes even when I was pregnant. But it is something I enjoy doing every day and isn’t that what self care is about? Doing things that make you feel good through out the day?

CLEANING

I like to do make sure a few pieces of laundry are always ready and washed. Sometimes I fail at this one but I really do try to stay on top of it! I do need to be better at making sure all my pj’s are washed and clean. I also like to make sure the sink is empty — a habit from having messy roommates who would pile the sink up and eventually invite roaches. Yeah, that’s not ever happening again! Plus an empty sink makes the kitchen cleaner. And a clean kitchen is a happy kitchen.

In addition to that my OCD makes me do random things like disinfect the counter, the stove, doorknobs and my phone. I hate seeing dust and crumbs on my counters and well, any surface really.

BUBBLE BATH

Baths are my favorite part of the day. I literally look forward to it every single day. The warmth, the scents, a nice lit candle… it’s all so relaxing. The only thing I don’t like about Texas baths is that they get cold within half an hour. I miss taking long baths.

Some of my favorite products to use is Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy bubble baths as well as LUSH bubble bars. I like their bath bombs too but I only just recently started to really use them. I like bubbles more than anything.

Things I want to include into my daily routine;

YOGA

I use to be really good at doing light yoga before bed. Of course that’s a little harder with a baby now but I really want to get back into it. My lower back needs help. Like seriously. I feel like self care starts with you taking care of your body and your mind; it’s hard to squeeze all of that into a day but I figure doing little things here and there within my routine is a good place to start.

MEDITATION

This was another thing I’d do before bed. Sometimes before the light yoga or even if I skipped yoga that day. Meditation was something that was VERY important in my every day self care routine. I would do it both in the morning and at night. And again any time I felt stressed out or overly emotional. And tbh, it helped me cope with a lot. I will always be thankful for meditation! Dealing with postpartum depression along with the loss of my dad and just the every day stresses of being a first time mom and dealing with personal drama that I could seriously do without can be tough. Not to mention all the other joys of being an adult and a dreamer.

I’d turn on some slow jams or this instrumental from my best friend CJ — the dudes been suggesting me songs (that usually end up being my favorites) since 2001, it’s insane. But just focusing on relaxing music and your breathing is probably the highest form of self care in my opinion. Besides shopping. Kidding. Not really.

JOURNALING

This is something I use to do growing up A LOT. My dad actually bought me my first diary with a lock. Cause my mom was nosey. But as I got older I started hoarding comp notebooks like crazy cause that’s how much I journaled. Again, my mom was nosey so I turned to blogging. Cause she didn’t know how to use a computer and typing is way faster. So began the days of OpenDiary, DeadJournal, LiveJournal, Xanga and Blogger. I’m so sad some of these blogs are gone now… like my Xanga’s. Man. All those years. And UJournal was where I had all my private thoughts and that’s gone now too. Yikes.

But every day journaling was such a therapy for me growing up that I will always always be thankful for. It’s what helped me be so self aware (a term my therapists have literally used about me) and it always helped me untangle my thoughts and feelings. Because man; on a daily basis I have A LOT of those. And since I stopped I feel like a big giant ball of… mess.

People these days aren’t very open to people who just talk about their problems on their blogs anymore. The internet today isn’t what it was in 2000. And without pictures no one really cares about what you’re blogging about. And it sucks. Sometimes I just want to word vomit. Talk about my day. Archive my life. You know? Without the pressures of aesthetics or picture perfect blog photos.

Maybe some day.

So that’s it! The 5 ways I practice self care every single day and 3 things I’d like to try and do more.

What are some ways you practice self care? Is it every day or every week? And what are some things you’d want to do as self care?