Grand Central Market | All That Glitters

make a wish ATG FINAL {Making a wish, hoping it comes true.}

It always seems to take a few days to get back into the swing of things after a long holiday weekend. The moment I find myself steadily back into my weekday routine/mindset (circa yesterday, if I’m honest), it’s slightly comical to me that the weekend is upon us again so soon. No complaints here, it’s just crazy how time works.

The holiday weekend found my boyfriend and I doing some exploring downtown to finally check-out the landmark Grand Central Market and The Last Bookstore, spaces that equally scream history and flair. Although, the highlight had to be when we stumbled upon a true gem in the heart of Los Angeles, The Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens and enjoyed an afternoon at one of the most tranquil places I’ve ever been. If you’ve never sat in a mediation garden, you’re missing out! I’ll elaborate on this experience in a future post.

September is off to a good, but somewhat exhausting start. I can’t seem to maintain a consistent level of energy and I suspect that’s something that a good vacation could help with, but isn’t in the cards any time soon. The busiest time of year for me starts now and won’t let up much until next year. So, I’ll have to find balance in the chaos.

I spent some time this week really thinking about ways to improve my energy levels at home, while also thinking about tweaks I can make now to make it through the more indulgent time of year dead ahead. I’ve been logging all my meals for just over a month now to see where I can improve (and it’s really eye-opening how much unnecessary snacking I had been doing all summer). My issue has never been that I’m an unhealthy eater, because I’m not. What I’ve always known and can now attest to since I’ve been keeping a food log lately, is re-thinking and making better decisions when it comes to portion sizes (and, admittedly, ridding myself of the nasty habit of snacking after dinner while watching TV). To up the ante on my new-found motivation to work on my energy levels and my diet, I also spent some time this week researching food scales (to better gauge portions when cooking at home) and pedometers (because I know I’m not getting my 10,000 steps a day). I think I’ve found the scale and the pedometer I want to add to my experiment and will make my purchases over the weekend. I’ve also committed to making myself go to bed earlier. That one thing alone does wonders! The next step is to start thinking about juicing (something that I’ve been wanting to try) to help get nutrients in a more powerful way to see how my body responds.

Then again, perhaps this is just part of aging and I need to learn to let nature take its course. Ha!

It seems from here on out the rest of year just flies by. Soon enough I’ll be blogging about fall trends, Halloween plans, eating turkey (or usually ham in my case), then trying to budget and figure out that jolly time of year we call Christmas. I can’t believe 2014 is leaving us in just 3 short months.

Until then, I’m soaking up the last of the summer days ahead and look forward to sharing them with you.

Have a great weekend! x

Meditation Garden 2 ATG FINAL {My first time in a meditation garden…clearly feeling very at home.}