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spring

Spring & Summer 2018 Plus-Size Capsule Wardrobe

Spring is here and Summer is right around the corner. Which is why I’ve been spending time this past week thinking about which new pieces I’m adding to my 2018 Spring Capsule Wardrobe.

But this season I’ll be doing something a little different. Instead of turning over my entire closet with spring-only styles I’ll be reinvesting in a capsule wardrobe with fewer pieces that offer more wear. This is partly due to being in a year-long no-spend challenge.

Its also because I’m currently still on a weight loss journey and I’m currently in between sizes. Which is why I want to get as much usage out of the threads I have on hand. With this capsule reflecting my current minimalist lifestyle and my plus size frame. The beautiful woman who proudly wears a size 16 and is proud of the body I am in.

I’m also a person who strives to live a transparent life. As a plant-based person, I am often conflicted in keeping clothing staples that are derived from animals. But in my current season of life, I will be keeping these pieces until they no longer fit and at which time they will be donated and removed from my collection. In the meantime, I’m wearing them all!

For me, less is more when it comes to perfecting your small wardrobe. Even in tricky seasons like Spring. Where you need pieces that will suit both those end-of-winter cooler days and beginning-of-spring warmer days are a must. Like me, you’ll likely have a few items that will carry over from your winter wardrobe, but if you’re in need of some new spring style inspo, check out me finished Spring 2018 Capsule Wardrobe for ideas.

Just a few things to know about the creation of this capsule:

  • This capsule contains 33-pieces.
  • I live in the deep south, which makes for mild, breezy mornings and warmer afternoons.
  • My capsule goal is to have each item in my closet work with at least three other items.
  • Jewelry, including my necklaces, earrings, and wedding bands, are not counted in my capsule.
  • Not included: 2 pairs of prescription glasses, a travel umbrella, and my various canvas totes.

Here are my capsule wardrobe pieces:

Tops & Dresses:

  • Basic white tank top
  • Basic white tee
  • Black Tunic Tee
  • Basic Pink Tee
  • Basic White Poplin Shirt
  • Gray Cashmere Turtleneck
  • Pardon My French Tee
  • Gray Maxi Dress
  • Black Maxi Dress

Bottoms:

  • Cuffed Ripped Jeans
  • Tuxedo Dress Jeans
  • Dark Rinse Jeans
  • White Capri Tights
  • Gray Palazzo Pants
  • Dark Rinse Capri Jeans
  • Dark Rinse Jeans
  • Khaki Capris
  • Linen Wide Leg Pants

Outerwear:

  • Gray Duster Sweater
  • Khaki Trench Coat
  • Dark Rince Denim Jacket

Shoes:

  • Black Biker Boots.
  • Smokey Mary Janes
  • White Espadrilles
  • Coral Slides
  • Snake Print T-Strap Sandals
  • Robins Egg Converse
  • Sloggers Midsummer Gardening Clogs
  • New Balance Cross Trainers
  • Adidas Sandals

Accessories: 

So, that’s it, folks! My capsule wardrobe for this Spring. I am looking forward to a more simplified, relaxed capsule this coming season. Pieces reflect my minimalist lifestyle at home.

Better still, these pieces are easy to launder at home, bring joy to my life, and add ease to my mornings.

So, everyone, I hope this post will be a good reference in helping you to establish an affordable, easy stylish wardrobe this Fall and Winter. I encourage you all to look into creating your own version of the capsule wardrobe as well.

Here’s to being comfortable in all your own clothes,

 

7 Tips For Pet-Friendly Spring Cleaning

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LoveTheseCleanPaws #CollectiveBias

 

7 Tips for pet-friendly Spring Cleaning featuring Fresh Step

If you’re anything like me, a house only becomes a home when a cat resides there. As an adoptive cat owner, I know first-hand that owning cats brings companionship to my days, helps me to be a more empathic person, and to have an overall better quality of life.

It goes without saying that I love cats. Particularly my cats, Boo Radley and Shadow. They are the most loving, thoughtful friends a gal could have. But with all that love and compassion comes floors stained by dirty paws, the air full of fur, and not-so-clean litter box areas in my home.

Luckily, Spring is right around the corner and now is the perfect time to Spring clean the areas my pets utilize the most throughout my home.

But before I start any seasonal cleaning project, I always make sure my cleaning caddy is stocked with all the products I need to help my pet’s areas sparkle at home.

7 Tips for pet-friendly Spring Cleaning featuring Fresh Step

My go-to? My local Target, of course! Because all of the pet-friendly products I need including Fresh Step® Clean Paws™ Multi-Cat Scented Litter with the power of Febreze™ Freshness is within driving distance of my home. Making it my one-stop-shop for all my pet care needs each Spring season!

I love buying Fresh Step® Clean Paws™ because it helps me keep my cat’s paws cleaner and my home fresher in the process too!

It’s my go-to litter because its low dust formula is perfect for reducing litter box tracking in my home. A must for my family as two of our litter boxes are located in my home kitchen!

What I love most about Fresh Step® Clean Paws™ Litter is its special blend of larger particles that are designed to stick less to your cat’s fur and stay in the box.

Plus, with a 10-day odor control guaranteed for multiple cats, this is the litter to buy for multi-cat households like my own!

What’s even better? Currently, there is a Target Cartwheel offer that will be running from 4/1-4/7. So be on the lookout for this offer to save even more at Target on Fresh Step® Clean Paws™ and your other pet care needs.

Now, generally speaking, my cats require little cleaning in their litter box and feedings stations, these areas in my area still require Spring cleaning. And they may in yours as well.

With that in mind, here are 7 tips to help you get started with Spring cleaning your cat’s areas in your own home this coming season.

1. Deodorize your surfaces.

When starting pet care Spring cleaning at home I always start by deodorizing all the surfaces my pets frequently touch. This includes using baking soda and 5-10 drops of my favorite pet-safe essential oils, added to a salt shaker, to deodorize soft surfaces including couches, carpets, and pet beds. I let the baking soda sit on the surfaces for one hour and then vacuum the surfaces clear.

I also use a steam mop to clean all tiled and wood surfaces in my home as well. Paying extra attention to lower surfaces my pets walk across each day.

This also includes my cats feeding station. I like to use Spring cleaning as an excuse to give these areas a thorough going over. Including their food dishes, water fountain, and food trays.

2. Toss stuffed toys in the washer.

Washing your pet’s toys can help them from to keep them from getting stinky. Including small, plush cat toys.

I like to add the toys to a washer, on the hot water setting, and then allow them to air dry naturally. This also includes collars, blankets, and carrier inserts. Making sure to wash each item as directed on its tag.

3. Give your cats a good grooming.

Brushing your pet is essential for proper coat maintenance and for keeping your homes clearer too. Especially in Spring, where furry coats can trap pollen particles on your pets and can spread these particles throughout your home. Trapping these potential allergens in your home.

It goes without saying that long-haired pets need combing regularly to remove any knots or tangles that can potentially become painful matters. Spring is also the time of year when pets shed excess fur.

Regardless if your pet is a long or short haired variety, a good brushing each Spring is a great time to groom your pet and prevent loose, allergy-triggering fur from flying about your home!

4. Dust with a microfiber cloth.

Removing pet dander and hair from furniture and other surfaces is as simple as using a microfiber cloth.

A must-have for every pet parent, like microfiber fabric, use static energy to pick up hair and dander than rags.

I use microfiber to tackle out-of-reach surfaces that may be covered with cat furs like light fixtures, fan blades, and vents with a ladder or extendable duster. Spots that can harbor allergens.

5. Wash plastic and metal food dishes in the dishwasher.

Pet food and water bowls are one of those things that slip our mind to clean – they’re used every day, but not by us.

Place plastic pet bowls in the dishwasher for a much-needed clean. Making sure to run them through the extra-duty cycle and sanitize rinse for extra Spring cleaning power!

6. Sort through your pets toys.

Spring is a great time to sort through your pets toys. Making sure to discard or donate unused toys and to stock up on new toys that might need replacing!

7. Deep clean your litter box areas.

While most cats need little training when it comes to using their litter boxes, due to their innate desire to dig and bury their waste, making cats clean, conscientious, fastidious pets. But that doesn’t always mean their fastidious nature means they are the cleanest when coming out of their litter box areas!

Each Spring I like to remove my litter boxes and give them a deep clean. Including removing all litter, hosing my boxes out, and letting them air dry. While my boxes are drying I like to give the litter box surrounds a deep clean with DIY lime-infused cleaner and a microfiber cloth.

Making citrus-infused cleaner is super simple to make too! Here’s my go-to recipe:

Citrus-Infused Vinegar Cleaner:

  •      Combine the peels of four lemons or limes into a quart sized mason jar.
  •      Fill mason jar to neck with white vinegar.
  •      Seal and store for one month.
  •      When ready to clean, strain and add to glass spray bottle.
  •      Use full-strength to clean shower stalls or diluted for windows and countertops.

Once my cat’s litter boxes are dry, I like to refill my boxes with clean litter. As I previously mentioned, Fresh Step® Clean Paws™ Multi-Cat Scented Litter. I find that Fresh Step® Clean Paws™ is a low-maintenance, high-quality, affordable cat litter solution.

It’s the best litter for our cat’s needs. I also love that it’s pleasantly scented with the power of Febreze™ Freshness making it a winner in my book!

So, everyone, those are my seven tips for Spring cleaning your litter box and pet feeding stations at home. Now I want to ask, will you be Spring cleaning your feeding areas and litter boxes this season? Will you be using Fresh Step® Clean Paws™ in your litter boxes at home? I’d love to hear all about it below!

Connect with Fresh Step Clean Paws™ Online:

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*Febreze and the Febreze Freshness logo are registered trademarks of The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio used under license by The Clorox Pet Products Company. © 2018 The Clorox Company.

7 Tips for pet-friendly Spring Cleaning featuring Fresh Step

5 Ways to Save on Spring Allergy Medications

Please note, this post is sponsored by Diamond Links. Thank you.

 

5 Ways to Save This Spring on Your Seasonal Allergy Medications

If you’re anything like me, you know the discomfort that can come with seasonal Spring allergies. With April being one of the worst months for enduring seasonal allergy flare-ups from the countless outdoor allergens in my area.

Each year, everything from grass, weeds, trees, and other seasonal blooming vegetation can trigger allergic reactions in the Spring. With symptoms of seasonal allergies ranging from sneezing, a stuffy or a runny nose to watery eyes, sore throats, post nasal drip, coughing, and puffy eyelids.

Symptoms that can make it difficult to enjoy this season’s fun outdoor activities, such as planting in your garden, attending a local farmer’s market, or outdoor music event.

Because no matter how careful you are to avoid these symptoms, treatments will need to be taken into consideration. Including both preventative measures and allergy medications and their out-of-pocket costs.

So if you are seeking relief from seasonal allergy symptoms at home, here are 5 ways to save this Spring on your seasonal allergy medications this season:

5 Ways to Save This Spring on Your Seasonal Allergy Medications

1. Reduce Your Exposure to Seasonal Allergy Triggers

Like with most seasonal ailments, being able to recognize your allergy symptoms is the first line of defense in being able to keep seasonal allergy symptoms at bay.

Check the pollen forecast for your region daily before heading outdoors. Especially after Spring rains when mold spores can also be in abundance in addition to typical allergy triggers like pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds. Those necessary nuances that help to fertilize plants and trigger allergy symptoms at home. 

If the pollen and mold counts are expected to be high, try to limit the amount of time you spend outside. Two Spring allergy rules to keep in mind are that ragweed levels tend to be highest during the morning and that ragweed pollen allergies can be exasperated when it is windy out and the allergens can easily spread.

2. Keep Outdoor Allergens Outside

When it comes to keeping Spring allergies at bay, one of your greatest lines of defense in maintaining allergy-proofing standards at home. A few of my favorite ways to do this are: 

  • Run your air conditioner or exhaust fan on high pollen count days to avoid draw allergens indoors.
  • Keep your windows closed on windy days.
  • When you come in from outside, remove your shoes and keep them on a mat or tray outdoors to avoid tracking pollen into your home.
  • Wipe your pet’s paws down with a reusable cloth before allowing fuzzy friends indoors.
  • When coming home from outdoor activities, opt to immediately remove your clothing and launder those worn pieces as pollen can cling to your clothes.
  • Change out your home’s central air filter for allergy-friendly filters.
  • Clean your vacuums reusable HEPA filter and portable air machine filters to keep indoor at bay. 

3. Clean Your Home on a Regular Basis

Even if you take steps to keep pollen outdoors, some of it can still make its way inside and trigger seasonal allergy symptoms. Which is why allergy-targeted cleaning your home is essential for keeping allergy symptoms in check each Spring. I like to opt for health-focused Spring sprucing routines that help keep my family healthier each allergy season at home.

4. Allergy Medications

Sometimes cleaning and preventative measures won’t be enough to keep seasonally allergy symptoms at bay. When this becomes an issue for me at home, I first like to opt for natural, holistic options. Including my DIY All-Natural Apple-Honey Cough Syrup. Perfect for soothing sore throats and minor allergy symptoms at home. 

When these measures aren’t enough I will first opt for more natural over-the-counter means of alleviating allergy symptoms at home including:

  • Decongestants can help you breathe more clearly by reducing nasal congestion.
  • Antihistamines can relieve sneezing, watery eyes, itchy eyes, and a runny nose. 
  • Eye drops can relieve seasonal allergy symptoms including itchy eyes. 
  • Probiotic supplements to support gut health and boost my body’s immunity during allergy season.
  • Throat lozenges and tea to ease a sore throat and post-nasal drip discomfort.
  • And Nasal Sprays or Neti Pots which can help reduce nasal congestion associated with allergies. 

5. Explore Prescription Treatment Options

When over-the-counter medications are not enough to relieve my or my family’s seasonal allergy symptoms, I will make an appointment with my primary care physician or naturopath to discuss other options. Including prescription-strength seasonal allergy treatments.

Sometimes this might include a regime of recommending allergy shots or taking prescription medications. 

If all other options have been exhausted and my physician and naturopath are in agreement as to the necessity of taking prescription medicines I will generally follow this course of treatment. 

To save on my final allergy medication costs, I make sure to utilize services such as the viibryd discount card. A service that helps to ensure I am saving the most I can on my prescription allergy medication costs this Spring allergy season. Savings that can add up in big ways!

I encourage you to check out this program so you too can save on your Spring prescription allergy medications for yourself and family too!

So, friends, those are the 5 ways I will be saving for my Spring allergy medication this season. Now I want to ask, do you suffer from Spring allergy symptoms at home? And will you be utilizing cost savings programs such as the viibryd discount card? Share your thoughts below!

Medical Disclaimer: The information, including but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material contained on this website are for informational purposes only. The purpose of this website is to promote broad consumer understanding and knowledge of various health topics. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. Thank you!

7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Blog This Season

Please note: This post was sponsored by the Chrissy Weems Scholarship Fund.

 

7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Blog This Season

Being a blogger is the most public of affairs. Except when it comes to behind the scenes things a blogger has to do to keep things running smoothly in their online business. And what better time than Spring to give your blog a fine tooth cleaning.

Blog admin and maintenance are never anyone’s favorite things to do. Including me. And I often use this as an excuse to let things pile up a bit before tackling them on my blog.

Each Spring when I’m in the zone, I can barrel through my to-do list and I’m always left wondering why I left things so long.

When I’m ready to get started decluttering my blog I start with a five-point checklist of essential admin and maintenance tasks  I do every so often to try and keep on top of things including:

Check my sites for broken links: When it comes to people revisiting older posts on your blog, broken links are the worst. Because having broken links on your blog can mean that Google ranks your blog lower than it would do otherwise and it discourages visitors from pinning your content.

To remedy this, I use a free broken link checker each Spring (and once a month on administrative days) to scan my blog for dead links.

Thankfully, they’re usually pretty easy to fix. As the checker gives me both the broken URL and allows me to amend the blog post quickly and to delete links from bloggers who aren’t blogging anymore or from companies no longer trading.

Perfect for finding older content which you might want to update this season.

Refresh old content: One of my favorite Springtime blog chores is to look through my stats page and see what posts people are frequently checking out. This allows me to refresh those pages, make sure all pictures are properly sized, amend any SEO errors using my Yoast plug-in, and to re-pin those posts online.

I then take this task a step further and schedule to tweet out these posts in 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after sprucing up these posts to my Trello calendar. This allows me to keep great content fresh and relevant to my readers for seasons to come.

Touch-up your sidebar: Each Spring I make a point of taking a fine tooth come to my blog’s sidebar. Paying close attention to verifying that all my social media buttons are current, social media badges are current, verify that all advertisements are still relevant to my current season sale drives, change the position of my Adsense ads, and give priority to ambassadorship images.

Update you’re About Me page: Each Spring I make a point of checking out my blog’s About Me Page. Making certain my contact information is accurate, my headshot represents my current look and style, and that my page is still relevant.

Categories: Seasonally I like to look at my blog’s categories and make sure that the majority of my frequently viewed posts don’t need redirected URLs and that posts are in the proper categories for popular topics on my blog. This applies to my blogs tags too!

I rethink my blog strategy: Each Spring, after dealing with the back end of my blog, I make a point of setting aside time to rework my blog’s vision. Taking time to examine my previous quarter’s blogging, media, and marketing strategy. Making notes and amendments as needed. I also make a point of studying the path of other successful women in my field.

Female entrepreneurs that make progressed beyond their blogs. Creatively branching their current endeavors into bigger and better business ventures over time.

This Spring I’ll be studying the business journey of Chrissy Weems, founder of Origami Owl, jewelry brand established by Chrissy and her daughter Bella Weems.

Weems is a wife, mother, and advocate for female-driven businesses. A graduate of Arizona State University, she utilized and leveraged her degree in Fine Arts to create a workable, profitable business that utilizes her business savvy and passion for creativity.

After finding success in local malls, Weems used her blog and business plan to create a social selling model in January of 2012. Expanding her brand into a line of customizable jewelry with glass lockets, miniature charms, and chains that can be personalized by the user according to his/her preferences.

This season I will be using the inspiring story of Chrissy Weems and her journey to becoming an entrepreneur to help galvanize my efforts to expand my blogging endeavors as well!

Take a course: Spring is the perfect time to sharpen up your blogging skills. For me, this usually means taking a blogging course or program. Sometimes these courses are uber niche. But generally, they are related to marketing and business strategies.

This was something I did even while as a full-time college student. I sought out courses and classes to help me create a better business strategy and to keep my academic hunger alive and well. This also included finding scholarship opportunities too!

Something that may also be able to you from well-known blogger courses too! Its all about finding new ways to rethink your business, your voice, and your overall blogging platform at home.

While there are lots of things you can do to spring clean your blog. These are just 7 things you could do to make a smart, prudent, and lasting difference to your site’s SEO, strategy, and beyond.

Steps that allow me to be a better steward of my business, minimal, yet exacting, in my online pursuits, and more intentional with the means I utilize to make a living for myself each season at home.

7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Blog This Season

I hope these tips will help you in the season to come! Be sure to pin and save the above graphic for quick reference later on!

Now, friends, I want to ask. What are your suggestions to spring clean your blog? I’d love to hear about it below!

7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Blog This Season