Blog Appétit

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Monday: Wake up, chug coffee, work, gym, dinner, catch up on e-mails, bed. Tuesday: Repeat. Wednesday: Repeat. Thursday: Pull my hair out because it’s not Friday yet and Repeat.

Life can become so routine. Having that constant routine of knowing what is next all the time is..well…B-O-R-I-N-G! I’m talking major snooze-fest over here people!

Let’s face it, remember the last time you didn’t wear that go-to nail polish color or you grabbed drinks with a friend you hadn’t seen in ages (not the one you grab drinks with every weekend and call it “catching-up”). Or that time you pulled out one of your favorite old sweaters and paired it with a new skirt or layered it over a dress instead of throwing on the same blouse and scarf combo every morning. How about that time you didn’t eat grilled chicken, brown rice and frozen vegetables for dinner three nights in a row?

Let’s face it we all get stuck in a routine, maybe because it feels comfortable to us or maybe because it’s just easier to do the same thing than trying to step outside of the box here and there. Maybe it’s because we’re being lame and not wanting to do anything that involves going outside in this freezing cold weather….guilty.

Whether it’s making the same meal for dinner every night or wearing the same outfits on repeat every week, sometimes we just need a little push to break us out of routine.

 I mean nobody said we had to be robots, right?

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1. Challenge Yourself in the Kitchen. Pull out the old cookbooks or google a homemade pasta recipe on the web. Gather all your ingredients and challenge yourself to making two new meals a week that you’ve never made or tried before. Maybe it’s your go-to yogurt with a homemade granola or a soup with homemade vegetable broth. Get adventurous in the kitchen and who knows you may find your new go-to recipe.

2. Don’t Think, Don’t Match. Switch up a room in your home with a fresh spin on decor. Add pops of color, mixes of patterns and rearrange a few things without thinking about it. Instead of thinking too much about how this looks nice here next to that or this goes with that, just place items where you think they belong at first glance and go with it. The change of room, can be the perfect touch to your everyday routine in that room.

3. Book a trip. No, you don’t have to go backpack through Europe to accomplish this one. Booking a weekend trip to visit a friend or maybe a trip to to surprise a family member can be the perfect routine breaker for your weekend and a refreshing way to catch up with someone!

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4. Grab Coffee with a Stranger. Maybe it’s with that college student who reached out for job advice or that business owner you’ve admired for awhile and would love to get advice from. I know grabbing coffee can get overwhelming at time, (shoot, for awhile I felt as if I was speed coffee dating, except with much more caffeine involved) but going out on a limb to meet someone can open the door to so many windows of opportunity. I can’t even begin to tell you how many AMAZINGLY talented and creative people I’ve met over coffee and hey, some are my closest friends today!

5. Manicure it Out. Hey, we’re all women here and we all like to have our nails done. All day, errday (yup, I just went there). And I know, I know. Time. Money. Who has those things just laying around these days anyways? No need to spend a ton on the latest nail trend to switch things up. Head to your local Walgreens or beauty store and pick up 2 colors you don’t own to try out this week. I’m usually a pink or bright red girl, but have been loving this Morgan Taylor deep eggplant creme. Plus, this polish looks great with only one coat….told you, you don’t need time;)

6. Dress out of Routine. Pull out the spring clothes or the sweater from last season and switch things up in your daily wardrobe. Instead of looking at your entire closet when getting ready in the morning, pull out one piece that you want to wear and find other pieces based off that piece. Think not your usual matchy-matchy skirt and sweater combo. Maybe it’s layered over a fun spring dress or blouse with pants and heels.

7. Say Yes. Because with every change in routine, comes a “yes” to trying something new and breaking out of the usual day-to-day. The next time your friend asks you out for dinner on a Tuesday to try a new spot, say “yes”. Even if you know you were planning on catching up on laundry or watching your favorite tv show that night. Say “yes” and figure the rest out as it comes. Committing to saying “yes” will be totally worth that extra load of laundry you do on Sunday;)

 

Any ways you break out of routine? What’s your day-to-day look like and how do you change it up?