A really long post

Over the past few weeks I have become aware that I am way too hard on myself. And chances are, you are too.

"Am I really that concerned with my body... or is it just me being overly concerned about what others think about my body?"

I do absolutely believe in living an overall healthy lifestyle-fueling your body with the good stuff, exercising regularly and taking time to honor your mind, body and soul through regular practice of those things.

However, I also wholeheartedly believe in... from time to time... eating cookies for dinner and not regretting one ounce of it.

I think the body image conversation is too prevalent in our country and I hate that it's discussed on a daily basis. At the same time, I understand why. Honestly, as I'm writing this, I'm realizing life is nothing short of one very large contradiction.

I want my abs to show through my skin, but I want to have french toast for every meal. I want my hard work to show but I just honestly, I do... I love food. I consider myself a total foodie. AND GOOD LAWD I JUST CAN'T KEEP TELLING MYSELF IT'S SO WRONG!

(Please be advised that I'm not saying it's okay to go have Mickey D's for every meal because YOLO but I mean if you haven't had one since last month and want a nice big cheeseburger hit up your local cheeseburger place and go for it. Don't forget the fries.)

When are we going to stop thinking so much and just start living? Because it's true... we only have one life. Live healthily, but also make time to live a little unhealthily. Find YOUR balance. Find YOUR happiness. And rock it out.

PS-Another view on this topic from World of Wanderlust's Brooke Saward-a blogger who gets my soul. If I knew her in real life we would definitely be friends.

Four (really easy) ways to healthify your diet

For some time now, I've been making small changes to my diet to make it a little more natural, easier on my stomach and overall better for my body. Here are four, super easy changes to what you're already consuming if you're looking to do the same thing.

1//Coconut milk creamer

If you're like me, and like a dash or two of creamer in your coffee, coconut milk is an awesome alternative. It's dairy-free, gluten-free, certified Non-GMO and coconut has a lot of health benefits (you should be cooking with coconut oil, too, in place of butter!)

2//Ezekiel Bread

It may not be #1 on this list, but it's #1 in my heart. Ezekiel bread is by far the best discovery I've made in my health journey so far! The name and philosophy comes from a Holy Scripture verse that says "Take also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils and millet, and spelt and put them into one vessel..." Ezekial 4:9

Have you ever heard of something being "sprouted"? This means it's completely free of flours and utilizes ingredients like the ones in the verse to make the product. I highly recommend buying any bread product you can find that's sprouted (i.e. pasta, tortilla chips, cereal, english muffins, etc.) as it's a complete protein and helps aid in digestion among A TON of other benefits.

3//Stevia

Contrary to what you may think, stevia is not the same thing as an artificial sweetener like Equal or Sweet'N Low. It's a completely natural source of sweetener (from the stevia plant) and has zero calories. Although it's neighbor Splenda also has zero calories... it's not at all natural. In fact, it contains traces of chlorine. Uhhh... no thanks.

Baking with stevia is a great way to go sugar-free in recipes if you're not ready to try it on fruit, cereal or in your morning coffee just yet. Hit up your local health foods store and make sure to read your labels! Stevia is great, but if a certain brand adds all kinds of other stuff, it kind of defeats the purpose.

4//Lemon water

I didn't realize until just recently just how good lemon water is for your body. It helps clear up your skin, clean out your system, fight off colds by boosting your immune system, cleanses the liver and even helps boost brain and nerve function. So next time you have some lemons lying around, throw a few slices in your water and reap all the benefits!

Good reads

Have time to kill at work? Sick of Pinterest? Just wanna stare at a computer screen and maybe learn a couple things about the world? Here are some links I love!

In your 20's? About to be in your 20's? Read this.

Get the perfect water-hair-flip shot.

Test your yoga knowledge/skills with these common poses.

I wanna make this fabric chandelier for my new house.

This interview with Rachel Zoe is fun to read in her voice.

Simplicity

For a while now, I have been dreaming about my life outside of college and what the possibilities are.

I have to keep reminding myself that money is not everything and when you're young like I am, the possibilities are endless. You just have to reach out and grab them while you can.

I've been considering taking a solo trip to Colorado in the fall to continue exploring my hopes, dreams, fears and everything in-between as I'm making the transition into my adult life. These may or may not include living in a tree house.

Also, I've been doing a lot of searches about tiny houses... I am in LOVE with the idea of such simple living. This article-10 tiny houses you can rent on Airbnb has me dreaming of taking a tiny house trip.

Have you ever thought about living in a tiny house? Or a tree house? Tell me I'm not the only one!

The good life

If you read my blog, you know that I reference A Cup of Jo quite a bit, she is a brilliant blogger and I feel like if I knew her in real life we would be friends.

She recently posted a video that I had never seen, although there are a ton of views so maybe you've seen it. If not, I highly recommend you watch it.

One of the most important things to remind myself (and others, when possible) is that we must always keep an open mind, love, care for, and treat everyone exactly the same, no matter the circumstance. It's something we could all use a little work on, and this video is a great reminder of that.

Check out Jo's post to see the link to an interesting article regarding the topic and, please, watch the video!

PS-60 really cool rare photos, & a tiny house with everything you'd need

Dream collaboration

A long time ago, on a Thursday Three post, I talked about Tattly: a temporary tattoo company. (In OKC you can find them at Blue Seven.)

Well... they teamed up with everyone's favorite stationery company Rifle Paper Co. to create a special collection of temporary tattoos that are just too darn cute. Check them out here.

PS-A lovely infused lemonade idea and a DIY constellations scarf

My infatuation with peanut butter

I have been on a MAJOR peanut butter kick lately. Craving it left and right, especially after dinner!

Tonight, I caved and made some peanut butter cookies. Luckily, they aren't too terrible for you. Better than the store bought kind, anyway.

Here's what I did:

Start out by semi-melting 1/2 cup of natural peanut butter. Next, mix in 1/2 cup Truvia baking blend or another sweetener that measures like sugar. Throw in 1 tsp. baking soda and one egg. I also added some rolled oats to mine for a bit of added fiber!

Throw in the oven for 10 minutes and here's what I got:

These are delish. I will definitely cut back on the amount of sugar next time, maybe to 1/4 cup instead of 1/2, but overall they're great and only contain a few simple ingredients! Hope you enjoy!

Happiness is everything... or is it?

Ever since I saw this post on Cup of Jo, I've been thinking about what it means to be happy. I consider myself a generally happy person, but when we're sad, it's almost frowned upon. And that's not very cool.

Take a look at her post to get an interesting new perspective!

PS-DIY brow mousse and coconut flour flatbread

Joggers that aren't necessarily for jogging

I recently caved and bought some jogger sweatpants (they came in the mail today and I am currently wearing them) and I think it may have been the best decision I've ever made.

I bought them on sale at ASOS on Memorial Day along with my Pura Vida bracelet and anklet (which I am also wearing now, I have vowed to never take off my anklet.)

They are high-waisted but can be rolled once to sit lower on the hip, which I love, and I will most likely be wearing these to the airport at the end of this month. I'm currently brainstorming on ways to dress them up, I love the idea of mixing the two worlds. I'm thinking ankle strap sandals for sure.

Here is some jogspiration for your Wednesday!

1//dressy 2//casual 3//up or down 4//printed

Changing interests

When I started my first blog a couple of years ago, I followed all fashion blogs-I loved looking at the pictures of their outfits from day to day.

Things have changed.

I follow fashion blogs, I am a fashion major, after all... and I do still like them, but I find myself quite uninterested in scouring all of the outfit posts. I don't even click on the posts to read them anymore!

This change in interests for me is a bit challenging... seeing as how I'm supposed to be a fashion-driven blog. Although I've always considered Style&Things to be a "life, style, and lifestyle blog" I started it with the intentions of keeping it mostly in the "style" category.

With that being said, I am going to take a step back and experiment. I really love doing lifestyle posts-traveling, tips, etc. and if it's okay with you I'd like to start focusing more on those!