Summer is looking a lot different this year! Normally I’d be traveling and exploring as much as possible (as I’m sure many of you would be as well) but with the current conditions, it’s just nota reality right now. Until then, I’ve decided to make good use of my time at home by creating meaningful intentions to work on and adding realistic activities to my summer 2020 bucket list <3
Purple Floral Dress | Summer 2020 Bucket List & Intentions
What I Accomplished from my Spring Bucket List
- Clean Out My Closet – FINALLY finished! I’ll have a video up soon 😉 I did finish up my makeup collection too!
- Learn a New Skill – well… I’m mastering the art of video editing week by week and I learned how to upload a YouTube video lol!
- Finish Up All of My Projects – Finished for now!! More to come later this year
- Try a New Lemonade Recipe – Made raspberry/blueberry lemonade, watermelon lemonade and lots of tea/lemonade combos.
- Meditate Everyday – *almost* everyday lol!
- Do Something Creative – I learned how to edit video, started gardening, arranged flowers for the first time, recorded my own music and filmed YouTube videos!
- Get Outside More – We went for walks nearly every evening.
- Schedule Time with Friends – I scheduled some Facetime/Zoom calls! I got to see my family <3
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SUMMER 2020 INTENTIONS
Continue my Health Journey
Right now, this is at the very top of my list. My health has been all over the place for the past couple of years. As someone who was relatively healthy until multiple issues popped out of nowhere, let me tell you… as positive as I try to be, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the process has been extremely frustrating. I’m proud to say that my mental health is doing very, very well! It’s been a long road and perhaps I’ll share later on but after finding out that I had anxiety (I had no idea!) and C-PTSD (I didn’t even know what this was), I worked on myself daily and finally feel like my old self 🙂 Actually, an even better version of myself! And while I thought I had my food issues figured out, it seems that I just can’t catch a break 🙁 I started bloating again, cramping, gaining weight, feeling tired… pretty much feeling the same way as before. My skin has been breaking out like crazy and my hair has been falling out (either from the diet change or lack of nutrients/vitamins, I’m guessing). I’m not quite comfortable going to the doctor yet so I’ll have to wait on blood tests. For now, I’ll be eliminating even more foods and I really, really hope this helps because it’s honestly such a miserable experience! To recap, I’ve already eliminated dairy, yeast, egg yolk, coffee, wine, seafood, etc. But now I’m going to try eliminating wheat and possibly sugar to see if that helps! I will also be forcing myself to workout five days a week. I used to work out all the time and then I stopped once I started having issues because I was so tired and weak all the time. I’m hoping this helps also!! <3
Work on my Confidence
As you can imagine, the health issues have really done a number on my confidence and self-esteem. Through my inner work, I have increased my self-love and I have finally come to a place in my life where I love myself no matter what and I’m truly proud of that because I know personally how far I’ve come in that journey. Now that I’ve worked on my inner confidence, it’s time to tackle my outer confidence. It’s been hard to see my body change and not be able to do anything about it and it’s been difficult to *sometimes* fit into my clothing. As someone that makes a living by sharing their life in images, it can be quite upsetting. At first, I picked myself apart when taking photos and at times, it was challenging to look at myself in the mirror. Right now, I feel okay with my appearance and I’m actively working on being healthier, which I believe will help me in the confidence department.
Think Outside the Box
The first two intentions were from a more personal perspective and this one is more professional. This pandemic has really opened my eyes to a lot in terms of both my personal and professional life. For my professional life, I realized that I was probably taking on way more than I needed to. I was constantly using my time to do things that weren’t necessarily furthering my business but instead furthered the business of others. I have scaled back A LOT and used that time to take on new projects like the YouTube channel and Newsletter! With that being said, I feel like since I was so overwhelmed before that I was sort of all over the place with content and my schedule. During quarantine, I was able to think more creatively and get back on track 🙂 With that being said, I mentioned in a previous post that I would be making a few changes. Not big changes or anything but I just want my content to be more streamlined and specific… and to be honest, I feel like these are changes that you will love! I want to think outside the box on certain things and create more engaging content. I want to share new ideas in exciting ways. I’ve been brainstorming about how this looks across all of my platforms from editing to copy to post ideas to the brands I work with. I’m still in the process so I’m not quite sure how this will manifest but it’s something I’m excited about and hopefully, something that you are excited about as well!
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SUMMER 2020 BUCKET LIST
- Plan a Future Trip (for next year!)
- Go on a Picnic
- Make Home-made (dairy-free) Ice Cream
- Eat a Snow Cone
- Lay Out by the Pool
- Take a Road Trip (fingers crossed!)
- Go Swimming
- Try a New Recipe
- Clean Out My Accessories (shoes, handbags, hair accessories, jewelry)
- Read a Book
- Color in My Coloring Book
- Meditate & Journal Everyday
- Write a Song
- Start Sewing Again
- Workout 5 Times a Week
What’s on your summer 2020 bucket list?
xo
Love your dress and wishing you luck with your bucket list!
Mariya | https://www.brunetteondemand.com/
Eliminating gluten and sugar will probably help a lot!! My hair has been falling out a lot lately too but my diet really hasn’t changed! I’ve actually added things back into my diet after my dna health test so I don’t know what’s going on.
Jennifer
Effortlessly Sophisticated
Great summer bucket list! Hope you can accomplish most or all of it!
There are so many reason that could cause hair loss – hormonal changes, lack of vitamins, new hair care, stress … I had some issues in my 30’s and think it might have been hormonal for me.
Ellibelle’s Corner
Thanks so much Ellibelle! So true! It can be anything. I have had hormonal issues in the past and I do feel quite stressed since the pandemic started but I also think there could be a vitamin d deficiency since I’m dairy free. I feel like a human guinea pig sometimes lol!
This is such a fun list and dress! If you find a good dairy free ice cream recipe do share! I saw one on Oh She Glows I want to try!
Amy Ann
Straight A Style
Thank you so much Amy! I will for sure!
Thank you so much Mariya!
These are great things to work on for the summer! And I hope that you do figure out what’s going with your health soon!
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
Thank you so much Rach! I do too!
Oh no! Ugh I swear neither of us can catch a break lol! Hope you figure it out!
Ugh I know the struggle all to well of ill health and running a battery of tests trying to figure out what’s wrong. Sorry to hear your health is struggling again. Eliminating wheat will hopefully help a lot, it does for a lot of people. Even if you aren’t allergic like i am, a lot of people don’t realize that it can be aggravating on your stomach and any pre-existing digestive issues even in the absence of an actual allergy.
Awe, I’m sorry. Thank you so much Lee, it is a struggle.
I love your dress and your bucket list! We’re doing a road trip to the beach this weekend and are looking forward to social distancing and enjoying some sun!
Thank you so much Greta! Aweee I hope that you have the best time! Stay safe!
I love the idea of holding yourself accountable with these goal assessments and encouraging others to do the same. Thank you for always leading by example, I just love your blog!
Thank you so much Annie!
First off, beautiful dress!
I feel you on the heath issues. While I am still working on my health via telephone with the fatigue specialist in LA, I have stumbled on to a few things almost by accident. I asked the nurse practitioner I see for a referral to an allergist. He proposed running blood tests first. The tests showed that I had an actual egg allergy, but also that I have a number of foods that I am sensitive to. The test panel checked only 10 foods or so. I have since done a bigger food panel through a private lab and am awaiting results. One of the foods on the first panel that may be causing problems is wheat. I am not surprised. 30 years ago, I told my allergist I thought wheat was causing making me allergy symptoms worse 24 hours after I consumed it (which is typical of food sensitivity, but I didn’t know that then). Well food allergies usually cause problems pretty quickly, so he told me that I couldn’t be allergic to it. He was right, but I guess he didn’t know about sensitivities. Because of him, I decided I was crazy. 30 years later, I’ve discovered I was right all along! When I get my tests back, I will eliminate all of the problem foods and then start adding foods back in to see which ones are truly problematic. (Even if a food sensitivity tests is positive, it only indicates a food to test through the elimination diet. You can have a positive test and it may not be making an impact.)
I hope that was more clear than mud.
Aw thanks so much Michelle!! This is very insightful! I appreciate you sharing 🙂 I completely agree. My husband got tested aa few months ago when he was having severe allergic reactions. Turns out that he is allergic to a lot of the foods that I have problems with but he doesn’t show symptoms like I do. It’s wild! I think that the dairy is for sure an allergy because symptoms come on within minutes and I get full body itching, hives, bloating, cramps, nausea, the whole thing. And now that I think about it, the others come on pretty quickly too… I’d say within an hour of eating but nowhere near as severe. It’s difficult to know if it’s an actual allergy or just a sensitivity. Everything just happened so suddenly! It’s crazy! But when things calm down a bit, I do want to go back to the doctor and have them do more testing. For now, I’ve started to eliminate wheat and cut down on sugar and I’m seeing immediate results so that’s a good sign 🙂 But it doesn’t leave me with many food options lol!! Anyway, I’m glad I’m not alone. that certainly helps. I hope that you get your issues resolved too!! <3
Thanks so much, Lizzie! The food allergies and sensitivities are just so odd. Tuns out I’m allergic to eggs and have possible food sensitivities to 20 other things. I feel you on the limited diet! Here is the latest on my testing, etc.: https://mybijoulifeonline.com/~bijoube2/the-best-laid-plans/
Good luck on finding what foods make you feel better. I miss traveling so so much. We might try to take a road trip but I’m just not quite comfortable to be out.
Thank you so much! Go when you feel comfortable! Don’t give in if you’re not ready yet.
You’ve set some really wonderful goals for yourself this summer, friend! I love that you’re working on confidence hand-in-hand with your health. I think once you’re able to begin nailing down what’s going on with your health, it’ll help boost your confidence as well. Continuing to hope and pray that some more answers are found! And I hope the rest of your summer is truly wonderful!
Thank you so much Stephanie! I also think it will help with boosting my confidence! I hope that you have an amazing summer as well girl!
this purple dress is absolutely stunning! it’s so important to prioritize health right now!
kileen
cute & little
Thank you so much Kileen! Yes it is!
I love the idea of putting together a list of like this every time the season changes!
I am go glad that you like it Anna! Hopefully you try it out!
We are definitely becoming more creative this summer: we are going to have a staycation with my sis in law and kids and I have plans to visit with a couple of friends too!
http://www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
AWeee! That sounds like fun!!
Oh I love this dress Lizzie! The colour, style and fit is perfect. Jacqui x
Thank you so much Jacqui!
Kudos on finishing all your projects. That must have been a wonderful feeling.
❥ tanvii.com
Thank you so much Tanvi! It really is!
Great list…def need to be doing some of these things myself! xoxo, Sarah
Thank you so much Sarah!
Congrats on getting YouTube going! Your summer list is great (snow cone? Yes please!) & I love these ideas. I hope you can get your health issues figured out, that sounds so frustrating!
Thank you so much Amanda! Hehe! I do too – it’s… been an interesting journey lol!
Love how you share your goals with us! It’s fun to read and a great accountability tool. I may have to try this! Happy Summer xo
Thank you so much Jaimie! It totally is! You should 🙂
I absolutely love this bucket list, and I’m always a fan of your lists because you’re so thorough and you have a lot of great ideas. Since it’s too hot here, I don’t know that we’ll be able to do a true picnic but we’ll try!
Thank you so much Adaleta! It’s so hot here too! I might do an indoor picnic 🙂
Love your bucket list! And that dress! Gah!! It’s so gorgeous!!
Thank you so much Darleen!
Pretty as a picture! Love your bucket list -lots of fun and relaxing things to do. I need to do the same, been working too hard, which is tough when so many around me are furloughed or part-time! Thanks for joining #WowOnWednesday.
Thank you Gail! It keeps me accountable 🙂 I know what you mean! Hope you get some time to yourself soon <3
What a beautiful dress on you Lizzie, you look gorgeous! You know I have a thing for florals too! I love the flowers in your photos. I started a garden last year and am happy the roses are in full bloom, mom bought me a frog playing guitar statue for it. Sounds like you hav some great plans. I love the sounds of watermellon lemonade! I have anxiety too and have to take meds for it. Have you been tested for Celiac? ust a thought. I have gastroperesis and they did a transit study. I have a very slow digestive system.
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
Lizzie, this dress is so stunning! You are so gorgeous, my friend. I love your bucket lists and goal setting methods. I really need to sit down and write down my intentions like this. I never do it and I think it would help me focus instead of wandering around my house aimlessly most of the time. Thank you for sharing, inspiring me, and linking up with me.
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
I’m having a hard time with health as well. I’ve tried to eliminate gluten, though the pandemic hasn’t helped with that, so I really need to be more conscious about it. I also don’t have dairy all that often. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling with taking out so much and still not feeling well though. It’s tough though, I get that! I don’t have the best body confidence, so I’m slowly trying to do better so I can lose more weight and just be more healthy and comfortable and happy overall.
Love your bucket list though! I’ll be reading lots this summer, and I will also be swimming as much as I can. I still need to finish up my list and get that posted. 🙂
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net