creating a healthy lifestyle

one thing that i've really been trying to work on is creating a healthy lifestyle for myself. a friend of mine shared an article on facebook today called 30 things to stop doing to yourself that really spoke to me, so i had to share! you can read the full article here, but in the meantime, here are some of the high points that i really liked...

1. stop spending time with the wrong people. life is too short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. if someone wants you in their life, they'll make room for you...the ones who stand beside you when you're at your worst are your true friends.

how many times have you had the "abused puppy syndrome?" you know, where you constantly seek out the companionship of someone no matter how horribly they treat you or take advantage of you. one thing that i've really found freeing as i've become an adult is realizing that i don't want to cultivate a friendship, or maintain a friendship, with someone who doesn't want to do the same with me.

8. stop berating yourself for old mistakes. we may love the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that are right for us. we all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. but you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.

there are so many things about myself that i wish i wouldn't have done or said. guess what? you can't change it. realizing that and embracing it is so liberating. everything i've done, said, or endured in my life, has lead me to the place i'm in now. like my granny used to say..."you've gotta forgive it and move on. you can't live in the past." easier said than done sometimes, but something that must be done in order to achieve peace and happiness.

9. stop trying to buy happiness. many of the things we desire are expensive. but the truth is, the things that really satisfy us are totally free--love, laughter and working on our passions.

oh materialism...how it's so easy to let you creep in and take over my life! as i've grown into adulthood, i've found that the times i've been the most anxious or stressed, is when i am comparing my life to that of my friends or family or random person on social media. yes, it would be nice to go shopping at chanel or travel to australia on a whim, but right now, my life isn't suited for that, and that's okay. what i have to realize, is that if it were, i would likely not have the most important thing to me, which is my husband, and that is something that i could never dream of sacrificing. besides, biggie said it best...the more money we come across, the more problems we see.

16. stop being jealous of others. jealousy is the art of counting someone else's blessings instead of your own. ask yourself this: "what's something i have that everyone wants?"

a great follow up to #9. how insulting it must be to god when i covet someone else's [fill in the blank with ANYTHING]. i'm learning to consciously name the things that i am grateful for in my life rather than focus on things i do not have. guess what? i probably don't need them anyway.

20. stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe it anyway. just do what you know in your heart is right.

confidence is key. period.

21. stop doing the same things over and over without taking a break. the time to take a deep breath is when you don't have time for it...sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.

my name is rachel, and i'm a workaholic. i kid, i kid, but seriously, i reeeeaaaaaaally have a hard time leaving work at work sometimes. it's so important to be present in the present. oftentimes, the mundane fleeting moments end up being the most important ones in your life. how terrible to miss one because you're consumed with what is going on at the office. i also have found that my greatest ideas and progress at work come after i've taken a break.

28. stop worrying so much. worry will not strip tomorrow of its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. one way to check if something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: "will this matter in one year's time? three years? five years?" if not, then it's not worth worrying about. 

THIS!!!!! i constantly have to remind myself of this. sometimes, you just have to remember that it the grand scheme of things, sometimes the matter at hand just doesn't matter.

xoxo- rachel

mrs. lee 2.0

so i decided that i needed a change with my hair. i had been wanting to cut it for a couple of months, but to michael's (and everyone else i know) forbiddance strong encouragement, i waited to do it until after our wedding. this ended up being a great idea. had i done it beforehand, i wouldn't have been able to have those long, luscious, curly, locks, and let's face it...long wedding hair is just fab. 

so, fast forward to three weeks after our wedding. i made an appointment with britney at OMGhairsyles. she was referred to me by my bff, erica, and i'm soooooooo glad! she's so fun to just chat with. we talk art and gossip and drama, and all the other good things you get to dish about with your hair dresser. major plus? she does badass hair. so badass, in fact, that it's her own tagline. now to the fun part--my hair transformation!

the cut inspiration:

julianne hough. what a babe.

the color inspiration:

love the brown. love the blonde. love the ombre. done.

the before & after:

photo courtesy of britney at OMGhairstyles.

first, i love how fun and summery my new 'do is! it's so bouncy and full all. the. time. i lost about 9-ish inches of hair (at the longest point), and i've never felt better! it takes me half the time to dry my hair, now, which not only saves me time, but it also saves energy. kudos to me for being a teensy bit greener. i've been re-mastering how to curl my hair with my straightener, and have to say that i'm getting quite good at it. it's so fun to try out different styles! anyway, enough babbling. my hair looks awesome and if you're in the dallas-area and want YOUR hair to look awesome, too, check out my girl, brit, at OMGhairstyles. you won't be disappointed. 

ps. jam for today: icona pop-i love it. and i really do.

wedding daze

well, i'm officially overwhelmed with wedding stuff and literally haven't planned a thing. neat. 

at the rate i'm going, this will be me on march 16. 

for those who know me, you know i'm pretty organized, especially when it comes to events. well right now, my brain feels like scrambled eggs. invitations, budget, food, dress, bridesmaids, hotel accommodations, blah blah blah. my mom's so sweet (and probably reading this) and is offering to help me with whatever i need, but to be perfectly honest, i don't even know where to begin. i thought i wanted navy to be the main color, but maybe not? maybe i like the ever-popular dusk-rose-tan combination better? no, no...navy is definitely the way to go...right? 

and bridesmaid dresses. all the same? different? well if they're different, do they need to have the same fabric? if they don't will it look tacky in pictures? i mean, these pictures are forever, right? i mean, i don't really know why i'm worried about it...show me ONE person over the age of 50 that looks back at their wedding photos and actually thinks they look like a rock star. okay, maybe this is only a fair assumption of weddings pre-2000. (the 80's were especially cruel, weren't they?)

oh god, and don't even get me started on the music. i'm not traditional. i like rock music. so what if i want to rock out to incubus (an acoustic-piano version, of course) as i walk down the isle? sue me. but butterfly waltz IS a classic, and so beautiful. maybe i'll just stick with that. wait a sec--isn't that what bella did in the most recent twilight? yikes! don't think i want to follow in those steps...i mean, what if it's a bad omen and i end up being turned into a vampire. i'm kidding, but seriously, can i (or anyone else) take my marriage seriously if i included items as cliche as a tween-movie phenomena? 

oh forget it. i'll just have michael do this during the ceremony...

juuuuust kidding! although i'm pretty sure our friends and families would get a kick out of it...especially the dancing. lol. 

anyway, i'm just griping and being dramatic and ridiculous and negative. it'll pass and i'll get my crap together. don't worry! ;)

wedding planning update

is it too late to elope?? 

in having some slight issues finding a ceremony venue in/near plano that is within our budget, michael and i are having to move our date...again. this makes the third time. hopefully (see i'm trying to be positive!) this third time will be the charm and it will stick! 

i plan events for a living and love, and i mean loooove, it...just not really when it comes to doing it for myself. 

anyway, i'm just a little pants-shittingly stressed anxious about getting the major things set up. i'm sure once they are out of the way, it will be fine. RIGHT?!?! 

i need something soothing...maybe some ice cream?? ugh. too bad i have to go to the watch in the morning. womp! looks like some jams will have to do. this song is quite fitting...so what? i want to get the major stuff out of the way and if i don't do it soon, i'm going to scream! does that make me crazy?

tomorrow's wednesday, lovelies...half way there! cheers!

it's a date!

i will officially become mrs. michael lee on march 23, 2013! eek! we originally wanted to do march 30 (no particular reason, just picked it out), but then realized that that's easter weekend. we know a lot of our friends and family will have to travel to come to our wedding and that they also would probably like to be able to be at their home church for easter sunday, so we opted to move it up one weekend. 

i'm so stoked!!

i get to spend the rest of my life with this guy...

look at that face! he's adorable!

how could i not be totally pumped?! 

in other news...our lease is up on our apartment at the beginning of august and if we choose not to renew at our current complex, we have to let them know 60 days in advance (june 2). we're looking into our options, but so far, i haven't really had anything turn up. we'd LOVE to get into a house, but i haven't really found any decent rent houses just yet. any ideas, anyone?? worst case scenario, we can stay where we are, but i know it'd be amazing if we could get a little more space. (disclaimer: we love the neighborhood that we live in now. it's quaint, within walking distance to both of our jobs, and close to 75 and george bush. however, from what we've been told, the management likes to bump the rent up ridiculously when tenants renew. awesome. i guess we'll see what happens...)

lastly, incubus is coming back to town in september and i want to go soooooooo bad! michael, my sister, becca, her boyfriend, nik, and i went when they were in town last september and it was soooo fun!! they're my favorite band, hands down, and i'd love to see them again! here's some shots from that weekend!

nik and my sis.

ps. this photo was taken about 37 seconds
before nik convinced michael to be a hippy
 and take his shirt off for the concert.
needless to say, fun was had by all.

and since incubus has come up, i leave you with one of my favorite songs, "love hurts." 

enjoy...