Fight Fatigue the Most Natural Way

Posted on by Julie Pearson

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Here is an unrelated picture of a coffee cup.

Lately, I’ve been feeling extra tired and run down. I’m always a little more tired than I should be, but it seems like I’m starting to border on non-functional. I’ve been a little concerned about this and thought it might be time for professional intervention, so I turned to Google to see what doctors have to say about battling fatigue.

The research is conclusive: sleep more, exercise, take vitamins. See how easy it is to feel better? So based on that research, I made one simple change in my life:

I started drinking a second cup of coffee every day.

It’s a new afternoon ritual that brings joy to my day, and it gives me an extra jolt of productivity just when I’m starting to fade. Plus, I can still stay up late to the point of nausea every night! And that is a healthy change I can embrace. 🙂

I Hiked Alone and Didn’t Die!

Posted on by Julie Pearson

Hiking is so popular in LA that even I have done it a few times. It’s an activity that involves nature, strenuous activity, and general discomfort, but sometimes I’m forcibly dragged on one anyway. So I whine a lot and try to make the other person turn around and get ice cream after ten minutes. Usually that doesn’t work thought, and I go on a hike. But never alone, until now!

I took the day off work for a thing that ultimately got cancelled, so I found myself with a rare free morning. I thought a calm, solo hike would be a great way to break my routine and re-center. And because I love failing at things, I chose the Wisdom Tree. It’s a short but rugged hike that ends at the top of a peak where there is one lone tree. It’s awesome! But usually I don’t make it to the top, because I’m out of shape.

When I was alone, I whined less. I whined to strangers on the trail a little, but mostly I was quiet. The walk from my car to the start of the hike was already a steep hill, so I was tired before I began. Then my legs grew heavier with every step. But I kept going! I climbed and climbed until…

VICTORY!

….I got tired and gave up. I didn’t make it to the top. But I probably made it over halfway up, and then I went to get a breakfast burrito, so I still consider it a huge success 🙂

Fashion Update: It’s Hard to Pee in a Romper

Posted on by Julie Pearson

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It’s hard to see the whole thing from this angle, but fun pool right?

A few months ago, I expressed my resolve to wear these nerve-wracking outfits. Well, it took some time, but I finally wore that romper. I wore it to dinner during a bachelorette weekend in Palm Springs, and the ensemble was quite a success.

The romper is cute! I added a thick belt for a more defined silhouette, and a lacy blue bandeau bra helped with the backless-ness situation. It also features straps that crisscross in the back and have to be snapped in. This makes peeing next to impossible – it involves completely undressing. Then when you’re done, you have to sort out the strap situation, contorting your arms behind you to snap it closed while someone bangs on the bathroom door at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Palm Springs and you can’t figure out why one of the straps keeps twisting. Anyway, big fan of the romper! Excited to wear it again.

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Does this donut make up for the fact that I forgot to get a photo of the back of the romper?

Photo credit: Lori Lewis

 

My Favorite Apps for Changing Nothing About My Lifestyle

Posted on by Julie Pearson

It seems like these days, there’s an app to improve just about every part of your life. A lot of them look time-consuming and stressful, but not these. Here are some apps I love for creating the smallest illusion of life change.

I’ve been trying to get more sleep, so I downloaded Sleep Cycle a few months ago. It’s an app that runs during the night and, like magic, tracks your sleep patterns (based on breathing I guess? Technology is scary). I love it because it “reminds” me to pay attention to how much sleep I’m getting every night, even though I’ve made no effort to improve my habits at all. It also tracks my sleep quality, which is generally poor.

SworkIt is an app where a small person leads you in five minute workouts. “Stretching” is pictured above but “yoga,” “strength,” and “cardio” are also available workout options. What’s great about this one is that you can watch the little person do your workout and still feel as if you get some of the benefits. Plus it’s only a five minute investment of your time, so how hard can it be to keep up with it? Also I use it rarely.


5 Every Day is a fantastic resource for all Los Angeles folks. It was made by some sort of public radio station, maybe? Anyway, it’s my favorite way to learn what’s going on around town so I can feel bad for not going to even more things. Until I got this app, I had no idea what gallery openings and concerts I was missing out on every single day of the week. The simple interface makes it easy to think “ooh, I should check that out!” every day, and then sit at home with Netflix.

Recipe: Magic Eggs

Posted on by Julie Pearson

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I didn’t have a lot of time for lunch today, so I made something quick that is usually a totally passable lunch choice: spinach and eggs. The recipe is simple. You saute some spinach, then crack a couple eggs in as soon as the spinach starts shrinking up. The eggs finished cooking – I swear they were all cooked – and I crumbled some goat cheese on top. I sat down to eat.

Only then, like MAGIC, the eggs uncooked themselves! It was yolk soup. It was a disgusting lunch miracle! It was basically inedible.

I didn’t eat it.

But I didn’t give up. I popped the whole thing in the microwave for a minute, which cooked up the eggs a little too much. It didn’t taste good, but I did have lunch. And that, my friends, is what I call an adequate meal 🙂

Travel Fashion: I Wore an Outfit

Posted on by Julie Pearson

As a successful lifestyle blogger it’s important to travel a lot to expand my lifestyle, so I took one trip and will milk it for two weeks of posts. When traveling, you can’t just wear any outfit, you have to wear an outfit. So I wore one.

I wore this outfit in front of a mural.

I love this ensemble I wore one day in Chicago, so I don’t know, maybe you should wear it too? The thing I love most about this outfit is that it contains articles of clothing that go together. It features a skirt I acquired at a clothing swap, some thrift store boots, an old white tshirt from Target, and a sweater whose origin I don’t remember. So good luck finding any of these pieces, but maybe try?

I wore this outfit in front of Del Close.

I wore this outfit while I ate a sandwich. (Not pictured: most of outfit)

I wore this outfit on the brown line. (Not pictured: outfit or brown line)

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I wore this outfit while I looked at these toy cars in a parking lot. (Not pictured: me, outfit)

Photo and Train Friendship By Cynthia Bangert

4 Buildings I Love This Week

Posted on by Julie Pearson

One of the most important parts of being a successful lifestyle blogger is traveling to exotic, adequate locations. And my travels to Chicago last week reminded me that I took these photos of places in Chicago. I’ve been slacking on my “four arbitrary things” lately, so please enjoy these four photos of a Chicago that I love. These four photos are very arbitrary!


A SandwichQuest Origin Story

Posted on by Julie Pearson

I started SandwichQuest to find the perfect sandwich in Los Angeles, but I already knew that the perfect sandwich existed in Chicago.

The sandwich of my dreams comes from an unassuming storefront in lakeview called Panes Bread Cafe. They make their own bread and everything I’ve ever ordered there has been incredible. But nothing compares to the Turkey Turkey. It’s a simple turkey sandwich with avocado, roasted red pepper and chipotle mayo on a soft/crispy tomato bread. And as with all the simplest things, there’s nothing simple about it. The favors meld in a way that’s cosmically transcendent, and I thought about the sandwich so much that I started SandwichQuest to replace it, like rebounding to get over an old lover.

I used to love this sandwich when I lived in Chicago, and as with all old loves, I was afraid I was building it up the more I pined for it. It would be never be able to live up to the sandwich in my memories.

My friend Cynthia humored my deep love for this sandwich and we hit Panes almost immediately when I got to Chicago this week. To my relief, amazement, and delight, the Turkey Turkey was just as I remembered it. SandwichQuest continues, but this will always be my sandwich.

Grade: A+

Spiritual Wholeness Quotient: On par with discovering a box of old photos that should be faded and discolored, and finding that instead they are even more vibrant than you remembered

My Deepest Secret: How to Make Anything a Meal

Posted on by Julie Pearson


Hello, loyal readers. Being a successful lifestyle blogger is not as easy as it looks. In order to share my self-actualized, spiritually whole lifestyle with the masses, I need to be willing to let you into my life. You come here to get the secrets of the universe, and there’s a lot of pressure on me to deliver.

Well, now that we’ve known each other for a few months, I feel like I finally trust you enough to divulge my most adequate secret. The cardinal rule of an adequate lifestyle:

If you put it in a tortilla, it’s a meal.

For example, if I put cream cheese, spinach, and salad dressing in a tortilla? That’s dinner.

Nutella and craisins in a tortilla? Also dinner…AND dessert.

Tortillas are easy to keep on hand, and any combination of ingredients from the dregs of last week’s grocery trip will co-mingle inside. That’s right, ANY ingredients, whether it’s leftover sauteed veggies or the last shavings from the bottom of a bag of shredded cheddar. No matter the ingredients and/or sauces, if you wrap a tortilla around it, it qualifies as a “wrap.”

You’re welcome.

 

 

Exercise Hack: Develop a Habit

Posted on by Julie Pearson

I get it. It can be really hard to stick to an exercise plan. I had the same problem, until I finally found something that matches my life and motivation levels.

Every day, I put on my workout clothes. That’s it! That’s the plan. Sounds easy, right?

But usually, when I put on my workout clothes, I at least feel guilty enough to run around the block or do a couple sun salutations. And getting started is half the battle. The other half is quitting immediately.