holidays – A Measured Life

I’ve written numerous times about anxiety. When I first started this blog three years ago I was fighting a very bad case of anxiety. Some of it was winter: I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and the cold, dark winter months really take a toll on my mood. I rarely experience anxiety in the sun bathed months of summer.

My work load, both professional and personal, has increased dramatically in the last year, and, since I work in retail, the Christmas season has flown by as I scramble to get things done and fail miserably. It’s okay, I’m putting a lot of this stress on myself, I have a lot of personal achievement things I’m working on, which I’ll talk more about below. This has left me with little time or wherewithal to create holiday content here. I usually have a difficult time even staying awake after dinner, which makes me, as you can imagine, extremely unproductive.

I consider myself exceptionally lucky to have a job where I can take my dog, Bingley, with me. This allows me to get outside and walk a couple of times a day, and yesterday I noticed something really important: I was anxious at work, and it was almost entirely relieved when I was outside in the sunshine walking Bingley around town. I know for a fact I’m a natural born sun worshipper: I always have loved summer, even when I was heavy. I decided that a short list of things that help my anxiety would be beneficial as a reminder to myself.

Being outside. You love the sun, dear, you love the breeze in your face and hair.
Working out. Focusing on the movements and the music in your ears allows you to let go of the chaos in your head and the endorphins last for hours afterwards. You’re less grumpy when you sweat, darling.
Girlfriend time. Often this is combined with being outside AND exercise, which makes it extra good.
Makeup. As a Younique Presenter, I do live makeup videos on my personal Facebook page, and honestly, I freaking love it. I always feel good after doing a live and even if I’m having a bad day, making myself look fabulous lightens my mood.
Bingley. Bingley is my absolute heart. Like the Grinch at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, he makes my heart grow three sizes when I look at him.

So these are things I need to remember when I’m feeling anxious or down.

Now onto the announcement!

I feel like I can finally announce it here since it is now officially official. In 2018 I will be co-hosting a podcast called Feast on History (go like our Facebook page)! It’s going to be a fun, family friendly romp through the history of food. If you’ve been checking out my blog Recipe for History over at Blazing Caribou Studios, you’ll know I get into the history of foods there as I write a recipe to go along with it. Come February, that blog will be the Feast on History companion blog and will feature recipes directly related to the podcast. I am much excite about this!

As always I immensely appreciate your support and patience as I transition into 2018. I’m going to be growing my personal brand in the next year and I’m so excited to share that with you. ❤

This year for Thanksgiving I’m keeping it simple, but still putting a twist on new things. Of course, there will be turkey, spatchcocked to cook faster. That’s where the normal Thanksgiving meal ends. Instead of sweet potato casserole I’m baking sweet potatoes whole and then adding a lovely dollop of marshmallow fluff before torching it a bit to mimic the char of roasted marshmallows. Instead of making both stuffing and rolls, I’m making little rolls stuffed with stuffing ingredients, very meta! Cranberry orange walnut cranberry sauce instead of basic cranberry sauce. And instead of green bean casserole? Green beans smothered in caramelized onions and mushrooms.

But, if I felt like being more ambitious, here’s what I’d love to try (probably not all together):

Cherry Hazelnut Stuffing