Category: Lifestyle

Hello! Happy Monday! This weekend I was MIA because my family and I took a quick over night trip to Vermont to drop Matt (my brother) off at Future Leader Camp at Norwich University. Matt is the most patriotic person I have ever met and he wants to serve his country. Camp is a two weeks preview into what college would be like if he does in fact decide to attend Norwich. We will have very little contact with him…five-ish minutes a day. It’s going to be rough to say the least.

After the worst drop off in the history of the universe (we didn’t get to say goodbye, he was just taken off) I cried the entire 40 minutes to the airport. When we got to the airport, we went through security and found ourselves a seat to wait for our flight.

After boarding and getting settled an airport staff member pushed a traveler in a wheelchair on to the plane. The flight attendant asked if someone in the second row (where Dad and I were seated) could move to the back of the plane and switch seats with this gentleman. Momma moved to the back, Dad moved to her seat and I was lucky enough to get the privilege of sitting next to one of the kindest souls God put on this earth.

It was apparent that the airline staff gets zero training on how to safely transfer customers because to be honest, if I wasn’t sitting there it would have been a total shit show. They didn’t know how to properly line up the chairs or how to safely lift him without hurting themselves (the airline is begging for a lawsuit if you ask me…there will be staff injured from not being properly trained).

After getting him safely in the seat, I got to talking to my new friend AJ. He was so thankful for all the help and for getting him comfortable. He was flying home from two weeks at camp… a place for disabled and able-bodied people to come together to make movies. So cool.

It wasn’t long before he and I dozed off. A short 50 minutes later our plane landed. Passengers hurried off the plane to get to where they were headed. I sat patiently with my friend even though he insisted I could step around him. I told him I wanted to make sure he was transferred properly and that I was a nursing student. I told AJ that nurses don’t clock in and out and that there was no way I was leaving. In the half hour he and I spent on the plane waiting for the wheelchair we got to talk more about his camp.

He told me there was a documentary made about his camp (he failed to tell me he was the star of the film). They make REAL movies…in LA and camp is the place where he feels most like himself. I mentally took note of everything he was saying so I could learn more. The camp meets NINE times a year. None of campers pay to go, and none of the able-bodied people are payed to be there. It is purely out of the goodness of their hearts. I love it.

Of course the second I got home I googled and rented the documentary. Becoming Bulletproof is absolutely incredible. AJ and his best friends get to live with a purpose and see their dreams of seeing their name in lights. Seriously…how did I get lucky enough to meet such a cool person?

I highly encourage you to rent Becoming Bulletproof. Learn about AJ’s story along with the other campers (Jeremy was also on our flight…I wish I had the opportunity to hang out with him too). I loveeee AJ’s story of overcoming obstacles and smiling threw the storm.

I never would have though that I would be sitting next to a movie star on my flight home from Vermont. Our quick 24 hour trip up was so fun…I will have a full post on it later this week, but

I just had to share with you how I met AJ. I hope you take the time to watch the movie. I promise it will change your perception of people living with disabilities.

xoxo,

K

Morning Dolls! This morning’s post was inspired by a conversation I had with a group of babes before spin last night. Have you every noticed the weird competition between all girls? Like every girl on the planet is fighting for the same job//car//maxi dress//boy…when in reality we are just walking down the same aisle of Wegmans.

Here is the thing…the whole ‘competition’ nonsense breeds negativity and creates Mean Girls. Somehow we created this dynamic where it is okay to hate other woman just because we are…jealous?

On my drive home from the gym I was thinking about all my closest relationships. All of my friends are have very strong personalities…and that is how I like it. Because they know their self worth they don’t feel the need to talk negatively about others. I love that. We build each other up…while still being authentic (If your friend doesn’t look good in a dress, you need to tell her, but kindly).

How you make others feel about themselves is a reflection of how you feel about yourself. 

When you are too worried about being the prettiest, the thinest, the richest, or the funniest girl in the room you are too preoccupied to be the kindest. Take a second to think about how people describe you to others…what is the first thing they would say about you? How do you describe people?

I realized when I had people in my life who liked to laugh about other in the corner of the room that I cant be around people like that. I am happy to say that the people I surround myself are supportive, kind and up lifting. When you find people like that cherish them! Do me a favor and text the kindest person you know and tell them how much you appreciate them. I know it will make their day.

Sorry for the short post! I have a jam packed schedule today. I am currently packing for a quick weekend trip to Vermont, then I have work followed by a girls night with my friend Jill. We are installing a barre//mirrors in her room so she can have a mini studio while she is at school. Im vlogging the next three-ish days so expect two new videos!!

xoxo,

K

Happy Sunday! I was up and off on a walk bright and early this morning…My eye situation is still questionable so I unfortunately didnt want to risk biking from Philly to AC with the crew from my gym nor do I want to infect everyone else. So until tomorrow all of my workouts are from home.

This week was busy. I am still trying to desperately get the hang of ‘vlogging’. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is pretty much talking to the camera about your day instead of typing it out…little did I know, there are more rules and regulations involved…hang in there while I figure it out. If you haven’t taken a look yet, there are two videos up and ready to go…again I don’t have any idea what I am doing so be kind.

Monday I started testing out a cleanse//nutrition plan…which I stopped on Friday. I will put together a full review and why programs don’t work for me. But long story short, I feel like I get more nutrients in my diet when I’m not on a program. I eat a lot more off a plan and to be honest I am not a three meals a day kind of girl. I like five-six smaller ones…half of which are all veggies. Also, this may be just me but I hate feeling like I’m ‘cheating’ on a cleanse for taking a second helping of brussels sprouts. Nutrition programs just aren’t for me. That being said, I will continue to use the products from this company because I really do like them. I would recommend this program to people who are just learning the in’s and out’s of healthy eating. More on that next week!

I have you every heard of a 23 year old with pink eye? Me either…until Wednesday. Also, FYI antibiotic eyes burn. Wednesday//Thursday I didn’t want to leave the house with nasty looking eye balls so I spent the day pulling together content for the blog, practicing editing videos and watching Mary Kate and Ashely movies.

Before you get into the pictures, I was asked to give a little run down on How to Use Snapchat. (If you are under 27 years old you can skip this part)

First of all, you need to download the app and make an account. Got that? Okay so now your phone looks like it is ready to take a picture…See the ghost icon in the centered at the top of your screen? Press it. Next, hit add friends. Then click “Add from Address Book” now pick the people that you want to add. Once, you have friends, and they have added you back, you can start sending them snaps. Take a picture (or selfie), press the blue arrow at the bottom right hand corner and pick who you want to send it to. Do you want all your friends to see it? Make sure you add it to “My Story”. How do you do the puppy filter? Turn on the front facing camera and hold your finger down on your face… a bunch of filters pop up. So easy, so fun!

I hope you guys had a great weekend! Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

xoxo,

K

Hello Gorgeous!

Im writing to you from my bed for two reasons; one because I can and two because I am trying a new cleanse//nutrition plan situation to review for you and I’m feeling the caffeine withdrawal. (If you know me, you know coffee is my soulmate…like I cant live without her so this next month or so is going to be rough).

However, this chillin//workin in bed situation brings me to the very topic I get the most emails about…my bed. I wasn’t expecting you girls to want to know all about my bed, but I get it…it is glam yet super cozy. The story behind this bed is equal parts funny and disastrous so I figured I would share it with you.

Soooooo when I decided to launch TPB, I was adamant that I was doing this whole thing on my own (Currently listening to Me, Myself and I by my girl Beyoncé). I saved for months to hire all the right people for my website but also to redesign my room. With a very specific look in mind, I painted my pink and dark brown walls WHITE. While I was letting the paint dry I spent hours searching for the perfect furniture on countless websites. I found my desk on Overstock. I spent my time off of work drive to HomeGoods, Pier 1 and different Target locations on the hunt for the pieces I had dreamed up in my head.

I was walking through HomeGoods one day in search of a gold bar cart to use as a nightstand. I turned down an aisle and see a soft gray upholstered headboard in the distance. I see her and I map out my plan to get to this diamond in the rough through a sea of end tables, couches and one seven foot tall Native American statute (strange but true). Have you ever noticed that when you are in a store like HomeGoods if another shopper can sense you want something they try and grab it before you can get there…I couldn’t let that happen to my dream bed. I causally (yet quickly) approach the headboard. The tag said she was $135. SOLD. I buy her and pull my Jeep up on the curb to load this thing into the back. A very sweet lady who happened to be walking by, probably in her late 60s//early 70s,  and I got this thing loaded in my car and I was off.

Excited, I ran into my dad’s office (he works from home) to show him this beauty I got for a total steal. He sees it and says, “How do you hang it up?” Well, there was a reason this gorgeous headboard was on sale and that was because it didn’t have any hardware to hang on a wall and there was no way to attach it to a bed frame. Whoops.

Regardless I was still really proud of myself and decided I was totally fine with a mattress on the floor as long as my headboard was chic. Fast forward to my parents coming home from a grad party to find my mattress on the floor with a headboard that was too big behind it…Apparently that couldn’t happen. Which lead to them offering to buy my a big beautiful bed and me in tears because then I wasn’t doing this project on my own.

Eventually I caved, the tears dried and the my bed was my birthday gift (thanks mom and dad). Now I have an even better bed, that was put together by deliver guys and I didn’t have to sneak it up the stairs while my family was out of the house…everyone wins.

As you can tell I have a thing for pillows…I used to require 17, but Im growing as a person and taming my selective OCD and cut it back to 15. My comforter is from Urban Outfitters circa two summers ago…It was the one I took to college (Pro Tip: Queen size comforter on your dorm bed makes it look extra glam). Im just as obsessed with it as I was the day I got it.

Welllll that is all I have for you ladies. These new workouts I am testing out for you are insane…20 minutes and you are dunzo (read in Kristin Cavallari’s voice). I will tell you all about them on Friday after I try the method on all my muscle groups…spoiler alert this sh!t works. Im off to talk a walk with my pups and eat.

PS: While being stubborn trying to move my old headboard into my room by myself I stepped on a hammer and cut my foot open. Because I love you here is a pic post injury//pre perfectly styled pillows. Please ignore the typo and bad lighting… It was late and I was in a lotttttt of pain. Enjoy.

xoxo,

K