July is finally here!

((Posting this a little later than I wanted to, but Birthday celebration and 4th of July always take precedence over writing during the start of this month.))

July is my all time favorite Summer Month- mainly because it is the month of my birthday. (more about that later) Even though my birthday is on the 2nd and I do have birth weeks. I also like to keep the personal celebration going for the remainder of the month in the form of Treat Yo Self.

July is my all time favorite Summer Month- mainly because it is the month of my birthday. (more about that later) Even though my birthday is on the 2nd and I do have birth weeks. I also like to keep the personal celebration going for the remainder of the month in the form of Treat Yo Self.

Usually, this is me buying myself a lot of presents in the form of things I don’t really need that end up taking up a ton of space in my apartment. With everything that has gone on this past year, I have decided to do a spiritual/personal Treat Yo Self rather than a monetary one. (don’t get me wrong I still used all my “free” birthday stuff to purchase my normal birthday traditions haha, some things will never change.)

So what does a spiritual/personal Treat Yo Self month look like? This is an idea that was sparked by a friend who created her own self-care Instagram challenge. ( check her out at okjoanie.blogspot.com ) I really liked the idea but as I was looking through her challenge I realized I liked bits and pieces of it but not the whole thing worked for me.

So I took from a whole bunch of different Pinterest “self-care” post and made my own personal checklist of 10 things I want to do between now and the end of the month. If at least one of these sticks into the rest of the year I will find this as a success!

I’m excited to get this going and since I started later than July 1st I’m going to go from July 10th until August 10th.

Replace after work nap- with afterwork Self Care Routine**
Spent at least 2 days this month volunteering at the animal shelter 
Take a hike up the mountain x2 (bring a book or journal with you)
Spend at least one day at home reading with no distractions 
DIY Spa Day ( ok this one may cost a little money)
Cook your favorite meal with no guilt.
Spend 20 minutes 3x per week journaling- extra challenge to try and write in different places around town
Take a whole day away from all social media- Including facebook messenger
Go to at least 4 events this month that are not the normal routine
Plan a Daycation somewhere in driving distance ( again this one may cost a little money)

** after work self care routine**

( I came up with this after reading so many “ things you should do in the morning” routine ideas. Since I work so early there is no way I’m going to wake up earlier. Instead of starting my day with a routine I want to give myself an hour of “Me” time when I get home)

• 20-30 minutes of youtube yoga or 10 minutes of meditation
• Make a balanced snack//tea
• Pick one: 30 minutes of reading, journaling, coloring, crafting or walking the neighborhood.

(sidenote- cannot do the same activity more than 2 days in a row)

Equals to one hour of self care time!