MY GREEN JUICE RECIPE

If you're busy trying to get a business or shop up and running, it can be really easy to let healthy eating go to the bottom of your priority list.

When I am really busy, I tend to reach for the quick-grab foods, which are also usually the unhealthiest foods. That's why I like to drink a green juice, at least once every other day, if not every day.

Green juice is a yummy, easy way to get lots of nutrients without having to prepare a time consuming salad for every meal, and it makes up for the less-than-perfect diet that so many of us who own a business have.

These days, everyone knows about the health benefits of green juice, but you might not know where to start or what to put in your juice. I thought I would share my favorite recipe that I have found after experimenting with lots of different ingredients. These are things that I try to keep in my fridge at all times:

Why I Choose These Ingredients...

Green Apples - mainly added to sweeten up the drink and mask the flavor of the kale and spinach, also contains lots of antioxidants and vitamins

Kale - a "superfood", high in iron and calcium, tons of cancer preventing vitamins, lots of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular support, detoxifies your body

Cucumber - adds a fresh flavor and is 95% water, so adds a lot of juice to the mix, lots vitamins, good for your skin

Spinach - another "superfood", tons of vitamins, one of the most nutritious foods you can eat (ps make sure to get the spinach on the stalk not in the bags, as it juices much better this way!)

Lemons - detoxifies the body, flushes out toxins, lots of vitamin C, potassium, aids digestion, and more 

Ginger - good for your stomach / gastrointestinal system, helps nausea, anti-inflammatory, prevents cancer

Check out the video below to see how I put the ingredients through my juicer, if you are unfamiliar with juicing. 

Also, if you have a favorite juice recipe that you love, please let me know in the comments below! I would love to test out some new recipes. :)

BUSY, BUSY

Whew! It's been crazy around here lately, you guys.

About a month ago, the online daily discount site, Zulily, reached out to me about featuring me in three different collections, including an entire Charm & Gumption collection (which will be happening next week)! I mean...whhaaaaa???

This is one of the biggest things to ever happen for me with Charm & Gumption and I have been just so honored and thrilled to be a part of this big name site.

So, my days have been spent literally just keeping up with orders. Lately, I have been feeling like I really need to figure out some way to get my time freed up a little bit. I need to have enough time to grow the business not just keep my head above water. I'm still working on that.

In the evenings, I have been on a serious cleaning and organizing rampage. I don't know what's up with that, but I do get in those moods from time to time. A couple of nights ago I got up out of bed at 11 pm and started cleaning out my closet until 3am. Seriously...who does that?

from my personal instagram

(ps. cut up a pool noodle and put it in your boots to keep them standing up! thanks Pinterest!)

If you have the same organization-freak tendencies, might I suggest this youtube channel, made by a girl who is the real life Monica Geller. Every single square inch of her home is perfectly organized and labeled. She's my hero. She opens her filing cabinet, and I swear the angels sing. Warning: it fuels the fire. I find myself thinking things like "I really need to organize my coffee and tea packets". Not normal!

Anyway, I thought I would check in and give you a little update! I should have a new video and post up on Friday. xo!

HOW TO WORK FROM HOME & STAY PRODUCTIVE

I hope you guys had a great holiday weekend! 

Today, I wanted to share some of my best tips for staying productive when you work from home. The more comfortable you get with working at home, the more tempting it can be to procrastinate and become really unstructured with your days. These are some tips that keep me organized and efficient. 

As always, these are just some things that have worked for me, and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. xo!

1. Play music at a low volume.
It is really tempting to keep the tv on "in the background", but tv and videos are super distracting. Stick to music or podcasts, which you can listen to quietly in the background while still keeping focused. Listening to quiet music has actually been found to increase productivity. I like to listen to instrumental music (acoustic guitar type stuff) on Pandora, and I find that it keeps me working hard without getting bored.

2. Step away from the sweat pants.
Chillin' in your sweatpants is part of the "working from home" fantasy for most people, but in my experience, when I have tried to work in sweats or pj pants, I just felt unproductive. Maybe it's a subconscious thing, but I think when you look like a slob, you feel like a slob. It just makes me feel like I want to go to bed! I'm not saying you have to wear a ball gown and full hair and makeup, but even just wearing workout clothes rather than sleep clothes will make a big difference. In other words, wear something that you wouldn't be embarrassed to leave the house in.

3. Create a separate space for working.
I am very lucky that in our current house, I have my own office space, which is ideal. If you don't have the space in your home for your own office, just find some space somewhere that is only for you and your work. In our old apartment, I had a space in the corner of our living room. It's just important to have an area that is just for your supplies, computer, etc. so that you can stay organized.

4. Make a daily schedule.
One of the best things about working from home is that your schedule is so flexible, but I still think that having at least an outline of a schedule is a must. I am always trying to improve and  adapt my schedule to my current situation, and right now I seem to have something that really works for me. My schedule is flexible but still has blocks of time for certain activities. For example, every day, I do my exercising first thing in the morning. That is something about my schedule that never changes. I also leave Tuesday afternoons open for appointments and meetings. I will do a full post about my schedule at a different time, but thinking in terms of blocks of time has really helped me to stay productive.

5. Do things ahead of time.
You will find, as you start working from home, that you can actually get more done during one day than you could at a regular job or an office job. This is because you free up so much time from not having to actually drive to a different location or attending meetings and such all the time. Use this free time to take care of things that are coming up. I am not always the best at this, I'll admit, but I'm working on it. It's really tempting to use your free time for fun, especially since you're already at home and in a comfortable environment, but scheduling a blog post ahead of time or getting a jump start on the next day's orders will just make you feel like a boss. :)