We all know it is interesting to peek behind the scenes of people’s lives, that is why we started our Day in the Life series where each month we’re talking about how we manage the day in/day out stuff in our lives. This month we are talking about our morning routines.
I am not sure how sharing “routines” became a thing but it’s definitely popular, my daughter will watch YouTube videos on this topic all day long, I guess that started the trend?! Anyway, that’s what we’re talking about this month. Funny story about the picture above, it’s not at all staged (you can tell that by the mess on the counter, right?). Remember how last weekend I went to my high school reunion? One of my friends texted me to ask what I was wearing to one of the events and this is the picture I snapped in answer, I was running late so I didn’t even stop curling my hair to take the pic.  I found it on my camera roll and thought it would be appropriate for this post 🙂
coffeemaker  |  mugs  |  similar stand
My day starts pretty early, 6:15 to be exact when my alarms start going off. Yes– I have alarms, plural, but it takes more than one to get me up! I have to get up to get my boys off to high school otherwise I’d much prefer a later start to my day. Once they are up and moving towards the shower I head downstairs for coffee.
In my full day post (read that here) I shared about how I’d started making my boys these Protein Pancakes for breakfast, well now they have come to expect them daily so that’s the first thing I do. Once they are fed and out the door to school, I head to my office for some peace and quiet.
I spend time trying to wake up and plan out my day, I use a Day Designer Planner pretty religiously to keep me on task throughout the day. I keep a running list of what I need to do so I don’t get sidetracked, and if I don’t finish something I just move it to the next day so it doesn’t drop through the cracks. I find writing stuff down gets it out of my head and makes me feel less overwhelmed. I do this first thing while the coffee is motivating me to overachieve by adding way more to my list than I’ll likely get done.
Here is a picture of my office, it’s my retreat from the craziness of our house! After about 3o minutes of quiet in here, I have to wake up my daughter and get her fed and off to school. We drive her there in the morning, and Auggie her puppy insists on riding along, he’s always so sad each day that he can’t go to school too.
When I get back from drop off, I clean up the kitchen, start a load of laundry, make my bed (I make mine every day, I can’t stand getting in an unmade bed at night) and do those household type tasks. After things are semi-squared away I try to go for a walk in our neighborhood, especially at this time of year it’s so gorgeous here and outside time is always good for mental health.
After a walk, I get in the shower and get dressed. I try to get dressed every day, it is very rare I don’t have something to do outside the house so it’s easier to get completely ready even if I am not leaving until afternoon. I may not always curl my hair but I, at least, put on an outfit and makeup, and always jewelry too because I am my mother’s daughter.
I need to write up a post one day soon on my very favorite beauty products, but here are some of my favorites. I mostly use the Beauty Counter Skin Care line, with Arbonne Foundation and Primer (this is available through consultants, leave a comment and I’ll share my girl Kara (another of our college roommates!) with you. This is the best inexpensive mascara that I swear by. I also am a huge fan of the Anastasia eyebrow pencil and don’t know how I ever lived without it. Finally, a make-up artist recommended the Becca Under Eye Brightener as something that works wonders on everyone and I have to agree, it’s good stuff.
similar top |  shoes  |  pants  |  earrings
I share a lot of fashion picks here on the blog so you all know what I like to wear day in and day out. I am preparing an Amazon Fashion post for next week right now so I have been putting together outfits this week now that (yay!) our weather has finally turned cooler. Last year I wrote a post about my Top Ten Clothing Items because like most people I probably wear 10% of my clothing 90% of the time!
black jeans ($15 today!) |  doormat  |  rug  | t-shirt |  vest  |  necklace |  bag |  belt
After I am ready, I sit down for a few minutes for some quiet time before I get caught up in the day. It just helps my day go better and I can offload any worry in prayer. This time always makes me feel better about the day. Even if I am rushed I at least read the day’s devotional in Jesus Calling (even my third or fourth time through it there are always good things in it) along with the passages from it via the Holy Bible App.
After that, I am off to tackle whatever comes that day!
For more of our Day in the Life posts you can read:
How I Meal Plan for Our Family of Five
XO,
Amy, is the under eye brightener fairly thick and liable to settle in re fine lines? (I am in my sixties.)
Hi Liz,
No but great question–I think it’s very light and I have lines too 🙂 I try to use the Arbonne primer under it which helps but I don’t feel like it creates more of an issue. It has a ton of translucence which also helps reflect the light and brighten the eyes. Figuring out the right color to get can be tricky, so be sure to select based on your skin tone. XO, Amy
Amy? I appreciate you telling us about your morning routine but could you give us sort of a timeline also? that would help me a lot I think. thank you very much!
Hi Sharon, Good question, all I can say is my timeline varies based on if I have to be someplace at a certain time in the morning. Typically I return from dropping my daughter off at 8:30, and it takes me about an hour (and longer if I go for a walk) to do all the other things I mention. So that’s a late start to the day but I work from home so I tend to start a little later. When I worked outside the home and had to leave by a certain time I used to get up, wake my kids up and do the quiet time/day planning while my kids were getting ready. Then I’d get myself ready and out the door, I just didn’t have the luxury of quite as much time then! (And my daughter took the bus back then which helped too!). I allow 30 minutes to shower and get dressed/make up on a regular day (in other words NOT washing my hair). Hope that helps! Amy
Where did you get the shirt you are wearing in the picture where you are curling Your hair?
Hi Anita, I shared that top last spring in this post here: https://www.11magnolialane.com/easy-spring-break-style-some-amazon-fashion-favorites/.
Unfortunately, it’s sold out now, it was part of a spring collection at Social Threads. I’ll keep my eyes open if I see it anywhere else!
XO,
Amy