WHAT I’VE LEARNED LIVING ALONE

Me? Living alone? HA. That would’ve been the joke of the century only just last year. I’ve always relied on my family and friends for support – which is perfectly normal and acceptable, except that I also leaned on them when I was lost in my own city. 3AM phone calls because Maps wasn’t cooperating. I WAS THAT FRIEND. I decided to live on my own when I gained the confidence with my job as a flight attendant. It’s the most amazing thing I have gained, ever, and I just wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned since.

  • No one cares if your dishes and silverware don’t match. It’s quirky, and fun, so save your money and let go of the stress.
  • Location is key. Living somewhere that brings you so much joy is crucial.
  • Find your community. Whether it’s your gym, work place, coffeeshop, or book club. Find em and cherish em.
  • Your friends love you and want to hangout with you. But YOU need to be the one to initiate it sometimes. I actually learned this when I started flying and noticed my friends were hanging out without me because they never knew when I was home or flying!
  • THRIFT YO SHIT. I thrifted my pantry organizers (storage cubes, shelf risers, jars, etc), some furniture, baskets, bakeware, mixing bowls, and plant pots, and saved so much money. Buy Nothing Facebook groups, Craigslist, and Facebook marketplace are also worth checking out!
  • Investment pieces should be items you will need when you eventually move out. IE: bed, mattress, some furniture, TV.
  • Change doesn’t happen overnight. Your place doesn’t need to look perfect right after moving in. In fact, 4 months later and I still don’t have anything hung up on my walls. Cut yourself some slack.
  • Using Instagram and Pinterest as inspiration is fun, but can set unrealistic expectations. Work within your means and do the best you can to create a cozy space for YOU.
  • Having a small space has some perks – like sweeping taking a total of 10 minutes.
  • Having a dog helps with loneliness. Same with plants.
  • Accept loneliness and know that you are NOT ALONE in feeling that way. Also learned this with my flying gig.
  • When the loneliness kicks in, get out. Go outside. Recharge with the outdoors. I also feel great being surrounded by people (even though they are strangers and even when I’m not speaking to anyone) in places like coffeeshops, the library, the park, and grocery stores.
  • Making the bed is the most adulting thing you could ever do, especially since you’re not doing it for anyone else. Do it for you.
  • Meal prep with or for friends to save some money. And that way, you won’t get sick of the same meals.
  • You’re just gonna have to ask people to take their shoes off if you want them off. Just gotta do it.
  • It’s okay if it doesn’t feel like home just yet. What makes it feel home is the time spent with your friends and family in your space. Creating memories. Sleepovers. Dance parties. Movie nights. The corner where your first Christmas tree was. This is probably the most important thing I realized.

If you’re living alone too, props to you. It’s not always easy, but damn does it feel good to come home to your own slob and decorate your sanctuary to be 100% YOU. All the love.

I BE UP IN THE GYM JUST WORKIN’ ON MY FITNESS

Oh hi! Remember me? I know, it’s been a little while, but I really didn’t want to make blogging a chore anymore. Unfortunately, I got stuck in the idea of writing for the mere purpose of having something to post. It wasn’t out of joy and passion anymore. But since launching flylittlebirdy, I made it a point to only write when I felt inspired and when I wanted to. No more scheduled posts. No bullshit.

So, what sparked my interest today? The sun was shining, peeking through my window and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me waking up naturally to sunlight. I woke up with a really positive mind, took my time getting out of bed (sometimes you just need that), and went for a 7 mile run. IT FELT SO GOOD. I hadn’t ran outside in so long – probably not since my half marathon in February. The weather in Seattle has just been super icky and I’ve also been low key obsessed with cycling and yoga lately. I was also inspired by a message I received the other day from one of my sweetest friends. She was asking for health and fitness advice and it made me SO happy. Someone asking ME for fitness advice? It felt so good because for me, fitness is still a journey. It will always be. My health is so important to me and it took me so long to realize that.

Three  years ago, my best friend Roxanne asked me to be her maid of honor.. and I don’t know, I guess something just clicked. It helped a lot that I had friends who were now all on the same page too. We were all working towards the same goal: getting in shape for this epic wedding. I’ve tried diets before. Bologna. I’ve always “worked out.” I didn’t think I was capable of improving in any way. I kind of accepted the fact that this was just my body type, maybe I’d lose 5 lbs and that’d be cool, I guess. That was literally my mentality. It’s weird to think back on now and reflect on how much I’ve changed – now I’m not even talking physically. My mindset is completely in a different place. I wish I could go back and tell myself, “you know you’re capable of anything right?” or “don’t set limits for yourself. seriously STOP doing that.” I was the only thing in my way of achieving these “farfetched” dreams and goals. It’s true what they say. Sometimes you are just too hard on yourself. Sometimes you are your worst critic. Sometimes you are your worst enemy.

Getting started on this journey, I went hard. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I was doing something different. My workouts no longer consisted of straight boring (seriously zzzz) cardio for an hour. I started incorporating circuits, strength training, and cardio never lasted longer than 30 minutes, but I made those 30 minutes COUNT. HIIT cardio was my jam, hill sprints especially. Roxanne was/is my partner in gym (ha!). She taught me so much about HIIT cardio, read me articles about the benefits of it and it changed my life. My sister helped me overcome my fear of the “boys’ section” of the gym. Like many, I was so incredibly intimidated by the weight room. How does this work? Does my arm go here? What’s a squat? I felt so out of place. So uncomfortable and awkward. But guess what? Every day, I felt a little more confident. A little more… dare I say.. EXCITED, to hit the weights. It was a weird feeling, but also the best feeling in the world. I had this confidence I don’t think was ever there.

With gym time came a lot of kitchen time. Two words: meal prep. Also life changing. The word diet now had a new meaning. Diet doesn’t mean cutting carbs for X amount of months. It doesn’t mean avoiding dessert so you can fit into a size 4 dress. Diet is literally what you eat. The cleaner I was eating, I found myself thinking, ‘what the hell was I eating before?’ There’s nothing better than knowing exactly what is going in your food. I started pinning clean recipes on Pinterest, binge watching ‘What I Eat In A Day’ YouTube videos, and following a lot of health conscious food bloggers on Instagram. Cooking soon became a hobby and mind you, this is coming from somebody who before considered pressing buttons on a microwave cooking. Zoodles and overnight oats were (and still are) my jam. Love love love my superfoods (yes, I’m that girl) – chia seeds, hemp seeds, cacao powder + nibs. I have a love/hate relationship with apple cider vinegar – as much as I hate drinking it, the health benefits are out of this freaking world. Just do it. Your body will love you for it.

Things are always up and down. Some days I feel like I’ve plateaued. Some days I feel like crap, totally unmotivated, and like I’ve taken steps back. Other days I feel incredibly proud of myself (almost always after a killer workout sesh or run) and the only thing that sounds good is a massive salad. I love those days, but I get that this is a lifelong journey. Your attitude and mindset is what will get you through. I believe in celebrating small victories. I believe in encouraging others. I believe that balance is key. At the end of the day, what’s life without pizza?

My best advice to anyone who’s wanting to make a lifestyle change is to acknowledge that it’s going to be tough, but know that you can do it. You can do ANYTHING. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We’re all only human. Don’t deprive yourself of what you love, but also remember to balance. Learn to love yourself. Know that you deserve to live a happy and healthy life. Your commitment to living healthier and eating cleaner will not only show on the scale (scales suck btw) but you will have so much more energy. Your confidence will shine like never before and it’s so freaking amazing.

EMBRACING CHANGE

“You’ve changed.” These words have been painted in such a negative light.. and why? Isn’t change inevitable? We go through experiences, even in our day to day life, that mold us into someone new.. to some extent anyway. Our hearts and our souls remain the same, but our mannerisms and the way that we cope and handle challenges change as we learn and as we grow. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

I have changed a lot in the past two years. I made a career move that changed my entire life 180 degrees. I’m barely home, so I’ve learned to prioritize the time that I do have at home, making sure I spend the most time with the people who mean the most to me. Unfortunately, this meant less coffee dates with friends I would typically meet with once a month when I worked in Queen Anne. It sucks, I’m not gonna lie about that. I do want to be better and I’m working on being better at reaching out to old friends more often. It’s not easy, but it’ll be worth every shot I’ve got.

I’ve traveled to more places than I have in my entire life in the span of two years and I feel so so so incredibly lucky (even that is an understatement). There’s not a day I don’t think to myself how lucky I am to be excited to go to work. It makes me feel like everyone should know what this feels like. My love for travel keeps growing by the day, and I have been pushed out of my comfort zone countless times because of it. My journey really started when I booked a ticket to London two years ago and never looked back. I knew it was going to be hard being alone, traveling from place to place, especially considering I hated something as simple as grabbing lunch by myself. But now, here I am in downtown Denver, in some random coffeeshop, typing this post up. And I am so comfortable, and so happy. I want to say I feel like a new person, but that’s not necessarily true. I feel like the person I wished I was when my self-esteem was low and when I was too dependent on other people. I like that I can do things by myself and I like that I’ve learned to appreciate my own company. I feel like that’s so important.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met someone who made me want to be a better person. And that’s a form of change, right? To do better and to be better? What I learned about myself is that I’m an easily inspired person. I could have a quick ten minute conversation with someone, then suddenly feel like I need to get out there and do something big. I just met with another flight attendant recently who really made me consider planning my move to London sometime in the near future. The thought is moving is scary, but it’s exciting and here’s the thing – it doesn’t have to be permanent! No change you make has to be a definite thing. You keep moving forward to strive for your true happiness. And the funny thing is, even what happiness means to you will change, so you’ll have to decide what to do to cater to what makes your heart feel the most full. This is an ongoing process that makes life so special.

I just think it’s really important to remind ourselves that change is not necessarily a bad thing. Try not to be so hard on yourself if you do something and it feels like a mistake. Everything you do is a learning experience and will better prepare you for the future. Change will happen, and it’s up to you whether you want it to be a good one or a bad one.

rosie