Galentine's Day!

"Valentine's Day is about romance, but Galentine's Day is about friendship."

Leslie Knope of Parks & Recreation

I'm sure by this point, because of the winter weather, you, like me, are also getting a little cabin fever. If I have not needed to go out this winter, I didn't. But because of that, I miss people. I miss a conversation over a good meal with good friends. SO I figured Galentine's Day would be the best excuse to have a party. I gathered as many of my girls as could make it and we chatted over (my attempt of) waffles, smoothies, and heart shaped bacon.

Here's a little recap:

Instagram // Friday Faves

I might have mentioned a while back this new rule I have with Instagram: I try and only follow those who truly inspire and motivate me (oh and my friends too ;) ) It is easy to get sucked in following all kinds of other photographers or creatives, but then there comes the jealousy/discontentment struggle. Also, I shouldn't be surfing Instagram and catching up on so many other people's lives and career's that I am missing out on my own. SO I've tried to stick with a select group of uplifting and influential instagramers. Not to say I don't love to just peruse photos or people on this site, but if we're talking about living more purposefully - this is just one small step to take in that direction.

Without further ado here are a few of my faves:

Photographers

From top, left to right: 1. Jasmine Star - incredible writer and well known photographer based in California  2. Char Co. - my mentor and her amazing creative collective of photographers and stylists  3. Lauren Fair - film photographer extraordinaire  4. mlippman - my handsome, talented and creative brother who has quite the creative eye

Stores

From top, left to right: 1. Targetstyle - the best store EVER displays just their style and decor  2. LClaurenconrad - Lauren Conrad's adorable line at Kohl's packed with stylish clothing options  3. WalkinLove - truly inspiring t-shirt, sweatshirt, casual clothing line  4. Anthropologie - one of the other best stores EVER and their home decor, clothing and lifestyle creative displays

Spiritually Inspiring

From top, left to right: 1. Lara Casey - wedding magazine editor and motivational speaker, with an incredible store of goals sheets and inspirational prints  2. Returntorest - a gathering of photographers and creatives with the goal of stopping to focus on Jesus  3. Lindsayletters - a graphic designer who makes beautiful inspiring prints and canvases for your home  4. Emilyley - creator of the Simplied Planner, her goal is to encourage time management and organization, so you can live life fully

Home Decor

From top, left to right: 1. TheNester - I've mentioned this talented lady before, author of The Nester blog and The Nesting Place book  2. Abeautifulmess - two adorable women whose blog boasts home decor displays, diys, recipes, stylish clothing suggestions and all around fun  3. JoannaGaines - founder and owner of Magnolia Market in Texas and star of the HGTV show Fixer Upper, this stylish momma has so much decor inspiration to offer

Just for Fun ...

From left to right: 1. Marniethedog - I am biased that shih tzus are the best, so why not follow this adorable tongue dangling pooch  2. Jimmy Fallon - because it doesn't get much better than EW!

Happy Instagramming!

Morning Routine // Lifestyle

If you're like me, routine doesn't come as easy you'd like. My husband is pretty great when it comes to discipline. Whereas I'm more spontaneous. The 'maybe I coulds' and the 'maybe I wonts' take over and sometimes, well, most times, it is just hard for me to be as consistent as I'd like. I'm trying to develop better habits and usually it is great if you have a tool of some kind to get ya goin. SO after scouring Pinterest for a great 'to do list printable' I found it would be best just to make my own. This way I can customize the boxes and lists and 'to dos' just the way I need it.

Let me tell you, this took me all of 20 minutes and now, I have a great way to start each day. This helps me take an inventory of what's most important. I also use Google Calendar to make sure I keep my appointments, shoots and travel dates. Google Calendar is great because it allowed me to share my personal and work calendars with my husband and vice versa. This has eliminated lots of questions in our marriage, which usually ended up being annoying and even confusing. Now, we know what each other has scheduled and can spend more time talking about more important stuff, instead of always planning and questioning what's going on.

I made my 'Everyday To Do' in Microsoft Word. Using text boxes and little check mark icons I created this document. I thought through my day and my priorities - what do I want to MAKE SURE I accomplish - those things made the checklist cut. There are lots of really pretty printables with icons, photos and graphics out there, but because I didn't want to go broke on ink, I thought I'd start simple. That's why I stuck with black and white. But you can customize yours however you want!

Maybe you're way ahead of me and have been doing this forever, or maybe this has encouraged you to make you're own. I thought I'd make my own checklist creation available for you. However, I made it so you can customize your morning and evening routine. So below is a link where you can download my version of the 'To Do' list.

Enjoy and Happy checklisting to you!

To view/download my personal 'Everyday To Do' click below:

Everyday To Do - Kate's Version

To view/download an 'Everyday To Do' list you can customize click below:

Everyday To Do for You

Once you get to these webpages, click on the button 'Share' below the document and then you will see the option to 'Download'.