Parks and Recreation, Season 4, Episode 4, Minute 5:33

At this moment, iconic and unforgettable words were spoken. Just three simple words. Yet, while only a few words, they are the essence of my entirely new mindset.

The iconic line, straight from Tom Haverford himself.

Treat Yo Self.

That’s right, you heard me. If you’ve ever seen this show, you know which episode I’m talking about. Two-coworkers, Tom and Donna, celebrate their best day of the year, which is all about self care. They spend the entire day getting their nails done, shopping, eating, getting massages, and being completely vocal about it to all their friends.

I absolutely love this show, and I would never intentionally criticize two of my favorite all time characters unless absolutely necessary. And unfortunately in this case, it’s necessary.

Just like in this show, many people think that they can just cram all their self-care into one day and be perfectly fine. And while this may be more convenient, it’s not very effective. Many people either fail to see why this isn’t the right mindset or they just ignore the idea of it all together.

The reality is that our mental health is something we always need to be in tune with. With our busy lives, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed from all the stress we endue on a daily basis. Without taking time for ourselves to relax and just breath, we can start sinking deep down into a hole of despair where we feel consistently hopeless, stressed, and depressed.

A few years ago, I was struggling with these negative emotions because I was completely overworking myself without any breaks. It made me have no energy, I struggled to fall asleep at night, and I even lost my appetite at times. It wasn’t until I started making some simple changes in my own life, that I started to achieve that healthy balance that I was looking for.

Now I promise you, self-care doesn’t have to be as complex and time-consuming as it may seem coming from influencers or celebrities. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to go to the gym for 2 hours every day, have salad for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and drink 100 ounces of water by noon in order to say you practice self care.

Don’t believe me? Let me show you. Here are my top five self-care suggestions for de-stressing that have been very effective in my own life.

1.Do Nothing

I know, I know maybe even reading those two words makes you antsy. We’re always doing something, whether it’s doing homework, checking emails, or scrolling through social media. But I want to challenge you to do something that has no real thought at all. Put your work and your phone down, and watch an episode of TV, pet your dog, or color. It doesn’t have to be for very long, even fifteen minutes would be beneficial. By giving yourself a mental break, you’re allowing your body and brain to destress and reset, and this period of relaxation— even if relatively short— is very effective in lowering your body’s stress both mentally and physically.

This is my personal favorite order from Starbucks, that I get when I’m particularly stressed. It’s a venti strawberry refresher with lemonade and light ice. 11/10 would recommend

2. Buy yourself that Starbucks drink or eat that ice cream for dessert

If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a huge sweet tooth and absolutely love a good meal. Even something as simple as a strawberry refresher from Starbucks or one of Deeta’s donuts is something that can add a little something special to your day and make it a little bit more bearable. While it isn’t always healthy to eat food based off of your emotions, a few treats here and there is harmless. And, it’s a great way to start your morning off on the right note— refreshed and energized.

3. Give yourself a day off

Now look, I know it isn’t always realistic to take an entire day off. But, we also don’t need to be working 12 hours a day every day. Maybe choose one day a week or every two weeks to only do an hour of your homework. For the rest of your night, fill the time with things you actually want to do. You could go to a yoga class, watch tiktoks in bed for three hours straight, or go outside and play with your dog. What you do doesn’t matter, as long as it’s something that you’re passionate about and that makes you happy. The one thing I will say is don’t take naps. Please don’t kill me and wait to here me out. Naps are the worst. If you’re tired then just go to bed early; there is no shame in an 8 o’clock bedtime! Getting that extra sleep will allow your body to restore itself and you will feel energized in the morning (without the grogginess that comes from napping).

4. Have A Nighttime Routine

Speaking of sleep, it is very important to have a nighttime routine before you go to bed each night. For me, this is taking off my makeup and going through my skin care routine. This can look different for everybody. Some people like to shower, read a book, or even listen to music. Whatever it is, keep it consistent. By doing the same actions over and over again before you go to bed, you’re subconsciously training your brain to start winding down. By doing this, you will find that you spend less time tossing and turning in bed and more time getting those necessary zzz’s.

5. Go exercise

As someone who can be very lazy at times, I sometimes struggle with this one. But the reality is that exercising and working out is very effective at relieving stress. Whether it’s playing a sport, lifting weights, or taking your dog for a walk, try and find a short amount of time to do some physical activity. It doesn’t have to be anything overly time consuming or strenuous. Just the actions itself releases the chemical dopamine, which helps you feel happier and more relaxed. So get off the couch and get moving! It may be hard to do at first, but I promise afterwards you will feel so much better.

All of these tips have worked for me, and I hope that you can find them useful in your own life. Please let me know if you do find these helpful and let me know what you do in order to relax and de-stress. Because I certainly am in no shortage of stress, and could always use new suggestions 🙂

I felt my stomach churn and bile rise up my throat as I looked at the disgusting scene in front of me. C’mon Emily, you know what you have to do, I thought to myself. But with shaking hands, I knew no amount of mental preparation would ever prepare me to finish the deal.

A visual representation of how I feel when I see salad

I threw my fork down in pure disgust and sat up from my chair “That’s it, I refuse to eat it!”

Yes, I am talking about eating salad. And no, I’m not kidding.

For most kids, they grow out of their sweet tooth and fear of eating fruits and vegetables before middle school. For me, this day never came. I genuinely can’t even look at salad without being physically repulsed. I mean seriously, how do people just eat leaves?

My diet was simple: processed food, processed food, and more processed food! Throw in some pasta and ice cream and that sums up what I ate for the last seventeen years of my life.

This was all until I went on a service trip to Guatemala, where I had to eat healthy for two weeks because we had no access to processed food. This was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. While I was constantly day-dreaming about the pint of Ben and Jerry’s Tonight Dough that was waiting for me in my freezer at home, I couldn’t help but notice how much better I felt. Without all the grease and empty calories I was used to getting, I felt less weighed down and I had more consistent energy throughout the day.

It was after I came back, that I became determined to continue eating healthy and for the most part, it has been pretty successful with a few bumps here and there. Here are my three tips regarding healthier eating, that were crucial in helping me change my habits.

1. Do it for the right reasons

For many people, they think that the only reason to eat healthy is to try and lose weight. This is NOT true. While maintaining a healthy weight is beneficial for your health overall, it is not the only reason to try and eat healthier. It no way, shape, or form should cleaner eating be used to try and become skinny to mold into societal beauty standards because that is where you create an unhealthy relationship with food. Remember that food is just fuel, and calories are just energy. Ultimately, we want to fuel our body with energy that has strong nutrients so that we can physically feel better on a daily basis.

Eating healthy has so many positive side effects, and if you’re doing it for the right reasons it will make you feel better both inside and out.

2.Make small changes at a time

One of my biggest mistakes in the past, is that I would try and change my entire diet at once. That quickly made me lose motivation, as I would give into my cravings within a few days and then I would feel hopeless again. Start by implementing one new change a week from cutting out foods with processed foods to only drinking water as a beverage to incorporating one more fruit a day during your lunch. By breaking the process down into baby steps, you’re less likely to feel overwhelmed and the change will be more gradual which will make the changes your implementing more sustainable.

3.Remember life is all about balance

This last tip is so crucial. We’ve all had that moment where we’ve eaten a little bit too much cake or pigged out over junk food for a few days in a row and have felt guilty afterwards. Don’t feel guilty! Life is about enjoying the finer things in life and doing the things that make you happy, and sometimes that involves eating some chocolate. As you’re making the change to start eating healthier, realize that your lifestyle isn’t just going to magically change over night- which is perfectly okay. As long as you find that balance between treating yourself and eating healthy, you will still be greatly benefiting your health.

Now I’m going to get off my soapbox and remind you that I’m no “health queen” or even someone who is a healthy person by many standards. I still scrunch my nose in disgust when I see anyone eating salad and I struggle to eat my vegetables every day. But I know that it’s important to remember that change doesn’t happen overnight– it takes time.

Remember that forward is forward, no matter how slowly you’re chugging along. Progress is impossible without the will to change, and all that matters is that the change happens, regardless of how long it takes.

If you decide to make that change, I hope my advice helps you on what can be such a difficult process. Please comment and let me know if you think my tips are useful or let me know any other tips that you have!

I’m not going to lie, I’m not a huge movie person. When I go to a movie theater, I’m that person who makes comments to the person next to them the entire time because they can’t manage to sit still for an hour and a half. A lot of movies just take too long to build up and my attention span doesn’t last that long.

But, I absolutely love to watch TV.  It’s mindless, refreshing, and most importantly relaxing. One of my favorite feelings in the world is when I can come home after a long day at school and forget about my worries for a little bit. Because I am so picky about what I watch, I believe that I have very good taste. A few of my favorites are Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Parks and Recreation, The Originals, Glee, The Office, Bones, Pretty Little Liars, Shark Tank, Dynasty, and Revenge. If you don’t like my list, I’m sorry. We can’t all have good taste I guess. 

If you do like my list, and you love watching funny and dramatic shows on TV, then have I got a treat for you. If there’s one thing I’m picky about, it’s my movies. I only appreciate movies that have stellar plots and that are beautifully crafted. Some of my absolute favorite movies are the spin-off Cinderella movies. I decided to rank my top 5 and evaluate them for you guys, so you can save your time and only watch the best of the best. 

Official Cover for A Cinderella Story if the Shoe Fits

Here are the top 5. 

5) A Cinderella Story If the Shoe Fits 

If I’m being honest when I was first making this list, I forgot that this movie even existed. Easy to say I’m not a huge fun. It’s really recent as it came out in 2016. It kind of gives me, recent Disney

channel movie vibes. The acting isn’t amazing and the movie seems almost too exaggerated and far-fetched. This definitely isn’t a must see, but if you’re trying to watch multiple movies and build up to the best spin-off Cinderella movie, then this is a great place to start. 

Official Cover of A Cinderella Story Once Upon a Song

4) A Cinderella Story Once Upon a Song 

As someone who has been watching Pretty Little Liars from the beginning, Lucy Hale is one of my favorite actresses. Her acting, dancing, and singing all met my expectations in this movie. It’s funny at parts and definitely a little cheesy. If you like rom-coms and you don’t mind cliches, this is definitely a must watch. 

3) A Cinderella Story 

Two main Characters in A Cinderella Story, Sam and Austin

It was very hard to choose between my second and third ranking here, because I love these movies so much. One of my favorite things about this movie is how realistic it is, the main character Sam really is just an average girl and there’s no over the top dancing and singing. One thing that sets it apart from #4, is how funny it is. You will definitely be laughing the entire time and you’ll fall in love with the love story. 

One of the MANY iconic dance scenes in Another Cinderella Story

2) Another Cinderella Story 

I have always loved and will continue to love Selena Gomez. Her acting, singing, and dancing in this movie truly set it apart from others. This movie was an iconic part of my childhood. Not only will you get to stare at actor Drew Seeley known as Joey Parker for the entire movie (who was one of my childhood celebrity crushes), but you get to witness amazing dance choreography and iconic dance battles. You can’t not smile and laugh while watching this movie. Even if you aren’t usually a fan of romance movies, you will love this one. It’s impossible not to. 

1) Ever After

The official cover of Ever After

When I tell a lot of people that this is my number one, they’re surprised and many times people have never seen it. This movie is truly incredible and is in my top five favorite movies ever. Set in the medieval times, it’s realistic, engaging, and completely unique compared to all the movies before. It’s incredibly well written and filmed. The characters are witty, the plot is thrilling, and you become so emotionally attached and invested into the characters. 

This is absolutely a must watch for everyone!! It doesn’t matter if you like action, horror, comedies, or romance movies. If you have a heart, you will love this movie. 

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We’ve all experienced that moment when you’re trying to find a movie to watch and it ends up taking an hour just to pick a movie that everyone can agree on, and everyone ends up settling for a mediocre movie so you can just watching something. If you choose from these five movies, you will avoid this because you really can’t go wrong with any of them! Especially if you’re a Cinderella Spin-off Virgin, make sure you pick one of these movies from above on your next movie night. You need to watch these ASAP, I promise you won’t regret it.