Crested Butte, Dealing w/ Stress, and Stay Organized – Episode 69: PaleOMG Uncensored Podcast

Today on the podcast, I’m all over the place. Bachelor recap, my trip to Crested Butte, cooking videos, how I finally crashed after 3 days of stress, what I did to recover, and tips on working from home and staying organized with your own work. Yeah, it’s all over the place.

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Episode 69 Transcription!

This is Juli Bauer from PaleOMG and you are listening to PaleOMG Uncensored.

Juli Bauer: Well hello. Welcome to; let’s see. We are on episode 69. The exact temperature I like to keep my house. 70 is too hot at night. 68 is too f*cking cold. 69 is where it’s at. You can make all the sex jokes you want, but they’re not really that funny.

So how’s it going? Right now, I’m on the couch. I’m looking at the dog, who has completely made a next on the top of the couch cushion. So I’ll be sitting. So my left side is up against the couch cushions. Like my feet are laid out. We have an L-style couch. So my left arm is digging into this couch cushion. And every since Jackson, months ago, decided to make this his new favorite spot, I have shoulder issues, because the couch cushion presses into my shoulder, puts me in a weird position.

And I feel like everybody is always like; oh, CrossFit causes injuries. No, it’s my couch cushion that causes injuries. Which are enhanced by physical activity. That has nothing to do with this podcast. I feel like this podcast is going to be a hodgepodge of information. Which I guess it usually is. I feel like I’ve wanted to do more interviews, but number one I have not had time. Number two, I don’t know who I want to record. I want to record with my friend, Jennifer, from Predominantly Paleo. Because she’s adorable. But I want to go outside of paleo and into other places. But I just can’t think of who I want that to be.

I don’t know. I don’t know. Before we get talking about the important things, like Crested Butte. Which was a beaut. It really was a beaut. Obsessed. I want to talk about the Bachelor going on right now. And of course, you can skip this part. But you shouldn’t. Because the Bachelor is here, and it’s here to stay. I was listening to a podcast the other day. I was listening to Barbell Shrugged podcast. Because it had Brett Contreras. I think I said his name right. The glute guy on Instagram who I just started following, because a bunch of people recommended him for butt workouts.

So I started following this guy, and I listened to his podcast episode on Barbell Shrugged. They were kind of talking about CrossFit. And he said something along the lines of; he hates that when his clients talk sh*t about CrossFit. Because he’s like; where do you think it’s going to go? Do you think you’re just going to talk sh*t about it and it’s going to disappear? It is here to stay. And just so you know, Bachelor is here to stay. And you can hate it, because that’s 100% fair. And you’re right. But you might as well just accept it.

My husband tried to accept it this past week. He found out that my sister-in-law and I just make fun of it the whole time we watch it. He was like; oh, I didn’t know you made fun of it. I’ll watch it. I thought it was serious. I’m like, of course it’s not serious. Obviously, you haven’t read my blog in at least four years, you motherf*cker. But I do recaps every Tuesday on the blog. And it’s the best part of our week. We get to talk sh*t.

But I am a week behind on the blog, because I was in Mexico the first week it aired. Because they dropped it on New Years’ Day. Which is f*cking stupid. So I’m a week behind on the blog. Even though I’m caught up. And it’s just been so great. Because Ari is a boring mess. Not a mess, but he’s so boring. And they’re just trying to create drama in any way they can. Hold on, I need to drink water. I’m parched, ok. I’m parched.

So, Ari is so boring, he’s wearing far too much bronzer. It’s out of control. Honestly, I should probably wear more bronzer. So I could use some of his. But he’s not matching it to his neck. And rule number one with bronzer, if you’re going to put it on, you’ve got to fill in to your neck so you just don’t look these two separate colors. Because already your neck doesn’t get much sunlight. And then you make your face four shades darker, but not your neck? It’s incredibly obvious Ari. And he loves cardigans, which is fair. He’s 37. Or 36. My husband around that age, he doesn’t wear cardigans, but to each their own. He does it pretty well.

He does skinny jeans, so he’s trying to stay hip; and cardigans. Go you, Ari. But you’re very boring.

So the show has just become how can we make these girls look bad on television. And poor Krystal. I just feel really bad for Krystal. Because her voice is incredibly challenging to listen to. Because she does like a little baby voice, and it sounds like she’s been smoking cigarettes her entire life. But when Ari’s around, then she goes into ultra baby, high pitched, smoked 6 packs a day voice. And it’s very difficult to listen to.

And then her producers are just manipulating the sh*t out of her. So she’s being confident and happy with herself. She called herself flawless this week. And I’m sorry, she looks really f*cking good. She is a fitness coach, and she has a banging ass body. She has beautiful skin. I don’t know if it’s just great makeup, or what it is. But her skin looks fantastic. I’m not saying she’s gotten any work done. But if has, she’s done it well. If she gets Botox, she does it well. So, to say she’s flawless. She looks f*cking good. Go you, Krystal. You f*cking workout, you work hard, and you eat well, and it shows.

And I feel so bad for this girl. I went to this girl’s Instagram, because I obviously have no life. And people are so mean to her. Cruel, cruel things. So before I was like; oh, Krystal is so annoying. And now I just feel bad for her. People are being so mean to her. And I’ve had people be mean to me on the internet, and I can’t imagine at that scale. Millions of people.

Damn f*cking yawns. I’m sorry. It’s very cloudy here today. There is snow on the ground. It’s cold. I can’t go outside because it’s 40 degrees. Far too cold for me.

So poor Krystal. I feel very bad for her now. People are so mean to her, telling her to f*cking die. Like, ok. Whoever said go f*cking die, I want to take a dump in a bag and light it on fire on their doorstep. I guess I’m going down to their level. Except not, because I’ve never told anybody to die.

Whatever. So anyway. This past; not this week, but the week before, they had this date that was a spinoff of Glow. If you haven’t watched the Netflix original show Glow, go watch it. It’s a great show. You can watch all the first season episodes. I really love the actress, the main actress in it. She’s just great. She looks great. And she’s a great actress. It’s just great. What am I saying?

So anyways. On the Bachelor, they do a spinoff of Glow, and it’s called Glob. So annoying. Not cute. And they’re forced to wrestle each other. And it’s just really uncomfortable, and not fun to watch. And then Pretty Boy Pitbull from Rachel’s season comes in. And then Ari acts like he beats this big dude. And it’s like; Ari. Stop touching his balls, ok? We get what you’re putting out there. We see it.

Then, Lauren S. Who I totally feel for. Lauren S gets a date, and she gets this date card that said, “you had me at merlot.” She’s like; “I think it might have something to do with wine.” Well, Lauren S is right. They go to Napa. Never been to Napa. I have been to Santa Inez. I don’t even like f*cking wine, and I loved wine in Santa Inez. And I heard Santa Inez is better than Napa, and less pretentious. And I would agree with that. Even though I’ve never been. I’m saying a lot of dumb sh*t this episode, huh? Damn.

So Lauren S goes on this date, and she’s having complete word vomit. And I obviously get that constantly. Because I talk to myself 23 hours a day. So, you know when you’re just like talking to someone, and you just want to fill a void, and you want to spark interest in something, so you just start saying all this random sh*t. And the person wants nothing to do with you, so there’s really no point. That’s how this date was going down.

In the history of the show, I’ve never seen anyone eat, and I’ve been told, meaning I listen to gossip podcasts. {laughs} I’ve been told that they eat before they go on the date. Because the producers don’t want you eating on video and you’re all {smacking noises}. While you’re trying to talk about love and marriage on your first date. Fair.

So never on the show have I seen anybody eat until Ari. He’s eating while they’re drinking wine and having nuts and cheese. And nothing sounds better in a microphone than eating almonds. And then they go to dinner, and Lauren S is just dumping her word vomit everywhere and just talking about random stuff. And he’s eating this obvious, probably stale potato gratin. It’s like a square of old stale potatoes and cheese and cream that’s been curdled. And some filet mignon or something. Just f*cking chasing it down with wine. And he has never been more uninterested in his entire life. Never.

So, then he decided that he’s going to pick up the rose, and tell her that he’s not into her by saying, “You obviously love being with your family, and I don’t want to take you away from that.” {laughs} Then dumps her. That’s how he answers it. “You obviously hate being away from your family so I don’t want to take you away from that.” Instead of just saying; “I don’t want to make out with you, and I want to make out with everyone. So that’s my sign. Sorry, you’re gone.” Whatever.

So, then, let’s see. There’s another group date that’s terrible. And they’re just really nailing it down at terrible dates this season. They have to go, 15 f*cking women, have to go to the Grove in LA. Is that where it is? LA? I think I’ve been there, but I don’t care. And they have to train dogs and perform on stage for children.

So this, number one, is my living nightmare. Living nightmare. I; oh man. So, that’s so scary to me. I taught swim lessons for 8 years. 7 or 8 years. I don’t want to be around children ever because of that. Thanks. Thanks athletic club where I coached for so long. Ugh. I remember getting ringworm on my neck from one of the children. If you’re not scarred from teaching 8 years of swim lessons, you are a f*cking saint, and should just be, I don’t know what I’m trying to say. I don’t know religious stuff.

Ok, so they have this group date. It’s terrible. Annalise has another breakdown. She had a breakdown about the first bumper car date, and now she has a breakdown about dogs. And they just do these crazy reenactments that are hilarious of children and a dog; like a sketch ass looking dog, with its eyeballs popping out of it’s head and growling. And then a baby just crying. Like, whose child did they use to make these reenactments? Or did they pull this from, what are those places you can get stock photos? You get stock videos or something?

I don’t know. But Annalise is freaking out. She’s kind of having word vomit in the way of just like life vomit. She’s just having a hard time. Because she finds out everybody has made out with Ari, because Ari has also made out with his shoes at some point. He loves being called pillow lips, and he loves kissing anything that will slightly kiss him back. Except for Annalise. So Annalise is desperately trying to get a kiss from him. And asks if you can get a kiss from him. Which, if you have to ask, it’s not a great sign. It’s not great. Especially if he’s made out with 46 other women, that night.

So she takes him up like 45 fights of stairs to the corner of the mansion, and asks if she can make out with him. And he says; we’re just not there yet. I have to go make out with a sock instead. Me and my sock are closer than you and me, Annalise. I apologize.

And then the best part; and honestly the only part I should have even talked about, is this part where Jenna. Jenna seems like a crazy, crazy f*cking person. She doesn’t get much time. But she obviously likes to party, because she’s getting drunk. But they’re not showing that, because now they have to be PG because of Bachelor in Paradise drama. So, Jenna is drunk. And she’s hardcore making out with Ari. Like, dry humping him, on his lap. And then she tries to straddle him. But she’s in a white maxi dress. And it’s a tight dress. So you can’t spread your legs. So she’s trying to get on top of him. Her legs aren’t spreading.

And then, she has this point where she maybe has a small seizure, or she either throws up in her mouth, or she burps. She comes back and she’s talking {retch-gulp}. And then goes back and makes out with him. And Ari just seems total cool with it. It’s like; oh, you just threw up in your mouth? It’s cool. I just made out with my sock. Let’s do this. So f*cking weird. But the best part. Rewinded three times. It was wonderful.

Honestly, Jenna should have her own show. And I really hope she’s the next Bachelorette, because that would be a fun f*cking season. But I also; I listened to Reality Steve, and I found out the ending, and I found out more of the ending because there’s more past the ending. And it is drama for your mama! But I’m bummed I found out the ending. I accidentally did that. And then today, I found out even more. So I know what happens, plus some. I’m just in the know, guys.

Ok. I can’t believe I just talked for 20 minutes. Sorry for the skippers out there, where you’re like; f*ck you Juli, I just came to listen about Crested Butte. I apologize. That’s very wrong. But I love you. So here’s the thing.

First of all, I just want to say congratulations to one of my friends. If you don’t follow her, you should. I’ve had her on the podcast three times, maybe. Cassy from Fed and Fit. She just had a baby yesterday! No big deal. I just wrote her and said “Congratulations, and I’m so happy for you guys, and I hope you and your vagina get some rest.” I hope she found that funny. It’s hard to know with some people. But congratulations to Cassy, because she is the most adorable human being in the world. She’s the kindest person, has the kindest heart, and she’s going to be the best mom ever. So congratulations Cassy. I love you so much!

18.09

So many off topics. Lets first talk about Crested Butte. Because I love doing these little trip recaps. I had some work that needed to be done in the mountains. So I asked my sister-in-law if she wanted to go with me to the mountains. Because she is from Nebraska, and she moved to Colorado about three years ago. And so she’s explored lots of towns like Breckenridge and Vale. Those kind of easier to get to mountain towns. So I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere farther, which Crested Butte is about 4 hours from where I live. So it’s really not that bad of a drive. It’s pretty easy, especially on my side of town. So it’s kind of a straight shot.

And Crested Butte is the tiniest, most adorable; well not the tiniest. But most adorable little town. It’s so freaking cute. But what’s so cool about this tiny little main street town of different restaurants and bars is that the food is phenomenal. And they use a ton of local ingredients and farms and then they also have distilleries and amazing, amazing bars.

I always talk about that on the podcast. I don’t drink very much, because I’m not going to go to dinner and order a vodka soda. Because number one, that tastes like f*cking sh*t. Number two, why would I waste my calories on a vodka soda? No. I’m going to go home and I’m going to make myself some cake. I’m not going to waste it on a sh*tty ass drink.

So if I ever go out to have drinks, I’m going to have a highly caloric drink, because I want it to be enjoyable. But there’s just not that many places in Denver where I feel overly impressed with the drinks. And I don’t want to taste my alcohol. I don’t want it to taste like rubbing alcohol, because that tastes like f*cking sh*t. I want it to taste like simply sugary goodness. Sugary and spicy goodness. Like jalapeno, habanero. Give me a kick in the mouth, make my eyes water, make my nose run. That’s what I want. No gin and tonic. No tequila soda. Be f*cking paleo about. No thank you.

So, in Crested Butte, I had so many cocktails. I probably gained 10 pounds of just liquid weight. But it was so worth it, because all the cocktails were so good. So we drove up there, when we drove to Crested Butte, clear skies. Beautiful. Super easy drive. Stopped; I think once. Once to pee; no, maybe twice. Which is very impressive for me, because I pee at least four times an hour. So that was very impressive. Gold star for me.

And then we drove in, checked in the hotel. We stayed at the Elevation; why is that so hard. Hotel and spa. And it’s right at the mountain. And I really wish I would have done a bed and breakfast. And I was so close to doing a bed and breakfast. And I don’t know why I chose differently. I was like; oh, maybe I’ll go to the spa! There was no f*cking time to go to the spa. I feel like all spa treatments include a body scrub. And I didn’t put on fake tanner. But if I did, then you just rub it off? Nah.

So there was no spa involved. But we drive there. We go straight to this place called Dogwood, and it’s a cocktail bar. And they have probably per liquor; say vodka. They probably have 10 drinks for vodka, 10 drinks for tequila, 10 drinks for gin. They have a ton of drinks on their list. And every drink was so good. We had two there. And we’re working off an empty stomach, so we’re pretty buzzed.

So then we walk across the street and get dinner there so I can sober up and drive us back up the mountain and then hang out at this cute bar called Public House, where we had dinner. They had grass-fed, grass-finished burgers that were awesome, and lots of fries. Which, fries are the best when you have a buzz. Just the best.

Anyway. The next morning we drive up this pass, because there’s a pass you can drive up to. Which I think most people drive up there and then take their snowmobiles up there. Because it ends in a parking lot, and you’re like; what the f*ck?! But it had beautiful spots to take photos, and we took some photos up there. And then we went to breakfast at Reveled In. Adorable. All these places in Crested Butte are just adorable. Because they just have that cottage-y, cabin feel to them. Like the kitchens are always visible. They’re just so freaking cute. So we went there.

We had to work more, because this trip was totally a work trip, honestly. So worked more. And then we ended up going to drinks at Montanya distillery. And I was a little hesitant to go here, because it’s a rum distillery, and I’m not a huge rum person unless I’m drunk as f*ck in Jamaica on pina coladas and dirty bananas. Which, you have seen. That was really bad.

So, I was a little hesitant to go there but we did it anyways, and the drinks were f*cking awesome. All their rum drinks were so good. And their food was even better. And everything was specified; gluten free, vegan, dairy free, whatever. All the sh*t I look for when I’m going to restaurants. And they had animal fries, which were fantastic.

I sound annoying. I keep saying like, and that’s what Ari does. I’m going to start playing a drinking game. Every time Ari says “like”, I’m going to drink. And I will be dead, honestly. Per episode, dead. Especially if I’m drinking these fun drinks that I got at Crested Butte.

So we have lunch there, then work some more. We end up going back to Dogwood, getting more cocktails because they’re so good. I had this beet cocktail that was like beet infused vodka. It was like this bright fuchsia pink color. My sister-in-law thought it tasted like dirt, but she’s dumb.

So then we go to dinner at Django’s. Delicious. Not so great cocktails. Apologies, because I think the owner, he was making the cocktails. And I apologize, but I think it tasted like sh*t. Just compared to everything else. But you have great food.

So we had food there, and then we went to Bones for another cocktail. Can you see a theme here? It was like; I guess that’s what you do in mountain towns. You just drink. And I’ve heard multiple bartenders say that. And the bartenders I was seeing were drinking at like 1 in the afternoon. Like, taking shots. So I think that’s just what you do there. And that’s what we did. We really took to the mountain life.

There are multiple people who worked at these bars, and they’d say, “Do you live here in Crested Butte?” I’m like; the population is less than 1500. Don’t you guys all know each other? Because that’s a small f*cking town. Wouldn’t you have seen me before? That seems like the dumbest question. Whatever. Maybe I’m just being a b*tch. And maybe the people who live there live in Gunnison, or work in Crested Butte live in Gunnison. I’m guessing Crested Butte is expensive. I have zero idea. But I know there were a sh*t-ton of vacation homes there. And I think a lot of people go back in the summer.

Which brings me to my next point. It starts dumping snow on Sunday morning. We have to take some photos for some blog posts. And get breakfast. We head out on the road by 9:30. That was not a yawn. It was. Ok, by 10 o’clock, 30 minutes into our drive, we’re about to get on Monarch pass. There’s this little bridge. I hit the edge of ice, because the whole street is ice. But I hit an edge of ice. Tire catches. I start sliding. My car is going perpendicular to the road, if that makes sense. So if a car would have been there, we would have been T-boned. So, ok, whatever. We’re not T-boned yet but we’re about to go off the bridge. Finally get the car to turn back around. We almost hit the guardrail.

All of that, we straighten back out. We’re ok. But this is 30 minutes into a now 5.5-hour drive. I just sh*t my pants. So I have to sit in my own feces. That’s a joke, for all you people who don’t get jokes. But sweating, profusely. My hands are clammy. My armpits are soaked. I’m so scared. And I’m so hot at this point but I can’t take any of my jackets off because I will go off the road. We are at a full white out. Full white out, can barely see the car in front of us.

And the thing about monarch pass is it’s first of all terrible to drive in the snow. But it’s like, they don’t have guardrails the whole way. Sometimes they won’t have guardrails. How did that ever become ok in the mountains? Because if you slide, you go off the f*cking mountain! I don’t get it. Get your f*cking guardrails up everywhere. There’s not point in not having a guardrail. If there is, and I’m unaware of it, I don’t care. It was pointless.

So I’m almost crying, just trying to get down this mountain. Because first of all, if it would have been just me, I would have been more feeling ok. But to have my sister-in-law’s life in my hands; no, no, no. I was freaking the f*ck out. And my sister-in-law kept saying; I’ll drive. It’s ok. I’m like; no. First of all, you’re not going to drive my car. If we get into a car accident, that’s so much insurance sh*t. And second of all, that’s not any better. That you have to drive in miserable conditions. I’ll do this. At least I’ve lived here my whole live and driving these mountains a million times. But this was the worst it’s ever been.

So my cortisol is spiked for 5.5 hours. Even when we get off to one of our main streets, like 5 miles away from our house, I almost go off the road there. So I can’t put my guard down until I get into the garage. Sh*t my pants again. Cry. And then I worked out because I needed to work off some steam and actually work off some of the blood clots I got in my legs from sitting for so long.

But it makes me never want to drive to the mountains. And this is why I don’t ever go to the mountains. First of all, if you don’t hit terrible road conditions, you’re going to hit traffic. So you’re f*cked either way in the winter. So I just want to go up in the summer. I want to go back to Crested Butte in the summer. I want to go to Steamboat Springs in the summer. I want to go to beautiful places in the summertime where I can wear a tank top. I don’t have to wear 47 layers that I have to take off immediately when I get inside because I’m about to have a heat stroke. I just, man. I just can’t get behind snowy conditions.

And someone said; I was just mentioning how I can’t wait to be in Phoenix in warmth. And someone was like; oh, you always want what you can’t have. Or what you don’t have. So when it’s summer, you want it to be winter. I’m like; no. I don’t feel that way whatsoever. I want to be in Cabo 24/7 all the time. Maybe not when it’s like 120 degrees. But I always want it to be warm. I’m never like; oh, I cannot wait for my toes to feel freezing, and for me not to be able to walk my dog because I’m miserable. I’m never saying that. That’s not on my agenda.

Oh, I can’t wait to slide and almost go off the road and kill my sister-in-law. No. That’s not what I’m wishing for. I’m simply wishing to live in Cabo. Is that too much to ask? God damn it.

So in the end. Crested Butte was fantastic. The drive back ruined it. But I still love Crested Butte and I cannot wait to go back. Highly recommend it. And now I need to get more mountain trips in in the summer, and get away from the heat here, I guess.

Anyway. That was Sunday. That was super stressful coming back. And then Monday I had to cook all day long and work all day long, because I had cooking videos on Tuesday. And the thing about cooking videos, especially right now in the winter when we have sunlight for a shorter amount of time. It’s just you have a little bit more of a time-cramp. Is that the word I’m looking for? So, you have to cook everything ahead of time.

So, the other day, when I did this cooking video, I have this egg casserole that takes; you have to roast the vegetables before and then you have to cook it for 30 minutes afterwards. So I had to have raw vegetables. I had to have the vegetables that were already roasted. And then I had to have the cooked, final product. So I had to have three steps already done to film one cooking video. So it’s just a lot of prep beforehand. So I had all day prepping and just getting these cooking videos prepped. Getting all my outfits ready. Getting the house cleaned up.

And then Tuesday, I did all the cooking videos. Which you have to be on. You have to be excited. You have to be happy to be there and just kind of performing for the camera and getting 7 cooking videos done. And then I went and worked out. Which was probably not a great idea, because Wednesday I woke up and I was exhausted. Kind of depressed. My mood was off. I didn’t have any energy. I didn’t want to get off the couch. So I just kind of spent the day doing nothing. Which I’m going to start doing that always.

But it was just a reality check. Because I just have to check myself sometimes of; ok, I did not need to workout Tuesday night, because I had been in high cortisol zone for three days straight. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. And then to put my body through more stress was not a great idea.

So I just have to change that up. I think it was such a good reminder of taking care of your body. Because so many of us; if you work out on a regular basis, and you have almost that dependency on physical activity to bring you happiness. To bring you endorphins, to make you feel good. It’s easy to go to that to feel good when you’re feeling a little off. But sometimes your body does not need that.

So Wednesday I took off. Thursday, I did just lifting. I didn’t put my body through a CrossFit met con or anything strenuous. I just lifted. Just got some movement in and that was it. But it was a good reminder of; hey. If you push your body too far, that’s when you’re going to get the flu. That’s an epidemic at this point. And I’m not into that. Because that’s gross.

And I go to a gym regularly where there’s probably people infested with the flu. And they wipe their nose, and they grab the barbell, and they don’t wipe the barbell down. And I think it’s so f*cking gross. I look at some of these people when they’re putting their barbells away. I wipe mine down every time. And I’m like; what the f*ck?! You’re a grown ass adult, and you don’t think about wiping down your barbell when there are wipes right here. You dick. Gross. Go wash your hands immediately afterwards.

So, I’m so glad I took rest, listened to my body. Didn’t put it through more stress. And probably inevitably get sick because of it. I took two days, pretty much did nothing. Felt like a piece of sh*t because of it, but I let my body rest and now I’m feeling back to normal. Which is fantastic. It’s just the best.

And I think of those past two days. Every day, I get up pretty much at 6:30. I start working immediately. I work throughout the day, and even when my husband is home. I’m usually working until 10 o’clock at night. So we’re just not spending as much quality time together. And that was a great reminder of; hey. Spend some time. Cuddle with the person you love. We have a hot tub, so going in the hot tub. Talking to each other. Seeing what’s going on. Instead of me being glued to my phone or computer. It was just a great reminder that love is important. Stop being such a b*tch, Juli. A crazy, crazy B.

35.27

So, I had a reader write in. Reader, listener. Whatever. She just wrote in the other day and she wanted me to talk about how I balance working at home with life in general. And stay on top of everything. So I kind of wanted to talk about that. She wrote in and said; “Could you possibly talk about how you stay organized, how you plan your workload. How you get work done while working from home. Scheduling tips, organization tips. I work from home and find myself often stir-crazy and lethargic. I would love your input.”

And I’ve touched on this in other podcasts, so I’m sorry if I repeat myself at all. But I know not everybody listens to every podcast. They just go to ones that sound good. So I have worked from home for probably 4 years now. And I found it very challenging at the beginning. Because I just felt very stir crazy. I would find myself going to a lot of coffee shops, and working from coffee shops to make sure I got my actual work done. And then once I got my dog, Jackson, I found myself wanting to stay at home. Because I just want to cuddle with him. So I got better at working at home and staying on task.

But that being said, I do a lot of different things. I write my blog posts. I do emails. I comment back on comments. I make recipes. I film cooking videos. I shoot fashion photos. So my days are usually all over the place of things I need to do. And that kind of helps me not get super bored. So I’m not sitting on my computer 24/7 just doing the same thing over and over. And that really helps me of having different things and different stuff and content that gets me excited actually work on it. That’s what really helps.

So I think if you’re loving your job, and feeling excited about it, that helps. But that being said, just this week I was feeling off. I was feeling overworked. And last night, I knew I was not going to get any work done. And I had work that was due this morning. So I woke up early, and I went to one of my favorite restaurants and coffee shops in town. Because they have amazing collagen or butter coffees. I knew I could get work done there, instead of sitting on the couch and turning on the Today Show, and getting distracted by f*cking horrible stories in the news.

So, going somewhere else and putting myself in a different situation was helpful. So if you can break up your day in those ways, of going to a coffee shop for a couple of hours, or maybe when you work at an office. Usually they have a lunch break, and you go somewhere for lunch. Or you just take time off. And you don’t usually do that at home. Because you’re at home, so you might as well make a meal. But planning maybe a lunch with a friend, or just grabbing lunch somewhere else that gets you out of the house. I think that is great and helpful.

And then sometimes I’ll schedule my workouts in the middle of the day just to get me away from the house halfway through the day. Get a break. Get up and walking. Doing stuff that’s a little bit different. Getting my mind off what I’ve been doing. And that really helps. So coffee shops, getting a workout in, lunch with a friend, or lunch by yourself just away from home, I think is helpful.

And then in the summer, when I have lots of light. So I have more time to work during the day because food photos and all that. And it’s nice outside, I take my dog on a couple of walks a day. So getting outside to walk your dog or go on a walk just by yourself. And just letting your body breathe, letting your mind breathe for a second. I think that’s really helpful.

And staying organized is so different for everybody. I think everybody has to find ways that work for them. And I’ve talked about this a lot, but this is my favorite way to stay organized, is a to-do list. And I write out everything I need to do in the week. So I look first at my calendar. Do I have any appointments? Do I have an appointment to meet with someone? Do I have a phone call? Do I have even a hair appointment or nail appointment. Things I need to make sure I get in my list already. My Monday through Friday list. And then I also have a list of all my upcoming posts that I need to get done.

So I start scheduling in everything need to do. So I need to cook this. I need to clean up after I’m done. I need to organize my office. I need to write back to this email. I need to contact this person. And I start just delegating that, and I put time stamps on it.

And if it’s going to be a crazy day, and I really need to make sure I feel like I have everything organize, I even schedule in; ok, you’re going to have breakfast here. You’re going to shower here. What time that is. Say you have breakfast at 7; you’re going to shower at 9. You have this phone call at 10. At noon you’re going to workout. At 1 you’re going to cook this recipe, clean the house. And I delegate the time that it’s going to go down and what that task is. As much as showering and get ready. I don’t have to remind myself to shower. It’s not fully true, but kind of true. But I write that in so I know how long that’s going to take and what I can fit in in between.

So for me, I love having a to-do list that I can cross off and see things get smaller and smaller as the day goes on. And then I know when I’m freed up for time, and can get other things done. Or I can just say; hey, you’ve done enough today. You can sit and watch New Girl with your husband, and just chill. And that’s how I do it.

I write out my posts. I just use the Notes app on your phone. I don’t know if you have to download that or it just came on the phone. But I use the Notes app. And I really just write out all my posts for the next couple of months. And then any recipe ideas, or blog content ideas. I write them down. And then I fit things in as I need to. And then I can go to that and figure out what I need to do with my day and what is coming up and what trips I have planned. So if I needed to move anything around to get my post done ahead of time, that’s how I do it.

So, I hope that kind of answers your questions and helps you out. Because I know working from home can be challenging, and feel weird at first. But once you find your rhythm and just know how to break it up a little bit better, I think that helps.

And I think that’s why people work at coffee shops so much. Because a lot of people work remotely or work from home. And it’s just being around other people. You don’t even have to be talking to other people, but to be around social interactions, as long as you’re washing your hands, because people are f*cking gross. Door handles are disgusting; eww. I think that’s the best way to deal with it. So you feel like you’re still in a community, even though you’re not in your community at work.

I’m also a person; I’m an only child, and I’m a person who likes to stay away from the public. So I don’t mind being alone at home all the time. But I know it’s very nice for my husband when I do talk to people on the outside, so he isn’t bombarded with nonstop conversation for 5 hours once he gets home. This poor guy. After he’s been talking for 12 hours straight.

So, that’s how I do it. That’s what’s up. Anyways. That’s all I got this week. Just; I always try to talk about kind of new podcasts as I listen to them and actually remember them. So I wanted to tell you about this one, if you like true crime. Atlanta Monster is a great one. It just started. It’s with Payne Lindsey, who had the podcast Someone Knows Something. I think that was the podcast he did. And that crime was solved. Or no; was it Up and Vanished? Sh*t. I forget. Either way, Payne Lindsey did this podcast. And it was a really good one that solved while he was doing this podcast. So now I’m listening to Atlanta Monster.

I just started listening to Barbell Shrugged. I haven’t listened to many episodes, but I’m liking them. Just if you like the kind of fitness industry stuff. I think that’s a fun one. And then still one of my favorites, My Favorite Murder, done. And Wine and Crime. So obviously a lot of murder. Love it. Love it man. Just love those murder podcasts. They’re just so addicting. Isn’t that weird? It’s so weird. But I feel like it’s the whole, people doing such terrible things. And if you’re a normal person you just can’t fathom why someone would actually do that.

Like, this family. This is about to go dark. But this family who has been taken into custody. The parents who had their 2 to 29-year-olds or something locked up in their house. I think they were 29. 27 to 29. He was like 82 pounds. And they didn’t know their actual ages because they were so malnourished.

But the true crime; the worst ever. God these parents are f*cking awful. And the dad’s haircut; what did this dad do? What did he do for a living? Because who would hire him? Who would be like; yeah, your haircut looks like you have it together. What? So sketch. So sad. Anyway, true crime is so addicting to listen to.

Ok, I have to go. Because I am working on a new little project, and I need to hop on a call. And I’m very excited to announce this to you guys. Because it’s even bigger and better than the last time. So I’ll be talking about that soon on the blog, and on the podcast. And yeah, I’ve got to go get my fitness on, because I’m feeling back to normal. The sun is starting to shine. I’m getting some endorphins. I’m liking it. But thanks for listening this week.

If you guys have anyone you think it would be fun to have on the podcast, or you like to listen to, I’d love to hear it. Give me your feedback. Come to www.PaleOMG.com. This week on the blog I have; what do I have on there? A new cooking video and recipe for my orange creamsicle collagen smoothie. Which is the best. And I’ve been adding collagen to my diet. Never once in my life has anyone complimented my hair. And I have received so many compliments because it’s grown so much, and it’s gotten so much healthier than before. And I swear, the only thing that changed was collagen. So, highly recommend it.

I have cold weather activewear on the blog. I share some of my cold weather activewear favorites, so you can actually stay fit during winter instead of going into hibernation mode like I have the past two days.

I do a whole breakdown of all the places I went to in Crested Butte, and the places I missed that other people recommended, as well. And then I also talk about an amazing company called Thread Venture. And they are an outdoor rental apparel company. So say you want to go hiking or skiing or camping. And you’re not from Colorado, so your garage isn’t filled with all this outdoor activity shenanigan stuff and apparel. If you’re coming into Colorado, this company lets you rent apparel and they meet you at the airport so you can grab it and go straight to the mountains and not have to deal with anything. They make it so much easier. It’s kind of like Rent the Runway for gowns, but for outdoor apparel. It’s so cool. So, I’m talking about this new startup company that’s just real rad. And I loved working with them.

So those are the new posts on the blog. Head to www.PaleOMG.com. Let me know what you want to hear on the podcast. That’s all I got. Thanks so much for listening today. I hope you have a wonderful little weekend, you little darling face. I’ll talk to you later. Bye-bye!