Unplugging in LA

Our trip to LA was absolutely perfect.

Now that the unpacking is done + the laundry is ~~all mostly~~ sorta done (it’s never-ending!) + life is rock and rolling as usual (phew, I don’t know about you but I love me some routine + schedule!), I finally have a second to write about our trip to Los Angeles + share a few pictures, too! What a trip it was.

It was the most incredible way to start a new year. I had the pleasure of having a whole lotta one on one girlie time with my bestie G + Hubs and GBB had some incredible boy hangs (you can read Hubs’ post all about his adventures with little dude here, if you missed it!). The weather was nice and breezy with some beautiful sunshine + cozy rain showers (rain in LA, what!?). There is nothing in this world more valuable than quality time spent with your loved ones and boy, did I get to unplug and do just that.

I spent lot of time away from my phone + social media and I really appreciated the unplugged time away. Of course, I was still writing + publishing my weekly post, but it gave me the opportunity to really focus on myself and my family, get inspired (like, woah!), and create some fresh new goals!

I had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful new people who have become lifelong friends + have touched me so deeply. This season of my life is just my most favourite, you guys! What a time to be alive.

We visited Venice Beach, hit up the LA zoo, ate In and Out (I mean, obviously!), drove around + sat in traffic (ha!), went for walks, belly laughed, shopped at Trader Joe’s (ugh, I miss it!), and leisurely strolled ~~and bought everything at~~ through Target.

I loved that I woke up each day and there was no snow outside and instead I was greeted by palm trees + sunshine. Hubs and I both agree that we felt incredibly refreshed and refocused from this vacation. We both made some really great goals to this year + I don’t know about you but when I’m away from the humdrum of everyday routine (I’m looking at you laundry and dishes!), I feel inspired + excited to get back to life and tackle it head on with a fresh perspective.

And I can honestly attribute a lot of this inspiration and fresh perspective from putting my phone down. Yep, you read that right. Although the internet is full of inspiration, my ability to just be present with my friends and family with no attention on needing to check my Instagram and ensure that my followers haven’t dropped by a kajillion was a breath of fresh air.

One of my 2017 goals was to put my phone down more + immerse myself in the beautiful chaos that is my day-to-day life (working from home and being a stay-at-home mama is no joke). I feel I started this year off on my best foot forward and the anxiety of “missing” something important on social media has dissipated. Phew!

Here are five things I learned from UNPLUGGING from my phone/technology/social media:

Social media isn’t going anywhere. Sure, you may miss posts on IG but you can always check out your fav feeds when you decide to log on. I would check my Instagram right before I went to bed and having that allotted time made it much more enjoyable for me too! Oh, and I made sure to turn notifications ON for specific feeds that I love love love + didn’t want to miss.
The Followers game is a game, that’s it. I can honestly say that in the past, I’ve been in a deep IG rut of stressing and worrying about my numbers + getting super bummed that I didn’t have a zillion new peeps following me…and I would totally take it personally. It would make me upset (sometimes for days!) which is bananas when I think about it. ANYWAY. I’d love more followers because that means I can reach more people and (hopefully) inspire and entertain them. BUT the number of followers you have IS NOT your value. It’s simply a fun game to play!! And thinking about it that way has really made social media more fun for me + I’ve had the pleasure of having more people follow along on my adventures since my viewpoint shifted!!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it over and over again: comparison is the thief of joy. The less I was on social media, the more I LOVED myself. Isn’t that amazing?! I loved what I was wearing, the makeup I decided to wear (or not wear!), the food we ate (and didn’t take pictures of!), and the sweet silly moments with GBB and Hubs. I could wholly love these special moments with my family because I wasn’t trying to document them first or get the right snap and I wasn’t looking at squares of other people’s feeds + making less of my life. It’s wild what these highlight reels can do to us. We can become such an effect to it all.
I follow some seriously incredible, beautiful, and powerful mamas (and non-mamas too!) and not being on IG often, I missed them! I love the community that Instagram has created. But with a break from IG and social media, I re-discovered my purpose with Instagram and my blog + my intention with using the social media platforms that I use! My purpose is to create a sense of community + a safe place for communication about all things life, love, babies, and our favourite flavours of La Croix (seriously, I’m OBSESSED!). Being away from social media gave me the opportunity to really get back to basics and re-discover my purpose as a lifestyle blogger.
The most important things in life are not things. Taking care of myself, my family, my friends, helping others + the environment, being creative and spreading kindness; that is what really matters. And having that fresh perspective (because I always knew the above but sometimes you need a reminder!) makes life much more magical + much more purposeful. The time I have away from my phone is great (read: much more productive!) + I feel very present. And the time that I schedule in my day to hit up IG, FB, Twitter ,and Pinterest (PS feel free to follow me on these channels if you’re not already!), is much more enjoyable too! It is a part of my life; it is my job. And I really really really like it. But like everything I do in my life these days, it’s a juggle. Not balance, oh no, never balance (ha!)…there’s always balls up in the air that I keep catching and tossing and catching and tossing and juggling and dropping and giggling and juggling and crying and tossing and catching and juggling and so on and on and on. Phew! *This point was very clearly tested when we had a serious curveball thrown at us last week*

Aaaand as promised, a few pictures! Unfortunately Hubs’ phone got stolen on the job site (why why why) and we recently had our Nikon camera stolen as well (UGH!), so we lost a whole bunch of photos (literally, this breaks my heart) but here are a few that I was able to snap with my ghetto broken phone (and some of these you may have caught on IG or in a few earlier posts!) + in no particular order: