Making Life Beautiful

  What doesn't TikTok have? Dances, memes, advice, and of course, food. In my latest YouTube video, I took to the kitchen to put to the test some of the best-looking food hacks I've found on TikTok. The first hack I tried was the smiley face bread. This one is very simple, and I was fairly pleased with the results. You use your finger to press down and make indents in the bread in the shape of two eyes and a mouth. Because that part of the bread is indented, it doesn't get toasted to the same degree as the rest of the bread, so you're left with a smiley face. It's a very cute hack that's great for parents of young kids, or even people in their twenties or thirties who are entertained by bread with a smiley face on it. No judgment here! It's easy to do and hard to mess up - my kind of hack! The second hack is probably the most useful that I tried. If you need to butter your cute, smiley face toast, but your butter is cold, you can shred the butter to make it ...

      I haven't always had the greatest organization system when it comes to my purse. Quite the opposite, actually. Sure, I might have had some idea of how to organize it in the beginning, but then I always ended up just tossing things in there and making a mess. I'm not sure when exactly that changed, but now I won't even buy a purse until I know I'll be able to keep everything organized in it. I really like the layout of my current purse. It has two small, open pockets on the front side; a zipper pocket on the backside; and the main part of the purse is divided into three sections, two open sections separated by a zippered section. I particularly like the way the main body of the purse is designed because I've always been torn between the convenience of an open purse and the security of a zippered purse. This one is the best of both worlds. Here's what all I carry with me: In the small, open pockets on the front, I have a few of the smaller items that I migh...

I've learned a lot in my 26 years of life, and I have definitely changed a lot over the years. Recently, I've come across the question of if I could tell my younger self anything, what would it be? I'm not claiming to be incredibly wise, but nevertheless, I thought I would document my advice to my younger self here, so that maybe someone else can benefit from what I've learned. Dear Breanna, Stay true to yourself. Your value comes from within, not from anyone else's perception of you. It doesn't matter if you say the wrong thing, keep talking. It doesn't matter if people don't want to listen, find someone who does. Be loud, be bold, and if anyone has a problem with that, you don't need them in your life. And I do mean anyone. It may be sad to say goodbye, but for every false friend you lose, you'll gain 5 true friends. Don't let anyone ever make you feel lesser. Don't change your thoughts and feelings to fit what someone else thinks they ...

    Every other person you talk to will have a different story to tell about the best diet to lose weight fast. Keto, intermittent fasting, Atkins, the list goes on. I'm not going to claim to have tried them all because I haven't, but as someone who has struggled with weight for most of my life, I have tried a fair few. But now I am done. Not because I have reached where I want to be, because I haven't, but because I've come to the conclusion that diets don't work for me. And in my opinion, they don't really work for anyone. To explain my reasoning, I first have to explain a few things about my weight loss journey. My weight fluctuated a lot when I was younger, and I was always a little bit overweight. In college, though, I stopped yo-yoing quite so much and started to actually lose weight. This continued after I graduated, and naturally, my results got even better after I got engaged. By the time my wedding rolled around, I was nearly where I wanted to be for t...

      Working from home comes with a lot more freedom and flexibility than going into an office everyday; however, nothing is without a cost. You don't have to deal with a boss breathing down your neck or being stuck in traffic, but working from home comes with its own set of struggles. Do I have to get up? I know my biggest struggle is getting up in the morning when I don't technically have to be anywhere. It's so tempting to roll over and sleep till the last possible minute or just grab my phone and work from bed, neither of which is conducive to a productive work day. It's important to have the day planned out the night before, so when your alarm starts going off you can remind yourself of why you have to get up and what you have to accomplish. Having a structured morning routine will also help with this. Check out my post about My Morning Routine for more advice on establishing a morning routine. These dirty dishes are staring me in the face. I'll get wash them...

  Technology is both a blessing and a curse. It has made so many of our daily tasks easier, but it has also made us depend on it to the point that I do not know what I would do if I didn't have access to the apps on my phone. I should probably come up with a plan for that, but instead I'm going to feed the monster that is reliance on technology and share with you the free apps that I can't live without. Google Calendar - This is where I keep track of all my appointments and block my time to work on tasks. I love it because I can color code everything, set reminders, and look at it on both mobile and desktop.  Moodflow - This is where I do my daily journaling and introspection. I love it because it categorizes feelings so I don't have to think too much and it has a section to put in what I'm grateful for.  Facetune - I don't heavily edit my photos, but I use Facetune to crop them down, adjust the lighting, and apply a standard filter so that my Instagram has a co...

  Want to increase your chances of having a good day? Have a morning routine. It's a proven fact that how you start your morning sets the tone for the rest of your day, and while a good morning routine doesn't guarantee that nothing will go wrong, it at least gives your mood a boost so that you're not taken down as much if something unpleasant does occur. So, what makes a good morning routine? That answer will vary person to person, but there are definitely a few things that should always be included. Don't snooze your alarm. I know, I hate this one, too, but 15 minutes more of sleep really doesn't help you any and it's just that much less time you have to get your bearings in the morning. Instead, try going to bed earlier, and sit up (or stand up) the second your alarm starts going off in the morning. Trust me, it may suck in the moment, but you'll fell better in the long run. Reflect. Take a second to reflect on the day. This is one of those things that wi...

    Did you know that one of the #1 regrets people have later in life is that they didn't travel more when they were young enough to enjoy it? Of course, people of any age can travel, but when you're young and able, you're just able to experience more things.  So, today I want to talk about bucket lists. I'm sure that at one point in your life you've said something along the lines of "That's on my bucket list," but do you actually have a bucket list? I feel like it's become more of an expression than an actual list that people have, and I want to challenge you to change that. Because otherwise, you may not remember the things you want to do in time to do them, but you will definitely remember in time to regret not doing them. Here are some ideas for starting a bucket list: Visit at least one place of importance to your family. This could be where one of your parents or grandparents grew up, or somewhere they visited when they were younger. It is a ...

As someone who has always valued being neat and organized, but who also has a great love for stuff, I know the struggles of deciding where to draw the line on clutter. I really admire minimalists, and I appreciate the look of their homes from afar, but personally, I could never do it. I have too much stuff that means too much to me to be shoved into a box somewhere where I'll never be able to look at it. So that leaves me figuring out how to display these items on tables, shelves, and desks, without crossing that fine line between decoration and clutter. What is Worth Displaying? Unless you live in a mansion, you can't display absolutely everything without your house definitely starting to look a little cluttered. So, how do you decide what to display, what to put away, and what to say goodbye to? You ask yourself these simple questions: Is this something I want to look at every day? Is this something I want everyone who comes over to see? Will it clash with the look of my hous...