90+ Ways to Practice Self Care For Women

As women, it’s hard sometimes to prioritize ourselves. I know for a fact that at times that I have a tough time putting myself first. On a personal note, last year, I found myself starting to severely burnout from all of my personal and professional commitments (as I’ve outlined a bit here). Nevertheless, thanks to the help of close friends and family, I learned that I needed to practice self-care to better manage everything. Personally, I felt fearful to practice self care, as I was nervous that it would limit me from accomplishing all of my life goals. However, self care helps us to achieve what we set out to achieve by giving us the tools that we need to succeed. And, there are many ways to practice self care for women.

SO, today, I am sharing a list of 90+ ways to practice self care for women. I am sharing this list in hopes of inspiring you to practice self care, too!

90+ Ways to Practice Self Care For Women

  1. Read a new book
  2. Set clear boundaries with others
  3. Be kind to others and yourself
  4. Practice gratitude
  5. Wear something that makes you feel confident
  6. Spend some time outside
  7. Regularly show appreciation to yourself and to others
  8. Start journaling
  9. Light a candle
  10. Give a stranger a compliment
  11. Exercise regularly
  12. Engage with other fans of your favorite artists or fashion brands
  13. Get your hair done
  14. Set some time away from screens
  15. Cook your favorite meals
  16. Practice self love
  17. Read your favorite book
  18. Seek professional help and consult a therapist (if you feel you need to)
  19. Dedicate time to your hobbies
  20. Go to a concert
  21. Regularly clean your house
  22. Wear that new dress that’s been hanging in your closet for awhile
  23. Participate in a local special interest meetup group
  24. Try something new that’s out of your comfort zone
  25. Listen to your favorite music
  26. Take a walk
  27. Devote time to your faith (if religious)
  28. Spend time with your pets
  29. Stay hydrated
  30. Watch a new-to-you show or movie
  31. Become a sports fan and engage with other fans
  32. Get a massage
  33. Seek professional help and consult a nutritionist (if you feel you need to)
  34. Read your favorite magazine
  35. Watch a comfort show or movie
  36. Smile at strangers
  37. Take a bath
  38. See a show
  39. Savor your cup of tea/coffee
  40. Get regular medical check-ups
  41. Practice healthy eating
  42. Give yourself and others grace
  43. Don’t overbook or overextend yourself
  44. Make time for your loved ones
  45. Take yourself on a solo date
  46. Limit time listening to things that feel upsetting to you in the news
  47. Book that trip and take that trip
  48. Buy yourself flowers
  49. Document your favorite memories
  50. Join a book club
  51. Get your nails done
  52. Regularly do the dishes
  53. Seek an accountability partner
  54. Wear that expensive perfume
  55. Write a hand-written letter to a loved one
  56. Indulge in some retail therapy (within reason)
  57. Order your favorite takeout (within reason)
  58. Make sure you have something to look forward to
  59. Bake your favorite treats
  60. Continuously practice forgiveness
  61. Volunteer with a local organization that’s important to you
  62. Ensure you are getting adequate sleep
  63. Treat yourself to a cup of coffee or cocktail after a busy work day
  64. Try a new-to-you hobby
  65. Find creative ways to save money and create savings goals
  66. Take a class that’s not professionally focused
  67. Make a bucket list
  68. Check in on a friend or family member you haven’t heard from in a while
  69. Tell your loved ones you love them
  70. Decorate your home to align with your personal style
  71. Practice financial wellness, create a budget and stick to it
  72. Reward yourself after a long, stressful day or doing something that you dreaded doing or makes you nervous
  73. Ensure you honor your commitments
  74. Pop open the fancy champagne
  75. Try cooking a new-to-you dish
  76. Celebrate your achievements, however big or small
  77. Limit time on social media
  78. Don’t believe everything you hear or read on social media
  79. Find things that spark joy
  80. Spend time with animals
  81. Practice meditation
  82. Regularly do your laundry
  83. Use the fine china
  84. Indulge in a sweet treat from time to time
  85. Celebrate others’ achievements, however big or small
  86. Attend a sports game
  87. Take a spa day
  88. Learn about your family’s history
  89. Make time for family
  90. Forgive others

Above all else, be sure to take care of YOU!

XOXO – Katie <3

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Chapter 26

Personally, it feels crazy to me that I am entering beyond my early 20’s and am not an extremely recent college graduate anymore. Time has truly flown!! 22-25 felt like a wild ride of figuring out what to do with my life both professionally and personally all while navigating adulthood for the very first time. As it’s been a few years in the world of adulting, I feel I finally have a grip on life in my 20’s and navigating the world and changes that come with it in all aspects of life. 26 feels like I’m entering into some new territory age-wise and I am excited to see what’s to come within this new chapter of life.

I graduated college (see my Senior photos here) in May 2021 in a sea of masks and social distancing. I left college and relocated back to the Washington, DC area feeling fortunate to have a full time offer that I was starting a few months after graduation. Grateful to have a Summer break before entering into the workforce to set up my apartment and settle into my new home and life, I also at the same time had no idea what I was doing. As someone who is super Type A and thrives off of the structure and knowing what was going to happen, I went … NUTS going into adulthood. At the same time that I was navigating purchasing my very own 401k and insurance through my company and car (here), little did I know that I would be navigating the changing friendship dynamics with long distance college friendships – some of which have strengthened and others of which have drifted away and even felt shut out from (here). I went from a world of structure and predictability to one of a lot of new experiences to navigate and confusion about where I was going.

In college, our end goal is to make it to graduation with a degree in-hand and hopefully a job offer, graduate school plans, etc. in tow. In the working world, our end goal is continuously changing and evolving. Anddddd, as someone who is always working towards an end goal and experienced so much stress and confusion over having no end goal in mind, I felt extremely uneasy going into the workforce and to know simply where I was going. However, I am very fortunate to have gotten a job at an incredible and supportive organization that I am still with today that has helped me navigate my career over the last few years. And, while my career goals have changed while at my employer, I finally feel that I have an end goal that I am excited to pursue over the next chapter of my life and career. This end goal of mine will taken quite a few years of accreditation, work experience, and education, however, I am looking forward to what is in store for me in 26 and beyond. In my first months within the workforce, one of the best pieces of advice I got from somebody that I really admire professionally was to simply “trust the process.” While a daunting and much easier said than done piece of advice, I have come to truly embrace and implement this piece of advice into my daily live, both professionally and personally.

Since moving back to the Washington, DC area, I have been lucky enough to rent out and room within my Papa’s basement and be close to him and our dog Rosie. We have gone on several adventures both near and far together whether it be to Maine, Canada, and Shenandoah National Park as well as North Carolina. I have also LOVED getting to make family memories close to home with my Papa and Rosie alongside our extended family. Over the years, I have had several close friends that I’m SOOOO lucky to have in my life come and visit me and get to know Papa and Rosie, too. Truly, living with Papa and Rosie has been a major blessing for me and is something I don’t plan to move out of anytime soon.

In terms of 25, I felt as if I personally entered into a quarter life crisis as the year began and left the year having essentially survived it. 25 was a year that I began to feel the weight of adulthood on me in soooo many ways. While I won’t really get into too many details here, I felt a lot of chaos and stress and uncertainty throughout the past year on the inside. While on the outside, I enjoyed sooooo many lovely moments in terms of experiences and travel. During 25, I visited Hawaii, Canada, Spain and Portugal, and New York City. I also celebrated 5 years as a blogger (here) and announced the group trip of my dreams (!!!!) to Italy next year in April 2026 (reserve your spot here). I also *finally* got to see Taylor Swift perform via The Eras Tour on her final tour leg in Canada. And, I discovered a passion of mine for community building here on this platform and photography. Although a pretty chaotic year, 25 definitely was one of the years that taught me the most moving forward into 26 and beyond.

As for now starting off 26, I honestly feel a lot more at peace and a greater sense of clarity about both where I am going physically and mentally. I feel grateful to have an extremely great support system, consisting of family and friends alongside LOTS of therapy. A support system goes a LOOOONGGG way. During 25, I have also returned to church (here) and have been leaning on my faith more so these days. Going back to the piece of advice that I’ve received when I first started working, I have also truly leaned into the idea that I must “trust the process.” If we don’t “trust the process,” we can’t move forward with peace and clarity. This snippet of advice has been one of the most groundbreaking things that has helped me to move forward aka my word of 2025 (here) from 25 into 26.

Having *finally* putting my trust into the process during 25, I feel grateful and more clear-headed going into 26. I have been through quite a journey since graduating college at 22 in 2021 and am grateful to be opening a new page in my own life’s book. Nevertheless, I am also excited to share Chapter 26 with YOU. Thank YOU for being here. Here’s to Chapter 26!!

XOXO – Katie <3

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My Return to Church!

Today’s blog post is going to be a bit different in that I will be sharing something very meaningful and personal to me: my journey with the church. While I don’t intend to use this platform to share my religious, political, personal, etc. beliefs moving forward, I do intend to share my journey with the church with YOU in hopes of inspiring and making an impact on someone else. I will pre-phase that the church has become a meaningful part of my life over the course of my lifetime, as it’s a beautiful outlet for community, and, whatever somebody’s beliefs are, I fully support and respect them, as I do the same for myself.

Growing up, I always went to church. I remember sitting in the pews with my parents and brother on a Sunday morning as a young kid and going to Sunday school with my peers as well in the trailers of my local church. I remember performing in church plays surrounding the birth of baby Jesus around Christmas time. I remember the many many many weekdays spent in a jam-packed church worship center getting all hyped up for Vacation Bible School. I remember the countless Wednesday Night Dinners at my local church with my church community and then attending Bible Studies and small groups with my peers afterwards. Many of my best childhood memories happened in the church. Growing up, church was a HUGE part of my childhood.

I was *even* a church kid in high school! I began to get extremely involved in the church throughout my high school years. I went to church services every Sunday, attended 3 summer mission trips in North Carolina and Maryland, and attended Wednesday Night Dinners and small groups at church every Wednesday. I also attended Fall church retreats with my church’s Youth group and made TONS of friends through attending church. I truly loved the community that the church offered to me during my high school years.

However, as I approached adulthood, I began to think differently about the church. When my grandmother whom I was super close to throughout my entire life passed away during my Senior year of high school, I began to lose faith in the church around me. I began to feel angry at everything that was being taught to me by the church and I began to lose faith in everything around me pertaining to the church. Needless to say, I lost my faith during this time. Instead, I grew angry at the church and the community that I learned to love and it continued into my postgraduate years. At the same time, the community around me in college and my mandatory religious studies classes made me question a lot of what the church world was teaching me and whether or not having a church community was something that I wanted moving forward in my life. I also tried several different church groups within college, but not many of them stood out to me as good fits for me (I did have some GREAT connections through church communities in college, though, and I’m grateful to them!) Through those times though, my anger towards the church continued and manifested into my postgraduate years.

When my grandmother passed, my Papa (her husband whom y’all have probably seen on my blog and across my social media channels) started attending our church as I was pulling away from it. Papa began to get plugged into the church, volunteering his time at Sunday services and during the week working on landscaping and painting curbs out in the parking lot. As the church became less of a home for me while I was away at college, the church became more of a home for my Papa.

When I moved back to the Washington, DC area, Papa started attending Wednesday Night Dinners and joined into small groups at our local church which I grew up going to throughout my childhood. Papa’s investment into our church led me to join him on occasions to services and Wednesday Night Dinners. Initially, I was still pretty angry at the church. I was angry at sermons and much more. Yet, over time, that anger diminished. That anger was replaced with gratitude for the people and the community that Papa has created for himself through our church. That same community of his has always welcomed me into their arms as their own. And, I am excited to continue to grow in my Christian faith and get to know the beautiful and welcoming church community that is surrounding me at this very moment. Truly, church has become such a beautiful gift!

While the church community that I knew in high school looks very different almost 10 years later (with many familiar faces still present though!), the one thing that rings true is how welcoming everyone around me is. It means the world to me to see how much people care to come together to serve a greater purpose and most importantly have faith in a greater purpose and in our God.

I would like to thank my Mom, Papa, and best friends Hannah, Alanna, Holly, Lindsay, Haley, and Shivani for helping me to grow in my faith and take this leap in my journey with the church. I love you all!

XOXO – Katie <3

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Yes, We Need to Party More in 2025!

Freshly baked cookies on platters, beautifully made table settings with name cards at every seat for every guest, and an array of cocktails and beautiful food displays were my holiday norms. My family and friends all came together, sometimes 25+ people for one holiday or gathering all sitting around laughing, eating, drinking, and just being together. Truly, it was a magical time for me! Growing up, I always felt the magic of a house party thanks to my Mom and late Grandma. Over on my Instagram (let’s be friends @_thepinkchickadee) during the December/January timeframe, I came across an Instagram Story that essentially had a headline saying “Americans need to party more.” And, simply put, I think we do too.

And, before I get into the meat of this post, I want to share my thoughts on the definition of the word “party”. To me, a party or house party is a get together at someone’s house, whatever it may look like.

Many of us over the years are less likely to be invited to a house party or social gathering of any kind at someone’s house in 2024 and into 2025. Less and less people are hosting house parties and gatherings of any kinds at their homes. Over on YouTube, I have found myself coming across several video essays on my feed about how lonely Gen Z is and how Gen Z prefers to spend more of their spare time resting at home than past generations. At the same time, the so-called “third place” is gone, e.g. the cafes, hangout spots, etc. where people would frequent and regularly interact with others beyond the home and school/the workplace. In our current state of the world, a lot of chaos is happening and we are also in the post-COVID years where the world essentially shut down and went fully remote. Nevertheless, a lot of what we are experiencing is a result of the rapid adaptation of technology, current state of our world, and the post-effects of the pandemic. Anddddd, ALL of us are feeling the effects of loneliness into the early months of 2025.

2025 has been a year of chaos and change in the world of current events. I feel like EVERY time I turn on the news, something new and pretty chaotic is happening in our world and I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. The same concept goes for social media platforms, too. There’s a lot of change and stress and uncertainty during this time for many people. Given ALL the chaos and stress and uncertainty in our world right now, a lot of us need that time to be alone to just process it all mentally. A lot of people simply want that time that they have after work to be peaceful and quiet. And guess what?!?! I truly understand the need to simply decompress and be chaos-free in a world currently full of lots of chaos. There’s SO MUCH going on in our world right now which can leave people feeling extremely overwhelmed and less likely to want to put themselves in situations where their peacefulness which can be rather limited is in jeopardy.

Humans are social beings at the end of the day. And, while we need the time to rest, rejuvenate, and recharge, we also need time with others (no matter HOW introverted you may be!). While a pretty chaotic year 2025 has been so far, I think that we need to come together now more than ever before. I am SO excited and honored to be invited to a social gathering at a friend’s house on the upcoming weekend – something that feels far and few in between since my childhood days but does happen on occasion. I think planning more house parties and social gatherings is truly a way that we can make a positive change in 2025. Not only do house parties bring people together and facilitate community, but they also bring a positive boast to our mental and physical wellbeing. And, at the end of the day, it reduces loneliness, depression, anxiety, and so much more. We need to be together more often than not, and put on a good party.

Truly, I miss the days when social gatherings that my late Grandma put on were the norm. I feel very fortunate that my Mom and Step Dad still host lovely dinners and social gatherings for our family from time to time. There is something truly so magical about a lovely table display full of delicious food and drinks to enjoy together. The time together is truly special and makes it the party of a lifetime that we can have again and again and again!

Nevertheless, I am excited to be apart of the change in bringing parties back, alongside some of my dear friends who have hosted me in the past and will continue to. It only takes one person to make a difference in somebody’s life and in these days that difference can be an invitation to a house party to meet others. The magical moments that my Mom and late Grandma gave me during my childhood are things that I am looking forward to bringing to others in my life and to the future generations. I thank them everyday for the love and magic that they showed me through their house parties and I’m excited to bring them back in 2025 (and beyond!).

XOXO – Katie <3

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Vegamour HYDR-8 Shampoo Review

Over the years my shampoo journey has literally been a rollercoaster. I feel like certain products work and then they don’t and then the process starts ALLLL over again. ARGH! So, when Vegamour reached out to me about working together, I knew that this was an opportunity to end my rollercoaster of a journey when it came to finding the right shampoo for me. Needless to say, through working with Vegamour and trying out their shampoo, I have truly found the right solution for me. My hair has truly gone through its *very own* re-awakening and thanks to this Vegamour HYDR-8 shampoo review, I will tell you why!

*Disclaimer: Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase through one of my links, then I will receive a small commission. This commission is at no extra cost to you.*

About Vegamour:

Vegamour is a hair care brand focused on hair wellness rather than hair care. Through incorporating plant-based ingredients into their products, Vegamour takes a holistic approach to hair care promoting healthy, beautiful hair wellness. As stated on their website, using Vegamour hair products is a “non-toxic relationship,” which we LOVE on all fronts! See more here.

Specifically, I had the opportunity to try the Vegamour HYDR-8 shampoo and conditioner, which works for all hair types and textures.

Vegamour HYDR-8 revitalizing shampoo’s and conditioner’s benefits are the following:

  • Aides in protecting hair from future breakage
  • Reduces frizz
  • Adds shine to hair
  • Leaves hair stronger and more resilient
  • Reduces breakage via strengthening hair
  • Contains no harsh sulfates and chemicals, which can strip hair of its color
  • Works for all hair types and textures, specifically fine or thin

Key Ingredients include:

  • Karmatin
  • Amino Acids
  • Marula Seed Oil
  • Moringa Seed Oil

My Vegamour HYDR-8 Review

As previously mentioned, Vegamour HYDR-8 shampoo and conditioner has ended my rollercoaster of a ride to finding the right shampoo and conditioner for me. Through utilizing natural, plant-based ingredients, I have definitely seen a difference in my hair since switching to Vegamour HYDR-8 products. Immediately when I made the switch, I noticed a major difference for the better in how my hair felt which in turn made me feel all that more confident. My hair felt back to its initial bounce as if I had just left the hair salon!

Products Used:

One of the key benefits of Vegamour HYDR-8 is that I have noticed that when I got blonde highlights in my hair in February 2024, the blonde color was still going strong in my hair over 7 months later. When using other shampoos before Vegamour HYDR-8, the longstanding highlights in my hair was not a thing. Rather, my hair lost its color and shine over time. The same goes for when I entered into my brunette chapter (here) in October 2024. It is almost February 2025 and my hair remains the same color at its similar color and shine and bounce since my brunette chapter began. The natural ingredients that Vegamour HYDR-8 contains truly make such a difference.

While my hair does not grow below my shoulders nowadays (which is one of Vegamour’s several benefits) my Mom and I both experience this hair growth phenomenon, I did notice that my hair has felt much more lively since making the switch. At the same time, I have enjoyed taking showers much more than I did before using Vegamour HYDR-8! Showers have, indeed, become a major immersive self care experience for me and I have to thank Vegamour for that! The same gratitude that I have towards Vegamour for loving showers allll over again comes with feeling more confident when it comes to my hair and how it looks. Before Vegamour, I wasn’t as excited about showers, doing my hair, and really putting in the time and effort for my hair care and wellness. After Vegamour HYDR-8 became apart of my hair wellness, my entire hair care routine has turned upside down. I feel much more confident and have a BLAST when it comes to doing my hair and how I feel about it all.

Since starting to incorporate Vegamour HYDR-8 into my hair care wellness routine, I have felt a whole wave of confidence and overall growth in how I feel about my hair!

Before Vegamour HYDR-8:

After Vegamour HYDR-8:

Wrap-Up:

Truly, I am so grateful that Vegamour was introduced to me. Not only has this plant-based approach helped my hair to grow and shine to its full potential, but I have elevated my hair wellness routine for the better. Throughout my Vegamour HYDR-8 review and experiences, I have indeed felt that I am my best self and am excited and confident that I am the best Katie that I can be!

A special thank you to Vegamour for sponsoring today’s blog post. Please note that all opinions are my own. Without support from our partners, The Pink Chickadee wouldn’t be where it is today!

XOXO – Katie <3

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When A Friend Shuts You Out

Recently over on Instagram (let’s be friends @_thepinkchickadee), I have been seeing several folks discussing some rather taboo or less discussed topics that I’m hoping to shed some light on over here in 2025 and beyond. In 2024, I shared my ramblings on loneliness (here and here) and plan to share more of my thoughts on similar taboo topics. One of those topics is something that I think many of us have experienced over the years: when a friend shuts you out. This is a super tough topic to discuss as it’s truth be told such a sucky feeling and thing to experience. We genuinely as humans and friends want to be apart of our friends’ lives, but sometimes they don’t want us to be apart of their lives anymore. It’s a rather tough pill to swallow, but is very well the truth a lot of the times when a friend shuts you out. And, trust me: I’ve been there too.

When I graduated college back in May of 2021, I was apart of a so-called sorority-like friend group and had thus felt a major sense of belonging from it and throughout my college experience. I ended up moving from North Carolina to the Washington, DC area literally a day after receiving my diploma and hence begun my next chapter into adulthood. It was terrifying at the time, but with a job already in line in the nation’s capital to start later that Summer, I knew where I needed to be. I was pretty much the ONLY person from my 400-person sorority-like all-women’s college class to move to Washington, DC. Many of my college friends including my friend group remained in North Carolina. And, after four years of memories made in our college dorms, apartments, college formals and events and celebratory occasions, distracting ourselves from studying, late night talking and drinking, and everything in between, I simply began to get shut out by many of my college friends at the time. We had literally gone from taking photos in our caps and gowns galavanting around our college campus the day before to pretty much barely texting each other. The texts and FaceTime calls from afar became far and few in between. A few months later, I came back to North Carolina to visit for a weekend. I noticed a stark difference between the friends that I made while we were in college and while we weren’t in college. It felt as if I was in one day and the next day simply shut out. All I had heard about was the gossip of the time that I had been simply shut out of. And, to my surprise and disappointment, I had been excluded from the typical friend group activities of the weekend I was in town. Which I had instead received many excited texts about how fun the outing was and how excited everyone else was to be there … without me. The pain I felt at the time was unbearable and utter shock. Essentially, I been shut out of that friend group that I once cherished and felt so much belonging in a few months prior.

At the time, I was in utter denial that I was being shut out of my friend group that had once provided me such a great feeling of belonging. I had convinced myself many times and times again that things would change and that these friends of mine from college would realize what they’re missing out on. I would continuously text these friends, hoping they’d start to respond more and more frequently. Maybe, perhaps, one of them or a few would want to come and visit me in Washington, DC for the weekend. Just MAYBE things would change. But, instead, the texts became more and more sparse.

I share this story to tell you that you are not alone by any means in experiencing when a friend that shuts you out. The simple reality of the matter is that we all have friends that will or have shut us out at one point or another. Guess what? It hurts. It’s painful. And, a lot of the time, we don’t truly understand why. A lot of the time, the reasoning has nothing to do with us. Rather, there can be a variety of factors our friends may be experiencing, including: personal issues, jealousy and/or insecurity, shift in priorities, physical distance, miscommunication, or different life stages. Usually though, the reasoning has nothing to do with us who simply want to keep the friendship alive.

So, to put it into context: no, you did not do anything wrong by simply wanting to check in on your friend and continue that friendship without them reciprocating. Simply put, you don’t need to feel guilty or shame for simply wanting to keep that friendship alive. However, friendships are a two-way street. We need to focus our energy more so on the friendships that choose us as we choose them and NOT the friendships that don’t choose us. It can be easier said than done, I know.

Upon graduating from college and settling into my new life and job in the nation’s capital, I kept in touch with many of my college friendships beyond that one specific friend group which provided me with the most belonging during those four years. One of my friends at the time (we’re still friends to this day!!) was appreciative that I reached out to her and continued to choose her as a friend. She thanked me! That exact text made me realize that there is SO much to be thankful for with the friendships that we do have and are able to maintain. We need to focus more on the friendships that are two-way streets. Like with dating, we need to choose those who choose us time and time again. Those that make space for us in their lives are the ones that we want and need to keep around. Those are the friendships that are of high-value and worth having.

At the end of the day though, I do feel extremely fortunate to have several friendships from my college years that I have to this day. Indeed, some of these friendships were unexpectedly formed after college and through creating this platform! But at the end of the day, I discovered that these are the friendships worth keeping. None of these friendships resulted in either person being shut out, but rather chosen to be kept in one another’s lives. We send those lengthy audio messages where we love to yap, exchange thoughts in the group chats, and slide into our Instagram DMs to share adorable content we think one another would like. We also make plans to see one another, despite many of us living in different cities and states. We may talk daily, weekly, monthly, or even periodically. But, at the end of the day, we chose one another and those are the friends worth keeping around.

And, while my highly esteemed friend group and I in college may have parted our ways after my big girl move, I will cherish the times that we did have together during our college years. The memories made will always be there to cherish. Although I may not talk to them everyday like we used to, I still am open to the possibility that we may exchange some texts here and there and remember our fun college days (like I have one a few occasions). 

Reality check: when a friend shuts you out, it sucks, but we must move forward. We need to focus our energy on those that open their doors to us, not shut them in our faces. Sometimes, the truth hurts and that’s simply apart of the evolution of adult friendships at all ages and life stages. Most importantly, we must move forward with a heart full of gratitude for those that have chosen to keep us around and keep them around especially when a friend shuts you out, too! Perhaps, another lengthy audio message of gratitude and meme of appreciation incoming over making plans for a lengthy catch up session?!?!

XOXO – Katie <3

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5 Years of The Pink Chickadee!

Five years ago, I hit “post” and posted my first-ever blog post. I was terrified, but I did it. That night, I hosted a launch party for my *very own* dream blog that I was, well, terrified to start and keep the momentum going on. In January 2020, I was scared to put myself out there, scared of what others would think of me, and simply scared of failing myself and my dream of becoming a fashion and travel blogger. Five years later, I can confidently say that I am a successful fashion and travel blogger who despite her initial fears of putting herself out there and failing at this has curated a strong community and following of likeminded people and a blog to call my own. Five years into blogging and I am proud of myself for what I have created and self-coded and what I will continue to do.

In September 2019, I suffered my first big college heartbreak. It was a situationship that lasted on and off until a few years later. September 2019 was the first of many tough heartbreaks and realizations when it comes to love and dating. At first, I was in utter denial, but I was also upset. At that time, though full of great sadness for what could have been, I knew that I wanted to do something for myself. I vividly remember posing for a photo with a cookie on a trip in college to Charleston, South Carolina (here) and excitedly revealing to somebody in college that I was starting a blog while feeling so sad on the inside due to that heartbreak. But, saying “I am starting a blog” aloud truly gave me hope that there was more to life beyond the utter heartbreak that I was experiencing via the dating world. And, that is when and how The Pink Chickadee was born.

On January 15, 2020 when I first hit “post,” I was extremely self-conscious as a person. Like I said before, I was terrified in all ways at the idea of putting myself out there and full unfortunately of self-hatred and loathing. Fear was my best friend. I even took a break from posting consistently not once but twice in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was keeping us in lockdown. My mental health hit an all-time low. Until, I took a Summer 2020 website development course and willingly pulled a few all-nighters to re-code my entire website. I got my logo redone and re-designed. And, I started to continually post consistently over on my social media platforms. My social media, then, looked a lot different than it does now. But, The Pink Chickadee was my saving grace during the COVID-19 pandemic days and my relationship and breakup and beyond.

Flash-forward to today and I am full of gratitude, confidence, self-love, happiness, and joy. I am fully confident to say that being the one woman show behind The Pink Chickadee is a BIG reason for my success and personal growth over the past five years. I have had the pleasure to work with several brands, including Virginia Wine Pass (now Reserve Pass), OPI, Shop Navy Bleu, and Panera Bread. I have been featured on Starbucks, Redfin, and Jack Rogers. And, I have curated an incredible follower basis and community and friends in YOU. Needless to say, I feel so thankful, grateful, and blessed to have made that decision on the evening of January 15, 2020 to hit “post” and remain consistent in doing so over the past five years.

I have fallen in love with being a blogger! I love getting to curate content that resonates with you and connect with you all. I love getting to collaborate with likeminded brands and share content with likeminded creators and communities. While my platform and my goals associated with it has evolved over the past five years, the one thing that remains the same is my love of being here. I love getting to be here!!

Through it all, THANK YOU for being here along for the ride. Cheers to five years (read past years’ blog-aversary posts here, here, and here!) and more than five more years of opportunity, growth, prosperity, confidence, and happiness. Cheers!!!

XOXO – Katie <3

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Experiencing Holiday Burnout? Same.

Tis the season to … be experiencing holiday burnout. Yep. There, I said it. I am going to get a bit real here, but I am currently dealing with a heavy dose of holiday burnout, and, it is NOT FUN. The holidays are a favorite time of year for me. I love seeing people come together to spread Christmas cheer while singing loud for all to hear (if you know that movie, you know!!!) and simply enjoy the magic of it all (regardless of if they choose to celebrate Christmas or not!). The holidays are such a beautiful time of year! And, sadly, they are also such a frequent time of year for many of us to … be experiencing holiday burnout.

I am going to be transparent with y’all: I have not had the easiest year. 2024 has been a great year for me in some ways, but it has also been a pretty tough year for me too and tougher than some years’ past I will say. I have previously mentioned this a bit over on my Instagram (let’s be friends @_thepinkchickadee) about how 2024 has not been the easiest walk in the park for me which I know many of y’all reading this now have experienced as well. And it is important to remember that in life some years are tougher than others and that is simply OKAY. Since 2024 has been pretty tough for me, I have mentally felt extremely exhausted and burned out by a lot of things going on in my life as the holiday season approaches and takes over our lives. As much as I LOVE this holiday season and adore ALLLL the Christmas things to do and ALLLL of the holiday cheer, I am also just simply tired and well burned out.

Social media IS a highlight reel folks! I will continue to share this here and over on my social media pages, too. There are real people behind every social media page being ran (well, we need to exclude the bots from this one!). But, when it comes to many of my fellow bloggers and content creators on social media, we are real people behind those screens. We are the ones out there hustling to create loads of content for y’all to be inspired by, be humored by, be informed by, or simply enjoy. Holiday season or not, we are curating content. And, most importantly, we all our human beings with lives. Our lives may look picture perfect on the outside, but day in and day out, we are simply humans with lives. Some of us have had GREAT years and some of us have had not so great years, too. Many of us may be feeling burned out this holiday season, too. Whether or not we have had a great 2024, we are all probably a little burned out.

PHEW! 2024 has been A LOT of a year for sure. However, I am striving to enjoy all of the moments that come with the holiday season and be selective in how I spend my time moving forward as Christmas is *literally* right around the corner as I write this which is literal insanity!!!

SO, with that all being said, I wanted to share a few ways that I have tried to curb some of my holiday burnout this season which have helped (Some of which I know will help YOU too!):

  • Prioritizing plans with others based on professional and family obligations as well as those that are more likely to bring us an extra dose of joy
  • Asking for support from loved ones and talking to them about what you’re experiencing
  • Partaking in self care activities
  • Being selective in doing activities (and with whom) that are going to refill our cups rather than drain them
  • Seeing where tasks can be automated (e.g. using ChatGPT to generate ideas or maybe buying store bought goods over baking them)
  • Doing activities that minimize screen time
  • Utilizing the help of others where needed
  • Removing/delaying tasks from our list that can wait for a rainy day to be completed

Above all else, if you are currently struggling with holiday burnout, just know that you are not alone this holiday season. There are SOOO many people in your shoes (me included!) who are experiencing the same exact thing as you. Remember to call or text a loved one who may be experiencing the same thing. Needless to say, experiencing holiday burnout SUCKS! None of us are alone. We are all in this together!

Happy Holidays!!!!

XOXO – Katie <3

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My Ramblings on Loneliness in 2024

About a week ago on my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee), I shared on my stories a link to a post about a New York Times article headlining “Americans Are Spending More Time At Home – And More Time Alone”. And, while I do not have a New York Times subscription and hence had trouble reading the article, the headline alone triggered me into *just a few* ramblings of my own thoughts on this matter aka loneliness in 2024. Moreover, I see the importance for spending time alone for all of us (including my fellow extrovert friends!), however, at the same time, I see the importance for spending time with others for all of us (including, yes, my fellow introvert friends!). The moral of the story is that while we are placing a much-needed greater emphasis on the need for self care and the person as a whole, we also need to make time to be with our loved ones and *even* those now far and few interactions with strangers. In the end, all of us need a community of people and a support system in our corner, which the recent COVID-19 pandemic has made to be much trickier than in the past. ANDDDD, prevent loneliness in 2024 and the years to come.

As previously mentioned on my Instagram Stories, there are MAJOR benefits to prioritizing ourselves and our alone time through practicing self care, limiting overbooking and overextending ourselves, and focusing on ourselves as an individual as a whole and not just who we are professionally. But, at the same time, I have noticed that if people want to find community, then there is a bigger need to put ourselves out there than ever before. Interactions with strangers have become much more few and far in between as compared to in the past (such as when I was a kid). For example, 15 years ago as a kid, I would be walking my childhood dog Butters and pretty much every dog and their owner would stop and the dogs would play with one another (if it was OKAY given Butters’ size as a 5 pound Yorkie). Yet, nowadays, when I am walking my dog Rosie who’s about 35 pounds, a LOT LESS in fact practically no dogs’ owners will stop to let their dogs play with Rosie *even* if the dog wants to stop and play the owners will tug them away. Not only are these fewer daily interactions with others negatively impactful on me, but it also harms my dog’s (and other dogs’) mental health. And, limiting these interactions such as time for dogs to play and interacting with other dogs while on walks do contribute to our loneliness as a whole, thus, creating that greater divide between finding community and finding comfort within our own space and hence being alone (even if that means we are experiencing loneliness in 2024).

I will say though that from personal experiences, I have cut back on a lot of social interactions in the past year and most recently in the past few months. For instance, I used to network A TON professionally both in my 9-5 and beyond within the Greater Washington, DC area. But, as I was networking time and time again, I found myself getting extremely burned out and decided to cut back on these professional activities for my own wellbeing and rather focus on personal activities with friends and family and building my personal community instead. Recently, I have found that saying “No” can be beneficial, too (I will save my thoughts on this for another post, though!). Nevertheless, cutting back on networking professionally has been beneficial for my own self care. Needless to say, while I am sharing my thoughts about loneliness here, I do want to share my own experiences with cutting back in a social manner, too, to show that none of us are alone in doing so.

Currently, I think there is a divide between our self care and our time with others. In American culture, we place a HIGH value on our working lives that once we finish our tasks at work (or even take them home) we don’t want to take the time to do things beyond work. We place a major emphasis on being productive but we want that time beyond our own productivity to ourselves and ourselves only. And guess what?!?! That is OKAY, but it’s also VITAL and IMPORTANT to our own wellbeing and even our own successes. There is a ton of value in taking time to be alone and with ourselves and have our “me time”. Like I said earlier, *even* extroverts need “me time”, too. But, we also MUST have time with others, and yes, *even* introverts need time with others, as well. We as humans are naturally social beings and we thrive off of being around others even if it’s in doses here and there.

Needless to say, I find that there’s something to be said for alone time and it doesn’t have to make us lonely either. Hence, my own desires to cut back on certain interactions to prioritize my own self care (something that I think we ALL should do!). During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us found ourselves spending more and more time at home and truly enjoying the benefits of slowing down. Consequently, many of us continued to reap those benefits of slowing down and not being on the go 24/7 like we were pre-pandemic. Self care IS important and like my best fried Shivani says, it is something that we all must practice in order to achieve the things that we set out to achieve (whether professionally or personally). There are truly some great pros to spending time alone and it is vital to our wellbeing, both physical and mental health, and also to our professional and personal accolades and that should not be overlooked.

While I won’t get into some specifics of my own thoughts and solutions to this HUGE trend of loneliness in 2024 in our society that has both pros and cons to it in this post, I will say that I think that there should be a balance of both time with ourselves and time with others. Community is vital to both our mental and physical wellbeing and overtime can develop into a support system which every person needs and can benefit from having. Personally, I feel fortunate to have an incredible community over on my Instagram page (and here too!) and also in-person in my own life. There is something to be said for communities whether in our own backyards or online or both (I find a little bit of both to be beneficial for myself!).

To wrap up this post which will become a series of posts over time, I want to note that my thoughts are my thoughts alone, but that I know I am not alone in how I feel. Many of y’all in my Instagram community shared your own thoughts and experiences to my ramblings on this loneliness in 2024 and I am SOOO grateful that you did. One of y’all even shared (shoutout to @dcmahj on Instagram!) that y’all started your mahjong meetup group to cultivate community amongst others through a shared interest of learning to and playing mahjong together in Washington, DC! Having each of YOU in my community is a HUGE BLESSING to me. Community in all forms is a beautiful thing. Nevertheless, thank YOU.

XOXO – Katie <3

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My Brunette Chapter

In my friend groups in college, I was well-known for not being able to keep a secret – whoops! However, believe it or not, I ONLY told 2 people besides my incredible hairdresser Yaleena that I was going to become a brunette. It was definitely an AMAZING decision to make the switch, too! One of the things that I have learned in 2024 is that change IS good and that we are simply evolving human beings. And, my switch to being a brunette (and embracing my natural roots!) is confirmation of these vital 2024 life lessons.

In high school and our early college years, we’re pretty much expected to decide what we want to do for the rest of our lives. I had the HARDEST time trying to decide what I wanted to do. I could barely decide what I wanted for lunch or dinner in the dining hall in college let alone decide what career path to pursue. Career paths feel like such a HUGE lifelong commitment and can feel very daunting during our college years. I have SOOOO many different interests, so it was extremely difficult to make one big decision. However, flash-forward to today and now having a few years of my career under my belt, I have learned about the power of evolution in our careers and in our lives, too.

When it comes to my appearance, ever since I was 13, I have been getting blonde highlights in my hair. I adore my blonde highlights (and still do!), as I felt youthful and if I could take on the world. My blonde hair began to fade during that time in my life and my hair started to become more brunette. My Grandma once told me that “you may become a beautiful brunette and love it” as I was loathing the natural and normal change in my hair color. Still, despite what my Grandma said, I kept getting these same blonde highlights for almost 13 MORE YEARS. And, to my Grandma’s words, at about 13 years later, I knew it was time for a change. I had always wondered what it’d be like to be a brunette since those lovely words of Grandma’s. I LOVE watching Sex and the City and fully identify as a Charlotte (if you know, you know!) aka the token brunette of the main friend group! The same goes for Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf (whom I proudly also identify as in some ways!) another token brunette bestie.  So, I made that change. I became a brunette.

Just like as our careers can and will evolve, so can other parts of ourselves, whether it be embracing our natural roots more so (with a few highlights in the mix!). And, it’s important to show love and gratitude and bring on changes with excitement and grace. While change may be difficult and take some adjustments, change is and can be good.

Here’s to my Brunette Chapter!!!

A special thanks to my amazing hairdresser and stylist Yaleena of Dante Salon and Spa for making this amazing transformation happen!!!

XOXO – Katie <3

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