Ellie's Month Of Glowing Up and Growing Up

    If I could give any advice to a high school senior applying to colleges, it would be to not go to a school on the trimester system while all your friends go to semester schools. An extra month of summer sounds nice in theory, but when all your friends have left for college, your siblings are back in school, the novelty wears off. I don't move in for another month, which is an intimidating amount of time to be just myself. So, I'm putting together a plan to keep myself busy in this home stretch of summer. 

    The most important part of the glow up is that I feel better about myself, not look better. I've been dealing with a lot of insecurity about how I look and who I am, and a big goal for the new and improved college-me is to feel more settled with myself. One thing I'm introducing to my routine is working out again. I had a whole pilates routine I did last year, but I feel off as I got busier. Now, I'm going to pick it up again with Rosie Graham's 30 Day Challenge and Gloria Song's Stretching Routine with the very strict rule that I'm working out with the intention of feeling stronger and more capable in my body. If I start obsessing over how I look over how I feel, I have to stop. But I do want to start going to the gym in college, so I think pilates will be a good way to warm me up to moving my body more. 

    I tried to start today, but I mistakenly did a calisthenics workout right before, and a core workout plus period cramps equals actual hell, so I'll get started tomorrow. 

    The second part of my plan is instating daily self care. I'm a firm believer in taking time to be with yourself. I've got an impressive hair-care routine, and it's an excellent time to check in with myself and how I'm feeling. 

    So, my goals for this month are: 

• Be able to do a handstand (confidently!)
• Wash and moisturize my face every night for two weeks
• Go a day without explicitly thinking something negative about my body
• Do one 'thing' (go out, complete a task, etc) a day

Only a month to go until move in, and this girl is ready to go. 

Love Always, 

Ellie