5 Gifts to Give Yourself

I am not the queen of gift guides. In fact, I love reading them! Ashley  and Jess posted some awesome gift guides for runners. I *think* I'm done shopping, and now there are nine days till Christmas, where we will be traveling (driving) a ton and visiting with family and friends. I decided to go for a quick run yesterday, cut even shorter by holiday traffic! My eight minute drive to the park took almost twenty minutes, go figure. I hadn't been to the park in a long time, and the weather was so perfect that I had to take advantage. While on my run, I started thinking about how things have been a  bit hectic lately, how I have been checking things off of my to do list, and I really haven't enjoyed the season as I usually do. So, I want to consciously enjoy the rest of 2014 in small simple ways. Here are 5 gifts I will give to myself to wrap up 2014:

1. Make time for friends. This is THE busiest time of year, but this is a great time to meet up with people and celebrate this past year, or to leave it behind! Parties don't always promote meaningful conversations (Though they are FUN), so I'm trying to have little dates with friends. I find it so easy to not go out, especially since it's cold. Henry, get ready to be bundled up in your bear suit! We're going to get together with some friends! 

Our Slafters were in town from the West Coast, SO glad we got to spend time together!

2. Do yoga. Take it or leave it, but yoga really does help you quiet down. Beautiful Belly Mommy and Me yoga helps me connect with Henry, but we haven't been doing it lately. I plan on trying to work this into our days as much as possible.

Bringing the Happy Baby Pose to a whole new level. SLIGHTLY jealous of his flexibility...Also: ROLLS.

3. Take the eating pressure off. If I see one more "Here's how to avoid gaining weight" segment on the Today Show I may scream! WE KNOW WE ARE EATING UNHEALTHY FOOD. WE KNOW HOW TO WORK OUT. IT'S OKAY TO INDULGE. Phew, glad I got that off my chest! "Everything in moderation" applies to eating AND exercise. Obviously there is a fine line between "I deserve a dozen cookies" and "I'm going to enjoy some cookies", but seriously? Let's all take a chill pill and relish our treats that come around once a year.

I was craving salad like whoa. Make no mistake, this salad was calorie loaded! Cookie with my coffee month probably made me crave veggies ;-)

4. Be present at events. Of course I will be taking pictures with my phone HELLO HENRY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS. However, I won't be scrolling through Insta or Facebook while enjoying family festivities. It's so easy to, but I really enjoyed putting my phone away during Thanksgiving. We took a few pictures and that was it. I had a great time with my family and I plan to replicate that for Christmas. There's nothing wrong with Latergrams!

My sweet baby with my sweet Grammy at Thanksgiving.

5. Run/walk somewhere festive. The lights of NYC have always been a calming force, and I really enjoy them at night! With Henry it's a bit more challenging to get into the city at night, but there are plenty of places around us to enjoy the sights and lights of the season. 

Astoria Park had a pretty tree!

Practicing our sitting up skills with two forms of motivation: Lambeau Puppy and the Christmas tree!

How about you? What gifts will you give to yourself this season? Do you ever go phone free? Yoga, yay or nay? TELL ME ABOUT IT!