Just like most millennials, I spend a decent amount of my day staring at a screen. Over the past few months, I had begun to notice a big change in the way my eyes were feeling. They were feeling dry, strained, and tired even early in the day. I decided I needed to give blue light blocking glasses a try. I had heard so much about them over the past few years, especially from other bloggers and Instagrammers, but I wasn't really sold on them. 

I recently had an opportunity to visit Punchbowl Social in Rancho Cucamonga with a group of amazing local bloggers. Punchbowl Social is a restaurant, bar, bowling, alley, and all-around fun place to hang out. They are located in Rancho Cucamonga, CA in the Victoria Gardens Mall, as well as several other locations across the country. We were invited to try their delicious brunch menu, which included a mimosa punchbowl for us to share!

I have been trying really hard lately to learn how to cook a wide variety of dishes. I like to think that I am actually improving quite a bit, but I still use a lot of shortcuts to make recipes easier and quicker. I have been wanting to try making some dishes more from scratch. I had seen a tweet from Chrissy Teigen recently where she was making her Pot Pie Soup recipe but she then put it into a casserole dish and covered it with Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuit mix. You can see her tweets about it here and here. It looked absolutely incredible and I knew I needed to learn how to make it ASAP!

I found her recipe on PopSugar and she also has a video making it with Kelly Ripa here.

Happy February! I know that everyone has said how much January dragged on and on but honestly, I can't believe it's already February! So far I've been trying to make the most of my 2018 and get things done that I kept putting off throughout the later half of 2017. I've finally gotten around to finishing up some projects around my house and getting some important tests and classes scheduled. 

I've attempted posts about my monthly favorites before but I always gave up because I never felt like I had enough items to make the post feel worthwhile. I've decided that I want to give monthly favorites posts another try but I'm limiting myself to my top 5 favorite things from the month!

Here are the top 5 things that I loved the most during the month of January!

I spent a lot of time debating on whether or not I would even make a post about goals for 2018. Resolutions typically end up forgotten or broken a few months into the year and then you end up feeling horrible about it. The more I thought about it though, the more I thought that it would be a good idea. Honestly, 2017 was a major bust for me. My mother's heath issues put me into a bad place mentally and I found it really hard to get things done. Now that I know her heath is okay, it's time to get my own life back in check.

A lot of people start the year off with a "word of the year" and I spent the last few days trying to come up with just one word to describe how I want to live my life in 2018. I just couldn't. A single word wasn't enough to fully describe how I want my year to go. I have decided that I will have a "phrase of the year" and that phrase is: GETTING THINGS DONE. This is going to be the year of hustling and working hard, both in my personal life and here on the blog. I'm sharing a short list of things that I want to get done this year to hold myself accountable.

Reflecting on this previous year is not the easiest task. This year has been a major rollercoaster rides with way too many dips to count and I'm glad to see it over. Despite all of the challenges that I've been thrown this year, I'm grateful for the learning experiences and the chance to grow as a person.

My 29th birthday (WHAT?!) was at the beginning of the month and honestly, the thought of turning 30 next year is terrifying. I really do not feel like I'm that old at all so it is really bizarre to think about. I have seen people do posts like this in the past for the year before a milestone birthday and I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of 30 things that I would like to do before the big 3-0!

I know this is so cliche but I can't believe it is already July! Seriously, this year is flying by so fast and I'm not ready! It needs to slow down ASAP. June was a crazy month overall and it had a lot of ups and downs.

The best part of June was spending a weekend in LA. I don't live that far from LA, about 1.5 hours (depending on traffic), but I really don't get there too often. I'm just not a fan of the crazy traffic. At the beginning of the month, I braved that traffic to head to LA to see Darren Criss in his new band Computer Games. If you haven't heard their music, I really recommend it. The concert was absolutely amazing and you just might be able to spot me in their next music video! Other than the concert, I explored a little around Melrose Pl/Ave and Rodeo Drive before heading back home. It was a great time! I finally got to check out Alfred Tea Room and try their pink drink, browse the Serena and Lily showroom, and have lunch at the new Ladurée in Beverly Hills.

I am still on the search for a few more perfect art prints for my bedroom. While I love photography and home decor, I also like trying to find amazing pieces at good prices. A lot of art prints are so expensive, especially when you also get them framed. I have found some amazing prints at Society6 and the prices for framed prints are really reasonable! I have come across some great pieces on Society6 during my search and I thought that I would share some of them. If you love nautical and coastal home decor, you will love these prints!

* Society6 is running an amazing 4th of July sale today and tomorrow - 20% off and free shipping!

Summer Umbrella by Sweet Little Pixels

The first print that I want to share is of some navy and white beach umbrellas and palm trees. I love how pretty several beach umbrellas look, especially when they all match. This is actually a print that I have already purchased for above my dresser and I'm still obsessed with it. You can see it here.

Sometimes life gets stressful and you just need to take a mental health day. This is how I was feeling last week. Graduate school has been keeping me stressed beyond belief and I needed to blow off some steam. The place that always works wonders for me is Disneyland. Unfortunately, I didn't have anybody available to go with. I decided to just head to Disneyland solo for the first time. Let me tell you, it was a blast!

ERIK CONOVER

KRISTA ROBERTSON