Happy Monday and MLK Day everyone! I have the day off of work today and am just embracing my time at home with Kai. We didn't do a whole lot this weekend because we got hit with a huge blizzard on Friday/Saturday, so we've pretty much just been cozied up at home all weekend. We ventured out for a little bit yesterday to go to the Garfield Park Conservatory in the city to do Kai's 1 year old photos! I seriously can't wait to get them back, I just know they are going to be the most gorgeous set of photos. We did make a lot of progress on organizing our office though and it finally feels like a place I can work and be inspired in. In fact, I'm actually typing this at our desk in our office right now and it feels so good! I can't wait to show you all the full transformation of it soon!

Today I want to share with you all my most used travel apps I use on my phone. Using resources like books and apps are some of my best ways for planning and having a great time on our trips. I keep a little EXPLORE folder on my phone with all of my travel apps in it to keep them organized in a place where I can easily find them. And as an FYI, all these apps are free. Alright, so here we go!

I prefer Google Maps to Apple Maps (I have an iPhone), especially when we are traveling. Reason being is that I like to favorite all of the places we are planning on going when we are traveling and they show up as little yellow stars on my map when I open the app. This makes it so easy to find everything and map out routes on how to get from place to place, especially if you're walking. I can also just tap the star and the place will pop up for me to click for directions, too.

I do most of my hotel bookings through Expedia. I personally like the layout of the app the most compared to all the other ones out there like Kayak of Booking.com. I also just feel like I get the best deals through Expedia.

This app is Chicago specific. In order to get around Chicago via public transport, you need to have a Ventra card. This app allows me to refill my account and look up train schedules for all of the lines on the CTA. If you don't live in Chicago and are visiting, I highly suggest this one!

This app is a lifesaver and probably my favorite travel app ever. We use this app all the time to finding parking spots everywhere. We use it every time we drive in to Chicago or Milwaukee, we've used it in Portland and Seattle, etc. The way it works is you type in your destination and it finds you all the available parking lots or garages near your destination and gives you pricing for the time slot you've filled in. We've saved so much money using this app with parking in Chicago. They always have discounted rates for garages in Chicago...I'm talking like we pay $18 for a spot that would normally be $40! Best app ever.

This app is a little specific to us because we always fly Southwest. We personally feel like we always get the best rates through Southwest and like that there are no baggage fees or change of flight fees. I like having their app on my phone especially for checking in for our flights since we have to do it 24 hours in advance to get a good seat (well we don't HAVE to now thanks to family boarding). I also like it just simply for looking up flights for upcoming trips. However, whatever airline you prefer the most, I suggest downloading their app and having it in your travel folder on your phone so you can easily look up flights and check in for your flights on your phone, too.

Skyscanner is another cool one. This app helps you find the cheapest possible flights out there (including Southwest flights!) Apps like Expedia never include Southwest which is always a bummer since that's who we fly with the most! A lot of times though if I'm traveling alone I like to just look up the cheapest airfare and will deal with flying something else besides Southwest since they only fly out of Midway and we live a lot closer to O'Hare. But anyways, you can find some insane deals on this app. Another cool feature of it too is you can pick a date range or a month and "fly anywhere" and it will show you the cheapest rates to everywhere in the US. So if you're in the mood for a little getaway but you don't know where to go, this is a fun little feature to try out! It might spark an idea for a place you didn't even have on your radar.

We're more of a rent a car or take public transit people but if you need to hire a car, Lyft is great. We use Lyft over Uber because you have to go through Lyft for the Minnie vans at Disney World. (A Minnie van is those cute red with polk dot cars at Disney that take you from resort to resort or to the parks so you don't have to use the bus system). This is a great option to save time at Disney because their bus system doesn't take you from resort to resort.

Speaking of Disney...I always have the Disney World My Experience App on my phone. This app shows you everything for your Disney World trips from your hotel reservation, FastPasses, photos from your trip, and dining reservations. You can update all your trip info on the app, too, and make FastPass selections on it. One of the coolest things about the app too is you can see ride wait times! Plus there is a great map of all the parks on the app for easy navigating.

This app is a great one for making dining reservations. They have a huge network of restaurants all over! You can easily search for a specific restaurant or you can search in the area you're in and a whole list of restaurants will pop up. They have reviews and information on all restaurants and you can see most menus on the app, too. They give you all available times for reservations and ask if you need any special accommodations. The best part though is with each reservation you make and honor you rack up points, which eventually turns back in to money!

What is your all time favorite travel app that you have on your phone? Share with me below in the comments!

Woo! It's been a minute friends, huh? Sorry I've been MIA lately...time has just gotten away from me. From planning Kai's 1st birthday party to cleaning out our house Marie Kondo style, I've just been really busy. I hope you all are having a wonderful start to 2019 though!

I finally have another book club post for you all today! About time, right? Well to be fair, I was reading David Copperfield and it's about 1200 pages long. I'm pretty proud of myself for this one especially because I tried once before and gave up real quick back in my college days...

So let's talk about Charles Dickens and David Copperfield. It was really good, I don't know why I gave up on it back in the day. It took me awhile to read but that's because of its length + being a mom + work + life...etc. Basically the story goes along the life of a boy named David Copperfield. It starts out from when he was born till he is middle aged. He goes through so many trials in life and I'm not going to lie, it actually resonated with me a lot from things that were going on within my own life. It's also one of those books that in the end, everything is exactly how it should be and what my heart longed for to happen for this character. So thank you for that, Mr. Dickens! The story goes all through his childhood, teen years in school, marriage, career, just everything that encompasses life. I don't want to give too much away so just trust on it having many exciting ups and downs that are real life problems.

If you love the classics and have the time + mind power to read this one, do it. It honestly taught me so much about life and the importance of persevering. Man did that kid have perseverance. When you didn't think it could get any worse for him, it does, but he was still a kind and loving young man. David Copperfield is honestly a source of inspiration for me! He goes through a lot of loss...I mean A LOT. He was always there for those who depended on him though even in his darkest of times, which I really needed reminding of this past fall when I had a lot of personal trials going on in my own life. It's funny that I chose to read this book during this phase of my life...the universe works in mysterious ways, huh? So anyways, read it, I know you'll love it ;)

You can purchase David Copperfield on Amazon.

UP NEXT: You are a Badass by Jen Sincero + Body Love by Kelly LeVeque
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When we were out in Utah for our early Christmas with our family we had family photos done up in the mountains! They turned out so incredible and I will cherish them forever.

*Photos courtesy of Hanna Roberts Photography

I know I said yesterday how I don't make goals or resolutions at the start of a new year but I always have some goals that I am trying to focus on in my life! After having Kai, I really started focusing on health and wellness for myself. Our bodies do amazing things and in return they deserve to be treated for how amazing they are. I mentioned a little bit in my post about My Postpartum Fitness Journey how I have a list of wellness goals that I have been trying to master. I came up with these goals back in the fall and was doing so well with them, but then my dad took a turn for the worst and I really struggled to stay on track. I've tried my hardest to get back to where I was back in September but I just haven't gotten there yet. Well now that the holidays are over and we're off to a fresh start in 2019 it's time to focus on them whole heartedly again!

The way I believe it is best to master any kind of fitness or lifestyle goal is to take it slow. They say it takes 14 days to break a habit and 21 days to make a habit. So if we try to create 10 different habits all at once, we're going to fail. Plain and simple. Now I don't want to drag my goals out super long so I settled on 1 week at a time. I'll explain this part in more detail down below.

​I have 10 goals on my list. These goals are things that I want to become natural habits within my life. There's no end to them and I allow myself grace when it comes to them because life does happen and it's not always perfect.

• Workout 3x per week
• Take 10,000 steps per day

• Drink 72oz of water per day + additional 16oz of water on workout days
• Have fruit every morning + vegetables w/ lunch & dinner
• Take vitamins every day
• Eat a salad every other day

• Get at least 8 hours of sleep per night
• Complete skin care routine every night
• Meditate every day
• Self care Sundays

My thought process for making it through this list of healthy lifestyle goals is to take 1 goal and focus on that each week. So for instance, next week I am aiming to complete my 3 workouts per week goal. Remember when I said though that I'm giving myself grace when it comes to these goals? So this goal is a perfect example of how sometimes life doesn't go as planned and I'm not going to beat myself up if I miss a workout.  If I'm really sick or if it's a holiday or if we're on vacation I'm not going to stress about working out. But I'm also not going to use those things as excuses for missing workouts when I really am able to get a workout in. Working out is something we really need to make time for in our lives because our mind, body, and souls deserve it.

Then the next week I will pick a new goal to focus on if I completed the previous week's goal. So if I do all my workouts next week then the week after I will focus on drinking all my water every day. If I don't meet that goal  then I will just try again the following week. Get where I'm coming from? It's not about failing and giving up. It's simply just about being the best you can be. Some times I know I won't meet all these goals in a week and that's ok. Just because I missed a work out or went to sleep late one night doesn't mean I should just completely toss out the idea of getting 8 hours of sleep all the nights after. I know how hard it can be to set your mind on something and then when you mess up you just throw your hands up in the air and say forget it...you ruined it. The thing I love about this list that I've made for myself is it has no end, they are habits I plan to create and keep for myself forever. They are lifestyle changes and not something that I just check off of a to do list.

So here's to being healthier and happier in 2019. Let's give our bodies, minds, and souls what they deserve because we as human beings are remarkable. What is one of your health and wellness goals for this year?

Hellooooo 2019! I absolutely love the start of a new year. There's something so light and amazing about the week of New Years. I hope you all had a relaxing holiday yesterday and are ready to take on this year!

So for the last few years I've ditched the idea of resolutions and goals. I use to make a nice long list of things I wanted to do and accomplish each year but the problem I use to have with that is that life changes over 12 months. Sometimes a little or sometimes a lot. So when I would go back to reflect on the year I'd look at my resolutions or goals and think about how I didn't really accomplish them 100% because I either forgot about them or they just aren't relevant anymore. I settled on this idea of picking a word or phrase at the start of the year that I feel like my life needs more of and I concentrate on applying it to my life all year long. Last year the phrase was 'go with the flow.' I'm sure you recognize it because I mentioned it all the time. I still plan on continuing to incorporate that mentality in my life but with the start of a new year I'm adding a new word to my life and that word is 'REFRESH.'

I know you're probably thinking, "wow Diana, new year, yeah it's refreshing...how groundbreaking." But stay with me here. We accumulate a lot of clutter in our lives in all areas from things in our homes to emotions we feel about past events. I had a heavy year in 2018 and it's not that I want to just forget about all that happened last year but I do feel the need to purge and at the same time not let 2019 build up on me. I don't want to purge all that is weighing down on me from the past just to replace it with what might happen in the future.

This idea of 'refresh' for me is starting out by quite literally getting rid of what I don't need and use from things, people, emotions, thoughts, etc. I spent my whole winter break purging unneeded things from our house. I've started meditating again to get in touch with my emotions and thoughts. I want to concentrate on things that serve me and keep me motivated to be the best human I can be. I want to stay in touch with what is important to me and let the rest go. I plan to continually check in with myself on all aspects of life to 'refresh' all the time. Just the thought of this word makes me feel light and happy, which I've been needing for awhile now. I am so excited to be on this journey in 2019. I hope you feel just as hopeful for 2019 and can't wait to hear all your words, goals, and resolutions, too! Happy New Year, everyone!