LUXE LIFE // SMALL BUDGET - Page 8 of 18 -

What I Read: May 2022

June 1, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

I’m beginning to feel like I say this every month, but May had a good mix of books! Romance, running, & self-improvement.

I managed to squeeze in 7 books (though to be fair one was a novella and two of the others I started in previous months, but finally finished):

– Mother Dear by Nova Lee Maier
– Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood
– The Soil Will Save Us by Kristin Ohlson
– Mastery by Robert Greene
– The Willpower Instinct by Kelly
McGonigal
– The Other Man by Farhad H. Dadyburjor
– 80/20 Running by Matt Fitzgerald

Let’s get into the reviews!

My Experience Using the Law of 100

May 23, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

I’ve talked about it before, but I’m definitely someone that’s motivated by keeping a streak alive. So when I first heard about the Law of 100 (also known as the Seinfeld Strategy) on the Mindset Mentor Podcast, I jumped at the challenge.

The big idea is to commit to doing something for 100 days straight. If you miss a day, you have to restart the count back at 1. In February, I committed to writing at least 401 words a day and today, I marked day 100 off my calendar!

Spring 2022: 5 Podcasts I’m Listening To

May 9, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

Running has a way of making me hate my favorite songs.

I’ve talked about it before, but I’m the kind of person that listens to audiobooks or podcasts while running rather than listening to music. So, I’m always on the lookout for new podcasts. I shared what I was listening to back in the summer of 2020 (yikes, what a time…) but decided it was time for an update.

In this blog post, I’m sharing five of my current favorite podcasts!

What I read: April 2022

May 1, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

April was another 7 book month for me!

I read a nice mix of fiction and non-fiction covering everything from romance to octopuses to Japanese culture.

The list includes:
– Crooked House by Agatha Christie
– The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
– Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
– In A New York Minute by Kate Spencer
– The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
– Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
– The Book of Ichigo Ichie by Héctor Garcia & Francesc Miralles

Let’s get into the reviews!

Breaking A Running Rut: 3 Things I’m Trying

April 23, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 3 comments

I think I’m a bad runner.

The more I read about running, the more I realize I have no idea what I’m doing.

I started out with a New Year’s resolution to run a 15K and have kept returning to the same race year after year for 7 straight years now. While I am gradually getting faster each race (I’m not counting the year I had just gotten over the flu.. or the year it was hot), I want to get even faster. I have a specific goal I’m aiming for for next year, but it’s ambitious- like shaving 10 to 15 minutes off my total time ambitious. While not impossible per se, it will involve me doing something different.

BEAUTY REVIEW: Trader Joe’s Nourish Microdermabrasion Scrub Exfoliating Cream

April 10, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 2 comments

My streak of trying out Trader Joe’s products continues!

This time it was the Trader Joe’s Nourish Microdermabrasion Scrub Exfoliating Cream that caught my eye. Something about the blue and white minimalistic packaging felt fancy and spa-like, while still coming in at a budget-friendly price of about $5.

What I read: March 2022

March 28, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 1 comment

After the slow month of reading in February, March was just the opposite! I read 7 books last month and all but one were fiction:

-Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
-Old in Art School by Nell Irvin Painter
-The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
-The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
-The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
-Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski
-The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

I listened to three of these as audiobooks, which I don’t usually do for fiction, but I was impressed by how good all the voice actors are! I may need to listen to more fiction going forward.

Let’s dive into those reviews.

What I’m Into: March 2022

March 24, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 3 comments

Happy spring!

I hope the new season is treating you well. I’ll admit, I’m still struggling with the whole time change, though I do love how late the sun is up! It makes me crave all things summer: lounging by the pool, enjoying a glass of Frosé, and fun beach reads!

With all the changes lately, I wanted to share a new list of my recent obsessions.

BEAUTY REVIEW: BYBI Night Nutrition Protein Night Cream sold at Target

March 11, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 0 Comment

After trying (and loving!) the BYBI Strawberry Booster Facial Oil back in August, I was excited when my local Target put BYBI products on a major sale. I ended up picking up the BYBI Night Nutrition Protein Night Cream (among other things.. ) for nearly half the price! Now, that I’ve used the entire tube, I’m ready to share my thoughts. About the BYBI Night Nutrition Protein Night Cream Let’s start with the basics. According to the BYBI website, the…

What I read: February 2022

March 2, 2022 luxelifesmallbudget Comments 2 comments

It was a quieter month of reading for me.

I took a break from audiobooks after listening to Dr. Michael Greger’s How Not to Diet for nearly 24 hours and instead focused solely on Kindle books thanks to the Overdrive App and my local library.

Even with only four books last month, I still had quite a mix including self-help, a serial killer thriller, and one of the most unique books I’ve read:
-A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
-Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
-Discover Your Dharma by Sahara Rose
-The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Let’s get into the reviews!