Women Who Inspire Me: Anna Saccone

A post shared by Anna Saccone (@annasaccone) on Sep 5, 2016 at 4:36am PDT

When I first (digitally) met Anna Saccone, she was heavily pregnant with her first baby and she was a newlywed. I felt an instant connection with her over our shared love of cleaning and organizing lol. I loved watching her family vlogs, (SacconeJolys), because of her; her husband was really nice and funny, but Anna had a dry sense of humor that matched my own, and I loved how open and honest she was.

What I didn't realize until almost 3 years later (I can't believe I've been watching their vlogs for almost 5 years now), was Anna was under almost constant attack by "trolls'', Some of these "trolls'' complained about baby gates being left open, ok I can see how that may cause concern, but the majority of the trolling comes from her looks, her accent, whether or not she is Italian, her relationship with her deceased father, and it goes on and on and on. This woman has to be one of the most abused woman on the internet, and it's mostly coming from other woman, thats the saddest part of this whole story, she is being ripped to shreds daily by other women. 

Through all the years of constant abuse Anna has simply endured, she continued to put up blog posts, and videos, and vlogged along side Jonathon, until the spring/summer 2016 when Anna simply seemed to shut down. After suffering a miscarriage she wanted to try and put the pieces of her life back together and move on, unfortunately the trolls had other plans. They ripped into Anna more than ever, about anything and everything she did, whether she walked her dogs, whether she should be working out, but at the same time they called her fat, her parenting, her cooking, her hair, her nose. At what was probably the hardest moment of Anna's life (the loss of her unborn child), she was also at constant war; and she eventually seemed to shut down, she stopped uploading videos, stopped publishing blogposts, and stopped participating in the family vlogs.

She later uploaded a video explaining why she had quiet youtube during that time, and it was in that video that I became fully aware of how abusive these trolls had become. While I may watch a vlog and think "should you be doing _____?", as we all have different options about everything, I would never allow that to turn into my leaving hateful comments, contacting brands, and even Social Services.

A post shared by Jonathan Saccone Joly (@jonathanjoly) on Apr 13, 2017 at 6:28am PDT

Through all of this Anna has quietly endured, she has continued to trudge foreword, and she has tried to use the trolls abuse towards her to spread a message of positivity, and self love, something she herself has struggled with. I hope I have the opportunity to actually meet her someday to tell her how amazing I think she really is, and I hope she knows how many peoples lives she has affected in a positive way by speaking about her own eating disorder and mental health issues.

So this week I feel inspired by Anna's ability to take years of hate and abuse and turn it into a positive messages for fans like myself.

Who inspired you this week?

Juicy Q&A

On Sunday we hit 10,000 subscribers on my main youtube channel!! As a way of celebrating I asked you guys to send in your questions, and let me tell you, you guys didn't hold back lol.

Which is how this became a Juicy Q&A. I actually really enjoyed answering all of these questions and as I have 4 younger siblings I feel like I can say I am a professional big sister, so I hope some of you out there can look at my stories and maybe make better decisions than I did.

Also I loved doing this, a Q&A is an amazing way to connect all of us, so if you have any questions for future Q&A's please leave them in the comments below so I can use them in the future, and as you'll see in the video nothing is off limits lol.

                       
                       

Women Who Inspire Me: My Mom

Me, Mom, Brandon,
Heather, Derrell, Laura, Matthew

Growing up I was a mama's girl, I loved my dad but my mom was where it was at for me. I remember spending hours following her around the house, and her calling me her "house mouse", she was my first female role model, and so I thought it fitting for her to be the first subject of my Woman Who Inspire Me series. This is a series that I will be publishing every Sunday, it will focus on one woman who inspires me to be better, work harder, laugh more, and hopefully inspire others.

Looking back at my life I can honestly say my mom is the strongest woman I know. She went from being a married stay at home mom of six, to a single working mom of six in just a few short seconds. She transitioned into this role so gracefully, and without showing us kids the complete and utter desperation and sorrow she was feeling.

Laura, Derrell, Mom, Matthew.

While it was never easy she taught me that having money and items to define yourself with is a complete waste of time and energy. Rather having an amazing bond with the people you love and spending each moment like it was your last was a better route. Because of that we made incredible memories as kids, in fact every time we all get together we sit and talk and laugh about those memories to this day.

One of the greatest moments of my life was having a picnic at the Sacramento River Park in Anderson California, and the river came up and STOLE our watermelon, and as it was floating down the river all of us kids chasing after it . It seems like such a simple moment, a moment that could easily be forgotten, but to me and my family it was proof that we had risen from the ashes of sorrow and grief.

Now that I'm an adult I would hope that if I were ever in the situation she was in, I would rise to the occasion without batting an eyelash, because of the woman who raised me. I can also say I'm secretly terrified I could never measure up, I'm worried that I would panic, or fall flat on my face in so many endeavors. But always on the sidelines, whether a school play or a grand business idea this amazing woman is there cheering me on.

Me, Mom, Matthew

To me and my siblings she was simply our mom, to our neighbors she was the first one to help out in the time of need. To her friends she was "crazy Lori", always coming up with an out of this world idea, and to her country she was a hero, she served with honor in the United States Air Force, in fact she went into basic training 6 weeks after giving birth.

In these scary political and war mongering times it's important to stop for a moment and remember those that we love, those that make us laugh, and those that inspire us to be better. I honestly hope that each of you reading this had an amazing mother growing up, our mothers tend to be our first role models, and I was so lucky to have had the one I did. 

Easy Changes To Save The Planet | Earth Day

Happy almost Earth Day to you all!! I remember as a child not fully understanding the point of Earth Day, but now as an adult I feel like it is the one day a year where people from all over the world stop and think about how amazing our lives are. How is it even possible that we exist, for me this is the day that we honor the ultimate mother; Mother Earth.  Today I'm going to share a few easy changes you can make to your day to day life that will lessen your carbon foot print, and give Mother Earth a bit of a break.

1. Look into the recycling industry in your area, and see if it actually is sustainable. 

I live on a small island in the middle of the pacific ocean, our recyclables would be loaded onto a ship and travel over 2500 miles to the Los Angeles area, where it would then be trucked to an even further away recycle station.

Thats my friends is not earth friendly and our government realized that, so when a man came to them and said rather than burning oil for electricity (which is shocking that anyone still does that let alone a US state), you can actually burn all that garbage and recyclables, and it would a very small carbon foot print in comparison to the oil burning and shipping of trash. So they did it, and now we have a much smaller carbon foot. 

I realize this won't be the case in every area, but look into yours and make sure recycling is the best choice. 

2. Stop drinking bottled water!

My husband and I were massive bottled water drinkers when the 2010 water studies came out showing Hawaii had the worst drinking water in the country. After feeling guilty about that we did some research and found that switching our refrigerator filter to a Pharmaceutical grade filter and then running it through the Brita pitcher, we will then be getting the exact same water that we get from the grocery store. The pharmaceutical grade filter was only about $10 more than the normal one, and now we don't have to worry about any of the medications flushed down the toilets (which you should never do, keep it out of the water system!).

3. Buy Local.

I love going to my local farmers market, there is always a band playing, kids laughing, food being sold, and it just feels fun! So look into finding one near you, if you don't have one start one!

While we are on the topic of food, try and buy non-gmo as the gmo seeds can destroy local farms. Also look at eating less meat or no meat at all. If you do feel like you would like to consume meat but you want a sustainable choice go with Free Range Organic Chicken. Our oceans are massively over fished, the beef industry is one of the worst offenders on our planet, but chickens are a safer bet.

4. Turn Your Lawn Into A Garden.

This is my favorite one right here, and its actually happening in almost every city in the US. What is the point of having a nice green lawn? Does it feed your family? No! It actually is depleting the water resources of this planet, in fact a California study found that it's actually better to have pool in your backyard than a lawn. So switch your lawn for a garden, grow all of your favorite fruits and vegetables, and teach your children all about where their food comes from along the way. 

Those are just a small amount of things you can change to help your pocketbook and the planet. 

If you have any other ideas please share them in the comments so we can all start to implement them.

You can also watch the video for this post here, and the daily vlog here.

Fitness Haul (Victoria's Secret, Nike, Bombas)

It's that time of year again, it's starting to get a bit warmer and we all franticly rush to the gym to restart those new years goals, or maybe it's just me lol. Due to my frantic "I need to get in shape" thoughts I did a bit of a fitness shop over the Easter weekend during the sales. I also recently purchased a spin bike for home use, and so will be needing a few extra bits as I go the the gym in the morning and will be using the bike at night.

Whilst in spin class a woman recommended Bombas socks. They are very soft, have a blister pad, the heals and toes are nice and thick, and to top it all off they donate a pair of socks for every pair you buy. The only down side is they are quite expensive in my opinion. 

I also purchased a pair of Nike Thea shoes. I'm so excited to give these a go, as I've seen countless people raving about these.

I also grabbed a pair of Nike Roche in white. These I'm not sure about, they have a corrugated insole (like a washboard), and the color in real life, has a bit of a grey/super light pink tint to it.

At Victoria's Secret I purchased 4 of their Front Close Sports Bras. I have been in desperate need of these as the sports bras I have now are difficult to get on and off, especially after I've worked out and the bra is sweaty.

I also grabbed 2 pairs of the High Waist Pocket Leggings and 2 pairs of the High Waist Leggings. I do own a couple of these already and so I was slightly disappointed the new one are made of different material, and can be slightly sheer when stretched. I do however like the added mesh panels for breathability and the pockets fit my iPhone 6S Plus!

I can't wait to put all of this to use, and am especially excited to get my new spin bike delivered as I do spend much of the evening sitting on the couch watching tv lol.

Here is the video for this Haul and the Daily Vlog! Also the 9K Subscriber Kylie Cosmetics and Morphe Giveaway is still going on so get your entries in, it ends May 1, 2017. Also this is an international giveaway as are all of my giveaways.

                          
                       

My Meals Monday | It Was Awkward

Happy Easter!!! Today I started off with my usual coffee and orange juice. I really don't like the taste of Vida Glow, but I know its good for me so I mix it with orange juice in the blender to mask the taste.

At breakfast I really wanted eggs on toast with avocado. Sadly I didn't have avocado, but I took a risk and it paid off. I used potato salad, crazy I know, but it was actually really good. I also had another coffee, and also a little orange juice, I don't normally have another orange juice but i figured it's Easter lets live a little lol.

We then headed out to the movies to see The Zoo Keepers Wife, which was amazing BTW. Whilst there I had a Coke Zero and a small unbuttered popcorn, but we did get there about 10 minutes late, which meant I couldn't vlog it as the theater was dark, and it was sooo crowded.

On the way home I also got a Starbucks Iced Venti Vanilla Latte.

It started pouring rain and got so windy and cold on the way home so we decided we would do soup and sandwiches for dinner. I made and ham and cheese toastie with a little chicken noodle soup, it would have been better with tomato soup but I sadly didn't have any.

For my dessert I had a cup of TeaPigs Peapermint & Licorice tea with 5 Girl Scouts lemon cookies. These cookies are so good, and was the perfect evening snack whilst watching the series premier of The White Princess.

That is everything I had today you can see the video for this here, and the daily vlog here.

                   
                   

Gym Makeup Routine & Huge Morphe & Kylie Giveaway

It's starting to feel a bit more like Summer, which leads us all back into the gym, and I have been trying to look a bit more "put together" be it in the gym and out, so I thought I would share my super quick Gym Makeup Routine.

I start off by using the MAC Prep & Prime, this is SPF 50 and something we should all make a point of putting on before going out into the lovely warm sunny days.

I then add my favorite BB cream the Garnier BB Cream, this is SPF 15 but thats not at all high enough, especially for the hot Hawaiian sun.

I then put the Elizabeth Arden Lip Balm on, this is SPF 20 but I do add a bit of the MAC SPF onto my lips as well.

Then I quickly fill in my brows with Anastasia Brow Wiz. I do them lightly, Im going to work out not taking instagrams lol.

I recently rediscovered brown mascara and I love it, it looks very natural, and allows you to feel put together without feeling over the top. I use Benefit Roller Lash.

And Finally I finish the look off with a tiny bit of NYX Lip Cream in the color Cannes. 

And then I'm out the door to the gym.

Also we recently hit 9K subscribers over on my youtube channel and I am doing a Kylie Cosmetics and Morphe giveaway, there will be 3 winners so make sure you enter!!

                    

How To Stop Biting Your Nails

My entire life I have been a nail biter, I do it in times of stress, sadness, happiness, and excitement. I am an all around nail biter, but it's such a terrible habit/need, and I've felt embarrassed by my hands my whole life. So this year I made a promise to myself that I would stop biting my nails, and I have successfully achieved this goal!

 Here's how I did it:

1. Figure out why you're doing it and try to find something to fill that desire, for me I chew on rubber hoses for my Insivalign, so I started to use those in stressful/overwhelming situations.

2. Keep your nails painted. This not only makes your nails look cute, but your less likely to bite them when they are painted. If you find your still biting them, add no bite to the top of your polish, it tastes terrible.

3. Start with one hand. Allow yourself to only bite the nails on one hand, after two weeks change it to 2 nails on that hand. Then after two weeks switch to one nail and then none. By doing it over several two week intervals it makes it easier to stop.

If you still have trouble with it, get acrylic nails put on, leave them on for 2-3 months. 

You may find your nails are weak, and have ridges on them, I used a multivitamin and VidaGlow to strengthen mine and the ridges fade over time.

Now my only struggle is I am actually terrible at painting my nails, as you can see in the above picture lol. If you have any tips or tricks please leave them in the comments for others that are struggling with nail biting.

What Feminism Means To Me...

Growing up I can remember the very first time someone used the word "Feminist" and it was used as a slur, a derogatory term, a bad name, I'll never forget the way the man stared down and the woman angrily and said "What are you some kind of feminist? Are you going to go burn your bra now?". 

Looking back at that moment as an adult woman, I can imagine how terrifying that moment was for that woman, to have a man she didn't know towering over her in a very intimidating way, and speaking to her as if she had just kicked his dog. That woman was my grandmother and we were standing in a Food4Less checkout, she had commented on some cover of a tabloid, I cannot remember what she said (I think I was maybe 9),  but I can remember the fear that I felt in that moment.

Now that I am a fully functioning grown adult I can tell you that word "feminist", has so many meanings for so many different people. For some it may mean "Survivor", "Equality", "Freedom", "Safety".

For me, when I hear the word "Feminist", I feel Love, Compassion, Empathy, Sadness, Anger, and Alone. We live in a world that has become more diverse than ever, but at the same time we have managed to become more divided than ever. How? Through the power of social media we should be connecting with each other on a greater level, instead we use it as another weapon, a way of tearing each other down, and as a way of tearing ourselves down. 

That is not the world I want to live in, I want to live in a world where a girl can go to school or get a job because she wants to. I want to live in a world where if a woman is a CEO or a stay at home mom, they are looked at equally and with respect not only from men but from other woman as well. And I want to live in a world where my Niece Sophia, who is everything to me, feels safe, and feels like she can accomplish anything and everything she wants to. A world where she isn't judged by her gender, the color of her skin, or how she dresses. 

I also want to live in a world where her brother Nicolas is given the same opportunities as her. So many people assume that to be a feminist, hating men is a full fledged requirement, but it isn't, I would argue thats a rumor started by a few insecure men. Sure there are a handful of woman that may call themselves "man haters" but look at their histories most if not all of those woman were somehow mistreated by men, and no-one would blame them for their feelings.

In short I want to live in a world where there isn't a divide on whether a woman should be pumping at work, or what bathroom a person uses, or whether or not a woman deserved to be raped because her skirt was a little short. I want to live in a world where we start asking people who are clearly suffering if there's anything we can do, and when we see each other on the street we aren't looking to see if they are similar enough to us for us to associate with them. Being different is what makes being a live so amazing, meeting new people who have different thoughts than us and being able to have shared experiences that is life itself. I hope to one day live in this world, and for the sake of all the children like Sophia and Nicolas, and millions other we can move closer to this kind of world soon.

What does Feminism mean to you?