Tips To Have A Stress Free Thanksgiving + Holiday! Plus Discount Codes!

First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I'm so grateful for each of you and this amazing digital community we've built. The arrival of Thanksgiving means the holidays are officially here – a time of year that’s known for its busy nature that can lead to quite a bit of stress.  But I'm going to ask you NOT TO STRESS. I know, I know easier said than done. I'm sure y'all have several party invitations collecting on your kitchen counter, a long list of people you need to send holiday cards to, and the daunting task of braving the mall crowds to find gifts for your loved ones.  All of this, on top of your normal every day life and trying to stay a little bit healthy.  It can be overwhelming to say the least. But you all know the impact of stress on the body is so detrimental. That's why I wanted to share some of my personal favorite ways to navigate this busy time of year and make this season a lot more enjoyable, less stressful and a time you will remember with fond memories. Here are my top tips: Put forth great effort to be present.  It can be difficult, I know.  It’s almost a reflex to pick up our phones and scroll through Instagram when we have a free moment.  One way I like to completely dodge this is to just leave my phone in another room.  Don’t even allow yourself the temptation to pick up your phone and disengage from communicating with your love ones.  When I’m feeling particularly scatter-brained, what really helps ground me is focusing on my senses.  What do I smell?  What do I hear?  What do I feel?  Stopping and thinking through what’s going on around you at that very moment really brings you into the present moment unlike anything else.  It’s a wonderful tool to use to dial in and be present – and is a great tool to use year-round, not just during the holidays! It's all about mindfulness! Give up those expectations.  A lot of the stress we put on ourselves this season lies in the notion that we expect things to be perfect.  That’d be lovely, of course – but putting your entire extended family in one house is bound to have something go awry.  Therefore, dropping the expectations of perfection will allow you to be prepared for when something may spring up.  There is joy to be found in each situation, so even when things don’t go exactly as planned – spend your energy finding gratitude in your circumstances and enjoying as much of your time as you possibly can.  Tis the season! Maintain your health routine as much as possible. If you get up in the morning to meditate, try to continue that throughout the holiday season. Love your morning smoothie? Just get up that extra 5 minutes early even on days you have off to make it! Take enzymes with every meal? Continue doing so, your digestion will thank you. It's important to maintain a sense of normalcy so that your body doesn't fall out of a routine and can continue performing at an optimal level. Find time to move.  It’s incredibly important to keep movement in your schedule, no matter how busy you may feel.  Even if it’s just a brisk walk after lunch or dinner – make it a habit to bundle up in your favorite scarf and winter coat to go for a walk to clear your mind.  Be sure that you are getting your time outside in nature, breathing in fresh air, while burning off some calories and keeping your heart rate up.  What are your favorite ways to move? I recently joined Equinox so I am living it up and going every chance I get! Drink your collagen. I know this sounds kinda crazy, but you need to pay extra attention to your gut health when you're busy / stressed and collagen is the perfect way to do that. It helps maintain gut health as well as gives you beautiful hair, skin and nails. Win-win. Click here for my favorite collagen.

I C Y M I

In Case You Missed It....

I have a new YouTube video live! I partnered with Sweetgreen and Milk and Eggs to host an amazing Friendsgiving celebration. It was such a special night full of love and laughter and delicious food! We even had a surprise activity - watch the video to find out what it was! (Also, Milk and Eggs is offering you all 40% off your first order - click here to get your discount!) And for all my OG planner girls - the beginning of the video is a haul of my new Bullet Journal supplies! Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so grateful for you all! Mae xx

FRIENDSGIVING 2017!

I'm feeling extra grateful today.....

not only for this bunch of people in the photo but for you all 

and for all the brands that make what I do possible. 

As you may know, social media is not my job. It's just a super fun creative outlet that I'm so lucky to have. I hope to use it to do good and build community. 

I was so fortunate to partner with the team at Sweetgreen to host my very own Friendsgiving with some of my favorite people. We had an incredible meal (hello curried cauliflower and roasted brussel sprouts!) at the Sweetgreen at Platform LA in Culver City. It was amazing! Sweetgreen is one of my favorite restaurants - it's fast and healthy. I couldn't ask for anything more. They have so many organic options and their seasonal salad menu changes which means they're using local and fresh ingredients. LOVE.

The team at Milk and Eggs provided the most incredible brownies from Bertha Mae's. If you've never tried Milk and Eggs - you must. There is nothing better than ordering groceries from your couch and having them delivered straight to your front door. Plus, they offer so many organic options - it's like getting the best of the Farmers Market delivered to you without having to leave home! Win-win.

And you can get 40% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER! Click here to shop!

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with amazing brands who support (and spoil!) influencers and who allow me to spread the love and share with my friends.

My friends are my family away from home here in Los Angeles and I'm so thankful to be able to spend a little time celebrating with them. We had a really fun activity too! Check out my YouTube video below to see what we did during Friendsgiving 2017!

And I'm so thankful for you all as well. I wouldn't have these opportunities without your support. Thank you for watching my videos, interacting with me on Instagram and for your endless recommendations and advice! You guys are my digital family and I am so blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are surrounded by much love + goodness

PS. If you're one of my original planner girls, you'll definitely want to check out my Friendsgiving vlog below because there's a Bullet Journal Haul at the beginning!!

Happy Thanksgiving! And….Black Friday + Cyber Monday Sales!

Yayyyy! This is my most favorite time of year. This is my second Thanksgiving back in the US after living abroad for a few years and I'm just so grateful….to be close to family, to have a super-fun business, and to get to do some really cool things with this blog [two HUGE giveaways coming up in the next two weeks!] Thank you all for your continued support, for popping in and reading this little ol' blog of mine, and for interacting with me on social media. I'm grateful for each of you!

Ok, now on to the fun. I don't usually venture out for the Black Friday sales. I'm having a quite-ish Thanksgiving dinner with my family and about 15 of our closest family friends. Things have been just so crazy busy lately that I'm looking forward to a day or two of calm so absolutely no in-store sales for me. But, I've already started making my list for online shopping. Because really, that's the best kind. Here's a round-up of all the sales I've found so far. Keep checking back, I'll update as necessary!

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Shopping! xoxoxo

ASOS:  20% off everything with code: GIMME20 (ends December 2nd) and 30% off everything with code: GIMMEMORE (ends December 4th).

BaubleBar: BaubleBar‘s big Black Friday Sale has some amazing deals: 15% off 2 items with code FRIDAY15, 25% off 3 items with code FRIDAY25, and 35% off 4+ items with code FRIDAY35.  (It will run all weekend from 11/29 (midnight) through Sunday 12/1.)  On Cyber Monday, Take 20% off site-wide with code CYBER20 or play our Cyber Smash game for a chance to win even bigger prizes – like $100 off!

Bloomingdale’s: Take $25 off almost every $200 you spend, and up to 50% off clothes and accessories, plus 30% off bags (ends December 1st).

EXPRESS: 50% off every single item until noon on Friday!

Gap: Take 20% off your entire purchase online with code, GAPLOVE.  And everything in store on Black Friday will be 50% OFF!

J.Crew: Everything! Online and In-Store is 30% off with code HOLIDAY.

J. Crew Factory: Everything! Online and In-Store is 50% off and free shipping over $50 with code HOLIDAY50

Scoop NYC:  Scoop is offering 25% off everything in stores and online.

Shopbop and East Dane: Save 15% when you spend $250, 20% when you spend $500, and a whopping 25% when you spend $1,000 on Shopbop and East Dane from Tuesday (Nov. 26) through Cyber Monday.

West Elm:  This is my home decor heaven, I want it all. This is great deal because West Elm rarely puts their entire site on sale!  Spend $100+, save 10%; spend $250, save 15%’ spend $500, save 20%, spend $1000, save 25%, with code STOCKUP.

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I type this from the comfort of home, surrounded by so many people (and things) I love, 

I'm reminded of just a few of the many, many things I'm thankful for:

1. family, obviously
2. leopard print & gold glitter
3. my hometown during football season where I can shamelessly wear orange multiple times a week
4. the ability to recognize and learn lessons (not always in a timely fashion, but still...)
5. finally finding my passion
6. a tremendously luxe, plush, cloud-like bed
7. my iPhone & WhatsApp for allowing me to communicate with my favorite people around the globe
8. faith, hope, strength, comfort & peace
9. mascara

And of course I'm so grateful for you all! Your support, comments, and inspiration have impacted my life in so many ways! I feel so fortunate to be surrounded with love and family, as always. Last year I was celebrating Thanksgiving with my dearest friends in the Middle East and this year I'm in the heart of the South with my family. 

Wishing you and yours a day and season of all the best! 

Enjoy that turkey! xx

{ps}:

Visit My Shop for an incredible Black Friday special starting Thursday at Midnight. 

You won't want to miss this -- stunning jewelry on major sale. 

Thanksgiving Table Inspiration

For those of you doing a little last minute Thanksgiving prep and planning, I wanted to share some of my favorite tablescapes for the big day. Whether it's non-traditional and colorful or simple and clean or classical and rich tones, these tables are amazing. Such beautiful inspiration!

Show me your table! 

Instagram a picture and tag me @maebad

Just a few more days!

hope you're surrounded by love, relaxation & food for the rest of the week!

xx

Happy Thanksgiving!

thank you for your inspiration, encouragement and friendship!

hope your day is filled with gratitude, warmth and cheer

Happy Thanksgiving!

xx

vegetarian thanksgiving {and links a la mode!}

I just gotta say...there's a lot going on over here today!

You guys, I missed that I was selected for IFB's Links a la Mode on 3 November! (This not having a laptop thing is really messing with me! I'm totally out of the loop.)  Such an honor!  Thanks, IFB!  I'm really sorry I didn't get a chance to publish the whole list, so I'm trying to get the code so I can make up for it.  Stay tuned.

And, I really wanted to share some vegetarian Thanksgiving recipes with you all too just in case you need some last minute ideas!


Some of you may have seen my tweets about going vegan.

(I shouldn't make such bold claims because I'm still occasionally eating fish, but hey I'm trying!)

So far, it's been easy enough but what's a girl to do for Thanksgiving?!

I started doing some research, 

there's a lot of options for a vegetarian Thanksgiving feast!

The full recipes for all these dishes are over at the NY Times

I realize they're not fully vegan, but baby steps right?


And even if you're not vegetarian, these would still make 
fabulous side dishes for the star of your show, the turkey.

I'll be celebrating on Saturday and luckily 

my dear friend/the hostess is vegetarian, so I know I'll be covered!

What are your favorite Thanksgiving dishes?

Any other vegetarians/vegans out there?

Hope these recipes help for all of you 
doing your last minute cooking & prep!
xx

Also, come visit me at the lovely Viviana's blog, Fashion Truffles, today!

I'm sharing some party dresses & fabulous hostess gift ideas

Here's a preview:

Linked: Tasty Tuesdays

a menagerie of love, thanks & happiness

Happy Monday dears & welcome to today's big love fest.  It's Thanksgiving week...just the thought puts a smile on my face.   Today, I'm taking the chance to share all the things I'm thankful for, most important of which is my family.  I hope you get to spend this weekend surrounded by your loved ones and lots of laughter.  


It's nice to stop and appreciate all the blessings in my life, especially this week but always really.  Such a wonderful reminder that even though things are a bit stressful at the moment (preparing to move across the world!)  there's still so much fun and happiness to be had all around me.  Sometimes, it's just the little things...

And finally, a quick update:  As I mentioned, I'm returning to America!  There are no words to describe how excited I am, but that also means a lot of work ahead.  Luckily, I have an amazing group of guest bloggers who will be popping in over the next month or so.  I'm so grateful to these lovely ladies for sharing their creativity here.   I know you'll love them as much as I do.  So, be on the look-out for a few guest posts here & there.  They start this week!

What's making you happy lately?
What are you grateful for this year?

Happy Thanksgiving week!

xx


{ps}:
Come visit me over at  Urban Bedou Girl 
where I'm guest posting today while the gorgeous Amanne 
is on my side of the world in Dubai for the holidays! 
Lucky girl.  
Here's a peek at what's going on over there:

{the rich textures, the bold colors...the Middle East is so inspiring!}

{thanksgiving} nail art

I must say, I'm not the biggest fan of all the crazy nail art I've been seeing around lately.   It's a bit much.  I'm not quite sure what came over me but when I saw these nail art designs on Refinery 29, I loved them!  I'm feeling the Thanksgiving spirit, and these just fit right in!

{The full tutorials are over on Refinery 29!}

{it's much more likely that I'll try one of these designs first...}

What do you think of this nail art trend?

Will you be sporting it for Thanksgiving?

If you do,  send me a photo...I would love to see it!

One week til T-Day!

xx

{wear that room} gold & lucite

Because it's November and because I miss my family, all I seem to think about lately is Thanksgiving.  It's one of my favorite holidays as it always meant one thing: a weekend with my favorite people.  (And, food and football...obviously.)  Although I won't be back in the US in time for Thanksgiving, we Americans on this side of the world are having a little celebration in honor of this wonderful holiday.  So today's wear that room features a bit of dreaming.  If I had an Upper East Side apartment with that dining room, I would transform it into this outfit for Thanksgiving dinner.

What will you be wearing for Thanksgiving dinner this year?

I'll be featuring a few more Thanksgiving posts

in the next few weeks before the big day

I'm really so grateful to you all

for your support of this little blog,

xx

{ps}:

How amazing is my latest giveaway?!

Be sure to enter, it's the perfect necklace for the holidays!