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The Well-Edited Purse: A Cautionary Tale

Those who know me well know that I often pride myself on being able to juggle most of the balls at any given time, with hopefully a dash of grace thrown in along the way. It's how I try to marry style and function in my everyday life.

However a few weeks ago I dropped a ball in a big way. While trying to rent a car the customer service rep kindly asked me for my "new" driver's license while holding my current one. I gave him a puzzled look but proceeded to dig through my wallet and the rest of my purse to find my "new" license. Turns out my most current driver's license had expired nearly five months ago! As a result they, of course, couldn't rent me a car. Big miss!

Luckily I went home and renewed my license online and was able to rent the car the next day. Crisis averted. (I was only renting the car because of a minor car accident which was someone else's fault). However, it got me thinking how I could have had such a big miss, and that perhaps I was overdue for a purse audit and edit.

So what do I, or most of us for that matter, really need to carry in our bag? Here's what I've edited mine down to:

• Small wallet - for organizing credit cards, loyalty cards, cash and a "new" non-expired driver's license
• Checkbook - yes, I know it's old fashioned but more times then not, as soon as I don't have it I need it, and this way I always have a pen when I need it too
• Pill box - most days are not the same for me so by having my vitamins stashed in a stylish case and always with me I'm more likely to take them
• Business cards - as a designer and business owner wherever I go my brand is front of mind and I'm always looking for new ways to connect and grow so these are a must
• Lipgloss - three different shades - I don't think I need to say anymore!
• Keys - swimming around at the bottom are a couple of sets of car and house keys, in need of some new key rings (note to self!)
• Hand sanitizer - essential for this clean freak
• Tissues - I am a mom after all

This may be too minimalist for some, but I've never been a big believer in the prepared-for-anything approach to purse management. That's what cars are for! (You should see my glove box!) But remember minimalist doesn't have to mean boring. And if you need a little style inspiration check our purse accessories board on Pinterest.

Are you ready for gift giving season?

Like it or not it is gift giving season. Okay, maybe it's not the gift giving season. The one with weeks of preparation, crowded malls, long gift lists and lots of red. But, according to our friends at Hallmark, Mother's Day alone makes May the second biggest gift-giving holiday behind Christmas.

Gift Giving Frenzy, Part 2
And that data point does not even take into account baby showers and graduations that often fill up our calendars this time of year and have us frantically looking for just the right gifts for these celebrations. Toss a few birthdays into the mix (I have five in my extended family in the next four weeks!) and it can start to feel like the December frenzy Spring-edition.

Gift Giving Survival
So how do you make sure everyone gets an appropriate gift for each occasion and you get to keep your sanity? Well many of the tips that help us manage the December holiday season apply here as well.

Get organized. Collect all the invitations in one location so you can easily get everything on your calendar and send your RSVPs in a timely manner.

Make a list. Create a week by week list of the occasions, any gift ideas that you have right now and where you might shop for any of the gifts.

Set a budget. Just like during the holidays, all this concentrated gift giving can start to add up. So decide early on what you want to / can spend on each occasion and stick to it.

Start shopping! The earlier you start the better. Maybe you can buy a couple of gifts online and save on shipping by grouping them together. Or look for gift bundles as ways to save as well. Often items grouped together are available at a savings over buying them individually. If you can't shop for everything online, then be sure to plan your offline shopping trips so you can look for several gifts in one store or shopping area and save on time and energy.

Now sit back and relax because you've got this whole gift giving thing covered!

The One Stop Gift Spot for Mother's Day Gift Ideas

It's not panic time yet. After all Mother's Day is mercifully still more than a week away. So there's still time to find the right gift for all the moms on your list you're celebrating on May 10th. To help inspire you we've compiled some great ideas and lists for every type of mom on your list - with a expected emphasis on gifts that marry style and function.

For the stylishly luxe mom - High-style gift suggestions from Net-A-Porter all under $100

For the active mom - Creative ideas that help feed her passion whether it be cooking, gardening, or even just enjoying a great glass of vino

For the stylishly practical mom - An inspiring and vibrantly colored selection of gifts (and few brunch ideas too) that will please most any mom - from pregnancy, to parenthood and beyond

For the mom of small children - A humorous, yet quite accurate take on low cost and no cost gifts that moms of young children will really appreciate!

For the mom-to-be - Pampering gift ideas to recognize the hard-work that comes before you're even officially a mom 

Finding Inspiration Among Your To-Dos

Your mom probably encouraged you to 'think of those less fortunate and find ways to help,' right? I know my mom did. But in our ever-busy lives it's all too easy to forget this maxim and focus on checking just a few more items off our daily to-do lists. I get caught up in this all the time!

But this week was a little different. Not just one, but a couple of opportunities presented themselves where just a small action and sacrifice of time could make a positive impact on several people's lives, and maybe lighten their load for just a moment.

Of course my ever growing to-do list did its best to sidetrack me and make me feel like I wasn't accomplishing enough. Grocery shopping, laundry, work and even blog writing threatened to derail my commitment, but I kept coming back to that mom missive from years ago and decided to double down on my commitments. I re-prioritized my to-do list and made these acts of support part of what I could accomplish this week.

While hopefully the people I reached out to this week felt supported and their spirits were brightened with the knowledge that someone else cares, I too benefited in so many ways. I had authentic conversations with my young daughter on helping others, and I too felt comforted and reminded that there is a community out there of passionate people who do care and are committed to helping others - just like moms everywhere encouraged. Well done Moms. See we were listening!

Live life Inspired! 

Allergy Relief - 7 Tips to Manage Seasonal Allergies On-the-Go

Happy to see spring but suffering from seasonal allergies? We are too! We had our first 80 degree day earlier this week, which is very welcome after the brutally cold winter we just had. However, with the daffodils, tulips and tree buds come itchy nose and skin, watery eyes, etc. The downside of spring. As a result we're relying on our allergy medicine to help us cope and wondering what else we can do.

Here's seven other things we can all do to manage our allergies around the clock and throughout the season...

1. Start Early - Start taking allergy medication as soon as the pollen counts start to rise. A Best Health magazine article cites a doctor that says that "Once the symptoms have started, they’re harder to control.”
   
2. Close Windows - Pollen levels are highest in the morning so keep the windows closed especially during the AM
3. Shower in the Evening - Pollen clings to you and your clothes so after spending time outside toss your clothes in the laundry and jump in the shower for a rinse off
4. Recirculate the Air - At home or in the car, set your air conditioner to recirculate the air rather than drawing in pollen-laden air
5. Wrap Yourself In Style - Don the stylish sunglasses and wide brimmed hat to reduce the amount of pollen that ends up on you or in your eyes
6. Stay Consistent - Keep your allergy medication close at hand and remember to take it daily
7. Bonus Points - Help yourself by preloading your allergy medicine in a Style Rx to make sure you always have your medicine with you and remember take it daily. You'll look and feel better for it!

Wrap Up Your Mother's Day Shopping Today

Let's face it. Many of us are blessed. We're blessed with a mom, maybe a mother-in-law, great girlfriends, daughters, co-workers. We love them and we want them around for as long as possible so we want them to take care of themselves. For many of us - including the great women in our lives - that means taking a daily vitamin or other supplement or even medication each day.

So just in time for Mother's Day, graduation and baby shower season Inspired by Dawn is introducing the Style Rx Gift Giving Bundle. Choose a pair of Style Rx pill box cases in the Inspiration or Les Fleurs de Midnight custom designs or choose one of each design for the uniquely inspired women on your gift list this season, all for one special gift giving price. Each purchase comes wrapped in Inspired by Dawn signature packaging and for a limited time ships complimentary to you within the continental U.S. Shop now and check a couple of gifts off of your list.

Secret Recipe to Eat Healthy, Save Time & Look Your Best!

No matter our age we all want to look our best. We want to look and feel vibrant and healthy. But we all have pretty full lives that often reduce meals to something grab and go, and all too often processed and vitamin-deficient. So today we've compiled some motivation and tips on how to build healthier eating into our lives.

First there's a recent article from The Huffington Post on the the five vitamins to eat for minimizing the effects of aging. As expected it prescribes daily doses of whole foods in our diet. Of course!

So to make that more palatable, we tracked down a smoothie recipe from the blog Little Spice Jar that incorporates four out of those five anti-aging vitamins into one glass. I make one similar to this for my family and my five year old begs me to make it at least once a week.

And on the subject of family and eating here are a couple of ways that I help make sure we eat well each week:

• Sit down (with a glass of wine and/or in front of the tv) with a calendar and figure out the number of nights that week you think you or your partner could manage to get a meal on the table. Remember to take into account piano lessons, soccer practices and client dinners.
• Next start plugging in some of your household's favorite recipes (taco salad one night, slow cooker chicken)
• Once you have your menu planned out figure out what ingredients you need to quickly prep each dinner
• Finally - and this is my best tip - find a grocery store that will do the shopping for you. Many of them will shop from your list each week for a minimal fee (usually between $5 and $10!) and either have it ready for pick up or delivered to your door at a time that fits your schedule! Most of us easily spend an hour a week shopping for groceries, and whose time is not worth more than $5 or $10? Trust me you'll find that you will spend less on groceries, you'll eat better, feel better and gain time back in your busy week. That's a win all around!

Cheers to One More Great Reason to Enjoy a Glass of Red!

Okay, it's almost the weekend. It's Friday! You've been on the go all week, you've worked, shuttled, cooked, cleaned, paid bills, etc., etc. and finally, maybe, just maybe you can squeeze in a bit of "me time". For how many of us does our "me time" include a glass a wine? Judging from me and my friends I would say a good majority. Nothing beats a good glass of wine (or two!) and a great movie on a Friday night. 

And for once, that little indulgence that most of us enjoy so much is actually good for us - in moderation of course. We've heard before how red wine can be good for our heart and brain, but this week the magazine Real Simple (one of my favorites) took it to a whole new level. They tweeted out a link to an article that says early research shows that wine may help burn fat! It's only proven in mice so far but here's hoping. Cheers to that!

Take Charge of Your Health with Positive Thought

We're all busy. We have very full lives filled with work (at the office or at home), kids, spouses / significant others, parents, etc. And once again it's so easy to get lost in all this busy-ness that we lose touch with our own physical, mental and emotional health. However, we came across a great article this week that once again reminds us that we have the power to manage our health beyond just eating well, exercising and taking our vitamins, but by also managing our approach to life, e.g. positive thinking.

There's a "growing body of research in psychology, medicine and public health" that "is demonstrating the health benefit of positive emotions and their effect on physical health."

Here's a quick cheat sheet but be sure the check out the full Huffington Post article.

Position Your Oxygen Mask First

 

At Inspired by Dawn we've dedicated the month of March to focusing on letting go of our Winter ways and making sure we're our best selves in the months ahead. As we suggested last week part of that is taking stock of what we might want / need to change to be ready to enjoy an active and healthy spring.

This week we're turning our attention to giving yourself permission to put your needs before others. As wives, mothers, partners, girlfriends, daughters we often default to taking care of everyone around us first and then looking after ourselves. However, as we've all heard many times before, and maybe occasionally experienced, often the best way to care for others is to care for ourselves first. It's the whole position your oxygen mask first idea. If you don't address your own needs first you may not have the resources you need to help those you care about the most.

That's why it's important to figure what you need to feel whole and make time to do it. Schedule into your day and/or week the things that matter most to you and make them a priority. Whether it's a trip to the gym or yoga class, your book club gathering, meditation, phone call with a friend, bubble bath - whatever it may be - make it happen. Take care of you so you can be the best you!