🛑 Procrastinators Only!

Vincent Van Gogh died on this day in 1890. His ugliest masterpiece, unpacked, may help you to love his other pieces even more. 🌻

In today’s issue, the good, the bad, and the ugly:

• The Good: Swimsuit and Coverup pairs

• The Bad: Procrastinate much? 😬 We’ve got you.

• The Ugly: Scammy dopes and sugary cokes.

FASHION: It’s not too late to up your vacay fashion game. 👙 A lot of ladies (and their fam) do their vacation in August or early September. Feel great and surprise your husband with a new suit and cover-up. Here’s a modern-print one-piece and matching coverup, a feminine floral with a guazy cotton cover-up, or a retro one-shoulder with matching cover-up.

Don’t forget a hat! (A drool-worthy splurge and classic save option.)

PRODUCTIVITY: We all do it — that self sabotage game of procrastination. 🥴 How to break the cycle? Dr. Andrew Huberman says do something more unpleasant and leverage the “post-pain dopamine rebound”. This psychologist recommends mindfulness. Another writer uses this trick for writing block.

Is your laundry pile touching the ceiling, and you need a kick in the productivity pants?

• For Setting the Tone: Wake up before your kids, not to them. Get some quiet, non-screen time in to collect your thoughts.

• For Housework: Create a cleaning schedule loop. Instead of having specific jobs for a specific day, you keep tidy with a list that rolls over on a loop.

• For Realistic Expectations: Take a time inventory. Most of our failures have to do with our overestimation of a task’s time or flitting from one task to another. Set a timer and see how long it really takes to tackle a load of laundry.

• For Motivation: Schedule in leisure so you’re more motivated to work. Remember, “effortful before the effortless.”

• For Longevity. The one thing that can boost our mood, decrease disease, stay at a healthy weight, reduce stress? Sleep. Morning You will thank Evening You.

We’re the heart of our homes. Burn out is not the goal. A completed to-do list is not the goal. Sacrificing relationships for a clean home is not the goal.

A sustainable, well-run home with a content wife/mother/friend and husband is the end-goal.

PREPAREDNESS: Elder fraud is no joke and it’s sprouting faster than our grays! You know what grandpa always says: the best defense is a good offense. Arm yourself with knowledge. The top 12 plays they’ve been seeing include the needy grandchild scam, the technology scam (this one almost got me!), and the government imposter scam.

Prep your loved ones. Encourage them to let unknown numbers go to voicemail or do a credit freeze. Anti-fraud tools don’t hurt, too. Above all, avoid the shame game. 🙅🏾

HEALTH: Not so sweet! The WHO recently placed aspartame, the artificial sweetener commonly found in diet sodas, ice cream, and gum, in category 2B. What’s that mean, exactly? The WHO has said that aspartame is “possibly carcinogenic” and can lead to cancer of the liver. 👨‍⚕️

Not everyone is convinced, though. The FDA and a second panel within the WHO think these latest studies lack sufficient evidence. All this from the folks who created the food pyramid, oxy contin, and — dare I say it — the jab. 💉 So, where does this leave us? In need of more in-depth and long-term studies — especially studies independent from “Big Food” and “Big Soda”.

• A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting — Pride and Prejudice meets Beach Read. Positively stimulating.

• How to decorate with color. 🎨

• Get that foundation out of your clothing.  🧼

• “Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: It snatches away each day as it comes and denies us the present by promising the future.” Seneca with the 🎤 drop

“Let me hear your lovingkindness in the morning;

For I trust in You;

Teach me the way in which I should walk;

For to you I lift up my soul.” — Psalm 143:8

SUNDAY: Ina’s Summer Garden Pasta 

MONDAY: Slow Cooker Al Pastor Bowl

TUESDAY: Tacos, always.

WEDNESDAY: Grill day! Try citrusy Carne Asada with broccoli

THURSDAY: Grown-up Gourmet Hot Dogs

FRIDAY: Hot Honey Crispy Salmon Bowls

SATURDAY: Brunch it! Chia Seed Pudding and Oat Waffles

Y’all, we love hearing from you!

Thanks so much for sharing, Gabrielle! Now I’m off to get my own bedroom in order. Will I be justified in purchasing dreamy new nightstands? Stay tuned— I’m sure Mr6am will let us know ;).