How and Why I'm Taking a Netflix Fast

In my February Goals post, a couple of you noticed and commented on my goal to take a 3-day TV fast + I thought I'd post a little bit about the thoughts that led up to this and how I plan to do it. 

I've never watched a lot of TV or movies. My parents are pretty conservative so I tended to opt out of movie nights or going to the movie theater. I maybe watched an hour of TV every few weeks growing up, if that. But a few years ago....Netflix happened. I'm sure y'all understand--it's a totally different story when you can pick a show and watch it (and as many following episodes as you want) without having to worry about TV schedules or anything like that. 

I really like TV these days. More or less, I think it's harmless. I try not to watch anything too explicit or gory and started watching an episode or two before bed and then another over lunch and then another in the afternoon when I got bored of working and all of a sudden I realized I was easily watching two or three hours of TV a day, or more.

My goal with this is just to "reset" my TV watching habits a little bit. Here's my plan:

1. The fast will go on for three days. This isn't very long, I know, but it's a place to start. 
2. I will not watch any Netflix during these three days. (I say only Netflix because I don't have a TV.)
3. Instead of watching Netflix, I will do something productive--schoolwork, cleaning, exercising.
4. Short videos (like you see on Facebook, under 2-3 minutes or when I'm looking for music for my kickboxing class) are fine.

After the fast, I'll check back in and let you know how it went! Have you ever intentionally taken a fast from any sort of technology? Any tips for me?

Curated Weekly / 13

Let's just say this week has been SO needed after the mess of a few weeks that I've been having. For awhile, I was in a mental spot where anytime anything went wrong, big or small, I'd start crying and be totally incapacitated for the rest of the day. 

Thankfully, life has eased up on me a bit and I've stabilized a bit from that weird phase and everything feels so much better! It was so lovely to see H and his mom when they visited me last weekend. We spent the weekend lounging around and eating so much good food and visiting my favorite spots around town. It didn't last nearly long enough but it made me so happy to see some familiar faces.

This week has also been much more low-key than the last few! I haven't had any exams or big papers so it's been pretty routine around here, which is the way I like things. I've been working in the lab a lot and working out a lot, but that's about it other than normal classes. One fun thing this week is that I started going to the Boxing Club practices! You may know that I am training to teach fitness classes at our gym and one of those is kickboxing, but actual kickboxing is ridiculously different from the dancey sort of cardio kickboxing we do in group fitness. It was really fun to do one-on-one combat and work on my form, but I am embarrassingly sore.

How has your week been?

• A simpler way to whiter teeth. [The Sorority Secrets]
• 5 things to try when you hit a blogging slump. [Jennypurr]
• How to keep track of freelance clients. [Zie Darling]
• How creating a daily schedule helps me get more done. [Allyssa Barnes]
• 8 ways to live a healthier and simpler life [MindBodyGreen]
• Declutter your mind, body and space. [Ember & March]
• 4 ways to be a positive influence in a negative environment. [Sweet Catastrophe]

In case you missed it...

• Getting back into life after being sick
• Finding inspiration for your blog posts
• Recent design: Sprout Blog
• A better way to respond to stress

I've been listening to a whole lot of hymns lately, especially just the general hymns station on Pandora. I especially like to listen to hymns at the end of a long day during a long, hot shower. It usually helps me transition right to bed! If you're also a hymn lover, here's my hymn playlist. Other than that, I've been listening to songs like...

Spirit in the Sky / Norman Greenbaum

Mr. Tambourine Man / The Byrds

Sara / Bob Dylan

This happy Valentine's themed image from Real Simple Magazine's Instagram.

1. Get ahead on everything. This weekend, my church's college ministry is going on a volunteer retreat to fix up a summer camp. The weekends are really when I recuperate from the week and get everything in order so I'll need to make sure I get everything in order before I leave.

2. Get plenty of sleep! I'm not sure how, but for some reason this week, I've been going to bed later and waking up sleepy and that's not a good feeling when you have early classes. I'm not sure if the answer is to get to sleep earlier or to start taking more naps, but I'm going to start playing around with it. I refuse to drink coffee so I have to pay attention to my sleep schedule to make sure I'm rested enough for my morning classes.

How was your week? What are your goals this week?

Handcrafted Gifts for Ladies You Love

In case you're looking for some last minute gift ideas for a mom or friend (or let's be honest, ideas to tell your boyfriend what to get), I've got you covered. Recently, I found an online store called Uncommon Goods that shares unique, handcrafted gifts (I especially love these necklaces!) with the wellbeing of animals and the environment in mind. Uncommon Goods supports a variety of amazing nonprofits like RAINN and Women for Women International. I can get behind that kind of business!

Something I love about Uncommon Goods is that it really has something for every kind of girl. Like just for example, I'm pretty sure I gasped audibly when I saw those his and hers chromosome pillows (bottom right). The design is called a karyotype and it's a way of looking at a person's chromosomes...one pillow has an X and a Y chromosome (for a guy) and one has two Xs for the lady. Those are definitely something that you couldn't find anywhere else!

All of these could make fabulous gifts! Seriously, who wouldn't love a book reminding them why they're awesome?! So whether you're shopping for someone a bit geeky like me, or someone who leans more towards homegoods or someone who likes jewelry or art, I guarantee you will be able to find something they'll like at Uncommon Goods!

What would you buy at Uncommon Goods (or like to receive!)?

This post was brought to you in collaboration with Uncommon Goods. Thank you for supporting brands that support Call Me Sassafras!

Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week

I'm not always the best at being kind to people, especially strangers, but it's something I really, really believe in working towards. There's a quote that I've always loved: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" (generally attributed to Ian Maclaren). I know there have been so many times where I've been having a really tough day or week or month and one person's kindness can pick me up and be a shining bright spot in that day. Sometimes, being that spot of sunshine only takes a minute or two of our time. Why don't we look for more ways to be kind then?

This week, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is hosting an entire week dedicated to encouraging simple, selfless kindness. But aside from helping others, being kind is good for you. It's shown that being kind to others reduces the effects of anxiety and depression, enhances overall wellbeing, increases energy and even reduces blood pressure. How cool is that?!

Even better, being kind to others tends to start a sequence of people being thoughtful and respectful to each other. Your single act of kindness seriously starts a chain reaction towards a happier world. Here are 10 ideas from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation on how you can make a difference this week (and come on guys, every week).

The website has lots more ideas for ways you can be kind to others at home, at work, at school and even on a college campus (yeah!) and ways to be kinder to yourself.

How will you be kinder today--to yourself, to friends, to strangers?!