First 6 Months With A Puppy: Puppy Blues, Extra Cuddles, And Cross Country Move

Tomorrow (November 19th) is our 6 month anniversary with Chauncey as our third wheel, third roommate, third member of our little family. He is vivacious, hilarious, and a handful.

Looking back at the last 6 months, the word I would most use to describe this time in our lives would be “dynamic.” Any time we think that we have our handle on puppy parenthood there’s a new twist or mountain or behavior we have to help him unlearn or learn.

The draw for a puppy is the love you know that will unconditionally come with the little one. Chauncey is the cuddliest puppy that has ever been mine. I grew up with a Maltese who made it clear that she loved you, but who appreciated her personal space more than she wanted cuddles. Chauncey is the exact opposite. He wants to be on top of you all.the.time.

blog, wellnessVivian NunezNovember 18, 2020puppy parent, puppy blues, new puppyComment

Reading Double: The Gifts of Imperfection And The Alchemist

Recently I realized that I tend to read books in pairs. The habit is helpful in making sure that I don’t get bored halfway through and abandon a book. It also helps lighten the mood if the book I am reading is heavier or more dense.

In the case of my latest pairing I was pretty intentional. Going in to starting The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown, I knew that Brown’s writing style would be story-led but also have a layer of research in it that could feel dense to me if I was only reading that. Enter: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

blog, wellness, personal growthVivian NunezNovember 13, 2020books, wellness, brene brown, the gifts of imperfection, the alchemist, goodreads, book pairComment

Setting Up A New Work From Home Space

We’ve officially been in Portland for almost four weeks now. Since then we’ve managed to buy so much and forget even more. I was making macaroni and cheese during our second week here and spent most of it jotting down all the kitchen items I’d realized I didn’t have to make mac and cheese with.

Given that this move is the first time I’ve ever left my hometown of NYC, for me it’s made up of a lot of firsts. It’s been a unique experience that it’s all also happening under the umbrella of a global pandemic because not only do we want to create a space that screams “comfy home”, but we also want to make it functional as a workspace.

blog, wellnessVivian NunezOctober 26, 2020wellness, ergonomic, work from home, mental health, mental wellness, freelancer, self employedComment

13 Amazon Prime Day Deals To Support Your Self-Care and Wellness Routines

I’m a big believer that building a self-care routine that makes sense for your life is way more important than buying one-off items that are on trend or only have a one-time use. For instance, I find that having a humidifier in your home that makes it easier for you to breathe can actually help your quality of life exponentially. It may not be the sexiest product, but in a time when we’re spending most of our days indoors and especially as we get closer to the drier, colder months, added items like a humidifier can be the difference-makers between a good day and a dreadful one.

I spent some time on Amazon searching for Prime Day deals that would add more to your days than just the adrenaline rush of buying something new (although, I admit there were a few items that did just that for me).

My goal when compiling this list rested on a few factors — price, long-term use potential, and where and how it could incorporate into your existing self-care routine or help you start a new one.

blog, wellness, lifestyleVivian NunezOctober 14, 2020amazon, amazon prime day, mental health, mental wellness, self-care, self-love, wellness, therapy, at home therapyComment

The Month To Month Breakdown Of Planning Our Move During A Pandemic

Planning a big move in the middle of a pandemic is not how I had foreseen us moving. I always thought that if we left the city, it would be a moment for us. We would be able to have some version of a going away party. We would have a list of things to do in NYC and wouldn’t have to consider what was open for business and what wasn’t. But like most things in 2020, moving has required us to adjust to the reality we actually live in, instead of the one we wish we did.

While we don’t leave for a few more weeks, what has helped us not feel completely rattled by our circumstances is how much research we’ve been doing about big moves in general and big moves during a pandemic in specific.

blog, wellnessVivian NunezSeptember 1, 2020Comment

3 Home Decorating Tips That Can Help Your Mental Health

At some point in March or April, it became hard to ignore that the two week stay at home order we were under in NYC wasn’t going to only last two weeks. We were in this for the long haul and the fact that it’s August and not much has changed in our work-living arrangement proves this.

I went into quarantine knowing that it would impact my anxiety and that some days would be harder to get myself out of bed. I’ve always struggled with motivating myself to go outside after nesting too long - it’s like my brain tells me the inside world is safer anyway, so why try.

I’ve been working on getting a better relationship with my mental health during quarantine and a big part of this was developing a healthier relationship with our home.

blog, wellnessVivian NunezAugust 25, 2020Comment