10 Things I Can't Live Without

For awhile now, I’ve been thinking of upgrading one of my belongings (mentioned in #3). Part of my justification for wanting to take the leap into making this particular upgrade was how much easier it would make my life. How the time saved working on all of the various projects I work on would be worth the financial hit. This caused my mind to wander and think of other things that enhance my life and are pretty much vital.

Without further ado… here are 10 things I couldn’t live without.

(Disclaimer: The following list is in no particular order and does not mention people. This is a list of things. Ted, my family and friends rank much higher than any “things” ever could.)

1.Caffeine

Give me all of the caffeine. It used to just be pop, specifically Mountain Dew, that I survived off of and now I’m becoming a bit of a coffee-snob as well. If I’m purchasing my coffee, I prefer Dunkin Donuts. However, if I’m making it at home (by making I mean using the Keurig.. All about efficiency here), I prefer the Starbucks breakfast blend with a heavy pour of Coffee-Mate french vanilla creamer. I didn’t realize how picky I was with my hot coffee until I left my coffee cup at home one time and was forced into used the coffee and creamer at the office. Let’s just say that was not a good morning.

2. My Planner

I don’t go anywhere without my planner if there’s the slightest chance I’ll need it. My entire life is in there. Some people get really surprised that I’m so reliant on it with the option of mobile calendars but there’s something therapeutic about physically crossing tasks off your lists and being able to write your schedule down. For the last three years I have been ordering life planners from Erin Condren. If you’re type-A, have OCD tendencies.. This planner is your dream come true. They’re just amazing and they’ve thought of everything you could want in a planner. I can feel a wave of serenity come over me when I get it in the mail. I get anxiety knowing I have tasks that I can’t put in my planner for the following year until it comes in. I recently made the switch to a monthly deluxe planner because other than a few tasks, I can get by with just seeing the month view and don’t need the weekly breakdown. Plus, it saves me from having to write everything down twice. I couldn’t not do that with the other ones.. It would drive me nuts to leave the weekly planner blank if there was something on the monthly view!

3. Apple Products

Yepp, I’m one of “those” people. I watch the Keynote every year and I’m “all in” for Apple. Current crisis.. Wanting to take advantage of the financing deal they have going on to upgrade my Macbook. My current one is working fine, but the editing software I use is outgrowing the current processor of my nearly 10-year old Macbook. If you are familiar with the term “rainbow wheel of death”, you know that after too many rainbow wheels, it’s time for an upgrade. An external hard drive can only help you avoid the inevitable for some time. Plus.. have you seen the new beauts?!

4. My bed

Sleepy people unite! There are definitely days when I could (and have) stayed in bed all day. When you are super busy, you need a place of peace to escape to. A Netflix binge can be a cure-all for those days when you’re struggling to accept that all your work will be worth it one day. Queen size or larger too.. I have to be able to sprawl out or turn my bed into a home-office if needed.

5. Music

What would any of us do without music.. Honestly? Music is just all-around good for the soul. There’s music for every type of mood you can be in and lyrics that find a way to say exactly what you can’t find words for. My personal preference is all over the board. There are days when I listen to nothing but Nicki Minaj.. Other days, I’m jamming to Bon Jovi. It’s also extremely common for me to bounce from either of those to Disney and not skip a beat. No matter what your preference, no one can deny the value of music.

6. Hair Ties

You might be thinking.. Really? Of all things to not be able to live without this is on your list? Yupp. I’m one of those people that NEED to be able to pull my hair up. I always have a hair tie on my wrist just in case. I feel naked or lost without one. My hair is pretty long and my fellow long-hair ladies (and gents!) know that sometimes it’s annoying. Sometimes you want to cut it all off (but not really) so a hair ties is your savior! Plus, I happen to love a good updo.

7. Lotion

I just can’t stand dry skin! As soon as I hop out of the shower I need my body and face lotion or I’ll want to crawl out of my skin. I try to always carry hand lotion with me. We hand wash all of our glassware at Recon and it is KILLER on your hands. A lot of public restroom soaps dry your hands out too. Drives me nuts! I even have lotion that I use for my feet. I hate gross feet and, more often than not, gross feet come with lots of dry skin. It makes your feet really sensitive and I can’t walk over rocks barefoot without cringing, but I’d rather cringe than have dry skin. Don't get me wrong, I still get dry skin but I do everything in my power to prevent and heal it!

8. Steak

Sorry, vegetarians. When people ask, “If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?” Steak is always one of my top choices. Favorite cut? Filet mignon. Temperature? Medium rare. It’s just good. The test of a good steak for me is not needing to put any sauce on it. I used to love steak sauce until I had a perfectly cooked steak. No steak sauce was needed. It was awesome.

9. Shoes

I am such a shoe fiend! I think I love shoes so much because of my hatred for feet. I 100 percent have a shoe obsession and addiction. There are so many different kinds of shoes for every occasion. Then you have subcategories too. It’s insane! It’s not just like there’s boots. You’ve got thigh-high, heeled boots, booties and combat boots.. Just to name a few. Add in heels, sneakers and sandals and you’ve got yourself a collection just trying to represent every category! Then of course you have to have different colors for different occasions. The only shoes I don’t like? Those toe-things (probably because of my hatred for feet) and crocs. Crocs are okay in some settings… but they still kill me inside a little bit. I get that they’re comfortable. I just can’t wear ‘em! Before I get off into 18 different directions all about shoes.. my “Shoe God” is Christian Louboutin and I’m dying inside over Giuseppe Zanotti’s latest Instagram features too.

10. Sports

I have always loved how sports bring people together. How people from different backgrounds all come together for a shared love of a team. There’s just something about that that has always been really cool to me. How it’s fun to pour all of your emotions into the result of a competition. Part of that, I’m sure, is growing up so close to Pittsburgh. It’s just how we’re wired. If you don’t sulk a little bit after your team loses a big game.. Are you even a yinzer?

My favorite sport of all, however, is cheerleading. I’ve been involved in the sport in some way for most of my life, whether as an athlete, an instructor or a coach. The sport is constantly evolving and we are always expecting more from the teams. Rule changes have pushed choreographers and exposed a world of new skills and transitions. Cheerleading is hard. It’s demanding, exhausting, exhilarating and it’s underappreciated by a lot of people. We won’t go into the whole debate because it’s a sport and that’s all that needs to be said. Cheerleaders are athletes.