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Lucie follows up on some of her most significant episodes of Try Living With Lucie for a 2018 recap.
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00:00Hey everyone!
00:00For those of you that have been following along with Try Living With Lucy, I figured
00:04we have a new year on the horizon, 2019 is almost here, so I figured I'd take some time
00:09to look back at some of my favorite episodes from 2018 and give you all some updates.
00:14One of the most frequent questions I get asked is after trying all of these lifestyle challenges,
00:18what are you still doing?
00:20People always want to know, months later after I tried five days of organization, is my apartment
00:25still clean?
00:25After five days of indoor gardening, are my plants still alive?
00:28Am I now officially a morning person after five days of becoming a morning person?
00:32I get tons of Instagram DMs asking me this almost every day, so I figured I'd bundle it
00:37all into one beautifully packaged video and give it to you for Christmas.
00:42Enjoy.
00:42So first stop is the first video of 2018, five days of meal prep.
00:49Way way back in January 2018, I did five days of meal prepping where I spent one entire Sunday
00:54prepping my breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the five day work week.
00:58So do I still meal prep?
01:00And the answer is not for five days worth of food.
01:04After filming this episode, I realized that not only was the food towards the end of the
01:07week, kind of soggy and a little wilted for my taste, but it also felt a little bit monotonous
01:12to eat the same thing every single day.
01:14And personally, my taste buds crave diversity.
01:17My schedule at Refinery29 is way less predictable than a typical nine to five office job.
01:22So since I'm on set shooting videos about two to three days a week, I'm never quite
01:26sure where I'm going to be for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
01:29And also, many of my meals are eaten with the crew on set, so bringing my own meals sometimes
01:34is not always feasible and can be a little bit rude to the others.
01:37All of this being said, the five days of meal prep episode did help me start to feel
01:41a little bit more comfortable in the kitchen.
01:43I feel like I'm unchopped.
01:44How do we want to cook the chicken?
01:46How's my rice doing?
01:47Ah!
01:48And I've also made Alyssa Gagarin's chocolate chip peanut butter chickpea bars about five
01:52or six more times in 2018 because they are so good.
01:56All right, on to the next episode.
02:00To be totally honest with you all, there have only been a few episodes of Try Living With
02:04Lucy to date that have deeply affected my life.
02:07To name a few, five days of yoga.
02:09I now practice yoga two to three times a week.
02:11Five days of Ayurveda.
02:12I've studied this topic extensively and it's now become a major part of my lifestyle.
02:17And also five days of zero waste, which has affected how I live my life both inside and
02:21outside of my apartment.
02:22And one other episode that has really stuck with me and added a major new hobby into my
02:27life was five days of calligraphy and hand lettering.
02:29My first bullet journaling episode in 2017 inspired me to start a bullet journal of my own.
02:34And once I began my 2018 bullet journal, my hand lettering and calligraphy skills were
02:39put to good use.
02:40I've shared most of what's in my 2018 bullet journal on YouTube this year, including a
02:44holiday spread which should be on my personal YouTube channel this month.
02:48And you'll probably notice that compared to my first ever video on hand lettering, my skills
02:53have improved drastically in the past year.
02:55And it's all about practicing and getting the strokes down and starting to memorize how certain
03:00letters look when you connect them.
03:02So certain letters like R's and S's were way more difficult for me in the past and now I'm
03:07a lot better at them.
03:08I love that when you type in LucyThink bullet journal to YouTube, you get a selection of
03:12bright and colorful videos that pop up.
03:14And I think if you add up the views on all of those videos, it's approaching about two
03:18million views.
03:19It just makes me so happy to see that a skill that I genuinely love doing is being enjoyed
03:23by so many people out there.
03:24Let's keep this moving on to the next episode topic, five days of self-care.
03:31As I mentioned in that episode, self-care has become a $400 billion industry.
03:36And as more wellness bloggers and influencers have begun supporting this industry, it's becoming
03:41easier and easier for consumers out there to think that self-care is about buying candles
03:46and crystals and taking bubble baths.
03:49And I'm just going to come out and say it, I'm as guilty as anyone.
03:51I have definitely tied a ton of my Instagram partnerships to self-care.
03:56But it's important to know that even though candles and crystals and baths are amazing,
04:00there's so much more to self-care than those tangible things.
04:03I made that first episode on self-care back in March 2018 after I had a pretty rocky January
04:09that was just filled with stress.
04:10And honestly, as the year has progressed and as my job has gotten crazier and simultaneously
04:15my social media channels have grown, I realized that my stress isn't going anywhere.
04:20As I grow and develop and my career path continues to weave and wind, I know that the best thing
04:26that I can do for myself is to stay grounded.
04:29I'm the only one that's in charge of my health and my happiness.
04:32And as I've come to terms with this, I've ramped up my self-care.
04:362018 has seriously been my healthiest, happiest, and most mindful year yet.
04:41I've started including meditation in my life regularly, often going to meditation classes
04:46in New York City or just listening to YouTube meditations at home.
04:50I've begun listening to tons of podcasts about health and self-care at any opportunity I get.
04:55I've been practicing weekly yoga with my twin sister.
04:58And I continue to watercolor and bullet journal as another form of de-stressing.
05:02Alright, for the next episode recap, I'm going to mix two episodes in one because they're
05:06so closely related.
05:07Five days of spring cleaning and five days of organization.
05:10When I shot both of these episodes, I realized just how true the saying is that outer order
05:16creates inner calm.
05:17Cleaning has surprisingly become something that I actually enjoy doing as an adult.
05:21And I say surprisingly because in my family, I've always been the messy kid.
05:26My twin sister is a total neat freak, my older brother is really organized, and my room
05:31used to be littered with clothes and toys.
05:33And now I've realized just how nice it feels to have things organized, clean, decluttered,
05:39and also how great it feels to donate and to just have fewer things.
05:44I've continued to make my bed every morning.
05:46It's become habitual for me.
05:47And I actually have an entirely new system that I use for washing dishes.
05:51And believe it or not, it has become fun, fun to wash dishes.
05:55I basically put on rubber gloves so my hands don't get all pruney.
05:59And I start by batch soaping everything.
06:01So once everything is all soaked up and cleaned, then I batch rinse everything.
06:06This saves water so I'm not running the water as I scrub.
06:09And it also makes the process go by a lot faster.
06:12As for the way I organized my entire apartment in five days of organization, honestly I've
06:17kept things pretty neat.
06:18My bathroom cabinets have maybe gotten a little bit more cluttered as I've added a couple
06:22of new products to the shelves here and there.
06:24And my closets and drawers of clothes haven't stayed quite as neat as they were when Horderly
06:28came over and taught me how to fold.
06:30T-shirts are still pretty good.
06:32This is the file fold they taught me.
06:34I definitely do need to refold some of those drawers.
06:37I've had a lot of people asking me for more cleaning and organizing episodes.
06:41Many people have even asked to see a clean with me video.
06:44You know those 20 minute long videos on YouTube where I just roll and play a time lapse of
06:48me cleaning something.
06:50And now onto the next five days of different styles.
06:54This was one of my favorite episodes this year because that week proved to me just how
06:59much your style can affect your confidence and the energy that you exude.
07:03And actually since filming that one I do feel like I've started to express my personality
07:08a bit more through fashion.
07:09Growing up I never really felt like I had a specific sense of fashion.
07:13In fact I felt like I had no fashion sense because I found myself constantly mixing
07:18colors and patterns that other people told me did not work well together.
07:22But there have been a few instances since this episode that I've found myself picking out
07:26outfits that really correlate to my personality.
07:29For example I had an engagement party last month and I found myself pulling together this
07:33really unique outfit.
07:34It was these velvet blush pants with a white turtleneck bodysuit.
07:38And then on top of everything was this gold sequined sparkly dress.
07:42I knew that I wanted the outfit to be unique and different and almost a little fairytale-esque.
07:47And I think the outfit I chose really captured my personality.
07:50Above all I feel like I'm starting to veer away from wearing things that are considered
07:53universally stylish.
07:55And more towards putting things together that I actually love or that capture a specific
08:00vibe that I'm going for.
08:01And from some of the responses I've been getting on Instagram, it's becoming increasingly clear
08:05to me that it's really not about what you wear, but it's about your confidence and how you
08:09rock it.
08:10Up next, five days of indoor gardening.
08:15In this episode I worked with my friend Maria Faiella from the Bloom and Grow Radio podcast
08:19to completely transform my space and add 26 plants and a pet fish Buttercup into my house.
08:26I've had tons of people asking me how Buttercup's doing and I know I shared this update on Instagram,
08:31but I'll share it here too.
08:32I actually gifted Buttercup to a family friend.
08:34She's a 12 year old girl who desperately wanted a fish and I realized that she would be a
08:39way better fish mom than I was going to be because my travel schedule is crazy.
08:43A couple of my windowsill plants are doing better than others.
08:46So the snake plant is thriving.
08:47It grew a few more sprouts and it's pretty tall.
08:50The sago palm looks good.
08:51The parlor palm is not doing so hot.
08:54I'm not sure how to revive this one.
08:56And the money tree looks okay, but the leaves are starting to get some holes in them.
08:59Since the episode I've also added two new plants to that windowsill.
09:03My kitchen herb garden is looking great too.
09:05So I've switched to using an herb garden from a company called Click and Grow.
09:09They come in pods and it's super easy to maintain.
09:12First I was growing basil and then once I harvested all that basil I switched it to peppermint.
09:16And I use the herbs all the time to make tea.
09:18My lime tree is thriving.
09:20He's grown so many more leaves since the episode.
09:22And I've continued to water him about every three days or so.
09:26I even got a cute new ceramic watering can that I love.
09:28I just love seeing all the greenery around here.
09:31And I've inspired many of my friends to start getting plants for their homes too.
09:35Also since the episode I've named each of my plant babies.
09:38The windowsill plants are all names from the office.
09:41So Dwight Schrute is my snake plant.
09:43Kevin Malone is my money tree.
09:45Then there's Phyllis and Toby who's not looking so hot.
09:48The two newer plants are Jim and Pam.
09:50And I did originally have six air plants.
09:52And they were Andy, Aaron, Kelly, Ryan, Angela, and Oscar.
09:56But all of them, except for Oscar, have died.
09:58My lime tree is Michael Scott.
10:01And then in my bedroom I have three succulents.
10:03And those are the mean girls.
10:05Gretchen, Karen, and Regina George.
10:07Next episode, five days of becoming a morning person.
10:11There was a time earlier this year when all I freaking wanted was to become a morning person.
10:17The thing you want to do is most definitely wake up early.
10:21Why do I want to do that?
10:24Because you want to be a morning person.
10:26Do I ever stop talking about it?
10:28Never.
10:29I'm really sick of it.
10:30I felt like morning people were more productive and more successful.
10:33And I was so inspired by people who woke up early and accomplished half of their to-do list
10:38before the sun even came up.
10:40To be totally honest with you all, interests and goals change.
10:43And I'm not really all that inspired to do this anymore.
10:46I've even come across some studies that say what's best for your body is just what your body naturally does.
10:51So if you don't get tired until later in the night, and you can actually sleep until later in the
10:55morning,
10:56then that might actually be what makes you the most productive.
10:58The one aspect of this video that I have attempted to carry forward is setting that 8pm stop time for
11:04myself
11:04when it comes to being on my phone and my computer.
11:07This was also the episode where I started following Deepak Chopra's 21 day meditation challenge on YouTube.
11:12So I just wanted to show you how pretty the final tracker looks now that it's all filled out.
11:17And I also wanted to let you know how great that 21 day challenge was.
11:20I had never stuck to meditating 21 days in a row before that, and I really got into a good
11:25groove.
11:25Second to last video recap, Ayurveda.
11:30I'll just come out and say it.
11:31This was my favorite episode of Try Living With Lucy ever.
11:35In the history of Try Living With Lucy.
11:38And based on the YouTube comments, it seems like a lot of you felt the same way.
11:41This episode took so much research and so much preparation before I even started filming.
11:46Putting the episode together and sharing what I had learned with all of you, that was the easy part.
11:50So, how has Ayurveda continued to influence my life?
11:53Well, firstly, I'm still listening to the Highest Self Podcast.
11:56I got myself a rice cooker and I've started making kitchari for dinner every so often.
12:01Kitchari is a mixture of yellow mung dal beans, basmati rice, ghee, and digestive spices.
12:06And it's considered a very cleansing and detoxifying food in Ayurveda.
12:10Let's see, what else?
12:11I scrape my tongue with my tongue scraper every morning.
12:14Knowing that I'm a vata, I've started scaling back on most of the cooling foods in my life.
12:19And I've begun adding tons of warming, grounding foods to my diet.
12:22I've also started practicing abhyanga or self oil massage after showers.
12:26And I've started giving myself a nice foot massage with sesame oil before going to sleep.
12:31I've also been attending Ayurvedic workshops at my local yoga studio.
12:34I've been getting into essential oils and I've had all of my friends and family take the Ayurvedic dosha quiz.
12:40And the final episode of the year that I want to recap is five days of learning new skills.
12:49I've become fully obsessed with my Fender ukulele.
12:53Here's my uke.
12:55Pass.
12:58Please.
12:59I think that's right.
13:01I pick it up almost every night and either play new songs or write new songs.
13:05I love YouTube so much.
13:10That's all we have time for.
13:12And I think I've become pretty good at strumming compared to how I was initially.
13:25My fingers hurt when I strum like this so maybe I will strum like that anymore.
13:33Right now I'm almost bleeding on this finger.
13:37It hurts.
13:38Next, making my own scoby for kombucha opened my eyes to probiotics and gut health.
13:43So much so that I actually made an entire episode of Try Living with Lucy about gut health and this
13:48should be coming out soon.
13:49The thing about this episode that really shocked me was how quickly you can pick up on a new skill
13:53just by practicing and sticking to it.
13:56I'm getting close.
13:57See ya!
13:59And I'm very excited because I even have a few more classes on my calendar for the end of this
14:03year including a drumming class, a sushi making class, and an origami class.
14:07So overall, I'd say 2018 was a pretty great year.
14:11Love you!
14:12Bye!
14:12Bye!
14:12Bye!
14:13Bye!
14:13Bye!
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14:14Bye!
14:14Bye!