Great Tips for Self Care

While this post was sponsored by LensCrafters via Socialstars, all thoughts and opinions remain my own. #LensCraftersCrowdSelf care is such an important thing. I never really knew that it was until Addie was born and we were at the hospital every single day. I would stay by her bed 8-12 hours a day, grab a bite of fast food to eat for dinner, and then we’d head to bed. It was exhausting, yet every morning at 8 am I’d arrive at the hospital ready to do it all over again. I didn’t care if I had messy hair, sloppy clothes, no makeup, glasses on- whatever, because my baby was sick and she was all that mattered. It wasn’t until Addie was in the hospital for a couple weeks that the nurses, doctors, and chaplain began to speak to me about self care and why it was so important.

I generally brushed anyone aside that said that I needed to take care of myself. Addie was my only priority while Mathew worked to keep the bills paid (which made that his priority). I rarely went did anything outside of the hospital and when I did, I was gone for only a couple hours and would call the hospital like crazy to make sure Addie was fine. I constantly ate junk food (I’m sure it was to quiet my feelings of worry, not knowing what the future held for Addie, and the fact that my husband was being torn away from us because of his job). I gained weight because of it, and I didn’t care about my appearance. I wore my hair messy and dressed casual, when the “old” me loved to dress up. I wore glasses as a sign of my laziness instead of how I used to wear them, like a fashion accessory. This went on for months until we finally came home from the hospital in June with Addie. Mathew got a job closer to home with better hours, and I made it a point to get dressed into regular clothes daily, do my hair, and eat healthy. It all was pretty good until I started slipping back into my old habits of not getting out of pjs, getting Chinese or burgers for dinner, and just generally being lazy. You know what they say about old habits…

After realizing on Christmas break that this pattern I was putting myself into was a destructive one, I decided to make some changes in my life and devote 2016 to self care. Self care is such an important part of being a parent, and my 2016 resolution is to take the time out to give myself more self care.

Mathew and I gave each other a massage and facial gift package for Christmas at a local salon and spa, and we already have it booked on our calendars for this weekend. I also got us hopped back on My Fitness Pal and we have started Whole 30 to get our bodies in shape and just healthier in general. No more junk for us! I’m also forcing myself to get dressed daily (even though things are a bit tight after holiday eating) and I even went out recently to buy some brand new glasses at LensCrafters! They’re the perfect glasses and they just perk me up and give me confidence!

After starting Whole 30 on the 1st, I wanted to do something that was going to really help me start off my New Year’s resolution with a bang. Finding the perfect glasses were the top thing on my list, and I finally was able to get the time to go to LensCrafters and pick out a set of glasses because Mathew was off from work. I was so happy to go and just have some time to myself to look and enjoy picking out a very new pair. I did the Find Your Look quiz a few weeks ago and kept the styles in mind when I headed to the store.

It was SO nice to just get out by myself and peruse the store. There’s nothing like walking into a store by yourself to browse, and I was excited to be able to do it. I grabbed a few frames that were from the Find Your Look quiz, as well as some others that were similar, and tried to narrow them down. I took selfies, I FaceTimed Mathew, and I even posted on Facebook to see which frames you thought were the perfect glasses for me! I had a blast.

Once I narrowed down what I thought would look best, I couldn’t decide! These 3 pairs were so different and yet all so perfect! I loved the first pair by Tiffany and Co because of the smaller frame shape and the beautiful, classic Tiffany blue sides. The second pair was by Dolce and Gabbana and were plain black but had a fun cat-eye shape to them. Lastly, I found this Prada set and was in love with it because it was tortoise shell with blue! Mathew immediately shot down the Prada glasses though, and it made me sad, but he sees me more than anyone, so I knew his opinion was important.

A photo posted by Stephanie W. (@mathewsbambina) on Jan 3, 2016 at 11:19am PST

After tossing back and forth between the Tiffany and Dolce glasses, I decided on the Tiffany set! I know you all on Facebook and Instagram were wondering what I would choose. In fact, I was so surprised that so many of you commented and tried to guess what frames I picked. Well, now you know, I went with #1, the Tiffany! What’s even cooler, is that a similar pair of Tiffany glasses was on the list of recommended glasses from the Find Your Look quiz. LensCrafters, you’re scarily good like that.

After I chose my frames, I handed them to a girl that worked in the LensCrafters store who had the frames custom fit to my face using their AccuFit technology. She had this device that she connected to my glasses to make sure my frames were perfectly straight for my face. No measuring with rulers, it was all digital! She took a picture of my face and I popped up onto her computer. She made a couple changes, asked me about my lens preferences, and I was literally done after less than 7 minutes at the desk.

My new glasses took about 3 days to get, although that’s not the norm because they’re usually in stock. They didn’t have one of my lenses in stock and had to ship it to the store. Although my salesperson told me it would take 7-10 days, it only took 3! This was probably the easiest glasses purchasing experience I’ve ever had. I literally was in and out of the store in about 30 minutes. Isn’t that amazing? I even had time to spare after my trip and was able to head to Target to browse and get some grocery shopping done too. It was SO nice.

I was so surprised to see just what a difference putting on a new set of glasses would have on the way I felt about myself. Although I don’t wear glasses every day, when I do have them on, I want them to have a little bit of a statement to them! It made me feel so good knowing that I was also taking time out for myself. As the mom of a child with special needs, I go last for everything. I skip my own doctor appointments because I don’t have a day nurse (or I am so busy that I forget to ask my nursing company to send someone), I eat on the run because Addie has lots of appointments and therapies, and I go to bed after everyone else to make sure things are ready for the next day. Taking care of myself is going to be a priority this year and there will be no excuses! It’s time I do things for myself to be the best mom and wife I can be.

I feel so much better now knowing that I checked one part off on my resolutions list in regards to my self care. Taking care of my eyes and my appearance is important to me, and I’m going to make sure that I’m incredibly successful with this resolution this year. What are your favorite ways to get self care?

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links and/or product(s) sent from companies or their PR team for editorial consideration. For more information, please view my disclosure policy.