Start with a 5-step skincare routine. Wash your face with a gentle daily cleanser and then follow with a toner. Next, apply a hydrating serum, rubbing a few drops into your hand and then lightly patting it onto your face. Gently tap some eye cream into your under eyes. Finish with the application of your favorite daily SPF moisturizer. For fun, a few sprays of a calming face mist.
Time for coffee!
Always, a cappuccino from Dune. Bone dry with two sugars. Skip the line, order it online, and when you pop in to pick up your coffee, “Good morning, Kate!” The choir of baristas will sing. “Cheers all!” You’ll thank.
A creamy cappuccino pairs well with an early morning beach walk. Hunt for beach glass at Butterfly Beach, rays in the Harbor, and dolphins at Santa Claus Lane. At some times of the year, a LONG walk down Hendry’s (to the right) promises sightings of lots of purple and orange starfish.
After a start in the sun, face warmed, return home for a second pour of coffee, this time, black, with a stir of collagen (because it helps your hair grow long, fast?).
Now, a meditative moment. Roll out a yoga mat for 20 to 30 minutes of deep breathing into cat-cows and warrior ones and extended child poses. Release any tension in the shoulders, draw circles with the neck, find stillness.
As it is important to be well-read, make time to read about 30 pages a day. Don’t know what to read? Here are a few titles that I highly recommend:
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
Sister Carrie, Theodor Dreiser
The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
Thy Neighbors Wife, Gay Talese
The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
For lunch, maybe a bowl of pho at Noodle City in Old Town Goleta. At El Sitio, the chard bits of carne asada meat that get wrapped up into flour tortillas are peppery and decadently salty. At Industrial Eats they make a killer Caesar salad (no mayo, lots of garlic).
In the afternoon, a refreshment. Most likely a watermelon sparkling water, but any flavor will do, really. Add a few sprigs of hand picked mint grown in your kitchen windowsill to make it nice.
In the evening, it’s time for a long, steamy bath. For an extra good time, pour a bowl of sliced citrus and pink flowers into the tub. The oils in citrus fruits help to promote natural energy and have anti-depressant qualities. Alternately, steep a bunch of rosemary and lavender, herbs that are said to help reduce stress, promote better sleep, soothe the skin and relax the mind, into the bubbly, bath water at bedtime.
Later, when the towels are folded, and the dishes are washed, and the floors are swept, and the bed is made, and lights are low, and the curtains are drawn… light a candle. Relax for a moment.
End the day with a 5-step skincare routine (see above), a toke or ten, and an episode of MTV’s Catfish or Dateline 20/20.
💅🏼
