Enjoy the imPERFECTly emPOWERed Journal February 2022 issue full of Valentines inspiration, outfit ideas, and Superbowl recipes.

As we are now offering the journal for free I thought you might enjoy some of the previous month’s issues. Although several months past this issue is full of delightful recipes for entertaining, 9 fabulous outfit ideas for a night out, and so much more!

From the Editor’s Desk

Ahna Fulmer, Editor in Chief

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Meet The Executive Editor

Alison Kelley, Executive Editor

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6 Superbowl Party Recipes For A Crowd

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Spread the Love with These DIY Valentines

How to Plan the Perfect Galentine’s Day Party

written by alison kelley

There is nothing quite like getting all of your BFF’s together, sharing a festive meal, doing something girlie, and laughing until your belly hurts. That’s pretty much what Galentine’s Day is all about. 

In case you don’t know, Galentine’s Day falls on February 13th and was popularized by Amy Poehler’s fictional character Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation. It’s traditionally centered around a brunch and involves celebrating all of the best ladies in your life. Here is the complete guide to planning the perfect Galentine’s Day Party!

Decorate Your Space

Balloons, streamers, banners, and confetti can add so much to your party. Highlight the classic Valentine’s Day colors and use lots of red, green, white, and gold. Grab heart-shaped balloons and ones that spell out “Galentine’s” – these also make the perfect photo backdrop. You can even use your decor to set up a little photobooth corner complete with cheesy props.

Create a Menu of Festive Food

It’s time to whip up all of the heart-shaped treats! If you’re going the traditional route and hosting a brunch, you can make eggs, bacon, heart-shaped pancakes or waffles, croissants, bagels, cinnamon rolls, and more. Serve lots of red fruit on the side like strawberries and raspberries. Pair your meal with mimosas or put together a coffee bar with fancy drinks, such as this Cinnamon Vanilla Whipped Iced Coffee. Decorate the table with roses, candles, and a fancy tablecloth for a stunning spread. 

Do Some Mani/Pedis & Make Friendship Bracelets

There’s nothing more nostalgic than getting together with the besties, doing each other’s nails, and making friendship bracelets. It will bring you right back to your slumber parties from middle school, and it’s still fun after all of these years! This is such a fun way to reminisce, get some downtime, and catch up. And the best part is that everyone will have stunning nails and adorable bracelets to bring home as a keepsake. 

Make Flower Arrangements Together

Everyone loves a bouquet of flowers on Valentine’s Day, so make some for yourself or each other! You can hit up local farmer’s markets or even the grocery store for some inexpensive blooms. Make sure you have lots of festive colors like reds, pinks, and whites. Look for flowers like roses, carnations, tulips, orchids, and lilies. 

Assign Everyone a Secret Cupid

Think Secret Santa, but for Galentine’s Day! Everyone is assigned a name and then shows up to the party with a small gift. This is a great time to get some self-care items for your girl gang, such as candles, face masks, bath bombs, nail polish, or just some chocolate. Pair your gift with a Galentine’s Day card telling your bestie how much you love them. The sappier, the better!

With the perfect decorations, food, and activities, you’re sure to have an amazing Galentine’s Day bash that makes all of the incredible women in your life feel extra special. Leave your man at home and get some quality time with the girls, and maybe even make it a tradition for years to come. 

What Self-Care Really Means And 6 Ways To Optimize It For Your Well-Being

What was meant to reflect a pursuit of overall well-being, “self-care” has become a thinly veiled justification for a day at the spa or a large piece of cake when in reality this is not self-care but self-indulgence.

To be clear I am in full support of a day at the spa, and I have the best chocolate cake recipe in the world, but the vital takeaway is that self-care is not to be confused with acts of spontaneous self-gratification.

Self-care is, in fact, the process of embracing your health inadequacies and leveraging them to claim success by establishing day to day habits grounded in a strategic sense of self-discipline in order to improve one’s overall health and well-being.

Emotional, mental, physical, social, and spiritual well-being.

1. Prioritize sleep. Quality sleep has been shown to prevent disease, promote fat loss, and improve mood and energy.

*Pro Tip: Go to bed at the same time each night, and wake up at the same time each morning. Use black out curtains. Turn off all screens at least an hour before bed. Sleep with your cell phone out of the bedroom. Consider using a weighted blanket that is 5–10% of your body weight.

2. Smile, Interestingly the relationship between our well-being and smiling has been studied at length, and not surprisingly, it only yields positive benefits to all involved.

Workplaces have demonstrated improved productivity when employees report seeing administrators frequently smile. Watching someone smile has been shown to objectively decrease blood pressure and subjectively improve mood.

And really why NOT smile? Smiling is surely the most natural enhancement of true beauty.

3. Establish phone-free time. With the world only a finger tap away it is difficult to remove oneself from the endless stream of information and noise. Research has linked our phones to increased anxiety and depression, and it is vital to disengage and learn to be present in the moment.

*Pro Tip: Create a physical home base for your phone, preferably out of easy reach, where you determine it will stay untouched for a set period of time. For example, Each night from dinner time until the kids go to bed is phone-free time.

4. Prioritize whole food nutrition. Whole food nutrition simply means consuming food that is as close to its most natural state as possible as there is a growing body of evidence to suggest artificial ingredients and food additives are contributing to disease.

*Pro Tip: Fresh is best. If it is from the earth or can give birth, then it is probably fair game. 80% of your groceries should come from the perimeter of the grocery store as the majority of processed foods reside in the center aisles.

5. Practice the 16:8 intermittent fasting method. Intermittent fasting has been shown to improve neurological function, decrease cholesterol, reverse insulin resistance secondary to diet-induced obesity, promote fat loss and preserve lean muscle mass.

*Pro Tip: Try skipping breakfast and consume all your nutrients from 12p — 8p. Prioritize whole food nutrition and especially focus on lean green protein with a rainbow of fruits and vegetables.

6. Exercise. 30 mins of moderate to high-intensity exercise 5 days a week has been proven to prevent disease and reverse some chronic conditions.

*Pro Tip: Start with 15 mins 5 days a week. Set your alarm clock for 15 mins earlier each day and walk up and down your stairs, jog outside or on a treadmill, use an elliptical, or walk around the perimeter of your house fast enough that it is difficult to speak for 15 mins 5 days/week. Slowly work your way up to 30. Some exercise is always better than no exercise.

9 Outfit Ideas for the Perfect Date Night

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