Gratefulness + Urbaca Salon Giveaway!

Vest: c/o Aeropostale (on sale! only $14); Top: Gap; Scarf: Forever21; Jeans: Paige Denim; Purse: GiGi New York; Boots: c/o Lulu*s (similar)

It's so easy to come home at the end of a long day and gripe. The day is exhausting, the laundry list (literal and figurative) of chores seems to roll out like a scroll in a medieval film, you're out of groceries, and have a big day the next day. It happens to me on a regular basis - today being no exception to the rule. I griped home in the rain, griped into the door, griped up the stairs and plopped on the couch to gripe about a growing list I needed to gripe about. Ben was also in a gripe mood. He'd had a long day, he had a ton to do, he had studying to complete, and a grocery store run to embark upon, and there were no salad materials in the house for dinner. What a way to come home.

I'm sure you've read it before, and I'm sure this post would have been better timed with Thanksgiving, but it seems apropos for the entire holiday season (and perhaps, more importantly, the entire year) and this grumpy day. It has been proven that the only act that actually affects your level of long-term happiness is practicing an "attitude of gratitude." Being grateful is linked to a myriad of health benefits - lower aggression rates, better sleep, kinder behavior, less anxiety and depression. This study, and the project surrounding this research, are not new. The news came out between 2007 and 2011, but the message always hits home when I realize just what a difference being grateful can make. By just writing down a few things you're grateful for (or speaking them aloud) every single day, you can see marked results in your optimism, happiness, spend more time working out, and sleep better in just two months. What a tiny task to find such huge benefits. 

Gratitude doesn't mean being in debt to someone else or feeling pressured to return favors. More so, it inspires you to do good to and for others. When someone passes along a random act of kindness that makes you grateful, it often inspires you to do the same, to another stranger. The chain effect of practicing kindness and gratitude can reverberate through many people. 

When I first met with Sherry from Urbaca Salon and started partnering with her on some projects, I felt like she was one of those ridiculously lovely human beings that is just warm and kind and selflessly pays it forward. Her partnership on some of these recent giveaways and my experience at Urbaca led to some lovely spots of brightness in this chilly season (for which I am so grateful) and I want to pass along her generosity to you Portland folks that would be interested in a little bit of pampering this season. Be sure to enter the giveaway below for two gift cards (two winners) for a hair cut and color AND a facial! Open to anyone that can redeem these gift cards locally!

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