Lesson- Honor Where You Are!

I was first to the meeting spot the next morning for my tour of Tuscany. I was in a better mood than I had started the day before, having had such a great time at Cinque Terre. I was excited to potentially make even more new friends.

I was the first to arrive. We have a group of seven today, the guide notified me. OK, not a great first sign; my fear that the tour was going to be all couples started to kick in. Couple number one showed up. They were 10 or so years older than me, and quickly struck up a conversation.

A few minutes later, couple number two showed up, followed by, you guessed it, couple number three.

I was a seventh wheel in one of the most famous romantic destinations on earth. And of course I was the only one wearing a white dress 🤦🏼‍♀️

Everyone introduced themselves in the van. “Well cats out of the bag, we just got engaged last night!” The guy in the front seat beamed, showing off his new fiancé. The couple in the middle seat was from Canada and...

Lesson: You’re Not As Alone as You Think

On my first full day in Florence, I went on a day trip to Cinque Terre.

The day trip started with a 2-hour bus ride, which took us to a train that went to each of the towns in Cinque Terre. I sat on the bus in silence and was seriously in the worst mood ever. As much as I was enjoying my own company, I had barely spoken to anyone else in 3-days, and I was getting a little lonely. Rome had been a high for me, and my time in Florence felt like a crash.

It was one of those days where my thoughts were just not on my side, and I felt stupid for being on a tourist excursion. Looking back, I want to shake myself!! You’re in Italy, girl!! Logical or not, a bad mood was my reality at the time.

One of the girls on the group asked if she could sit near me when we got on the train, and I reluctantly agreed. I was in one of those bad moods where you literally don’t want to talk to anyone because you want to just sulk in your own misery. I started to realize how ...

Lesson- Take Yourself Out! You Just Might Learn Something.

 In the past, I described myself as a “doer not a planner” and I never saw anything wrong with this. (Pretty ironic for someone who is launching a planner next year, right?)

 What I meant was “I’m too insecure to form an opinion about what I actually want to do, so I’m going to let (make) you decide instead. I have no preferences.”

 I liked to be invited to things, but I never initiated plans. I liked to be told where to be and at what time, and I liked to complain when no one asked me to hang out. “I’m down for whatever” was another tagline I liked to frequently employ.

 It semi served me, and I got to participate in awesome experiences, but none of this brought me any closer to understanding myself. I was a people pleaser, but I never understood what truly made me happy.

 Enter solo travel.

 Solo travel truly helped me develop and identify my preferences. I learned more about what I liked without the pressure of trying ...

Lesson: Not everything is all or nothing, this or that 

My soul led me to an Italian church service. I take no conscious ownership of this decision—I can’t even tell you the last time I even went to mass. I attempted to go to the coliseum for a tour on that Sunday morning, but it was sold out in English, so I wandered around the campus and before I knew it, I stumbled into a church. I was lured in by the beautiful service in Italian.

For those who know me, I’ve really connected to my spirituality over the past few years. I’ve probably offered you an energy reading or have sent you reiki. Maybe I’ve saged your apartment, gifted you a crystal or guided you through a meditation. For me, my spiritual practice has been my way of managing my mental health, particularly my anxiety, and it’s become an important part of who I am.

 I wasn’t particularly surprised to find myself in a church; my grandmother had guided me on this trip, after all, and she was a devout Catholic. Her faith got her ...

Things got worse before they got better.

The last time I traveled to Europe, I was 21 years old, studying abroad in London. I still look back on the experience as one of the happiest periods of time in my life, yet I hadn’t been back in almost a decade. I kept waiting for an engraved invitation.

I’d look at couples who took trips and blamed not having a boyfriend as the issue. Disclaimer: for a long time, I viewed this as the root cause of nearly every problem I had in my life.

I finally received my engraved invitation to Europe in May, in the form of a trip to Croatia to celebrate one of my dearest friends getting married. I backed out less than a week before the trip because of work. I let fear, excuses and anxiety get in the way of yet another experience, and I seriously let down someone I loved.

In case it’s not already blatantly obvious, being single was never the problem- the problem was, and had always been, me. The golden opportunity to go abroad I had been waiting 9 years on had c...

Going to Italy alone was one of my life’s greatest acts of self-love. It took a million different decisions and mishaps and mistakes to bring me to this opportunity, but to say being in Italy changed me is an understatement. If you swipe you can see the exact second I committed to pursuing my dreams. I took this picture on May 14, 2021, at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. My grandma had passed away 3 days before, and I didn’t even cry until I found myself on the Wynn floor that morning, deeply unhappy with where I was at in my life. In my grief, I felt like I had accomplished nothing meaningful. Here I was, 30 years old, still having never been in a real relationship, making great money but still feeling deprived and really confused around how I felt about alcohol. I had made so many positive changes to my life in the previous 2.5 years, only to find it still wasn’t enough. I started to meditate, then began to pray, and then I cried harder than I have ever cried in my entire life. I howled...

I’m simultaneously rolling my eyes / laughing / shrugging my shoulders because every single time I find a hint of clarity within my company, the momentum causes a major external shift elsewhere in my life. I have written at least four of these “why I’ve been gone so long posts” but alas, here we are again ;)

I’ve moved again, this time to Old City, Philadelphia. The move happened sooner than I had intended (my lease on my old place isn’t even up yet..) but it was time for a change. All of my moves in life (going back to my first job out of college) seem to happen suddenly and without warning, even from my own perspective.

The move to Philadelphia was symbolic for me because my new apartment greatly resembled the one I felt forced to leave behind in Chicago. I still remember that apartment as one of my most painful losses, and this move felt like a full recoup of everything I lost during my personal mental health crisis (aka Saturn Return) in 2018/19.

When I dreamt up Allison Ziggy i...

I have found that I feel the best going into the week feeling prepared. I started doing what I call a "This Week I Will" list, which is essentially time for me to mind map how I envision the following week going. 

Floating Chores

I write down all the nagging thoughts that randomly enter my head, like pick up the dry cleaning, or find a new vet. I concentrate on all the things I would like to squeeze into my schedule and think about when I am going to accomplish them. I am a firm believer that there is never a good time to do something you don't want to do, which is why it is so important to plan those kinds of things out ahead of time. Also, you need to remember to keep yourself accountable, because nothing feels better than completing something that's been hanging over your head for a long time. 

Habit Tracker

I use the Habit Tracker printout (available in the printable library!) to track daily chores and habits I want to commit to in a given week. You can extend the time frame on...

Did you say Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit when you first woke up this morning? Rumor has it that saying that immediately upon waking on the first day of the month will bring you unprecedented good luck :)

I love the first day of the month because it is filled with new possibilities and a fresh slate with a totally new feel. Here is what I started doing to make each new month an opportunity for growth, no matter what else is going on in my life. 

I take Inventory

On the first of each month, I take score of where things are currently at in my life. How do I feel about myself? How do I feel about my finances? My relationships? I take a step back and assess what is and what isn't currently working in my life. I do this mainly through journaling, but soon you will be able to use our printouts to do this exercise on your own!

I Visualize My Perfect Month

I imagine my ideal outcome for the next 30 days. What is the best case scenario for my life 30 days from now? What habits would I ne...

I have come to realize that the purchases I later regret are the ones I make when in a low state. Be it anxious, lonely, sad, tired, bored, or maybe even all of the above... I used to default to my Nordstrom app to fill the void, which simultaneously drained my bank account and made me feel more worthless for being in debt. I truthfully don't have the same desire to shop that I used to, and I attribute that to finding other more fulfilling and meaningful ways to spend my time. Here are a few that I came up with that can hopefully help you start to feel better without spending a single $ :)

- Meditate

- Go for a walk

- Cook a meal

- Play with your Pets

- Clean Your Room (or any room for that matter)

- Phone a friend

- Find a new profile picture

- Put on fun makeup

- Dance around to a really stupid song that makes you laugh

- Go for a drive with your windows down

- Do yoga on YouTube

- Make a cup of tea

- Go through your old screenshots 

- Write a letter to your future self...