I woke up like this

Time and time again, my lovely online friend and fellow vintage blogger Lindsay Lane posts something on her blog that I am so inspired by, I know that I simply must follow her wonderful lead and do an entry on it myself one day as well.

This occurred again last November when Lindsay penned a post called, called #Iwokeuplikethis, in which she answers a series of questions (of the same name/hashtag) that Vogue magazine had been posing to various celebrities about their daily AM routines.

Now, it should be stated, completely matter-of-factly, for the record before we delve into today's post that I am not, let me repeat, NOT, usually a morning person in the slightest, and in fact I'm taking a certain degree of liberty by answering these questions in so much as I define my mornings.

You see, even at the best of times, my health and chronic pain levels makes getting much sleep or staying asleep for long periods of time (a medical phenomena called painsomnia) a serious challenge, and years ago, to give my weary mind a break, I stopped trying to sleep and be awake in the same standard patterns that most folks are able (or opt) to. Of course I do still try to a degree, but unless I absolutely must be awake at a certain time for some sort of important reason, I rarely worry about my sleep schedule any more.

I'm so happy about any sleep that I get, that I don't mind one iota if it occurs at 12 am or 12 pm, and am extremely grateful that being self-employed allows me to work, for the most part, on my own schedule, when I'm awake and feeling well enough to do so.

Okay, that fact clarified, let's proceed with answering these fun questions (again, using my definition of morning, which to me just means anytime of the day in which I wake up and then stay awake for at least a few hours).

What is the first thing that you do when you wake up?

I thank the universe for the fact that I woke and try, no matter how I'm feeling or what's weighing on my mind, to greet the day with a smile.

Early bird or a night owl?

Goodness me, am I the poster child for night owls everywhere. Not only do I love nighttime and feel like my body wants to stay awake when the sun goes down, I find that it's often when I have both the most energy and the most creativity, so I put that to good use and pen the bulk of my blog posts, emails, and other types of writing (such as Etsy shop listing descriptions) under the cover of darkness.

What time do you like to get up in the morning?

As touched on above, I do not usually have a set time of the day when I wake up. That said, if I am aiming to be an early riser, I like to start the day around 5 AM so that I can really get to experience the morning in all its sunrise-kissed beauty and potential.

Do you press the snooze button or jump right up?

I try to get up right away, as I can't stand the sound of any alarm clock or cell phone alarm, plus I find the jolt of such going off really propels me up and on to my feet.

What is your morning beauty regime?

Take my first meds of the day, wash my face (I usually shower or bath in the evenings), brush my teeth, have a glass or two of water, do my make-up (if I'm putting on a face that day), put on my wig, get dressed, and spritz on some perfume.

What do you do to prepare mentally for the day?

I try to set out a detailed schedule, be it in my head, on paper, or on the computer, of what I hope to accomplish for the day, aiming to get the most challenging and/or time consuming things completed first. Then I say a positive affirmation or two and remind myself that anything I get done that day is better than nothing, spend some time with my pets, and have a lovely chat with my husband, as doing so always helps to better my day.

When it comes to deciding what to wear in the morning, do you plan ahead?

Generally speaking, yes. I absolutely love planning my outfits in advance and try to set aside a whole day every now and then (usually at lease once a season) to play dress up in my own closet for this very purpose. Of course I don't come up with all my outfits for a given chunk of the year then, but I find that it really helps me to have some ready and waiting when I need to get dressed on the fly or aren't feeling all that inspired for whatever reason.

What is your breakfast of choice?

I eat very lightly early in the day due to medical reasons, so if I do partake of breakfast, it's usually a little bit of lean protein and/or a small portion of nuts, fruit or natural yogurt. That said, if I am going to go all out for breakfast, it's lean bacon and gluten-free chocolate chip pancakes, pumpkin spice waffles, rice pudding with raisins, or toast with peanut butter and jam or bananas for me all the way!

How much time do you give yourself to prepare for your day in the morning?

Usually about 45 to 75 minutes, just depending on how much time I need to get ready in terms of my makeup and outfit choice for the day.

Outline your routine for a typical morning

On top of the beauty related points mentioned above, my early morning routine involves feeding the cat and cleaning her litter box, checking my email and phone for important messages, printing off packing slips for any Etsy orders that have come in while I was asleep (and often packing up such orders, too), doing a little bit of housekeeping (such as folding freshly washed and dried laundry from the day before), making Tony's breakfast, and planning out the rest of my day as much as I can in advance.

How important is a morning ritual for you?

It's nice, but not absolutely necessary by any means. I'm a pretty easygoing person and am used to my morning - and whole days - not going as envisioned in the slightest. Sometimes you just have to go where the wind blows you and make the best of it!

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♥ ♥ ♥

By all means, if you want to take a page out of both of our (bedtime story) books and do the same, please have at 'er (then come back here and post a comment letting me know that you have so that I can pop over and read your post right away).

Though most of us share certain elements of the morning, afternoon, evening, and night in common, we have unique points to these elements of the day as well and I really enjoyed how this series of questions let me publicly share some of the ones that apply to my mornings, whenever they may fall. :)