“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hi, my beautifuls! Today we are talking about something super important, something I truly believe we all need to prioritize in order to live our best, happiest and (importantly) our most sane and inspired lives: being outdoors.

Live Your Adventure. Do you know how many people dream of getting outside of their comfort zone but NEVER DO IT? You know the whole, “I’ll do it tomorrow, I’ll do it next year, I’ll do it in a few years when I can get the time off and my life is in a different place…” mentality? I know you know. I know you know because you’ve been there, and I have too.

( BTW, all pics from this post were from an adventure day in Malibu Creek State Park with the insanely talented Katie Shuler working her photo magic, and all clothes are Eddie Bauer #outerwhere. I feel ridic lucky to be associated with this person AND this brand that both inspire me so much. And if you haven’t been to Malibu Creek State Park… GO THERE. It will re-inspire you to live your life big and live it loud. )

We get so stuck in our everyday lives. And for a lot of us, our everyday lives are nothing to complain about. We have great jobs, we are surrounded by great people, we have great food on our plates and clothes on our backs. But we live inside of a comfort zone, our very own bubble that we create for ourselves without even trying. We get so used to living the lives that we do, and before we know it anything that is out of the ordinary feels like FAR too much effort to plan and execute.

( Contemplating life under the pines. This Eddie Bauer jacket, though. I AM OBSESSED.)

I know I’m not the only one who plans on going to the snow all winter and then before I know it, I turn around and it’s April and the snow has melted. “Next year,” I tell myself. “Next winter will be the YEAR.”

Well, how about this?

How about NOW?

I have made it a priority this year to live 100% in the now as much as I possibly can. That doesn’t mean I am always necessarily successful in doing so, but shifting my mentality to be a doer rather than a dreamer has made all the difference in the world. (I am still a dreamer, don’t get me wrong — but I make my dreams a reality too!!). Prioritize trying new things, and surround yourself with people who are also making trying new things a priority.

( Wearing the Eddie Bauer Women’s Year Yound Plaid Vest… In front of the coolest tree in all of mankind. )

What Inspired Me to Make This Shift?

One thing that has inspired me to live my most adventurous life is my partnership with Eddie Bauer. I was given the incredible opportunity to travel to their headquarters in Seattle, Washington and experience their brand from the inside out. I got to explore the natural beauty of Whidbey Island and tour the inspirational archives from the brand’s earliest days where they created the first ever DOWN JACKET and Eddie Bauer himself made clothes specifically for outdoor adventures.

I don’t know about you, but I am a Type A person. If I let myself, I could sit in front of the computer for days on end pounding out work and coming up with all sorts of crazy projects for myself. I am SUPER hard on myself, I am a perfectionist, and I take on way too much at once. I get overwhelmed and sometimes I even feel like I am drowning because I have said “YES” to so, so many things simultaneously. (You guys know that I am a routine over-committer.)

“He stood there a moment, listened to the creek, and let the mountain air blow against his face. Even with all this heartache, it was beautiful here.” – Eowyn Ivey, The Snow Child

( GLASS WATER. Hi, perfect creek that just reaffirmed life as I knew it. Wearing Eddie Bauer Movement Leggings and the comfiest black long sleeve. )

That being said, doing things that force me outside of my comfort zone are completely necessary to the balance of my overall mental health. Anyone who knows me well has seen me in what I like to call “zombie mode,” where I basically stop sleeping well at night and balancing my days and instead dive headfirst into an extreme project (like writing my book) or attempt to do a month’s worth of work in a 5 day period.

When I prioritize getting OUTDOORS, planning adventures, challenging myself, and committing to fun things that are outside of my immediate comfort zone, I remember to not only LIVE but to live in the moment. I also remember how freakishly beautiful the world is when we aren’t so caught up in our heads and thinking about “me, me, me” all the time. Seriously. Try standing on top of a mountain or in front of the sprawling ocean and thinking about yourself. IT JUST DOESN’T HAPPEN.

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.” – John Burroughs

( Hello again, fav jacket. )

Nature is our greatest reminder that the world outside of ourselves is a beautiful, massive, symbiotic place. Our problems seem so small in the vast scheme of things. And spending time with people outside, away from technology and the bustle of our daily lives, is good for the SOUL. I am all about doing things that nourish my soul and make me extremely happy from the inside out.

And then — guess what? Once you do that, you come back to your daily life so much more inspired and with such greater perspective. I get such better work done when I am not drowning in it, and after a weekend away in nature where I can truly contemplate what’s important to me and what I want to focus on in life.

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein

MY GREATEST ADVENTURES THIS SEASON: 

• Training for the LA Marathon with my #TeamNutriBulletInspired team and awesome coaches
• Heading to Big Sur in December with my best friends for a weekend of outdoor adventure, free from technology
• A technology-free weekend in Miami (THIS WEEKEND!) on a boat, surrounded by inspiring people, feeding my soul and learning from some of the most successful and accomplished people out there
• Weekly solo hikes — I made a promise to myself in October that I would take myself on at least one weekly solo hike in my neighborhood to clear my head and take a break. Adventuring doesn’t have to mean going far away or spending a lot of $$, you can find adventure in your own back yard
• My Malibu Creek State Park adventure with Katie Shuler that is documented in this very post. I felt so refreshed after getting outside, not being afraid to get soaking wet in the creek, and talking about life, what inspires us, what we want for our brands moving forward, family, adventures and so much more. Being outside with someone who not only was capturing the beauty of our day but someone who was soaking in the surroundings as much as I was was extremely inspirational and special.

SO!! Say it with me: THANK YOU Eddie Bauer, for inspiring us to live our best lives by remembering to get outdoors and live our adventures. Oh, and thank you for creating the best #OUTERWHERE (and the cutest athletic wear there is) to make sure we are prepared for any/all adventures we take on this season.

And BIG THANKS to the incredibly talented Katie Shuler for adventuring with me in Malibu Creek State Park and working your magic along the way. I needed this adventure day more than I can put into words.

“The whole concatenation of wild and artificial things, the natural ecosystem as modified by people over the centuries, the build environment layered over layers, the eerie mix of sounds and smells and glimpses neither natural nor crafted- all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it, take it in, take in more every weekend, every day, and quickly it becomes the theater that intrigues, relaxes, fascinates, seduces, and above all expands any mind focused on it. Outside lies utterly ordinary space open to any casual explorer willing to find the extraordinary. Outside lies unprogrammed awareness that at times becomes directed serendipity. Outside lies magic.”
– John R. Stilgoe

“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” – Frank Lloyd Wright