I’m participating in a Self-Love challenge hosted by my friend Cole Bombino*, and the first day of the challenge requests that we craft our ideal morning routine, one that enables us to allow as much love and happiness into our day as possible by starting off on the right foot. Sounds good. I decided to first capture what my morning looks like on a normal day before I got ambitious. Here’s my current morning routine (on a morning where I’m not hauling off to CrossFit at the butt crack of dawn). Don’t judge me.
5:30am: Dog starts whining. Without removing my face from the pillow, I incoherently appeal to Matt that it’s his turn to take her out, even though it’s definitely my turn. Promptly fall back asleep to the sound of Matt dutifully clipping Luna’s leash on the jingle of keys.
6:52am: Wake up, panicked. Did my alarm go off? Holy shit is it almost 7? I wanted to go to yoga this morning but… fuck it. I decide to do some spine warming exercises while still in bed. Supine twist is so comfortable…
7:12am: FUCK how long was I sleeping? MATT can I please have coffee? Can you put coconut oil in it? Can you bring it to me? I love you!
7:13am: Check e-mail, scroll through instagram, tag friends in pictures about pizza, leg hair, and man buns, chuckle to myself.
7:24am: I am such a morning person! This is great. I should go on a walk. Matt, Luna needs to go out. I think it’s your turn.
7:25am: Apparently it’s actually my turn to take the dog out. Rig up the beast and walk her out to the park. Stop her from eating her own poop several times. Watch her romp around with her dog friends. Make conversation with the neighbors as Luna runs over to a sleeping encampment of homeless people and wakes them up with kisses. Luna, they probably don’t appreciate the wakeup as much as Mommy and Daddy do. Let’s take you back in.
7:54am: Matt leaves for work. I throw an assortment of kind bars and lunchmeats at him as he’s walking out of the door in an attempt to send him with some food. The effort is appreciated. Kiss goodbye.
7:57am: How can I sneakily incorporate yoga pants into my work outfit today? I settle on some dark-colored Lulus with over-the-knee boots. I apply makeup- waterproof mascara in case I head straight to a hot yoga class. Talk about preparation!
8:06am: LUNA you cannot seriously need to go back out. I literally just took you.
8:08am: Take Luna back out. I can’t resist those puppy eyes.
8:20am: Make a cup of green tea (haha jk more coffee obvi) for the road. Gather everything I could potentially need for the day and throw it in an oversized bag. Ask the dog if she is adult enough to take care of herself yet. She responds by making eye contact with me and then releasing an audible fart. I make the choice to crate her for the day.
8:26am: Finally get out the door. Lock the door. Press my ear up against the door to make sure Luna isn’t crying. The one time she cried after being left, I ended up going back in and cuddling her for 20 minutes, making me totally late for work. I should get out of this habit.
8:29am: FINALLY on the road! Wait, did I get breakfast? Fuck. Call the smoothie place and have them make me a green smoothie. Do I want a superfood boost? For $8 I hope the whole thing is a damn superfood. What does that even mean? No boost, thanks.
8:35am: Picked up my smoothie. NPR is on. Driving with the windows down along the road in beautiful San Diego. Despite the chaos (or perhaps because of it), life is good.
I’m working on refining this routine a little bit. Some mornings are a little less chaotic and include long walks to a coffee shop with Matt, slow-flowing yoga classes and coffee with a friend, or a kick-ass CrossFit class up at KDA CrossFit (San Diegans, join me sometime!).
*If you’re interested in learning more about what Cole does and why she’s hosting this awesome challenge, go follow her on instagram @colebombino or check out her website http://www.theartofempoweredliving.com/
Running + Crying, Mostly. 
I meant to ask you this when I read this post weeks ago. Why do you put coconut oil in your coffee? Benefits or taste? I use it for several things but I’ve never put it in my coffee.
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Hey Sarah, I do it for the extra fats in the morning. It gives me great energy to get the extra boost in my coffee. I really like mixing the coffee + coconut oil concoction the blender with almond milk too- it foams up and creates a creamy consistency. The key is to blend it well so that you don’t get huge sips of oil.
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Sounds good! I actually eat a little coconut oil every morning so I guess it’s the same concept. I’ll have to try it in my coffee.
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