This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Eight O’Clock Coffee. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the hardest things for me to do in the evening is wind down and relax. I often feel like I’m running full steam, physically and mentally until I collapse in the bed and even then I’m still glancing at my phone until my eyes have had it for the day and voluntarily close leaving me to wake some mornings with my phone in my hand.

This year I’m looking to really settle into a wind down routine, if it offers nothing more than watching a show in the evening with my family or reading a book or magazine, I need to figure out how to relax and decompress my day. I am certain it will make me feel more rested and allow me some detachment from the work I do daily on the internet.

I have to find a refuge from the noise. I’m hoping if I’m successful for a few days the actions will evolve themselves into a habit that I can stick with. Clearly I need a little help calming down in the evenings so I’m thinking of starting with dimming the lights and actually tucking my phone away in another room and turning the volume down to avoid the temptation. I’ve been told warm drinks help and while I love the taste of various warm beverages, there is nothing that takes the place of a hot cup of coffee for me.

I know many people don’t understand the purpose of decaffeinated coffee, and I think its correlation with mornings and wakefulness makes it hard for people to grasp the idea of coffee without caffeine. I’m more than certain some people’s obsession with coffee extends beyond its caffeine component and is based strictly on taste.

I won’t tell a fib and say I drink decaf coffee because traditionally I haven’t until I tried Eight O’Clock Coffee Infusions Relax Decaffeinated. Y’all, this blend is so incredibly smooth and has a very light coffee taste for those that don’t like strong coffee. I added a little bit of creamer and left out the sugar and was pleasantly surprised at how the lavender and chamomile meshed really well with the coffee flavor.

The Eight O’Clock Coffee Infusions is a new line of tasty coffee options that have additional ingredients that add more benefits to your daily cup(s) of joe.

• Alert Hi-Caffeine: This selection of 100% Arabica beans are medium roasted for a bold, robust flavor and gently blended with caffeine and guarana to help brighten your day.
• Relax Decaffeinated: This carefully selected option of decaffeinated 100% Arabica beans are gently roasted for a smooth, well balanced, flavorful finish and blended with cuts of chamomile and lavender to help soothe and relax you. A perfect combination to enjoy as you unwind.
• Super Spice: If spice tones are your thing, these gently roasted and blended coffee beans are mixed in with turmeric and cinnamon for a smooth, mild spiced flavor to awaken your senses.
• B6 Metabolism: Gently blended with a fruit and herbal blend rich in Vitamin B6, which helps support normal energy-yielding metabolism.
• Acai Glow: Gently blended with acai berry for a rich, fruity, vibrant flavor. A lively combination to help invigorate your day.

These Eight O’clock Coffee Infusions give me coffee options and I’m a girl that loves options. Whether I need a little pep in my step in the mornings or a complete chill pill in the evening I can get them both with the coffee flavor that I love. You can find the Eight O’Clock Coffee Infusions in store or buy online and you can save $1 off your purchase with this coupon .

How do you wind down in the evenings?

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There are tons of things I fail to hit the mark on, like a plethora. However, one life skill that I take pride in is my effort to always see and respect other individuals ways of thinking, opinions and habits…and by respect I mean keeping my comments to myself. I have not one heaven, nor any place for that matter  to permanently place anyone in, so I just try to stay in my lane and worry about what we have going on. Such has been my thoughts about the whole Santa Claus discussion during the holidays.

I believed in Santa Claus and my children were allowed to believe in Santa.  Enters the internet and my perusing of numerous stories regarding the distrust issues we apparently push on our kids with the Santa shenanigans. Read so many I started overthinking  what Addi’s reaction would be when I revealed to her NEXT Christmas  that ole Santa wasn’t real. I was legit stressed, more than certain I would give her trust issues into her adulthood as evidenced by some of the stories I read.

Christmas Eve commenced as normal. We gathered in front of the fireplace  laughing and roasting our annual s’mores when she hits us with the, “Is Santa real?”

Y’all. We all started looking at each other like what do we say. After a whole awkward silence because no one wanted to go first, I found my voice and it went as such…..

Me: “Weeeeellllllllll, if you use your imagination Santa is anybody you want him to be!”  Lame, I know.

She saw all through that and replied, “Just tell me the truth” complete with hand motions and laughter. I tried to keep it up but she wouldn’t stop saying, “Just tell me the truth.” It was then in the most reluctant manner that I handed over my last Santa experience as a parent.

I was really in my feelings for a day or two.

I’ve reasoned that Christmas this year was mediocre at best simply because that was the tone of my year. While I mentioned I wasn’t really feeling Christmas this year, I scrounged up enough energy to put a little something into Christmas morning, so much so that I didn’t capture one photo. We spent a lazy morning together, we ventured outside for Addison to take a whirl on her new bike, and finished off our day with minimal fanfare in front of the fireplace.

On this last day of 2017 I must say this year has been one filled with the most adulting and aggravating life things on record. Ninety-five percent of the drama was struggling through another round of self growth. Apparently self growth is a dynamic thing, and every couple of years it will do its very best to suck the life out of you. However, we must always do the work to become better and greater, no matter how hard it is. I’m an advocate for always speaking your truth even when you mess up, that way people have nothing to hold over your head.

This year, I shared my defeats and insecurities with friends just out of a need to verbalize them and I had folks show up in the clutch with no strings attached. At times it reduced me to tears and served one of the greatest lessons in making me want to be a better and available  friend moving forward.

Tonight I’m really hoping to put 2017 behind me and gather all of the lessons I’ve learned about myself and people and step into 2018 humbled, and better for it. I’m ready to hit the ground running.

How was your 2017? Care to share any lessons you learned that really resonated with you as we go into the new year? You never know it might help somebody!

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Thank you Shopify for sponsoring this post. Track your holiday shipments in one place with the new Arrive app!

Admittedly I was a late adapter to the phenomenon of online shopping. I’m still not all the way in, matter of fact I just utilized the one click option on Amazon for the first time the other day when I went to search for an item I couldn’t find in the store. I pushed one button and the item showed up on my porch today. Scared me so that I had to go back and double check what account was linked and double check the balance because I was sure it was going to ask me to confirm. In the event you were wondering, One click really means one click.

As tech savvy as I am, I’m still in awe at how fast and convenient online shopping is when all the pieces work together.

One of the reasons I think I’m a little leery of online shopping for certain items is, I’m all for not delaying my gratification. Once I pay for an item I want to leave with it.The thought of chasing down the UPS man and stalking tracking numbers for delivery dates has often kept me away from indulging in online shopping like most of the people I know.

Another area of contention for me with online shopping in the past has been keeping track of ship dates and tracking information. This Christmas I alleviated that qualm by downloading the Shopify Arrive app. The Shopify Arrive app is so convenient. Basically, Arrive lets you track any package from any online store in real time.The Vtech Kiddie Zoom I ordered a few days ago showed up on the app a few hours after I ordered it and I was able to track it through the app all the way to my front porch.

How does it work? Glad you asked

Arrive syncs with your gmail account and will track everything you order across all online retailers. If you run an online store or Etsy shop the app also tracks orders that you send out. This makes this app serve an extra purpose for me, in addition to my online store that runs on Shopify I also run an Etsy shop for my monogrammed items and the app updates me when my Etsy orders have reached their destination. This saves me so much time. If you don’t know what to sell on Shopify yet, that’s ok! Check out this guide about running a dropshipping niche or general store and which is best for you as it may help you decide what to sell!

Whether or not you are a heavy online shopper this app will work its magic far past the holidays putting all of your orders right at your fingertips on your phone’s home screen. This convenience just might make me an online shopping fan.

Are you an online shopper or do you need to leave the store with your purchases?!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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