Cassie DeNisco

New Posts Weekly

Balancing it All

balancing it all

My life these days just feels like a hamster wheel. I’m just constantly running from one thing to the next and having trouble figuring out balancing it all. Often we feel like we need to be doing something 24/7 in order to prove something to ourselves or others. For me, I know that I have to be doing something or else I just feel lazy. I don’t know why but I literally will beat myself up if I treat myself to an after internship nap. Even writing my last blog post took forever to get through because I was juggling so much.

Having that mindset though isn’t healthy. It’s okay to treat yourself sometimes to a little you time. Balancing it all means you’re balancing everything, including your mental health which is often so neglected. I’ve recently found that on a busy day, I need a few minutes to myself to gather my thoughts and get it back together. Living life in the fast lane is fun but can lead you to burnout which is not something you want to go through.

Burnout for me means I don’t want to do anything at all. I don’t want to be bothered by homework, or work from my internship, or even choreographing dances (which is something I love to do). I become uninspired and unmotivated which is a seriously dangerous path to be on. Once you’re uninspired and unmotivated, nothing will get done and you be in a worse position than you were before just trying to balancing it all.

Overcoming burnout can be difficult, but I give myself whatever necessary time I need to recharge. I get myself back into the headspace that I need to be in to get things done and I just get to it. Being your own pick me up is a serious skill that will take a lifetime to develop. Knowing your limits and what you can handle is also something you need to develop.

I believe that a huge component of balancing it all is learning to say no. It’s absolutely okay to tell someone you can’t do something for them. You have to focus on your own life. You need to do for yourself before you can do for others. Now of course, you can’t say no to work or homework. But you can reach out if it is really getting too tough for you. Unless your boss is totally awful, they probably understand what you’re going through and know that balancing it all in life sometimes gets tricky. The same goes for professors.

If you find yourself struggling when trying to balance it all, reach out to friends and family. Just talking through your problems will already help to combat them. It’s so important to keep yourself together when it might feel like you’re being pulled in a thousand different directions. Let me know in the comments below if you have any times to balance it all!

Follow me on Instagram: @cassiedenisco

My Fall Night Routine

fall night routine

Fall is totally my favorite time of year because of the change in weather. Summer is fun but the coziness of fall is my absolute favorite. My first night routine post was pre puppy so everything is so different now. I thought it would be fun to show you my chill fall night routine. Here’s a night in my life!

10/30/19

I get home different times from dance but the first thing I always do is take a shower. Because I’m a dance teacher and I’m moving around for my job, it’s inevitable that I’m going to need to shower. After that I start my dinner. Usually I’ll have already meal prepped for it, meaning that I have already cut up the veggies and the meat and just need to throw it all in the oven. Prepping it beforehand seriously makes like so much easier and it helps me to make sure that I’m eating healthy. While we eat, we like to feed Sky too around 7. This ensures that she eats but also that she won’t be around begging us for food. She usually doesn’t but just in case she decides to start that habit she can’t.

After dinner in my fall night routine, I like to hop right into skin and hair care. Usually while we eat I like to keep my hair up in a towel. It soaks up the water and then I use the It’s a 10 leave in conditioner to detangle it. I really love it because it makes my hair so smooth. It also acts as a heat protectant for when I’ll style my hair in the morning. After that, I’ll always wash my face in the shower so I start using my Drunk Elephant and Clinique products. I use my Clinique toner first and then go in with Drunk Elephant’s T.L.C Framboos and Eye cream. Skin care is so important so no matter how tired you are make sure you get to it!!

Once all of that is done in my fall night routine, it’s finally time to walk Sky and head to bed to watch a show. Since I’m writing this in October we did watch American Horror Story and Halloweentown High last night to get us in the Halloween spirit. Sky will usually head right to bed once I put her in my bed which means that I have time to actually sit and watch a show without her running around and being her crazy little self. I usually will walk her one more time around 10pm before bed and then I’m in bed before 10:30 since someone likes to wake up at 7am.

I hope you enjoyed reading my fall night routine! It’s pretty chill and relaxing which I need after a long day with the puppy, school, work, and my internship. Let me know in the comments below if you do anything special for your fall night routine.

Follow me on Instagram: @cassiedenisco !

Life Updates!

puppy life updates

Wow I can hardly believe that we’re halfway through October so I decided it was time to do some life updates. Seriously can’t figure out why time moves so quickly. We’ve had Sky now for 3 full weeks and I honestly am absolutely in love. She is the most perfect pup and I am so impressed with her intelligence.

Overall, she’s doing really well with potty training. We only have accidents in the house once every few days and she really knows when she needs to go out. One of our biggest challenges is still putting her in the crate overnight. I know that it’s best for her but she cries so much. I would let her sleep on my bed with me but I’m worried she might fall off and my bed is quite high off the ground. We also don’t totally trust her yet for that long without going potty, and I don’t think I even want to imagine cleaning up that mess. Other than that we are doing great and she seriously is such a fun puppy to have!

In other news in life updates, I have also accepted an internship. I’m currently working with a digital marketing agency and I absolutely love it. It’s exactly what I want to be doing. I am so lucky that I was able to find something with such flexible hours and so close to home. I’ve also been with this internship now for about 3 weeks and I feel like I’ve learned a lot. At the same time, I also am working on the skills I already had.

Digital marketing is basically what I do for this blog. From writing and designing websites to promoting it on social media, in a sense I’m my own marketing person. I think it’s so cool that this is actually a job that people have because it’s fascinating. I work on the social team so I get to create graphics for Instagram and come up with captions. There’s a lot of hashtag research involved as well which is something I can apply to my own blog and posts.

With all that is going on in my life I definitely have had moments that I feel overwhelmed. I actually wrote a blog post about all of this change as it was happening. Although, I just didn’t share the details but you can read it here. I was doubting myself for so long and now that I’ve let go I am seriously so happy. Friends in life come and go but you have to be your own cheerleader 100% of the time. I really was able to learn that this year and I know how capable I am of handling any type of situations. 2019 so far has been a crazy year and I can only imagine where else it will take me.

Hope you enjoyed reading my life updates. Stay tuned for more because 2019 is not over yet and there’s still so much more to come!

Sky’s Instagram: liifewithsky

My Vegan Apple Crisp

Chef Cass is back with a yummy fall dessert: vegan apple crisp. This dessert is perfect for a post apple picking treat and its vegan. I love vegan apple crisp and when I found this recipe, I fell in love. Add a little bit of vanilla ice cream or whip cream (vegan or non) to this you will be in vegan apple crisp heaven.

Ingredients:

Filling

4 Peeled Apples

1/2 c Brown Sugar

1/4 c Flour

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/4 tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1tsp Vanilla Extract

Topping

1 c Flour

1 1/2 c Oats

1 c Brown Sugar

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

3/4 c Vegan Butter

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

  1. Cube the apples and add to mixing bowl with all of the other filling ingredients. Be sure to mix the apples so that they are properly coated and add to a 9 x 13 in greased pan.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  3. In a separate bowl, prepare the topping by adding all of the dry ingredients first then add the melted butter and vanilla.
  4. Use your fingers to crumble the toping over the filling so that it is evenly spread across.
  5. Bake for 50 minutes until the top is golden brown and the inside is all gooey and yummy.
  6. Cool for 10 minutes and then add whatever toppings you’d like.

I’m literally so obsessed with fall and eating yummy desserts like this really help me get into the fall mood. I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you try it out let me know!

How I Let Self-Doubt Hold Me Back

I think for most of us, we’re our own worst enemies when it comes to self-doubt not feeling good enough for the things in our life. For myself, I know that I easily could let my stress and anxiety about change and new experiences control my life but I try my hardest to not let it. Letting things that scare you control your life isn’t a healthy way to live but a lot of us decide to not overcome the things that stress us out.

Self- doubt has been a huge factor in my life and honestly has controlled some of the decisions I have made. I often feel either not worthy enough for the things in my life or I let the fear of the unknown consume me. It often consumes me so much that I sometimes won’t do certain things or will not go all out in situations that I really would have liked to. I know for a fact if I started truly believing in myself whole-heartedly, I wouldn’t be as anxious of a person as I am.

For a little context, I used to think I was just an extremely indecisive person. Once I dove deeper and tried to get to the root of my problems, I realized that I just wait for “signs” on how to handle situations and and make decisions that may or may not come. And if they don’t come, I let fear take over and not do whatever it is I really want to do. It literally took me almost 22 years of my life to realize this but once I got to the root of my indecisiveness, I realized it was my own self-doubt that was holding me back.

This week alone I have had to make some major “big girl” decisions for myself and I almost talked myself out of them, even though they were things that I really wanted. Just take a moment to think about that, I almost let two amazing opportunities pass me by because I was scared. It was comforting to know that I had other people’s support no matter what I did but ultimately it had to be me making the decision as to whether or not I would pursue these things. Although I’m super nervous, I know that I just need to in a sense rip the bandaid off and get to it.

Having the courage to fight yourself in situations is definitely not easy but is so necessary if you’re like me and are constantly in your head. You can let your internal fears and doubts run your life. Just because something scares you and you’re nervous about it, doesn’t mean you can’t do it and succeed at it. Once you’re in a mindset where you are confident with yourself about your decisions and situations, you’ll realize the life filled with self-doubt that you lived before wasn’t healthy. Whether it has to do with body positivity or fear about how you life is going to turn out, you just have to let it go and start living your life for yourself.

I wish I could tell you an easy way to overcome whatever mental struggles and self-doubt you’re going through, but like I said, it truly took a long time to become at peace with myself. I realized that I can handle situations and I shouldn’t allow the things that make me anxious to live my life. It is truly so liberating when you are able to take your life back and start doing things that make you happy. The light at the end of your tunnel will come and you will make it through whatever scares you. I mean, at the end of the day, if it doesn’t scare you at least a little, is it even worth doing?

Don’t for get to listen to me new podcast Chit Chats with Cass on Apple and SoundCloud.. new episodes every Monday!

Why I Made the Switch to Clean Products

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile now you know that I am insanely passionate about clean products in my home. From cleaning supplies to beauty products, I like to make sure that what I’m using is healthy, natural, and not filled with harsh chemicals.

I know for a lot of people the cost of clean products is definitely a factor when deciding what to purchase but knowing that I’m not using random chemicals around my little cousins or putting things on my face with ingredients that I don’t know how to pronounce is so important. I recently have come across some really affordable brands that I absolutely love and thought I would share them with you guys!

Love Home and Planet

As with any Target trip, I ended up purchasing a lot of the Love Home and Planet products on a whim but was pleasantly surprised with how well the work. I initially only have know this brand for their shampoo and conditioner line which is amazing but they also make detergents, cleaning sprays, cleaning wipes and hand soaps that are vegan, not tested on animals and have minimal, clean ingredients. I seriously have become so obsessed with these products and this entire company. They’re also carbon conscious and I just like that the ingredients they use are natural.

Method

I’ve been using Method body wash for years now but I never realized that they also make cleaning products. Similar to Love Home and Planet, they also have clean and non toxic products. I really love them for their body washes because they have all natural ingredients and minimal ingredients which is so important when you’re trying to clean and keep your skin healthy.

Aside from these awesome, all natural products, I also have come across this cool app that you can test how clean and healthy your products are. The app is called Think Dirty and basically you can scan whatever you’re using to see it’s rating. It gives you the ingredients that’s in the product and breaks down what’s good and bad about the product so that you can make your own informed decision about it.

I think that’s really the key to using healthy products. Everyone wants different things in for their lives and some people are just super passionate about what goes on, near, or around their bodies. Other people might not be as interested but at the end of the day you just need to do what’s best for you and your lifestyle. I definitely hope that you will try the products and brands that I’ve talked about here because I think you’ll love them just as much as I do!

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @cassiedenisco and leave a comment below if I should do a post on clean beauty products like Drunk Elephant!

My Netflix and Chill Must Watch Shows this Fall

It’s finally feeling like fall here in New York and I’m absolutely obsessed with the idea that Netflix and chill season has officially arrived. There’s no better feeling to get home from a long day and get cozy with a great show on Netflix. Whether you’re watching these movies and shows with yourself, your besties or your significant other they’re sure to make your chill sesh perfect.

Mind Hunter

Courtesy of Netflix.com

I cannot recommend this show enough. It’s literally so good and so easy to binge watch. The plot surrounds to FBI agents who are starting to investigate the term serial killers and why they do what they do. Based on a true story, this show basically shows how the term serial killer came about and how the behavioral sciences unit of the FBI came to be. I really recommend this show if you like shows similar to Criminal Minds because this show is the history behind it. Perfect for a cozy fall night in.

Stranger Things

Courtesy of Wikipedia.com

I won’t lie, I was so late on this show’s fandom. For awhile I was against it because I don’t really like gory shows but after watching my first episode of Stranger Things, I literally binged the whole series one weekend in July. The kid actors are awesome in this show and the whole story line is so cool. I love the fact that the show is moving more into historical fiction with scify mixed in because it really has something for everyone. Definitely a few scary scenes so watching with someone else if definitely recommended. Ps. RIP Hop, or maybe not.

Sextuplets

Courtesy of Netflix.com

On a lighter note, and not a series, the movie Sextuplets is hilarious. It reminds me of a Madea type film but is seriously so funny. The plot follows an adopted man on a journey to find out where he came from. He finds out that he actually has five other siblings and the movie follows him on his adventures meeting them. I love watching some comedies when hanging out because you don’t have to be so focused on what’s going on with the show and you can just have a great laugh with whoever you’re with.

American Horror Story

Courtesy of Netflix.com

This show is my go to fall Netflix and chill show. AHS screams Halloween and fall to me because of the creepy and scary nature of the show. What I love most about AHS is that has a different theme for each season. This helps to keep the show fresh and lets it cover all sorts of creepy concepts. I definitely don’t love some of the later seasons but the first few, especially Freak Show, are seriously my favorite. If you Netflix and Chill with me this season then I guarantee that we’re watching at least an episode of this. The new season of AHS, “1984”, premieres September 18th on FX but you can binge all the other seasons on Netflix.

As you can tell, I love murder, mystery and horror shows and movies for fall. To me they help make the perfect fall night. They also help me to get int the mood for my favorite holiday which is Halloween. If you’re Netflix and chilling with me this fall, I guarantee that we’ll be watching any of these shows! Let me know what your favorite Netflix and Chill movies are below or on my latest Instagram post!

5 Time Management Tips You Can’t Live Without

It’s the best and worst time of year for college students: syllabus week. This is the week of easy transitions back into college classes after a great summer. It’s also the week that reality sets in and you realize how much work and responsibilities that you have again. Have no fear though, I’m here with my best time management tips and tricks to keep you stress free this semester!

  1. Invest in a Planner

I can’t stress this enough, if you don’t have somewhere to write your events and due dates then you probably won’t remember them. Using iCal, Google Calendar, or a good old fashion planner you write in is absolutely essential in maximizing your time and not missing out on important things.

2. Prioritize Assignments

If you’re like me, reading for classes is something quick and easy where as it takes me much longer for written assignments. At the beginning of every week I like to make a to do list with when I need to have certain assignments done by so that I can stay on track and know exactly what to do which assignment when. Half the battle is starting and its so hard to start when you know you have so many other things to do.

3. Know When to Ask for Help

There’s literally no worse feeling then being seriously stumped on some math problems but just wasting time staring at it hoping it’ll come to you. Professors have office hours multiple times a week and I’m sure other people in your classes will be so willing to give you a little help too. Don’t spend the whole week struggling when you could’ve easily had the answer right away.

4. Getting Balance takes Time

Having a work, live, and social balance will take you more than just one week of back to school. Give yourself time to figure it out and know which classes will take you longer to do during the week. By feeling out what your week is going to look like, you’ll easily know how much time you can have to spend with friends and know when you need to do a little more studying so you aren’t stressed at work. Make sure you ALWAYS make time for yourself because self-care is the best care!

5. Don’t Procrastinate

You’ve probably heard this one a thousand times but here’s your friendly reminder that procrastination just adds to stress. I know a lot of people like the excuse that they do well under pressure but why even add that pressure to your life. If you start assignments early you’ll have plenty of time to be able to finish it and get to do the things you want to during the week. And with the technology we have today, you never know when uploading an assignment will go wrong and then you won’t have the chance to correct the problem before the deadline.

Time management is a skill and I don’t care what anyone has to say about it. Knowing how to prioritize things and balance your life is something that you’ll have to do for the rest of your life so you might as well start getting into the habit of it now. There’s no better time than the beginning of the school year to work on time management to get yourself into a routine that helps make your life much easier!

College Meal Prep Guide

Back to school for a lot of people usually means back into a routine. I know for me it means attempting to get back into the groove of eating healthy. This often is way easier said then done because being a college student means you don’t have a lot of time. Between balancing classes, studying, jobs/internships, and a social left, it doesn’t leave much time in the day for cooking healthier meals. I know for me that having something already ready to eat makes eating healthier way easier. Meal prepping is definitely time consuming but setting a side some time one day out of the week to prep your food or snacks will make your life seriously easier in the long run.

The key to meal prepping is having the right tools. First, I would seriously consider investing in an air fryer. Having mine has seriously changed the game. I cut up all my veggies and then just stick them in the air fryer for like 15 minutes. When they’re done, they’re so tasty and they cooked so quickly. I also like using it for my proteins. I cut them up, season them and I swear it cuts the cooking time in half. Aside from the air fryer, I also like to make sure I have the right containers to help the food last during the week. If you search on Amazon “meal prep containers” so many come up but I have my favorite bins and bags below!

Now let’s get into my favorite meal ideas!

Breakfast

Everyone always talks about overnight oats but I’m not gonna lie to you, I think they taste awful and can get really unhealthy with all the stuff you add to them. One of my all time favorite breakfast recipes are these little muffin cups. They have sausage and cheese in them and seriously keep you full. They’re easy to make too so you can prep them on a Sunday and have a great school/work breakfast for the week!

Ingredients:

Pre cooked Breakfast sausage

3 Eggs

3/4 c Shredded Cheese

1 Biscuit packet

Directions:

Pre heat your oven to 350 and mix all of the ingredient above together in a bowl. Grease a muffin pan and then pour the mixture into each section of the pan. They only cook for 6-7 minutes so this recipe is quick and easy!

Lunch/Dinner

I decided to lump these two together because I usually make enough meals that I can mix and match with dinner and lunch. One of my all time favorite recipes is a chicken stir fry with white rice. Life hack: you can get white rice in microwavable packets in the grocery store that are already cooked, you just reheat them. These are my favorite veggies to use but feel free to make it your own!

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast cubed

Peppers, Broccoli, Carrots

Coconut Aminos

White rice

Directions:

Marinate your chicken in a 1/4 c of the coconut aminos, then place it in your air fryer and cook it up for about 20 minutes. Let your air fryer cool and then put in your chopped up veggies and cook for 10-12 minutes depending on how crispy you like them. Once done, put the rice in your meal prep containers and then add your chicken and veggies!

These meals are seriously my favorite because they’re yummy and easy. I love meal prepping because it helps me to stay on track with my goals for eating healthy. These recipes are great for high schoolers, college students, and even for people who work because meal prepping helps save so much time. Comment below some of your favorite meals to make ahead of time!

Boy, Bye

I’ve definitely had my fair share of relationships in my lifetime and I’ve seen enough to know that a huge problem in relationships is not knowing when to call it quits. For a lot of people, they realize that the relationship isn’t doing what it is supposed to anymore but continue to hold on to it. Other people let relationships run their lives and stop them from pursuing the things important to them.

Whether it’s the fear of being alone or fear of not having that person in your life anymore, you need to realize that relationships should be happy and then need to contribute positively to your life. My post Babe, Stop Apologizing, touched on the idea that you shouldn’t leave toxic people in your life just because you love them and that absolutely can be applied here. When the relationship isn’t what it used to be and you’ve tried everything in your power to make it work, you need to just walk away. You might be thinking, well that’s easier said then done but believe me there is so much more to this world then your crumby relationship.

I watched a lot of my in both high school and college just long for a boyfriend. They seriously would do anything to just have someone to call their own. I mean if you’re starting out a relationship with your history of being desperate for a boyfriend, it can’t end well and yet my friends somehow made it last. Basing your relationship off the idea that you don’t want to be lonely isn’t the healthiest start to one. A huge question that you need to ask yourself before getting a boyfriend or girlfriend is why am I doing this? Is it because I’m lonely or am I secure enough in my own skin that I can add to someone else’s life? You need to have yourself established before you can give anything to anyone else. You need to have your self-love and confidence in your own skin so that you’re the best version of yourself for someone else. You can’t pour into someone else’s cup if your own cup isn’t that full.

In the world we live in today, relationships look so different than they did in the past. If you look at statistics, people are waiting to get into relationships or not getting into them at all. Reasons vary but the general trend is anti relationships, and personally I’m all for it. Girls today have so much more freedom in what they can say and do, and to be honest most relationships hold girls back. In thinking about my own experiences, there were countless times that I didn’t pursue something because of the relationship I was in at the time. I look back now and ask myself “Was it worth it?” and considering I don’t even talk to that person anymore, it wasn’t.

Why do girls have to lose their identities when they’re in relationships. I wonder that a lot and think that the answer lies in the insecurities of the person they’re with. Most guys can’t handle girls that know what they want and where they’re going in life, especially if they have no clue where they’re going themselves. Girls shouldn’t worry about what their significant other is going to think. Relationships definitely should not run your life to the point that you lose all ambition for the dreams you had. This ties into my earlier point that you can’t get into a relationship that’s going to be happy and healthy until you are secure with who you are.

Now, I’m totally not advocating going out and breaking up with your boyfriend or girlfriend if you’re the slightest bit unhappy but if any of these scenarios I’ve mentioned fit you, then maybe it’s time to reevaluate somethings. You need to consider why you got into the relationship and how the relationship makes you continue to feel. Relationships are there to make you happy and to add to your life, they aren’t there to stop you from doing what you want to do in life or make you miserable.

Something else I want to touch on is that it is totally okay for you to communicate how you feel to your partner. I feel like a lot of people are afraid to make the first move in conversations because they’re worried it might come off the wrong way. You have to get comfortable enough with the person you’re with so that these types of conversations are easy and painless. It’s good to step back and reevaluate where you are in relationships from time to time so that you make sure you’re on the same page.

It took me a long time to get as comfortable and confident as I am now to even be talking about knowing when to leave a relationship or what not to do to get into one. I for so long hated being alone but now realize I’m better off alone then miserable with someone else. In my life right now I am so content with where I am in my relationship and I know that we both work to better each other and our relationship. If you’re not in a partnership with your boyfriend or girlfriend, you’re not in a good relationship and that when it’s time to say Boy, Bye.