 I have to tell you guys what's been going on because honestly, it's been a little crazy. It's been exciting, it's been challenging and it has been a little frustrating at times. So if you do follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed that two months ago, Robin and I bought a new house. Very exciting. We loved our old place, but we're looking for something that had a yard that we could fence in for a cocoa and just generally a little more privacy and kind of away from things. So we sort of live in the woods now. Anyway, there were things we wanted to do as soon as we moved in, of course, kind of make the home our own. And the two biggest things were getting the whole house painted and redoing the basement to make the studio. So we had the best painters. They were ridiculously meticulous. They spent a week just sanding the walls and patching everything up and making them perfect before doing any of the trim, the ceilings or putting any paint on the walls themselves. So these are the kind of painters that you want because you know they're doing it right, but it does take a while to do work like that and it was like two weeks before we could start having some semblance of putting the house back together. Now the basement slash studio where I'm at right now. So I kind of need to set the stage for you and talk about what the basement actually was when we moved in. So I mean, it wasn't terrible, terrible. Like you could do stuff down here, but it just hadn't been updated in a very long time. The walls were all marked up and stuff. The floor in the main area was this 1980s big brown porcelain tile. There was a really nasty dirty carpet in the other room, which is now becoming my office. There was also a kind of 1980s-ish bar that we weren't really into. So some stuff that needed to be done. I decided that to save some money that I was gonna demo the floors myself and ripping up the carpet was pretty easy. The porcelain tile, not so much. So I went and rented a 20 pound demo hammer, got all suited up and spent one Sunday ripping up all that tile. And now I'm going to make a really long story short for the purposes of this video and tell you that eventually six weeks after we moved into the house, finally the luxury vinyl flooring that I had ordered got installed. So there was like a month and a half where there was no studio, everything was in boxes. And just now we are starting to unpack everything, piece it together, decide where everything's gonna go, set it up, make everything efficient, test it out, dial it in. It's a process. And I definitely underestimated how involved everything was going to be, how long it was going to take, and I'm just so ready to get back into a schedule. Because honestly, that has been the hardest part about this whole moving process. I am such a routine and schedule-based person. And when I'm in a good groove, there's nothing that can stop me. But when that gets turned upside down, I struggle. I don't know if it's just me or if other people experience the same thing when it comes to that, but I just love routines because they center me, they get me focused, they put my mind in the right place. And there's sort of like a comfort in having something that you do every single day, especially if it's contributing to your overall well-being. And now the title of this video is starting to make sense. You knew that I was gonna bring it back to this, right? So knowing that I do not handle changes in routine very well, I very deliberately focused on having a great 30-minute morning routine because nothing else that was going on for the past couple of months has been routine. Painters in the house for two weeks, basement construction zone, wrangling contractors, if you've ever had to do that, I'm sorry. But this, the routine, was something that was completely within my control and that would center me and put me on a good path for the day. And that is what I'm gonna share with you in this video. And be sure to stick around to the end of the video because I will give you a little bit of a tour around the current state of the studio. So my perfect 30-minute morning routine starts like this. After I wake up, I head downstairs and I drink a big glass of water. This is something I've been doing for many, many years now. And the thing I like most about drinking a big glass of water in the morning is that after I drink it, instantly I feel more awake. And that is exactly what you want to feel in the morning. Next, you know, gotta take the dog out to do her business. And after that, I will go inside and make some coffee. You know, although the glass of water doesn't spark to help wake me up, I still need a little bit more of a kick. Personally, I'm a fan of pour over. So I do use a Chemex every morning. And I'm very particular about the ratio of coffee to water. So I always use 21 grams of coffee beans to 350 grams of water. It makes one perfect cup and it always tastes great. After that, it is breakfast time. I know in the past I've talked about this particular oatmeal recipe that I like, but recently I've kind of been keeping it very simple. Just a cup of Greek yogurt, about half a cup of granola and some honey on top. Next, onto personal hygiene. So brushing my teeth, rinsing with mouthwash, flossing, and then it is onto the shower, which includes, in addition to hair washing and body washing, one of the most important rituals of the day, the skincare routine. Now, some of us find it difficult to commit to a skincare routine, but nesting it within your morning routine is one of the best ways to make sure that you are making it one of your daily habits. Gotta take care of your face because that is the first thing people see. I get it. Skincare can seem like a bit of a mystery and kind of complicated, but that is why I love Teesh Hanley, a brand I'm proud to partner with again as a sponsor for today's video because they really do take all of the guesswork out of skincare and make it completely uncomplicated. And let me show you what I'm talking about. When you open up the box, the first thing you see is this card right here, telling you exactly what you need to do, when to do it, and how much of the product you need to use. Another thing that I love is that you get everything together. There's no need to buy one thing, and then another thing, and then another thing because that gets complicated. Everything here is all together. Now, all you really need to get started is their basic plan, which includes a face cleanser, exfoliating scrub, and AM and PM moisturizers. And you may be wondering why you need two different moisturizers. So the AM moisturizer contains SPF, which you need throughout the day to keep your skin protected from the sun. And then the PM moisturizer is formulated to maximize the repair process that goes on throughout the night. Now, that's all you need, but I'm a little older, just turned 44 not too long ago. So I like to add a couple of other things into my routine, and that's why I like the Teesh Handling Level 3 system, which includes a firming serum and an eye cream. Having been using this stuff religiously for close to a year now, I can 100% say that it works, and I am not just saying that, I can literally see and feel a difference. With Teesh Handling, obviously, you're getting amazing benefits to your skin, and when you join Teesh, you also get access to tons of perks, including at least 20% off the retail price, the ability to customize your box, shipping reminders, the option to pause or cancel at any time, no hassle refunds, and free US shipping. And international viewers, yes, Teesh does offer low-cost shipping to most countries. And because Teesh Handling is sponsoring today's video, they're offering you guys a great deal. Just click the first link in the description, and not only will you get Teesh Handling for the best possible price, but they'll also give you a free gift with your first box. Click that link to get started for just $30. So after the shower and after the skincare, there really isn't much left other than combing my hair and getting dressed. Now, I can't stress enough how important I think it is to have a solid morning routine to get yourself ready for the day, to get yourself centered, and to get yourself looking good. Now, as promised, let's give you a little walkthrough of the current state of the studio and my office. Okay, so here we go into the new studio. So one of the best things about this is that we have a lot more space than we had previously, and my office is not part of the production area, which definitely I'm a fan of. So one of the problems that we had faced in the old studio was that we had a place to shoot video and we had a place to shoot photos, except the space was so small that it was hard to do that. We wanted to have a place where we could have the lights just set up all the time, so that's what we're doing over here. So this main area here, that's where you're gonna be seeing all the outfit videos, and then you can see that we have our lights set up. And then up here, we attached the seamless paper. We actually put a board into the studs and on the bulkhead and then attached that, so because it is pretty heavy. So now we can do that. Easily transition to shooting photos as well. There's a mirror back there. So over here is the storage area. That's where all the cords and stuff like that is. And then over here, now where I used to talk at the desk, not going to happen, I'm gonna wanna keep the, I wanna keep the lights and cameras out of my office. I want that to just be a peaceful place where I can do work. So over here is where I'm going to be shooting most of the talking. We'll also kind of double as a place for B-roll as well. Work in progress. So still a lot of things to put away and things like that. Over here, I did set up a nice little gallery wall, some of our photo, well, not our photos, but photos that I've had in the studio. And then over here could have been another scene for shooting, but this is going to be a family area, kind of like a hangout. We might put a bar, a couch, just cocktails, something like that. Cool place to go hang out. So let's go into the office, I'll show you that. Well, fair warning, it is a complete disaster. A lot of stuff still to put away, but and a lot of stuff to take to the dump because previous owners left a lot of things. So this is the office now. It's nice to have my own spot to do my work. Doesn't look like much at all. New uniform right there. So yeah, that is a little bit of a glimpse into what the studio looks like. I will be excited to show you more as we continue to renovate, get things situated and set up. So thanks once again to Teej Hanley for sponsoring this video. Reminder to click the link down below in the description to give Teej a try for yourself and receive a free gift with your first box.