Ways to Make Every Day Better | Issue 2 — The Routines That Traveled With Me (And the Ones That Didn't)
- Nelea Lane, CMWC
- Jul 2
- 6 min read
Issue 02 — Every Day Better
The ways to make every day better rarely come from one big thing. This is Issue 02 of Every Day Better — my ongoing collection of the small things that quietly make ordinary days feel a little calmer, a little cozier, a little more like mine. No overhauls. No big productions. Just what's actually working.
There's a particular kind of unsettled that doesn't look like chaos from the outside. But it's there. Downsizing is both emotional and freeing.
The house looks fine. The boxes are mostly gone. Things are in drawers. And yet something about life still doesn't have its footing — like you're living in the right place but haven't quite moved in yet.
I've been in the new house three weeks now. And my routines are more scattered than I want to admit. Some things traveled with me. Some things quietly didn't make it. And a few new ones are starting to find their way in — small, unplanned, surprisingly good.
Some things didn’t make the move on purpose. My favorite diffuser is still in a box somewhere — I’ll find it. My mom's turquoise snowflake Pyrex casserole dish better turn up soon? But the things I chose to leave behind? Bags of clothes I can now finally admit I’ll never wear regardless of what they cost or a memory they held. Kitchen things that were just taking up space and not actually getting used. Stuff with no real meaning attached to it — just having, for the sake of having. I gave it all away and felt like I shed a hundred pounds. Turns out some of the routines I thought I needed were just clutter with better branding.
Here’s what’s been helping this month.
The small ways to make every day better — Issue 02
The Instant Pot I unpacked before almost anything else.
I won't tell you I was rational about the unpacking order. I was not. But finding that pot in a box after three months without it and getting it on the counter felt like something clicking back into place. I was on a mission!
The first thing I made was buffalo chicken salad from Brittany Williams' Instant Loss: Eat Real, Lose Weight cookbook. Shredded chicken, Frank's RedHot, arugula, blue cheese, ranch. Twenty minutes start to finish. And suddenly the kitchen felt like mine.
I've made it one more time for good measure (I love a good summer salad). I'm putting the full recipe at the bottom of this post because it's summer-perfect, makes good left overs for chicken wraps, and I want you to have it.
I'm reimagining some of my mother's and grandmothers recipes for the Instant Pot. I can't wait to share them with you in future issues.
The book I'm reading outside in the mornings.
I bought a real book with pages that turn! Summer State of Mind. And I've been taking it outside in the morning — before the Texas heat makes that impossible — with something to drink and leaving my phone in the house!
It's not a fully formed habit yet. Some mornings it happens and some mornings it doesn't.
But the mornings it does? Completely different day. There's something about sitting outside with a book in your hands before the world starts talking at you that no app has ever replicated for me.
If you've been meaning to read more this summer — this is the nudge.
By Kristy Woodson Harvey — the New York Times bestseller people are calling the beach read of summer 2026. A burnt-out nurse runs away to a small coastal Carolina town looking for a simpler life and finds a whole lot more than she bargained for. Second chances, found family, a community that shows up. The kind of story that makes you feel hopeful by the last page.
The curtains that made the room feel nearly finished.
An Amazon find under $50
I'd never done floor-to-ceiling curtains before. I always stopped short — panels that hung 6" above the top of the window. This time I ordered curtains off Amazon for the first time ever, and found a linen-look blackout pair that I genuinely don't regret.
One change. The whole room felt different: taller. If there's something small in your space that you keep almost doing — this is your sign.
Next up ... hang the pictures.
The summer sipper that made the new kitchen (and the back patio) mine.
Strawberry Edge+ is back and functional sips are my thing — so naturally I had to make it into a summer mocktail. This one will be a favorite afternoon ritual. I'm a little obsessed with it.
The flair is the ice. Clear ice cubes infused with halved fresh strawberries and cucumber slices — frozen right into the cube so every sip gets a little of that flavor as it melts. I got the mold from Amazon and it genuinely makes me happy every time I pop it out of the freezer. Small things.
Here's how I make it:
Prepare your Happy Juice with one packet of Strawberry Edge+ and one packet of unflavored Mentabiotics as normal with 16 oz water. Drop in ice. Top with a splash of H-E-B Cucumber Mint Lemonade — about ¼ cup. Add a few lime slices and pour over your fancy ice. (Add more cucumber mint lemonade or water to taste.) If you don't have an H-E-B near you, google "heb cucumber mint lemonade recipe" and make your own.
That's it. Done in two minutes. Looks like you tried much harder than that.
(my affiliate link that saves you $10)
Here's why this combo is more than just a pretty afternoon drink. Edge+ supports a calm, focused mood. MentaBiotics feeds the gut-brain connection. Happy Juice is the foundation my nervous system starts every day on. Together they make the kind of summer sipper that actually helps your brain land somewhere quiet — which is all I want this season. Clear thinking. Happy mood. More stress resilient. Enough presence to actually enjoy the moments instead of just surviving them.
You don't find your rhythm all at once when your normal shifts. You find it one thing at a time — the pot that comes out of a box, the book you take outside, the curtain that finally touches the floor.
Not life-changing. Just a little better.
What routine traveled with you through your last hard stretch? Leave a comment below — or hit reply if you got this as an email. I read everything.
Nelea R. Lane, CMWC
The Happy Juice Chick | Founder, The Stress Less Era
Independent Brand Partner with Amare Global
936-209-7222 — yes, you can text me.
P.S. The things I share are things I've personally enjoyed, discovered, or found interesting. If I ever use an affiliate link I'll tell you.
Buffalo Chicken Salad — Instant Pot
From Instant Loss: Eat Real, Lose Weight by Brittany Williams. Serves 4–6.
¼ cup butter or ghee | 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts | ⅓ cup Frank's RedHot | 1½ tsp red wine vinegar | ¼ tsp dried minced onion | ¼ tsp garlic powder | ¼ tsp fine sea salt | 5 oz arugula | 2½ oz blue cheese crumbled (optional) | ranch dressing | ½ cup shredded carrots | ½ cup diced celery
Sauté butter in the Instant Pot until melted. Add chicken, hot sauce, vinegar, onion, garlic powder, and salt. Seal and cook on Manual/High Pressure for 12 minutes. Natural release to LO:25, then quick release. Shred chicken with two forks and let marinate in the juices.
Assemble salads with arugula, carrots, celery, and blue cheese. Top with buffalo chicken and ranch.
Every Day Better is my monthly curation of the small things — the real ones — that quietly make ordinary days feel a little better. No big productions. No costly investments. Just what's actually working.
*THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE, OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.
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