“This post was sponsored by Starbucks as part of an Influencer Activation. I received compensation and complimentary products to facilitate my review.”

Weekday mornings are the best part of the day, said basically no one ever in the history of life. The dreaded alarm, the scramble to get yourself dressed while still half-asleep, the quick scrounge for something to eat, and then the mad dash out the door. Basically, you're rising, but you probably aren't shining.

While I've certainly never been a morning person and I practically live for the more carefree lounging of the weekends (as I'm sure many of you do), I've recently had a bit of a change of heart after realizing it's the tone of your morning that sets the tone of your whole day. Life's too short to dread every morning and it's certainly too short for bad days caused by bad mornings so I've been on a mission to make my mornings better. So what makes a morning better, you ask? Well, it varies depending on the individual but it's safe to say that any morning that resembles a weekend morning is probably going to be pretty darn good. Of course, we can't all have brunches on Mondays and do hour long yoga classes on Thursdays, but we can all get up 20-30 minutes earlier to infuse a bit of the weekends into our everyday. Read on to see how...

Calming Music || As soon as I get up, I like to make the environment as calming as possible by putting on some mellow music. Anything with piano or violins I'm particularly fond of.

Create a Sensory Scene || Fresh flowers (or even a plant) can go a long way in making a space more calming and refreshing. I make a habit of picking up flowers every weekend to last throughout the week. Every morning I'll take a few minutes to freshen them up, change the water, cut the stems, put them in a new vase, or, quite literally, just stop and smell the roses. I also like to create a nicely scented atmosphere by lighting a candle.

Partake in Pastries || Weekday breakfasts are ok at best. Typically made up of a piece of fruit, a quick bowl of bland cereal or maybe some toast, they're certainly not anything to get excited about. For me, I make smoothies, which I love, but sometimes get a little bored of, so I look forward to switching things up come the weekends with any sort of carb, pancakes, pastries, brunch, etc. However, it's even more of a treat to switch things up during the week. Luckily, we live right around the corner from several great bakeries so I can easily run out to get something, but I also enjoy baking up a batch of muffins or banana bread the night before (bonus: baking is a nice way to shut off at night) or even whipping up one of these 1-minute coffee cakes.

Up Your Beverage Game || My least favorite thing about weekday mornings is a quickly-made, poor tasting beverage. I mean, nothing like a watery cup of coffee or tea to start your day off, right?! WRONG! I desperately look forward to weekends when we pop into a coffee shop to get a proper latte (Chai lattes for me, please!) that I never have time to make at home during the week. That is until recently, when I discovered the new TAZO® Chai Latte K-Cup® pods that can be made right in your Keurig® right at home. Total weekday game changer. Now, instead of waiting for the weekends to indulge, I can escape into a dreamy beverage without ever leaving home. And no lie, the TAZO® Chai Latte K-Cup® pods may just make some of the best chai tea lattes I've had in a while, and trust me, I have a LOT of chai tea lattes. The pods are made from a blend of black tea, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, vanilla and milk and the resulting drink is a perfectly creamy blend of sweet meets spicy. TAZO® actually partnered with host and New York Times Bestselling author Padma Lakshmi to celebrate the release of their new K-Cup® pods. The tea, which is steeped in 5,000+ years of Indian history, is also a huge part of Padma's family history and heritage, so needless to say, she's a huge fan (which is exciting for me, because not only am I a fan of chai tea, I'm also a huge fan of hers...so much fanning happening right now ion this sentence I can barely handle it!). Also, if you're as big a fan of chai tea as me (Pretty please say you are so we can be beverage buddies for life!), then you'll definitely want to check out the super easy chai-inspired recipes Padma created for you to pair with your latte (find the recipes here), whether you drink it morning, noon or night, or, ya know, morning, noon AND night. Nothing wrong with keeping that upped beverage game going all day long!

Robe Life || Don't even think about getting dressed! I mean, please do us all a favor and get dressed before you head out of the house for the day, but until then, it's all about the robe life! The best part about the weekends, er the weekday mornings, is lounging in your robe, am I right or am I right?! Make your weekday mornings feel a little more relaxing but keeping your robe on for as long as humanely possible (or, at the minimum, at least until you complete all the things on this list).

Read Up || With a candle burning, relaxing tunes playing and a TAZO® Chai Latte in your hand, settle in to a comfy chair and dive into the pages of a book (I'm loving this Parisian lifestyle guide right now!) or magazine. Yes, I know it's early morning and yes, I know you've got to get to work, so sitting down to read can seem like a totally indulgent and unnecessary treat. But taking just 15-20 minutes will do wonders for your mind, body and soul and will set the tone of your whole day to be one that is more relaxed, peaceful and enjoyable. And even if it's not, just remembering the easy going way your morning started out will help you get over whatever hurdles you may face throughout the day.