Hi friends! Happy Friday! I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving with lots of amazing food and time spent with those you love. I hope you know how grateful I am for all of you! Thank you so much for being here, for supporting my blog, podcast, and other random endeavors, and for being my virtual BFFs. Whether you’re new here (hello!!) or an OG blog reader (THANK YOU!), you mean so much to me and I’m thankful everyday for this little blog and the opportunity to hang out with you all.

My favorite little turkeys:

Our Thanksgiving was perfection. To start off the Thanksgiving and holiday festivities, we met up with my dad, stepmom, brothers, and some friends for the Gaslight Christmas show. Gaslight is a Tucson staple with melodramatic musicals. You cheer for the good guys, “boo!” for the villains, and enjoy a hilarious short olio show after the main production. The actors are all local and extremely talented, and it’s always a fun family activity. 

This year, it was Christmas Vacation and it was a HOOT. 

(Skirt is here/ boots are here)

Thursday morning, we slept in (praise be), I made turkey-shaped pancakes for the crew, we took a family walk, and then it was baking time!

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Hi friends! Hope you’re having a wonderful week and hope you have the happiest Thanksgiving surrounded by those you love. Please know how thankful I am for all of you. Your support with the blog and podcast means the world to me and I love the opportunity to hang out with my virtual besties every day.

For today’s podcast episode, I’m sharing a recording that Julie did with me about my strategies for staying healthy over the holidays and sticking to your goals during such a busy season. I did a similar episode when the podcast was a baby, but some of my strategies have changed and figured it was worth posting for those who may have missed the last one. This podcast was recorded for Julie and Kari’s show, Take the Upgrade, so it’s a reverse podcast interview situation 🙂 I hope you love it!

Here’s what we talk about:

– How to set yourself up for success with nutrition, even when there are more cocktails and treats around than normal

– Navigating two months of holiday events

– Stress management techniques and why HIIT may not be the best choice during this time

– My pre-party strategy

and so much more.

Take a listen here:

The weather is cooling down, and I’m still obsessed with my sauna blanket. It feels even BETTER when it’s chilly outside and you can use the code FITNESSISTA15 for 15% off! This is one of my favorite ways to relax and sweat it out. I find that it energizes me, helps with aches and pains, I sleep better on the days I use this, and it makes my skin glow. Link to check it out here. You can also use my discount for the PEMF Go Mat, which I use every day!

I love love love the meals from Sakara Life! Use this link and the code XOGINAH for 20% off their meal delivery and clean boutique items. This is something I do once a month as a lil treat to myself and the meals are always showstoppers. I’m enjoying a delivery this we

Hi friends! Happy Monday. I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. Sorry I disappeared on you for Friday Faves. I rarely miss a Friday Faves post but I think all of the activity of the past month and a half finally caught up to me. The icing on the cake was that I went to get blood taken for InsideTracker and passed out afterwards.

I haven’t fainted in maybe 20 years – last time, I landed on my face and broke my nose – and it rattled me a bit. I lost my vision for a few minutes and felt absolutely horrible, and the experience messed with me for a couple of days. I’m thankful for a kind tech who kept me from falling, and gave me a Snicker’s bar afterwards, which helped a ton.

But now, I’m back at it, the Grinch agreed to let me decorate before Thanksgiving so I’m surrounded by twinkly lights and pine-y things, and ready to head into Thanksgiving week. What do you have planned? We’re doing the usual lunch/dinner at my uncle’s house and stopping by madre’s afterwards. SO ready for some family time, nana’s coconut cake (the best ever), and a short week for the girls at school.

For today’s post, I wanted to share some skincare gift ideas and under $100 fashion finds. The Black Friday holiday shopping frenzy has already begun, and I’m here.for.it. Cheers to getting holiday shopping done early! 

(throwing it back to last year’s gigantic real Christmas tree. I think we need to go for it again)

Here’s a little bit about how I’m navigating holiday shopping:

– I made a Google Doc checklist with everyone on our list, along with gift ideas for each person

– I ordered anything I could in advance, and if I’m waiting for a Black Friday deal, I have the link in the document ready to go. The good news is that so many retailers started their Black Friday promos early.

If you’re doing the same and want to add any ideas from my gift guides, you can copy and paste the text from my blog post directly into Google Docs. The link will still work, too.

This year’s gift guides so far:

Gift guide for holiday hostesses and under $50 faves

For the men

For her

For the kids

If you’re looking for some Skincare gifts and Fashion Finds under $100, I’m sharing the goods in today’s post!

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Sharing a roundup of my favorite healthy restaurants in Tucson.

Hey friends! How’s the week going? I hope you’re having an amazing one. Today is packed with calls and appointments, but I’m looking forward to a long walk with Maisey to break up the computer time. What do you have going on?

For today’s post, I wanted to share a roundup of some of my favorite healthy Tucson restaurants! We love going out to eat, but many restaurants use flavorful yet undesirable ingredients, especially when it comes to oils/fats. Thankfully, we have plenty of places in Tucson where you can enjoy nourishing and delicious meals. For this post, “healthy” is defined as a restaurant that focuses on plant-based ingredients from the earth, with many of the items made in house with fresh ingredients, and accommodate various dietary requirements, like vegan and gluten-free options.

The best part about this post is that I’m going to have to update it in a year or so, because Tucson is FINALLY getting a Flower Child and a True Food Kitchen. BLESS IT. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this. Now if we could just get a Seasons 52, I’ll lose my mind.

Alas, here is my list of favorite healthy restaurants in Tucson (for now!).

20 Healthy Restaurants in Tucson

1) Tumerico

This is probably my #1 choice on this entire list. (The rest of the options are in no particular order.) They make everything in house, including the tortillas and salsas, and the menu changes daily. It’s a vegetarian Mexican spot with lots of vegan options. The Frida Kahlo plate is my very favorite, but everything is amazing. You won’t regret it… and now I’m craving it after writing this post. It’s located in the Sam Hughes area, which is in central Tucson.

2) Pure Poke and Prep

This is our favorite spot for poke in Tucson. We have it almost weekly! You go through it Chipotle-style and add whatever protein, base, and toppings you’d like. My go-to order is 1/2 salad greens, 1/2 white rice, salmon, spicy crab, edamame, avocado, furikake, broccoli, carrots, green onions, seaweed salad, lots of wasabi and ginger. (I add my own Tamari at home.) The girls go crazy for it, too, which makes it the perfect grab and go lunch or dinner.

3) Lovin’ Spoonfuls

Lovin’ Spoonfuls is a Tucson classic and for a great reason. The food is so delicious and fresh, and the desserts… you have to order at least one! This is where we get my bday cake every year �

Hi friends! How’s the week treating you? I hope you’re having a wonderful day! I’m off to get some blood work done for InsideTracker and filming videos all day. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Today, the gift guide fun continues with holiday gifts and under $50 faves. I know we all have a frenzy of holiday parties on the horizon, and for hostess gifts, I try to switch things up from the usual flowers or bottles of wine. (As someone who loves to host, these things are always appreciated and lovely, I just try to think of something a little different when I attend parties.)

Here are some of the fun hostess gifts I’ve found, plus some under $50 gift ideas if you’re searching for a smaller gift for a friend or family member.

Hostess gifts and under $50!

Gifts for the hostess with the mostess:

– Mini hand creams

– Truffle salt

– Unique honey set

– Marble cutting board (on sale)

– Cute apron

– Ina Garten cookbook

– My favorite local candles. I LOOOOVE these candles for hostess gifts.

– This cute succulent gift box

– Cheeky kitchen towels. These are so fun.

– Mini oil dipper set

Under $50 gifts:

– Jade roller. Liv has borrowed mine…forever… but I’m a huge fan of this one for decreasing puffiness and waking me up.

– Bombas socks or slippers. These have always been an easy holiday gift and everyone loves them. We LOVE the g