Hi hi friends! How are you? How was the weekend? Ours was a good one. The weather was a dream – it felt like San Diego, plus it rained every day – and P had a soccer game. We smoked chicken for dinner, met up with friends, caught up on chores, and enjoyed relaxing as a fam. We sat on the back of the Pilot’s SUV and watched the girls run around in the rain for almost an hour.

Today’s post is a little all over the place. I didn’t take a ton of pics, but I have some random thoughts to share with ya and would love to hear what’s going on in your world, too.

Random thoughts for a Monday morning:

– We replanted for fall, and I’m so pumped for some new veggies in the garden. Usually I plant too much and certain plants crowd others, so I only did carrots, beets, and broccoli in the raised bed. In our flat garden bed, we have swiss chard, romaine, arugula, and butternut squash. I have no clue what I’m doing with the butternut squash, but I’ve found that it’s best to just plant whatever you want to learn how to plant, and you figure it out as you go.

(See those poor smashed onions in the bottom left corner? You just figure these things out along the way.)

– This thought crossed my mind during my last hot yoga class, and I was thinking about how much I enjoy hot power yoga. It feels like a hug from a workout, and while it’s still taxing and challenging, it’s simultaneously restorative and a huge treat. It made me remember the Bikram yoga days of yore, which were a start contrast in the yoga world.

I got scolded frequently. 

The first time was for drinking water before Eagle pose (don’t you dare), and for little things, like not transitioning fast enough to the savasana portions, keeping my eyes on myself (I had to look around to figure out what I was doing!), laughing during the intense breathing section (once, a friend and I got the church giggles during class) and who knows what else. The incredibly steamy and sweaty rooms were always carpeted (disgusting), smelled like hamsters, and I loved it????? I loved it! SO weird haha.

Needless to say, I’m glad the Bikram phenomenon has come and gone, for various reasons.

– We tried a new-to-us restaurant in Tucson: the Parish. We’ve heard so many great things over the years but have never made it out there. We met up with friends for a lil double date, and it was SO good. They have twists on Southern food, so we shared popcorn, hushpuppies, and the best brussels sprouts for apps, and the entrees were things like fried chicken sandwich, gumbo, I had an extremely flavorful salmon salad, and meatloaf. The drinks were also an A+. We’ll definitely go back! Check it out if you’re a Tucson local looking for something to try out.

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Hi friends! Happy Friday! What’s going on this weekend? P has a soccer game, we’re meeting friends for dinner, and I’m making a baby meal for a friend with newborn twins. I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead! Read on for a lil giveaway at the end of this post, too. 🙂

This week was a good one. They all seem to go by so quickly lately that I need to remind myself to sloooowwww down. I feel like I’m going to blink and it’s going to be Valentine’s Day.

If you’re feeling like everything is happening earlier in the year and way too quickly, take some time to plan out things that purposefully make you slow down. I’m trying to do the same! Little things like Uno in the evening, walks as a family, reading a book (even though I’m surrounded by laundry to fold), and sitting together for meals makes a huge difference.

(Halloween decor is up! We didn’t go too wild but we have Jack and Sally in the window, our usual pumpkin displays, and our little Halloween table)

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the comments section below!

Fashion + beauty:

Beautycounter holiday is heeeeere! SO much great stuff! If you’re shopping for holiday gifts, I would order soon because some of our top sets tend to sell out. It’s hard to get into the holiday shopping mindset – I’m still in a tank top over here! – but I’m also trying to get as much shopping done as early as possible.

Here are some of my favorite BC holiday picks:

Mini Beyond Gloss vault. LOVE these for stocking stuffers! I also break sets apart to give to Liv’s friends over the holidays. I feel much better giving the kiddos makeup with safer ingredients and love these for myself, too. They’re not sticky and have the perfect glossy shine.

Best in Clean Heroes. If you’ve been wanting to try Beautycounter, this is such a great intro to our bestsellers. You’re able to try out smaller sizes of our hero products at a bundled discount. This is another great one to break apart for stocking stuffers.

Multi Masker set. You can try out our extremely popular

Sharing the details about the upcoming Dr. Cabral EquiLife 7-day detox I’ll be doing along with my community. If you’d like to join in, check out the details below! You can also click here and use FITNESSISTA20 for 20% off. 

Hey hey! Happy Wednesday! I hope you’re enjoying the week so far. The Pilot is off work today (wahoo!) so I’m looking forward to F45 and brunch together, and also recording a podcast episode for this blog post.

I’m about to head into another round of the EquiLife 7-day detox, and I’d love to invite you to join in on the fun. October is the perfect time for a lil kickstart and reset.

When you hear the word “detox,” you might immediately be turned off and rightly so.

A lot of detoxes are…well, terrible.

They’re not designed with a purpose, and the main goal is to drink (often sugary) liquids for a few days before resuming your life. I’ve done some juice cleanses with popular brands in the past. I usually didn’t last very long, and they typically left me feeling worn down, depleted, and hangry.

This one is entirely different. I’ve done it previously with amazing results, and I’m pumped to do it again. My body has been craving a bit of a “reset.” I’ve been enjoying sugar and processed foods more frequently than usual lately, and I’ve noticed a dip in my skin’s appearance and my energy levels. It’s time to kickstart my way back into my typical, sustainable habits with this little boost.

I’m going to be starting on October 17th and would love to do this as a community if you’d like to join in! (It would be so amazing to see 250 friends doing this and supporting each other along the way!) 

7-day Dr. Cabral EquiLife Detox:

Here’s more about this 7-day detox:

– It’s a liver-based detox to help reset your body, provide a break from digesting heavy foods, and potentially help your body eliminate toxins that we accumulate from our environment. It includes functional medicine ingredients and Ayurvedic herbs to support phase 1 and 2 liver detoxification.

– It’s nutrition-focused. It includes the POWERHOUSE Daily Nutritional Support powder (which I’ve had in my smoothies for the past couple of months and notice a difference in how I feel when I drink this smoothie), and meal guidelines for the remaining meals. The goal is to NOT have your body depleted of nutrients during the process.

– It can potentially help with weight loss (although that’s not a focus for me), along with anti-aging, and total body wellness. 

– It’s only 7 days! When I first started working with a naturopath (back in the old days! It was like 2010), he had me do a month-long detox that was similar in format

Sharing a September book recap and if I’d recommend adding these to your TBR list! 

Hi Hi friends! How’s the week treating ya? I hope you’re having a great one so far. I’m here working on SEO all day – one of my least favorite parts about being a blogger. Blahhhhh- and looking forward to a hot yoga class this afternoon.

For today’s post, I’m sharing a recap of the books I’ve read in September and if I’d recommend adding these to your list. I always love to hear about your book picks, so please share what you’re reading in the comments section. 🙂

September Book Recap

All Things New

I was unsure about adding this to the recap because obviously we don’t all have the same beliefs, and I never want anyone to feel isolated or left out. One of my favorite things about having ya’ll as virtual BFFs is the fact that we have a ton in common, and probably some differences, too. It makes life more enjoyable and exciting to be surrounded by various perspectives and viewpoints.

In the end, I wanted to add it because it’s been a part of my life lately, and I’m sure many of you would enjoy hearing about this rec.

I’ve been going through this Bible study on 2 Corinthians for the past month and a half and have already learned so much from it. As someone who always felt intimidated by reading the Bible, this has been a great introduction to it, especially since I’m able to study and discuss with such a lovely and brilliantly intelligent group of ladies. We meet weekly and chat about what we’ve learned, and the conversations have been so meaningful for me.

If you’ve been wanting to read the Bible, I highly recommend doing a study like this as a way to gain more knowledge and understanding. I feel like I’m actually learning instead of simply reading passages, and this way, I’m more easily able to apply these principles to my life. We’ll finish this study early next month and cap it off with a celebratory lunch before starting our next study. 🙂

From Amazon:

The city of ancient Corinth was much like our own modern-day cities: a melting pot of electrifying cultural experiences to be had, along with the myriad pitfalls of spiritual dep

Hi hi! Happy Monday! Thank you so much to those of you who let me know you were missing the old school blogging recaps, so I’m bringing them back. It won’t be every day, but will definitely be scattered more frequently on the blog. Thank you so much for sharing your feedback with me. It’s my goal to create a blog that you want to read (that I also enjoy writing). I always appreciate your perspective, and take your thoughts and comments to heart.

It was a packed and fun-filled weekend around here. Friday afternoon, I met up with some friends to get everything ready for our school auction, and headed straight from that to a meeting with the dance moms to plan out Trunk or Treat. We have a lot to look forward to this month!

(I saw this tree at Hobby Lobby and didn’t end up buying it because it’s huge and tacky, but also SO perfect.)

We had Greek bowls for dinner, which is one of our frequent staples.

It’s grilled chicken, rice, hummus, cucumbers, olives, grape leaves, salad, and tzatziki bread. I totally forgot to add falafel to this meal, which takes it over the top. (I just air fry the frozen falafel from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.) The kids always go wild for this one – they like crafting their own bowls- so I cling tightly to the recipes they genuinely love. (They’re not picky, but are definitely vocal about which meals they like more than others.)

Saturday morning, we cheered for P at her soccer game, dropped Liv at dance, and I headed back to the auction venue to help set up decorations and last-minute to-dos. I look forward to our school’s auction each year, especially because our community is truly amazing. The kids SO lovely and kind, their families are incredible, and the teachers are the best of the best.

We’ve been able to make friends through our school that have become like family, and I feel blessed that after some school hunting, we’ve certainly found the right spot. (We switched schools two months before the world shut down, so we didn’t get to have a true experience until last year!)

Auction attire:

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