Sharing the latest books I’ve read, if I’d recommend them, and what I’m reading currently. 

Hi friends! Happy Thursday! How’s the week been going? The girls have been over here swimming like little fish, and I’ve been trying to study and catch up on work stuff in between the summer adventures. I feel like summer is already going by wayyyy too quickly and can’t believe Father’s Day is this weekend! If you’re looking for last-minute gift ideas, check out this post. 

For today’s post, I wanted to share the latest book roundup. I always love to hear about what you’re reading, too, so please share your fave reads for summer (or ideas for vacation books!) in the comments section.

What I’ve read lately (June 2022)

The Good Left Undone

This book was a pick from Book of the Month, and while I thought it was beautifully-written, engrossing, and lovely… it wasn’t my fave. I tend to love multi-generational plot lines, but had high hopes for this one and was a bit disappointed. 7/10 would recommend.

Here’s the synopsis:

Matelda, the Cabrelli family’s matriarch, has always been brusque and opinionated. Now, as she faces the end of her life, she is determined to share a long-held secret with her family about her own mother’s great love story: with her childhood friend, Silvio, and with dashing Scottish sea captain John Lawrie McVicars, the father Matelda never knew….

In the halcyon past, Domenica Cabrelli thrives in the coastal town of Viareggio until her beloved home becomes unsafe when Italy teeters on the brink of World War II. Her journey takes her from the rocky shores of Marseille to the mystical beauty of Scotland to the dangers of wartime Liverpool—where Italian Scots are imprisoned without cause—as Domenica experiences love, loss, and grief while she longs for home. A hundred years later, her daughter, Matelda, and her granddaughter, Anina, face the same big questions about life and their family’s legacy, while Matelda contemplates what is worth fighting for. But Matelda is running out of time, and the two timelines intersect and weave together in unexpected and heartbreaking ways that lead the family to shocking revelations and, ultimately, redemption.

Dining with the Dead

The Pilot got this cookbook for me at the Hacienda del Sol gift shop after we enjoyed Sunday brunch. The author is from Mexico and the pages are filled with gorgeous color photographs and authentic Mexican recipes, including street food, desserts, moles, tamales, and salsas. It would make a gorgeous coffee table book, but I think the best spot is in the kitchen, well-used and covered in food splotches. I’ve only made one recipe

Join us for a fun and totally free 2-week fitness challenge: Summer Shape Up starting July 11! Details below. 

I’m bringin’ in back, bringin’ it back….

Summer Shape Up 2022 is on the way and I’m so pumped to be doing this with you all!!

SSU is one of the best times of the year, and I always look forward to our amazing community, cheering each other on, and sharing some amazing prizes with some lucky participants.

You know you’re in?

Grab your spot here or enter your email address below. Totally free and invite any friends or workout buddies to join in!

This post is sponsored by my friends at NOW Foods. I’ve been a fan of NOW® products for years and am so thrilled to be partnering with them for this post. Check out their site here and use the code FITNESSISTA for 20% off through 12/31/22! They have an amazing selection of supplements, essential oils, beauty and health products, pet products, and sports nutrition. 

Hi friends! How’s the morning going so far? I hope you’re enjoying the day! Since I’ve been home with the kids this summer, I’ve found my way back to quick and efficient at-home workouts. A workout doesn’t have to be long or insanely intense to reap the benefits; a short block of movement and I’m feeling energized and ready to tackle the rest of the day.

Here’s a workout circuit I’ve been enjoying lately. You can do this one anywhere and all you need is your own body weight, which makes it an ideal travel workout. With a warmup (I like 7 minutes of easy cardio), you can complete the whole workout in less than 30 minutes.

As always, check with a doctor before making any fitness changes. Honor your body and modify as needed.

Total Body Bodyweight Blast

Squat to single-leg deadlift (touch the floor):

Place your feet just under your shoulders with toes slightly angled out. Keep your chest lifted and a tight core as you sink back and down into your squat. Pretend like there is a chair behind you, and you’re going to tap your booty to the chair. The weight should remain in your heels. As you rise, come into a single-leg deadlift with both hips square to the floor and touching the floor. Switch sides.

Curtsy lunge to side leg lift:

Start with one leg forward, and toes angled out 45 degrees. Step your other foot totally back behind the front, so that your foot is behind the opposite shoulder. Sink low into a curtsy lunge, them as you exhale, lift the back leg out to the side. Really think about squeezing your glutes to lift your leg. Make sure that you take a nice big step back and to the side for your curtsy lunge.

Inchworm sprawl:

Start standing and walk your hands to bring your body into a plank position. Jump your feet to the outside of your hands, then back to plank position. Walk your hands back to your feet, stand, and repeat. For low-impact, try this against a wall.

Push-

HI friends! Happy Friday to ya. What’s going on this weekend? We’ve had triple pool playdates with friends, and we have a dance event with Liv’s studio, I teach barre, and two birthday parties. Whew! Summer, I love you. The girls did a baking camp the week and baked the most gorgeous treats! Churros, French madeleines, a double-layer cake, cupcakes, and sugar cookies with royal icing.

I’m also cranking away on my Integrative Health Practitioner Level One certification. If you have any questions about the program that I can address in an upcoming post, please let me know if the comments section!

Before I head into this week’s Friday Faves, I wanted to share your top products from May. It’s always fun to go through analytics and see what products you’re enjoying from the blog, so here are the top picks!

Top products from May

My favorite bra in the entire world

The squareneck puff-sleeve top (on sale!)

This gorgeous shirtdress

This puff-sleeve mini dress

This one-strap swimsuit (on sale!)

The best pillow spray

This Rails dress that I’ve been loving

The Pilot’s go-to polo shirt (he has one in almost every color)

The classic Moonlight shorts pajamas

This mother and daughter portrait, which was part of my Mother’s Day gift guide

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some things I’m loving from the week and around the web. Please share a fave from the week in the comments section below. 🙂

Friday Faves

Read, watch, listen:

I don’t know if I’ve shared this here before, but I’m a huge fan of Common Sense Media. I always lurk this site when we’re going to watch a movie together as a family, and ended up using it so much that I converted to a paid membership. (I think you get three free reviews each month.) It gives parents a condensed version of movie content that may be iffy (and specific details about the situation) and you can decide if your kids are ready to see it. It definitely came in handy when Liv wanted to watch Titanic – I knew exactly which spots to fast forward and when to resume. I highly recommend it for all of my parents friends out there.

We saw Top Gun before taking the crew, but it’s not always realistic to pre-screen movies beforehand.

Read more

*Throws confetti into the air*

I’m SO SO pumped for this week’s episode and so thrilled to welcome a good friend to the show: Caitlin Boyle, whom many of you may know from the very popular blog Healthy Tipping Point. 

Caitlin is one of the OG healthy living bloggers, and I’m so thankful that the blog world introduced me to her. Her blog was one of the first things I checked each day for many years, and I always loved that she shared glimpses into her life, recipes, questions of the day, and even covered controversial topics. She stopped blogging regularly back in 2015, and after a 7 year hiatus, she wrote a couple of new posts and the internet rejoiced. She’s one of the smartest people I know, and I’m thankful to have her as a blog friend and real-life friend.

I asked her if she would join me on the podcast, and was so excited when she said yes.

We spent a lot of the episode chatting about a topic that’s so prevalent today: identity and labels.

We talk about:

– the power of labels

– the pros and cons of having an “identity”

– the fact that it’s OK to change your mind with new information

– how we can better understand those who don’t agree with us

– what it felt like to close the book on her blog and drop the “blogger” identity

– what she’s been up to since she blogging days

– Operation Beautiful and what it would look like today

and so.much.more.

Here’s a little bit more about Caitlin if you’re not familiar with her:

Caitlin Boyle is the author of the Healthy Tipping Point, which covered healthy living topics from 2008-2014. She’s been on a 7 year hiatus from blogging but returns to the blog to share some life updates and musings. She’s a mom of two and the founder of Operation Beautiful.

Some of my all-time favorite posts that she’s created:

The mommy wars

That one time she was on the Today Show for Operation Beautiful

Will we or won’t we? Raising vegetarian children