Sharing the books I read in July and if I’d recommend adding them to your collection!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How was the weekend? I hope you had a great one! We swam and enjoyed dinner with friends, and also headed to Apple Annie’s to pick some fruit and veggies. It was SUPER hot, but we got a lot of amazing produce and followed it up with Mexican food. I can’t believe the kids start school this week!

For today’s post, let’s chat about books! I read three fantastic books this past month and thought I’d share the goods with ya.

July book recap

Here are July’s books:

Yours Truly

This was my introduction to Abby Jimenez and turns out I looooove her. I can definitely see why she’s so hyped up! This book had everything I enjoy in a summer read: a bit of romance, witty banter, and protagonists that are likable and don’t make horrible decisions the entire time.

I want to express my gratitude for the thoughtful approach taken in addressing mental health topics, including past trauma and anxiety. The content was handled with sensitivity, which I genuinely appreciated. While it wasn’t overwhelmingly heavy, it’s essential to recognize that it might be triggering for those who have dealt with these issues in the past. Personally, some parts relating to anxiety felt incredibly relatable, almost too real, as they perfectly described the emotions I used to experience when anxiety was a significant struggle for me.

From Amazon:

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doc

Hi hi! Happy Friday! The weekend is heeler. I’m sorry for being mostly MIA this week. The kids start school next week and we’ve been finishing up loose ends, and I’ve been working hard on my new program. All of the info will be emailed to newsletter subscribers on Monday, August 16. If you want the info first (+ a discount!) enter your email address here:

Other than that, we’ve been swimming, meeting up with the fam for dinner, and living the summer life. Liv has discovered Queer Eye and I’ve loved watching old episode with her.

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:

New makeup! I had to toss all of mine twice (because of that eye thing) and finally got some new goodies. My favorite palettes ever are still on the site (two for $40!) and I also got this clay palette, mascara and primer (smaller bottles so I can get rid of them more often), eyeliner, and a new eyeshadow primer.

July Faves

It’s always fun to browse through analytics and see what your favorite products were from July! Here are the top products that I shared on the blog and on IG over the past month.

This dress! On sale right now and SO cute. The quality is excellent and I’ll wear it with heels or sandals.

This floral dress.

This swimsuit. Both of the kids have these, and they’re adorable and well-made.

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Hi friends! How are you? I hope you’re enjoying the morning so far!!

For today’s post, I figured we’d have a little green juice date! While I wish I could have a green juice or coffee with you in real life, virtual will have to do for now. So please grab a green juice or coffee, let’s share a giant pastry, and catch up a bit on life!

If we were having green juice right now…

I’d ask you when the kids are going back to school. Ours go back next week and no one is ready for it. Usually by now, I’m like, “Ok, time to get back to life and a routine.” but not as excited this year. The kids have zero desire to go back, but I’ve been trying to get everyone excited by back-to-school shopping this week. I’ve loved having them home and our schedule is already packed through spring, so I’m just savoring this last week of jammies until 10am.

We’d probably talk about our adventures and travels from the summer. I already can’t wait to go back to Europe – even though it will probably be a couple of years – and thankfully, the kids loved it as much as we did. They can’t stop talking about the stunning beauty of Italy and Greece, and of course, they’re raving about the incredible food we indulged in. I feel like so many friends have had some amazing summer travels and I always love to hear about new spots + recommendations.

I’d want to know what you’ve been doing fitness-wise! Take any new classes or try anything fun lately? I’ve been sticking with my usual routine, but it’s been fun to add hot yoga back into my life (I missed it!) and also take some reformer and pvolve classes. (I’ll share a Focus On post for pvolve soon!) I haven’t been able to make it to F45 for most of the summer since the kids have been home, but have been embracing home workouts and a few studio classes here and there.

I’ve been working on keeping the intensity of workouts pretty minimal as my eyes have recovered, which brings me to the next topic..

If we were having green juice right now, I obviously consider you a close friend, so I’d tell you something that’s been on my heart a bit lately:

we did a bunch of labs to see if there were any indications of something that could have caused my eye issues. Most of the usually suspects came back normal, but two markers for an autoimmune issue came back positive.

My NP talked to rheumatology and she said since I don’t have any other symptoms, we can re-test in a few months as long as my eyes continue to improve. Sometimes acute inflammation (like the inflammation in my eyes) can trigger a positive on the test. I feel comforted by this, but also know that autoimmune stuff can unpredictable and sometimes lead to other issues. My NP also said that it could just stay like this and this is how my body responds/reacts… which is what I’m praying for, especi

Hello hello! Happy Friday! Hope you’ve had a wonderful week. What are you up to this weekend? We were originally planning on a short getaway to San Diego but both kids are still a little traveled-out and requested to stay home and chill. (Liv is also still working away on her summer packet.) It will be nice to swim and catch up with friends before we’re back in the school hustle.

Other than that, I’m getting a much-needed pedicure (bless), catching up on work stuff, and taking a hot yoga class. I hope you have a fun and lovely weekend ahead!

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.

Friday Faves 7.28

Read, watch, listen:

Liv and I have been watching High School Musical, The Musical: The Series on Disney+ and it’s SO.good. We’re heading into Season 3 so we can be caught up when the new season is released. The songs, humor, plot lines, it’s all adorable. I’ve loved watching it with her.

Don’t forget to check out this week’s podcast episode here!

I had a Kindle maybe 10 years ago and it got old and broke, so I’d gone back to reading paper books and digital books on my phone or the iPad. I decided to order a new one for Prime Day and am so pumped about it. I love the smaller size of the Paperwhite, like a giant iPhone, minus the distractions of my phone, email, and social media. What should I download first??

Fashion + beauty:

Ok, so these aren’t exactly *fashion* (more function!) but I got P a pair of vivobarefoot shoes and they are SO cute. They fit her feet perfectly, she doesn’t have to worry about tying them, and she said they make her run fast (the ultimate kid test).

Since I’ve recently had to toss my skincare and makeup twice – give me like 6 months of happy eyes and then I’ll go back to my usual stuff – I’ve been switching things up and

Hi friends! I’ve got a new podcast episode up this morning and am so excited to be chatting with Emma Dunwoody all about human design. If you’re unfamiliar with this process, this is a great intro episode, and also how you use this knowledge to unlock your greatest potential.

Here’s what we talk about in today’s episode:

– What is human design for those who may be unfamiliar?

– How can we use human design to live our greatest potential in all aspects of life?

– How is your method of Transformational Human Design™ different from traditional human design teachings?

– Once someone discovers their design, what’s the best place to start to avoid overwhelm and get the best results?

and so.much.more!

138: Transformational Human Design with Emma Dunwoody

Here’s a bit more about Emma:

Emma Dunwoody is a qualified Master Coach and Human Behavioral Specialist who wakes people up to the power within them using her unique method of Transformational Human Design™, a system of self-knowledge and guidance unlike anything else that exists. Her vision is to take Human Design mainstream so it becomes more widely accepted than any other global profiling, behavioral or healing system — she believes it will transform personal development, education, and business forever. Emma wants to inspire everyone to unlock their inner wisdom, take their power back and feel deeply confident in the decisions they make. This will create a population that values themselves and courageously lives their truth, which will deliver us to a new paradigm of peace, joy, and abundance.

Connect with Emma on Instagram, on her website, and check out her podcast.

More resources from this episode:

If any of my fellow health professional friends are looking for another way to help their clients, I highly recommend IHP. You can also use this information to heal yourself and then go one to heal others, which I think is a beautiful mission. You can absolutely join if you don’t currently work in the health or fitness industry; many IHPs don’t begin on this path. They’re friends who are passionate to learn more about health and wellness, and want to share this information with those they love. You can do this as a passion, or start an entirely new career.

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