Sharing some of the best things we ate in Tokyo and some gluten-free picks! 

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you had a wonderful weekend and hope that my US friends had a lovely 4th of July. We went to Mt. Lemmon with friends and it was perfection.

Before I head into today’s post, I wanted to share some amazing 4th of July deals that are still happening if you’re in the shopping mood. (TBR I’m always in the shopping mood)

Organifi- Hair Launch: Buy 3, Save 30% + 20% off with code FITNESSISTA here! I love their Gold, Green, Red, Shilajit gummies, and lately I’m obsessed with their hydrogen water tablets. Check it all out here.

EquiLife– up to 30% off sitewide, get a new tote on all orders over $149, and enjoy 25% off community favorites

My top choices:

Omega 3

Full-spectrum magnesium

Detox

Daily Detox Support

Adrenal Energy

Andrenal Soothe

Melatonin

Lumebox– 45% off through tonight! If you don’t have one yet, I LOVE ours and use it every single day. The kids use it, too. Here’s the link.

Oliveda – huge sitewide discounts and a free F59 (my FAVE!) on orders. Check everything out here! I use the Olive Peeling, F59, Corrective Face Cream, Mint Shower Gel, and Olive Rose Skin Tint.

Farm Rio!!! 4th of July sale ends toniiiiight. Extra 50% off sale styles with code SALE50. I LOVE this dress.

Real talk

TBH it’s been a bit hard for me to blog lately. The nutshell version is that the blog landscape has been extra rough… I’ll share more in an upcoming post. For now, I’m trying to just enjoy a 90s summer with the girls (swimming, roller skating, time with friends, going to the mall) and reminiscing on our AMAZING trip to Japan and Korea.

We ate SO much delicious food that I still think about daily, and I wanted to share some of the highlights in today’s post

Sharing a recap of what we did in Tokyo, where we stayed and already looking forward to going back. 

Hi friends! How are you?? I hope you’re having a lovely morning. I have a lot of content to record today – Healing Code re-launches on Monday! – and am going to catch an upper body workout and the massage chair at the gym.

Today, I’m sharing the first of my Japan posts!

Here are our Japan and Korea recap posts so far:

Seoul recap, what we did and what we ate

Tokyo recap and why I love Japan (this post)

Kyoto itinerary and tips for travel to Japan

What we ate in Japan (and gf picks)

My Korean Head Spa experience

Tokyo recap and why I love Japan

I’ve been avoiding writing this post because the reality is that I have Japression.

Usually I feel a little down after coming home from a trip, but this is next level. It normally hits me hard that I can no longer walk outside all day (it’s way too hot here and Tucson is definitely not walkable), explore new places, spend uninterrupted time with the fam, eat incredible food, and shop all the livelong day. Instead, I’m back to chores, feeding everyone, and cleaning up after feeding everyone lol.

This trip feels different because Japan was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The culture, the way of life, the deep respect, kindness, care, and professionalism, the clean streets, the cleanest food, the scenery… it honestly felt like another planet.

One of the biggest things I noticed was the level of pride people take in everything they do. It didn’t matter if it was a restaurant server, Uber driver, hotel receptionist, convenience store employee, or someone helping us at the train station. Everyone seemed committed to doing their absolute best, and it was inspiring to see. People were kind and welcoming, everything felt incredibly safe, and I felt the best I’ve felt in a really long time while we were there.

I also noticed how healthy and well-groomed everyone seemed. You don’t really see people wandering around in pajamas screaming at each other lol. There’s just this underlying sense of respect for yourself and for the people around you.

What surprised me most was how calm my nervous system felt the entire time. Even though you’re surrounded by bright lights, huge buildings, and tons of people, it never feels chaotic. Everything is so organized and orderly that your body actually feels like it can relax. I didn’t realize how much I needed that feeling until I experienced it. Since we’ve been home, I’ve been trying really hard to bring pieces of that feeling back with me.

I mentioned this in my Seoul recap, but Japan and Korea honestly weren’t my first choice for a vacation. I knew it would be fun, but I felt overwhelmed by the planning and w

Sharing the details on my Korean head spa experience and why it’s worth booking a trip to Korea just for this (but also stay for the amazing culture, food, and people!).

Hi friends! How are ya? I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far. We’re officially back in the swing of life over here. I subbed a barre class yesterday, and we have a mold remediation appointment today. Now that we’re back in town, it’s time to tackle that beast.

But for now, let’s talk about relaxation and spa-y things… like my amazing Korean head spa experience.

Here are all of my Korea and Japan posts in one spot – I’ll be adding links as they go live!

Seoul recap, what we did and what we ate

Tokyo and Kyoto itinerary and tips for travel

What we ate in Japan

My Korean Head Spa experience (this post)

When we decided we’d be visiting Korea, I knew I wanted to take advantage of some skin or beauty treatments. While it would’ve been easy to go WILD, I didn’t want to miss out on adventures with the fam. I figured a head spa appointment would be perfect because it would only take an hour or so, there were tons of locations close to our hotel, and they all had amazing reviews.

I booked a last-minute appointment at Hair the Beau and had no clue what to expect.

When I walked in, the main stylist, Raon, introduced herself and helped me get set up with a locker. Then I was led to a sitting area to have my scalp scanned.

I won’t post the before picture here, but let’s just say my scalp was kind of horrendous. Leading up to this appointment, I would only wash my hair once a week. My hair can get really dry, and I felt like washing it less helped prevent dryness. My hair didn’t get greasy, and it can hold a curl or style for a long time, so I didn’t really see a need to wash it more often. I thought it was better for me?

Turns out, the base of my hair follicles had tons of buildup from grime and dead skin. I literally felt ILL when she scanned my scalp and the image was projected onto a tiny screen in real time.

She recommended the full treatment for me and said it would take about two hours. I told her I only had an hour or so, and she said they could finish everything in an hour and 15 minutes, which worked for me. (The Pilot and the kiddos were off to a petting zoo, so I figured they’d be entertained for a bit.)

She also explained that my hair would cost extra because it was so long. I had no clue what I was getting myself into, but I decided to trust the process and the amazing reviews I’d read online.

My Korean Head Spa experience

Hair the Beau Hongdae

The full treatment:

Read more

Sharing a recap of what we did in Seoul, where we stayed, and my thoughts on the whole experience. The nutshell version: I CAN’T WAIT to go back.

Hi friends! How are you? I hope you had an amazing weekend! We just caught up with house stuff here, finally recovered from jet lag (I was barely jet lagged when we got there, but ended up riding the struggle bus when we came home), and met up with some friends.

I’m so excited to share some recap posts on our trips with you!

Here’s a list of what I have planned so that when they go live, I can add the links to this post.

Seoul recap, what we did and what we ate (this post)

Tokyo and Kyoto itinerary and tips for travel

What we ate in Japan

My Korean Head Spa experience

Seoul recap, what we did, and what we ate

Before I get started, I wanted to begin with an apology.

To my friends in South Korea and Japan, I was ignorant, and now I know. I had NO CLUE how much I’d been missing out. The girls picked the locations for this trip, and I figured it would be something that I enjoyed, but it wasn’t my first choice for a vacation. (I’d be happy repeating least year’s 5+ weeks in Spain adventure.) I didn’t expect to fall in love with these places, but I absolutely did. This trip absolutely changed my life. I’ll share more in my Japan post, but these places didn’t feel like different countries… they felt like different worlds.

The people in Seoul were SO kind and lovely. The food was incredible. It felt so very safe, and there was so much to do. We could have doubled our time there and been happy. The funny thing is that we had the opportunity to be stationed in Korea multiple times during Tom’s military career. All of our friends who lived there loved it, and now I understand why.

We flew from Phoenix to San Francisco, and then direct from SFO to Seoul. The flight was long – about 12 1/2 hours – but I managed to nap on and off (the girls stayed wide awake the whole time) and we landed at about 3pm. I think this is the perfect time to land in a new country because your hotel room is ready, so if you’re totally wrecked and need a nap, you can. You don’t have to wander around and wait until your room is ready.

We knew that it would be a low-key day, so we checked into the hotel and set out to explore. We stayed at the RYSE Autograph Collection h

Sharing a roundup of some of my favorite things to do in Vegas with teens or tweens!

Hi hi! How are you? I hope you had an amazing weekend! We celebrated graduations, birthday parties, and then packed up for a little adventure Summer is here and I’m excited to visit as many places as we possibly can and escape the scorching Tucson oven.

For today’s post, I wanted to share some Vegas highlights! We met up with the Pilot in Vegas a few weeks ago, just for a night. (We also got upgraded to the penthouse two-bedrom suite at the Bellagio and it was EPIC.)

It was the girls’ first *real* time in Vegas (last time they were babies), and they’re obsessed. P said it’s one of her top favorite places (NYC is #1, then Vegas, then Honolulu, Rome, and Barcelona.)

While Vegas is definitely an adult place, you can definitely have fun as a family with kids. Growing up, my dad used to take us to Vegas every summer, so it’s a place that I’ve visited many times as a kid and as an adult. It’s just as fun; just in a different way This trip also gave me the opportunity to see some attractions that we haven’t done!

(the kids approve their photos on the blog and on IG. Sometimes they ask me to put an emoji over their face, so that’s what I do!)

what to do in Vegas with tweens and teens

Here are some top destinations for teens and tweens:

(* = things we did on our most recent trip, everything else is something that I’ve previously visited)

*Madame Tussad’s

It was our first time here and we had an absolute blast. It was way more fun than I was expecting and the kids loved seeing so many different wax celebrities and taking photos. It was jarring to see how realistic they were; we often thought they were real people!

Leo is very tall Read more