Hiiii! Happy Friday! What are you up to this weekend? We’re enjoying some pool time after lots of rain this week, the Pilot is home (wahoo!), and we have an NCL event. I hope that you have a fun and relaxing weekend ahead! When do your kiddos go back to school? We have a little over a week left and I can’t even believe it. Liv is going to be in HIGH SCHOOL. How?!

(this week’s gorgeous flowers from Trader Joe’s. The whole bouquet was only $15 to put together.)

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

7.24 Friday Faves

Fashion, beauty, random:

A trip to Orlando! We headed to Orlando last weekend to visit our friends who live in Sevilla. They’re in Florida for the month, so it was our only chance to meet up with them before school starts. The crazy thing about pilot family life is that you can decide to take a trip at the very last minute if there’s availability. We went back and forth on options and figured out we could make it happen maybe 36 hours before landing in Orlando.

(so grateful our kiddos picked each other as best buddy soulmates when they were 2 1/2 years old)

Whenever we see them, we pick up where we left off, and the girls had the BEST time together. We stayed at a hotel with an awesome pool and lazy river, did a day at Epcot, Disney Springs, dinner at Medieval Times, and just enjoyed hanging out together. It was a 5 day trip and we packed so much fun into that time; it was perfect.

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Sharing the last of my Japan posts! We had the most magical time in Kyoto and I’m excited to share the details with you if you’re considering adding this to your travel list!

More posts from our incredible time in Seoul and Tokyo:

Seoul recap

Korean head spa experience

Tokyo recap and why I love Japan

and Tokyo eats + gf picks

Kyoto recap, bamboo forest, and monkey park

So many of our friends had told us to take a bullet train to explore nearby areas while we were in Tokyo. Okinawa, Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka were highly recommended. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was intimiated by planning this trip, and adding another travel leg felt like a little too much for my brain. One of my friends told us that we’d regret going to Tokyo and not seeing Kyoto, so we decided to make it happen… and it ended up being my personal highlight of the trip.

While Tokyo is bustling with bright lights and tall buildings, Kyoto feels like more cinematic, serene Japan. Think lantern-lined streets, temples, and geishas.

The bullet train was SUCH a cool experience – we were going 200mph and it was so pleasant and way more enjoyable/hassle-free than air travel –

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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:

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