Why I ditched my 12-Step Skincare

For years I had dull, tired-looking skin that I spent so much time and money maintaining. And even then, I was never quite happy with the options out there – harsh ingredients, expensive treatments, 12-step routines… none of it was for me. Nobody’s got time to do that stuff every night! Since I’m all about efficiency, I wanted a product that would give me great skin without all the hassle. With that, I’m about to reveal my biggest secret so YOU TOO can clear your skin effortlessly!

SO what’s the solution?

I’ve been researching and working with our lab to formulate the perfect blend! We invented something that’s different than anything else on the market…Introducing the brand new, Natural Beauty! It features all of the hard-working, brightening, plumping, wrinkle-reducing skincare ingredients I love in a deliciously drinkable solution. (plus, it has the delicious dragonfruit flavor!)

The beauty benefits

• Reduce wrinkles
• Increase firmness & radiance
• Improved hydration
• Regulates good gut bacteria
• Limit breakouts

Created with some of your favorite topical skincare products, our highly effective ingredients make Natural Beauty more than just a pretty face, it is also more than just a collagen blend.

I’ve tested and I’ve seen major results.

My skin has been significantly different the past year testing this product. Like I said, Natural Beauty is so much more than just a collagen supplement. So let’s dive into the top ingredients in this magical bottle to help you understand why:

• WTF is Naticol®?: Not your average marine collagen. Widely recognized as one of the purest formulas on the market, Naticol® is made from sustainably-sourced fish collagen peptides. It’s been clinically tested to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and improve skin elasticity.
• Hydrate with Hyaluronic: Chances are, you’ve probably seen or heard of Hyaluronic Acid from your favorite topical skincare brands. Hyaluronic acid in the skin binds to water to help increase moisture and reduce dryness.
• PreticX®: The Gut-Glow Connection If something is off-balance in your gut, your skin is usually one of the first places you’ll see it. PreticX® is a stable prebiotic that helps nourish friendly bacteria in your gut and is clinically shown to increase bifidobacteria – responsible for helping to reduce inflammation and skin sensitivity. 

Have you ever seen any collagen powder with these powerful ingredients? I sure haven’t! I’ve waited so long for you to try it yourself and now it’s finally

Hi friends! Happy Friday! I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving with lots of amazing food and time spent with those you love. I hope you know how grateful I am for all of you! Thank you so much for being here, for supporting my blog, podcast, and other random endeavors, and for being my virtual BFFs. Whether you’re new here (hello!!) or an OG blog reader (THANK YOU!), you mean so much to me and I’m thankful everyday for this little blog and the opportunity to hang out with you all.

My favorite little turkeys:

Our Thanksgiving was perfection. To start off the Thanksgiving and holiday festivities, we met up with my dad, stepmom, brothers, and some friends for the Gaslight Christmas show. Gaslight is a Tucson staple with melodramatic musicals. You cheer for the good guys, “boo!” for the villains, and enjoy a hilarious short olio show after the main production. The actors are all local and extremely talented, and it’s always a fun family activity. 

This year, it was Christmas Vacation and it was a HOOT. 

(Skirt is here/ boots are here)

Thursday morning, we slept in (praise be), I made turkey-shaped pancakes for the crew, we took a family walk, and then it was baking time!

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Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls are for those of us who love traditional cabbage rolls almost as much as we hate the time it takes to roll and bake them. Bites of juicy ground beef with fluffy rice and tangy tomato sauce are made even better in this simple one-skillet meal.

Sometimes (read: most of the time), as much as I love cabbage rolls, I just don’t have the time, energy, or patience to make them on a weeknight. If you’re like me, these Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls might be your newest favorite dinner.

Unstuffed Cabbage

For nearly as long as Sean and I have been married, I’ve been making Layered Cabbage Rolls as a timesaver option for a cabbage roll dinner. My whole family loves them and they’re requested often.

I remember the first time I served that easy variation on cabbage rolls to our friend Joe. Joe was born in Hungary and he was so happy with that dish that he kept smiling and telling stories all the way through the meal.

He told us it tasted exactly as he remembered his mother’s cooking. Joe passed away last year and remembering his happiness over that meal still brings a smile to my face.

A few years ago, I was thrilled to realize that I could get the cabbage roll flavors we love in a simple skillet meal, without even turning on the oven. The ground beef is browned along with plenty of seasonings before simmering in a rich tomato sauce with fresh cabbage and rice.

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

From start to finish, this meal comes together in under 20 minutes, making it pretty much perfect as far as I’m concerned. I like to serve the Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls with a simple salad and a crusty bread to sop up any juices on our plates. This would also be delicious served with Homemade Pierogies for a full Polish feast!

This is a dinner that checks all my boxes, a quick meal that manages to make everyone happy using simple and inexpensive ingredients. If you have never had the joy of tasting Cabbage Rolls before now, here is your chance.

Cabbage rolls are a classic European dish of cabbage leaves wrapped around seasoned ground meat and baked. Ground beef is a traditional filling for the cabbage but ground lamb and turkey are also popular in some areas.

These rolls

Training for sports or aesthetics is all well and good, but what if your primary goal is to be able to move through your daily life with more ease? These workout videos might change your perspective on exercise completely

When we think of ‘training’, often, the first thing that comes to mind is preparing for sports, or for aesthetic goals. But there is another option.

Functional training is all about doing exercises with more ease – things like bending, twisting, lifting, loading, pushing, pulling, squatting, and hauling. It can also help with your balance and stability, as well as overall strength. And, of course, we couldn’t forget the mental health benefits of exercising, too.

Over time, you may be able to protect yourself from domestic injuries (how often do we hear about people throwing their back out after lifting something incorrectly?), as well as being able to go about chores and hobbies for longer periods of time.

Ultimately, anyone can benefit from focusing on functional training, but it may be particularly helpful for those who struggle with the link between exercise and body image, and want to find a way of staying active without focusing on aesthetic results.

Tempted? We’ve collected together five online functional workout videos, to help you take your first steps.

1. Daily strength training

This video from doctor and physiotherapist Jared Beckstrand is a great place to start. Here, he takes you through some very basic exercises that you can try out, and do whenever it suits you. These are the kinds of exercises that you can pick up in spare moments – a couple of squats while the kettle boils, for example – making them a nice way to gently ease yourself in.

2. Functional body weight training

Using just your own body weight, this video will get your heart rate going, and build strength across your whole body. Now, this class is listed as suitable for beginners, but it's definitely meant to be a challenge. As the instructor says, go at your own pace. If what you see on the screen is too fast for you, slow it down – the aim is to get your heart rate going and to challenge yourself, but you should still be able to complete the workout.

3. Targeted core training

Strengthening your core can support your overall wellbeing in many ways. It can help you improve your posture, so that you’re less likely to injure your back, and it can also help with your balance and stability. This targeted workout is short and sweet, coming in at just eight minutes, and it doesn’t need any equipment for you to complete it. Some of the moves are reasonably advanced, so if you are struggling, slow it down, or repeat another move that you’re more comfor

How to set up your own book club

One evening each month, I can be found in the cosy cubby of a pub, spending the next few hours diving into the pages of that month’s read with a group of diehard bibliophiles. I’ve always felt that there was something romantic about book clubs, not solely in the sense that they make great meet-cutes for main characters, but because they feel old-timey and warm, and they are a means of coming together and connecting over what is normally a solitary hobby.

Book clubs open doors to new worlds, new genres, as well as to lasting friendships, and topics and experiences that you hadn’t previously considered.

Thinking about setting up your own book club? Here are some points to ponder and tips to help you get started.

What are you going to read?

With so many options out there, how do you decide what you’re going to read? Well, you might choose to have a theme for your book club, for example, is this club going to be devoted to minority or female writers? Or is it going to focus on a certain genre, such as crime books, or fantasy? Alternatively, the club could be devoted to working through prize lists, like the Booker Longlist.

If you don’t want to go so niche, you could consider changing the theme each month (romance, then translation, then a book set in your region), or find other ways to narrow the pool, such as only picking paperbacks under 300 pages. From there, you just need to figure out how the decision process is going to work – will you put forward options and allow the group to vote on which book they’d like to read as you go? Let a different person pick each time? Or will you take lots of suggestions from everyone, and allocate books throughout the year?

Who are you going to invite?

First things first, how many people do you want to have in your book club, and what kind of atmosphere are you looking to create? Do you want intimate chats, where each person has space to freely express their thoughts, or are you looking to create a larger group where everyone jumps in and thoughts are bounced around?

You might have queues of friends and family who are keen to join the club and get reading – in that case, all you need to do is send the invites out. But if you’re looking to get to know new people, and connect with other readers over a shared interest, you might want to turn to the internet.

You can start your own group that people can search for on sites such as MeetUp, where others hunting for book clubs like yours are likely to discover them. Or you could try putting a call out in local Facebook groups.

Where are you going to meet?

You might prefer the physical presence of your book clubbers, in which case you need a space to meet up. Would you like to come to an arrangement where you meet in each other’s homes, and take it in turn to host? Or would you prefer the neutral ground of a pub or other social space?

If you have a lot of people attending, it might be worth seeing what spaces are available to hire in your area – such as town and village halls, and other community hubs. These spaces may charge an hourly rate to hire, so depending on how much that is, you might wish to ask your group to chip in to cover the cost.

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