Hi friends! Happiest Thanksgiving to you. There is so much to be thankful for this year: especially family, friends, good health, and all of YOU. I’m so thankful for you each and every single day.

I don’t take a second of my *job* for granted, and I wake up each morning thrilled that I get to connect with you in this space. You’ve helped me create the positive, uplifting, encouraging lil spot of the internet it’s become. I get to support our family while being home with our babies, and while I could never define my ideal career, this is it.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy Thanksgiving, filled with fun times and memories, and lots of delicious food.

I’ll see you tomorrow!
xo

Gina

(+ the Pilot, Liv, and P)

Photo by Kristi Harris

The post thankful appeared first on The Fitnessista.

This tangy, sweet homemade cranberry sauce with lemon trumps anything you can buy at the store.

Do you know how easy it is to make cranberry sauce? If you can boil water, I promise you can make cranberry sauce.

For years, I bought cranberry sauce in a can and my husband and boys ate every last bit of it. They clearly enjoy cranberry sauce. We even bought an extra can or two every year, just for the leftovers.

I love so many other cranberry recipes, from cranberry apple pie to Christmas cake, cranberry jalapeno dip to cranberry pancakes. But cranberry sauce? That was never my thing. It was only ever something we had for the boys in the house – until now.

Cranberry Sauce with Lemon

About a dozen years ago, that changed for me. I tried a sandwich that stacked turkey with cranberry sauce and I fell in love with the combination.

It was not a sugary sweet cranberry sauce, it was tangy and just a bit sweet at the same time. I now understand why so many people think it just isn’t Thanksgiving without the cranberry sauce.

I’ve made cranberry sauce a few different ways over the past 10 or so years, but this cranberry sauce with lemon is my favorite version. This is the easiest of the Thanksgiving side dishes to make ahead of time for the holidays too.

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Sharing my top five favorite beautycounter products and why I love using them in my routine. Their Black Friday promo is happening now; you can check out the goods here, and read on for a lil sneaky giveaway. 

Hi friends! How are ya? I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far! I have my last day of 1:1 calls and podcast interviews and then tomorrow is more low-key leading up to the holiday. I’d love to hear what you’re doing to celebrate Thanksgiving this year!

For today’s post, I wanted to share my current top five Beautycounter products. I haven’t posted much about Beautycounter this year, but I’ve still been working with the brand behind the scenes and it continues to be an incredible aspect of my online business. I love their products and mission, and now that Liv is getting older (and constantly scoping out my makeup drawer lol), I’m happy to know that these products are designed with safety and sustainability in mind.

Here are some of the things I love if you’re looking to treat yourself with their Black Friday promo. It’s 20% off sitewide, free shipping on orders over $50, and with orders over $150, you can choose a free gift from three options. All of the details are here!

My top five Beautycounter products (and why I love them)

(Skirt is here // similar sweater here)

Statement Maker Satin Lipstick

This continues to be my go-to lipstick. I have at least 8 of these scattered in my purses and in my makeup drawer. Captivating is my top color; it’s the perfect pinky n

The Best Cheese Ball I Ever Had

I had no idea that an easy cheese ball recipe could be this good. Last year I had the best cheese ball I ever had and now I get to share how crazy easy this appetizer is!

Our neighbor, Michelle thought up the most genius idea, she cancelled neighbor gifts at Christmas. Can we all have a moment of cheering for Michelle? Now, I’m not against neighbor gifts, but I don’t know that I’m for pouring out all of that extra stress for a bunch of cookies the neighbors throw away. Don’t worry, I’m going to tie it all together so you know what it has to do with The Best Cheese Ball I Ever Had. 

We were so impressed with not just Michelle, but how the neighbors responded. Michelle sent out a big letter announcing that instead of doing neighbor gifts, what if we donated to a cause. Everyone could come visit at a little Christmas gathering at her house, bring a donation for a family in need or a reputable charity and visit with each other, which is more of what Christmas is about.

Oh it was such a success!! So much money earned, and we stuffed our faces, I mean, we all got into the Christmas spirit so much more!

What is a Good Cheese Ball Recipe?

Another dear friend, Angie was there. I casually walked over to her and seeing the food said, “oh what is a good cheese ball recipe? I’m never as in love as I want to be.” And there we were, standing at the food table, shoveling crackers with the best cheese ball I ever had into our mouths. I finally said, “my gosh, who made this?!!!” And Angie says, “Oh, I did.”

What?! How have I never tasted of this goodness before and how could she stand there so nonchalant?! I mean, it looked like a classic cheese ball recipe, but something about it was different.

Look, I’ve had some pretty good cheese balls in my day. Our BBQ Bacon Cheese Ball and German Chocolate Cheese Ball are pretty dang amazing, but now I am sitting here making a humble pie because Angie’s is the best cheese ball I ever had!

Secret Ingredients in the the Best Cheese Ball

I think it’s the secret, artery clogging ingredient that you all are going to use and not complain a lick about because it’s just that worth it.

Kraft Old English Jarred Cheese.

Yes, it’s cheese in a jar. I’ve linked to it so you can see what to look for.

No, it probably isn’t real cheese. I can’t fight you on that one. Can you pretend it is? Just this once?

The rest of the ingredients are the norm, but I’ll do you a favor and give a quick overview because I love seeing a quick list of ingredients.

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Sharing a combination row and strength workout that you can do at home or take to your next gym workout. Our favorite rower for our home gym is here!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! How’s the morning going so far? I hope you had a great weekend. We finished decorating (just need the tree!), had an amazing dinner at Vivace, and got together with some friends. It’s also been rainy here and lovely. I hope you had a great weekend, too!

For today’s post, I wanted to pay a tribute to a fitness tool that we’ve added to our home gym and that we absolutely LOVE: the Aviron! (<— that it my affiliate link and they’re having a Black Friday promo right now! It’s their only sale so far this entire year.) You can check out my full review of Aviron here. Since we added it to our routine, it’s been so amazing to have for at-home rowing workouts, especially since we can stream Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, and play games. I watched half of Les Miserables while getting in an excellent cardio workout.

My all-time favorite way to use the rower is for combo strength and cardio. I’ll do sprints or drills on the rower and alternate with total body strength training moves. It’s also amazing that you can use the seat almost like a Pilates reformer; I’ll often use it for sliding side lunges and pikes.

Here’s a workout that I’ve been enjoying lately! Give this at whirl at home or at your next gym session. As always, talk with a doctor before making any fitness or nutrition changes. Modify as needed and honor your body.

Row and strength combo workout

You’ll complete three rounds of each circuit, separating each circuit with a rowing drill that will increase your heart rate and give you an awesome sweat.

The exercises:

Rowing warmup 5-7 minutes

Take this time to set up proper form, focus on your breath, and get your mindset in the game for a great workout. Play a song that will pump you up!

Circuit 1:

Biceps curl to overhead press x 10

Starting Position: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding dumbbells by your sides.

Biceps Curl: Curl the weights toward your shoulders, keeping elbows close to your body.

Overhead Press: Press the weights overhead, fully extending your arms.

Return: Lower the weights back to shoulder height, then down to the starting position.

Repetition: Complete 10 controlled curls and presses.

Goblet squat x 12

Hold a Dumbbell: Hold a dumbbell close to your chest with both hands.

Feet Placement: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart.

Squat Down: Lowe