Healthy Chicks in the Community: A Colorful, Artsy, Creative Dancing Queen

Happy Friday, loves! Hope you had a fabulous week. Mine was super blissful, filled with a trip to Briggs Garden Center, lot o’ journaling fun, and putting the finishing touches on an exciting creative project I’m launching soon. PS If you missed yesterday’s post, I’m starting a weekly (virtual) journaling club in August and would love you ladies to join.

Anyway, I’m super pumped to bring you this week’s feature on Healthy Chicks in the Community, a weekly series celebrating badass women doing their thing. When you’re a blogger and social media addict, you tend to socialize with many people on the interwebs, many of whom you’ve never even met IRL (in real life). Some of those “online friends” you connect with more than others because they just “vibe” with you, and Sanae is one of those people.

She’s such a beautiful soul — inside & out — and I’m so glad that social media brought us together. I first “met” her through some comments on my instagram feed, and quickly realized what an inspiring, cool, rockstar of a woman she is — all the ingredients for a Healthy Chick in the Community. She even has her own Etsy shop — you must check it out 😉

Alas, I introduce you to Sanae; I hope you find as much inspiration from her as I have!

NAME/AGE: Sanae Ferreira/28

BLOG/TWITTER: Blog: Where the BlueBoots Go (bluebootsgo.com) Twitter: @dieTribebyS

CURRENT CITY: Boston, MA

PHOTO TAKEN (WHERE/WHEN): On the blissful streets of Paris in the 7eme district in June 2015.

WHAT YOU DO FOR WORK: I am a doctoral candidate in Nutrition & Metabolism at a medical school in Boston. I am not a dietician (which is what most people think when I first tell them what I do) but I do research with kids to understand what diet, family, and body shape factors put them at higher risk for obesity and later cardiovascular disease. That’s my most professional hat I wear at the moment.

I also write my blog and do some freelance writing and editorial work. I design jewelry art and paint custom pieces for home, gifts, or weddings on my Etsy shop inspiréebyS, which incorporates my love for all things French (inspireée=inspired) with a combination of colors, textures, feelings that I express in my art.

NUMBER ONE PASSION: This is hard! I would say working on any project where I can be creative and make organized messes with lots of color.

I FEEL MY HEALTHIEST SELF WHEN I AM: Well-rested, well-fed, and in-tune with what is going on inside and outside of me. All it takes is one day when I wake up feeling terrible to realize the gift of health, the presence of wellness. I like to wake up early in the morning and have quiet time to appreciate being alive. The ideal morning starts like this, with some prayer and reflection to fuel up my joy, then some exercise – yoga or barre – followed by a light but filling healthy juice or smoothie.

BUT I AM ALSO A REAL GIRL & SOMETIMES: The weight of responsibility to fulfilling my investment in my education and career, pursuit of success in creative endeavors, keeping up with friends, and maintaining a pleasant place to live can be overwhelming. In those cases, a slow walk in the neighborhood, talking with a friend or my husband, sitting and daydreaming for a while, doodling, or watching an episode or two of Friends or Gilmore Girls is just the ticket to cheer me up.

TOP THREE KITCHEN STAPLES:

Edible: 1) I always have a lemon available because I’m constantly drinking lemon water. It tastes good, and is cleansing. 2) Green living things – currently, basil, apple mint, and rosemary. 3) bananas – easy on-the- go fuel or snack.

Inedible: 1) cast iron pan 2) colorful and fun patterned dishtowels 3) coffee and tea –lots of varieties

FAVORITE COMFORT FOOD: I’m half Chinese and there’s a chinese spicy dish that I love called ma po tofu – it’s a spicy, saucy dish with soft tofu and ground pork that is just so comforting over rice. I like it without meat too!

SONG THAT MOVES YOU: Literally, “Better When I’m Dancin’” by Megan Trainor is a song I play on repeat when I’m at work and need to power through the afternoon. It always energizes me when I dance to the beat a little. It’s our little secret :-).

“Show the world you’ve got that fire
Feel the rhythm getting louder
Show the world what you can do
Prove to them you’ve got the moves
I don’t know about you,  but
I feel better when I’m dancing, yeah, yeah.”

A precious verse of a hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, that I love very much and is moving goes like this:
“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

THREE FAB THINGS ABOUT YOU: I’m colorful, calm (mostly), and creative.

FAVORITE BODY PART: Lips or eyes. Because I like them, and not because anyone else does!

EXERCISE THAT MAKES YOU SHINE: I love yoga, barre, and Body Jam – a cardio dance class. Moving to a beat makes me just as happy as flowing from downward dog to tranquil child’s pose.

MESSAGE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH OTHER HEALTHY CHICKS: Find your tribe that will support your flourishing presence. We are often striving and challenging ourselves, which can be great, but always check in and listen to what is going on inside. No matter of the instant “pay off,” if you don’t have wellbeing, you don’t have happiness. It isn’t something people our age thinks of, but even if we’re young now, we have to start thinking of healthy aging because aging is a natural process. We have the opportunity to make healthy choices every day to age beautifully or else spend years trying to undo damage and catch up. Adequate sleep, reflection time, a diet which fuels and renews you, caring for what you eat and apply to your skin or hair, and staying active and flexible are all so important.

Finally, take care of your whole being – physical, mental, social, spiritual. Envision where you want to be. How do you feel? What do you look like? Are you smiling? Just imagining yourself as your best self helps bring happy hormones to be active and helps engage your whole self in a cycle conducive to a positive state of being.

I’d love to connect and talk about any of this more, so thanks for reading, and thank you so much, Rachel, for asking me to be a part of Healthy Chicks this week!

Big thank you to Sanae for taking part in this week’s Healthy Chicks in the Community! If you’d like to nominate yourself or a friend in the future, just email me at rachelAThealthy-chicksDOTcom

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