Healthy Chicks

Good morning friends, and happy October! To me, October is a month of digging out what’s no longer serving us and harvesting the new — be it new connections, work projects or creative avenues.

Speaking of new connections, I’m so excited to bring you this month’s feature on Healthy Chicks in the Community, a monthly series highlighting rockstar Girl Bosses doing their thang in the wellness world. Reiki practitioner and women + girls empowerment coach Sam Carney is a ray of sunshine, empowering girls to be whoever it is they want to be…with confidence.

Through her business Doorway of Light, she launched her signature program Blossom Bright — offering a variety of unique group mentorship opportunities for young women. Think: farm-fresh lunches, full moon sleepovers and vision board workshops.

In this month’s interview, we chat with Sam about creating impact in the community, the power of real food made with love, and why she creates music playlists to correspond with the seasons.

Photo credit: Alyssa Fortin Photography

When I became a mama 13 months ago, my greatest wish was fulfilled — I had my baby girl. But at the same time, I really struggled with my identity.

WHO AM I? IS “MOM” A JOB TITLE?

Taking on the new mom role (the hardest and most fulfilling job I’ve ever had), I naturally cut back on other things — taking on less freelance writing, dropping a few clients and skipping networking events in favor of baby snuggles. Yes I felt a little guilty, but that’s where my heart wanted to be: with my baby girl.

And I loved every minute of it. Sometimes I’d feel embarrassed or lazy for not “doing enough” for my business, and on the days I prioritized my work I’d feel tired or guilty for not being a “present” enough mom.

Now that we’re over a year in, I’m starting to get that itch again to get back in the groove with my business — I’m opening myself up to new freelance writing opportunities, going out of my comfort zone, teaching myself sales (in my own authentic way) and signing up for holiday vendor fairs while also being a mom.

Sometimes this means … Read More!

While I’m all for the fall apple festivals, oversized sweaters and pumpkin spice everything, I’m not quite ready for cold and flu season. I’ve got a whole “wellness toolkit”  to protect myself, but at the end of the day one of the simplest things you can do is keep it clean.

Good ol’ fashioned hand-washing with soap and hot water is my recommended go-to, but when I’m on the go I reach for a natural hand sanitizer as the next best thing. That’s why you’ll always find a travel-sized sanitizer in the diaper bag for car trips, dining out, and family outings!

Desert Essence Probiotic Hand Sanitizer

I’m a huge fan of Desert Essence products — especially their jojoba oil — so I was intrigued when they came out with a hand sanitizer…made with probiotics. I’ll admit, at first I was a little confused — probiotics in your hand sanitizer? But isn’t that counterintuitive?

As it turns out, there’s actually a pretty genius reason for it. In addition to the powerful plant-based antibacterials killing 99.99% of germs — like tea tree oil, thyme and elderberry — they top it off with super probiotic kefir to condition … Read More!

Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend! Hubby and I enjoyed a lovely weekend camping (ahem, glamping) with family in Cooperstown, NY…the perfect way to say goodbye to sweet summertime.

But before you say goodbye for good, you’re going to want to make this grilled Elote Corn. With just the right amount of salty, savory and zest, this recipe is a late summertime must!

Late-Summer Grilled Elote Corn

*recipe inspired by Bon Appetit, serves 4 

• 4 ears of corn, husked
• Sir Kensington’s mayonnaise
• chili powder
• cayenne powder
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• feta cheese
• 1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

Grill corn until lightly charred, for about 8-10 minutes. Brush with mayo, and generously sprinkle with feta cheese followed by a dash of chili powder, cayenne and fresh cilantro to your liking. Serve with a lime wedge and a bottle of your favorite rosé. 

 … Read More!

In the blink of an eye, September is here, and that means it’s time for this month’s feature on Healthy Chicks in the Community, a monthly series highlighting rockstar Girl Bosses doing their thang in the wellness world.

I’m all about supporting other women-owned businesses, so I was thrilled to connect with WishRoute, an “accountability buddy” providing tools to help you build healthy habits around exercise, nutrition, and mindfulness. The founder Jess reached out when they were kicking things off to see if I wanted to include my Spark Your Bliss cards in their surprise member packages, and it was a heck yes from me!

On this month’s series, I got to chat with Jess to discuss the importance of having accountability when it comes to shifting behavior, her knack for experimenting with healthy deserts, and why Katrina Lake of Stich Fix is her #1 role model in biz.

NAME: 
Jess Lynch

DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS/LINE OF WORK:
I founded WishRoute on the belief that people lack the accountability they need to follow through with their wellness goals. We all have lots of robot driven health & wellness apps on our phones, but we aren’t emotionally connected, so when … Read More!

With summer coming to an end, I’m soaking up every last bit of the season — pineapple sangria, al fresco dining, fresh berries, and all.

A couple weeks ago, baby girl woke up an hour early, so I quickly fed her breakfast, got her dressed and ventured out to go blueberry picking. While little miss fuss only lasted about 30 minutes (that’s what ya get when you try to stretch nap time), we got enough bleubs to make a couple batches of gluten free blueberry muffins.

If you’ve got yourself a stash o’ berries you’re not quite sure what to do with, I highly recommend making a batch of these bad boys!

I used this gluten free recipe from Iowa Girl Eats (subbing brown rice flour for 1:1 baking flour). Let me tell you: they’re deeelish, and babe’s a fan as well. It’s hard to believe these babies are gluten free and vegan, the only sugar coming from the banana and maple syrup! Win, win.

Recipe hack: sprinkle with cinnamon & brown sugar before popping in the oven for a little extra pizazz. 😉 Enjoy! … Read More!

It takes a village. 

This phrase has never rang more true to me since becoming a mom.

For those who don’t know, two months ago my husband and I packed up our two-bedroom apartment, left Massachusetts (where we met, lived for the past 10 years, got pregnant and gave birth to Isabella) and moved back to Connecticut to live with my parents for the time being while we house-hunt.

The main reason we moved back home was to be closer to family — and once Isabella was born we knew we wanted to do it sooner than later. As a hybrid between a stay-at-home and work-from-home mom, I’ve been busy this past year taking care of our baby and taking care of business. It’s not perfect, and I’ve started to realize I can’t do everything 100%, 100% of the time. And that’s OK.

That said, it’s been difficult not having close family and friends nearby to lend a hand, cook a meal, or even just be there to remind you that you’ve got this or for some good ol’ fashioned adult conversation. For the most part it’s been me, myself and baby.

Since moving, the past month or so has … Read More!

Morning friends, and Happy August! Seriously where is the summer going?! If you missed my message the other day, make sure to go take a look because I want you to know YOU ARE ENOUGH. Yes, I’m talking to Y-O-U!

Alrighty, moving onto this month’s feature on Healthy Chicks in the Community, a series highlighting rockstar Girl Bosses doing their thang in the wellness world. If you don’t already know by now, I have a major love affair with bone broth, so I was super pumped to meet master broth maker Melissa of The Hale Bone Broth at a wellness event, serving up her goods.

We naturally hit it off, and I knew she’d be a perfect fir for this series! In this fun interview, we chat about creating meaningful connections, plans to grow the biz and her girl crush on Rachel Hollis. I’ll let Melissa take it away from here!

NAME:

Melissa Smith, Owner of The Hale Bone Broth

DESCRIBE YOUR BUSINESS/LINE OF WORK:
The Hale is a health and lifestyle brand focused around healthy accountable living that is enjoyed! The Hale Bone Broth is a product that was designed to align with our search for the … Read More!