Healthy Chicks

Good morning lovely ladies, hope you are enjoying all of this sunshine! I’ve been a busy bee lately and it sure has been a while since I’ve given you some serious life updates so I figured you were due for a lil recap on this Healthy Chick. Hope you enjoy and know that while I may no longer blog every day, I’m still always here to connect + answer and questions you may have!

{Wedding Planning}

Wedding planning is in full gear! Save the dates have gone out, our venue has been booked for October (our reception is held in an old rustic barn in CT) and all of our vendors have been secured. I’ve also found the most perfect plum shoes to match my bridesmaids dresses to wear on our wedding day! Oh, and my first dress fitting was last month which put me at ease after a little freak out I had that my dress was “too big!” Man, those seamstresses are amazing at their jobs. Now it’s onto the little details like finding a pretty headband, creating our invites, and collecting decor for the big day. Oh, and choosing our HONEYMOON DESTINATION!!

Speaking of weddings, J and … Read More!

When you think of spring cleaning what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For some of you it may be cleaning out your closet, or perhaps dusting all the nooks ‘n’ crannies in your apartment. For others, you may think of cleansing, dieting or losing weight to get in shape for summer.

This season, I’m challenging you to to rethink the term “spring cleaning,” broadening it to include all aspects of your life: mind, body and soul. Here are some super simple tips to get started right now.

1. Drink more water. Period. Start your morning off with a cup of warm water + the juice of half a lemon, and hydrate yourself throughout the day. Currently, I’ve been loving Essentia Water, which is purified & enhanced with electrolytes with a pH of 9.5 to promote an alkaline environment. Learn more here.

2. Eat Clean(er). OK, OK, you’ve been hearing the whole “eat clean” thing everywhere lately, but what the heck does that mean and where do you even begin? Eating clean is easier said than done, until you get invited to 2 weddings in a row, and your co-workers burger starts staring at you during … Read More!

Do you strive to be a real life version of Superwoman? I don’t blame you; I mean she is pretty darn badass. Why wouldn’t we all want to be just like her?

Oh, that’s right, she’s a fictional character. She has special, magic superpowers. She isn’t real.

If you find yourself suffering from “Superwoman Syndrome” trying to do it all (all of the time), it may be time to take a deep breath, and a step back.

I know I had to the other day. I found that I was putting far too much pressure on myself with work. Old habits were coming back, where I was telling myself things like “You’re not good enough.” “You must keep working harder if you want to be appreciated,” “Saying no makes you weak.”

I know now that’s all a bunch of hogwash, but at the time it felt real and I felt the need to over-deliver, over-achieve, and in turn over-work. I got a big hard dose of reality when I broke down one night, realizing it had been weeks since I had some solid “me time” nor time with my man (the future hubby).

As this time, I reached to … Read More!

If you know me well, you know I love a good, solid girls night out. There’s nothing like getting all dolled up, sipping cocktails or going out dancing (er, trying to dance) with your favorite gal pals.

Mix in a sweaty run + healthy apps + being surrounded by empowering women? Um, I’m sold.

You heard me right. This week, MA-based company New Balance launched their very own Girls Night Out campaign, bringing a refreshing new meaning to “Girls Night.” In their own words, “Less primping, more pavement pounding. Lipstick’s optional, footwear’s not.”

By signing up online you are given all the tools needed to plan your perfect “Girls Night Out” no matter where you live, or who you run with. Map your routes based on fave running hot spots, get alerts on other sweet runs going on in your area, and even share upcoming runs with your lady friends! Because, I mean c’mon, running & sweating is always better with your best friend followed by a solid catch-up sesh.

Oh, and it gets even better! This one-of-a-kind brand is actually hosting a series of special, 100% FREE “GNO Celebrations” in cities near you including our very own Beantown!

Next … Read More!

To do-lists are great. I won’t lie: I love them.

Grocery lists.

Getting-ready-for-vacation lists.

Wedding lists.

Office lists.

Life lists.

There’s something about checking something off that list – be it asparagus, buying my veil (yippee!), or hitting that deadline – that feels so rewarding.

But do your to-do lists ever 100%, completely stress you out? OK, I won’t lie (really, this time). What I meant to say is I love them most of the time. Waking up to a to-do list a mile long (with 5 different colored pens screaming at you!) can be a little scary. OK, a lot scary.

In comes the HAPPY to-do list. In the morning as you sip your cup o’ tea (or coffee) or whatever feel-good beverage you so choose, take some time to write down all your “stuff” you need to get done for the day, you know, your typical “to dos.” Then after you get it all out (the good, the bad & the ugly) write down 2 to 3 things you’re going to do for yourself. A-hah, there’s a catch!

Just as rewarding as crossing all the things off your to-do list, is the ever so satisfying feeling in knowing … Read More!

{cuddle sesh feet pic!}

I often discuss the importance of self care and making more time for yourself. But almost just as important is making more time for your family. Try as we might to spend ample time with our loved ones, sometimes life just gets in the way. That doesn’t make us a bad person by any means; it actually makes us human.

The beauty of it is that we can always work on improving, on become a better person not only for ourselves but for the people we love most. As my man said last night, “We have our whole lives to grow & improve as people.”

Seeing as though I’m getting married in less than 6 months (eek!) I’ve been thinking a lot about taking care of myself & being the best fiancé I can be. It couldn’t be more fitting that this month’s dare for UnitedHealthCare’s Source4Women campaign is “We Dare You to Spend More Time with Family.”

And what better way to get you to do something than by a good ol’ fashioned DARE? 

To participate, all you have to do is enter here, sharing a picture of you spending time … Read More!

How do you start your day? Take a moment and think about that for a few minutes. Do you rush straight to the coffee pot? Do you check your email on your phone before you even get out of bed? Do you go for a run? Do you hit “snooze” 10 times on your alarm clock?

While I’ve had a pretty solid morning ritual down in the past, I’m not going to lie I haven’t been keeping up with it of late. If I’m being perfectly honest, these past few weeks, I’ve been starting my day with work. And not inner work like meditation or writing, but work work.

There’s nothing wrong with loving the work you do and wanting to jump right into it first thing in the a.m., but if you don’t take the time for your own work (you know, that inner soul work), you’re setting yourself up for disaster. After all, how you begin your day is most likely how the rest of your day is going to pan out.

So if you start by checking your bajillion unread emails (been there!) or rushing to the coffee pot running on empty (totally been there too!), … Read More!

I’m honored to feature a guest post by my lovely friend + yogi Cara Gilman on the blog today. (You may remember her from my “Healthy Chicks in the Community” post a while back.) Aside from being the most genuine, smiley gal I know, she also gives killer advice on mindfulness and looking within your soul to find the answers. I mean, she is a yogi after all!

Today she shares her thoughts on why it’s what is on the inside that matters most. I’ll let Cara take the floor from here.

Growing up we were constantly told to not judge a book by it’s cover. To let go of physical appearances and to look deep within ourselves and others to find love. Even in our yoga practice it can be challenging to not get caught up in the physical appearance of the practice. That’s why it’s essential to remind ourselves that our practice gives us so much more if we open ourselves up to it and let go of self doubt and negativity.

Growing up, I was not the nicest teenager to myself.  I felt so uncomfortable in my physical body that I did not allow myself to … Read More!