Gift Guide – For The Littles

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for the munchkins and anyone who is young at heart

Even though I created this gift guide specifically for the littles in our lives, I think anyone on your list would love to receive them because they’re all so fun! Let me explain.

Food Between Friends Cookbook – best friends Julie and Jesse (Julie is my friend and her stories will make you want to cook all the things!) whip together their favorite recipes, putting their own Southern and Southwestern spins on them in this cookbook perfect for your family! Teach ’em how to cook young, let them help you put the ingredients together, and share time in the kitchen with them … this is still one of my favorite things to do with Corrine. Available now for pre-order, March 9th is the day! I’m including it now because this kind of gift is perfect for any time of year

Annoying Orange plush toys – pssst, did you know that yours truly is the voice of Lil Sis, Annoying Orange’s little sister?! I represent other characters in the YouTube series and have been friends with the creators for over 10 years now. I’m so proud to include them in my gift guide and what they’ve accomplished, and I know your little (or your friends) would be proud to have a plush toy like this around. Squishiesss are all the rage

Valerie Confections – the most decadent of treats, this local treasure was founded by chocolatier Valerie Gordon and her partner Stan Weightman Jr. A perfect gift for the littles under the tree this year and anyone who loves a sweet treat! She’s also offering holiday menus if you live in the Los Angeles area, check it out

Paper Please stationary and gifts – founded by my friends Christine & Friedia, this local stationary shop has all of your paper needs and adorable gifts to include this holiday season. I especially love their puzzles, books, and sticker sets that you can decorate together with your little ones. Get artsy!

This Saves Lives treats – besides being delicious and nutritious, this bar saves lives. With every purchase from This Saves Lives you send a packet of life-saving food to a child in need, providing a packet of powerful peanut paste full of vitamins and nutrients specifically made to treat severe acute malnutrition. I really wanted to include this philanthropic company because … what a wonderful way to get your kiddos to eat well than to present it to them in this most beautiful packaging! I’ve had almost every one of their snack bars and I’m here to tell you that when you purchase a box for the littles, purchase a box for yourself too

And there you have it! The last of my gift guides this holiday season, I have one more treat for you coming up this Friday. I really wanted to showcase my friend’s companies, highlight local businesses to support, and encourage everyone to shop small when you can. Me love you.

Will this be for him, for her, for the littles, or for the ones that have it all?

Gift Guide – For The One Who Has It All

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for anyone who has everything and wants nothing

But what about that person on your list who has it all and you really want to get them something special? Well these five gift ideas are sure to dazzle them … here’s the gifts that keep on giving.

TOPTOPE – the ‘best thing since the hat box’ invented by my super genius friend Lindsay Albanese! This is a hat clip but beyond your wildest dreams of what a ‘hat clip’ could look like. It’s classic and chic, the styles are timeless and versatile (perfect for her or him!), and the magnet will hold that hat in place no matter the travel, gust of wind, or stranger that bumps into you unexpectedly. TOPTOTE is a part of Lindsay’s “Serviceable Style™ collection of fashion accessories and products designed to bring ease and order into your life” and I’m here for vouch for it! Attach it to your luggage, your bag, your belt loop… endless possibilities and if you check out her site you’ll see all of the other travel accessories you didn’t even know you needed and now won’t be able to live without! Guaranteed that person on your list doesn’t have anything like this

Ayara Thai Pad Thai Kit & Cooking Lessons – family owned and operated right here in the heart of L.A., you’ll need to look no further for the best Thai in town! My wonderful friends Vanda and Michael ensure that your experience feels like home. With traditional recipes passed down from family member to family member, you too can be a part of the family by purchasing their Pad Thai Kit (and other cooking kits), virtual cooking lessons, and special sauces to make in the comfort of your own home. What a wonderful gift this would be to receive for anyone who has everything already. The gift of food haha. Food is family and family is love <3

Hedley & Bennett Gift Bundles – another local company here in Los Angeles (what can I say, I love supporting my friends) founded by my girl Ellen Bennett, her aprons are absolutely stunning and it’s no wonder they’re wildly popular! When the world shut down because of Covid, H&B pivoted to quickly create face masks for front line service members and our community. For the one who has it all, gift them a bundle that they can grill, cook, and bake with. The cutest part is the message on the inside of the box, “put this on and make something”…. deal!

The McBride Sisters Wine Shop – I could need nothing in the entire world and if you gifted me a membership to this wine club, it’d be the gift of the season! Something for everyone, there’s a tasting selection for anyone who love reds, blends, rieslings, and bubbles. One for them, two for you, go go go

OMA The Label Jewelry – OMA’s pieces are exquisite and perfect for every day. Created by Neumi Anekhe, a New York based fashion stylist, her mission is to create quality pieces at affordable prices and I’m here for it. Whoever you gift these dainty pieces to, they will feel empowered and confident.

The gifts that continue to give the whole year through, I hope you loved this gift guide as much as I did. Honestly, if I were given any one of these, I’d be over the moon.

One for them, two for you, which will you be gifting them and you? haha xoxo

Gift Guide – For The Fitness Lover

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let’s eat the good stuff and push through the rough stuff

Setting aside time to create movement for myself isn’t always easy. Mom guilt is a real thing and even though my baby girl is a grown woman, it doesn’t mean that I don’t feel guilty, even now when I could legit retire from parenting ha!

Movement to me is my mental health. Making time for myself isn’t selfish (and f*ck it if it is), it makes me a better mom, a better girlfriend, and a better human. It opens up space in my mind to take on the day and I’m thankful for an able body that allows me to move through the muck of it all.

Connecting to our community and coaching you is a purpose of mine and giving you my energy in a place where we can laugh and sweat together (sup Zoom) is my passion. I’d love for us to not get used to the loss of human connection that this year has brought on. Let’s bring it back and eat the good stuff and push through the rough stuff. So if you’d like to move through it with us, I’ve got you.

Here are my picks for you and for the fitness lovers in your life <3

  • Lacey’s Holiday Deals + Steals – whether it be a package of Zoom classes to work out with us, your 7 day meal plan, the virtual platform, or Lacey’s Stone Tone Core program it’s all here! I hope to see you at least 3x a week to move it out and to keep it movin’!
  • Turmeric Salve – we work out at least 3 days a week and in Zoom camps we work out 5 days a week… this salve has saved my muscles. I do a bath bomb or bath soak from The Flower Pot, pop out of the bath and rub on some salve and thennn…
  • Stress Finesse – to finesse my stress I love all of TFP tinctures and this one does what it says and says what it does. Zen through plant power, I love to drop this in mid-day, light a candle, and child’s pose
  • Super Beauty Vitamins – collagen … free radicals … oxidative damage – oh my! These lil beauty babies are vitamins that protect against oxidative damage, promote collagen production, and neutralize free radicals. I keep them by my bed side table so I don’t forget to take them, rotating through these and my Ritual vitamins which you’ve heard me talk about before
  • CBD Pre-Rolled Spliffs – the word spliff is just fun to say, try it aloud. These are Barbari Airplane Mode CBD spliffs! They’re pre-rolled relaxation with CBD-rich hemp flower so you can toke it on up and relax it on down. I feel very speak easy when I smoke these chillin’ just in my robe (BONUS: enter FLOWERPOTFRIDAYS at checkout for 15% off your TFP cart!)
  • FRE Skincare – this skincare line was specifically designed for skin that sweats. I mean, how perfect is that so we don’t burn our eyes out when we’re sweating our faces off. Complete with a face wash, serum, hydrating SPF, and detox mask – they’re having a sale right now and it comes with a traveling bag so it’s perfect for under the tree or as a stocking stuffer!

So there you have it ya cool cats and kittens! My personal fitness faves, from me to you, from you to yourself, or from you to a loved one … because nothing says “I love you” like the gift of health (mental health, heart health, and physical health) <3

Tell me where you are in your shopping to do’s … 1) are you just getting started 2) did you start in February bc you’re annoying like that jkjkjkjkjk or 3) do you wait until the night before and scramble to wrap something?

Local Discoveries – The Who, What, Where #DiscoverTorrance

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Shopping, adventures, and foods oh my!

As you saw from my last article, I visited the neighboring city of Torrance last month and I’m so happy to share my discoveries with you. Where we shopped, our explorations, local eats … all the things! We stayed at the Best Western Plus Avita Suites and they provide a complimentary breakfast buffet so we only had to find lunches and dinners … and saucy sips … oh and desserts 😉 There’s so many options and I got so many of your recommendations from Instagram, thank goodness discovertorrance.com exists which helped me narrow down all my choices! Pssst and thank YOU for your recs <3

So day one was all about settling into our suite and enjoying dinner at our hotel, so the next morning after we enjoyed the buffet we visited the Farmer’s Market for some lunch and local goods.

It was such a beautiful day in Torrance that it was easy to walk around for three hours before I decided I wanted a mid-day pick me up. We headed to the best boba in town… 7 leaves cafe

That would be my macarons and cafe over there chillin’ next to the Moana tree haha. Sooo good, please go there and get the Taro milk tea boba! The Depot was high on your recommendation list as it was on the discovertorrance.com site so that’s exactly what we did for dinner and let me tell ya… I’m a martini kinda lady and their martini’s cannot be matched! So perfectly paired with a filet and mashed potatoes dinner. Umm and that would be pistachio butter you see next to that fresh baked bread *drool*

P.S. that’s the Chef! Of course I asked to take a photo with him, it was one of the best meals evaaaar! And what better way to wrap up day one than a night cap?! We walked over to a neighboring hotel bar and enjoyed one more saucy sip… can you guess what I got? And of course- a bar pretzel is the best choice duh.

Perfection ah. With time in the books I was already fully enjoying my time in this city. Day two began the same as the previous morning but we switched up routine by having some Hawaiian lunch for the first time. I learned that Hawaiian food and Chamorro food (it me!) are very similar! Think spam and rice haha This was The Loft in Torrance and they did not disappoint.

Musubi and Hawaiian fried chicken for the win! Since I’m the type of person who plots my next food venture WHILE still having the current meal (ha!) I decided we’d go to Brio for dinner AND dessert and enjoy some home made donuts… they had me at donuts let’s be real.

We wrapped up the day by finishing our holiday shopping at Del Amo Fashion Center, which by the way is just a hop and a skip away from our hotel… winning! It was such a perk considering I shopped ’til I dropped.

Why yes, I did purchase this camo cropped pull-over *hail hands* I ended up completing all of my holiday shopping AND shopped for myself so… treat yo self. Day two was a smashing success and when I tell you I slept like a baby, trust.

Before leaving on our final day in Torrance, I ran one last time at our hotel gym, enjoyed a homemade waffle and took time with every bite, and just had to make one last stop before checking out of my staycation dream. Enter Strand Brewing for some FUNS!


Ending my staycation in Torrance could not have been any more fun than enjoying a flight of local beers, playing some games, and sports!

I had the best time and feel so lucky to have partnered with such a welcoming and hospitable community to showcase some of the best places in Torrance to eat, visit, explore, and shop <3 I hope you get a chance to visit our new home away from home and I’ll link you to all the places that helped make our stay so memorable and easy to navigate!

Have you added ‘more adventure’ to your New Year goals yet? Let’s do this! 

https://discovertorrance.com/stay/

https://discovertorrance.com/hotels/best-western-avita-suites/

www.discovertorrance.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delivering Smiles This Holiday Season – A Family Tradition

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This post is sponsored by Amazon, however all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Tis the season… the season of holiday celebrations, family time, and sharing traditions. So I want to share with you what this ‘season’ means to me and my family and what some of our traditions are.

This is my favorite time of year because it’s the one time that most of my family is in the same state, under the same roof. It happens only once a year, and it’s such a special time for us all to reconnect and spend time doing things that are traditional to our family. Traditions are so significant, they bridge time and distance and link generations. 

Every member of our family contributes to activating the rest of us to be philanthropic, especially this time of year, and we also all contribute to burning at least one thing for dinner… but of course. This year, it was my dad’s turn. This is my dad, Michael, he’s one of my heroes. He is a veteran, a loving husband, and humble father. This year he asked us to volunteer at the VA so most of us will be volunteering our time in person, but those unable to join us will also be participating in a different way! Amazon makes it easy to give back to organizations we collectively love and support. This way, we’re all in it together.

Our family realizes that a lot of families go without many of the things we take for granted this time of year and aren’t able to give back in this way, so it’s a privilege for us to come together and give back – and it brings us closer as a result. We also realize that we’re connecting to an entire community of families that give back with Amazon this holiday season.

Want in on all the feel good? Well, there are three really easy ways to do it, my personal favorite being through AmazonSmile Charity Lists. You can browse by cause or search for an organization’s needs and the items you purchase are donated and delivered directly to the charity. I love this method because it takes the guessing out of it for us, we simply see what they need and we’re able to purchase those items for them directly.  

You can also donate a portion of the purchase price of your eligible products on Amazon to the charity of your choice with AmazonSmile by starting your shopping at smile.amazon.com –  and if you have an Alexa-enabled device, you can donate with Alexa to a registered charity simply by saying “Alexa, I want to make a donation.” Choices like this really do make it rewarding to give back when and where you’re able.  

The organization near and dear to us is the Best Friends Animal Society. We chose to purchase items for them, shopping from their list as they are a part of the AmazonSmile Charity List. As a home that has adopted two fur babies, BFAS has a mission that resonates so closely with our family. Their mission statement is, “Best friends – save them all.” They believe that just because cats and dogs don’t have a safe place to call home doesn’t mean they should be euthanized. They work closely with volunteers, shelters, rescue groups, and other animal welfare organizations to educate communities and encourage them to adopt, donate, spread the word, and volunteer to help reach their goals. 

Philanthropy practiced this way allows all members of our family to be connected, and I hope you join us in this tradition! Encourage your family members to contribute to your communities in person and virtually. Amazon makes it so easy to give back to charities you love. Start a new tradition that’s timeless and that connects your family the way it does ours, and please let me know which organizations you’ll be #DeliveringSmiles to so we can check them out! 

Happy holidays from me and mine to you and yours <3