Hey my loves!
Over the years as I have started to share way more on Instagram and my podcast, I realize that not all of you have been here since my every-day-blogging days. That is a good thing because it means there are lots of newer eyeballs around here! And lots of longtime ones too… so if you’ve been here awhile comment below so I can thank you for your continued readership. And if you’re newer do the same so we can meet!
(To comment you do have to create a Disqus account but it’s really easy and painless. You can also just link it to your Facebook so you don’t have to fill anything additional out. Then you can comment on my blog and lots of others forevermore… it’s worth it!)
Anyway since there are lots of new readers around here I figured it was time to do a 10 things about me post. They’re always so fun and they bring me back to my MySpace and AIM days when we would do things like this all the time… I swear I was always a blogger at heart, decorating my AIM buddy profile with alternative fonts and colors for hours, living on the MySpace bulletin chats… oh man. If only I had had the wherewithal to start TBB back then. I DREAM of myself doing that actually, but I know everything happens for a reason so I’ve just gotta roll with how it all started anyway. 🙂
Ok let’s do this! Would love to hear more about you below because this blog is really more about our community than just about ME… so connecting with you guys is what keeps me going and makes this whole “writing into outer space” thing feel a lot more real.
10 Things About Me…!
1. Friendships have always played a huge role in my life. As far back as I can remember, I was begging my mom to have friends over after school and would stay up ALL NIGHT chatting with a girlfriend during a sleepover if we could get away with it. I mean literally at the age of six I was doing this — my mom has hilarious stories about waking up and finding us bouncing off the walls in the middle of the night, when we were so young we were still “BABIES” as she puts it.
Growing up as mostly an only child as my three siblings are many years older than me, my friends quickly became like my sisters. They would accompany us on family vacations, view my parents as their second mom & dad, and basically just be my absolute go-tos. Not a lot has changed over the years… I still have a lot of the same people in my life as I did when I was in kindergarten / middle school / high school.
As I have grown older, I have realized time and again that it’s not about having a million friends — it’s about having that small, tight knit group you can count on no matter what. This year in particular I have taken a good, hard look at who I surround myself with and made a huge effort to pour energy into the relationships that really, really matter. Those humans I can call rain or shine, who are there in my darkest days just as much as they are in the bright & exciting ones. I have recognized that when I am not pouring energy into those people and friendships I feel a little empty, like something is missing. It’s because they truly are like family to me so keeping them close is what feels so right in my heart. <3
AND YES some fellow bloggers are dear friends of mine, and they are REAL friends not just Instagram friends or friends for show, haha. We get that question all of the time. Some of my blogging besties / real life besties are Rachel Mansfield, Nicole Cogan, & Britt & Tara from Elevate the Globe to name a few. 🙂
2. I am from Northern California (Sacramento, baybayyyyy!!) and I moved to Los Angeles to go to college at Loyola Marymount University in 2009… coming up on ten years ago! At first I wasn’t sure that I even liked LA, and I had no plans to stay here after college. Right when I graduated I moved to NYC and lived there for a year studying creative writing at The New School, where I was getting my MFA. Somehow in the midst of all of that I realized I did want to live in LA, and I missed that sunny California life and my people here. I ended up moving back, and have lived in Brentwood for the last four years. Now I love LA and can’t imagine ever leaving… even though being bicoastal and spending half of my time in NYC has been a dream for a while! I even convinced my parents to get a place here, so that’s how you know I’m REALLY not going anywhere for a long while.
3. I am a creature of HABIT! I like to have the same routine every day, go back to the same vacation spots, go to the same yoga teachers at the same studios that I love, eat the same foods… so I have to constantly work to get myself out of my comfort zone. If there’s anything I’ve learned over time it’s that while routine is awesome and can be a very positive thing, it can also be limiting. Pushing myself to get out of the box has introduced some of my favorite things into my life, so I am always trying to find that balance between the two.
4. I stopped drinking alcohol a while ago and I feel amazing. I am going to do a whole post on this soon, but here’s the DL so far: I used to drink a LOT. I was never an alcoholic in any way, especially because I never even really liked alcohol. I just partied a lot in high school and in college. A few years ago I really lost the desire to drink, and slowly but surely choking down even a sip of alcohol felt nearly impossible to me. I just started to HATE it and my body would rebel by throwing up or getting extremely hungover from even very, very minimal alcohol. I drank a couple of times last year (at weddings and other occasions) and decided this year I would try a year of no alcohol.
I had a fewwww sips of a martini at my own engagement dinner just because I was so in the moment, but other than that I have been living the sober life all year. My health is at such a low right now that alcohol would really knock me off track so I don’t see myself reincorporating it any time soon, but I am never saying never. I do think life is about enjoyment and living in the moment so if the opportunity arises and I FEEL like it… a clean cocktail isn’t out of the question.
5. I was diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease, mycotoxin illness (mold poisoning), Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (a histamine disorder), the MTFHR gene, and tons of hormone imbalances and nutrient deficiencies this past June. Getting answers was a very welcome thing, but living with these chronic diseases and trying to find healing has been very taxing and painful. I am constantly going back and forth with how I feel. Some days I feel like superwoman powering through and riding adrenaline highs, and other days I feel like I have been hit by a freight train and can’t even move a single limb.
For someone who has put SUCH an emphasis on their health for so many years, it feels a bit like a betrayal from my own body. But I know that’s not the case and I also know that through all of the treatments I am doing and ALL of the inner spiritual work, I will heal. It is a true test of my patience and my sanity, but I am up for the challenge and I am determined to turn this into something good. Healing others is a huge passion of mine and in order to do that I must first heal myself. 🙂
6. I am obsessed with all things spiritual and ethereal. NUMBERS are a huge part of my life. 201 has been my number for almost 9 years now. I lived in 201 apartments for 8 years straight, and the number appears in my life every single day in one way or another. I believe it’s my angels and spirit guides guiding me in the right direction every time I see it… and so much more. It always shows me that I’m on the right track. I am also very into crystal healing, following the moon cycles and astrology, Human Design (listen to this podcast episode to learn more about HD!), shamanism, reiki, kundalini, meditation, and so much more. These spiritual practices have been a huge part of my healing journey, even far before I was diagnosed and finally knew what I had and what was making my health decline so intensely and rapidly.
My goal eventually is to be more consistent with my spiritual practice and develop my own healing art of sorts that I can share with the world… but I am taking my time on figuring it all out because I firmly believe my healing self will find ME when she is ready. 🙂
7. Yoga has been a huge part of my life since I was about 14. Since then I have embarked on trainings and retreats and transformative and immersive yoga experiences of all kinds. And the amazing thing is… I still have so much to learn. I will forever be a student of yoga. Yoga was my first love. I am a 5oo-hour trained RYT which surprises some people because I never decided to go the full-time teaching route, but you better believe I qualified myself for it just in case I ever want to. 🙂 I love teaching events that infuse vinyasa with the more ethereal concepts of tuning into our bodies and our breath.
8. I have three nieces and a nephew, and because of my family being a little confusing to follow… people always think my nieces and nephew are my siblings, or sometimes they think they’re my kids. I am closer in age with my oldest nephew and niece than I am with any of my siblings! I love being an aunt — I became one when I was six. I always joke with my niece Isabella that I am the “crazy aunt” because I am so scatterbrained and she has been directing me around since she was little, lol! But she is truly one of my very best friends in the world and I don’t know what I would do without her. I feel so lucky to have such a close and loving family, even if we are not the “typical” nuclear family, if you will. 🙂
9. I met the love of my life, Jonathan, almost four years ago at my app launch party for The Balanced Blonde Recipe App (that no longer exists… but we had a good run!) and we became very good friends right off the bat. We were friends for a few years, he trained me for the LA Marathon, we worked out together a lot, and we even went on a few dinner “dates” that were “NOT DATES” (hahaha) until January 1st, 2017 when he finally kissed me and asked me to go on a real date with him. We always laugh looking back because he would say things like, “Let’s go to Gracias Madre for dinner and catch up… it’s not a date but just two friends catching up and talking about work.” LOL. I truly believe timing is everything and I am madly in love with the fact that we were friends first and foremost. He will always be my best friend, and how special is that?
10. I went to the teeniest, tiniest school from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The SAME school all the way through, for 13 years!!! It was wild at the time. I went through all of the emotions from LOVING IT to hating it by the time I was in high school and yearned for a “big school” experience that I imagined would be wayyyyy “cooler” and more fun. Now I am beyond grateful for my education and the creativity that was fostered at my school. Small liberal arts schools where kids are taught to be THEMSELVES and embrace all of their weirdness and quirkiness and uniqueness… they are everything. Now I am positive I will send my kids to the same type of school. I really don’t believe in the public school system but that is another conversation for another day. 🙂 🙂
11. OK I KNOW I AM ADDING AN EXTRA ONE BUT… I get this question a lot so I figured I would address it. I was vegan for many years and then I very publicly stopped being vegan, and wrote this book. For three and a half years after that I tried everything in the book, from keto to paleo to very very high fat and no carb to just fish and avocado and bone broth to everything else in between… and I have eventually made my way back to an entirely plant-based diet. I call it intuitively plant-based, and I love it. This is how my body thrives. Soon I will be doing a post about this, and the crazy ways my body has changed simply from the food I have fueled it with. Wild. I don’t believe in the labels that we put on ourselves and I may change and evolve again… but all I know is that plants make me feel REAL GOOOOD and I have so much to say and share about that.
Last and finally… writing is my passion. I am working on some big writing projects right now in the form of a few books and I am overjoyed to bring them to life. Stay tuned because this is where my heart is and I cannot wait to take you guys along for the ride.
Cannot wait to keep doing posts like these and to read all about YOU in the comments!!! Tell me, tell me!! Which ones of mine do you relate to? XO