What I’m loving

Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer & Volumizer

I got this hair dryer for Christmas and it has been revolutionary for my hair. It not only dries my hair faster, but it also straightens it while it dries. I have not touched my flat iron since I started using it, which is impressive because my hair is naturally wavy and frizzy. I am in love.

House Peace on Instagram

House Peace is an organization that helps people organize and simplify their homes. While it is based in Alabama, it is still one of my favorite Instagram follows. Tara from House Peace does such great stories with practical tips and suggestions to help organize or simplify. If you need a little inspiration in that area I definitely recommend her Instagram page house.peace.

Believed Podcast

Believed is a short podcast series about Larry Nassar and the 500 women and girls who accused him of sexual abuse. Honestly, it is not an easy listen, but I do think it is an important one. It feels especially important to understand how he got away with it as long as he did, as well as the fact that he was able to abuse girls with their parent was in the room. They are relatively short episodes, and I listened to the whole series in one day while I painted a bedroom.

Here is the synopsis from the podcast: How did Larry Nassar, an Olympic gymnastics doctor, get away with abusing hundreds of women and girls for two decades? Believed is an inside look at how a team of women won a conviction in one of the largest serial sexual abuse cases in U.S. history.

Balance 365 Life Radio Podcast

I only recently started listening to Balance 365 from the recommendation of a friend, but I have really been enjoying it. It focuses a lot on intuitive eating, listening to your body, and just overall health. I have really changed my mindset about food and body image in the past year, and Balance 365 really affirms that and challenges me further. If you are looking for some episodes to try out I recommend Getting Older: On Women and Aging, and How Your Body Image Impacts Your Children.

One Day at a Time On Netflix

One Day at a Time is a 30-minute sitcom made by Netflix. It is about a Cuban American family and I have really been enjoying it. In typical sitcom fashion, they go from humor to discussions of deeper issues pretty quickly. Overall, it is a feel-good show that is a lot of fun.

What I’m Reading

The Wondering Year by Knox McCoy

I do almost all my reading from the library or Kindle sales, but last year I pre-ordered two books. I was so excited about them and they were definitely worth paying full price. The Wondering Years is the first of those books. Knox is one of the co-hosts on my favorite podcast, the Popcast. In his book, he takes you on a journey through the books, movies, and other pop culture of his childhood that helped him in his questions about God.

It did not disappoint. It was so funny, and poignant, and I loved every second of reading it.

Cozy Minimalist Home by Myquillyn Smith

The Cozy Minimalist Home is the perfect book for helping you to love your home. It is the second book I pre-ordered last year and it lived up to every one of my expectations.

From Amazon: More Style, Less Stuff. Cozy Minimalism isn’t about going without or achieving a particularly new, modern style. Nope. It’s simply a mindset that helps you get whatever style YOU LOVE with the fewest possible items.

You want a warm, cozy, inviting home, without using more resources, money, and stuff than needed. Why use more if you don’t have to?

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza

I have seen A Place for Us recommended so many times in the past month that I was really excited to read it. It seems like everyone is raving about it. Full disclosure- I didn’t finish it.  I made it to 25% of the book and decided that it just wasn’t the book for me if I wasn’t engaged by that point. There was so much skipping between characters and points in time, I often struggled to remember who was talking and where we were in the story. I also fell asleep multiple times, which is definitely not a norm for me when reading. Obviously, it just wasn’t holding my attention.

So many people have loved it though, so it seems like it was just me that wasn’t feeling it.

From Amazon: As an Indian wedding gathers a family back together, parents Rafiq and Layla must reckon with the choices their children have made. There is Hadia: their headstrong, eldest daughter, whose marriage is a match of love and not tradition. Huda, the middle child, is determined to follow in her sister’s footsteps. And lastly, their estranged son, Amar, who returns to the family fold for the first time in three years to take his place as brother of the bride. What secrets and betrayals have caused this close-knit family to fracture? Can Amar find his way back to the people who know and love him best?