Happy new year! We’re still rolling with Saturday Sun and all of the expanding, feel-good, and beautiful inspiration we can handle. I so look forward to putting these posts together.

Our holiday break was surprisingly relaxed this year! A mega winter storm blew through from the 22nd to early on the 24th. This was one of the worst storms that I’ve personally experienced. The snow drifts were taller than me and I’ve never seen the dogs do their business so fast outside lol. It was honestly scary at times (it sounded like the roof was going to blow off the one night), but I’m just grateful that we had warm shelter, our power stayed on, and we had everything that we needed. A few big branches came down and that was it. Phew!

Aside from hunkering down during the storm, we had a couple family get togethers, hosted friends, cooked some amazing meals, enjoyed lots of holiday treats, and played board games by the fire. Ideal! 

I’m thrilled to start a new year, to share even more vegan deliciousness with you, and to keep building on good habits and practices this year. Thanks for being here!

5 Things I’m Reading:

1. On Publishing a Book (words cannot describe how excited I am for Alicia Kennedy’s forthcoming book)
2. The Hidden Teaching of Gardens
3. Toward a unified theory of “millenial cringe”
4. The Cheesecake Factory knows what you want
5. Just started Metahuman this week

5 Things I’m Enjoying:

1. James Clear’s 30 Days to Better Habits (scroll down a bit once you click over) email series. I loved his book Atomic Habits and this email series is a great refresh with so many incredible resources. No other book has helped me improve my day-to-day life more than this one, and this email series has me so excited to keep going.
2. I got this weighted blanket for Christmas from my partner’s dad, and I love it so much. I start every morning with a quick workout, an ice cold shower (I’m up to a minute and a half), and then I make tea and settle in for a meditation under the blanket. It’s so calming and cozy.
3. Peanut sauce on basically everything. Roasted or baked sweet potatoes, noodle bowls, as a dip for summer rolls, kale salads, crispy air-fried tofu… it’s just really hitting for me lately! I’ll share an updated recipe soon.
4. Ultima electrolytes. Random, I know! I drink a lot of water, but I was still cramping up sometimes when I went to Pilates and worked certain muscle groups a bit longer. Now I drink some of this in a shaker cup beforehand and I’m all good. Plus it tastes amazing. I order it from Natura Market!
5. Is This the End of Social Media? Loved this episode of the Offline podcast.

5 Questions:

1. How do you manage your social media consumption? Do you set daily limits for yourself?
   I do have limits that I try to stick to. I aim to not look at social media before 9am or after 6pm. And when I’m using it, I’m focused on engaging with comments, folks that have messaged me or with posts that I’m enjoying. When I’m done with that, I close the app and put my phone away. I turn off notifications for all social media apps and put my phone in another room if I need to do some deep work (I keep the ringer on high volume for calls, urgent texts etc). I’m trying to engage more when I use social media rather than just absentmindedly consuming it.
2. Morning routine?
   Right now, I wake up around 5 and do some sort of 15-20 minute workout right away. I like the yoga/pilates workouts in the feel better app or Move With Nicole’s YouTube channel. I have a little room off of our bedroom where everything is set up so that I don’t have to think about it too much. I drink a couple glasses of water and then I have an ice cold shower for about a minute to a minute and a half. It’s so hard to get into it this time of year!! But I feel amazing afterward. Then I clean myself up a bit, make a pot of herbal tea, and then I go for a 10-15 minute meditation under my weighted blanket (it feels like a reward after the cold shower haha). After that, I write in my journal a bit. Then, I plan my day in Notion and do some deep work with my pot of tea for about 1-2 hours. Then it’s coffee/breakfast time, I take my supplements, and I get my day started!
3. What helps you to feel productive and motivated while working from home?
   Kind of building on my last two answers, but: having a routine and staying off of my phone if I don’t have an end goal in mind. I used to make these huge to-do lists every day, but now when I write those out, I time block them as well so that I have a more accurate picture of how long things will take, where I’m going to fit in my lunch and a walking break if I need it etc. Visualizing the time it will all take (in a planner or grid or something) gives me a better understanding of what I need to do to have a good work day. And sometimes I just don’t have a good work day and I try to accept it haha.
4. The price of cauliflower and broccoli is so high right now. Can you oven roast frozen successfully?
   I have not had great success with this! The best I’ve been able to do is the following: thaw out the frozen broccoli/cauliflower. Cut all pieces into uniform sizes. Let them drain and dry them off as much as you can. Then, in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, sauté them in oil until cooked through and all of the excess moisture has evaporated. Season them up generously and then pop the skillet under the broiler for a minute or so. Once you get a few little golden brown bits, take them out and squeeze a bit of lemon juice/balsamic vinegar on top.
5. What’s on your most-listened to playlist?
   It’s pretty much my 80’s mix on Spotify (In Too Deep by Genesis was my most-listened to song last year lol) plus the Cornell ‘77 Grateful Dead recording. I also go to J Dilla, The Replacements, Frank Ocean, AAESPO, Peter Sandberg, Menahan Street Band, and lofi music in general quite often.