Nashville Travel Guide


Nashville is nicknamed the Music City and it's a big city with a small town feel. It has an emerging food scene and is a top destination for bachelorette parties. It's a very photographic city with its beautiful murals, parks, and historical buildings. Bar hopping on the lower broad at the honky tonks give off a Vegas feel with  the iconic neon signs at night. The music scene is diverse as you'll see live musicians playing classic country tunes, bluegrass, and rock music. Nashville is both the capitol of the state and the center for the country music industry. I was there in November and to my surprise Nashville has four distinct seasons, so it gets as cold as DC in the wintertime. Reese Witherspoon opened up her own clothing store in 2015 called Draper James which sells beautiful dresses in classic southern style and extended sizing. Here are some must see spots in Nashville! 
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How My Dry January Went


Dry January is more and more popular these days! Dry January is good for social drinkers to create new habits. I found a ton of non-alcoholic alternatives to drink last month and want to share my discoveries in this post. Last month I felt I could take booze or leave it, I didn't think about it at all.  Turning down alcohol in social settings was empowering, I celebrated both my birthday and company holiday party during this month. Taking a 30-day break from alcohol, such as during Dry January can create a bunch of benefits, including developing a more mindful relationship with alcohol. Even though people say they lose weight by not drinking, I did not. Some people say they get better sleep during Dry January because while alcohol makes you sleepy, it interrupts your sleep cycle so you don't get a good nights sleep and will possibly wake up in the middle of the night. Another benefit is you may feel less anxious and handle stress better. Excessive alcohol consumption causes gut microbiome imbalance and impairs your immune system and ability to recover from illnesses. Alcohol dehydrates your body and skin so abstaining from alcohol may give you clearer and less red skin. Hence it's key to do this for a consecutive 30 days to get the full benefits.
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My Favorite Products for Dry or Damaged Hair


I've been a blonde for 12 years so I'm constantly working on perfecting a healthy hair routine and these are my holy grail products to strengthen and moisturize my hair. I have 3c hair texture that is bleached and super dry. I experimented with airdrying my hair for a few months wondering if the lack of heat styling would make it healthier but that just made it extremely dry and brittle. My hairdresser told me on Sunday that I have healthy hair and I thought that was the biggest compliment ever! These are the products of someone who regularly blow-dries her hair every week (I wash and blow-dry once a week.) When my hair is blow out you can see how shiny it is.

This year I’m switching up my color to try the new hair trend of Lived-in-Blonde which is a subtle look where similar shades to your natural color are weaved into your hair, so your hair looks grown out but polished. The finished look is multi-dimensional with multiple tones that are beautifully blended. It’s a great low maintenance way to have healthy looking blonde hair. These are products I have been obsessed with for a while and my hair looks amazing afterwards, soft and smooth and sealed.

I know a lot of these products are pricey, but Sephora has quarterly sales, just keep the products you want in your cart and in a few months a sale will pop up. Last September Sephora had an Oh Hair Yeah! Sale with everything 15% off and daily deals that were 50% off. In fact I've noticed they are copying Ulta's sale model of daily 50% off deals of select products they announce in advance. 

Having the right products is super important but if you don't know how to use them, you won't get the best results. I will occasionally re-read the instructions on products I use to ensure I'm using them properly. I know there are a lot of products on this list, but they have all been thoroughly researched by me, recommended by experts, tested by me for the last year. The top three innovative products from this list are: K18, Living Proof Triple Bond Complex Leave-in Hair Treatment, and  Pureology Color Fanatic Multi-Tasking Leave-In Conditioner. These three cult hair products are seriously good!  You won't see your hair's true potential unless you treat it right. 

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My 400th Peloton ride!

 


I wrote a review of everything you need to know about Peloton in this post, so now I want to update you after taking 400 rides, although this photo was taken when I marked the 200-ride milestone. I've been working from home for three years now and my 12pm ride has been a regular part of my day since I got my bike. Last year I logged 8K miles! Exercise improves mood, and health is wealth! Research has proven that exercise makes for younger looking skin as it increases blood flow and that helps with improving skin tone so you look more youthful and drains fluid so you look less puffy. Exercise also helps to lower the effects of stress and helps you sleep better.   I love the joy of movement. I've always had a good relationship with exercise and enjoy it. I  crave my peloton rides and look forward to it every day.  The serotonin we get from moving our bodies is absolutely amazing.  I make exercise non-negotiable and work out 5x a week at home and on Saturdays do something outside like a long walk to the grocery store and/or a virtual zumba class. 
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3 Memoirs Written by Men

On Black Friday I purchased an annual Audiobooks subscription for $137 so $11.42 a month when if I were to purchase a single audiobook it would be  $20-36. For comparison Audible Premium is $15 a month, only with premium can you get new releases or books people have actually heard of. Sometimes the line at the library is so long and they take back the audiobook when your time is up so I thought it would be easier for me to get a membership and this way I'm guaranteed to read/listen 12 books this year. I listen to books while I walk down the street.  I think I will only do this for memoirs because for fictional books I really need to sit down and read to get a grasp for all the characters involved. On my wishlist to read this year are the following memoirs by Pamela Anderson, Paulina Porizkova, and Anne Heche. Last year I listened to Viola Davis' memoir which I highly recommend! 

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