shop style

SXSW: What To Wear

Tomorrow kicks off the first day of South by Southwest here in Austin. That means my town is about to be taken over by a massive 10-day festival dedicated to all things film, music and tech. Like most locals, I have a love-hate relationship with the annual event. SXSW brings such massive crowds and treacherous traffic that it’s sometimes tempting to hide out until it’s all over. BUT, with all

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homestead recipes wellness

Easy Homemade Granola Bars With Sprinkles’ Candace Nelson

Easy Homemade Granola Bars With Sprinkles’ Candace Nelson

Thanks to marathon training, I feel like I’m hungry ALL. THE. TIME. I’m having difficulty fueling my body and staying full. Not a bad problem to have, but I want to be mindful of what I’m putting in my body. Thankfully, my friend and founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, Candace Nelson, has come to the rescue with her gluten-free granola bars. Her signature snack always satisfies my sweet tooth while packing

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fitness wellness

THE N&G HEALTH CHALLENGE: Train for a 5K in 8 Weeks

Genevieve Padalecki training for 5k marathon

Are you tired of hearing about my marathon training yet? I hope not because I really need your help. Sticking to an exercise plan is so much easier when you have a workout buddy and I’m hoping you will be mine! Don’t worry. You don’t have to run 26.2 miles (unless you really want to). I’ve been working with Erik Stanley, a rockstar running coach here in Austin and founder

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family love wellness

My Kind of Valentine’s Day

I sat down to write a Valentine’s Day blog post about the best gifts to give the ones you love, but…I got stuck. The truth is, I kinda hate Valentine’s Day. It feels so manufactured and cheesy, with overpriced roses, cliché jewelry and gimmicky prix-fixe dinner menus. Sure, I dutifully arm the kids with cutesy cards for their fellow classmates. (I do have a soft spot for the elementary school

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homestead recipes wellness

Soup Recipes To Warm The Season

Soup recipes and Gen cooking

To me, there is no better comfort food than a bowl of homemade soup. It reminds me of snowy winter days in Idaho and my mom’s caring hands. She would sauté aromatic vegetables, letting all the ingredients simmer and marinate while we were away at school until they made a delicious, rich broth. Coming in from the cold to the finished pot on the stove felt like such a treat,

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wellness

Skincare secrets to live by: A Q&A with Dr. Barney Kenet

Ok, I resisted the 10-year challenge as long as I could. Here you go… Us in 2009 And us in 2019 Ahh, how fresh-faced and well-rested we looked before having three kids. If we only knew then what we know now…we would have savored sleeping in so much more! If we’ve learned one thing over the past 10 years, it’s that being a parent certainly does keep you humble. When

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fitness wellness

Running with purpose- The Boston Marathon!

Who What When Where WHY?? Good questions. I asked myself the same thing when my husband, Jared, decided to run the Seattle Marathon last Thanksgiving. The whole thing was decided on a whim, something that our friend Misha schemed up in passing, and the next thing I knew he (and several other gullible suckers) were signed up for 26.2 miles of torture. Being the decidedly more practical of our pair,

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family wellness

All the Lessons 2018 Taught Me

Happy New Year! The start of a new year always makes me reflect on the last year and what a year 2018 turned out to be… My sweet daughter turned one whole year old. My eldest lost FOUR teeth and won his first medal in his first chess tournament. My middle learned to ride a bike without training wheels and began to write and read. We took the boys on

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family homestead shop style

My Guide To Hacking The Holidays With Mastercard On File

You know that person who has all their Christmas cards sent, gifts bought and presents wrapped to perfection under the tree by the first week of December? Um, yeah…that is NOT me. I wish it were. I so want to be that person who doesn’t procrastinate and gets the holiday prep done way ahead of schedule, but every year the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas feel shorter and shorter. I’m

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homestead

Homemade Salt Dough Ornaments

Salt dough ornaments are one of those crafts that look easy and fun to make…and they actually ARE. They also keep my kids occupied for hours, which feels like a major parenting win during the chaos of Christmas. In between sports and school they plop down at the table and pick up a brush and paint the ornaments. I’ve been letting my OCD guard down and leaving the drop cloth

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