Latest Faves + Highlights: Spring 2024 Edition

Oh hi and hello out there, how have you been?

It’s been a bit since we dove into favorites, so I figured it would be a great time to circle back on some notable things we experienced over the past few months. But first, HOW are we already into the official start to Summer this month? I just can’t believe how fast this year is going.

I shared this in the last LIL post, but I’ve decided to post when it makes sense rather than a set schedule, and I’m definitely enjoying more time offline while unplugging than on. It’s a season I’ve felt needed to happen for awhile, and I’m still navigating exactly what and how much to share on a daily basis.

But still … please know I love checking in, chatting and most of all sharing (hopefully) helpful information with you. Thank you so much for being here and reading this, and I would absolutely love to hear from you in the comments, too!

Latest Faves + Highlights: Spring 2024 Edition

• switching to safer clean beauty alternatives

Just in case you missed it, there was a big update in the clean beauty world last month! Beautycounter (my go-to safe skincare and makeup brand) is currently closed in preparation for a re-launch of the brand under new ownership, hopefully by October.

You can get the full run down of what happened in this blog post, and I am still remaining hopeful for a return of the products later this year. In the mean time, I’m slowly running out of the current stock I have and I am doing my best to find safer alternatives in the interim.

I plan to share a more detailed post when I have more reviews under my belt, but I’m kicking things off by testing out other safer options to replace my clean deo, concealer, tinted moisturizer with SPF, foundation and brow gel.

I’m still using the last drops of the foundations and concealer, but I have been testing out the deodorants and here’s what is currently in the rotation:

Clean Swaps

• Clean Deo -> Primarily Pure Non-Toxic Organic Deodorants (PURE 10 gets you 10% off)
• Clean Deo -> NOW Foods long-lasting Deodorants (LIFEINLEGGINGS gets you 20% off)
• Dew Skin Tinted Moisturizer -> ILIA Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 (THESTYLEANDBEAUTYDOC gets you 15% off)
• Skin Twin Foundation -> ILIA True Skin Serum Foundation
• Skin Twin Creamy Concealer -> Kosas Revealer Concealer
• Brow Gel -> Kosas Air Brow Tinted (get 10% off by entering your email)

I’m having trouble finding a deodorant that I love JUST as much as Beautycounter’s Clean Deo. My armpit area has become very sensitive over the last few years, and my body instantly knows when I change things up. It’s important to find a good brand that is both aluminum and paraben-free, so right now I am going between Primarily Pure and NOW Foods.

I got a gnarly rash when I was exclusively using Primarily Pure, however, but I think it also has to do with the weather warming up. Flare ups tend to happen more when I’m walking outside a lot in sleeveless tops. (Part of me thinks this might happen with any deodorant?) I’ve been incorporating the PP stick back in here and there, and so far so good … so it could have been a fluke or even something to do with my hormones. Who knows!

I love the NOW Foods stick, but my only issue with it is that I feel like I need to re-apply it a few times a day. I did not have to do this with Beautycounter’s and still believe that product is the all-star for me.

I’ll be sure to keep reporting back as I go and share the reviews with you along the way.

• Mother’s Day in Manhattan

It wouldn’t be a favorites post without highlighting a special day with both of my dudes last month. This Mother’s Day, I woke up to a spread of flowers, coffee, my favorite breakfast sandwich from a local bagel spot and handmade cards from Skyler. It was so sweet!

I wasn’t feeling my best, but we eventually got out of the door and on our way to church near Times Square. We didn’t have any set plans afterwards, and it was a rainy and cooler day for May. We ended up finding a cool Mexican restaurant and spent the afternoon taking our time shopping and walking around.

(Can you see the Happy Mother’s Day sign in the background? Skyler loved that, and we liked people watching as we waited out the rain, too.)

We stopped for a treat in Greenwich Village with Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream on our way back to Brooklyn. I’d never been there before, so I wanted to try a boozy shake (they have several to choose from!), and the boys chose traditional scoops. It was expensive, but delicious and Skyler’s ice cream was fantastic as well.

It was one of those days where no plans turned into an adventure day in the city, and it was nice to spend the day together as a family during a month of extensive solo parenting here in New York. Thanks for making me feel special, guys! 🙂

• 30 Min. Upper Body Strength Workout (+ two things for improved results)

I shared this one earlier this week, but it deserves a shout with more info and links here — let’s talk about two big factors in your workout routine that can make a big different in your results, STRENGTH and REFUELING. 

Steady cardio or HIIT used to be go-to workouts, before I realized that I was just working out harder (not smarter), and actually overtraining my body into a cycle of plateaus.

Over the last few years, I’ve shifted to strength training as the non-negotiable workouts of the week and add in low-impact cardio in the form of cycling, jogging and walking when I can. Gone are the days where I track my success by the pace, PR or calorie burn, and it’s gotten me stronger, fitter and much happier with how I look and feel!

Full body workouts with basic movements with a few sets of dumbbells can take you far, and I’d even suggest incorporating split workouts into your routine if you’re showing up at least three times a week. 

(This means focusing on upper body one day, lower body the next, and even stacking those with a core and/or cardio circuit on the same day.)

Lately, I’ve been loving this upper body circuit and like to pair it with a long walk outside or low-impact ride on the bike. Please know that exercises don’t have to be fancy to be effective, and this workout includes a lot of my favorite basics!

(check out my video on Instagram for exercise demonstrations)

Life around workouts can be rushed, so make sure to recover properly by stretching and REFUELING! I often turn to a quick protein shake if I don’t have a meal planned in the near future. 

Here are two of my go-to protein powders from NOW Foods (my favorite natural supplements brand) — I typically use the pea protein and occasionally opt for the whey for more grams of protein per serving. I prefer the chocolate flavors added into a milk of choice for an ideal blend of protein and carbohydrates to replenish + rebuild muscles.

(Use the code LIFEINLEGGINGS for 20% off natural foods, supplements and more at nowfoods.com.)

You can right click on the workout graphic photo to save it, and please let me know if you decide to give it (or these powders) a try!

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

• Rimini, Italy + San Marino highlights

While I haven’t been great at documenting our recent travels and explorations on the blog, I have tried to recap some of the highlights from our trips together on Instagram and Facebook. I share most of that type of content over on my personal page, but I collaborate with the Life In Leggings page often to sprinkle the “life” in over there, too.

Skyler and I tagged along on Scott’s work trip in Italy in late April! Skyler was already out of school for Spring Break, so we decided to just go for it and make it happen since it also meant we would be there over my birthday on April 25th. Scott was there for over two weeks, and we joined him for eight days right on Rimini Beach. Getting to have the best pizza, pasta, wine and gelato for a birthday lunch and dinner? Yes, please. (It didn’t take much more convincing for me to fly solo with Skyler and meet him there.)

You can check out more pictures from that birthday here, along with some other highlights from our time in Rimini here and here.

Originally, I was rooting for a trip over to Rome to happen, but it wasn’t in the cards as Scott’s event was based in Rimini and he needed to stay close to the venue for trips back and forth throughout the work days. So, we stayed close by on Rimini Beach and spent a good amount of time in and out of his events.

It was an adorable area that was just two weeks away from being the busy beach season. There weren’t too many people out and about, but Scott said the place gets wild when everything is in season. Restaurants just started filling up on the few days before we left!

The weather wasn’t great every day, but we took advantage of the free time we had with walks along the boardwalk and lots of meals and treats along the way. Skyler got plenty of time in the arcade across the street as we waited out some rainy days, and we made the most of our trip.

If you’re ever near Rimini Beach, you have to try Sburoun. It was our favorite *by far* and we ended up dining there three nights out of our stay because there was so much on the menu we wanted to try. (The pasta carbonara – scroll to see it being made table side – is a must.) And the ambiance was amazing.

There are a lot more pictures to share, so you can browse around on Instagram to see more of those. Since our trip wasn’t centered around sight seeing as much as it was really about Skyler and I being there with Scott on his downtime, I wasn’t planning to recap all of our whereabouts in a blog post. I will say, however, that the decision to visit San Marino on our only full day off together was a great one!

Prior to this trip, I didn’t realize that there is an entire country located in the middle of Italy. It’s pretty easy to get to (once you’re in Italy), and we took a 45-minute bus ride from Rimini for a day trip. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the views were *stunning* as everything is located high up in the mountains.

You’ll be climbing A LOT if you want to see the historical landmarks, so definitely dress comfortable with a good set of sneakers. (I could have spent a lot more time actually hiking if I was prepared!)

We didn’t go into all of the buildings, as each was set up like a museum with entry ticket purchases required, and we wanted to keep moving and see as much as we could. We took a break for lunch with THE BEST VIEWS, and I was at the point in the trip where I just wanted a big salad, vegetable soup and a glass of wine for 3 euros. The last pasta meal came later that night, don’t worry.

Needless to say, I didn’t have much to complain about … it was a chill trip with a lot to see.

But, of course, there is much more to see outside of Rimini and San Marino, and we hope to return to Italy with more time to hop around different cities and sight see in the future.

You can see more pictures here!

• girls’ weekend in NYC highlights

All right, rounding this recap of the some great moments lately, I have to include a quick but wonderful staycation with two of my lifelong girlfriends in the city. They were itching for a girls’ trip in New York, so they made plans for us to stay at a hotel, and I handled the itinerary from there. I included a lot of my best recommendations, and I covered the stops with links here, here and here.

It was sooo much fun and had been too long since I was able to spend more than 48 hours of quality time with those two! And there was the extra bonus of having that time without mom responsibilities as well. It was a refresher I think all of us needed.

I’m looking forward to more time together in Florida in July, and please reach out if you’re curious about anywhere we went and want more details than what’s linked over on Instagram.

Until next time, ladies!

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All right, I’m going to wrap things up there for today, and take advantage of some time with Skyler home from school. We are still in the school year here in New York, and his last day is June 26th. June is always weird, however, with a lot of off days … he was off yesterday, today and two more days in another week or so. It’s all very strange to me as someone who grew up in Florida and was out of school by now! To each their own.

It’s always an interesting balance of finding fun things to do and enjoying the time together, but not necessarily being on a structured routine, ha. Here we go!

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What’s one highlight or favorite thing you’ve celebrated lately?

Are the kiddos out of school where you are?

Any fun summer plans?

(Share below in the comments!)

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*Disclaimer: The upper body workout portion of this post is sponsored by NOW Foods. As always, all opinions remain my own, and I will only promote products and brands that fully align with the Life In Leggings mission of sharing simple and trusted healthy living advice.