Most Americans consider Labor Day Weekend as the unofficial last weekend of summer. Sniff. While I can appreciate some fall weather, I will always be a summer and warm weather girlie.
I choose to live in San Diego (by choice, not luck) so a crisp fall day means 70F with sunny blue skies, a light breeze, less tourists on the roads, kids are in school and the neighborhoods feel quieter, and so this is “fall” to me. But I don’t like cold weather, and I despise the evening darkness creeping in earlier and earlier. So fall can stop where it’s at for me at September.
So I’m going to savor the weekend - despite working this weekend - and this is what I’m up to!
Flashback Facts: This turned into what feels like a 2009-2013 era blog post. A little bit of everything, personal sharing, personal photos, and not caring about SEO!
Eating
Grilled Chicken Salad with Corn 🌽🍗 is an EASY 20-minute meal loaded with tender grilled chicken, juicy corn, crisp bell peppers and tomatoes, creamy avocado, cilantro, and fresh lime juice. It’s light yet satisfying and a great way to make the most of end-of-summer seasonal produce!
Grilled Guacamole Chicken 🍋🟩🍗 🥑 EASY, ready minutes, and the chicken is tender, juicy, and full of Mexican-inspired flavors! Chunky guacamole pairs PERFECTLY with this grilled chicken! A family favorite recipe everyone loves!
🌶️🍗 Grilled Barbecue Sriracha Chicken is something I make on my Instagram Stories once a week when I am meal prepping chicken for 4-7 days at a time!
EASY, and the chicken is just spicy enough with that perfect BBQ chicken flavor! Grilled peppers on the side make for the PERFECT summer meal that’s packed with protein, fiber, and tastes incredible!
Twelve Superfoods Salad 🥗🫐🥬🍇 is packed with 12 superfoods! This is a great clean out the fridge meal and is easily customized to suit whatever you need to use up. Best of all you just FEEL so good eating it!
🍌🍞 If you’ve been on the hunt for a way to make banana bread a bit healthier – less sugar and more protein – without tasting like you’ve sacrificed a thing, try my Better-For-You Banana Bread recipe! An EASY no-mixer recipe that produces 3 perfect mini loaves or one standard loaf and no one will have any idea you made it healthier!
I am not actually making this (yet) but if you want to… this Cinnamon Sugar Topped Pumpkin Spice Bread 🎃🍁 is an EASY quick bread that bakes up super soft, tender, and moist with plenty of warm fall flavor! The slightly crunchy cinnamon-sugar topping is the best part and adds the perfect contrast to every bite. Made as mini loaves, they bake quickly and are perfect for fall snacking, gifting, or entertaining! Or bake as a single large loaf.
Doing + Prepping + Planning
I’m working a lot (most) of the weekend because I’m going on a two week trip to France coming up very soon!
My plans when I’m there include Paris for a few days, then a train trip to the south of France and maybe stopping in Marseilles for a night. And then continuing on by train to Nice for a few days. With a day trip to Monaco. And then back to Paris. It’s all still TBD. AKA I need to plan it.
The beauty of Europe in the shoulder season is that it’s sooooo much less crowded than it is going in the summer. So hotels and Airbnbs, and train tickets, are far less competitive and reservations can be more of a work-in-progress rather than hammered out in stone.
I’m taking recommendations for Paris to the south of France if you’ve done it by train and where you stopped, if you stopped (high speed train is about 6.5 hours nonstop), what you saw, and any do-not-miss spots.
My July recap below has some nice France pictures in it.
July 2026 Recap
It’s time for a monthly recap. The last one I did was for April 2026 because it was a big month. I had Mom’s Weekend at my daughter’s university, then moved her out of her dorm, and brought her back for the summer which has been truly the BEST having her home. It feels like just yesterday but it’s been 3 months.
My Recent Trip To Paris and My Top 10 Paris Tips
I’ve spent a decent amount of time in Paris over the last few years and every time I go, I’m 90% in love with the city, and 10% slightly frustrated. I think that’s travel in general though. Nothing is ever going to be perfect,
Shopping + SALES
Lumebox Red Light Therapy - The device and stand are 45% OFF!!! Honestly if you’ve been on the fence about red light therapy, NOW is the time to pull the trigger. In my experience, it works. It has helped my 8 inch vertical abdominal incision go from angry red and horrifying looking last November to far less noticeable now. See photos.
Red light therapy is also good for facial rejuvenation, wrinkles, aches and pains in random spots in your body, hair growth stimulation. USE my link for the discount through September 8 only.
Cann - Relax without alcohol! Sale is BOGO at 30% off all weekend. Small, perfectly sized, perfect effects. Feels like you've had a glass or wine or a drink, but you didn't. So you sleep great, don't wake up with insomnia, weird dreams, or mental grogginess. These little guys have helped me journey to very little alcohol in 2026 and I love it! The lemon lavender is my favorite flavor. Light, refreshing, pleasant.
High Rise Flare Jeans - Two washes, both 30% off, comes in various lengths, very fair price IMO because we all have seen that some brands of jeans are approaching $300 now right? Not these!
Lululemon Dupe Leggings are even cheaper than normal. They’re good, they really are and some people will die on a hill for these exact leggings. I won’t die on the hill but they’re good for 65% cheaper!
If you want real Lululemons, these are the ones. They’ll last for literally hundreds and hundreds of washes.
I also highly recommend the Lulu Flare Pants with the perfect amount of flare as to not be ‘too much’. It’s more for comfort honestly and I’ve worn these pants on so many long haul flights I can’t even count.
💙 Same brand as the dupe leggings, the blue shorts + sports bra set below is Amazon.
Shorts Notes: Some people say that the Amazon shorts are a Lulu dupe. But trust me when I say they’re an Aritizia dupe of their 5-Inch Butter Cheeky. The cut is THE EXACT SAME. The fabric is 90% as good for half the price. This Artizia Bra Top is my favorite of all of them.
I have literally tried all the workout gear. Real, dupes, wannabe dupes (some of it sucks really badly), and weighed in on everything.
OurPlace Nonstick Pan - OurPlace pans don't stick even with delicate proteins like eggs, chicken breasts, seafood & more! A high quality nonstick pan that comes with a spatula and steamer basket at a great price point with 6 color options. This is a GREAT DEAL!
Missen Stainless Steel with Silicone Tip is an ELITE spatula that gets up and under food without breaking it. For flipping eggs, pancakes, omelettes, crepes, getting under burgers, pieces of chicken, fish or seafood - it’s is a breeze with this perfectly angled, thin-yet-sturdy, spatula. The silicone tip protects your nonstick skillets (like the ones above) so you can use it with confidence!
Working Out + An Extreme Mindset
💪🏻 I am going strong on a M-W-F lifting schedule at the gym.
🧘♀️Yoga on Saturdays.
👣 And daily steps 7 days a week of 15-25k depending on the day. I work while I’m walking from my phone. Just ask anyone I know about the typos and voice notes. It’s all good.
I saw a reel recently that really resonated with me, and I’m paraphrasing, but the gist is this: Balance and moderation isn’t what’s going to give your greatness and extremely amazing results in life. Sometimes you have to be extreme for true greatness. You can be moderate and be average and ‘balanced’, and that’s wonderful, for you.
But that’s not who I am in my current season of life, not my goals, not what I want. So I am doing me and my life the way I want. Taking back my power, my voice, my physique, my dietary choice, my time.
Food & Diet Changes I've Made to Be Healthier at 50 Than at 45
Nothing like a brush with death last October at age 49 from a highly acute, incredibly painful, and very freak health scare that resulted in emergency abdominal surgery to really scare me straight. I
Reading + Listening
A Court of Thorns and Roses - I’m about halfway through the first book. I’ve never been a fantasy reader but I thought I may as well try. I like it, I don’t love it, but it’s growing on me, and I don’t hate it! I’m listening to the audio which the narration is A+++ and apparently is a re-release for the 10 year anniversary of the book.
Helpless - This is touted a bat shit crazy semi-erotic thriller and my book club is reading it as our optional book this month. I haven’t started it yet but I’m excited to! I was actually one of the people on the committee who chose the books this month. So that tells you about my current taste in reading.
Look Closer - Our main book for my book club this month, it’s a couple years old, I read it then and really enjoyed it, 4.5/5 stars for me. It has some Halloween elements to the story so if you’re going to read it, now is a perfect season.
In case you missed it, I also shared last week what not to read!
Tell me what you’re up to this weekend, this month, what the best thing you ate was, travel plans, work plans, workouts you’ve crushed, feel free to share!
Have the best time in France!! and welcome to ACOTAR. If you get into them, you can just skip the fourth book (but the first three are great and the fifth one is probably a little too long, but I also enjoyed it). Next stop: Fourth Wing