truth serum

How much sleep do you get a night? Most sleep experts recommend getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Is your response an automatic “Are you kidding!? I’m lucky if I can fall asleep and not toss and turn all night. I can’t shut off my brain.”  A good night’s sleep isn’t just a luxury, it’s a necessity. Most experts agree that getting enough sleep is equally as important to your health as diet and exercise. A consistent lack of sleep can contribute to many health issues, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain — the list...

Have you noticed a shimmery feeling in the air lately? Days are getting longer and warmer, and the prospect of dining outdoors beckons. Summer's almost here!  Memorial Day weekend has become the unofficial kickoff of the season, and it's the perfect time to fire up the grill, host a potluck or plan a picnic. So, you'll want to have a few go-to, crowd-pleasing recipes for shareable dishes that are quick to prepare. If the word potluck makes you shudder (Another vegetable platter? Haven't I seen that pasta salad before), don't fret. You can easily change it up. I often turn...

Yes, you heard me right. Round it up to $7, and it’s still a bargain.  I’ve talked before about meditation and the role it plays in my daily life. However, it’s a time commitment practicing TM (Transcendental Meditation) and doing the full two 20-minute sessions every day can feel like I’m carving out hours. Enter, “The Shift.” “The Shift” app is a curated selection of practices inviting you to make intuitive choices about mood, energy, mindset, and whole health. Cultivate awareness in your daily life through practical ritual, diet, and physical activity. Using all the senses of the body, The...

Do you find all the talk about UV filters in sunscreens a little overwhelming?  Let’s face it - there’s a lot of information out there, and it’s hard to know what’s best for you. For instance, I find there’s a lot of “chemical confusion” surrounding the different ways to filter UV rays.  At its most basic, there are two types of filters in sunscreens: Physical (aka Mineral) and Chemical. Physical (aka Mineral) sunscreens sit on top of the skin and act as a protective barrier.  These contain either zinc oxide and/or titanium oxide.  I’m a big fan of Zinc Oxide,...

“I love walking into a bookstore. It's like all my friends are sitting on shelves, waving their pages at me.”  - Tahereh Mafi Did you know that Independent Bookseller’s Day was Saturday, April 27th? It’s a fun day to visit your favorite local bookstore, soak up the literary possibilities, and buy a good book. But really, any day is a great day to visit a bookstore, especially a local one. In honor of this day, it made me think of one of my favorite books. If someone asks me for a recommendation on a wellness/beauty book, I love to tell them...

It’s Earth Day. The perfect time to show our beautiful, irreplaceable planet some love! We all know our planet urgently needs our TLC.  As Jane Goodall reminds us: “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”   Here at Kari Gran, we pretty much consider every day Earth Day. We’re big on doing our part to keep our environment a green and happy one. Lisa’s our Ambassador for Planet Earth. From the beginning, she’s...

If you’re looking for some inspiration to dig in to Spring Cleaning, check out her Netflix series “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.”  No doubt you’ve already heard of Marie Kondo, an expert in Kon Mari, the Japanese philosophy of organization.  She’s on a mission to “spark joy” in the world by showing us how to create a home that feels personal, inviting and tranquil.  Room by room, and task by task, she happily guides different families into tackling projects that seem overwhelming. Granted, her method is more about organizing techniques rather than cleaning, but before you can clean, you must...

With International Women’s Day fresh in my mind, it got me to thinking about how women got to where we are today. Netflix now has a documentary called “Feminists: What were they thinking?” which takes a look at the 60’s/70’s women’s movement. The 60’s & 70’s were a pivotal time when so much was changing. It was inspiring to hear the personal stories of many of these women and how the consciousness-raising feminist movement of the 70’s shaped and changed their lives, as well as the lives of women all across the country. This documentary is framed around a 1977...

Have you been feeling an extra shimmer of positive energy recently?  Maybe it’s because today is International Women’s Day. It’s a day to celebrate women and their achievements politically, economically, and culturally, all around the globe. As a woman-owned business and enthusiastic supporters of other women, it seems like a good time to reflect on how we “walk the talk”.  We know how powerful women can be when we’re passionate about something. We believe in our bones that one of the greatest strengths women have is the gift of empathy. When we combine empathy with action, we can see so...