Tag: good reads

Favorite Book Round Up

Okay, you guys. I know I have been promising a BOOK post to you, and it’s FINALLY HEREEEEE!!!!! I’m so excited about this post. I’ve pretty much been a book nerd my entire life, and ain’t embarrassed to say it. I LOVE to read. I had a few periods during my life, namely high school and college, where I had SO much reading to do that I stopped doing any for fun…and more recently I have made reading a priority again.

I try to read at least ONE personal development book per month as an entrepreneur running this blog and my health + fitness business, and I simultaneously read another book for fun and to keep my creativity wheels spinning.

It’s been a long time coming, so I have a lot of books to share with you today in a few categories. I will be more mindful about sharing my books in the future, and I have decided to create a Highlight Reel over on my Instagram Page with books I’m reading as well as a group hashtag #popcornbookclub so we can all share our favorites together. Any time you find a book you love, you can post it on IG with this hashtag, and hopefully we will all end up with some amazing recommendations!

Okay without further ado…

I will start with my fav personal development reads in no particular order:

  1. The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy
  2. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy
  3. No Excuses!: The Power of Self Discipline by Brian Tracy
  4. Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World by Gary Vaynerchuk
  5. Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
  6. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo
  7. Balancing in Heels: My Journey to Health, Happiness, and Making it All Work by Kristin Cavallari
  8. The Go Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg
  9. The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran, Michael Lennington, and Tom Pile
  10. The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate by Gary Chapman
  11. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown
  12. Expert Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Finding Your Message, Building a Tribe, and Changing the World by Russell Brunson
  13. 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential by John C. Maxwell
  14. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell
  15. The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon
  16. Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferazzi
  17. Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life: Before 8AM
  18. The Universe Has Your Back: Transform Fear to Faith by Gabrielle Bernstein
  19. You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Live an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero
  20. You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth by Jen Sincero
  21. Grace, Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy by Emily Ley
  22. Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollis
  23. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer
  24. Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennesy
  25. Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
  26. Currently Reading — Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

 

Other Non-Fiction or Memoir:

  1. Discovering the Healer Within: Use Chakras & Intuition to Clear Negative Energy & Release Pain by Anysia Marcell Kiel
  2. Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Optimal Prenatal Nutrition by Lily Nichols
  3. The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer
  4. A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
  5. The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

 

Fiction: Mostly thrillers these days, but there are a few others in the mix as well and I included some from years back as this is my first list:

  1. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
  2. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
  3. The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
  4. Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica
  5. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
  6. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
  7. In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
  8. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
  9. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
  10. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
  11. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
  12. The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
  13. A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena
  14. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
  15. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
  16. The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine by Somaly Mam
  17. Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
  18. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
  19. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
  20. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
  21. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  22. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  23. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
  24. Currently Reading: An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena

Okay, now I know that’s a lot of books! But for my first list, I wanted to be thorough! I plan to check back in with you all once a year with an update of my yearly reads, and my goal is to finish 26 this year, so hopefully next year’s list will be about half as long as this one! LOL. Please please feel free to post in the comments any recommendations you have for your favorite reads! I love adding to my Goodreads list! (Even though my list is already a million miles long!)

Again, I will also be posting over on Instagram throughout the year, so please feel free to check in there in the meantime!

Happy Reading!

XO,

Gina

{46} Lately…

It’s been a long time since I have written one of these posts, but I have missed them and they were a crowd favorite, so I want to bring them back over here to the blog! And what better time than when I’m sitting here at 39 weeks and 5 days pregnant patiently (not-so-patiently) waiting for this 3rd baby to arrive. Am I right?

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Lately I’ve been…

reading Reading all the things you guys. A couple that I want to highlight that I finished recently are Real Food for Pregnancy  by Lily Nichols. Such great insight and research into optimal nutrition for us preggo mamas. Aside from her incredible nutrition info, she also touches on food myths, exercise, and the 4th trimester. Highly recommend this one! The next book I loved recently was Stranger in the House. I finished it in less than 2 days as I couldn’t put this thriller down! Shari Lapena, author of The Couple Next Door, wrote this one which was a huge hit, and I actually think I liked this book even better! I am also currently reading The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer. Definitely a great read, but also super heavy, so I am taking this one at one chapter per day so I can soak it all in. And lastly, I just picked up Amy Schumer’s book from the library last week, The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo, which is already to be proving to be a hilarious read.

 writing  Thank you notes from the boy’s bday and baby gifts, and I recently wrote a Baby Mama’s Hospital Bag Checklist that I posted on this here blog if you haven’t seen it yet!

listening  Mixing it up between chill music to relax and dance music to try and dance this baby out. Loving Drake, “In My Feelings” right now. Super original, I know.

thinking About my mama who is driving up to NY right now from MD to come help out with the boys until the baby arrives and beyond. Super thankful!

smelling  The coffee I am drinking…a dark roast from Roatan (off the coast of Honduras) brought to us as a gift from my mother-in-law after her recent trip and made with the French Press. Mmm.

watching  Hubs and I have been watching Mad Men together which is a nice throwback to my advertising background. We are currently on Season 4 and loving it. I am also pumped about the new seasons of both Orange is the New Black and Shameless that just arrived recently on Netflix.

wearing At this point at 39 weeks pregnant, anything that still fits and is comfortable to move in. That mostly means maternity leggings or maxi dresses. I did buy these cute slip on shoes on sale from Old Navy for the fall though.

exercising Right now I’m lucky if I get a couple workouts and some walks in each week. It’s mostly yoga, light weights with holds, or dance aside from walking. Just trying to move a bit to get this baby out already!!! He doesn’t seem to want to budge though.

feeling  Achy all over and just SUPER ready. This is my longest pregnancy yet. Baby #1 came out with an early induction at 38 weeks and Baby #2 came out at 39 weeks due to water break. This is also going to be my largest child at birth (by far I imagine at this point), so he is just feeling super heavy in there and wearing me down big time. Chasing two other kiddos around is a task on it’s own as well!

wanting  This baby to be born. I mean, I think that’s obvious by now, no? Haha.

needing  Today to be the day. Need I say it again? Okay, fine, I’ll give you something else. If baby doesn’t come today, we have been needing to hang up some wall art and family photos in the house that are way overdue. Including some from our recently family photo shoot with Tyler Lyons, which I will hopefully get around to sharing here soon! So that may be a potential project while we are waiting around.

loving  How sweet my older boys have been in anticipation of the new baby. They are constantly giving me belly rubs and kisses, telling me how they are going to hold and help with their new little brother, and even more importantly, they have been playing so nicely together this summer (for the most part) to allow me some rest and work time when I need it. I honestly feel very lucky for them!

wishing For a smooth, quick, painless (hah!) delivery, and my sweet babe to be in my arms soon.

hoping  For some nice weather today so we can get the boys outside to play with their new little pool they got for their birthdays. And maybe I could also go into labor…

craving  ALL the ice cream.

clicking  Around for back-to-school sales for clothes in the next size up for Nico. Old Navy has some great deals going on right now. Also looking around for some post partum wardrobe items. Totally getting sick of all the maternity gear!

following Been loving following Lauren McBride lately, a Connecticut based life and style blogger. She recently became a mama of 3, so she has lots of great mom tips, shopping tips (especially for post partum), and beautiful home posts. Her blog is fantastic, but I also just love following her on Instagram for her daily updates and stories!

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HAPPY SATURDAY!

What are you up to on this summer weekend?

What have you been up to lately?

XO,

Gina

{45} Lately…

So you guys, it may seem like I have skipped a few Lately posts, but the last few I have done LIVE over on my Facebook page…42, 43, 44…so this is the first written one I’ve done in awhile!!! Excited to be back in action with this one since it’s one of the blog favorites and also one of my personal favs….

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Lately I’ve been…

reading  So many things you guys! I recently finished Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod which has been LIFE CHANGING and I absolutely recommend it to EVERYONE. Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson which was AMAZING for any entrepreneur or anyone pursuing a side hustle and Into the Water by Paula Hawkins (author of The Girl on the Train) which I have to say was good, but not as good as The Girl on the Train. I then read The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena in about 24 hours. Couldn’t put it down. I just had to find out what was going to happen next. I am also re-reading The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy along with my current challenge group.

 writing  Not a whole lot, but still striving for my daily 5 minute journal habit that I started up in January of this year. I will absolutely re-up for 2018.

listening  I’m going to embarrassingly admit that I am enjoying the Hipster Yoga playlist on iTunes during my Miracle Morning.

thinking About how awesome my Challengers who are rocking CLEAN WEEK are doing! Seriously! They are crushing it.

smelling  Broccoli. Yep. Roasted broccoli was happening when I was writing this post.

watching  Grey’s Anatomy. Still obsessed.

wearing  These amazing new leggings from the new Target athletic line, Joy Lab.

exercising You guys…I’m on Day 47/56 of Insanity Max 30…a program I tried once 2 years ago and swore I would NEVER do it, because it was too freakin’ hard and it way way to hardcore cardio and guess what…I’m almost done.

feeling  Kinda badass about post above.

wanting  Someone to cook for me right now, because I’m hungry but don’t feel like cooking. Should have prepped better, dang it.

needing Hot coffee.

loving  All of the adventures I’ve been taking with my boys this week…zoo, museums, etc. Feeling like I am getting a great balance of break time, coach/work life, and mom life with our new routine this school year.

wishing Luca could get over the hump of tears at school drop off. I felt like we were doing well and now it seems like things are going backward. He also recently is having trouble going to sleep on his own and I feel like it’s all related. That being said…his experience in school is definitely showing in other aspects of life…at a music class we went to yesterday he was really involved and participatory whereas in the past he would have clung to me the whole time. Baby steps.

hoping  That all of the costume items I ordered for Halloween will actually come before Halloween lol.

craving  Wine.

clicking  Around about a few things I am interested in doing and learning in terms of health and fitness and taking things to the next level. Yoga teacher training? Mind Body Green nutrition program? Podcasting? Organizing a Wellness Retreat? Thinking long-term here and not TOMORROW by any means, because let’s face it, I’m already crazy-busy. But always good to do research and advance ourselves when we can!

following Amanda Bella – her blog is super cute and I just love her hair and make-up video tutorials!

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HAPPY FRIDAY!

Are you celebrating Halloween this weekend? Dressing up? Or that’s just for kids?

What have you been up to lately?

XO,

Gina

Sun Kissed

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Dress: ASOS / Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Earrings: Stella & Dot / Bracelet: Vintage / Sunglasses: Brickyard Buffalo / Lip: MAC Snob

Ahh this dress! During an online shopping spree for our June wedding season, I saw this dress at ASOS, and I just HAD to have it! I just love the bright neon florals for summertime, and it was perfect for the outdoor/indoor wedding we attended in Ithaca, NY. I hedged my bets with this one hoping it would fit as only the smaller size was available. I normally would have gone for the slightly larger one, but it seems my hard work in the “gym” aka my living room has paid off and I was able to slip into this delightful fit and flare silhouette! So happy that it worked out, and we had an amazing evening watching the sun go down and dancing the night away with great friends.

It’s been a busy summer here with lots of traveling and more coming up in the next few weeks! Nashville is SOOOOO soon!!! Eeeep! If you don’t remember, here is a post of me from last year’s Summit breakin’ it down with CIZE at 8 months pregnant! LOL! I am getting so excited to return to the place where I met all my coaching teammates in person for the first time and looking forward to learning from the best about how to keep moving my business forward and changing lives along the way.

In other news…not that you all particularly care, but the fellow moms out there might! We are in the midst of potty training with my toddler, and so far it’s going MUCH better than I had anticipated! I speed read the Oh Crap! book which helped to reassure me that we were more or less on the right track! I can’t believe we are crossing this big milestone and he seems to be aging SO rapidly right now! Threenager attitude and all! LOL! The baby learned to full out crawl and now a week later he is pulling himself to standing. SLOW DOWN KID! Ahhh they grow up too fast don’t they? But I do admit, it will be pretty darn cute (and terrifying) when they are running around together/in opposite directions. Haha.

Hope you are all having a great week so far!! I am having a blast with the Jam out in July Challenge!! I don’t know why I haven’t been blasting music in my house during my workouts already! SUCH a great idea and such great motivation!

Make it a happy one!

XO,

Gina