early riser (004)
Gratitude, snowy scents, and my favorite healthy snack recipe.
Good morning and happy Friday! I’m so glad you’re here. ✨
It’s been a wonderful, busy, cheer-filled week as the holiday season is in full swing over here. Last weekend, I hosted our annual cookie decorating party, which I love doing.
For the cookies, I get everything from Target (truly they have the best options), including this tackle box of sprinkles, these festive sprinkles, and these. I didn’t do it for this party, but I also love the idea of buying these pre-built gingerbread houses, so you can just spend time decorating. I’ve also bought this color-your-own winter village disposable tablecloth several years in a row. I cut/tape it down to our coffee table, and we end up coloring it in all month long. (You need this, trust me. Winter is coming. There is no such thing as too many indoor activities.)
Aside from that, I’m wrapping up shopping for my own kids (this bright jacket for my daughter; and this Wirecutter-recommended snowsuit for my son), and mailing out our Christmas cards (more on that next week).
Last week, I talked about mindfulness during the holidays, and this week, I want to take a quick second to talk about something else: gratitude. You hear this term a lot in wellness spaces, and it can seem really trite, especially if you feel like the world is on fire. After all, we’re inundated with truly awful news everyday.
But I actually think that’s when a gratitude practice is even more important—when things are hard. You can write down the things you’re grateful for, think of them as you fall asleep, or start your morning with them. They can be small (freshly-washed hair, someone holding the door for you) or big (motherhood, my husband). Gratitude is consistently associated with a greater sense of happiness and well-being. And once you get started, you’ll probably realize how easy it is. I’ll go first:
I’m grateful for you. Thanks for reading. You’re awesome.
(PS - In sticking with the holiday theme, I invite you to revisit this tune from Bing Crosby, who essentially sings about a gratitude practice in White Christmas, here.)
OK, on to the links you came for:
see
Lots of year-end reports are out right now. Some of the ones I’ve enjoyed digging into:
Garmin’s data on health and fitness trends. Surprising no one, they saw a rise in pickleball and strength training. More interesting: Hiking was up 12%; and outdoor running increased 6% (with Japan leading the way).
Survey Monkey released their workplace trends, which shows that 74% of senior leaders think work-life balance must be sacrificed in order to have a successful career.
Lean In also released their Women in the Workplace 2025 trends. They note that for the first time, women are notably less likely than men to say they want to be promoted. (I think there are SO many reasons for this, would love to chat about this in the comments.)
ClassPass released their annual look back report and Pilates and yoga topped the list.
Pinterest also dropped their trends for 2026. Among them: nonconformity, gummy everything, the rise of pen pals, and… cabbage. (My own wellness predictions for the coming year will be out next week!)
We consistently underestimate how much people like us, reports Vox. It’s a phenomenon called the “liking gap,” and it shows that people consistently tend to like you better than you think they do.
We could soon have a new sunscreen ingredient available for use! Quick background: The FDA regulates ingredients for sunscreen, and the US hasn’t updated standards since 1999. Lots of folks are frustrated by this—there are a lot more choices in Europe and Asia. (Arguably better ones?) The new ingredient up for approval is bemotrizinol, which is already popular overseas.
Eli Lilly released positive findings from a next-gen weight loss drug, retatrutide. We’ve been hearing about retatrutide for a while, which might be even more effective at helping people lose weight than tirzepatide (the drug in Wegovy and Zepbound). Folks in this trial lost an average of 28% of their bodyweight over 68 weeks; compared to tirzepatide, which helped people lose up to 22% at 72 weeks.
Meanwhile, always-late-to-the-party WHO just released new guidelines acknowledging GLP-1s can help people living with obesity.
Equinox announced earlier this week that all members will now have discounted access to the at-home biomarker diagnostic platform Function Health ($249/year vs. $365/year).
Last week, billionaire Michele Kang announced a $55 million investment to establish the Kang Women’s Institute to accelerate funding research for female soccer athletes. Of that contribution, $30 million is going to youth programs.
Femtech Insider reports that Biologica has raised $7 million in seed funding for stage-specific women’s supplements (think: protocols for fertility, peri- and post-menopause).
Outside reports on the rise of the floating sauna. TBH, sounds super nice.
Free Solo rock climber Alex Honnold will attempt to summit Taipei 101, a 1,667-foot-tall skyscraper without ropes on January 23. It’ll broadcast live on Netflix. I cannot begin to describe how much anxiety this gives me.
Stock up on your go-to remedies, there are lots of reports out about how we’re in for a tough flu season. (I got my flu shot yesterday, around 40% of Americans over 18 get one each year.)
touch
Building on the idea of gratitude, this week I’m recommending one of the most uplifting Substacks I read: Best Case Scenario. This Substack is the brainchild of magazine editor-in-chief turned wellness speaker/trainer/entrepreneur and all-around badass, Liz Plosser, who I had the extreme pleasure of learning from over a decade ago when I met her at Cosmopolitan. BCS offers health and fitness deep dives, news roundups, exclusive interviews, and a peek inside Liz’s (jam-packed) NYC life. Best of all, it’s a joyful, optimistic read. Who couldn’t use more of that in their inbox?!
hear
A brand new tune out just last week that I immediately added to my workout rotation:
There are so many options (and I’ll avoid the obvious Hozier one), so I’m throwing in two more with the same theme, one from February and one from 2011:
smell
I’m officially making this the weekly candle section of my newsletter because that seems to be what most of you are clicking on. I love that!
Last weekend we got a very light dusting of ❄️ SNOW!!! ❄️ (gone by 9am, but STILL!). Which means this week’s candles are devoted to that magical, mystical feeling that arrives when it snows in December. In selecting these I looked for crisp, fresh top notes, floral, mint, vanilla, eucalyptus, and just a hint of cedar or musk. Try:
Ice Skating in Central Park (Literie)
Nell’s Candle (Hill House Home)
Snow Day (Homesick)
I Smell Snow (Candle Craft Company)
Blue Cypress and Snow (NEST)
Snow Gazer (Rider)
taste
When it comes to eating (non-cookies), I’m all about ease. That means tried-and-true recipes and snacks I know will be crowd pleasers. I’m bad at memorizing recipes, so I’ve (re)visited Gimme Some Oven’s website approximately 147 times this year to make their No Bake Energy Bites.
I 3x this recipe so that I can make like 60 at once and keep ‘em in the fridge. These bites are packed with the good stuff: oats, flaxseed, chia, coconut flakes, vanilla … and get just a touch of sweet from chocolate chips.
They are perfect after-school/mid-afternoon slump snacks; and I have subbed in sunflower butter (instead of peanut butter) multiple times to make these daycare/nut-free compatible. (If you do this, keep them extra cold before rolling them into balls, as sunflower butter holds less well than nut butter.) Bring them to your next holiday party. They’ll be a hit, promise.
Have a great weekend!
xxx
(*Heads up: Everything on this list was chosen by me, but I might earn commission if you buy an item.)
I love your newsletter!!! Thanks for all the great recs, as always :)