Come fly with me! After what seems like an eternity of staying pretty close to home, we’re back in the air. I love to travel and luckily, so does my family. Since a lot of us are taking trips again I thought I’d give you a peak inside my bag, these are the things I can’t take-off without!

1.) A baggie of organic tea bags – just ask the flight attendant for hot water.

Continue reading Things I can’t fly without: a peak inside my travel bag at LORAfied.

Can eating this nut lower your cholesterol? Researchers in Georgia think pecans may be one of the tricks to reducing your chances of coronary heart disease. As a huge fan of nuts and nut butters, this study caught my attention and I just had to share.

Professor Jamie Cooper explains what they discovered to @mindbodygreen after adding pecans to the participants diets:

“We had some people who actually went from having high cholesterol at the start of the study to no longer being in that category after the intervention”

Folks in the 8 week study were told to eat just under 3/4 cup of pecans a day.

Continue reading Eat pecans, lower cholesterol? at LORAfied.

It’s Scooter’s birthda ! As you might imagine, he’s not interested in having a “healthy” dessert, which is difficult for me, as I’m all about “good for you” treats. So today, I split the baby down the middle, offering Scooter something, while not completely going off the rails.

If that wasn’t enough of a struggle, we have an ongoing battle in the Peterson house about cake vs. brownies. Jack won’t touch a piece of cake and Emmy thinks brownies are for breakfast, so I came up with a solution: The Brownie Cake!

Continue reading The Best Brownie Cake Recipe at LORAfied.

According to @mindbodygreen we should be swapping for clean ones every 3 days! And as often as every day if you have sensitive or acne prone skin. Microbiologist Charles Gerba, Ph.D. discovered some shocking results during his towel testing.

Continue reading Are you washing your bath towels enough? at LORAfied.

COFFEE & TEA:

Ralph’s coffee – Little known fact, Ralph Lauren doesn’t only make gorgeous clothes, he also makes excellent coffee! We stopped by @ralphscoffee located inside his upper East side store to grab an iced mocha and iced vanilla latte – divine! They even have the good ice cubes, in case the designer coffee wasn’t enough of an incentive ?

Starbucks Reserve – This isn’t your daughters Starbucks, it’s one of only 4 @starbucksreserve the world.

Continue reading New York City Food: Where and what to eat for kids, teens & adults at LORAfied.

Empire State Building Observatory – make sure to get the ticket that takes you all the way to the top deck, floor 102 of the @empirestatebldg – If you purchase main deck tickets (which only take you to floor 86) you will be upgrading, trust me!

The Vessel –  @hudsonyards – this relatively new site opened a couple of years ago as interactive artwork. 16 stories high, this beehive looking structure was originally built for folks to stair climb and explore, while it’s currently closed for that, it’s still worth to stopping by and snapping a pic.

Continue reading New York City: Things to see & do with kids & teens at LORAfied.

Can the answer to lowering your blood pressure be found in your gut? It just might be according to a group of researchers out of Belfast. @mindbodygreen explains the positive connection between foods packed with flavonoids – basically plants with high concentrations of pigmentation:

“They found that participants who had the highest flavonoid intake—measured by their intake of foods such as berries, red wine, apples, and pears—had lower (healthier) systolic blood pressure and a more diverse gut microbiome than those who did not consume as many flavonoid-rich foods.

Continue reading Eat your way to better blood pressure? at LORAfied.

Do you have a green thumb? None needed for this fun herb hack! In fact, you don’t even need dirt! Make the next time chives appear on your grocery list your last! This kitchen trick will have you regrowing chives again and again.

3 easy steps:
1.) After you’re done using the chives for a recipe, don’t toss the nubs! Group the leftover bottoms, with their little hairs (roots) together and wrap with a rubber band.

Continue reading Never buy chives again with this simple herb hack! at LORAfied.

I often joke, the only way we know it’s Fall in Los Angeles is because Starbucks tell us by launching their infamous pumpkin spice latte. Although both major coffee chains, Starbucks and Dunkin, could offer these flavors year ’round, they don’t. Waiting for its launch each year is like Linus waiting for the great pumpkin to arrive. Simply waiting for the coffee giants to announce the date their drinks will drop is an event itself, I consider it the unofficial 5th season of the year, the PSL season.

Continue reading How to order a healthier Pumpkin Spice Latte at LORAfied.

Does your back hurt? Mine, too! Here’s a quick and easy trick to ease the pain: put your legs up the wall for at least 5 minutes! That’s it!

@doyouyoga lists severals benefits to this simple pose:
Helps with lower back tension
Stretches hamstrings in lower back
Relaxation
Circulation
Reduce swelling/cramping in feet and legs

Yoga instructor @brooke_blocker notes:
“Try not to bring the body to a full 90 degree angle as this can impede circulation at the hips.

Continue reading Back pain got you down? Try a little trick called legs up the wall at LORAfied.