1 Trendy Hotel Perk I ❤️ + Summer Produce Secrets to Keep Your Tomatoes, Corn, and Other Garden Goodies Fresh
I'm also sharing a personal update that might change your mindset as you look in the mirror.
Happy Monday and happy August, all!
It’s been a bustling and beautiful three weeks since we last connected about our Washington adventures and the dessert of summer.
Last weekend, I traveled to Southeast Iowa to take my Mom on a date to a farm-to-table dinner at Harvestville Farm. It was one of many culinary highlights of the last three weeks, which also included several spectacular slices at Plant Life Pizza Picnic and Pizza on the Prairie, even more visits to two of my local favorites, Hugo’s Wood-Fired Kitchen and Table 128, joining friends for Winefest’s progressive dinner, and experimenting with some new recipes in my home kitchen.
On the business side, the 27 stories below (and more that I’ve submitted but aren’t quite live yet) have kept me hopping! I was also honored to be a guest on the Visibility Era podcast, where I joined hosts Bridget and Lydia to peel back the curtain on freelance life. We also chatted about how complex stories come together, one unconventional way I run my business and more. In case you’re interested in tuning in, you can stream or download the episode here!
What to Read…
More than two dozen flights in during 2024, I’ve uncovered some unexpected and awesome stories, ranging from under-the-radar wine regions to the growing trend of welcome cocktails at hotels. The great news is that even if you never travel to Lodi wine country or stay at one of the properties I highlight in the Southern Living welcome drink story, you can snag tips about Lodi wines you can have shipped to your doorstep and can greet guests at your home with recipes from the hotel’s mixologists.
In case you missed my Béis luggage review or Des Moines destination guide that I shared on Instagram, you’ll find those below as well, alongside a wide array of other stories about summer produce storage, the frozen pizza brands restaurant chefs swear by and much more.
VERANDA: Béis Luggage Review: Is This Trendy Travel Brand Worth It?
VERANDA: This Up-and-Coming Wine Region Is "What Napa Used to Be Like 30 Years Ago"
VERANDA: The National Trust Just Awarded $3 Million in Grants to Preserve Iconic African American Sites
Travel + Leisure: Des Moines Is More Than Corn Fields and the State Fair — Here’s What We Love About This Midwest Capital
RCI Magazine: An Art-Guided Getaway to Paris
Allrecipes: We Asked Chefs to Name the Best Frozen Pizza and These Are Their Favorites
Allrecipes: I Asked 4 Chefs for Their Favorite Fast Food Chain, and Their Answers Surprised Me
Allrecipes: We Asked Chefs to Name the Best Olive Oil and These Are Their Favorites
Allrecipes: I Asked 3 Farmers How to Pick the Sweetest Corn, and They Taught Me Something New
Allrecipes: I Asked 3 Farmers for the Best Way to Store Tomatoes—This Is the Step You Should Never Skip
HealthCentral: Why Does My Stomach Hurt If I Don’t Eat?
Southern Living: The One Thing To Do Before Your Next Trip To The Airport, According To Travel Advisors
Southern Living: The 7 Most Controversial Food Combinations, According To Southern Chefs
Southern Living: 6 Southern Hotels Where You'll Be Welcomed With A Signature Cocktail
By the way, I’ve had quite a few new subscribers lately, so I wanted to share a quick refresher about the purpose of this section. “What to Read” rounds up all of the new content I’ve written that has been published since my last Substack. My archives include all of the content I’ve created since May 2023, if you’d like to poke around!
Better Homes and Gardens: 13 Genius 1-Ingredient Twists on the Classic Aperol Spritz to Try This Summer
Better Homes and Gardens: Should You Wash Berries in Vinegar? Our Test Kitchen Cleans Up the Confusion
Better Homes and Gardens: How Long Does Cut Watermelon Last? Our Test Kitchen Has the Timeline
Better Homes and Gardens: Can You Freeze Watermelon? Yes, If You Follow These Tips
Better Homes and Gardens: How to Store Celery So It Doesn't Go Limp for 3 Weeks
Better Homes and Gardens: What Is Tarragon? Discover How to Use This Versatile Herb
Better Homes and Gardens: Can You Eat Strawberry Leaves? You Bet—Here’s How, and Why You Should
Better Homes and Gardens: How to Store Corn on the Cob, According to Our Test Kitchen
Better Homes and Gardens: Corn Oil vs. Vegetable Oil: Is One Better? Here's Our Test Kitchen's Choice
Better Homes and Gardens: The Swicy Trend Blends Sweet and Spicy Flavors for a Fresh Set of Drink Options
Better Homes and Gardens: Beat the Trend By Shaking Up a Kalamata Olive Martini Before Everyone Else
Better Homes and Gardens: This Retro 3-Ingredient Grasshopper Cocktail Recipe Tastes Like Dessert
Better Homes and Gardens: Castella Cake Is My New Birthday Cake Request—Find Out Why (And Get the Recipe!)
What to Try…
Shifting Your “Body Language”
TW: Eating disorders. If you’re not in a place in which a conversation about body image aligns, feel free to stop here and I’ll see you next What’s Good. ❤️
If you’ve been following along since January, you might recall that being “softer physically” with myself was one of my four intentions for 2024.
As someone with history of anorexia (and history of going through treatment for it), as well as a veteran wellness journalist with a kinesiology degree and more than 12 years of health reporting experience, I knew what I needed to do: Gain muscle, and more importantly, gain fat. I felt my workout recovery times slowing and could see and feel myself weakening a bit, and realized that what I thought was enough fuel for my activity level wasn’t nearly enough. Both the mirror and my biometrics were letting me know that it wasn’t okay to keep going down the road I was on.
I wasn’t making progress on my own, so I made a humbling choice and called in reinforcements. My accountability buddies: Colleen, my Expedition Wellness dietitian, and Anj, my dear friend and the photographer who would capture my stronger self in May, giving me 5 months to make notable change. (I needed to update my website anyway, so why not use this as a “carrot” to work towards so I wouldn’t slack on implementing the changes?)
Initially, I viewed these accountability assists as a failure; a sign I wasn’t “healed” enough from the eating disorder that took over my life in my teens and early 20s. But once I got my mind right, I made a game-changing discovery. True, I might always hear voices that are overly harsh about my body, or whispers that tell me I don’t need a snack when I’m not hungry. But it’s my ability to acknowledge those as not grounded in reality, not rooted in what’s best for current and future me; that is true healing. True strength.
A few of several changes I made include focusing on weight training workouts and eliminating cardio besides walking, eating more protein (like these 15 high-protein foods) and simply eating more overall. ICYMI, an active adult woman needs more like 2,200 calories to maintain, not gain, weight. That 1,200-calorie-per-day B.S. diet books might promote? That’s enough for a 3-year old.
Meal by meal, day by day, my choices added up. In lockstep, my energy levels climbed, my hair and skin looked healthier, my digestion felt smoother and my physical shape started to show off the progress, too. I still have a way to go, but I was proud. I am proud. But that’s not to say that I was always comfortable.
In a society that peppers you with weight loss medication commercials every TV break, and in a world that’s full of ads that follow you around promoting the latest keto foods (especially after you report on nutrition, these insidious reminders follow you around relentlessly!) it’s not always easy to witness your body get bigger. Yes, even if you have the end goal in sight. As my therapist once told me, “Humans aren’t always rational.” 🙋♀️
Realizing once again that this (like those unproductive, snack-squelching voices) was just a brain game I needed to master, I stepped back and decided to reframe the way I looked at my body and the self-talk I used to describe it. Rather than zeroing in on the number on the scale or on the tag of my clothes, or critiquing where it has curves, stretch marks or wrinkles where it previously didn’t, I decided to focus on the countless miracles my body performs for me.
So on the next day when I was feeling like my insides were too big for my skin, I grabbed a pen, opened up my journal, and spent 24 hours jotting down every little thing my body did for me. When I was able to view myself as a bystander—rather than a critic—my “shell” seemed pretty miraculous.
In the course of a single day, here’s a selection of the many ways my body served me:
She threw off the sheets and bounded out of bed; excited to make the most of the day ahead.
Her legs and core balanced as they skipped, two-by-two, up the stairs (and walked down) enough times to lose count.
She lifted some seriously heavy sh*t for an hour during a morning workout.
Her hands, brain and heart cranked out two stories, conducted one interview and replied to and sent dozens of emails.
She cooked two meals and three snacks, no questions asked.
Her arms folded and ironed laundry on autopilot.
She buttoned her shirt and her jeans, tied her shoes, and drove to dinner with two dear friends (singing along to Beyoncé there and back).
Her arms hugged with more force than the physics equations she struggled with in high school.
She laughed ‘til she cried.
She watched the sunset; her eyes and soul in awe of the colors.
Throughout this experiment I counted my blessings multiple times and counted my body weight none. As I ended the day in my softest pajamas (the ones that I’ve long since cut the tags out of), I had renewed gratitude for my strength and my soul.
I like that I’m growing. I’m proud of my strength. And I’m proud to be making choices that make 90-year-old hiking, biking and dancing Karla proud.
If you, too, find yourself being a little too analytical—or perhaps a little too mean—about your soul’s vessel, I dare you to give your body a day in a similar way. This isn’t to say that the “ugh” feelings don’t still pop up every now and then, but after this exercise, I have more ammo to shoot them down.
That grasshopper. Honestly. It's such a retro-drink, but truly worth a revisit. It's both refreshing and indulgent after a meal, which means it's the perfect dessert drink. Thanks for reminding us!