This conversation takes us on a journey of Cait's trip to Greece as a family of 4! The trip was sprinkled with both exhilaration and exhaustion, ups and downs, ins and outs,  all alongside many wandering roosters and rogue donkeys!

We discuss:

- Preparing for the 4-week trip, flying & traveling with little ones (spilling all the tips!)
-Greek culture vs. American culture (night & day - literally!)
-Visiting the "real Greece" vs. the one you see in the magazines (painting the whole picture)
-Four (4) week journey of traveling to different destinations 
-How this trip was different from others in the past (a few without kids previously vs. with kids)
-A long overdue sacred moment of baptizing the kids (olive oil included)
-Overall, managing your expectations and being FLEXIBLE while you travel

Adventure with us as we serve the highlights here .... and we can't wait for you to hear from the Greek Goddess herself! :)

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

 We are to put a mic in between us and Nicole Raudonis!  Having Nicole on the podcast truly shows the power of social media, connection and the way that it attracts liked-minded people together. Because... that's how we met, Instagram! We loved the content she was posting from the sidelines and quickly came to realize that she was local to us!! This woman is just getting started and has SO many gems to share on elevating your daily routine, navigating motherhood as working mama, content creation/brand influencing, launching her very own product line, what it takes to juggle it all and some "secret" hacks we can all use to keep our productivity in check! 

THIS EPISODE is perfect to motivate you as we kick-off the fall season!
Highlights in this episode:

• What it takes to be Content creator/Influencer (HINT: Guys, it's not as easy as it looks!! Behind those pretty photos and reels take hours of planning and inspiration)
• How she keeps her creative spark alive
• Launching of her new business - Pursue Leisure 
• Pursue Leisure provides high quality leisurewear and lifestyle products, designed to elevate your daily routine (she's majorly tested these products to ensure the quality is there - especially this cute grocery tote bag)
• How she juggles motherhood, social life, career, and business (yep, we all want to hear that!)
• Meal Prepping & her very own planner - (Perfect time to refresh your meals with back to school season here - grab some tips in the episode and find the Meal Planner notepad - here!)
• Productivity hacks we can all use in our daily life from habit stacking to her fav time cube - buy on Amazon for $10! 

Keep up with Nicole + find her below:
Business @pursueleisure
Personal @nicoleraudonis
Website: Shop All – Pursue Leisure

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

Ahhh! We are so excited to put a mic in between us and Kristen Perez! We've known Kristen for 15 years and have watched her journey from humble beginnings to growing a holistic spa empire and now launching her own skincare line - woa! There is no stopping this glow getter and can't wait to share all the *gems* she has dropped in the conversation.

In this episode:

• We go through the trajectory of the entrepreneurial spirit & creating a brand - how she started, the journey, where she is now and where she sees her direction moving forward 
• The industry of esthetics, skincare, and spas and how Kristen weaves components of “healing”, intention and a holistic experience/ritual aspect into her treatments and spa concepts
• Skincare in your 20s, 30s, 40s - tips! Along with skincare must haves 
• Dupes - what you can get off the shelves in lieu of pricey products 
• Where to splurge your skincare dollars
• Cringiest skincare "trends"
• Her new product line, CROIA,  and where you can find it! 

Follow her new spa on instagram: @hush_esthetics // Website: Facial - Hush Luxury Esthetics

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

Today's episode is a SOLO with just one of the Vatas! I, (Cass!)  takes us through selling and buying a home in this current Spring 2023 market! Wild Ride! Oof!  While I am slowly starting to come down from it all, but while I'm still on the heels of this experience, I figured let's share all the things. I break down the experience of top 5 tips when selling your home and top 5 tips of buying a home ...and doing it at the same time. This is a high overview, but I weave in personal thoughts on what we've been through and how we found ease throughout this process since it can be one of THE MOST stressful things in your life.

If you are in the market to buy or sell or just be a fly on the wall and listen to someone else’s story (yeah, we know you are out there too!), sit back and take in any words or advice that resonate with you.

If you found anything interesting about this episode or have questions, please reach out on Instagram!

xoxo ~Cassidy

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

Today's episode is the 1st SOLO with just one of the Vatas! I, (Cait!)  take us through 10 things I am doing in preparation in the transition from Winter to Spring. Does anyone else feel like a different person when the sun is shining? Yep, us too. I feel like I am coming out of my winter hibernation mode and busting out of this cocoon and feeling that primal urge to remove the debris and start to make space for new buds to bloom. I went from winter "slow-mo" to "let me make a list and tackle it overnight". Stepping into this new season of myself feels SO refreshing and great.
Come along and take a listen on my current list as it may inspire a little Spring transition inside of you! Also, please reach out and share your Spring Lists with us, we'd love to hear what you're up to. :)

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

One of our FAVORITE conversation starters to each other is: "what cycle day are you on!?".  This then leads down the rabbit hole of how we are feeling mentally, physically, emotionally during the different parts of our menstrual cycles.  We follow up even more exchanging recent books, insta posts, experiences, etc. that we are always learning from on this topic.

This conversation today is just skimming the surface as we unwrap all the *layers* that come with being a woman and having this bodily experience. I feel like we need a white board for this chat to keep our thoughts organized and all the side notes that pop up, but nonetheless, we are here to paint the overall picture!

We hope this episode encourages you to get curious about your own cycle and bring this conversation back your inner circles! 🤍

In this episode we highlight some few key areas plus more:
- How we become so fascinated by our cycles + personal relationship with it
- Kindergarten breakdown of each phase of the cycle (hint: comparing them to the seasons)
- Cycle tracking + observing
- Major TMI moments (hint: egg whites!) *I can tell you nothing is if off the table here!
- 1st period stores
- Ovulation is actually THE STAR of the show! *light bulb moment
- Birth control experiences
- Aha moments + cultivating wisdom + compassion for ourselves
- Raising boys to understand the female cycle
- Getting your partner in the know about your cycle

- Books mentioned in episode:

•  In The FLO by Alissa Viti
• Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Tony Weschler 

- Tracking Apps mentioned in episode:

• MyFLO
• Period Diary
• Ovia

-Instagram handles mentioned in episode:

• Dr Jolene Brighten
• Balanced Beyars
• Restoring Eve
• Meg Langston
• The Maddie Miles
• Gracie Norton

PS. The hill we will die on as that NOBODY knows your body like YOU do. Take all of what we say (or others) with a grain of salt and allow yourself to become empowered by listening to your body and following your own patterns. :)

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

 A quick trigger warning, some of Aly's current work is focused on eating disorders and disordered eating patterns, and these are discussed in this episode today. Please feel free to skip over if it is not a good time to listen, we understand <3
 
Today we are sharing Part 2 of our conversation with Aly Horning who is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, MS in Clinical Nutrition, Spin Instructor. Part 1 was heavily focused on Aly's work, defining eating disorders + disordered eating, the complexity of these disorders, diet culture and social media. While we touch on these again, we focus more so the these highlights below: 

-We kick off part 2 by briefly discussing the female menstrual and how to nourish the different phases
-over exercising (the unhealthy side)
-the narrative for mom’s to “bounce back” after birth
-Social media influence in "anti-aging" and beauty standards
-Resources and tips on where to find help (books, website, etc) 
-Busting diet myths
-Intuitive Food Philosophy
-Aly's top 3 "cringiest wellness tips"
-Aly's top 3 "wellness tips"

 Resources provided by Aly during our conversation:
 
 Seeds of Hope:
Aly's location in which she works full time. They have an in-person PHP and IOP for adolescents and adults. If someone wants an assessment, they can call us and see what level of care they would need. Sometimes we even refer them out, not necessarily coming to our program.

Choosing Change Counseling:
This is outpatient group that Aly works with and is counseling practice with mostly therapists where she is the only Registered Dietician.

NEDA
NEDA is an amazing resource for all thing eating disorders.

CCI Health
A comprehensive resource with worksheets and information for all mental health disorders.

Eating Disorder Hope
Another resource for all things eating disorders.
 
Book Recommendations:

1. 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder by Carolyn Costin
 2. Body Kindness by Rebecca Scritchfield
 3. The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery by Jennifer Rolin
 4. Eating in the Light of the Moon by Anita Johnston
 5. The Self-Love Workbook by Shainna Ali
 6. The Body is Not an Apology
 7. Intuitive Eating Workbook
 8. Loving Someone with an Eating Disorder: Understanding, Supporting, and Connecting with Your Partner by Dana Harron

We hope you enjoy Part 2 of today's episode and all the wisdom Aly has to share.  Drop us your feedback!
 
 Thanks for being here. <3

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

Today's episode is pretty special since it's with our very FIRST guest! We are excited to introduce you to Aly Horning who is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist, MS in Clinical Nutrition, Spin Instructor and most importantly, a ray of sunshine :)

 A quick trigger warning, some of Aly's current work is focused on eating disorders and disordered eating patterns, and these are discussed in this episode today. Please feel free to skip over if it is not a good time to listen, we understand <3 

 In addition to discussing Aly's career path as a Registered Dietician Nutrition, here are a few highlights we go into in a candid conversation of hearing Aly's rich knowledge while bringing in our own questions and insight:

-Defining eating disorders + disordered eating (they are different!)
-Shedding light on these very complex disorders (More on root causes as it's less about the outward physical appearance.)
-Aly's story of how she became interested in this particular work
-Diet culture thoughts and how we are affected by it
-Busting diet myths
-Food philosophy
-Social media influence in "anti-aging" and beauty standards
-The healing journey of trusting yourself

Resources provided by Aly during our conversation:

Seeds of Hope:
Aly's location in which she works full time. They have an in-person PHP and IOP for adolescents and adults. If someone wants an assessment, they can call us and see what level of care they would need. Sometimes we even refer them out, not necessarily coming to our program.

Choosing Change Counseling:
This is outpatient group that Aly works with and is counseling practice with mostly therapists where she is the only Registered Dietician.

NEDA
NEDA is an amazing resource for all thing eating disorders.

CCI Health
A comprehensive resource with worksheets and information for all mental health disorders.

Eating Disorder Hope
Another resource for all things eating disorders.

Book Recommendations:

1. 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder by Carolyn Costin
2. Body Kindness by Rebecca Scritchfield
3. The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery by Jennifer Rolin
4. Eating in the Light of the Moon by Anita Johnston
5. The Self-Love Workbook by Shainna Ali
6. The Body is Not an Apology
7. Intuitive Eating Workbook
8. Loving Someone with an Eating Disorder: Understanding, Supporting, and Connecting with Your Partner by Dana Harron

We hope you enjoy Part 1 of today's episode and all the wisdom Aly has to share.  This conversation is going to be into 2 parts - we could have kept talking and learned so much! 

Thanks for being here. <3

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

The juggle is REAL. If you are a mama, no matter what phase of motherhood you are in, you can probably relate to that feeling of juggling it all especially those “invisible” things only you can see.  Once you become a mother, so many shifts inside of you, one being how your mind works. Being able to juggle is a superpower! However, sometimes it can get heavy, the balls drop, there’s too many mental tabs in our minds open and we start to feel overwhelmed with this MOTHERLOAD we carry. 

This conversation is a little longer than others we have had in previous episodes, but it DESERVES the FLOOR and space. 

Ugh, this even feels semi-taboo to even discuss. If we say we are overwhelmed, does that mean we are ungrateful? If we feel frustrated and alone in our motherhood role, does that mean we aren’t a “good mom”? Do we shove it down and just think to ourselves that “this is just part of being a mother” or “I signed up for this!"?  Most often not, we may hold back from confronting these emotions to ourselves or others. Motherhood is a super intimate journey, and we all operate differently, so I can see why not wanting to share our struggles (or juggles) can be quite vulnerable. Ultimately, we may feel fear of being judged. We get it. We do too.

BUT, we decided to go THERE anyways  // "The Land of the Motherload" conversation discusses what this invisible load means to us, raw pieces of how we walk through it or better yet stumble, and potential ways we are picking ourselves back up. We believe normalizing this overwhelm will help mamas feel seen so they CAN make changes where these see fit. After all, the motherload is tied to our mental health and that is SO important.  As always, we hope you can find a hidden gem to take with you from our conversation and either question it, get curious about it, learn from it, or bring back to your own circle. <3

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨

It's time to Romanticize Your Life 

Romanticizing what?! Yes, we are here to talk about romanticizing YOUR life aka finding magic in the mundane. 

It’s easy to operate in autopilot and simply go through the same playbook day in and day out with your head down. And just like that, you are missing out on the magic of what’s right in front of you.  We get it - we do it too!!

Hey, here's an opportunity, a reminder, to find you way back into those little magical moments or perhaps just a new idea to spice up an area of your life. The whole idea of romanticizing your life is essentially being mindful of the moment right in front of you, appreciating it, and enhancing it where it needs some sparkle (romanticizing). 

We discuss our own perspectives of what we are doing to find more intentional moments within our days with very SMALL shifts. It's a way to upgrade what we ALREADY have. This is most definitely an episode we will refer back to for ourselves when we need a pick me up or dose of getting back into the moment.

With that said..

“You’ve got to start romanticizing your life. You got to start believing that your morning commute is cute and fun, that every cup of coffee is the best you’ve ever had, that even the smallest most mundane things are exciting and new. You have to, because that’s when you start truly living. That’s when you look forward to every day.”

xoxo,
the vata sisters

come along to our instagram @thevatasisters to see where this adventure ends up because we are just along for the ride ourselves 🚙✨