Well with Arielle Lorre - 122: I Put Fat in My Face + General Q&A!

Episode Date: July 28, 2021

In this episode I’m talking about my recent procedures I did with Dr. Mascaró, as well as discussing my trip to Greece and taking random questions from Instagram like what influencer drama I can share; how I deal with eating and exercise during and post traveling; how I resist alcohol on vacation; my go-to’s to deal with anxiety; my best bloating tips; why I decided to be open about beauty procedures, and more!   www.Helloned.com/BLONDE for 15% off your first one-time order or 20% off you first subscription plus free shipping. www.Talkspace.com with code BLONDE for $100 off your first month www.Fxchocolate.com with code BLONDEFILES at checkout for 20% off your first order www.DrinkLMNT.com/BlondeFiles to claim your free sample pack. You only cover the cost of shipping   Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The following podcast is a dear media production. Hey, welcome to the Blond Files podcast. I'm your host, Ariel Lori, and I'm here to talk all things wellness. From how to achieve optimal health and well-being to the best beauty tips and everything in between, no topic is off limits. I know there is so much information out there, so I'm here to help you navigate it all and live your best life. Thanks for listening.

Let's get into it. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the show. I am so way overdue for a solo episode, so that's what I'll be doing today. It will be very interesting to see if this makes any sense. If I say anything I regret, I'm so jet lagged. So this is going to be interesting. I am going to be covering your questions from Instagram and I will talk a little bit about my trip and your questions about that. And of course, I will share about my recent procedures with Dr. Mascarro, which I kind of teased and I wasn't going to talk about, but here I am. I guess I just

can't keep anything to myself. So first things first, as I said, insanely jet lagged. This may or may not make sense or be articulate or flow, so just bear with me. But my trip to Greece was absolutely unreal. I'm sure you don't want to hear all the specifics, but I did get a bunch of questions about it. So I will cover the basics. So we went to Athens for a few days. And And then we island hopped on a boat and it was just beyond. So we started by spending the night anchored just off Poros, but we didn't actually go on that island. So I can't speak to that. But it was just breathtakingly beautiful.

Then we went to Hedra, which might have been my favorite island. It had kind of like an Italian coast vibe. And it was so quaint and charming. And no cars were allowed. So there were just mules. And that was the mode of transportation. So it was kind of amazing. And then we went to bike ride on Spetsies, which was beautiful. Then Milos for a couple days, which I also loved. Then we went to Folligondros, I think I'm saying it right, which was my other favorite. The town was absolutely stunning. Then we went to Eos, which is kind of a cool party island. We just went there to spend the night to avoid some winds. And we went to this club where we watched the sunset. It was so beautiful. And then we went to Naxos, where we did another incredible bike ride. Then we ended in Mekanos for a few days, which was just sexy and super fun despite all of the COVID restrictions.

I guess they have rising cases. So they had a curfew and they had a music band, but the places that we went kind of had loopholes. Like one of the beach clubs, instead of having DJs, they would give everybody speakers when you came in. So the music was still really loud. But if the police showed up, they would just say that the speakers were, you know, the patrons. It wasn't from the club. So that was kind of interesting. And it was just super fun.

I did get so jet lagged on the way there because we left L.A. I think around 1 o'clock in the afternoon. And then it was 15 hours of flying. And I couldn't sleep on the plane. And then when we got there, I made the biggest rookie mistake ever, which was that we got there around 3 o'clock. And I went to the hotel and I passed out and everybody else went to dinner. and I woke up, but I decided not to go to dinner, just thinking that I would sleep through the rest of the night. But I ended up being wide awake and just crazy anxiety because I was wide awake. So I hadn't slept the night before. And then I was like, oh my God, I'm not going to sleep tonight. I'm going to be up for 48 hours. I am freaking out. I woke truck up in the middle of the night. And I was like, I think I have to go to the ER. Like I was just delirious and not making sense and catastrophizing. I don't know if that's.

it's even a word, but it was pretty brutal. And then I ended up falling asleep and everything was fine. But that was kind of funny, just what our brain does when we have no sleep. So we brought three other couples with us. So it was eight of us total plus the crew on the boat. And it was just the best time, the best food, the culture, and the people of Greece are incredible. And it was so nice to travel again now that things are opening back up. And Chuck and I just aren't the type of people that want to just go somewhere and sit on a beach necessarily. So we really like to experience, like the different aspects of wherever we go. So we had the company, Butterfield and Robinson, plan the itinerary. And we had a guide from them who was also a guide in Vietnam and he's Greek.

So it was such a good way to do it. We had the perfect balance of being on the boat and relaxing and hanging out on the islands. And also we did a lot of activity like walking and bike riding. And we got to tour parts of the islands that we wouldn't have otherwise seen and really learned about the history and the culture. So that's my little recap. A lot of people asked about how I balance eating healthy and working out on vacation. And honestly, the truth is that I don't, or at least I don't really try. I'm just at a point in my life where I care so much more about experiences than about dieting and looking a certain way, at least on my body, we'll get to the face part. And when I travel, I want to experience the food without restrictions because it's just such a big part of that experience. And it also

brings me so much joy. And I just remember, like for years, I traveled and I avoided gluten and dairy and sugar and corn and soy and whatever else I was avoiding at that time. And I look back at some of those vacations and I'm so bummed that I didn't just eat the food of whatever place I was visiting because it really adds so much to the overall experience, at least in my opinion. And granted, I know that people have serious issues where they have to avoid certain things, but to the best of your ability, I just think there has to be a time or times where we let go of all of that as much as we can. So food-wise, I really ate anything and everything from traditional Greek cuisine to what our chef made us on board, which,

kind of, I know, eye roll. It sounds so pretentious, but it was the best food I've ever eaten in my life. And he made everything from Greek food to pasta, to risotto, to sushi, to Mexican, to desserts. It was a lot of Mediterranean, of course, but also a lot of gluten and dairy and sugar. And I didn't have any digestion issues at all. And I think that it really comes down to the quality of the food. I think that's part of it, especially on a lot of these small islands. Like, you know exactly where the cheese is coming from, you know, like the farm is right next door. And then I also think that being relaxed and being on vacation is another part that plays a major role in the quality of our digestive health. I've had multiple experts on the show talk about how our thoughts around what we eat dictates our body's

reaction to what we eat, like Dr. Emmerin-Mayer, who was just just on a few weeks ago, talks about this. And in my experience, this is just a fact. So if I'm like, oh my God, I'm eating pasta and it has gluten and it has cheese or cream or whatever, I'm going to get so bloated. I can't believe I'm eating this. I'm getting so nervous. Like, if those are my thoughts, then that's probably what's going to happen. But if I just go with it and enjoy the food and eat slowly and rest and digest and do all the things nine times out of 10, I will be fine. So bottom line is when I travel, no restrictions. And more and more at home, no restrictions. But that might be another episode in itself. You guys know that I do not skip my nightly dessert ever.

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So leave the filters and face tunes at the door and join me on RealPod. So then, as for exercise, I did no formal exercise on this trip, mainly because We were walking a fair amount until I injured myself. That's another story. And we were riding bikes. So I hurt myself because I fell on a water taxi. Like I completely missed a step and I really messed up my foot. I thought it was broken at first.

But now I think I just badly jammed it or tore something. But usually on vacation, I like to work out. I think having no stress really contributes to having more energy to exercise. But we were pretty busy this trip with early starts. to go walk or ride. And some days we rode like 30 miles. So that was definitely enough activity to feel good. But I am kind of getting out of breath just during this. So maybe I need to get back on my workout and grind. Okay. So someone asked me how to get over the horrible feeling of weight gain after coming back from vacation. Honestly, I think it just kind of levels out when you get

back to your routine at home and stop eating anything and everything. Like, of course eating three big meals a day and snacks and ice cream and whatnot, which is what I did, is going to add some pounds. But when you get home, you just get back to normal eating, maybe meal prep or get a food service like Sakara for a couple weeks if you really feel like you want to lose the weight. And I'm not saying tracking calories or macros, but just so you have your meals all set and don't make decisions out of being hungry, that's always helpful. And just get back to a workout routine that feels good and I feel like it will all be okay. Like I really feel like it levels off because you're not continuing it when you get back home. I mean, you go on vacation and you go to

eat and relax and all of that and then you come home and you get back to your normal routine. And I'm sitting here post vacation definitely a little thicker than when I left. But I also had the best time and just loved everything I ate and I just feel happy. Like happy and content. and fulfilled. And I think that that's the most important thing, you know, at the end of the day, that's what you're going to remember, not how your body looked on your trip or when you got back. So, okay, completely switching gears to what tweaks I did with Dr. Mascaro recently. If you listened to my episode with him recently, then you may have heard us allude to it. And if you've noticed that I look, I don't know, five years younger recently, then it's because I got

fat transfer to my face and full disclosure, I was not going to talk about this. I just feel like with everything else that I've done over the years, it sounds like so much. And believe me, people use it against me daily and send me really nasty, hateful messages online. And also, I think that since I'm open about procedures, people just seem to feel entitled to send me their opinions about my appearance daily and tell me what they don't like or what I should have done or what I should do differently. And it's just exhausting. It's like, I don't know. It's just, it's one of the reasons why I don't do many Instagram stories talking to the camera lately because I just, every time I do, I get so many of these messages. I don't think they're from you guys,

but just FYI, nobody wants to hear that. So anyway, after I did this procedure, I just kind of thought that this is something that should be talked about and should be out there as an option for people my age or older who don't want to get filler or are experiencing volume loss because it can be such a game changer. I felt like my face was just looking kind of lifeless and long and drawn. And I was like, oh my God, do I need to get a facelift? And Dr. Vascaro was like, no, absolutely not. You just need to restore some of the volume. Who knew? So this really wasn't something on my radar, but it's probably my favorite procedure, at least that I've done lately, because it can just make you look so youthful. It's not like looking different. It's not, especially if it's done right, not looking like

anyone but yourself, just kind of looking like you did maybe when you were a little bit younger. So we took fat from my stomach through my belly button, and it's basically. basically liquefied and injected into the face. And we did it in my temples. We did my under eyes. And we did my cheeks. And it's not like lipo where there's enough fat taken to make any discernible difference in the area where it's harvested from, sadly, even though I told him that he could take as much as he needed. But it's great because you're essentially just moving tissue from one part of your body to another. So it's very natural. But the downside of fat transfer is that it can be unpredictable. You're not going to retain 100% of it. And some people

retain more than others. And you can retain more in one side than in the other side. So it's not necessarily going to be perfectly symmetrical. But with an experienced and meticulous doctor, you should look great regardless. And also it can be pricey. But if you're someone who gets filler, especially if you feel like you need to get it continually, like I know for me, if I get filler, my body just eats it up and I have to get it every few months and I just don't love putting filler in my face now that we kind of know that even if a lot of it seems to go away, it can still be in your tissue and it's just putting something foreign in your face. So if you have to get filler constantly, you'll probably end up paying less to get fat transfer once, which is going to last

years and years versus getting filler over and over again. And like I said, you're not putting something foreign in your body. So for the procedure, I was under sedation like twilight. And when I woke up, I was super puffy, which is to be expected. But I didn't really have any pain. I mean, the following few days, I had some pinching pain when I laughed or smiled kind of just around my nose. But that went away pretty quickly. And the only tricky part I think about the procedure is that it's kind of a roller coaster because initially you are super swollen, like to the point where I was freaking out. And then around like a week, you're obsessed with it. And you have diffuse swelling. So you literally have no wrinkles or lines anywhere. You look like a baby. It's amazing. And then all of a sudden, all of that seems to go away.

So then there's a second round of freaking out where you're feeling like you didn't retain any of the fat and you're going to have to do it again. And then it fluctuates a lot kind of in the ensuing months that follow. And I think Dr. Mascarro said like it really fluctuates the first year. So you can't really judge it until about a year after. But part of what I did to ensure that the fat lived when we moved it to my face was I over ate for a month. like not eating so much, just probably eating more calories than I normally do, like really nutrient dense, high fat foods, like tons of avocado, tons of quack, tons of nuts, stuff like that. And then I stopped doing any cardio exercise. So I was literally feeding the fat, which was fun,

except I was still doing it after a couple months. And Dr. Mascarro was like, okay, you can stop now. Like it's not doing anything for your face. So overall, I am so happy with how it turned out, if you see a side-by-side picture of before and after, it's actually pretty shocking. Like, if you see me, you don't know that I did anything, but if you see a side-by-side, you can really tell how it just kind of filled things out. And I really had like zero volume in my cheeks and just being more heart-shaped and rounder like I wasn't my 20s has really given my face a more youthful, but more importantly, just healthier look. So I really think that there are a few keys to to aging gracefully. And I realize I'm still youngish being in my 30s, but I think both prevention

and then doing tweaks to stay on top of changes will just help to maintain a look that I like and also not like roll into my surgeon's office at 50 needing to get my face lifted all the way down to my boobs. So sun protection is huge. And to be totally honest, in Greece, even though I used SPF nonstop, I was also in the sun nonstop and I got really brown. So I'll be doing IPL and some other lasers at the end of the summer. And also I'll start using a stronger face and body retinal once the fall starts. But most of the loss of elasticity in my skin is in areas that I damaged with the sun when I was younger. And of course, we don't want sun spots and all of that. So sun protection is huge. My mom actually told me about this product. I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right, Hygia, H-Y-G-I-E-A, I believe. It has retinol and it has I-D-B-None in it, which is a new

ingredient that I didn't know about. I mean, I don't know if it's new, but it's new to me. And it can help with crepey skin. And she rolled her eyes when I bought it. But I really like it for my body. I just feel like it kind of helps in like the neck area and on my hair. And on my hands and I will report back but you guys can go check it out. I think it's hygea.com maybe. Okay, so sun protection is huge and then obviously I think Botox done right can really help to prevent static lines, although those are inevitable as we age, but I think maybe it'll help from keeping them to be help, keep them from being super deep. And then I think staying on top of volume loss is another really helpful tweak. And as I said, I think fat is such a great

way to do this versus filler. Then later when it's facelift time, the tissue is repositioned as well. So that's all lifted up. And then I also think that there are great tightening procedures when done right. I did thermi with Dr. Mascarro in my lower face and under my chin, which helped so much. He said it would buy me like five years. And then just really good skincare and maintenance, like a yearly fractal. clear and brilliant is really good, micro-needling for collagen, IPL, like I mentioned, for pigmentation. And I'm sure there are so many others that I don't know about. But those are the things that I plan on doing. And all of this goes without saying that you don't need to do any of this.

I know people who are really against it. And I totally agree that our beauty standards are so unrealistic. There's so much pressure on women to stay young forever when like men are self. celebrated as they get older and like age like fine wine. And I think it's really a problem. But, you know, I'll be the first to admit that aging, although it's a privilege and I feel more confident, more comfortable in my skin as I get older, just aesthetic wise, it's not something that I really look forward to. But we also live in a time where these things are readily available to us. And I guess I'm just vain when it comes to my face. I mean, someone's got to admit it. So I'm going to

take advantage of it all, but, you know, obviously you don't have to if it's not your jam. I have a few products that are my secret weapon against bloating and electrolytes are high on that list. I brought Element on my trip recently, and it helped so much with that. And it just helped to keep hydrated, especially with all the flying, the heat and grease. It was oppressive in some places. And we were doing tons of activity like walking and bike riding, so it was really easy to get dehydrated, but element helped me stay hydrated. So here's the deal. Everyone needs electrolytes, especially those who are on low-carb diets, who practice intermittent or extended fasting, people who are physically active or sweat a lot. And according to the FDA, over 70% of sodium in the U.S. diet is consumed from

packaged and processed foods. And when you adopt a whole foods diet, while you're gaining so many health benefits, you're also eliminating processed foods, therefore eliminating a lot of sodium from your diet. So don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting we start eating processed foods for sodium content, but not replacing the sodium can negatively impact health and performance. And that is where Element comes in. Element is a tasty electrolyte drink mix with everything you need and nothing you don't. That means lots of salt with no sugar, none of the junk, no coloring, no artificial ingredients, no gluten, no fillers, no BS. Element is formulated to help anyone with their electrolyte needs and is perfectly suited no matter what lifestyle or diet you follow. Element contains a science-backed electrolyte ratio.

That's 1,000 milligrams of sodium, 200 milligrams of potassium, and 60 milligrams of magnesium. So I love the watermelon salt, the citrus salt, and orange salt. They also have other great flavors like mango chili, raspberry grapefruit, and an unflavored one, if that's your jam. And Element is loved by professional athletes. Many teams are given this via their performance coach or nutritionist. It's even used by Olympic athletes and us regular people too. So you guys need to get on this and Element has a great deal for you. So you guys can purchase an Element sample pack for the cost of shipping. That's $5 for U.S. orders at DrinkElement.com slash blonde files. And if you're not happy, they will refund your money, no questions asked. That is drinkelement.com, D-R-I-N-K-L-M-N-T-com.com,

slash blonde files, B-L-O-N-D-E-F-I-L-E-S. And again, that is an element sample pack for the cost of shipping, which is $5. This show is brought to you in part by Ned CBD. And let me tell you, Ned came through for me in so many ways on my trip. First being flying, you guys know that I have become a nervous flyer in the past year, which is something I'm working on. But Ned, full spectrum hemp oil really helps to take the edge off just the stress in my body that I feel when I'm flying. Like it really brings it from a 10 to a 5. And also, Ned's sleep oil helped so much with my jet lag. The first couple nights were a little rough as it always is for me going east. But the sleep oil helped me fall asleep and stay asleep. And Ned is the absolute highest quality CBD. They

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yourself, go to www.com slash blonde, B-L-O-N-D-E, or enter Blonde at checkout for 15% off your first one-time order or 20% off your first subscription order plus free shipping. Again, that's hello ned.com slash blonde H-E-L-L-O-N-E-D dot com slash B-L-O-N-D for 15% off your first one-time order or 20% off your first subscription order plus free shipping. Someone asked me why I decided to be open about what I do beauty-wise, and that's actually a good question because sometimes I seriously regret it. But I think ultimately it just comes down to my intentions, my intention with this whole platform when I started it.

You know, when I started my Instagram account, it was a way to just really honestly document everything I was going through in the hopes that somebody else could learn or benefit from it in some way. And I've just really loved sharing my experiences, good and bad, with people. And this stuff is no exception. You know, I see how misinformed people are by the beauty industry and by celebrities who lie and things like threads are. perfect example of this. So practitioners who do threads often want consumers to believe that doing threads is what Bella Hadid or Kendall Jenner or these other models that they look up to. They want people to believe that that's what they did when of course they know that it's not allegedly what they actually did. But it's a surefire way to get people to come in and drop thousands of dollars to achieve that look. And I was one of those people in the past who just did like so many minimally invasive procedures constantly, which is very expensive. It's also very

frustrating because you get not very good results. And I just felt like people should know that there's another way if this is something that they want to do. Like, I'm not promoting it to try to convince people to do it. But if people are already there and they want to do it and, you know, they're of age and all of that, then they should know the options. And I don't think I'm doing the world of great service by being open about this. But I do think that it's important for people to know the truth about what is out there. So anyway, now to your other questions from Instagram. These are going to be very random. What is something in my life that I would like to have or explore that I currently don't? Maybe it's just because it's fresh in my mind having just gone on a

trip, but I really want to travel more. I'm sure it's also kind of like a compensatory response to being locked down with COVID, but I do a fair amount and I go back and forth to New York and all of that, but there are so many places in the world that I want to see and spend more time in, like, more than just a few weeks at a time. And it's something that I'm seriously considering doing soon when it's okay. You know, I feel really fortunate to have a job that I love and a job that I can pretty much do from anywhere. So to not take advantage of that feels like a waste to me. And I heard a saying, you don't go to heaven with a U-Haul. So the stuff, you know, the material stuff that really doesn't matter to me more and more as I get older. It really doesn't matter. It's the people and

the experiences that, you know, we're going to take with us. And nothing makes me feel more present and alive than being somewhere new. And it's kind of something that I'm just learning about myself. I feel like I'm entering a new phase of my life in my mid-30s. And I'm, So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. And somebody also asked if I have traveled solo and if so, how have I made the most of it? So it's not something I've done yet, aside from, you know, going like to New York alone all the time. But that doesn't really count. Traveling solo is something that really intrigues me, but I'm also intimidated by the idea of going somewhere foreign where I don't speak the language by myself. But I think I'll do it soon. And, you know, Chuck does not. have the travel bug. He's been there, done that. So aside from a couple big trips we do together every year, I think I'll be doing solo trips or trips with friends for kind of the in-between traveling. But that's something that's like more and more enticing to me. Tips on bloating when I travel. Okay, this is a big one. And in my experience,

bloating really isn't a normal issue when I travel because usually I'm well rested. I'm not stressed like I was talking about before. And that's really the root of my. issues, but I also do a few things. Like, I stay very hydrated. I brought my element electrolytes with me, and that really helped, especially with all the flying and just the heat and grease, which was like 100 degrees in a lot of places. I try to be really active. I also bring my array bloat pills with me, and I'll take like two or three if I have a really heavy meal. I drank a lot of ginger tea, dandelion tea or capsules can really help with water retention, especially after flying, because it's diuretic. I always bring charcoal pills with me in case I get an upset stomach.

I don't go anywhere without zofran, if I'm being honest. It helps with nausea and bloating. And then, of course, like just maintaining my meditation and breathing exercises in the morning and sometimes night helps to keep that parasympathetic nervous system active. What are my go-toes to deal with anxiety? Well, I'm not going to lie, my anxiety has been off the charts, kind of it, intermittently lately. It was very exacerbated by traveling and jet lag, like I said. When I first got to Athens, it was like crazy. And also when I got an IUD a couple months ago, that was the worst experience ever, ever, not to discourage anyone from doing it, but holy crap, I am super sensitive to synthetic hormones.

And I don't know why I thought that getting an IUD would be any different than taking a pill. and I literally felt like I was losing my mind and in a constant panic attack for the week that I had it. Yeah, I lasted one week. But my normal tools for anxiety are like, of course, prayer, meditation, breath work. I've been doing Wim Hof's 10-minute breath work for beginners that's on YouTube, which is great. Going for a walk always helps, calling people to talk about them and get out of thinking about me. Therapy always helps. I try to go to bed really early because sometimes my anxiety wakes me up early and then if I'm anxious and I get less than like seven or eight hours of sleep. It's magnified tenfold. And then when I do all of that and I'm still feeling it

really badly, I will take my Ned's CBD, which doesn't really change the way I feel mentally. It just takes away the edge of the anxiety if that makes sense. I also take magnesium at night. I know I'm late to the game here, but I've always had to be careful with it because of my sensitive stomach. But I love Ned's mellow magnesium drink, which I do at night. And then I also got these gummies that I am obsessed with. They have sugar, but I take like four and I feel so relaxed and it really helps me to sleep so much better. I'll try to find the brand and post them on Instagram. You guys can send me a message that I remember to do that. And what else? Oh, when I was having really bad anxiety on my trip. I went to the pharmacy in Athens and I got L-theonine. L-thianine is, I believe,

an amino acid. It's in matcha. It's what helps kind of promote like a restful alertness. And I would take 300 milligrams in the morning and then do my meditation and my breathwork. And it helped so, so much. So L-thianine, new fave. And I think that's it when it comes to my anxiety tools. Somebody said, my voice is so soothing, do I always feel as calm as I sound? Well, this kind of goes with the anxiety questions. And thank you, but no, sometimes I really do feel super calm and grounded. I think that's kind of my baseline when I'm taking care of myself and keeping my routine and my rituals in place. But I'm also very sensitive. I get anxious really easily. Maybe it's from trauma. like I'm just wired that way or it's just my brain chemistry, but it can really be a struggle sometimes

and it can be really frustrating when I know that I have nothing to be anxious about, but I feel it anyway. And I've seen and I've heard interviews with myself when inside I remember I was so anxious, but outside I looked and I sounded super calm and I'm like, damn, I can really put on a good front. And that is actually what's gotten me in trouble in my life because I tend to be kind of closed off and don't let people in and don't tell people what's really going on inside. And it's gotten a lot better since I've been sober. And obviously professionally, there's a time to be open and there's a time to just do my job regardless of how I'm feeling. But sometimes, you know, that has been to my detriment, especially before I got sober. I could put on a pretty good face and convince people that everything was okay

when it really wasn't inside. But all of this is to say that no, I'm not super calm and collected all of the time. But when I'm doing certain things, I usually feel that way until external things make me feel a little bit anxious. What is something I regret putting off for a long time? For example, using retinal or getting TSA pre-check. That's funny. I would say staying out of the sun. I did so much damage in my teens and 20s, not that I can talk now, given that I'm brown

after vacation, but I think a couple weeks out of the year in the Mediterranean is very different than daily tanning and tanning beds for years at a time. I used to go to the tanning bed twice a day. Like, that was seriously, I just can't believe I even did that. That was a huge vice of mine. I was definitely a tannoholic as well as an alcoholic. And yeah, that's the only one that really comes to my mind immediately. I mean, I'm sure sometimes I wish I got sober earlier, but I'm also in a really good place now and I feel like everything worked out in the way that it was supposed to, so I can't really say that I regret putting it off. Speaking of sobriety, how can I resist alcohol on vacation? Well, I've been sober for seven and a half years now and it's just such a normal part of my life

that I really don't think about it. And I do certain things daily to maintain my spiritual life, which is what fills the void that I was attempting to fill with alcohol. So I pray and I meditate in the morning. I have my sober network that I'm in touch with and all of that. And when I do that, I'm treating the root cause of why I drank because really it wasn't about alcohol. The alcohol was a symptom of what was going on inside. I felt uncomfortable in my skin. I felt fearful and insecure and like untethered to anything bigger than myself. And so I drank to quiet all the noise in my head that was a result of feeling those things. So if you're struggling, with alcohol, just know that stopping drinking isn't the solution. The solution is dealing with

the shit that you're drinking to cover up. So I digress a little bit, but I haven't craved alcohol since I got sober, thank God, as long as I'm doing certain things to maintain my sobriety. And also, I just know myself. I'm not a casual drinker. So I know that, like, having a glass of tequila or rosé on vacation would not ever be in the realm of possibility. Because once I have one, all bets are off. And after a few drinks, I'm trying to find some blow and then I'm off to the races. So I don't know if I really answered how I resist on vacation. I guess I don't really have the urge, so there's no resisting. Okay. Can I share a story about influencer drama or people not being who they claim to be? You would think that I would have some stories about influencer drama, but I really don't

personally. I have friends that have stories. But everyone I've ever come. into contact with and the industry has overall been pretty nice. Of course, a lot of people are different in real life than they are online, but in some cases, I can't really fault someone for that. I think ultimately we're all curating what we put out there. And sometimes it might not totally match up with reality. But I don't know. I do know a few influencers who talk about like being all natural and not doing Botox or filler. And I actually do. And I remember a few years ago influencers who said they didn't count macros and they did. That was like during BB. G days, but I don't know, drama and caddiness is not really something that I have experienced firsthand.

How do I spend my free time? Well, I feel like I'm always working, which is kind of a problem that I'm trying to figure out how to have boundaries with. Just really in the last year with COVID and how social media has evolved, there's never not work to do and there's never really time to be off, which is really hard. So I don't necessarily have days off per se, but I carve out time daily to like go for a walk, see my girlfriends, work out, read, cook, or bake, although that usually ends up going on Instagram or TikTok. So it's sort of work. I'll hang out with Chuck. I'll play my word games. Like I'm obsessed with the New York Times spelling bee and crosswords. I will take Harvey to the beach, travel, obviously. Those are a few things. Do I have a full staff?

I don't know if this means Chuck and I or me personally, but Chuck and I do have people that work at our house full time. And then personally, just to keep all things, the blonde files running, I have an assistant. I have managers who do all my social media brand deals and the day to day that comes along with that. I have Bailey and her team who do graphics for my podcast and the blonde files helps Instagrams. I have Chelsea who manages my website and newsletter. and Jasmine who does graphics for that. And then at Dear Media, I have my producer extraordinaire, Brian, and let's see, I have a guy who does video content for my podcast. Then I have Nicole, my photographer, who I shoot with a few times a week. And I'm about to hire a social media manager to help with video content. So there's a lot of people that help keep everything going for sure. Okay, I'm going to do some short, random ones to close. What self-tanner do I use? I love Lux unfiltered. I just mix a little bit of the lotion with my moisturizer when I do self-tanner. I don't do the face one. People always ask me. I just feel like face self-tanner is not doable when you're using serums and stuff like that. Like,

it only lasts a day or two. So I usually just do my body. If I had to only eat one region of food, what would I choose? Probably a Mexican or Italian. What's in my carry-on when I travel? Let's see. My laptop, chargers, CBD oil, a book, AirPods, snacks. Like, I always have a go macro bar and other snacks, depending on how far I'm flying. Body moisturizer, codily. I don't know if I'm saying it right. I love their beauty elixir spray for travel. And I love three ships lip balm because my lips always get dry when I fly. Which vaccine did I get and what were the side effects? I got Madurna. I got Madurna. and with the first one I was just super tired for like five days.

And then with the second one, I had flu-like symptoms for the first night. And then I was fine after that. Tell us who the bitchy actresses. There have been a couple that I've talked about on the podcast, which I will not reveal. But I'll do a solo episode after the Emmys in September, hopefully as long as they're still in person. And maybe I'll have some new tea. Am I close with my family? Yes, very close.

who takes my travel pictures. I always have a friend take them if we're with friends, which we've been doing lately, like traveling with friends as opposed to just the two of us. Otherwise, I will ask Chuck, but you guys know how that usually turns out. Although day one in Athens, he kept asking to take my picture and he got some really good ones. I don't know what came over him. Maybe he was delirious from jet lag. But then when I asked him the next day, he was not thrilled.

So it was a fluke. All right. I think I'll save some of these. other questions for my next solo. And I hope that this was helpful in some way, made sense, was entertaining. And please, if you haven't yet, remember to write a review, rate the podcast, follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, or subscribe if you're on Spotify or another platform. It really helps to keep it on the charts when there are so, so many new podcasts coming out. It is crazy.

And I appreciate you guys. Love you. Talk to you soon. I hope you enjoyed that episode. If you liked it and if you like the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes a long way and it's actually the best way to support the show. Also, if you want to see more about each episode,

you can head over to The Blonde Files podcast on Instagram. I'm always posting about each episode there or over on my personal page at area Lurie.