I have to admit that using ChatGPT can be quite addicting! I still have not used it to write blog posts, emails, or letters but I find it quite useful for brainstorming ideas. My last blog post was about using ChatGPT to help with every day activities. My first try was to create a schedule …
It seems like every podcast that I listened to in the last couple of weeks focused on the role that artificial intelligence (AI) is having and will have in our lives. These podcasts really gave me a lot to think about as it pertains to my job, the field of medicine in general, and even …
Now that my children have been in camp for one full week, I feel like I have a good idea of what is working for them as far as amount of food and snacks I am sending. I really dislike prepping lunches for school and camp but I realized the deconstructed approach I have taken …
I am embarrassed to say that Wildfork has been in my neighborhood for a little while now and I had not gone in until very recently. I blame this on my obsession with buying meat at Costco but I think will have to re-visit this strategy! The first thing I want to say is that …
I don’t know about you but this Winter, I am having a much harder time making decisions than usual. I wrote the first blog post on decision fatigue January 2022. This was almost 2 years after the pandemic had started, forcing all of us to make tons of decisions using information from a rapidly changing …
After a week of a lot of reflection, I realized that one of the things I have been trying to work on for the last few years is being present. I mainly think about this when it comes to spending time with my children but it can apply to anything. Sometimes it feels like if …
The time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is one of my favorite times of the year and not just because the pumpkin spice latte is back. The Jewish New Year feels very different than the regular New Year to me. The holidays in December are always packed with events, school breaks, trips, work (since …
We have made it past the first week of school and are adjusting to lots of new things. New routines, new nanny, new activities, everybody on the bus… It has been very exciting to say the least but also brought some chaos. I remember when my first born was a few weeks old, there were …
Transitions are hard. I think we all know this in our hearts but if you have young children, you witness this hardship multiple times a day. Even if your child likes what you are offering, they may not want to stop doing what they are doing. My son never wants to take a bath but …
As you all probably know by now, I love a good Costco trip! Luckily, running out of meat and back to school dates coincided for me to go just at the right time. I bought the usual good deals, such as the individually-packaged chicken (breasts were $7 off per package!) and canned salmon. I also …
This week marks my husband’s and I’s ten year wedding anniversary (and 16 years together!). I was looking at cards to buy and so many of them talk about how the other person makes them happy. This got me thinking about that topic. It seems like a very big burden to have to make people …
I can’t believe we are already getting close to mid-August and thinking about school. I know some states have already started classes – hello Georgia… and some start next week. Here in the greater Philadelphia we have just under a month. This is the perfect time to start thinking about how to make the frenzy …
Since I have not been able to see Barbie the movie yet, I have put together the next best thing for you: easy recipes for your slow cooker! When I was pregnant with my first child, I spent a lot of time researching and curating easy and healthy recipes. I was terrified that I would …
I love to work out. I don’t always like it while it is happening but I love how I feel when I am done. It is upsetting to me if I don’t feel like the work out was hard enough. I know I had a good one if I felt like I was almost going …
Summer is finally here…hot sun, pool weather, playground, beach trips but also…rain. Lots of rain. I guess it depends where you live but if you are in the Northeast or Florida (the two areas I am familiar with), you have been getting lots of rain recently. Rainy day activities in the summer are different than …
Fall may have my favorite pumpkin-related items but summer is full of fresh fruits and vegetables. I love being able to eat lots of good fruits as snacks and share those with my children. I also enjoy cooking with zucchini and yellow squash because they are so versatile! Cucumbers are good too but I mostly …
I was trying to think of some witty name for the blog post but really couldn’t come up with anything, so did the next best thing. I gave it a name that tells you exactly what the post is about! Bowls are always very fashionable in healthy fast food restaurants and just in general. You …
Time-management is one of my favorite topics of all time. It can be applied to any area of your life and its only goal is to make your life better. Many folks are scared of time-management. People are often asking me how I can be so organized. Often, this question is followed by a comment …
For this week’s blog post, I have the pleasure of sharing with you some of the work that Dr. Saloni Sharma is doing in order to help shift the management of pain from pills to natural alternatives. She is local to me and I already follow her on Instagram and Facebook and can’t wait to …
This week is going to be fun and action packed, so I wanted to bring you something short and sweet. I planned my week carefully on Sunday night as I always do, which included the time slot for writing my post. I went back and forth a little bit about whether or not I should …
I was inspired to write about melatonin after scrolling through several Instagram posts about how all that mothers want is some alone time and good sleep (at least those that have small children). One of the first blog posts on this site was about how horrible my sleep is and how hard I have been …
Next Sunday is Mother’s Day, so of course I had to write something about being mom. I wasn’t sure what to focus on at first but after a deep dive through the Internet, I realized that mom guilt is still one of the top things that affects mothers everywhere. Whether you are a working mom, …
Cinco de Mayo is coming up this week and what better way to celebrate than by eating delicious food? I wanted to share a few recipes of easy and healthy meals that have Mexican-inspired flavors. Two of them have been featured on the blog before but I thought it would be a good idea to …
I don’t know about you, but I am still trying to get back into the swing of things after returning from Spring Break. Not to mention that one of my children had a full TWO weeks off from school, which threw me off as far as routines go even more! As I try to get …
Last December, I wrote a blog post about travel hacks when traveling with kids within the USA and mostly short flights. We recently had the chance to travel to Argentina and enjoyed an 11 hour direct flight from JFK. I learned some new things that I wished I thought ahead of time, so I am …
This is the third and final blog post in my series of what originally started as winter soups to make in the Instant Pot. It was cold this weekend but this week will be ridiculously hot (at least in the Northeast US). I love to make white bean chicken chili in my Instant Pot but …
If you didn’t know, this week is National Doctors Day, a holiday celebrated yearly on March 30. I was not aware of this date for some time and even thought it was a new addition to the calendar. It turns out it has been around since 1933 when a physician’s wife in Georgia (Eudora Brown …
I couldn’t have a winter soup series without attempting to make my most favorite soup, which I eat year round and not just in the fall: butternut squash. I ended up making my own recipe and it can be made vegan if you would like. If you are able to buy the uncooked butternut squash …
Most of you probably know that March is Women’s History Month and that March 8 is International Women’s Day. I try to write something relevant or in honor of this month during one of my March blog posts but this year I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. At first I thought I could …
Now that Winter has returned to the Northeast, I have decided to try making a bunch of new soups with the Instant Pot. I had a bag of split peas left from the last time I made soup with a Dutch Oven and this was so much easier! I will be featuring a new soup …
Last week was National Women Physicians Day and I wanted to take the time to share a Tedx talk by physician, best selling author, and leadership coach (amongst other things), Dr. Tammie Chang. I first became acquainted with Dr. Chang after being invited to join the Facebook group she co-founded, Pink Coat, MD. I was …
I can’t believe the first month of 2023 is basically over! In my last blog post, I shared my new found love – the Happy Planner. I discussed a little bit about why I switched from my bullet journal to this one but today, I want to go over the process I use to help …
I hope everyone had a chance to reflect during MLK day and/or have some opportunities for service. It’s ok if you didn’t! Plan for it for next year. As I was getting ready to write my blog for the week, I realized I didn’t have anything too profound to blog about in Dr. Martin Luther …
I decided in December that 2023 is going to be my best year yet. After all, I am turning 40 soon!!! Of course, as life likes to do, the first order of business of January 2023 was to throw a big curveball: flights cancelled from Miami to Philadelphia less than 2 hours prior to departure, …
After a few weeks off from the blog due to the BEST World Cup (Mundial) EVER and some holiday inpatient service time, I am back with some recommendations as we are once again getting ready to travel during a busy holiday season. We have been fortunate to be able to travel with the kids since …
I recently listed to a series called Shame in Medicine that was published in the podcast The Nocturnists. If you work in medicine (whether a doctor or another type of provider), it is definitely work checking it out. It really got me thinking about how we are taught from the undergraduate pre-med courses to the …
I have always known that my brain is constantly planning the next move. I like Medicine because it forces me to really focus and stay present in what I am doing at the time. My brain is not able to take a life of its own and try to make my next to-do list. There …
I wanted to call this post ‘Halloween hacks’ but as someone who didn’t grow up with this holiday, that title didn’t ring true. Celebrating Halloween with children has truly been a fun but chaotic adventure that I have been navigating as best as possible the last couple of years. I always imagine living in Buenos …
If you told me fifteen years ago that I would be going apple picking and frolicking around pumpkin patches, I would have laughed in your face. For a long period of my life, Fall wasn’t even a season I acknowledged (thank you, Florida). Then, I moved to the Northeast and I learned about pumpkin spice …
Fall is definitely here. School feels like it’s already been happening for months. Sports and weekend activities are in full swing. There is often not a minute to waste and easy “no-cook” meals can be a life-saver. If you search for this type of meals on Google, you may end up with a lot of …
As some of you might know, we just started a long stretch of many Jewish holidays. The first one, Rosh Hashanah, is the Jewish New Year. Next week, there will be a fast as part of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. We were fortunate to be able to travel to South Florida to spend …
I initially was going to write a post about what type of food children could start making on their own but I think I overestimated my children’s maturity when it comes to these matters. For what it’s worth, the Internet tells me that by age 8, our children should be fully involved in packing their …
It has only been a week since school started for us and it already feels like summer never happened. Without careful planning, dinner can easily be an afterthought at best (take out, anyone?) or a full-blown disaster of screaming children, burnt food, and unhealthy choices. My slow-cooker (Crockpot) has been a life-saver for years now. …
I picked this topic for the blog a few months ago when I was doing my content planning thinking that I would feel overwhelmed as summer came to a close and school was starting, not knowing what a crazy month August would be. It turns out it is a good follow-up to last week’s blog …
Talking about grief was not my intention for this week’s blog post but life is always throwing curveballs at us and I decided to break from my previously planned schedule and write about grief and loss. There is never really a good time to talk about grief, but there were too many untimely deaths in …
I don’t know about you but this summer flew by! In the suburbs of Philadelphia, we have about two weeks before school starts. I am both nervous and excited for my oldest as she enters first grade and for my son’s last year of pre-school. As always, I like to deal with any type of …
Last week’s blog was all about easy and fun outdoor activities for the summer, but what happens when it rains? The activities listed below are fun and can also be done year round. I am definitely not a “cool” mom that wants to go play in the rain and I am sure I probably tell …
Since I moved to the Northeast, I realized I love summer a lot. I didn’t know that until I left Florida and discovered the brutal winters we go through in Philly and New York. It becomes even more important when you have kids because you can spend time outside instead of destroying your home and …
I love summer so much because it makes me want to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and light meals. I typically meal plan for the whole work week on Sunday nights but that leaves Sunday night open and also our weekend lunches. Friday and Saturday nights are our times to go out to eat or …
Summer time brings camp, outside time, and… prepping lunches. During the school year, my daughter got free lunch and my son was only in school from 9 to 12, so he ate lunch at home. Their diet involved a lot of soup with vegetables and pasta, so figuring out how to make healthy lunches for …
After a brief hiatus from blog-writing, I am back with many Summer/hot weather-related topics that I hope you will find useful. I know I missed my weekly writing sessions! I have a child that has a Winter birthday and one with a late Spring, it is almost Summer birthday. Stay tuned for Winter birthday ideas…Today, …
I was recently chatting with friends and it came up that cooking with fish sounded like a great idea but felt intimidating. I remember feeling this way many years ago, so I thought it would be nice to write a short guide about how to get going if you have not yet tried to cook …
It is finally Spring, although if you live in the Northeast you wouldn’t know it since it is cold, gloomy, and rainy today. I just got back from a wonderful trip from sunny Florida and this weather made me a little sad. However, it is April and Spring, so time to start thinking about Spring …
I wanted to write this blog post more for my own research purposes than anything else. I have a 4 year old and an almost 6 year old and the only way we get through a full sit down dinner is by dangling the carrot that is “last course”. It started out occasionally with my …
Call me crazy but I love a good trip to Costco. I have dabbled in Walmart and BJs over the years but I always go back to my beloved Costco. However, it can be very easy to turn a much needed trip to the store into a several hour fiasco. Have no fear! This blog …
People ask me all the time, “how do you do it all?” The truth is I don’t. Some weeks, I am the best mom and don’t focus on work. Other weeks, I barely see my children. I have talked about mom guilt in the past but this blog post is about the next step. Once …
International Women’s Day is celebrated yearly on March 8. I always congratulate all my female family and friends. As I was getting ready to write the post for this week, I realized I didn’t know much of the history behind it. Before getting into this year’s theme which is shedding the spotlight on biases that …
I didn’t want to let February go by without highlighting a Black physician but this month almost got away from me! On this last day and hour of February, I want to introduce you to Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler. I hope you already knew about her but I didn’t. She is recognized for being the …
This post for everybody. It is not about being in a traditional relationship or in love. It is about engaging in diverse and meaningful connections with those around us. Before I started dating my current husband, I had pretty similar views to my previous partners. The same goes for my group of friends from college. …
Before I had children, I loved to make soups when it got cold. After having kids, I loved the idea of making soups but didn’t have as much time to do it. I still try to make some soup here in there though, because it is a great way to use up veggies and have …
Who else gets super excited about making one meal and then having 2-3 leftover options after that? I used to just serve the same thing several times in one week but then I realized I could repurpose what I cooked into new meals. Today, I will go over how to use chicken tacos, chicken fajitas, …
I don’t know about you but the first week of 2022 was a bit more exciting than what I was hoping for. As usual, I was glad I wrote a bunch of inspiring posts because I was all ready to quit 2022 three days into it. Whenever I felt down or hopeless, I just re-read …
I will start right off the bat by saying that I am on the nay side of the fence. As someone who has worked out pretty frequently for most of my adult life, New Year resolutions were annoying. Every January my favorite spin class would be full unless you got there 30 minutes early. All …
Blog post is coming in a little bit late this week due to some very exciting work-related travel but here I am! I didn’t want to skip this week’s topic since I feel like I have not been following all of my own advice. I am writing this post mainly as a reminder to myself …
Great news, everybody! The answer is yes. I don’t know about you, but I have a gallon freezer bag full of turkey and it’s already been 5 days since the actual holiday. I will admit that I love Thanksgiving meals in all their glory, so I have been enjoying making mini-sandwiches with turkey and ALL …
It’s been a couple of years since I wrote a post on gratitude. I was going to write a blog post on healthy tips for Thanksgiving but decided that was a little lame and that it would be better to take some time to really give thanks (stay tuned for an Instagram story later this …
I never thought I would ever write about something like “appliances.” I guess part of adulting is getting excited about ways to save time. I get very hyped when talking about how to be efficient in the kitchen. You may want to be someone who keeps their countertop bare. Sometimes, I think I want to …
If you have a full time job and people to feed, I strongly recommend you consider freezing meals. Heck, even if you are a stay-at-home mom (which to me it’s like two full time jobs!), you should give it a try. A lot of people think freezing meals will take too much time. This may …
Does your idea of spending quality time with your kids after you get home from work include snuggling on the couch while watching TV? No? Just me? I forgot my work laptop in my office today and that is where I have my blog post content spreadsheet. I cannot remember for the life of me …
I love Fall so much! Maybe it is because I spent 8 years without seasons while living in Florida or maybe it is all the delicious pumpkin and squash I get to eat…I don’t know but I love it! Hopefully, you love it also and will enjoy reading some of my favorite Fall recipes as …
People ask me all the time, how do you do it? I sometimes wonder what ‘it’ is but I am guessing they are talking about working, raising kids, being someone’s partner, maintaining good relationships with family and friends, volunteering and participating in other activities, and at some point resting, too! I will admit I just …
It is nice to be able to meal prep and plan as much as possible but there are always going to be occasions where that is not possible. Kids are back to school, many of us are working in person, and weekend sport activities have returned. I want to share 4 easy and healthy recipes …
This post is also inspired by my friend Maggie. She was wondering how I could always know when I was available or wasn’t, how I knew what to do, and how other people fit in when making plans. As I mentioned in the last post, I keep a lot of ‘free time’ in my schedule. …
This topic may not sound very sexy (although it is to me!) but it is definitely important. People often ask me how do I have enough time to do all the things I do. The answer is pretty easy: planning! I am pretty lucky because with my job I get my full year schedule of …
As I am getting ready to celebrate 8 years with my husband, I got to thinking about how to improve communication in a relationship. I recently wrote a blog post about sharing the mental load and avoiding resentment but this is different. Good communication is important in all aspects of marriage or any relationship, Why …
As a follow-up to my last blog post on living a healthy lifestyle, I wanted to do a little research about how to get an energy boost without using too much caffeine, energy drinks, or buying expensive supplements that may not work. Since I am not getting paid by anyone to write this post and …
I find myself talking about healthy lifestyles often in my clinic. Whether we are talking about migraines or how to prevent breakthrough seizures, maintaining good habits is a key part of all of my patients’ care. We even have a catchy title for the handouts we give to our patients: “Healthy Habits.” However, I also …
I told myself that when my children were old enough to eat any food that was not a puree, they would eat what my husband and I ate. I just chuckled while I was writing that by the way. Every once in a while, all stars align and the 4 of us share a meal …
Hopefully the answer most of the time is no…but I wanted to talk about something called “the mental load.” An article in Forbes calls it “emotional labor.” Another article in Refinery29 defines it as “the state of living in the shadow of a never-ending-to-do-list.” There is a 2017 report commissioned by the non-profit care organization …
I have to admit that after three short weekend trips in the last month, I did not get any formal exercise time. I packed my gym clothes, wore sneakers, and of course, had my trusty Peloton app. Needless to say, between long days at the beach and putting toddlers to bed, there were no work-outs …
When I think of warm weather, I think of dining al fresco. Our meals have become less romantic with two young children, but it doesn’t mean we can’t try! I used to do fun picnics with wine and cheese in Central Park while I was in residency in New York. These days, I try to …
Since the pandemic started over a year ago, many of us stopped eating outside our home. Some people stopped going in to work and most children are eating more meals at the house as well, especially if doing virtual schooling options. I have heard or seen around Facebook groups many mothers complain that they simply …
As Mother’s Day approaches, I have been thinking about what kind of day I would like. Do I want to be with my kids? Alone? Girlfriends? Date night with my husband? Am I a bad mom for thinking that I may want to have time without my children on Mother’s Day? It was as if …
This is my first AI- assisted blog post (in the spirit of my AI series!). I will say that I heavily edited and had to check and update the information quite a bit but it definitely was useful to use ChatGPT for content inspiration and organization. Here we go! In the last, I selected women …
Welcome 2025! I decided after several months of taking a break from writing the blog that it was time to come back. I promised myself when I started the blog that I wouldn’t do it if it felt like a burden or something stressful and I have really stuck to my commitment of only writing …
I am finally starting to feel like the warmth is here to stay and in hopes that this is true, I am writing a very summery blog post. Avocados are now selling at $1 per fruit near me and that usually is the signal that they are in season since they can sell anywhere from …
It’s been months since the New Year and the so-called time to set resolutions but I was inspired to think about fitness goals after trying a new work out style. I recently did a Peloton PowerZone challenge, which is usually not how I like to work out. There is a lot of long rides where …
Am I the only one who spent the entire Winter figuring out who would stay home with one or both sick children while trying to go to work, participate in kids’ activities, attend birthday parties, and still try to work out and sleep sometimes? If you felt like the Winter months were more about survival …
Busy weeks ahead mean less time for blog posts but I just wanted to quickly come in and share a recent hack I have been using for quick organization in my drawers and closet. I like to keep my clothes organized and color coated but long days, young kids, and overall dislike of cleaning up …