Stacy’s Recapping Best of 2023: Looking back, I am so incredibly grateful for the community that allows for me to feel accomplished, for huge milestones, and especially for the seeds planted in 2023 that I am looking forward to nurturing in 2024. New endeavors fill my cup and we’ve got more to come!
Below you’ll find a recap of the top educational articles from 2023 and podcast playlists for must-listen episodes you may have missed. Plus, a recap of our lives: a family recap, my amazing travel adventures, and the best books I read in 2023. It was a weird year, but I’m grateful to be doing this work with you. Thank you for supporting me and the family this past year and all the years prior!
Best of 2023: Family
We celebrated a lot of milestones and challenges this year, but because of you all and support my work, l I was able to take the time to focus on my incredible family. Here are a few reflections from this past year:
- I sent four TEENAGERS off to school!
- Cole graduated from high school
- Finn started driving and got his first job.
- Wesley was diagnosed with Autism, leading to a year of discovery
I was hoping to end the year with an announcement of an official adoption of kiddo, but unfortunately the system here in Virginia is one of the worst in the US of all states for a reason. Nevertheless, we know kiddo is family and whether we get to sign paperwork soon or after they’re their own legal adult and can choose us themselves – it doesn’t make a difference in our love.
Best of 2023: Educational Articles
New Favorite Articles
- Should I stop eating dark chocolate because of lead and heavy metals?
- How to Pick a Beautycounter skincare line?
- Clean Beauty Physical vs Safer Chemical Exfoliators
- All About Ceramides and Mighty Plump Ceramide Water Cream
- Gluten-Free Walt Disney World Dining Guide
- Ulta’s Truly Clean & Green Shopping List & Beautycounter Pop-Up
- Beautycounter Color Wheel for Shade Matching
- 8 Reasons Petroleum Jelly Has No Place in Your Lives and What to Use Instead
- Top 10 Healthiest Houseplants: Purify Air, Non-Toxic to Pets, and Hard to Kill
- Natural or Not: Target Clean Product Guide
- Natural or Not: Target Clean Cleaning Guide
- How I Quit Coffee (and other things I did to fix my cortisol)
- Skin Cycling & Slugging: What is it and How to with the Best (Safer) Products
- NonToxic NonStick Cookware: Chemical-Free, Mess-Free Pots & Pans
Best of 2023: Podcast Episodes
I am so grateful to my network Cloud 10 on iHeart Radio and all the guests that joined me to have some amazing conversation over on the The Whole View. This March, we celebrated one year of my solo venture of the podcast! I have exciting plans for that 100th episode, but until then – checkout my 10 favorites from my year of podcasting here, and I even have Spotify Playlist of all those episodes here and Top Podcast Episodes list from 2022 here!
Below are additional Spotify Playlists to help you navigate all the amazing shows we’ve done this year (and beyond):
- ADHD & Neurodiversity
- Aging Well
- Anti-Diet
- Autoimmunity & Wellness
- Beauty Standards
- Becoming Better Allies
- Body Peace, Neutrality & Self Love
- Brain Health & Neural Pathways & Trauma
- Cancer
- CBD & THC
- Clothes & Fashion
- Cooking
- Covid & Vaccines
- Cutting Edge Biohacking
- Epigenetics & Social Determinants Of Health
- Fertility & Sexual Health
- Foster Care
- Get Woke: A Queue To Help You Be Better
- Grief
- Gut Health
- Holidays
- Inclusive Parenting
- Myth Busting
- Nerdy Science Deep Dives
- Overcoming Fat Phobia & Bias
- Pain Management
- Perfectionism
- Personal Care (Dys)Regulation
- Pets
- Quitting (Caffeine & Alcohol)
- Self Care
- Skin Care, Personal Hygeine, Better Beauty
- Supplements
- The Doctors Are In
- Vibrant Living
- Women’s Health
- Woo Woo Self Discovery
- You’ve Got This
Best of 2023: Top 15 Books I Read
I talked a lot last year about rediscovering my love of reading, audiobooks, books on my Kindle, and the good ole’ paperback every now and then. Last year I wrapped up with my best dozen books of the year and I’m excited to share this year’s favorites from the 53 books I read:
Nonfiction
- Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture by Virginia Sole-Smith, podcast show notes here
- We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers
- Power, for All by Julie Battilana (from my Harvard Business School curriculum)
- Renaissance of Our Own: A Memoir & Manifesto on Reimagining by Rachel Cargle
- Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day by Jay Shetty (audio recommended)
- Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
Fiction
- The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell
- The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- ACOTAR series by Sarah J Maas
- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin
- Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid
- The House of Eve by Sedeqa Johnson
- Fourth Wing & Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
Short stories are a great way to get into reading:
- Golden Hills by Jennifer Weiner
- Evidence of the Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- The Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman (of Practical Magic)
- The Sixth Wedding by Elin Hilderbrand
I’d love to read with you! Join my virtual book club here (only $2 a month).
Best of 2023: New Beautycounter Products
We saw Beautycounter continue to launch clean and safe products – both skincare and makeup! The All Bright line and Reflect Effect line both got a GLOW UP! AND, we got a sneak peak of the clean FRAGRANCE which will release in 2024!
If you need a refresher on the newness, here’s a recap on what you may have missed this year:
- Clean Swipe Hyaluronic Lip Balms (January)
- Reflect Effect Bamboo Buff & Overnight Resurfacing Body Peel (February) – We first saw these products in a couple of the 2022 limited edition holiday sets! Read all about Clean Beauty Physical vs. Safer Chemical Exfoliators here!
- Cheeky Clean Highlighting Balm (April) – A companion to our Cheeky Clean Blush line (both products that you can just buy refills for!), this replaces our old Illuminating Cream Highlighter stick with a subtle and buildable glow!
- Statement Maker Lipstick (May) – With 14 nourishing, highly pigmented colors, this new line has something for everyone!
- All Bright Dark Spot Remover (June) – I saw some incredible results with this new product that I shared all about here! We also released the All Bright Duo, featuring customer-favorite C Serum with the Dark Spot Remover for a great value!
- Mighty Plump Ceramide Water Cream (July) – Another gamechanger with rockstar ceramides, I explain what they are and why this product works here!
- SNEAK PEAK: Clean Eau De Parfum (September) – The full product line will release sometime in Spring 2024, but we got to try out our NEW product category of Clean Fragrance (!!!) with our duo of Sun Spill and Miles Away release as part of our holiday collection here.
Best of 2023: Travel & Exploration
January
Kiddo and I went to Leguna Beach, California and then up to LA for a mix of work (for me) and play! I recap our adventures here!
March
I headed back to Los Angeles, California in March to celebrate Beautycounter’s 10th Anniversary.
And later in the month we headed down to Oak Island, NC for a family Spring Break.
April
Was a wonderful month of travel I was lucky to spend the second half of Spring Break in Puerto Rico (for Beautycounter’s Voices of Change trip). I’d never been and loved exploring as well as connecting with colleagues.
On my way I stopped over in Tampa, Florida to see T-Swift with my sister. And, I got to visit and stay with my good friend and mentor Jennifer Robins. It was Taylor’s first outdoor stadium on the tour and experiencing it with my sister was magical. This trip was incredibly inspiring, and was even a catalyst for some big news I launched later in the year.
May
I loved attending and speaking at our broader team’s conference in Chicago, IL. I got to truly enjoy some alone time in one of my favorite cities. And, even got new ink inspired by my trip to Puerto Rico!
Later that month we took a local trip to go antiquing at the 23rd Annual Lucketts Spring Market!
July
After a break in June (celebrating Cole’s graduation we welcomed many visitors), July brought two adventures. First, we went on a fun but challenging family vacation to Oak Island, NC.
Then, later that month I was gifted a much-needed solo trip to Georgetown, DC for “Hotel Mommy” time! Looking back I’d call that parenting season “difficult” and without time to truly relax and reset I wouldn’t have been able to have patience to manage it.
August
I went back to North Carolina, but this time to Charlotte, NC for Beautycounter’s LEAD 2023 event! I was honored to be a speaker and loved reconnecting with my colleagues in this fun and educational environment.
September & October
At the end of September, I set out on my first truly international trip of the year to the magical Rocky Mountains in Banff & Calgary, Canada! I truly experienced awe, and it has inspired me to prioritize more this coming year!
What’s to come in 2024?
After a quiet winter at home, Matt and I will be heading to Hawaii in just a few weeks. It’s both a work trip and a celebration of our 22nd anniversary. I look forward to sharing this adventure and all to come!
I’d love to hear what you’re interested in! As I prepare content for 2024, what topics do you want covered in website articles or on podcasts?
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