Welcome to my blog! I’m Krysta, and the things that are important to me are: community, hospitality, generosity, family, storytelling, words, kindness, philanthropy, faith, authenticity, inspiration, mercy, grace, humor, warmth, growth, health, love, beauty and food.
In no particular order.
My husband has suggested I cut this list of interests down to make it more readable. He also said “What else is there? I’m pretty sure you named everything good in the world.” But what can I say? I’m interested in a lot of things. HE NEEDS TO STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME A LESS INTERESTING PERSON.
For five years, I kept a food blog—www.krystaslifeinfood.com— and in that time and since, I have had many different relationships with food. I was a vegan, paleo, bulletproof, paleo, AIP, water fasted, juice fasted, I mean you name it. I did it.
After having my third child, Olivia, diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease, a few years later. This radically changed the way I looked at food. I decided I would use it to not only heal me, but to help Olivia’s brain function at the highest level possible. We went gluten free, grain free, dairy free, nightshade free, legume free, caffeine free, sugar free, egg free, I mean we were HARD CORE. I thought this would be the way to bring healing to my life. And it was, for a while. But in the end healing didn’t look the way I initially thought it would.
In order to make sense of my life with food, I needed to stop paying so much attention to the actual food. Or rather, paying so much attention to the many things I needed to exclude because excluding food group makes me resentful after a while. I needed to chill. I needed to find a lifestyle that worked both to support health and wellness, but also welcomed ice cream.
For this blog, I didn’t want to write solely about food. I wanted to write about all of the things that make up who I am. I set out to heal not just my body, but my life— it’s all holistically connected. This is my space to tell the truth, share what I’m thinking, or what makes me excited, and tell stories of anything that feels authentic to me. Anything that feels like home.
My food philosophy is ever evolving, but right now I don’t exclude any food groups in my diet, except gluten, which is highly advised for my condition. I got tired of making the weekly meal plan with all my rules and lists of all the food groups I couldn’t have. You see, I love hosting and entertaining and cooking and gathering people around my table but I don’t always like troubleshooting how to do all that without a cheese plate. It makes me sad.
Just let me have my cheese plate, please. It’s not like I have one everyday, GOSH!
I have a healthy does of hedonism running through my veins. I cook with butter and drink champagne (preferably while roasting a chicken), but I also celebrate the virtues of a clean diet. I love green juice, and I bask in the glories of a watermelon cucumber salad with fresh basil, red wine vinegar and sharp black pepper. In some ways, a mindful lifestyle that includes regular indulgences is earned so I make a spiritual practice of working out, but only the ones that bring joy or serenity to my life. And I drink the vegan green smoothies for breakfast, mostly because I love them, but also because it’s an opportunity to get tons of nutrients in my body. I take walks while listening to podcasts that inspire me, and I fold the laundry, wipe the counters, and do the grocery shopping and meal planning, and I get really quiet and pray too, because all these things fill me up.
I think we were wired to work hard, play hard. Except this only fits if the work we do is also soul giving. That’s not to say I love doing dishes or cooking night after night at times, but it gives my soul joy that I have provided for my family, and this is the what I’m after. Finding meaning in the work I do has been a game changer.
I’m a storyteller at heart. Sometimes I story tell through writing. When I was younger, I story told through acting. Sometimes I story tell– I mean, actually tell a story, like a complete glory hog among group of friends with an animated raised voice, wild hand gestures and gaggles of laughter. I’m open to all the glorious things life holds and drink it in like a grateful glutton.
I’m sorting life out. I do it here, publicly because this feels most right to me. Some people need to sort their stuff out privately. But I need a witness. And I don’t think I got enough attention as a kid or something because I need to be like HERE I AM! DO YOU LIKE ME? most everyday.
But I don’t do this so you’ll like me, so no pressure or anything. I just really, really hope you do.
Cheers!
PS- I’m toasting you with a nice, juicy Pinot Noir, but that’s because it’s after 4pm. If you find me in the morning, just pretend I’m holding a coffee mug. And if it’s lunchtime, here’s to iced tea…unless it’s Saturday, in which case I’ll have a little snifter of tequila because I like to get cozy and giggly with my husband who I adore, but also because I have four kids, one of whom is a teenager— a GIRL teenager, and another who is in pre-school. Did I mention that? I feel like it’s important to mention that.
