Turns out, having friends is a pretty neat thing. #deepthoughtsmonday. The neatness level is amplified when those pals are on their own Whole30 journey alongside you. And the neatest of all? When you spend your eve nourishing your bod and soul with a slammin’ Whole30 compliant dinner and convos rich in NSVs with those friends and fam. True story— NSV whiparounds. More coming on that soon.

Enter Dionne (accompanied by her pseudo talented friends) and her eternally untouchable ballad, That’s What Friends Are For. Encourage you give this ditty a listen for the rest of the read. Lose yourself in those perfect harmonies — go ‘head. You deserve it.

This melodic jam hasn’t left my head since we wrapped our din din. Because gosh darn it Dionne, that IS what friends are for. To make you feel normal during a time when the rest of the world makes you feel very much the opposite, to toss back 15 cans of sparkling water — team LaCroix, team Spindrift — we welcome you both, and give you the space to abs-hurt-laugh at hella inapprop subject matter — which in turn, allows you to suspend your every-waking-moment-is-spent-thinking-about-whole30 existence.

If you haven’t already, encourage you to get a ‘night of normalcy’ on your cal with some fellow Whole30ers. It breathed the kind of rejuvenation into the (almost) second half of the journey that we all were thirsty for. A thirst not even the tastiest carbonated water could quench.

If you need inspiration for your evening (or morning or afternoon for that matter) of Return to Normalcy, highlights from ours you’re invited to steal:

• Team Aaronlyn (that’s Aaron and Carolyn) who, fun fact, officiated our wedding this past fall and we love oh so dearly, whipped up an OUT OF THIS WORLD tomato basil soup that started the night off strong. ERMAHGERD. (insert hand raise emoji).
• Next up, a massaged kale salad with pistaches, pomegranate seeds, green apple, and a few pumpkin seeds to boot. Massaged kale, I realize, sounds all sorts of extra. If you’re new to the kale massaging world (only about 3 weeks old myself) encourage you to give it a go. Game changer. Especially if kale isn’t your jam.
• Main attraction was brought to you by my astronomically more kitchen talented sister. These crab cakes were a smoke show in all the ways. Heat-packed and so friggin perfect. Before your heads explode from recipe read; she bought the crab meat vs. painfully acquiring the goods from the crab itself. She loves us, but that’s some next level ish.
• Accompanying the crabbies, some hug-you-so-hard comfort food in the form of mashed cauliflower. Holy sike-you-out potatoes. She actually created this scrumptiousness from Danielle Walker’s Celebrations, but for the sake of getting you guys the goods virtually — Nom Nom Paleo delivers a great backup.
• For dessert — we indulged in the ‘Game of Twisted Innuendos’. Hence the belly laughs and leaving us all feeling a bit less morally aligned.

Somewhere along the way, I pulled my go-to meal move, the beloved (and also dreaded by some) whip-around question. This go ‘round: “What’s the NSV you’re most proud of so far”. Folks, this part of the eve was pure magic and gave me the sort of THIS IS THE COOLEST THING TO HAVE EVER HAPPENED I WANT EVERYONE I KNOW AND LOVE TO DO THE WHOLE30 RIGHT NOW vibes. Here are a few examples of the earned goodness thus far — if you’re grossed out easily, look away:

• No more nighttime mucus buildup and mouth breathing (this is especially awesome for me, as I’m roommates with the person that owns these wins).
• Time spent in the bathroom is about a third of what it once was #cleanpipes.
• Morning fog is a thing of the past.
• Speaking of morning, the face/hands/feet puffiness that would accompany the first 1–2 hours of the day have vanished.
• PR at the gym. Gains on gains.
• Skin inflammation is on a serious decline — which has led to no more meds. Wee!
• Speaking of meds — sound slumbers withOUT leaning on our now friend of the past, NyQuill.

You guys. Come on. Some life-changing, scream from the rooftops sort of stuff. And we’ve still got 16 days head of us. Continue to be grateful for the chance to articulate wins (and all the pains that brought them to us) with others — something I didn’t do my first Whole30 rodeo, and it’s making round two exponentially more powerful.

So folks, for the sake of the NSV everywhere, keep simlin’, keep shinin’.

p.s. Tara’s had some big weekend discoveries. Give a read if you haven’t already and let the feel good continue. She’s got some on point nods to Clueless to boot.