Stephanie Hollman’s White Cover Up and Blue Tie Dye Bathing Suit

Real Housewives of Dallas Season 5 Episode 3 Fashion

When Stephanie Hollman first posted a lil’ Insta preview photo of her white cover up and blue tie die bathing suit that she wore to Kary Brittingham’s 5oth birthday party last spring I was SO obsessed. Then fast forward to today, a day that you may just mistake for your birthday because her white cover up is still in stock and our Style Stealers for the look are worthy of a total party.

The Realest Housewife,

Big Blonde Hair

Click Here to Shop her Charo Ruiz Ibiza Cover Up

Click Here for Details on Her Tie Dye Bathing Suit

Photo: @StephHollman

Originally posted at: Stephanie Hollman’s White Cover Up

Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that it’s best to gift yourself even if you’re partnered up. Sure, your S.O. might get you a necklace or new perfume but there’s nothing wrong with grabbing what you really want: Bath & Body Works’ Valentine’s Day goods. As usual, the retailer is going all out for the romantic holiday with fragrance mists, shower gel, body lotion, body cream, body wash, bath foam, lip scrub, hand soap and 3-wick candles in 15 new fragrances. Phew! We told you it was a lot.

The collection is sugary sweet with scents like Coconut Cream Pie and Strawberry Pound Cake. The packaging is seriously cute, as expected from Bath & Body Works, in shades of red, pink and gold. Pick up a few for yourself (you deserve a night of self-care!) and grab some for your friends, work wife and mom. There’s so much to choose from, with even more fragrances online than you can find in the store.

Shop a few of our favorites below and visit Bath & Body Works for the rest of the Valentine’s Day goodies.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Bath & Body Works.

Raspberry Jam Donut Shower Gel

With scents of wild raspberry jam, powdered sugar and donuts.

Bath & Body Works.

Pineapple Pancakes 3-Wick Candle

With pineapple, pancakes, banana, and brown sugar essential oils.

Bath & Body Works.

Coconut Cream Pie Ultra Shea Body Cream

With scents of toasted coconut flakes, caramel custard and pie crust.

Bath & Body Works.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Super Smooth Body Lotion

With scents of milk chocolate, cherries and sweet liqueur.

Bath & Body Works.

Bubble Rosé 3-Wick Candle

With rosé, blood orange and cranberry juice with essential oils.

Valentine’s Day is one of those holidays that it’s best to gift yourself even if you’re partnered up. Sure, your S.O. might get you a necklace or new perfume but there’s nothing wrong with grabbing what you really want: Bath & Body Works’ Valentine’s Day goods. As usual, the retailer is going all out for the romantic holiday with fragrance mists, shower gel, body lotion, body cream, body wash, bath foam, lip scrub, hand soap and 3-wick candles in 15 new fragrances. Phew! We told you it was a lot.

The collection is sugary sweet with scents like Coconut Cream Pie and Strawberry Pound Cake. The packaging is seriously cute, as expected from Bath & Body Works, in shades of red, pink and gold. Pick up a few for yourself (you deserve a night of self-care!) and grab some for your friends, work wife and mom. There’s so much to choose from, with even more fragrances online than you can find in the store.

Shop a few of our favorites below and visit Bath & Body Works for the rest of the Valentine’s Day goodies.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.

Bath & Body Works.

Raspberry Jam Donut Shower Gel

With scents of wild raspberry jam, powdered sugar and donuts.

Bath & Body Works.

Pineapple Pancakes 3-Wick Candle

With pineapple, pancakes, banana, and brown sugar essential oils.

Bath & Body Works.

Coconut Cream Pie Ultra Shea Body Cream

With scents of toasted coconut flakes, caramel custard and pie crust.

Bath & Body Works.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Super Smooth Body Lotion

With scents of milk chocolate, cherries and sweet liqueur.

Bath & Body Works.

Bubble Rosé 3-Wick Candle

With rosé, blood orange and cranberry juice with essential oils.

Sometimes I worry about what my grandchildren will remember about me. I don’t live near them, and now with Covid, I don’t get to see them often. Does this worry you, too?

In today’s world – with grandparents living far away from their grandkids, and grandparents often needing to work well into what should be their retirement years – what can we do to reinvent grandma and make good connections with our grandchildren?

In recent conversations with my friends, I have found that they all have fond memories of their grandparents, whether they lived near them or not. It has helped me to worry less frequently.

Let me share a few memories with you, along with five ways to connect with distant grandkids.

The Way It Was

When I grew up in the 1950s, most families lived their whole lives near their relatives. Children grew up knowing their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and many other distant relatives because their parents continued to live and work in the communities in which they grew up, and they saw these people often.

During my early years, I lived near my paternal grandparents and maternal great-grandparents. Later, we lived several hours’ drive from them and did not see them frequently.

I especially have fond memories of my dad’s mom, Grandma Sadie, even though she never got down on the floor and played with me, and I can’t remember her ever reading me a story. We did occasionally play cards and watch television together.

She and Grandpa Wilferd were kind, hard-working, religious people and they never drank alcohol. They smiled a lot, had a huge vegetable and flower garden, and let us walk by ourselves to the grocery store and swimming hole a few blocks away. They had an interesting house with a cuckoo clock and a fully floored attic, filled with stacks of comic books.

Grandma Sadie was a terrific cook. She made the best Brown Sugar Sugar Cookies, excellent venison steak fried in butter, and would even fry the frog’s legs for us when we brought frogs home from the river. Before bed each night, she would give us toast and jam, sometimes with a little ginger ale, which we never had at home. Meals were eaten together and everyone ate whatever was served.

My Great Grandma Martin had a huge flower garden that covered the whole yard. When I was an adult, I visited the homestead and found that the yard was actually tiny, which surprised me – everything looks bigger when you’re a kid, right?

She made amazing raised doughnuts, glazed or sugared, and fabulous Blueberry Pie. If we didn’t behave, she hit us on top of the head with a thimble, so we quickly learned to do as she asked. The upstairs was unheated, but there were flannel sheets and feather blankets to keep us warm.

Grandma Sylvia, my mother’s mom, lived far away from us, and I didn’t know her well. She had a terrific laugh that my mother inherited and she seemed to always be up to something. I do not remember eating at her house; she generally came to our house for special dinners.

As you can see, most of my happy memories of my grandmothers revolve around food. Perhaps that’s why I love to cook and share food and recipes.

What Kind of Grandma Am I?

I wonder what my grandchildren will remember about me.

For one of my grandkids, I’m “the science grandma.” He lives far away and when I was able to go visit him before the pandemic I would bring a project or a science experiment to do with him. I’m not a scientist, and it probably won’t be long before he knows more than I do.

My grandson knows I am willing to help him catch bugs and that I know quite a bit about animals and the outdoors. Although I don’t like to pick them up, I’m not afraid of bugs or worms, and I enjoy fishing. I learned to love the outdoors from my dad, who was a sportsman, and I readily share my enthusiasm with my grandkids.

For the other grandchildren, I’m the one who loves to cook and serve them foods they do not eat at home. We love to make cookies and cakes together or cook simple foods.

We would go for walks and take my dog to the dog park. I’ve taken them to the children’s museum, the playground, the pool, and occasional plays or musical performances. I loved to read them stories before bed when they were little and listened to them reading when they grew older. We all miss this routine.

So, what can I do now to connect with my grandchildren, especially the ones who live a plane ride away? How do you maintain your connections? Here are 5 ways to reinvent grandma for distant grandkids.

Be Enthusiastic

Enthusiasm is contagious. It doesn’t matter what you are excited about – art, food, museums, travel, fishing or postage stamps. If you are thrilled and animated about a subject, your grandchildren will catch the “bug.”

Feed Them

Food makes memories, especially if it inspires multiple senses (taste, smell, sight, touch etc.). The camaraderie of making, smelling, and eating popcorn during a night of family activities; the fun of baking cupcakes and licking the bowl and the stimulation of awakening taste buds become embedded in the cells of young children. The mind may not remember the details, but the cells will remember the feeling.

Teach and Share with Them

You may think you aren’t a teacher, but you are one of the most influential teachers your grandchildren will ever know. They watch you and learn. Make a point of sharing your hobbies with them.

Do you know how to do finger knitting or wood burning? Can you teach them how to make a counted cross-stitch ornament? Do you know how to fish? Are you an American history enthusiast? Your grandchildren will likely be on fire to learn from you. Share your talents.

Use Electronics

My neighbor starts communicating with her grandchildren in utero. That’s right. She telephones them and asks their mom to put the phone to her abdomen so she can talk to her unborn grandchild. She has an awesome relationship with each of them and I think these telephone conversations helped her grandchildren connect with her.

You may not be willing to go as far as telephoning your awaited grandchild, but after they arrive, consider using Skype or FaceTime to regularly connect. Early in their lives let your grandchild hear your voice and see you on the screen. When they get their own phones, text them daily to see how their day went. Play games with them on the Internet. Get them a FitBit and compete with them to see who can reach the most steps per day.

Send Them Snail Mail

In today’s world, getting a card or a letter in the mail can be the highlight of someone’s day, especially children, who rarely receive mail. They learn how to manipulate a tablet computer or smartphone well before they learn to read, but they are less familiar with handwritten communications. Be different; send a physical card or letter, and ask them to write to you. Make it happen by gifting them each a box of notecards – with stamps!

These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. What do you do to enhance your grandparent-grandchild relationships? Have you found any unique ways to make memories? Please join the conversation.

I think we’re all reeling a bit from 2020 and grateful to turn the page on a new year. I’ve been thinking about New Year’s resolutions and know from experience that it’s one thing to intend to do something and quite another to actually commit to a specific action or outcome.

Take brain health for example. Through my work, I feel like I’m always expanding, often straining my brain. Yet I realized that although I’ve read extensively about brain health and ways to maximize cognitive function over a lifetime, I’ve not really committed to “exercising” the brain in ways that are proven to impact all aspects of brain health.

So, this year I’m making a commitment to activate what I know about brain health and decided to share some of the best research and practical strategies on this topic.

Just the Facts

Research shows that brain function may start deteriorating at least 20 years before symptoms of cognitive dysfunction appear, so by the time a diagnosis is made, it’s very difficult to impact the outcome. Prioritizing brain health long before you have any concerns offers your best chance for lifelong cognitive well-being.

Age, genetics, and family history are all risk factors for dementia. However, research shows that the following lifestyle habits work together to help prevent and mitigate cognitive challenges:

• regular exercise
• Mediterranean-style diet (fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish, and unsaturated fats)
• adequate sleep
• regular cognitive stimulation (especially exposing the brain to novel challenges),
• reduction of cardiovascular risk factors (what’s good for the heart is good for the brain)
• stress management strategies
• positive social connections and support

Goals

The brain continually remodels itself in response to your daily habits and experiences – either for the better or worse. Learn what puts you at greater risk and then commit to taking small actions daily to reduce those risks.

For example, the region of the brain essential for short-term memory (the hippocampus) shrinks in response to chronic stress and grows in response to meditation and exercise. A high level of chronic stress significantly increases the incidence of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

After a year like 2020, stress reduction is no longer a “should do” but a “must do” to re-build and re-enforce our defenses against stress related changes in the brain!

Form habits in each of the identified areas that support – rather than diminish – the brain’s ability to adapt to new stimuli and form new nerve cells throughout your full lifespan.

The Practical Steps

Evaluation of Current Nutritional Habits

Evaluate your nutritional habits to see if they are perpetually supporting or diminishing your chances for cognitive health – then make a choice!

Start with small changes like replacing french fries with roasted vegetables most of the time. This isn’t about deprivation but gradually making sustainable changes you can live with day after day. Move from the mindset of “I should eat better” to “what am I willing to do to maintain brain health.”

Commitment to Physical Activity

Commit to increasing physical activity – especially aerobic activity that circulates blood to the body and brain. Much of the positive impact of exercise on the brain stems from bathing the brain in oxygenated blood! Think brisk walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, etc. that require continuous movement.

Multiply the positive impact by doing these activities with others. For example, social dancing demonstrates some of the best outcomes – likely because it fully integrates physical activity, novel movement that challenges the brain, and positive social interactions!

If you’re social distancing, put on your favorite music and dance like no-one’s watching, or have a ZOOM dance party with friends.

Creating Meditation Times

Designate specific times in your day for stress reduction activities. Sitting meditative practices for as little as 12 minutes a day have a significant impact on both brain and physical health.

In addition, moving meditation practices like yoga, tai chi, and qigong that combine movement, attention/focus, and slow/paced breathing improve both brain and physical health.

Engaging in Activities that Stimulate Neuroplasticity

Stimulate your brain with activities that induce neuroplasticity – meaning the brain has to be challenged enough to start building neurons and making new connections. Novelty is your brain’s friend! Even small things, like brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand, requires the brain to “re-program.”

Pick several routine activities and perform them with your non-dominant hand for at least 2 weeks. You’ll be surprised at how quickly your brain adapts to make the task progressively easier. Consider joining with friends for novel activities outside of your normal routine for even more positive impact.

All Connected

Brain health doesn’t just exist in the intellectual domain. It’s directly connected to physical, social, and emotional well-being as well. Gratefully, the habits that support brain health also support overall well-being for lifelong independence and vitality.

Visit my site, Brilliant Aging, for free resources and downloadable tools to support overall well-being.

What do you consider the biggest barrier(s) to eating well? What activities do you currently do on a regular basis that support brain health? Is there one thing you could add to your lifestyle this year that supports brain health?