If you’ve been a longtime reader, you probably know that I’ve been writing for this ‘magazine’ steadily for over 20 years (yikes — that makes me sound so old!!) The only time I’ve taken off was when I was sick.
With my hubby at a party on a yacht, overlooking our apartment in Monaco, during the F1 Grand Prix (May 2019)
I’ve decided to slow things at Urbanette down a little so I have more time to travel, enjoy life, paint (I’ve been an artist since I was young), and work on a few research-intensive articles. I’ll be keeping you updated on my journey via my Instagram stories. From now on, instead of publishing on a regular schedule, I’m going to be publishing articles only when I really feel compelled to do so.
As I work on my next article, I decided to make an ongoing list of the best and most helpful things I’ve learned along the way. The list is a bit all over the place / random, I know! I’ll keep adding to this list, so bookmark it and keep checking back.
In front of the Oceanographic Museum, heading to the X Prize Gala
Find a spouse that is kind, respects you, treats you as an equal partner in your life together, and really listens to you. Don’t waste time with people who don’t.
Find a cause you’re passionate about and get involved. It’ll give you more purpose and fulfillment, and you’ll meet great people along the way. This is mine.
Stop going to the salon. Hair dye (read more) and nail polish (read more) are both super toxic and cause cancer, among other serious health issues. The fumes in salons are super harmful to breathe. Stop wearing polish, and if you must dye your hair then opt for a natural-ish at-home dye and cut your own hair (I do, and it’s super easy!)
Baking soda (get the kind for cleaning, not cooking) and white vinegar can clean anything (including removing stains on clothing, getting grime off your shower, and unclogging your drain). Seriously. Try mixing the two together. It bubbles up like a 5th grade science experiment and washes away any kind of yuckiness. Stop dry cleaning and using toxic chemicals and google how to clean it all the natural way.
Look into the best American credit cards. Cancel your AMEX (since they force you to redeem your points through their website with inflated prices)! Learn to travel-hack using points and track them in Award Wallet. I have three cards that I use for specific purchases, to maximize the points I accumulate (I get 3 points per $ or 3% cash back on pretty much everything now). This works out to a lot of free travel, and I can book it on any website I want and just get reimbursed via my points. Check out my other travel hacks here.
A high percentage of dentists, doctors and veterinarians try to sell you procedures, tests and prescriptions that are totally unnecessary just to line their own pockets (read more).
If your dentist, doc or vet wants to do a procedure, get a second and third opinion (but don’t tell them what the other dentist/doc/vet said).
You don’t need a dental x-ray (yes, they cause cancer!!) unless you are feeling pain. Dentists tell you that you need them because they want to make more money.
Cavities can fix themselves (yes, really!) if you brush and floss. They often don’t need to be drilled and will go away on their own.
Before filling a prescription, do your own research online about the side effects. Doctors are basically educated by Big Pharma, so take what they say with a BIG grain of salt. What I do to lessen the load on my liver is I try taking half the dose and then see how I feel, or better yet, I research natural herbal alternatives (obviously, only if the condition isn’t life-threatening).
Find an ‘integrative’/’functional medicine’ doctor to replace your GP. Here’s why. Oh, and learn about your microbiome. It’s important — trust me.
Don’t assume that just because someone is nice-seeming, or because you treat them well, that they will treat you well in return, are honest, or have your best interest at heart. Don’t be closed, but proceed with caution.
Rid your home of toxins, for the sake of your future health and the sake of your loved ones and pets. Start here.
Automatically backup your phone’s photos using the ‘Google Photos’ app (download it and play around with the settings – set it to automatically save at original size). You can also make shared albums. When I go on vacation with my family, we all upload our best photos to a group album. Oh, and backup your computer using Sync.com (unlike Dropbox, it’s encrypted, so it’s actually really 100% private). And while we’re talking about digital privacy, here are more tips about that.
The Down Dog app is a great way to get into yoga. You’ll feel better if you do this a few times a week.
Headspace is a great way to get into meditation. Like yoga, it requires dedication but pays off bigtime.
If you don’t want to go to the gym, a rowing machine is relatively cheap and takes up little space, yet is a great full-body workout. We have one on our terrace.
If you must wear diamonds and designer stuff, poke around on DHgate first. (You can thank me later).
If you have a pet, remember that he or she will be much happier if you have two or more pets. The best way to do that is to foster (basically pet sitting for animal shelters) until you find another animal that gets along with your pet super well, then keep that one.
If you want to have better skin, more energy, and feel healthier, try a plant-based diet (cut out dairy, meat and seafood). Top athletes swear by it. It helps your body to detox, repair, and fights inflammation.
Make sure to check back as I add to this list. As always, I’d love to hear your comments in the discussion area below, and I’ll respond often. Have some great advice? Let me know below!
A writer, artist, and designer since she was young enough to put pencil to paper, Hilary taught herself code and created Urbanette when she was a teenager. Currently, she lives in Monte Carlo, but spent the past decade living in NYC, still considers herself a New Yorker, and visits regularly. She's always traveling, looking for hot new topics, destinations, and life hacks to bring to Urbanette readers.
Skiplagged is trustworthy enough because it is featured in the most reputable media like BBC, CNN, The New Yorker, and even BuzzFeed. They call their method “loopholes” and that is being candid, I guess. I personally believe that airlines, like other commercial companies, charge us too much for their own benefit.
Oh, sorry about that, Hilary. My bad. But he’s 22 when he started the company! His name is Aktater Zaman, btw. He left his job in a computer software company and built his own company where he is the owner and CEO, and that is, Skiplagged! So much talent, dream, and accomplishment at a very young age. Still have so much to achieve, I believe.
Come to think of it, Urbanette is like an institution when it comes to things related to womanhood. And not just about the established perception about women but it goes beyond that. And they also make one examine herself. Personally, most articles I read helps me think something like, “Hey, this article is all about how I felt,” or “Oh, this one’s really written for me.” So, all I can say is “Thank you for those articles.”
Wow. This is truly you, Hilary. No matter how far you reached, you still admit that you continue learning about life. And to share them is very thoughtful, indeed. It’s good that you don’t get to close Urbanette totally. Hope you can come back to writing more stuff. I’m checking your new website, too. Though I can’t say I can travel to French Riviera. But I hope too someday.
I appreciate this last article but still, I think I will miss Hilary’s post. It is not just practical but insightful. Some of them challenge common thinking, too. It helps me think about my persona as a woman, and to think about how I can help my daughter when she turns into a woman. Well, I’m bookmarking this one and will wait for the updates. Thanks for everything, Urbanette.
I find many of the posts here in Urbanette entertaining and thought-provoking. They challenge my prejudices as a man, and also makes me understand women more. Well, I need to improve on that part, I mean there’s a lot to learn, and Urbanette somehow fills that part. But no matter how I hope for you Hilary to continue writing, I guess time’s a changing. And all I can say is I hope for the best for you and your husband in everything.
Google photo is good and it’s free. You can store photos and videos in the cloud. And it makes sharing them easy. It assigns tags and photos to make searching easy. You can access photos and videos from any devices as long as you are connected to the internet. I’ve been using it for years. It gets smarter the more I use it.
Integrative medicine is only a complement to conventional medicine, I believe. We cannot just dump standard treatments. It improved the quality of our lives for many decades, and it still makes progress. Integrative medicine manages symptoms in many cases, but it will not heal one from severe illnesses.
I don’t go to the salon ever since I got terribly sick with the hair spray my stylist used on me. I just take care of my hair the usual way like shampooing, conditioning, moisturizing, and combing. Regular combing and brushing help a lot. And yes, use natural-based products.
Shampooing every day can be damaging to your hair, though. Better skip days when shampooing and do it only when you’re too sweaty. It can remove nutrients in your hair making it look dull.
I personally believe that it is not all about finding the perfect partner or having a perfect relationship. It’s about accepting the imperfection of your significant other loving him or her for what he or she truly is unconditionally, and finding the beauty and goodness inside the both of you. Just love, and love, and li
love…
Always remember too that there is nothing wrong if you haven’t found your true calling or purpose. Just do your best on the things you do right now, and things will reveal themselves along the way. Time will come and you will also be on top.
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Skiplagged is trustworthy enough because it is featured in the most reputable media like BBC, CNN, The New Yorker, and even BuzzFeed. They call their method “loopholes” and that is being candid, I guess. I personally believe that airlines, like other commercial companies, charge us too much for their own benefit.
The owner of that website is a true genius, and so young! Can’t believe he’s only 22 years old!
Wow – he’s 22? Amazing. Good for him!
Oh, sorry about that, Hilary. My bad. But he’s 22 when he started the company! His name is Aktater Zaman, btw. He left his job in a computer software company and built his own company where he is the owner and CEO, and that is, Skiplagged! So much talent, dream, and accomplishment at a very young age. Still have so much to achieve, I believe.
Come to think of it, Urbanette is like an institution when it comes to things related to womanhood. And not just about the established perception about women but it goes beyond that. And they also make one examine herself. Personally, most articles I read helps me think something like, “Hey, this article is all about how I felt,” or “Oh, this one’s really written for me.” So, all I can say is “Thank you for those articles.”
Wow. This is truly you, Hilary. No matter how far you reached, you still admit that you continue learning about life. And to share them is very thoughtful, indeed. It’s good that you don’t get to close Urbanette totally. Hope you can come back to writing more stuff. I’m checking your new website, too. Though I can’t say I can travel to French Riviera. But I hope too someday.
I appreciate this last article but still, I think I will miss Hilary’s post. It is not just practical but insightful. Some of them challenge common thinking, too. It helps me think about my persona as a woman, and to think about how I can help my daughter when she turns into a woman. Well, I’m bookmarking this one and will wait for the updates. Thanks for everything, Urbanette.
I find many of the posts here in Urbanette entertaining and thought-provoking. They challenge my prejudices as a man, and also makes me understand women more. Well, I need to improve on that part, I mean there’s a lot to learn, and Urbanette somehow fills that part. But no matter how I hope for you Hilary to continue writing, I guess time’s a changing. And all I can say is I hope for the best for you and your husband in everything.
Google photo is good and it’s free. You can store photos and videos in the cloud. And it makes sharing them easy. It assigns tags and photos to make searching easy. You can access photos and videos from any devices as long as you are connected to the internet. I’ve been using it for years. It gets smarter the more I use it.
Integrative medicine is only a complement to conventional medicine, I believe. We cannot just dump standard treatments. It improved the quality of our lives for many decades, and it still makes progress. Integrative medicine manages symptoms in many cases, but it will not heal one from severe illnesses.
I don’t go to the salon ever since I got terribly sick with the hair spray my stylist used on me. I just take care of my hair the usual way like shampooing, conditioning, moisturizing, and combing. Regular combing and brushing help a lot. And yes, use natural-based products.
Shampooing every day can be damaging to your hair, though. Better skip days when shampooing and do it only when you’re too sweaty. It can remove nutrients in your hair making it look dull.
I personally believe that it is not all about finding the perfect partner or having a perfect relationship. It’s about accepting the imperfection of your significant other loving him or her for what he or she truly is unconditionally, and finding the beauty and goodness inside the both of you. Just love, and love, and li
love…
Always remember too that there is nothing wrong if you haven’t found your true calling or purpose. Just do your best on the things you do right now, and things will reveal themselves along the way. Time will come and you will also be on top.
Nice perspective! But don’t make it a life-time endeavor. It will be bad for you if you do. LOL. But seriously…