I was born with a skin condition called Keratosis Pilaris.

This means that I have small red bumps all over my body. Most people have mild versions of KP, but mine is really intense - and it's everywhere. In reality, this was an accidental blessing for me. The way you have to take care of your skin with KP gets the rest of your body glowing (despite the little red bumps.)

Here's the process:

Cleanse: 

The face: every day, with a simple cleanser like this one from Trader Joe's. 

The body is different. Because I have KP, I only wash the private areas/folds with body wash. The rest of my skin gets clean enough from the water in the shower. This helps your body retain most of its natural oils. It's especially important if you live in a dry climate like Phoenix, Vegas, Palm Springs and most of Los Angeles.

Exfoliate: 

The face: once per week or every 4 days max.

The body: once per week max.

I try to find a naturally oily coffee bean and have it ground to a Turkish coffee setting. This gives you the smallest coffee grinds. This Trader Joe's Sumatra Coffee works well for my skin (you have to grind it yourself, though.) I don't recommend this coffee taste-wise, which is why it has lower reviews on the Amazon link. 

Moisturize:

Note: I am not a licensed dermatologist and this is not meant to substitute medical advice. Please consult a board-certified dermatologist to determine what's right for your skin type.

Depression sucks.

Seeing people all around you happy and excited to do things when you dread waking up every morning is miserable. You feel like a greyed out cartoon character walking through a world of rainbows and life starts to hit auto-pilot. It starts eating at you so you FaceTime your friend to talk. The minute you tell anyone that you're depressed...

...they think you need advice.

via GIPHY

They tell you to smile more or laugh more or exercise more, but really?? Is that helpful? I just want someone to listen to me. Not every day is going to be sunshine. Sure, no problem. I'll just think myself happy because that's exactly how you restore a chemical imbalance: by pretending it's not real. 

Leave me alone. I'm fine.

Nobody willingly signs up for this. But I'm not the only one here. Depression affects nearly 16.1 million American adults (source). So why don't more people understand how it works?

It's also okay to ask for help.

Make sure that it's someone you trust. Let them know that you want a listening ear and that you don't want advice. When I'm going through my roughest periods, the act of verbalizing what I feel has helped me cope immensely. Crisis Text Line are available 24/7 and are text-able if you're not comfortable speaking over the phone about.

But it's also your life.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you what to do. Everyone fights a different battle. 

It's not about covering up your feelings

and pretending to be happy. It's about addressing your battle and seeking help when necessary to help manage and improve your situation. It's not always pleasant, but you choose how you want to battle depression. It's not anybody else's choice.

Popular foods, organized by season:

The USDA provides an extensive list of fruits and veggies categorized by season. If you're not sure whether something is in season, use this list as a guide.

(Source)