Upgraded Living - January 2024

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SKIN EXAMS ACNE

MOLE CHECKS & REMOVALS

SKIN CANCER SCREENINGS BOTOX & FILLER

Ramneet Basra, PA-C

Kirsten Schwab, PA-C

ECZEMA

DRY & ITCHY SKIN

TCA PEELS

Ann Frisius, FNP

Gagan Takhar, PA-C

SCHEDULE NOW *Appointment requests must be received before 9 AM to be scheduled. *Appointments subject to availability.

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ADDING

TO YEARS

NOT JUST YEARS TO Board-certified dermatologist Dr. Kafele T. Hodari and his team of medical professionals at Hodari MD Dermatology comprise a comprehensive dermatology practice in Chico, Oroville, and Yuba City.

Whether you have a medical, surgical, or aesthetic concern, you'll receive personalized care from some of the most highly trained providers in the area. Our patients can feel assured that they are getting the best, most effective care when they walk through the door.

Love Your Skin ® and Improve Your Health.

Kafele T. Hodari, MD

1178 LIVE OAK BLVD YUBA CITY, CA 95991 (530) 329-8511

Imelda Mata, PA-C

Marianna Almanza, PA-C

80 DECLARATION DR. CHICO, CA 95973 (530) 342-8295

Jina Bryant, FNP

672 ORO DAM BLVD E. SUITE 202 OROVILLE, CA 95965 (530) 533-3571 3

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FROM THE PUBLISHER You may have noticed our use of the term "glow-up" in the previous issue to define what was happening at Chico's newest gym, Lions Den. Previously home to NS Fit, the Wesleys and Throops have done their job as new owners to revive a struggling business, modernize it, and create something truly beautiful in the process.

Thanks to that cover story, we tossed the term around so often at the office that it became part of our daily vernacular­. When it came time to begin work on January, we decided to shift our initial focus and make it the central theme of this issue.

If you've followed Upgraded Living over the years, you likely know the January issue has been one very close to our hearts. Our New Year, New You series of January cover stories focused on those who were down on their luck and doing their best to turn things around.

The stories we heard during interviews were heart-wrenching, and the eventual triumphs over adversity were equally heart-warming.

Countless boxes of Kleenex and tear-soaked faces later, we moved into the final part of the process—the physical makeovers—and couldn't have felt more blessed to be even the smallest part of that experience. If makeup was involved, and it usually was, you could rest assured most of our makeover recipients would need a second pass-through after seeing themselves in the mirror. Their tears brought about more tears from all of us, and the perpetual crying cycle continued. When the issue was finally put to bed, we were all emotionally depleted but thrilled at what had been accomplished.

The last of these was done in 2020 before the pandemic put a uniquely impossible hurdle in the way of what we were doing, and we spent the last few years focusing on other things instead.

Fast forward to the end of 2023, and the term "glow-up" brought a lot of those memories back but with a slightly different perspective.

Over the past six years, every resident in this area has faced major trials—the Oroville Dam crisis, the devastating Camp Fire, and three years of continued uncertainty around the pandemic. It's fair to say we could all use a little self-care at this point. Our glow-up issue aims to provide just that—a review of some of our favorite individuals and businesses in Butte County dedicated to bettering the lives of residents—body, mind, and soul. Throughout the pages that follow, you'll be introduced to dozens of them, and we hope you'll get to know each and the services they offer. Find some time, set it aside, and treat yourself to something special this month. I can confidently say, without a second's worth of hesitation, you've earned it. We all have.

May the new year treat you to all the love, joy, and peace you deserve. We'll look forward to seeing you out and about this month!

J! Lo o k , u p d a te d ly I final to! o h my p

AVEED KHAKI Owner/Publisher JASON CORONA Sales Director

WRITERS SHELLY BRANDON Writer TIM MILHORN Writer MADDIE RODRIGUEZ Writer MICHAELA GULBRANSEN Writer DIANE NICOLE Cover Story Photographer ERIK BROWN Cover Design

CONTRIBUTORS DOUG LOVE Real Estate

LOREAL ARCHIBALD Brow Care

SWEENEY & MICHEL Finance

COURTNEY SPANGLER Self-Care

DR. KAFELE HODARI Skincare

LAURA NELSON Mental Health

JESSICA THOMPSON Eyewear

For editorial or general magazine inquiries, please contact: Aveed Khaki, 530.519.5683 aveed@upgradedliving.com

Aveed Khaki Owner/Publisher

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UPGRADED LIVING STAFF

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For sales inquiries, please contact: Jason Corona, 530.591.2634 jason@upgradedliving.com

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CONTENTS | JANUARY 2023 COMMUNITY

POTPOURRI

12 Jeremy Vesely dazzles with his surreal landscape photography.

28 Sweeney & Michel discuss the dynamic between good and bad news and how to look for the best in both.

24 Dr. David Alonso and a number of local doctors work together to bring a residency program to Chico in the hopes of bolstering the local medical ranks.

26 Honker Bay opens its doors and invites us to explore their beautiful lakefront venue in Oroville.

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GLOW UP 16 Dr. Kevin Myers celebrates 20 years of surgical excellence in Chico.

54 Maddie Rodriguez transports us to a winter tradition in the 1920s.

20 Dr. David Alonso presents the effectiveness of a new injectable weightloss program as both the provider and the patient.

58 Cool Kid Bliss Kozielski sings and dances her way into our hearts.

42 CK Derm opens its newest location in Chico's Meriam Park.

44 Hydration Happens reveals their unique offerings in IV therapy.

62 Marc and Shuree Wesley provide a mini-masterclass on proper nutrition and supplementation for your New Year glow-up!

FOOD 50 Intolerant or not, it seems cheese is an ingredient we can all get behind.

Find some new favorites here.

52 Our loaded mac and cheese recipe is one you'll want to make again and again.

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46 Tim Milhorn explores natural beauty tips and tricks throughout the ages.

48 Classic Albums Live is coming to Laxson Auditorium, and you won't want to miss their performance.

22 Custom mastectomy fitter Babette Mais helps breast cancer survivors find self-confidence once again.

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29 There's a lot you can learn from a roofer, and resident real estate guru Doug Love relates an experience where he certainly did.

56 Ginger's Restaurant is one of Chico's hidden gems. Join us on our culinary journey as we discover one of our new favorites for Chinese food.

FEATURE 35 Drs. Scott Hanosh & Beau Hunter are playing it forward and giving generations something to smile about with their new office in Chico. Read their incredible story and see what has driven these two individuals over numerous hurdles.

ON THE COVER: DRS. SCOTT HANOSH & BEAU HUNTER PHOTO COURTESY: DIANE NICOLE PHOTOGRAPHY DESIGN BY ERIK BROWN @ HELLO FRISK

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Photography and the Artist’s Eye

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Hundreds of millions of people snap billions of pictures every day.

It’s so easy! Nearly everyone over 12 has a camera at their fingertips. Point it, tap the shutter button, and look at the screen— done. You can delete the pic if you don’t like it or keep it if it’s pretty or cute. Simple is as simple does! What professional photographer Jeremy Vesely does when he takes landscape photographs is as far away from that as is the Earth from Pluto. Certainly, his photographs are pretty, but they are far, far more—how about breathtaking, exquisite, grand, thought-provoking, and the essence of true art? You can lose yourself and find yourself in his work. It’s that pedestrian and that spiritual.

Of course, starting out with his first camera about 18 years ago on vacation in Hawai’i, he took 20,000 pictures. 20,000. “I only have one of those pictures saved,” said Jeremy. “I just kept taking shots of whatever I thought looked good.” Well, he was in Hawai’i, and everything looks like a great photo when you’re there, but it was that very experience that hooked Jeremy to the lens. Taking that many shots is not uncommon, and as photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson once said, “Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.”

We all love to take a picture and view the results. It’s a mini-step in our creative process. “Hey, look at this!” We email our pics and send them in texts, on X, or on Instagram. At times we print them out at home, frame them, send them out, and even more rare, we have them enlarged at a photo place on real, quality photo paper. Long gone are the days of film, darkrooms, and chemicals.

If you’ve ever worked through that arduous process, you know the difficulty of converting film to paper. But if you’re a real photographer of the professional artist variety, like the landscape portraits you see accompanied here, that work is also arduous.

You rarely step out of your car and snap a pic; you often spend hours getting to and setting up at a photo site, in a pre-planned event to get the right shot.

Jeremy Vesely has done just that, but because being a full-time professional photographer takes an enormous amount of time, and if you’re also a dad with three boys and another on the way, you will probably need a “real” job with health benefits, monthly income security, and all that. His wife Whitney has supported Jeremy all along, and he appreciates that. His three boys Harrison, Ellis, and Lincoln certainly appreciate the time they get to spend with their dad as well. Full-time photographer means full-time travel—like the time he and Whitney camped out in a tent with the boys when they were five, three, and six months old, just 13

to capture the perfect shot.

Originally from Orange County, Jeremy moved to Butte County at age 10. He attended a few schools in the area, got a job, got married, and had his kids. Along the way, he refined his photography. “I began to see what worked and what didn’t in technical degrees,” he said. He photographed weddings and the like, did portraiture, and began delving more into landscapes. “Shooting weddings and people both indoors and out, where I had to pay attention to lighting and shadows, helped my landscape work,” he said. “Being invited into people’s lives through photography— you need to realize the connection you make through the art.”

As for his landscape photography, Vesely said, “It’s kind of a spiritual experience. It’s not necessarily about the ‘selling’ aspect.”

He then related a story about a father who bought a photograph of a field of flowers, and how, in conversation, Jeremy found out so much about the dad and his daughter.

One of the most fulfilling aspects of being a photographer is developing a bond with not only people but with the subject of the landscape. “You need to spend time there, get to know the area, and become intimate with it.”

Jeremy Vesely’s photography is beautiful and remarkable. It is the true meaning of, “The photograph plus the viewer equals the experience.” You need to see more of Jeremy's work. It is an experience. Go to jeremyvesely.com to view more of his magnificent photography.

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WRITTEN BY TIM MILHORN

Vesely has shown his work throughout the area and has photography prints for sale at 1330 Mangrove, in the Hanosh & Hunter Dental Group offices, Plumas Bank locations, and Zanna Fuller Design. He has been featured in the publications and websites of Outdoor Photographer, National Geographic, and International Photographer of the Year. He does five shows a year, including Chico Home and Garden, Johnny Appleseed Days, Gold Nugget Days, and the Paradise Chocolate Festival. If Paradise seems a theme here, it’s because Vesely has always felt a connection to The Ridge, so much so he had a house built there. Well, he had a foundation and utilities put there.

He then built the rest of the house himself— definitely a multi-talented guy.

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Facilities)-certified operating facility built to Medicare standards. “The creation of the space was a huge undertaking.” Dr. Myers explained, “It takes a lot to receive the accreditation, and we can do just about anything necessary in our operating room.

We have general anesthesia, a full nursing staff, and the space is certified for up to a 23-hour stay should that ever be necessary.”

20 Years of surgical excellence

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Dr. Kevin Myers is, perhaps, the antithesis of the current archetype of plastic surgeons you see plastered all over the internet. Rather than loud, boisterous, and braggadocious, he is humble, low-key, and thoughtful, harkening back to a time when medicine was truly about medicine, rather than an exercise in personal ego.

His practice in Chico has stood the test of time, providing residents and visitors alike with general and specialty surgery, though it’s clear he hasn’t—and won’t—let that success go to his head. Not only does he persist in providing those services by appointment, but he also continues to take call, ensuring our community’s needs for emergency intervention are in the hands of an experienced professional whenever possible. When it comes to accidents and injuries that need the emergency services of a plastic surgeon, having someone with his breadth of experience around couldn’t be more important. Now celebrating his 20th year as a surgeon in Chico, he is looking forward to not only maintaining that position but also helping to expand the availability of plastic surgery in the area.

from The Ohio State University, graduating summa cum laude; medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York City; residency and plastic surgery specialty at the highly competitive Montefiore Medical Center / Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City; and an advanced fellowship in hand and microsurgery at the worldrenowned Buncke Clinic at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. After receiving his fill of big cities, he set out in search of a slower pace where he could practice medicine and enjoy life; luckily for our community, he stumbled upon Chico.

Originally from the small town of Wooster, Ohio, Dr. Myers possesses a venerable résumé full of educational accolades: a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry

Since establishing his practice in 2004, the business has grown significantly to include a complete AAAASF (American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgical

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“Chico is just a really nice place.” Dr. Myers said, “After four years in Columbus Ohio, 10 years in New York, and two years in San Francisco, I just didn’t need the big city life anymore. We have a great arts community here with lots of musicians and a constantly rotating cast of characters. I’ll go out to hear anybody, even if their music isn’t my kind of thing. I’m always down to listen to live music—chamber orchestra, heavy metal band, anything.”

Dr. Myers’ practice focuses on head-totoe plastic surgery, and there isn’t much he doesn’t do. His workload is split evenly between cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. On the cosmetic side, he often performs abdominoplasty, liposuction, mastopexy, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, and face lifts. On the reconstructive side, he focuses on breast and hand reconstruction. It’s important to note that he is the only surgeon in Chico doing breast reconstruction currently, and the only surgeon anywhere nearby with the level of training he has in hand microsurgery. His practice is purely operative and truly surgical as he has no interest in selling things or providing laser therapies like one might find in a spa environment. He explained, “I’m a surgeon, and my training is in operating, so that’s what I believe I’m here to do.”

Dr. Myers revels in the variety of his chosen craft. “What attracted me to the specialty, to be frank, was that I wasn’t going to be confined to any one organ system, part of the body, or age group.” He said, “Plastic surgery is as general as possible. Unlike other forms of surgery where you do the same thing repeatedly, each day is a new experience and a different challenge. I’m always looking to add technology and equipment to be able to do even more in-house, and there’s plenty I’d like to do in the future. I’ve been here a good while, and I plan to be here for the community a good while longer. I’m proud to be part of the community, and I’m working with the hospital to recruit more surgeons into our plastics program to make it even more accessible to those in our community.”

If you require plastic surgery services, whether cosmetic or reconstructive, call Northstate Plastic Surgery at (530) 345-5900 to set up a consult with Dr. Myers. We know you’ll be equally pleased to have him as a member of our community.

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Blissfusion Oroville

As a nurse, Salina Webber has been on the frontlines of health and wellness for the past 15 years, providing acute care and outpatient infusion services for those in Butte County. Over that time, she realized something was missing in the local community. Six months ago, she opened Blissfusion Oroville, a wellness lounge providing IV infusion therapy, vitamin injections, and micronutrient and testosterone testing. Most recently, Blissfusion has begun offering services for weight loss management. Salina believes that health and wellness play a crucial role in overall health and wellness and was excited to bring these services to her community and home in Oroville. If you’re looking to enhance your health and wellness, stop by Blissfusion and see what they can do for you! blissfusionoroville @blissfusionoroville www.blissfusionoroville.com

670 Oro Dam Blvd E, Suite 101, Oroville (530) 777-8163 Tues-Fri from 10-5, Sat 10-3, Sun By appointment only

Silhouette Waxing Studio Trained in waxing techniques in Hawaii, Courtney Spangler moved to Chico and noticed her expertise was missing in the local market. She opened Silhouette Waxing Studio in 2007 to provide those services locally and not only found immediate interest, but the business grew so quickly that she found herself unable to handle the demand. She brought on Joanna in 2012 and Katie in 2014 to help, and together they are now the trio behind Silhouette. A year and a half ago, they moved into their new studio on Mangrove Avenue as business partners and now offer a wide array of hair-removal modalities including Brazilian waxing, threading, and sugaring. With 42 years of combined experience, they’ve developed a comfortable and inviting environment perfect for the type of work they do. Successful and still growing, they continue to keep their finger on the pulse, adding new services as advancements develop.

(530) 342-7131 www.waxingchico.com

1803 Mangrove Avenue, Suite D 10am-5pm Monday-Saturday By Appointment

GLOW UP Frame Your Vision

Jessica Thompson, Optical Manager @ North Valley Eye Care

Choosing the right pair of eyeglasses can significantly impact your vision and comfort.

Here are some straightforward tips to ensure you find the perfect fit:

1. Take Selfies: Use your phone's camera to take pictures with the glasses on. Then, put on your prescription glasses so you can see yourself better.

2. Invest in Better Vision: Sometimes, paying more for premium options, like custom progressives, is worth it. They widen your field of vision for different activities like reading, using a computer, or seeing at a distance.

3. Opt for Anti-Reflective Coating: This coating reduces glare, making it easier to focus without distractions. Higher-quality coatings are thicker and more durable, reducing the chances of peeling or scratching.

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Choosing the right frame:

1. Temple Length: Ensure the temples (the parts around your ears) are long enough to be adjusted comfortably to prevent slipping.

2. Frame Width: Opt for a width that aligns with your ears without squeezing. Discomfort might not be immediate but can arise later.

3. Bridge Fit: The bridge should snugly fit without gaps, but the frame shouldn't press too firmly against your face. If it does, the bridge might be too big.

4. Take Your Time: If you're torn between frames or need more clarification, take a break. Go home and think it over. You should walk out with a pair you love.

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Change is waiting for you The New Year brings with it the desire to begin fresh and start over. Oftentimes, this sentiment revolves around our health. We search for ways to add vitality to our lives through healthy diets, exercise, and mental focus.

“It’s my personal journey. I understand the struggles people have with weight loss having attempted to lose weight myself through various methods,” said Dr. Alonso.

He knew he would benefit from additional help and so began researching Ozempic.

The issue Dr. Alonso and many others have is the high price of the medication and the difficulty in obtaining coverage through health insurance. What began as 20

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So who can benefit from Dr. Alonso’s program? He says, “Really anybody who has twenty pounds or more to lose and has not been successful with the normal efforts of diet and exercise should consider this. I would add, it should definitely be considered if someone has risk factors for heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes, diabetes, sleep apnea, or joint pain due to excessive weight.

These can all be impacted by weight loss.”

The first step for anyone interested in the program is to call the office and set up a complimentary consultation with the nurse to review your case and answer any questions you may have. Following that meeting, Dr. Alonso will order bloodwork to obtain some baseline information on your health and then sit down to discuss the labs along with your health history.

Following confirmation that Ozempic or Mounjaro is right for you, you’ll begin the weight loss course. The program consists of weekly visits which are designed to help reduce the out-of-pocket costs associated with the medications.

Periodic bloodwork helps to demonstrate

progress in lowering cholesterol, blood sugar, and insulin resistance. During the appointments, providers will assess weight, follow and measure body composition to track progress more objectively, and offer guidance on establishing healthy eating and exercise routines. The necessary weekly appointments help to keep patients accountable and on track while allowing opportunities for guidance and counseling.

Dr. Alonso worked to develop a unique program that makes Ozempic weight loss as cost-effective as possible by using maximum insurance coverage to reduce the direct cost to the patient.

The aim is slow and steady weight loss that’s durable over the long term. So far, Dr. Alonso has lost 60 pounds on the program and feels it is the most effective and most sustainable weight loss regimen he has experienced. He shares, “This is something that I’m doing because of how it's helped me. It's something I’ve become super excited and passionate about, and I want to help as many other people as are interested in making this type of change.”

If you’re ready to make a change, visit their website at www.mcinternalmed.com or give them a call at 530-767-3300 to schedule your complimentary first visit.

WRITTEN BY SHELLY BRANDON

Maybe you envision your change as weight loss, but what if you’ve already tried multiple avenues to lose weight and improve your health without success? Perhaps you’ve tried fad diets, lost weight only to gain it back, or maybe you’ve never been able to shed those extra pounds. Dr. Alonso of Magnolia Comprehensive Internal Medicine understands that struggle because he’s walked the same path, but he’s finally found a solution that works. He is sharing his newfound knowledge on affordable weight loss with the community through a weight management program at his practice.

an endeavor to help himself lose weight has grown organically to encompass his staff and later hundreds of community members.

‘‘

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A measure of support

Fortunately, medical science has come a long way in both the treatment of cancer and the support for healing. Babette Maiss, CMT, CLT, CMF, has been supporting patients with and without cancer for many years with therapeutic massage and lymphedema therapy, and her clients have voted her Best of Chico seven times in a row. “I love the medical stuff,” she says. “I love to help people.”

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Babette has recently become a certified mastectomy fitter and has already begun incorporating these services into her practice. This is fortunate for the women of Chico and the surrounding areas since the options for mastectomy fitting services have been non-existent in this area for the last decade. “You had to go two hours out of town to find the closest mastectomy fitter,” Babette says. “The need for this service was definitely here, and to pick this up was a natural progression for me. I already do a lot of garment fitting for lymphedema patients, so this was not much of a leap.”

A custom-fitted garment can do a lot for a patient’s self-esteem, and Babette’s goal as a certified mastectomy fitter is to help her breast cancer patients become comfortable in the new bodies they find themselves in.

“I want to empower women to feel beautiful again, and whole. That’s so important,” she says.

The fitting and measurements for the mastectomy bras and custom prostheses are done in Babette’s cozy office on Williamsburg Lane. “We measure for the bra and prosthesis, and then we look at different options,” Babette says. One newer option for patients is a prosthesis that adheres directly to the skin. “The technology for

this is incredible,” Babette says. “I can literally scan a person with the iPad, and the company will do the prosthetic custom to the person’s breast shape and skin color.”

Another option is to have the bra with a pocket for the prosthesis inside. Either way, the patient can have multiple bras, and even swimsuits, custom-made.

Babette’s aim is to provide a product that the patient is most comfortable with. Once measurements are taken, the prosthesis is ordered, and the patient comes back in for a final fitting. “I have bras and prostheses here to try,” Babette says. “The patient can pick something I have here, or we can order what they want from a catalog.” Whichever option they choose, the patient can be sure that Babette will do everything she can to make sure the garment or prosthesis is comfortable and fits them properly, so they can go back out into the world feeling their best.

Babette’s services are billed out through insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, so the patient doesn’t have to worry about paying for the services directly out of pocket. Her office is located at 13 Williamsburg Lane in Chico, and she can be contacted via phone at (530) 321-5668.

WRITTEN BY MADDIE RODRIGUEZ

According to the CDC, breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States. It is, however, highly treatable, and if discovered early the likelihood of survival and remission is high. Regardless, the trauma of a cancer diagnosis remains the same. For some women, the discovery of breast cancer can mean a partial lumpectomy, where only part of the breast is removed; a partial mastectomy, where one breast is removed; or it can mean a double mastectomy, where both breasts are removed. Any of these surgeries can be considered highly invasive and for many survivors, the loss of one or both breasts can be one of the most difficult parts of their diagnosis. Many women experience a loss of self-esteem and report feeling less attractive to their partner and less feminine as a result.

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any graduate medical education programs within 50 miles of Chico, so they set out to begin the development of a residency program for the area.

Residents find a home If you’ve been having trouble finding a primary care provider or getting in to see your existing physician, you’re not alone. According to Healthforce Research, “California faces a looming shortage of primary care clinicians in the coming decades. If we continue along our current path, more and more Californians will need to visit the emergency room for conditions like asthma, ear infections, or flu, because they lack a primary care provider.”

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There are fewer primary care providers in town now than there were 13 years ago when Dr. Alonso first came to Chico, yet the population has grown. He says, “I’ve seen the huge need the community has for healthcare providers, and this has just been amplified following the Camp Fire and the pandemic.” The number of physicians at or reaching retirement age is increasing, and they aren’t being replaced at the same rate as they are leaving the profession, which is leaving a void in healthcare. This has led to increasing wait times as well as necessitating going outside the area more often to obtain certain services.

In 2019, as the incoming president of the Butte Glenn Medical Society (BGMS), he— along with outgoing BGMS President Dr. Sean Liston—was concerned about losing medical providers in the community. As a society, the BGMS began brainstorming what they could do to help resolve that issue. The problem was they were just a group of local doctors, not a university, not a hospital, and not a medical school. Statistics have shown that 50% of physicians stay within 100 miles of where they completed their residencies. They anticipated that if they brought in training opportunities to the area they would be able to retain some of the newly-boarded physicians. There aren’t

Regarding a bigger vision, Dr. Alonso says he would love to see a full-featured medical campus in our community that would include graduate medical education, expanded training in nursing, physical therapy, and allied health professions. “Our 10-year vision is a full-fledged medical training campus here in our area to help address these needs and the healthcare disparities that are just widening in these rural communities.”

If you’d like to know more about this exciting new development for our community's healthcare, visit www.healthyruralca.org for more information along with scholarship funding opportunities.

WRITTEN BY SHELLY BRANDON

Luckily, physicians in our area noticed this trend years ago and initiated a ‘call to action’ to address the problem, eventually forming the independent nonprofit known as Healthy Rural California. It aims to address the health needs in our community by “closing the gap in quality, access and equity, and eliminating health disparities.”

They intend to foster connections that will lead to the import of additional skilled primary care providers into our area in addition to addressing deficits in mental healthcare and substance abuse treatment.

Internist Dr. David Alonso is the current president of Healthy Rural California. He knew he wanted to go into medicine from the age of 11 and had various thoughts on a specific specialty over the years, but it always revolved around his initial idea of being a general provider. In his words, “I wanted to have a broad range and help as many people as I could.” Originally from the Bay Area, he moved to Pennsylvania to attend Temple University for medical school.

He settled in Chico in 2010 following the

completion of his residency at Dartmouth as its family-friendly area mirrored the smaller rural feel he had become accustomed to on the East Coast.

The idea that started in 2019 has finally come to fruition after several years of research, legislative meetings, and accreditation applications. Healthy Rural California's newly established psychiatry residency and proposed family medicine residency programs will welcome 28 new physicians to the area by 2030. They are also in the process of beginning an internal medicine residency set to start in 2026. The group is partnering with local healthcare organizations including Enloe Medical Center, Northern Valley Indian Health, and the Veteran’s Administration to provide that training. The first four psychiatry residents will begin rotating in the summer of 2024 with four more being added each consecutive year. Dr. Alonso wondered how well-received the new psychiatry residency positions would be and was excited to discover there were over 500 applicants for the four positions this year. This trends with the current climate surrounding physician graduate medical training. In 2023, approximately 43,000 students graduated from medical school to compete for only 40,000 residency positions. This effort by Healthy Rural California will benefit the community, as well as the nation as a whole, by providing additional residency positions so that more graduates can complete their education expeditiously. The nonprofit group is also building regional campuses in 2025 with UC Davis and Touro University to bring 25 medical students to complete their year-3 clinical rotations in Chico.

Rabo Health & Wellness

Dina Rabo D.C. competed in triathlons throughout college, and the stress on her body eventually forced her to seek out chiropractic care. She decided to go back to become a chiropractor herself after experiencing the practice’s healing power firsthand. For the past 20 years, she has helped others get and stay healthy by utilizing the newest technologies in chiropractic care, but she recently took things further by moving beyond pain management and integrating a lifestyle program to help the community age healthy. Using patented technologies like infrared, regenerative treatments, softwave therapy, and functional blood work analysis she is helping her clients heal injured cells faster, expediting the elimination of back and neck pain along with new and chronic injuries alike. These treatments provide an alternative option to medication or surgery. Stop by and see what Rabo Health & Wellness can do to help you get healthy and stay healthy. rabohealth @rabohealth www.rabochiropracticcenter.com

670 Rio Lindo Ave. Suite 600, Chico (530) 846-6262 Mon-Thurs 9am-5pm, and by appointment

Empower Hot Yoga Empower Hot Yoga is a brand-new, family-owned and operated studio in Chico. Josh, Nikki, and their two kids have put everything into creating this sanctuary for you. They did not just build a studio, they built a vision that embodies their passion for community, connection, and movement. Their space promotes authenticity, inclusivity, and growth.

It’s where individuals come together to empower one another. In this beautiful, serene place that feels light and elegant, you’ll instantly be greeted with pure joy and open arms.

This is a place where you’ll feel seen, heard, and loved. They’re creating a powerful, supportive, and loving community where everyone is accepted to show up exactly as they are. They offer non-heated, warm, and hot classes; have a retail boutique; showers; changing rooms; complementary products; and compassionate employees. Drop in, say hi, and try a class on the house. They’re looking forward to meeting you.

Empowerhy @Empowerhy www.empowerhy.com

1 Elisha Court Ste #150 Chico (530) 733-3337 owner@empowerhy.com

GLOW UP Crawl Before You Walk

Baby Steps — The Slow and Steady Approach to Aging

Dr. Kafele Hodari @ Rejuvené and HodariMD Dermatology

How many times have you said to yourself, “Hindsight is 20/20” or, “If I knew then what I know now…”? My guess is more than a few times.

small amounts of Botox, beginning in our 20s and 30s, rather than in our 40s or 50s, in order to prevent the appearance of significant fine lines and wrinkles in the forehead or around the eyes.

Well, I’m hoping that when it comes to looking and feeling your best and, in particular when it comes to aging, you’ll never have to utter those words again. While we will undoubtedly know more in the future than we do today, we know that “Baby Botox” helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Injecting small amounts of Botox, in this manner, results in subtle and natural-looking effects—effects that everyone will notice, but no one will know why.

What exactly is Baby Botox? Baby Botox is the process of injecting

If you’re looking to stave off aging, the best defense is a good offense. Start early and prevent the effects of aging before they appear.

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Butte County's Hidden Gem A three-day wedding may not be the norm, but it’s standard practice at Honker Bay Ranch, a beautiful venue at the edge of Lake Oroville’s Afterbay. “All of our events are three days long,” said Jack Smith, owner of Honker Bay. “We don’t want anyone to feel rushed or stressed on their big day, so we gave each wedding ample time to use the space. We believe it’s the right way to enjoy an event as important as a wedding, and we want to make the experience as comfortable as possible for everyone involved.”

The three-day reservation provides the perfect opportunity to host a rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, and fun outdoor activities on Friday; the wedding ceremony and reception on Saturday; and a return to gather gifts and treasures on Sunday morning, all in the same place. An on-site bridal suite, complete with a full bathroom, makes hair and makeup on the wedding day a breeze. The ceremony site overlooks their private Koi-filled lake.

Honker Bay Ranch leans further into its stress-free mission statement by providing an all-inclusive-style experience for weddings. Every reservation includes tables, chairs, a gift table, cocktail bar, registration table, cake table, security box for cards/envelopes, and many other features, such as DJ/band deck and dance floor. They also offer a wide range of complimentary wedding props to create the perfect atmosphere including wine barrels, shepherd hooks, centerpieces, table decorations, greenery, table runners, vases, French doors, signs, lawn games, and more. Not only does this significantly cut down on the cost of rentals, but it also saves the time and logistics of coordinating several additional vendors. And clean-up? Not a worry­ leave it to them, as their team handles that too.

Honker Bay Ranch provides a beautiful, convenient, and straightforward wedding experience that anyone is sure to appreciate. With a capacity of over 300 guests, it’s an incredibly affordable option as well, and far less than we would expect to pay for a three-day venue rental. With plenty of lighted parking, an on-site minister available for the ceremony if needed, and just about every creature comfort one could hope for, Honker Bay Ranch is a must-explore destination when planning a wedding. They even have a list of preferred vendors who have proved themselves time and again.

The best part, several dates in 2024 are still available.

Visit Honker Bay Ranch online for more information at honkerbayranchevents.com. You can also call them at (530) 534-8380 to set up a time to visit the venue at 1446 Farrar Lane in Oroville and see why so many people are raving about this incredible venue in one of Butte County’s most picturesque locations.

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2,000 Miracles A Year This year, thousands of great things are going to happen, but most people won’t even notice. Unfortunately, we live in a world that is hopelessly fixed on negative narratives and always has been.

Take 1963 for example: CBS once deemed it “the year that everything happened”. However, most historians primarily focus on one big event: the day JFK was shot. That was a BIG, tragic moment in American history. It dominated all news for the remainder of the year.

But there was so much more that happened: Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech gave a singular voice and a vision to the civil rights movement. The emergence of The Beatles begat the British Invasion which changed pop culture and music forever. And Dr. James Hardy completed the first lung transplant—a procedure which today saves 2,000 lives a year.

BY RENEE MICHEL, MBA, AND JOE SWEENEY, CFP ®, FINANCIAL ADVISORS AT SWEENEY & MICHEL, LLC

“For reasons I have never understood, people like to hear that the world is going to hell,” historian Deirdre N. McCloskey once told The New York Times.

Although headlines easily recall the horrors of the day, innovators quietly shape humanity’s path for the rest of time.

This year, we’re going to hear a lot about what could and does go wrong: a potential recession, a contentious election, and multiple foreign wars. Each is a story, but none are the full story.

This year, I encourage you to find and appreciate the good that’s quietly happening around us. In time, those may be the only things that still matter.

Renée Michel, MBA and Joe Sweeney, CFP® | 196 Cohasset Road, Suite 100, Chico CA 95926 (530) 487-1777 | renee@sweeneymichel.com | joe@sweeneymichel.com | www.sweeneymichel.com This is not tax advice. | Sweeney & Michel, LLC is a Registered Investment Adviser. This brochure is solely for informational purposes. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Sweeney & Michel, LLC and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. Past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. No advice may be rendered by Sweeney & Michel, LLC unless a client service agreement is in place.

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Leaves It’s a beautiful fall, the season of transformation. As the season turns, the leaves are transformed into the myriad colors we see, but they must come down. All of them. ‘Tis the season of leaf sweeping. Rooftop leaves are the biggest challenge.

“Think like a roofer,” said John James Miskella. “Have some respect!” John James had just completed the roof inspection on a house I sold. “See all those leaves sitting on that roof?” He said, “Leaves are acidic, dang it, acidic! I can’t believe people let layer after layer of leaves pile up and destroy their roof!”

I thought smugly of myself sweeping the leaves off my roof with my push-broom, a commercial variety, with a wide brush made of stiff bristle.

“Worse than the acidic leaves are these idiots with their commercial pushbrooms,” said John James. “They brush so hard; they rip the mineral coating clean off the surface and ruin their roof! Idiots!”

I shook my head. How could there be such idiots?

Actually, I had recently obtained a commercial-variety leaf-blower which made the job even easier. The leaf blower made it possible to blow leaves in all directions, not just downhill as with the push-broom.

“Worse than the idiots with their pushbrooms,” said John James, “are the

maniacs with their commercial-variety leaf-blowers.”

“Oh?” I said innocently.

He looked at me like I was an idiot.

“Look,” he said, “these maniacs with their leaf-blowers push the leaves in all directions instead of the proper direction: downhill!”

“So?” “So?” He mocked, “So when they blow the leaves sideways and uphill, they force the leaves and grit under the shingles where it rots and destroys the most vulnerable part of the roofing. Can’t they see the shingles flapping under the force of the air from that machine?”

In my mind, I saw myself on my roof with my leaf blower; leaves rocketing in all directions as I grinned maniacally, feeling my power of administering hurricaneforce winds. Through the storm of leaves and grit, I saw the shingles flapping like wings.

“So, what do we tell these idiots?” I asked.

“Trim the branches to eliminate leaves in the first place. Then sweep the leaves gently; or blow them gently: downhill!” said John James.

He tapped the side of his head. “Think like a roofer!”

Doug Love is Sales Manager at Century 21 in Chico. Email dougwlove@gmail.com.

Call or text 530-680-0817.

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"Sherry has helped our family in selling four homes and has become part of our family. She is very knowledgeable, patient and understanding with all of our needs. She was ALWAYS available no matter the time or day. Sherry has been a saving grace to our family and we love her! She is the greatest Realtor and the person you want to have working with you in selling or purchasing a home!"

- Beverly Siemens

H ap

ear!

Y w e py N

Call me today at (530) 514-4855

Custom Geodesic built home with a setting of a picturesque spot!!! Entering this amazing home you walk into soaring ceilings, lots of natural light, and views out every window! The open living area invites family/friends to hang around the fireplace with something to sip on and take in the beauty of the architecture both inside and outside with the large Redwood Trees and parklike setting. The kitchen is another great place where gatherings occur and you can hang out at this large eating bar, custom cabinetry, double oven, storage galore! Washer, dryer, refrigerator included. The primary bedroom/bath is upstairs and you'll feel like you're on a vacation right here at home! The bath has a really cool penny tile vanity, walk in closet. Downstairs is the 2nd bedroom with its own private balcony to watch the world go by. The adjacent bathroom has penny tile in its shower/tub combination! This charming property is located on a cul-de-sac and backs up to a greenbelt area for privacy. Be impressed by the long driveway leading to an oversized garage/shop area with built-ins and storage room for cars, trucks, boats, RV, etc. bring your toys and your hobbies. Full house Generator is included.

Bed: 2.0 Bath: 2.0 SqFt: 1,806 Price: $358,000

This beautiful mountain area offers year-round fishing, seasonal hunting, hiking, off-road vehicle trails, and great winter sports. Snow-mobiling, and cross-country skiing are at your front door. When you enter this mountain home, you'll step right into a warm cozy atmosphere with free standing wood stove centrally located. The custom kitchen with cabinets, pull out drawers, large kitchen island/granite offers an entertainers dream space to buffets, and gatherings. People usually just linger and don't want to go home. You'll feel like you're on vacation as you peer out each and every window which offers views watching birds, and local wild life. Detached covered RV area on to of an additional detached 1 car garage with an attached 2 car garage with bonus room 10 x 12 to use as you please.

Its the diamond in the rough, and a great neighborhood !!! Needs interior painting, Flooring replaced where carpet is being pulled up.

The kitchen and hallway are wood flooring. Large 3 car attached garage, one owner home!! Great opportunity!!!

Bed: 3.0 Bath: 2.0 SqFt: 1,260 Price: $499,000

Bed: 4.0 Bath: 3.0 SqFt: 2,174 Price: $560,000

How can I help you?

Call me today!

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Sherry Landis Real Estate, Inc. Serving happy customers for over 33 years.

Our whole family has worked with Effie on many occasions. She always stays on top of things and looks out for our best interest. She is a wonderful real estate agent and most importantly a beautiful person, inside and out. Our whole family loves her and appreciates her truthfulness and her ability to make things run smoothly during the sale of our home(s). -John and Kathy O'Donnell

As you enter this beautiful home, nestled in a great established neighborhood, you will be greeted by warmth and a peaceful ambiance.

The darling kitchen is equipped with granite counter tops, a walk-in pantry, stove/oven, microwave oven, and tile flooring. The light and airy living room is spacious and designed for entertaining, while the family room boasts beautiful laminate flooring and offers a toe-warming gas fireplace. It's just perfect for snuggling up and watching the flames on those cold rainy days. Other features include dual-pane windows, newer HVAC, laminate and tile flooring throughout the house, and a small outdoor workshop. The yard is stunning with its lush green lawn, large private covered dining patio, raised garden, and numerous fruit trees. This is the perfect home for you to create memories of your own!

Bed: 3.0 Bath: 3.0 SqFt: 1,794 Price: $469,000

Located on a private cul-de-sac, this Paradise lot was once home to an elegant residence.

Still remaining are the beautiful wrought iron entry gate with its brickwork, a pond, paved driveway etc. The property is connected to PID water and condition of septic is unknown to seller. Buyer to investigate.

Acres: 1.02 Price: $48,000

Owner financing possible subject to seller’s approval of the terms. Situated in a wonderful neighborhood in lower Paradise, this amazing property once held a 1370 sqft home. The property is on PID water, septic tank and had natural gas. The seller does not have information about the condition of the septic tank. Buyer to investigate.

Acres: 0.40 Price: $34,500

Own a piece of PARADISE!!! If you are looking for your private estate property, then come and see what this gorgeous 1+ acre parcel has to offer. Situated on a quiet cul-de-sac location, it will take only one look to know this is where you want your dream home to be. While its heavenly, the price is down to Earth. Bring your blueprint and build!

Acres: 1.02 Price: $49,900

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HANOSH & HUNTER DENTAL GROUP Giving Generations Something to Smile About PHOTOS BY DIANE NICOLE PHOTOGRAPHY

It’s difficult not to feel at home as you enter Hanosh & Hunter Dental Group’s new office off of E 20th Street in Chico. From the wood tones to the staff’s warm smiles, you aren’t left feeling anything but welcome.

The atmosphere here is a direct reflection of the personalities of the dentists who provide the business with its namesake—Dr. Scott Hanosh and Dr. Beau Hunter—two individuals who you would be just as excited to share a round of golf or mountain bike ride with as you would a dental visit.

Together, they’ve cultivated a novel form of dentistry that focuses on providing patients with everything they need to not only feel comfortable in their visit but also inherently confident in the work they have done. It is a unique experience and one that patients have clearly spoken in favor of, as this new location finally provides the room they’ve so badly needed after quickly outgrowing their first location in Paradise. It is, also, just the start of their plans for dentistry in the North State.

wanted to be growing up. “I didn’t always know I wanted to be a dentist.” He said, “I always loved science and working with my hands. I built a ton of model cars as a kid. I could sit for hours working on those models.” Though he may not have known it, that love for science and his penchant for working with his hands on things that required fine attention to detail were the perfect combination for a life in dentistry.

He eventually found his way to Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska where he completed both his undergraduate studies and dental school. “I couldn’t wait to get out of the Midwest!” Dr. Hanosh laughed, “My wife Michelle and I came to Northern California in 1990 and just fell in love. My uncle was a dentist in Paradise, and he had space in his practice. He offered me a position if I was interested in working with him, and the town felt like a smaller version of Tahoe to me; we just loved everything about it, so we accepted his offer, and we’ve been here ever since.”

Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Dr. Hanosh didn’t necessarily know what he

Dr. Hanosh began working with his uncle in Paradise and quickly became an integral

part of its medical community. Having been trained at a smaller private university, he had an experience that many dentists don’t, and one that was perfectly fitted to the smaller town he and Michelle had decided to call home. “As a smaller specialized university, Creighton didn’t have post-grad programs where you would learn subspecialties like so many dental schools do.”

Dr. Hanosh recalled, “Instead, they trained all of us as general dentists but provided an immense amount of training in specialties alongside our general coursework, including general surgery and orthodontics. The beauty of that model was that it afforded me the training necessary to work in a very rural area and take care of my patients’ needs without having to refer them to specialists.

As there were no specialists in Paradise, my training ended up being the perfect fit for the area. Most general dentists will come out of school without experience in those specialized fields unless they’re eager and want to seek out that type of training themselves. I was lucky to have been given it as part of my general training. I was also lucky to have my uncle as a mentor who 35

with dental school, we came running back to Northern California to escape those brutal Ohio winters.”

Dr. Hunter returned to Chico and began practicing dentistry. He quickly realized there was a need for deeper sedation to help his patients feel completely at ease and receive the level of detailed work he wanted to provide, so he decided to take his training one step further by receiving training in IV sedation at USC, allowing his patients to be as close to out as possible during their procedures. “It was a game changer.” Dr. Hunter exclaimed, “IV sedation allowed me to provide the level of detail I was looking for, the comfort my patients were looking for, and more efficient service as well. It was fantastic!”

Though Dr. Hanosh and Dr. Hunter traveled in similar circles, the two had never actually met, but they had heard about each other from mutual friends. A dental representative they both worked with saw the similarities between the two and felt they’d work perfectly together, so he recommended they meet, knowing Dr. Hanosh was looking for an associate. The two finally met and the rest, as they say, is history.

taught me so much about business and dentistry after I joined his practice.”

Dr. Hanosh eventually outgrew his uncle’s practice and opened his own office on The Ridge in 2003. Though he loved the practice and his patients, he had always wanted to work in a group with two to three other doctors. “There’s something very special about being able to work with others in your field.” Dr. Hanosh explained, “By being able to bounce ideas off of each other and talk openly about the business and each day’s work, everyone ends up experiencing more through each other and becoming better dentists. Plus, it’s just nice to have co-workers you can lean on, trust, and commiserate with. I wanted to work with someone I was compatible with, so I began advertising for an associate, and that’s when serendipity brought Dr. Hunter and I together.”

Born and raised in Gridley, Dr. Hunter followed a similar path to Dr. Hanosh in that dentistry was not at all his initial direction.

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With an undying passion for art and science, his dream was to someday draw for The Simpsons—a far cry from the dental work he would eventually take on. He pursued art in college, but everyone told him he would starve, so he began looking for ways to combine art and science into a form of functional art. It was during this search that he discovered dentistry. He attended dental school at Ohio State University and graduated in 2011. “Ohio State University had a good number of specialty programs.”

Dr. Hunter remembered, “The difference was they didn’t rob them from us like a lot of other schools did. The school had a very strong leaning towards oral surgery, and rather than forcing all of us to specialize, they made sure to provide a significant amount of training in the field. If you wanted to pursue it further, they had the programs for it, but they made sure we left in a way where we could be useful stewards of our training and help a wider range of people in the communities we eventually decided to serve. My wife Shannon was originally from Oroville, and as soon as I was done

“Dr. Hunter joined my original office in Paradise, and everything just clicked.”

Dr Hanosh said, “At the time, we had six rooms, and within a few months, we were completely maxed out. We were just hurting for space, as he had a lot of patients coming in from Gridley to see him, and we knew we needed to someplace bigger. We confided in a mutual friend, and he took us up to Portland to meet with a consultant. They looked at our numbers and said we had to build a new office, so we did.”

The new location in Paradise was built from scratch to their exact specifications and opened its doors in 2016. At 6,700 square feet with 13 treatment rooms, it was the largest dental facility on The Ridge and provided everything the community needed including orthodontics and implants. Dr. Hunter turned Dr. Hanosh onto IV sedation, and he went and got trained in it as well.

The practice grew exponentially until the Camp Fire stopped everything in its tracks.

“The new facility allowed us to see unbelievable growth.” Dr. Hunter remembered, “With the level of experience

we had with implants, we were able to load all of them onto one denture and do bigger surgery cases. It was exactly what the demographic on The Ridge needed, and things just started to flow. It had been just two years since opening when we heard what sounded like rain on our metal roof the morning of November 8th. We heard loud booms and thought it was just thunder, not realizing that the rain we heard on the roof was debris from the fire. Luckily, Cal Fire had used our lot for staging during previous fires, and they did so again during the Camp Fire. We were all lucky to not only escape the disaster but to have also had Cal Fire at our building. The back fence caught fire, but they cut the posts and pushed everything away from our building, keeping it wet and from catching fire throughout the day.”

“The entire community changed in an instant.” Dr. Hanosh said, “Not only did the population change immensely, but 90% of the dentists who were here before the fire either retired or left the state. As challenging as the experience was, we made the most of it and bought a practice in Oroville along with a small one in Chico to continue servicing our patients in the areas they moved to while Paradise was being cleaned and slowly rebuilt. 15 months after the Camp Fire, we were finally able to reopen our office in Paradise, only to be shut down again four months later by the pandemic.”

Dr. Hunter laughed, “We’ve just learned to roll with what life has thrown at us, and life has thrown a decent amount at us! We’ve

rolled with the bad and taken advantage of new opportunities to grow. During the time we were down for the pandemic, I used the knowledge I had from working with my dad—who is a contractor—to put a new roof on my house and refinish a bathroom.

It was a perfect reminder of just how much I love what I do, and I couldn’t have been more excited to get back to being a dentist! Although the fire and the pandemic changed the landscape significantly, we were able to use those situations to analyze our business and better our model. As a result, both our staff and patient base have tripled since the start of 2019. We’re thrilled to be back on The Ridge, and it’s comforting to hear from our patients that they’re thrilled to have us back there too. We closed the Oroville location to open the Chico location, as we decided we would be too spread out with three offices. It was the right move for us, and we’re already getting the same feedback for our new office in Chico as we do in Paradise.”

The new Chico office is a culmination of everything Drs. Hanosh and Hunter have been working on since joining forces in 2012. Realizing the Paradise recipe was just right, they modeled the Chico location as a more compact version appropriate for the number of patients they were looking to provide care for. At 3,800 square feet, it has the perfect blend of technology, flow, and staff to meet the needs of its once again exponential growth.

“We now have 30 team members!” Dr.

Hanosh exclaimed, “We’ve brought on two more associate dentists—Dr. Charlie Sannar and Dr. Renee Tanabe—who are helping us fill the needs of both communities. The Chico location really focuses on patient education. We have a massive TV built into the ceiling and at the foot of the patient chair in each room. Patients don’t feel lost as they’re able to participate in their exams. They can see everything in those two TVs, and we’ve found it’s much easier for patients to accept and appreciate care when there’s full transparency so they know exactly what’s going on. We offer a large variety of services under one roof, and one of the things I love most is that I can work on a seven or eight-year-old in one room and a 70 or 80-year-old in another. We’re able to keep the entire family in the office generation after generation rather than needing to send them off to different places.

In all the years I’ve been practicing, I’ve found most patients want to stay with you through their entire journey in dentistry. We love being able to offer the full spectrum of services for our patients right here in a comfortable environment they can put their trust in.”

The term “full-spectrum” is by no means an exaggeration either. The new office in Chico truly provides just about everything a patient could ask for from a standard cleaning or examination up to dentures and implants.

Best of all, Drs. Hanosh and Hunter have invested heavily in their practice to ensure as much work as possible is done in-house.

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“We’re just as concerned about our patients and their health as they are—sometimes even more so.” Dr. Hunter said, “We’ve made major investments to ensure that we’re providing the safest and best dental care possible in the North Valley. It starts with our water-filtration system that triple filters all of the water in our building before it gets to the patient. Every drop of water that hits your mouth through our instruments is incredibly sterile. We go above and beyond with our sterilization measures for all tools used in the office, and we have taken special care to make sure our X-rays are provided with the least amount of radiation possible. We use a 3D cone beam handheld X-ray machine that puts out less radiation than you would get from eating a banana or walking around outside on a sunny day. It is far lower than most typical offices. We have milling machines inhouse for our crowns, so if you’re ever in need of one, you simply sit in the chair, we take a 3D digital scan of your tooth, and we’re able to mill the crown right here and cement it the same day. There are no temporaries here, and the minimum two-day wait experienced elsewhere is a thing of the past. We mill our crowns in about nine minutes, customize the color by hand to match your teeth, fire it in the kiln for 15 minutes, and place them on the tooth. Patients only have to be numbed once, and the procedure is completed in 90 minutes. It’s the perfect marriage of art and science, and when you could have it done like this, why would you want to do it any other way?”

Drs. Hanosh and Hunter also have a full in-house dental lab in their Paradise office, giving them the ability to print dentures right at the office. They scan your jaw and teeth with a specialized camera that provides a more accurate scan than the old standard impressions do. With it, they can create retainers, night guards, snore guards, and more, including dentures and implants. Thanks to this technology, they can have 90% of implants restored within three months of implant placement, a significant time savings compared to standard methods.

In just ten short years together, Drs. Hanosh and Hunter have not only grown by leaps and bounds as dentists but also built one of the most impressive dental practices in the North State. They continue to innovate and look to the future, excited about expanding their practice and adding new technologies to further the safety, comfort, and efficiency of the services they already provide. Best of all, they’ve been able to do it together while remaining incredibly close friends, sharing an unmistakable brotherhood and bond whose shared encouragement has paid dividends in both of their lives. When they’re not busy providing dental care throughout Butte County, they’re actively participating in their communities, giving back, and reveling in all the area has to offer with their families.

“We get a lot of enjoyment from what we do!” Dr. Hanosh smiled, “We’re always excited to take on the next big project. We love complex cases and live for a good challenge whether that be full mouth crowns, reconstructions, or implant cases. Of course, we also love just being the friendly neighborhood dentists that our communities have come to rely on.”

If you’re looking for compassionate, caring, and thoughtful dentistry, check out Hanosh & Hunter Dental Group online at www. hanoshandhunter.com. We can guarantee you’ll be sure to enjoy them just as much as people as you will as dentists. When you can do that, why have it any other way?

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Privvy Modern Health

Dr. Nerissa Prieto graduated from UCLA with an M.S. in cell biology before completing medical school and residency at Rutgers in anesthesiology. She went on to Stanford for further training and published groundbreaking research in alcohol withdrawal. Her expertise in physiology and pharmacology makes her the perfect individual to lead the charge against aging, which is exactly what she’s doing at Privvy Modern Health. Located in the Chico Mall, Dr. Prieto occupies what some call “the middle space”, bridging the gap between western medicine and basic science. She provides an easily accessible approach to IV nutritional therapy, injectable and chronic management of obesity, and a more thorough approach to medical care. Dr. Prieto is currently launching her Regenerative Aesthetics program, applying cutting-edge biotech treatments to restore your skin and counteract the effects of aging. If you’re looking for the next frontier in beauty, health, and wellness, you’ll find it here. privvymodernhealth @privvymodernhealth www.privvyhealth.com

1950 E. 20th Street, Suite E523 (530) 309-0671 M-Sat 10am - 6pm, Sun 11am - 6pm

Studio Thirty Three

Mandy Fehlman got her start as a competitive dancer with a love for music and fitness.

In early 2018, she visited a friend in Southern California and took a rhythm cycling class for the first time. She got off the bike and told her friend, “This is what I’m doing with my life.” She began offering classes in her garage with nine bikes and quickly had a sizable waiting list. In December of 2019, she opened Cycle Thirty Three on West Eaton Road in Chico. Just as in her garage, the business quickly took off, and she decided to expand into the space next door. Rebranded to Studio Thirty Three, they now offer rhythm-based cardio kickboxing, HIIT classes, and pilates-inspired classes alongside cycling; they even have a massage therapist on staff! Boujee and clean without the boujee price tag, it’s a must visit for that physical glow-up we all need for the new year.

TheStudioThirtyThree @the_studio33 www.thestudiothirtythree.com

14 W. Eaton Rd. Suite #140 (530) 809-4748 See Website for Hours

GLOW UP Take Control of Your Brows!

Loreal Archibald @ Lo And Behold Beauty

Just how important are our eyebrows? They convey verbal and nonverbal communication, reflect personal style, and provide symmetry to our faces. Don’t underestimate the power of good eyebrows! Now, when it comes to styling your eyebrows, there are more options available than ever before. Options range from short-term grooming practices to more permanent solutions. If you’re looking to break free from the struggle of your daily brow routine, a more permanent eyebrow enhancement may be a better option for you. You may have heard of “permanent makeup” or the more commonly used term “microblading”. While microblading

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is a type of permanent makeup, it is just one of the several style options available for your brows to have their customized glow-up.

Knowing where your brows can use improvements is not easy, so leave it up to the experts to take that stress away! Even better, permanent makeup can last anywhere from 2-4 years before needing a touch-up. That’s 10 minutes shaved off your daily routine, money saved on makeup, and a stress-free brow regimen. So, if you’re looking for a glow-up this winter, permanent brow pampering may be for you!

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A Refreshing Approach To DERMATOLOGY Medical dermatology differs from cosmetic dermatology because it doesn't deal with Botox, fillers, or laser resurfacing. "Medical dermatology involves things like rashes, skin cancers and precancers, and various other growths that appear," Dr. Kraffert says.

"However, in treating those, not only do you help the problem, but you also help the aesthetic, so those two things blend together in many ways." Since Dr. Kraffert was a resident in the early 90s, the methods for treating skin ailments have changed immensely. Conditions like psoriasis, an inflammatory disease, can now be treated with biologics, which target and block cells or proteins that cause inflammation and significantly increase patient relief.

A graduate of UCLA and the University of Miami, Dr. Kraffert has been practicing dermatology in Redding for over 25 years.

CK Derm also has offices in Meriam Park in Chico, Eureka, and Medford, Oregon, all of which Dr. Kraffert visits regularly. When I spoke to him for this article, he had flown from Redding to Eureka to work eight hours in that office, then just flown back to Redding to see patients the next day. It's a little different, but that's how Dr. Kraffert approaches his work. He is more dedicated and committed to finding answers and helping patients than many doctors.

Dr. Kraffert and the teams at all four of his offices are dedicated to their patients' well-being. CK Derm uses cutting-edge and top-of-the-line technology to diagnose and treat skin ailments, allowing patients to feel like they're getting the best care. "We have a vast product offering in terms of things we do," Dr. Kraffert says. "We're doing this new type of very gentle radiation treatment for skin, we're doing treatments where we simply scrape and burn off the cancers, and we're even using immunotherapies topically and systemically for cancer." Some of CK Derm's groundbreaking work is even being

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used and reproduced for publication in medical journals. "The tools for treatment just keep getting better, and I enjoy using them," Dr. Kraffert says.

For Dr. Kraffert, the job is its own reward.

"We're having fun taking care of patients, and the gratitude of these folks is so great," Dr. Kraffert says. "You actually get to see your work. I love the variety, the concrete results, and the idea that you can use both your mind and hands. We're doing a lot of things that are not going to be robot-friendly anytime soon."

CK Derm offers cutting-edge treatments by board-certified dermatologists for various skin conditions. The CK Derm | Chico team comprises Paul Sajben, MD, FAAD, Paul Dwyer, PA-C, MPAS, and Stephanie Consiglio, NP, MSN. Dr. Sajben is board-certified in dermatology and Mohs surgery. The entire team is highly trained and experienced and has been received exceptionally well by patients in and around Chico. Visit them on the web at ckderm.com, at their Chico office in Meriam Park at 1817 Concord Avenue, Suite 100, or by calling (530) 767-3367.

WRITTEN BY MADDIE RODRIGUEZ

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We are always in our skin. It doesn't leave us. From birth to death, our skin regulates our temperature, protects our precious human insides from harmful germs and bacteria, and acts as a sensory and immune organ. Our skin is a curious paradox of softness and toughness that varies widely in texture and color and is heavily influenced by genetics. We don't think much about our skin or what it does for us unless something is wrong. The same goes for skin doctors or, more correctly, dermatologists. Most of us will only need a dermatologist if there's a problem. Still, fortunately for us, when there is, we have doctors like Dr. Kraffert and his team at CK Derm who are there to care for us.

Chico Massage School

Candi Williamson has spent the last 20 years bringing peace and healing to the bodies of those around her. At Chico Massage School, she and her team of instructors teach a level-1 massage therapy program that guides students into not only becoming self-sufficient massage therapists, but better stewards of their own healing, self-care, and personal growth. Their program is just seven months long and promises to help people get into a career they’ll truly love—one that is both rewarding monetarily and also in the knowledge that their care is changing their clients’ lives for the better. Rather than simply teaching massage techniques, they also provide training on running a business, helping graduates be their own boss and build a profitable practice, making $65-$100/hour over the years to follow.

Massage clinics are open to the public by appointment only, and massages are offered from $25-$45/hour. Visit them online to find out more today! chicomassageschool @chicomassageschool www.chicomassageschool.com

809 E. 5th Ave, Chico (530) 588-6889

By Appointment Only

Lo and Behold Beauty Loreal Archibald is the owner of Lo and Behold Beauty in Chico. As a 7x certified permanent makeup artist, she has been doing business for over 4 years, helping clients glow up and find the look that most matches how they feel inside. She specializes in eyebrows and focuses on achieving flattering, natural results that complement a client's individual needs. She also offers lip blushing, a service that brings back color, definition, and a youthful appearance to clients' lips. She has been artistically talented since she was young and is pleased to be able to implement those skills into a career that she loves.

Great brows don’t happen by chance, they happen by appointment! If you’re looking to improve your brows and make your daily routine a little easier, let’s get you booked! Call her or visit Lo and Behold Beauty online by using any of the methods listed below. @lo.and.behold.beauty www.loandbeholdbeauty.com

468 Manzanita Ave Suite 5, Chico (916) 759-6401 — Feel free to text!

By Appointment Only

GLOW UP Treat Yourself

Courtney Spangler @ Silhouette Waxing Studio

Traditionally, the New Year inspires us to reflect, take personal inventory, and set an intention that will breathe new life into the year ahead. Often times we set our sights on a personal transformation or a glow-up.

Every day, in our profession, we get to see how even a small service like a skillful brow design to frame the eyes, a face wax to remove facial fuzz and brighten the skin, or an organic spray tan to bronze and even skin tone can make our customers feel so much better and more confident about themselves. All it takes for a little glow-up is about 15 minutes at your lunch break, between classes,

or while the kids are in daycare. Dedicating even just a small window of time can help you to feel pampered, decompress, and walk away feeling a little bit better about yourself.

You don't need to break the bank or monopolize what little time you may have to care for yourself and to glow up this year. Start small, start healthy, rest, nourish yourself, move your body, and do little things when you can that make you feel good. Let's face it—if you feel good, you look good. Sometimes just doing a little something for your outside helps you to let your inner glow shine even brighter.

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infuse your day Dreary winter days can leave us feeling tired and rundown. Add on the after-effects of a late night celebrating with friends or the remnants of a seasonal cold, and it can be hard to muster up the energy to face the day. Luckily, Chico’s own Hydration Happens is ready to infuse you with everything you need to get out there and get going.

Dr. John Kermen opened Hydration Happens in the spring of 2022. He grew up in Chico and practiced anesthesiology for 27 years in Mendocino but recently decided 44

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Hydration Happens offers IV vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants to combat and address a variety of issues. Perhaps you’ve just gotten over COVID-19, or you’re preparing to travel and want to boost your immunity, or even going through chemotherapy and want help alleviating the associated nausea and fatigue that come with it. Dr. Kermen says, “Let me put it this way, there’s nobody out there who wouldn’t benefit from it.”

Clients can call or come in for a consultation to discuss what they are hoping to achieve with their therapy, and Dr. Kermen or his staff of RNs can recommend the most appropriate service and frequency. Most infusions take 20 to 30 minutes to complete while others, such as their new CBD

offering, take a few hours to administer.

In addition to its well-known hangover cure, Hydration Happens offers several state-ofthe-art health therapies. They have a series of weight loss options including weight loss drips, Ozempic injections, and fat buster injections of MIC (methionine, inositol, and choline) with vitamin B12 which helps to curb appetite while boosting energy. The clinic is also one of the first in the nation to offer a CBD infusion. This CBD therapy is a highly effective and affordable option for combating post-traumatic stress disorder, inflammation, and pain.

This January, Hydration Happens will be introducing its new membership program.

Clients can sign up for monthly or bimonthly plans which will reduce the cost of infusions as well as offer discounts on other injections. If they are unable to use their included infusions, they can pass them on to friends or family to share in the experience.

If you’re interested in learning more about IV therapy and what’s available, visit them online at www.hydrationhappens.com or call (530) 520-7960 to book an appointment.

WRITTEN BY SHELLY BRANDON

The vitamins and supplements we take orally are often only partially absorbed by our systems, sometimes as little as 15%, whereas IV infusions are much more readily available. Dr. Kermen of Hydration Happens says, “Vitamin C is the perfect example.

You can take a ton of vitamin C, but you’re going to waste most of that, whereas when you take it by IV, you absorb so much more. There are so many IV vitamins, antioxidants, and supplements out there that are good for a variety of things. It’s not just for hangovers. It’s good for infection, inflammation, respiratory illnesses, getting ready for sports, and detoxing from athletic events.”

it was time to return home. Dr. Kermen had been the medical director for another IV infusion center, and after experiencing the positive outcomes attainable with IV therapy, determined he’d like to open his own here in Chico. “I saw it as an opportunity to not only do something for me in the future but to do something that was helpful for the community.”

Morning Sun Martial Arts

Marianne Eberhardt’s son wanted to do martial arts, so she enrolled him, and as a mom who wanted to help out, joined their mom’s martial arts class. Three years later, when an instructor missed their class, she stepped in to teach and loved it. She earned her black belt shortly after and has taught as a sensei ever since. She eventually decided to open a dojo, and Morning Sun Martial Arts is that dream come true—a dojo cultivating an atmosphere of community, where encouragement comes first, competition comes last, and everyone’s treated as family. Morning Sun offers a singular curriculum combining taekwondo, hapkido, and weapons arts with fitness classes. Marianne is finishing her certification as a meditation coach, which she will use to take her program back to what martial arts was meant to be. The first two classes are always free. Stop in and experience martial arts on a different level. morningsunmartialarts @morningsunma www.morningsunma.com

181 E. 9th Avenue, Chico (530) 342-5833 M-F 9am-11am, 3pm-7pm

Lion's Den

Shuree has been nutrition-focused throughout her life, but after losing her house in the Camp Fire, focusing on health brought her back from the brink. She and her husband Marc cut junk out of their diets and focused on ensuring their bodies received what they needed daily. The difference became clear in a few short weeks, and they were able to start the healing process—body, mind, and soul. This journey led them to purchase Nutrishop Chico in May of 2021. Since then, they have helped others find the same path and begin their journey to becoming the best version of themselves. Most recently, they opened Lions Den Gym, a state-of-the-art fitness facility, and moved Nutrishop Chico inside. Lions Den now has everything needed to achieve that New Year’s glow-up we’re all looking for. Drop by and check out this incredible facility for yourself, or check out last month’s issue of Upgraded Living to get the full story! @lionsdenchico www.thelionden.com

1026 Skyway, Chico (530) 898-8348 M-F 4am-10pm, Sat 6am-9pm, Sun 7am-7pm

GLOW UP WISH 24 for 2024.

Try something new twice each month for next year.

Laura Nelson @ Cedar Creek: A Place for Healing

W-Wonderment | I-Inquiry | S-Search | H-Healing

Try something new twice each month for the New Year and watch as your mental health and capacity has a glow-up of its own.

Search is finding what it is you need. Perhaps for more time, space, or patience. Seek what your spirit already knows.

Wonderment is the self-permission to have admiration, curiosity, and creativity. Invite outright vulnerability. Look at the simple joys of life with innocent wonder.

Healing is part tapping into your true identification and part following your heart spirit towards becoming self-aware. Find wide-open spaces of inactivity and solitude. Disengage and slow down. Try mindfulness and prayerful gratitude each day. Allow yourself time for recovery, rest, and digestion. The time it takes to heal is a process of becoming whole again after the days of survival needs, trauma, or grief and loss. Healing is a personal journey. Share your humility and courage.

Inquiry is the mindset of the learner and researcher. Develop new ways of thinking and find healthy outlets tailored to you personally for positive change. Reach out to kindhearted and empathetic others, and ask for their support or advice. Offer yourself forgiveness where it’s needed.

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Ancient Egypt was the birthplace of skin care. The pursuit of beauty in ancient China and Japan was almost unmatched. In Greece and Rome you found the perpetual quest for perfection. The Middle Ages brought the search for beauty amidst unbelievable adversity. The Renaissance saw a rebirth of interest in beauty both physically and in art. Finally, the 19th century brought about the birth of modern cosmetics. These developments will be briefly explored, and along with them, the many natural beauty aids still in use today—olive and almond oil, honey, various herbs, spices like turmeric, and even the use of mud will be revealed.

Two ingredients from the ancient world to the present day have been in use for centuries, and we in the North Valley are surrounded by them: olive oil and almond oil.

We want to clarify one item before proceeding with our natural beauty pursuit. That is the pronunciation of the word “almond.” Let no misconception cloud our understanding of this colloquially important subject which has been the talking point of many an almond grower’s conversation. The question in the Great Central Valley of California is simple: Is it almond or ammond? That begs the question, “Where did ammonds (or even ammins) come from?” The answer is simple—no one knows.

The fact is the nuts are almonds all over the U.S., but in a range of 200 miles here in California, they are ammonds to many tree farmers. The older the almond farmer the more likely they are ammonds. There’s no use repeating the old saying, “They’re ammonds because they got the “L” knocked out of them.” The avenue is to accept the fact and live with it.

After all, worrying causes “worry lines,” and we don’t need that! So, let us luxuriate in the soft sacred scent of almonds, either roasted, raw, or in almond oil and all that goes with it.

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Almonds Almonds contain protein, copper, riboflavin, phosphorus, fiber and vitamin E. They have an astoundingly high level of antioxidants. Almond oil is known for strengthening and repairing nails, reducing the occurrence of dandruff, reducing wrinkles and age spots, getting rid of eye puffiness and under-eye dark circles, and maintaining healthy skin. You can get the benefits by consuming the nuts, but you can also apply almond oil directly on the skin.

To harness the benefits of almond oil for radiant skin, begin by cleansing your face, then apply a few drops of almond oil to your fingertips. Gently massage it into your skin using circular motions, focusing on areas prone to dryness. For a deeper moisturizing effect, apply it before bedtime.

Almond oil can also be mixed with aloe vera gel for a hydrating mask or blended with sugar for a rejuvenating scrub, eliminating dead skin cells. Its vitamin E content helps reduce signs of aging and promotes a natural radiance. Embrace almond oil as a nourishing, all-natural addition to your skincare routine.

Olives As you drive along Highways 32, 99, or 70, and down The 5 (that’s for you SoCal folks), you will see miles and miles of olive orchards. Olives were planted in the valley well over 100 years ago, with some of the oldest trees calling Oroville home.

They are a versatile fruit that people enjoy in many combinations, be it right out of the jar, on top of pizza (Who doesn’t love pizza!), in salads, and tapenade. Just don’t pick one off the tree and bite into it. The bitterness factor is off the charts. This makes you wonder who the heck found out how to cure olives. Soak them in a lye solution? What? I mean, who doesn’t soak their food in a poisonous soap-making ingredient?

More amazing than that is how good olives taste. Even more amazing is how good they are for you. Olives have been around for thousands of years and have been a staple of Ancient Greek and Roman cultures. It is one of the most popular cooking oils in the world. Many scientists think the age longevity of some of the Mediterranean cultures is because of their heavy consumption of olive oil.

Olive oil is a powerful provider of antioxidant compounds such as polyphenols and monounsaturated fatty acids. It promotes cardiovascular health, reduces cholesterol and blood pressure, helps prevent certain cancers, and supports memory and brain function. It combats inflammation and helps the immune system. The list goes on and on (and probably already has for many of you). Olive oil was part of Ancient Mesopotamian skincare, and they applied it to their skin after bathing. In Ancient Egypt, it was applied to skin and hair, and it was used in religious ceremonies.

During Europe's Renaissance, olive oil continued to play a significant role in beauty regimens.

Olive oil-based soaps, creams, and lotions were developed to cleanse and nourish the skin.

In fact, olive oil has been used throughout the ages and in many cultures, including Chinese, the Middle East, and in Ayurveda skin care practices in Southern Asia. These practices have continued through the years and were an important foundation in the modern era of beauty products, a phase important in Europe and the United States in the 19th century.

WRITTEN BY TIM MILHORN

GL OW UP GL OW UP GL Natural Beauty, Naturally

Honey Another important tool in the beauty trade is honey. You can see the hives all over the area and have the occasional bee fly into your vehicle at 60 mph, which makes for a fun five minutes! Remember, Orland is the Queen Bee Capital of the World, so there’s plenty of honey around here. It has been used as a wound healer for centuries, and it, too, is good for your skin as a natural emollient and cleanser. It’s a natural antibiotic and is great for your cuticles. It works also well as part of a facial treatment.

Using it is easy. Begin by cleansing your face, then apply a thin layer of raw honey, letting it sit for 10-15 minutes as a soothing mask. Its antibacterial properties aid in acne prevention, while antioxidants promote a youthful glow. For exfoliation, mix honey with fine sugar for a gentle scrub. Alternatively, combine it with yogurt for a hydrating face pack. Honey's moisturizing qualities make it an excellent ingredient for dry skin, and its healing properties soothe irritations. Regular use can result in a softer, smoother complexion, making honey a sweet addition to any skincare routine.

Mud Mud, an age-old beauty secret, has remarkable benefits for the skin. Rich in minerals like magnesium, calcium, and silica, mud acts as a natural detoxifier, drawing out impurities and excess oils from pores. Regular application of mud masks helps reduce acne, unclog pores, and balance oil production, promoting clearer skin. The exfoliating properties of mud slough off dead skin cells, revealing a smoother and more radiant complexion. Additionally, mud's high absorption capacity makes it effective in absorbing toxins, leaving the skin refreshed and revitalized. Mud baths are renowned for improving circulation, easing muscle tension, and promoting overall relaxation. Whether sourced from the Dead Sea or volcanic regions, incorporating mud into your beauty regimen unveils the transformative power of nature for healthier, more vibrant skin.

To realize the benefits of mud for skin, start by selecting a quality mud mask suited to your skin type. Cleanse your face and pat it dry before applying a thin, even layer of the mud mask. Allow it to dry completely, usually within 10-15 minutes, as it tightens and draws out impurities. Rinse with lukewarm water, gently massaging to exfoliate. The minerals in the mud nourish the skin while absorbing excess oils and toxins. Use mud masks weekly for a deep cleanse, improved texture, and a revitalized complexion.

Additionally, consider full-body mud treatments or baths to experience the therapeutic benefits throughout your skincare routine.

Turmeric Turmeric, a golden-hued spice celebrated for its culinary uses, is also a potent beauty ally. Its active compound, curcumin, boasts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, making it a skincare treasure. Incorporate turmeric into face masks by mixing it with yogurt or honey for a brightening effect, reducing acne and inflammation. The spice's natural antiseptic qualities can alleviate various skin conditions. Additionally, a pinch of turmeric in your regular skincare routine can promote a healthy glow by combating free radicals and supporting collagen production. Embrace turmeric's ancient beauty secrets to unlock a radiant complexion and address various skin concerns with this versatile and time-tested ingredient.

Use turmeric for vibrant skin by creating a simple face mask. Combine a teaspoon of turmeric powder with honey or yogurt to form a paste. Apply the mixture evenly to your cleansed face, avoiding the eye area. Leave it on for 15-20 minutes, allowing the curcumin to work its magic. Turmeric's anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties can soothe irritated skin, reduce acne, and impart a natural glow. Rinse with lukewarm water, and pat your skin dry. Incorporate this ritual into your skincare routine regularly to embrace the brightening and healing benefits of turmeric for a revitalized complexion.

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Classic Albums LIVE The catalog of albums performed by Classic Albums Live (CAL) is crazy: The Beatles, The Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Springsteen, The Doors, Fleetwood Mac, Hendryx, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Prince, Pearl Jam, and many, many more. The idea of putting together more than a cover band came to Craig Martin 20 years ago when he was playing in a Toronto, Canada cover band.

“There’s got to be more,” Martin explained his thinking. “Being a tribute band did not capture the essence of the real band. To capture that feeling you have to be in a band.” So, he got a group of extraordinary musicians together, chose an album, and practiced the songs, note for note, first song to last song, just like on the album.

“We didn’t wear costumes. We didn’t try to look like them. We just wanted to produce a replica of what they played.”

Classic Albums Live started with a core group, but now they’ve grown to much more.

The troupe playing in Chico will consist of 12 musicians with Martin singing the lead vocals. Members of CAL not only come from Toronto, but all over Canada and the U.S. It depends upon the album they’re performing. Sometimes they hire a specific musician who can hit those SRV guitar licks or a singer who can hit Robert Plant’s voice note for note. They might need a drummer who can emulate Keith Moon on the drums. “Note for note” means just that, and Martin is militant about the ideal. “The show is about the music,” he said. “It’s not about any visuals on the stage or looking like the original performers.”

“My university was playing this music for years,” said Martin. “Ironically, I head up this big organization with no college degree, but it’s paid off.” Martin’s passion showed through as he spoke about CAL. “No one does it better, note for note, cut for cut,” he said. All you need to do to see

The musicians put so much time into practicing that they can usually play the entire album straight through at the first rehearsal. This can be with a five or six-piece group or an entire band with strings and horns. These are all serious musicians who can put on a bravura

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performance night after night.

Martin gives credit to his Toronto-based management crew who plans and executes the shows: Nick Walsh, Cynthia Cake, Rich Phillips, Ryan Racine, and Erick Haukonen to name a few. On a broader scale, CAL is the number-one employer of musicians in Canada. They have 70 musicians on their roster and more available to hire. CAL sometimes has four shows running on the same nights in different locales. “This is the modern-day orchestra,” said Martin. “All of our energy is put into our performances.”

The night Sticky Fingers is being performed, The Who’s Who’s Next is being played in Ontario, Canada. On February 2, Queen’s News of the World is on at Sherwood Park, Alberta. From January 24 to February 3, Sticky Fingers will be performed eight times; News of the World, six times; plus there are performances of Who’s Next and the Eagles’ Hotel California.

For more information visit www.classicalbumslive.com or their Facebook and Instagram pages. Hope to see you at Laxson on January 29!

WRITTEN BY TIM MILHORN

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that this is true is watch a performance of CAL, preferably live. You’ll get your chance when they come to Chico State as part of the Chico Performances productions at Laxson Auditorium on January 27. They will be playing Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones. It’s a listening experience you need to hear.

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Kase und Fromage et Formaggio e…

Reggiano, pecorino, burrata, Bel Paese, and Grana Padano on a very short list.

The most expensive cheese is pule from Serbia at $576 per pound. Who knew donkey milk cost so much?!

In the United States, the word cheese is used in many types of slang, idioms, vernacular, and lingo. For example, Cheese it! Cheese off! That’s hard cheese, right there. That’s cheesy looking. And the most well-known: Who cut the cheese? Finally, there is one positive use of the word—“Say cheese!”

That phrase didn’t appear until the 1940s, when the Big Spring Herald, a newspaper in Texas, published an article on how to get people to smile when taking a photo.

You're probably champing at the cheese wheel trying to figure out the favorite cheeses in the U.S. Well, here they are: American, cheddar, jack cheese, Swiss, and… hey! Wait a minute. Stop! Really? I’m surprised Velveeta didn’t make the top five. Joking aside, the U.S. does produce some of the best cheese in the world.

These include real gourmet cheeses: Blue Mont Cheddar, Wisconsin; Vella Dry Jack, California; Salvatore BKLYN Ricotta, NY; Hoja Santa Mozzarella, Texas; and Vermont Creamery Coupole. These are just a few of the quality cheeses available.

Examining the title, you see cheese in German, French, and Italian. Those are the three leading cheese producers in Europe. Discounting the United States, the world’s leading cheese-producing country is Germany! Crazy, right? If you think about it, an article in a magazine can hardly do cheese justice. Lengthy books have been written about cheese. While not attempting a lengthy tome, we will include some cheese tidbits.

Let’s take a look at some of the famous cheeses of France: Brie de Meaux, Camembert de Normandie, tomme, Roquefort, and reblochon, to list very few.

In Germany, you have Limburger (Who, indeed, cut that cheese?), cambozola, butterkase, Bavarian Blu, and Harzer.

Some of Italy’s favorites are Parmigiano 50

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Now the BIG QUESTION. When do you serve the cheese course in a multi-course dinner? That depends on the type of cheese being served, apparently. As an aperitif, good French cheeses that range from soft to hard pair well with charcuterie and spreads and veggies. In the mid portion of the meal, make sure the cheese is not “heavy” or overpowering to the palette. As for the final course, serve cheese with figs, pears, grapes, and dessert wines.

The combination of cheese and other foods is insanely complex, and it’s your choice in reality on what you want to do. As for romantic situations, I’d advise skipping the Limburger. Seriously.

WRITTEN BY TIM MILHORN

No matter what you call it, cheese is one of the world’s favorite foods, and nearly every country in the world has some form of established cheese. However, let us birdwalk for a paragraph.

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Loaded Mac and Cheese When it comes to being cheesy, there is simply nothing that compares to a piping hot bowl of mac and cheese. Sweet, salty, savory, and the lightest bit crunchy, it checks every box for the perfect winter meal. If we're chowing down on some mac, we tend to load it up, and this recipe will make sure you do too.

Try it out and watch eyes light up around the dinner table this month!

Ingredients -¼ cup unsalted butter - ½ cup all-purpose flour - 1 clove garlic, minced - 2 teaspoons kosher salt - 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce - ½ teaspoon dry mustard - ½ teaspoon ground black pepper - 4 cups whole milk - 1 cup sour cream - 4 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese blend, divided - 1 (16-ounce) package cavatappi pasta, cooked according to package directions - 4 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, divided - ½ cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs) - 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled - 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions 1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. 2. In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or pan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour, garlic, salt, Worcestershire, mustard, and pepper, then cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in sour cream and milk until smooth, then bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, for about 4 minutes. Whisk in 3½ cups cheese until fully melted. Stir in cooked pasta and 2 tablespoons of chives until combined.

3. In a bowl, stir together bread crumbs, bacon, melted butter, and the remaining ½ cup cheese, along with the 2 remaining tablespoons of chives. Sprinkle over pasta.

4. Bake in the oven until golden brown and bubbly—usually about 15-20 minutes. Dish it up and enjoy!

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A Wish for a Waltz

“Hi there, Bradley!” A voice hailed her from down the street, where a tall, good-looking man dressed in heavy winter woolens was striding in her direction, accompanied by two other people. As they drew nearer, Helen could see it was Flora Davies and Herbert Smith, and the tall man was Joe Abernathy. She smiled with delight. “Why, hello to you!” she cried, bounding off the porch and down the icy walk. “Isn’t it a perfect night for skating?”

Flora, who was a bubbly, bouncy person— most of the time anyway—smiled effusively.

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and shining eyes, always ready for fun. “We almost didn’t get here at all!” she exclaimed.

“These two wouldn’t stop trying to wash the other’s face in the snow drifts.” She cast a gimlet eye on the two young men, who grinned sheepishly at one another. Joe and Herbert were the Normal School’s class clowns, always trying to outdo the other in japes and high-jinks. “I can well believe it,” Helen said, smiling.

The four friends, laughing and joking, linked up in pairs—Joe with Helen and Flora with Herbert—and set out for the skating rink.

The streets were quiet, and wood smoke rose cheerily from the chimneys of the homes they passed, scenting the air with bonfire smells. At the rink, a four-piece band was warming up on the stage and a few impatient couples were already out on the ice. Electric lights around the perimeter made the place glow like daytime. Helen and her friends stashed their galoshes under a bench and hurriedly put on their skates. Up on the stage, the band banged clumsily into a passable waltz, and people began to drift onto the ice.

Helen scanned the crowd for the one face she hoped to see tonight. It didn’t appear by the concession stand or in the group of chattering high school boys and girls gathered nearby. She didn’t see it by the bandshell or on the ice. Just when she had begun to be disappointed, a voice nearby said, “Looking for someone?” Helen whirled around as fast as she could on her skates, and there he was as if she had conjured him herself: Eddie Hunt. He smiled at her, his handsome face lighting, small crinkles deepening near his eyes. Helen was so surprised she could barely get a word out, but fortunately, she didn’t have to say much.

“Let’s skate,” Eddie said, holding out a mittened hand.

They joined the couples out on the ice as the strains of the waltz mingled with the happy sounds of people having a good time. Helen, who was an excellent skater, held Eddie’s mittened hands fast in her own, hardly believing her good luck. All around them, the night swirled by, weaving a wish and a waltz into a dream made real under twinkling stars and moonlight.

WRITTEN BY MADDIE RODRIGUEZ

The night was frosty when Helen Bradley stepped out onto the front porch of her parents’ home on Cherry Street, her ice skates tied together and swung over her shoulder. Up above, through the bare branches of the elm trees that lined the street, a gibbous moon floated specter-like in a winter sky hung with brilliant, twinkling stars. Helen marveled at the absolute stillness of the night, her breath rising gently around her in a cloud.

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Not a redhead

The aroma of pan-fried noodles drifts gently into your soul the moment you step out of your car, long before walking into the doors of Ginger’s Restaurant in the Almond Orchard Shopping Center on Pillsbury Road in Chico. A delightful fish tank on the left, and three rows of various seating to the right, greeted us upon our entrance, along with a friendly server. She explained the variety of lunch combination options, all of which offered an incredible value. I went with a Mongolian beef and fried rice combo, which came with a crispy wonton twist and a flaky, tender spring eggroll, as well as a choice of soup. My meal began with a cup of hot and sour soup; it was a velvety blend of savory, spicy, and tangy, with tasty tofu and small cuts of bamboo.

Accept my apologies as my main dish 56

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played second fiddle in the photo due to color alone. From a flavor perspective, it would have sat side-by-side with the sweet and sour chicken. The fried rice was not oily, or overly salty, and had delicious bits of pork, peas, cubed carrot, along with hints of onion and egg. I added some of their house-made chili oil which was packed with flavor while not leaning too much into the heat. It certainly made me crave more with each bite. The Mongolian beef was more tame than I usually would have, which is fine in that it inspired me to try the cute, not-intimidating-at-all red chili with a fork of the tender beef. Heat accomplished.

While I usually find an overabundance of green peppers when visiting the Chinese restaurant closer to my house, this had a delicious confetti of small rice noodles and the most amazing thin-sliced onions that tasted like sauteed mung bean noodles. In all, it was a wonderful combo dish which offered that little something extra without an obnoxious portion that made me feel heavy.

Their website says it all—best food, great value. If you make a stop for lunch or dinner sometime, please share your positive experiences on the Foodies of Chico Facebook page. We hope you’ll love being surrounded by the enticing scents, modest and soft decor, and friendly atmosphere of Ginger’s just as we did.

WRITTEN BY JASON CORONA

Even though I don’t dine out as often as I’d like, I do like to try new places and explore the variety that exists in our county. It often surprises me that there are still so many local restaurants I haven’t tried, perhaps due to not being in that area of town as often. Certain meals are, more than others, destination-worthy.

Taking a lunch break is often the best time for me to explore as I am usually on the road. This was a perfect excuse to visit one of the few Chinese restaurants I had not tried and go with a single platter rather than my usual family take-out meal.

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singer, dancer choreographer Spanning a career that began at age three as a squirrel in a production of Willy Wonka and continuing to the present as a dancer, singer, and choreographer, Bliss Kozielski possesses more stage experience than most sixteen-year-olds.

Her performance history is incredible. She describes herself as “a singer, actor, dancer, choreographer, and creator.” One thing is certain, Bliss is an amazing and talented person.

Influenced by her older sisters, Hope and True, and supported from day one by her mom, Jennifer Beck, Bliss has blazed a remarkable journey in her 16 years.

Currently, she is the lead, Reno Sweeney, in Inspire High School’s production of Anything Goes by Cole Porter. Additionally, she had a role in the Chico Community Ballet production of A Very Chico Nutcracker.

In total, Bliss has participated in 26 local productions held at Theater on the Ridge, Blue Room Young Company, California Regional Theater, and Hype Dance Studio to name a few. She has had roles in Beauty and the Beast, Annie, The Sound of Music, Matilda, and Annie Get Your Gun. At Inspire, she’s been in Grand Hotel, Mamma Mia (as assistant choreographer and dance captain). At Chico Junior High she played Fiona in Shrek and the Genie in Aladdin. Bliss has a résumé most adults would love.

For the past nine years, she has studied voice with Dara Sholz at CSU Chico.

She has eight years of tap, six of ballet, five of hip-hop, five of contemporary/ lyrical, and five of jazz-funk. “Right now, tap is my priority,” Bliss said. “It’s my main choice, and I love the rhythm and dancing aspect.”

Her love of tap dancing has gotten her involved with Hype Dance Studio.

The dance team recently competed in one of the most well-known dance competitions nationally, which was held in Las Vegas. There, the Hype team placed third in hip-hop and fourth in tap, beating out many dance teams from across the country.

This will be bolstered by Bliss’s third year of summer participation in the Institute for American Musical Theater in New York City. She will receive a scholarship to attend the AMT where she can focus on the technical aspect of dance.

Bliss fits the bill of Cool Kid, and you can appreciate her dance ability by seeing 4 months her skills on Bliss-Kozielski.com.

neutered male

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WRITTEN BY TIM MILHORN

Bliss is fortunate to have Jarrah Myles as her Inspire theater teacher and one of the Nutcracker directors. “Bliss is an amazing talent,” said Myles. “She’s so motivated and a wonderful choreographer.” Likewise, Bliss is appreciative of Myles. “She has really helped me to become the artist I am today,” said Bliss.

“Inspire is lucky to have her as a teacher.” They are each looking forward to Inspire’s production of Anything Goes in January. Bliss is president of the Inspire High School Dance team, and she has choreographed many individual dance numbers. “I’m an extrovert and like to lead,” said Bliss. “I believe I can succeed on the professional level.

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bring us home Butte County has an inordinately high number of animals in need of adoption due to a number of factors including wildfires, floods, and irresponsible breeding. Please consider adoption as an option for increasing the love in your own household. These soon-to-be pets can be adopted by calling the Butte Humane Society at (530) 343-7917.

You can also visit their website at www.buttehumane.org

roxy

1 year spayed female

miss jane

kaipo 60

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4 years spayed female

6 years neutered male

eowyn

7 months spayed female

prince

3 years neutered male

Dodger

2 years neutered male

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Glow Up With Proper Supplements In the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle and that perfect New Year glow-up, correct supplementation plays a pivotal role in achieving optimal results. Finding a reliable source that offers not only a wide range of supplements that cater to various fitness goals but also the knowledge on how to use them properly can make that journey considerably easier. At Nutrishop Chico, one of our key focuses is on supplements that naturally burn fat and support muscle building, such as protein, glutamine, and creatine.

Protein supplements are a cornerstone of any successful fitness regimen. They are not just for bodybuilders but are essential for anyone looking to enhance their metabolism and promote fat loss. Proteins are the building blocks of muscles, and consuming an adequate amount through supplements ensures that your body has the necessary tools to repair and grow lean muscle mass. High-quality protein supplements that are easily digestible aid in fat loss by boosting your metabolism and promoting a feeling of fullness, reducing overall calorie intake.

In addition to protein, supplements like glutamine are crucial for preserving skeletal muscle during weight loss.

Glutamine is an amino acid that plays a vital role in protein synthesis, making it a key component for maintaining muscle mass. As individuals embark on weight loss journeys, there is a risk of losing both fat and muscle. Including glutamine in 62

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your supplementation regimen can help prevent muscle breakdown, ensuring that your weight loss is primarily focused on shedding unwanted fat.

Creatine is another supplement that deserves attention, especially for those engaged in resistance training.

While often associated with strength gains, creatine also plays a role in fat metabolism. By improving your ability to perform high-intensity exercises, creatine helps you burn more calories during and after your workout. Additionally, it supports the development of lean muscle mass, contributing to a toned physique.

The importance of correct supplementation lies in the synergistic effect of these supplements in promoting fat loss and muscle preservation.

Combining protein, glutamine, and creatine creates a comprehensive approach to achieving fitness goals. As you embark on your journey towards a healthier lifestyle, consider consulting with the knowledgeable staff at Nutrishop Chico to personalize your supplementation plan and ensure you're getting the most out of your efforts. We’re here to help, and love nothing more than watching individuals transform with the glow-up they deserve.

You can find our new Chico location in Lions Den Gym located at 1026 Skyway in Chico. Drop by and see what we can do for you!

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