By Bianca Gracie
Sunny Hostin does it all. Her titles include Emmy Award-winning legal journalist, a wife and mother of two, author of New York Times bestseller Summer on the Bluffs (whose paperback version was released in May) and I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds, co-host on ABC’s morning talk show The View and ABC News senior legal correspondent and analyst. Just last week, Hostin inked a multiyear, multimillion-dollar deal to continue on the popular show alongside fellow co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar and Sara Haines. But throughout her unpredictable schedule, Hostin always makes time for herself, her family and her adoringly viral hens.
4:30 AM: I spray classic eucalyptus ShowerSpa mist [from European Spa Source] in the shower as I get ready. It is so incredible to just open you up. I also use the Plant Apothecary body wash in Calm Down and Start Happy. I’ve found that most facial products don’t work for me, so I use Clean & Clear salicylic aside toner, Clean & Clear Edge cream, Bioderma micellar water and DCL exfoliator. I have Alexa all over the house and I usually play yacht rock in the morning, which my husband makes a lot of fun of me for.
6:30 AM: I let my dogs out and I feed them before I get into the car. Oftentimes we get an updated set of hot topics at 7:30 PM, so I’m usually scrolling through my phone to figure out if there’s a new one that I think is interesting. My wonderful driver Alex and I listen to NPR’s Code Switch show or ABC News’ Starting Here podcast so I get some of that new then if I haven’t already heard from Alexa. My son actually has a podcast called UnTextbooked [that breaks down] things that we didn’t learn in our textbooks, and so I like to hear what he’s working on. I also listen to Deja The View, which is a really cool podcast about our show.
10 AM: Hair and makeup is usually done for me right after our 8:30 AM ‘Hot Topics’ meeting. Then I go into my dressing room. The show really runs about 36 minutes, believe it or not, so I have about a minute or two to speak. So I go through what is most important for me to say that will reflect what people in my community are talking about. By 10:30 AM, my producer has given me my blue cards that you guys see on television. It usually just has facts, because I like to keep receipts on things. I don’t like to just talk – that’s the correspondent in me. Then around 10:45 AM I get mic-ed. I walk downstairs for final touch-ups and then we walk out on set at 11 AM on the dot.
6:30 PM: My daughter gets out of track practice at 5:30 PM, so I try to be around in time to be able to pick her up. By 7 PM, we have our new hot topics. So I’ve got to read through like 50 pages of articles. I try to read through all of them because some of them are really interesting: you learn lots of fun facts.
I have bees and three gardens: a green garden with lettuce, collards, kale and some strawberries; an herb garden; and another with tomatoes and vines. I’m out every single day because I’ve got to let the chickens free-range. I’m building a big walk-in chicken coop, which is amazing. That’s my happy time.
12 AM: I’m a night owl, 100%. I have this Oura Ring now, and I’m trying to map my sleep and go to bed no later than midnight. I don’t sleep that well, so I take melatonin. I also have chamomile, lavender or lemon grass tea. Or I’ll make my own mint tea from the garden. I have this incredible lavender oil that I put on my pillow. There’s something about it that’s really comforting. Oftentimes I read before I go to bed, but sometimes I’m looking at my phone, which is a disaster because it keeps me up.
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