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July 30, 2014

July Bliss

I really do love the last Wednesday of every month! I look forward to remembering all the things that brought me Bliss! In case you’re new here, Meg and I host this #bloggerbliss link-up every month to highlight your favorite things from the past month! There are NO limitations – products, moments, bloggers, posts! We enjoy seeing what y’all love and trying some of those things out for ourselves! Be sure to use the hashtag #bloggerbliss throughout the month when you find something you love or you’re having a Blissful moment!

TRAVEL

I’ve been lucky enough to visit Nick’s brother & sister-in-law in Florida at the beginning of July and my cousin and her family near the end of the July. I have some amazing memories from both occasions and I can’t imagine how the trips could have gone any better! I’m so thankful for the quality time I was able to spend with them as well as Nick and my friends, Lacy & Noelle.

You can see those recaps here:

2048

This is a new game Nick got me hooked on. He always finds the most random apps and then I begrudgingly try them and then end up loving them!! This game is SO FUN – at least for the nerdy part of me. You get doubles to grow into larger numbers and the highest you can get is a 2048. You try to not run out of tile. Seriously, try it out, let me know what you think. In the meantime, I’ll be over here playing. Nick just informed me that once you beat the game, it unlocks the next level – 4096! oh my goodness.. I just can’t wait!

BARE COCONUT CHIPS

I had originally heard about Dang Coconut Chips when Julie mentioned them in her “Things I’m Loving Friday” post. Then when I attended Veg Fest Houston, they had a booth set up and I was really excited to try their coconut chips. Lo and Behold, they were delicious! The girls at the booth were super fun and I enjoyed talking with them! I still need to re-cap my Veg Fest Houston experience! For once in my blogging life, I feel like I have an abundance of posts that need to be written! Back on topic… so when I made my way back to small town Mississippi, I tried to find Dang Coconut Chips in our local Whole Foods – no such luck! I went with the only option we had, Bare Coconut Chips. They ended up being really good and will have to be my go-to coconut chip in Mississippi. Since I really enjoyed the girls at Veg Fest though and want to support Dang as well, I’ll be on watch when I’m out of town!

BEING OUTSIDE

I’ve been making my way to our local walking trail lately to get some runs in. I’ve enjoyed the alone time and the nature. It’s always calming & beautiful while I’m there (Yet another post I need to publish). My workouts at the gym have been great, but there is nothing like fresh outdoor air!

PERSONALIZED COKES

This is by far my favorite marketing strategy in the history of the world! I think the idea of personalizing cokes was a brilliant idea and I guarantee they saw an increase in sales. I came across this one while I was waiting on my oil change. It was the first one I saw that didn’t have a name which I thought was cool! I picked it up because I like to believe that I really am a go-getter and that this diet coke was meant for me!

BIG BROTHER

Do y’all watch this show? Me and my sisters have watched it for years. We’re determined to get picked one year and be the major “twist” of the season as sisters in the house where no one knows that we’re related. Clever, right? I am loving Nicole & Christine this season. I think they really understand the game and they’re playing smart – plus, they’re cute as can be! Frankie is just fun to watch, he’s so animated. Donnie is basically the nicest person who ever walked into the house, but he hasn’t exactly been the best player and I got really frustrated with him the week that Nicole was HOH and she tried to get advice from him and then he went and spilled it all to the house and played dumb as if she didn’t ask him to keep it to himself (she totally did) plus because they’re both such great people, I would have enjoyed them working together. I also really like Derek, I think he’s playing a smart game and he’s probably one of the most level headed people in the game. Who’s your favorite Big Brother player?

5 PICTURES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL BEAUTIFUL

Meg had a great idea to include this in our Bliss post for the month. I’m sure we’ve all seen this 5 picture challenge floating around facebook and we definitely feel that Bliss and Beauty go hand-in-hand! Here are 5 pictures that make me feel beautiful!

Left // Me & Nick at Animal Kingdom.

Top Right // Me with and his siblings at his graduation. Wearing my Stitch Fix Cardigan & Fuchsia Top!

Bottom Right // Me & my Disney Roomies at House of Blues during our CP days. They were loving, kind, and non-judgmental. I always felt beautiful with them!

Left // Me & Meg at Disney Wine & Dine.

Right // Me ready to go at Disney Princess. I went by myself and raced by myself, but I felt beautiful throughout even with my sleepy eyes!

What is bringing you Bliss this month!? Link-up Below.

NEXT MONTH BLISS LINK-UP: AUGUST 27TH!

July 22, 2014

Houston, TX

Clearly I’m not good at blogging on the road because it’s now Tuesday evening and I’ve yet to write something. Part of that’s been because I’m just not sure where to start! I have a lot of ideas flowing and I haven’t taken the time to jot them down. Part of the reason for that is I’ve been in Texas this past weekend visiting my wonderful cousin! From the time I got there to the time I left, we’ve either been busy actually doing stuff or busy relaxing by the pool and cooking out!

I was excited to have my friend Lacy join me on the drive and our friend Noelle { <— who is a new blogger – so check her out!} met us in Houston on Saturday to stay the night! Lacy and I both have an affection towards Starbucks, so that was one of our very first stops, obviously!

On Saturday, we attended Veg Fest Houston and you’ll see a full re-cap of that experience sometime this week! The construction on 290 was horrible, so the drive there and back was exhausting and aggravating! The second I arrived back to my cousins, she instantly made me a mimosa because she said she was scared of what I might do to her because of the deadly glare I had on my face! The actual event was entirely worth it though and I’m excited to share what all I learned! After Veg Fest Houston, we went out for dinner & dancing! I spent $30 dollars on some stinkin’ cheesy rice, beans, & veggies because our waiter individually charged me for each veggie I got. I was pretty angry about that, but also had 2 margaritas on my bill so I didn’t quite feel up to the challenge of navigating the language barrier to tell him how psycho and ridiculous it is that he charged me 2-3 dollars for 4-5 different vegetables! I’m still furious that I didn’t speak up about that.

Moving on.

The dancing was fun and it was something I hadn’t done in a long time! I love going dancing!

Sunday was perfect and we spent our entire time at the pool and grilling out! Us vegetarians had Vegan Boca Burgers, Potato Salad, & Jalapeno Poppers (minus the bacon!). It was delicious!

Sadly, we drove home Monday. When we got back to town, I headed straight to Whole Foods for their 28 Day Whole Foods Challenge Orientation! Since I’m already a vegetarian, it basically amounts to going vegan so I’m excited about testing the Vegan waters again especially after attending Veg Fest! It might not be strictly vegan, but it’ll be close. I’m looking forward to the health benefits of this challenge and hope to lose a little in my waist as well as clear up my face because it’s been breaking out really bad lately. I’ll be fully documenting the experience and sharing what recipes I use and how my progress goes! I’ll also re-cap the information I learned in the orientation session. The challenge starts on Monday!

Now I’m off to the store to look for some new {discounted} workout clothes and maybe a dress & shoes similar to what I wore this weekend because I really loved the dress I borrowed from my cousin and I’ve been wanting wedges for a while now!

Have you ever attended a Veg Fest?
Have you ever attempted the Whole Foods 28 Day Challenge?
Where can I find some affordable workout clothes & cute dresses/shoes like the ones above!?

July 14, 2014

Unplug

Good Morning!

How was your weekend? Mine was absolutely wonderful & relaxing. I don’t get a lot of empty weekends so this was exactly what I needed. Nick was out of town for bachelor trip and I stayed home the entire weekend doing a lot of nothing. I did workout, of course! I’m looking forward to a 30 minute evening walk later today to loosen my muscles and take a little break from my more hard-core workouts. I may make it an hour walk if the weather is nice and I’m enjoying myself. Tomorrow I’ll go to HIIT, so I want my body & muscles and to be well rested for that so I can give it my all.

Excited to see this little monkey on Friday!

When I left for the gym yesterday, my phone was close to being dead so I decided to leave it at home. Honestly, I’m so attached to my phone sometimes that I truly enjoy the peaceful moments when I choose to forget about it. I don’t unplug nearly enough! As I enjoyed this true alone time, it made me think how important it is to unplug. Do you find yourself checking your phone regularly throughout the day, even if you know it hasn’t vibrated or made a noise alerting a phone call or text message? I do this ALL.THE.TIME! My phone, the social networking, all of it can be such a huge distraction for me. I don’t leave my phone alone enough, but when I do, I appreciate the lack of stress it brings and the freedom I feel when I’m not attached to it.

Maybe unplugging means something entirely different to you! I encourage you to unplug regularly, it’s good for the soul – as I learned yesterday during my quiet workout and drive.

I’ve mentioned time & time again about the challenges that Nick and I do. They vary in time frame and activity. Right now I’m in the middle of a 21 day workout challenge where I workout for a minimum of 30 minutes every single day for 21 days. This will help me establish a habit of working out. I’ve currently completed 14/21. If I’m sore from my workouts, then my 30 minute workout becomes a walk (like today!) I have one week left of this challenge and then it’ll be time for a new one. I’m challenging myself to unplug for 1 hour every single day for a month. For me, unplugging will be silencing my phone and leaving it somewhere. I’d love to know if you’re interested in joining me on this month long challenge! Unplugging can mean something entirely different for you – whatever it is, unplug for one whole hour every day for an entire month and my hope is that you’ll find peace & relaxation during that time.

Switching gears…

I have a delicious & simple dip to share with y’all today! Now that I’m a vegetarian, it’s extremely important for me to bring something that I can enjoy to parties & office functions. Of course, I want others to enjoy it as well and I want it to be healthy! When we had a baby shower in our office, I signed up to bring a veggie tray, but I didn’t want to bring ranch dressing and veggies – 1. overdone and 2. not healthy!

I made this delicious ranch dip that was 2 ingredients & was a hit at the office!

Ingredients:

Your selection of veggies (I chose baby carrots, celery, cucumbers [home grown], and grape tomatoes
Plain Greek Yogurt
1 packet of Ranch dip

I know this is ridiculously easy… Slice up your veggies, arrange to your liking (I enjoy alternating my colors), Mix up 16 oz. of your greek yogurt + ranch dip.

It’s healthier than plain ranch dressing because you add in that protein rich yogurt. You’ll also surprise your co-workers or party-goers – The taste is different from your regular ranch. The greek yogurt adds an extra ounce of flavor! Everyone who tried it, loved it! By the end of the day, the entire bowl of dip was gone and there were a few veggies left over. People will thank you for bringing the veggie tray because everyone else probably brought the fattening stuff!

Questions for the day:

If you joined the month long unplug challenge, what would you unplug from?
Share your healthy office-party food, what would you bring?

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