My Bridal Shower, Some Motivation, & an Amazing Lip Sync by my Alma Mater

Hi!  How's your week going?  Mine is chugging along.  I can't believe it's snowing right now!  I'm so ready for tshirts and sunglasses, come on spring!  In the meantime, here are some interesting tidbits from around the internet that happened to catch my eye.  Enjoy!

A sneak peek at my bridal shower - A few weeks ago, my amazing bridesmaids surprised the heck out of me!  When we opened the door of the hotel meeting room (that we were stopping by to "pick up an item that had been left behind at Shayna's sister's baby shower"), I literally thought we were walking in on someone else's party!  I immediately slammed the door shut, feeling embarrassed that we had just interrupted someone's party!  They got me good.  After the intial shock wore off, I got to check out all the wonderful details and spend a lovely afternoon with my family & friends.  The shower was perfect.

Have you started doing any spring cleaning yet?! - Ugh, I wish I was one of those people who just loves to clean and organize, but unfortunately it ain't me babe.  I really want to work on decluttering our house, but we have so much on our plate right now that I think any serious clean outs may have to wait until after the wedding.  Somehow summer cleaning just doesn't have the same ring to it!

Mediterranean Meatball Muffins served with a Greek style Cucumber Salad, yum! - I'll probably be making these as meatballs instead of muffins since I'm still soaking my muffin pans from the egg muffins I made on Saturday.  (I even greased the pan!  Tell me your secrets to avoid the giant mess, ugh!)  To make the recipe Paleo, I'll be replacing the breadcrumbs with almond flour or I may just skip it all together.  I may also sub the Greek yogurt in the cucumber salad with some coconut milk.  I've made something similar from one of my cookbooks recently using coconut milk and it was tasty.  And even though I'm cutting out the dairy from the yogurt, you know I'll still be throwing lots of feta in there, maybe even some in the meatballs ;)

Some motivation for those times when all you want to do is sit on the couch - YUP, we've all been there!  My work schedule just changed, so I could actually sleep in another hour, but I've been trying to get up at the same time and hit the gym!  I love having my workout over with by 7 am and I don't feel guilty lounging on the couch when I get home from work.

A beautiful post in honor of World Down Syndrome Day which was on 3/21 - "The world is rich with so many different kinds of people and millions of stories. The more of these people we meet, the more differences we encounter, the more stories we hear and truly listen to...the more we discover the meaning of life and find our own place amid this very big world that needs our voice, our heart and our hands. Happy World Down Syndrome Awareness Day."

My high school put together an amazing lip sync to Sara Bareille's song Brave - Sara even retweeted it!  Now they're using the video to raise money for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia!  Make sure you scroll down and watch the video :)

 
Ok, this girl is ready for bed!  I hope you have a great week!

Did you find anything worthwhile on the internet this week?  Link away!

My First StitchFix

Happy Saturday!

Cheer up Puddin', it's the weekend!

When a number of my favorite bloggers posted about their experience with StitchFix, I was intrigued!

When you sign up for StitchFix, you fill out a detailed survey about your style.  You describe your body type, tell them what patterns and colors you like and dislike, rate some example outfits, and much more!  Then you schedule your fix and they send you five pieces.  When your package arrives, you are able try the items on and see how they go with the rest of your wardrobe.  Then you decide what you want and send back the rest (in a prepaid envelope that comes with the original package).  The initial styling costs $20, but if you keep any of the items, that money goes towards your purchase.  If you purchase all 5 items, you get 25% off!

So what did I get?

1. Alberta Lace Overlay Short Sleeve Top ($54)

I wanted to love this shirt.  I loved the idea of it, but the fit just wasn't right.  It was short and boxy.  I'm all about clothing that makes me look smaller and this was not doing that.

2. Judah Pencil Skirt ($68)

Not a fan.  Pencil skirts aren't really my favorite thing in the world.  The fit was off and I wasn't excited about the piece in general.

3. Aimes Crochet Belted Fit and Flare Dress ($58)

This was a really cute dress and fit me pretty well, but it just isn't my style.

 
4. Waters Diamond Print Maxi Dress ($78)

I love maxi dresses, but not this one!  I feel like this dress makes me look like I'm 10 years older than I am.  I wasn't in love with the neckline and the fit wasn't great.  It seemed kind of short and hello extra flap of material under my boobs.

5. Dalton Embroidered Back Blouse ($64)

Bingo!  Even though it's fairly see through and the tag says dry clean only (which I usually take as a mere recommendation), I absolutely loved this top!  It's a little pricey, but it's beautiful and the 20 bucks I already invested in the fix helps a bit.

Honestly, this fix wasn't really a huge success for me, but here's the beauty of StitchFix: it gets better over time!  When I checked out, I filled out a questionnaire, evaluating each piece and leaving a ton of feedback.  As the stylists get to know me, I'm sure the selections will fit both my style and my body better and better.  The pieces are also fairly expensive for my bank account, which I mentioned in my questionnaire.  But at the same time, I'm also trying to "adult" my wardrobe and invest in some quality pieces that I will keep for a while.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience and I'm looking forward to seeing how my next fix goes.  If you're interested in signing up, here's an invite!

Have you ever tried anything like this?

I am not affiliated with or paid by StitchFix for this post and all the opinions are my own.  The link included is my referral link, which gives me a small credit if you decide to sign up.

Cooking Up a Storm

Once upon a time, I really didn't understand why anybody would actually purchase a cookbook.  Why would I spend money when I could google whatever I was craving at the time and a number of recipes would magically appear in front of me for free?  Then in October 2012, my friend Heather gave me a copy of Practical Paleo as a bridesmaid gift.  At the time I had been cutting some things out of my diet and I was regularly reading a number of Paleo blogs, but I hadn't really taken the dive.

When I decided to do my first Whole30 (well Whole21) in January 2013, Practical Paleo was the perfect resource.  As the title suggests, the recipes are practical!  I tend to shy away from recipes with a long list of ingredients, it's intimidating and I don't want to purchase a ton of random ingredients that I won't use for anything else.  Although I did drop some cash gradually stocking my kitchen with some new to me ingredients (coconut oil, new spices, almond flour, etc.), they are all things that I use over and over now.  Practical Paleo keeps it simple with short ingredient lists and shows you that recipes don't have to be complicated to be delicious.  The book also contains a great section on the "whys" of Paleo that uses language the average Joe can understand, beautiful photography, and a number of meal plans.  It's a great cookbook for Paleo beginners!

With the big day getting closer and closer, I've been striving to clean up my eating but I have been in a bit of a food rut.  Want to know how to get excited about cooking?  Buy a new cookbook!  Since I like Practical Paleo so much, I knew I would enjoy Diane Sanfilippo's other cookbook, The 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook.  The 21 Day Sugar Detox is a program similar to the Whole30, but with most of the focus being on breaking your sugar addiction.  I'm on the fence whether I'm going to do one in the near future, but in the meantime I'm loving the recipes!  Just like her first book, Sarah explores simple yet delicious food.  A few of the recipes look a bit familiar, but for the most part, the book is a whole new set of tasty dishes to try!

Here in Pennsylvania it looks like we're going to be hit hard with a snow storm tonight through tomorrow night, so I did what most people do: I rushed to the grocery story and picked up some bread and milk... haha nope.  I stocked my fridge with chicken, bacon, sausage, and tons of produce.  I'm planning on being snowed in tomorrow and blowing up my kitchen!

On the menu:

• Thursday Brunch - Butternut Squash Pancakes (from 21DSD) & breakfast sausage
• Thursday Dinner - Weeknight Chicken Soup (from 21DSD)

• Friday Vday Dinner - Chicken Parm w/Homemade Sauce (not from a cookbook, it's a mash up of my and my mom's recipes) & Vegetable Lasagne - (from 21DSD with my sauce)

So far I've cooked up an Asian style lemon ginger chicken with some greens and salmon topped with a delicious tzatziki sauce from the 21DSD Cookbook.

Tonight I'm switching it up with another Paleo cookbook called Well Fed.  This book is a little more advanced with a few more random ingredients that I'm still gradually acquiring.  I've only made a few things out of Well Fed, but the unique dishes have all been crowd pleasers.  On tonight's menu is a dish called Bora Bora Fireballs, which is a mouthwatering mixture of ground pork, toasted coconut, pineapple, and jalapeno!  What can I say, we are eating well!

What's your favorite cookbook?  How do you get out of a food rut?