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Archive for April, 2012

When it comes that time again to send out Foodie Pen Pal packages, I seriously cannot wait to get my mail that week. It’s like a kid at Christmas time. This month I was paired with Rachael, the blogger at Ready to Get Sweaty and she sent me an amazing package! I sent a package to Lyndsa, the blogger at Thinspiration.

foodiepal stamp2 Foodie Penpals

Rachael sent me an adorable package filled with plenty of tasty, yet mostly healthy snacks. I had indicated to Rachael that I was on the look-out for healthy snacks since I am constantly on the go and she created “Michelle’s Snack Bag” for me!

Isn’t her hand-written note adorable?

Beneath the note was this wonderful package:

The reusable bag is perfect for packing a lunch or snacks!

Inside I found, plenty of awesome treats:

My package included: Boston Cookies (a local item) in Chocolate Chip, a Cliff Kid’s bar, a Luna Bar, 100 calorie popcorn, Zico coconut water, Justin’s Peanut Butter, Justin’s Almond Butter, a Whole Foods 365 Cherry Fruit Strip, Barbara’s Snackimals and Crispy Green Dried Asian Pears.

My package also included, this: Simply Salsa Mix…the mix smelt great and tasted even better when I made it!

Thank you Rachael for an awesome package!!

Are you a foodie penpal? If not, I highly suggest giving it a try. You’ll quickly become addicted and meet some awesome blogger along the way.

Here are some details: (Click on the Foodie Penpal icon above to sign up!

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treatsThe spending limit is $15The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

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How amazing does this cookies ‘n cream cupcake look? It was amazing and very sweet. In fact, there was so much icing on it that it had to be eaten with a fork…it was a little on the top-heavy side.

This lovely, tasty treat called for a good workout. Which is why I was extremely happy to see this circuit (the Quick n Dirty Circuit) workout from Lena at Fit on the Rocks.

Capture

Now it is time for some work and later, a little shopping. I absolutely love shopping around the time of my birthday. The $10 Victoria Secret birthday card and the $15 LOFT certificate mailed to me for having credit cards at each store are absolutely burning a hole in my pocket. What better way to solve this problem than to spend them, right?

Question for you:

Any recommendations on a reasonably priced hotel in Washington DC with a good location?

Enjoy your Thursday!

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Yoga-Loving

I am seriously absolutely loving hot yoga. I found myself extremely excited when I pulled this articles up on FitSugar yesterday: Yoga Sequence Bikini Workout. While I have only done it twice, I am absolutely loving this home-yoga sequence. I am finding it perfect for when I have absolutely no time to hit up the yoga studio — like for the insanely busy next month I have coming up! While it is not hot yoga, I’m finding it to be a great substitute. If only we could get some hot weather and I could take this act to my backyard…then it could turn into hot yoga! Also, I’m terrible at the crow pose…I don’t know what it is but I cannot seem to do it. I blame it on sweaty arms during hot yoga. Ok….I’m done making excuses.

Maybe one day, I’ll be able to tackle a pose like this:

!

I can dream, right?

A few days ago a random trip to Washington DC was planned. Despite living only about 4 hrs from DC, I’ve never been there. I’ve only passed through and seen the monuments from the car. That’s when I turn to lovely bloggers for help, what should I do in DC? You guys always provide the best advice!

Now it’s time to make a quick dinner and do some freelance work (despite taking a full-time writing job, I’ve opted to freelance on the side for what I like to refer to as my fun-money!)

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Happy Monday!

Okay…so it’s not really a happy Monday. The weather has been winter-like and my Penguins have been eliminated from the playoffs by Philly! Yuck! This weekend was also packed full of baseball games. One win out of three games and I had to dress for winter and sit in the rain! Good thing one night was umbrella give-away night!

On the plus side, I’ve got a lot of fun and exciting things coming up next month:

  • my birthday (27 eek!!)
  • Chicago trip
  • Washington DC Trip
  • plenty of more baseball games (including club level seats)

As I am sitting here working, I’ve decided that my desk needs some major organization. And that’s when you turn to Pinterest. How brilliant are these ideas? Time to do some mimicking!

desk organization

desk organization

desk organization

 

Desk organization

 

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Hanging In There…

The Pens won! 10-3, they pummeled Philly! Despite the fact they still have a really long road ahead of them to win the series, it was finally good to see a win! A win makes today such a good day! This series has been crazy enough so far, so who knows what will actually happen! Pens in 7? Perhaps! It might be a stretch, but it’s not over til it’s over!

And I just got a random e-mail from Living Social stating I have a $10 credit in my account (I’ve never used Living Social before but I random $10 credit will definitely prompt me to use it)! I already have a Groupon addiction, so I likely don’t need a Living Social addiction as well.

I’m finding myself with absolutely nothing to say (just in case you couldn’t tell). Time for more work, frozen yogurt and then hot yoga. Sounds like quite the day to me!

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Again, I swear the more blogs I read, the more food and snack addictions I develop. Maybe, I should stop reading blogs for awhile!

Snapea

These guys are highly addicting!

Might just be my new favorite peanut butter cup!

Anyways, I also think I have a serious Groupon addiction. My latest purchase is a package for a hot yoga studio within walking distance of my house, which sure beats the drive and paying to park (not too mention added exercise) at the current studio I have been going to. I feel like a yoga studio hopper, going where all the best deals are! I’m just exploring my options ;-)

What are your latest addictions?

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Can I just say how much I love this headband!

Bang buster, blurred blossom

The Lululemon Bang Buster Headband! I bought it last week before a hot yoga class. I think the thing that frustrates me most about hot yoga is the fact that my hair (especially my bangs) become extremely curly and frizzy within 5 minutes of stepping into the studio. I was browsing through Lululemon (which is conveniently across the street from my yoga studio, which has the potential to become a problem for my wallet) and came across this beauty. It stays on my head and keeps my bangs out of my face. Brilliant!

On a less positive note, what is up with the Penguins? Down 3-0 in a series? It’s looking like the March of the Penguins is long over. Still, I’m holding out hope that the Pens win the next four games. A girl can dream can’t she?

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It’s Sunday and I am desperately hoping for a Pittsburgh Penguins win in Philadelphia today! I’m not sure what those guys have been up to during the last two games, but they need to play the full 60 minutes today! I went to the first game and it was only enjoyable for the first 20 minutes! Going down 3-0 in Philly is really, really bad. So, Let’s Go Pens!!!

The other day, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a whole lot of nut butters in the mail courtesy of Artisana Organic Foods. Since I know I am not the first and probably won’t be the last blogger to receive this package I am going to keep my thoughts short and sweet. I received two full-sized jars and eight individual packets of nut butters with flavors including coconut, pecan walnut, cashew and more. Overall, I would definitely purchase this product. I enjoyed every flavor (don’t worry I haven’t eat it all yet). The Artisana products have turned into my new breakfast food. I put them on toast, bagels and waffles. I’d highly recommend them!

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Hot and Sweaty

Well…I really got my workout on yesterday! Hot yoga followed by a run (I’m still not sure what I was thinking), but I did it! I really enjoyed yoga (in a studio setting, I’ve done it in a gym before). Although, I’ve come to realize I am nowhere near as flexible as I used to be! Tonight, I’ll be taking the basics class. Last night, my friend (who convinced me to sign-up) and I opted for an all levels class and hid in the back of the room!

I rewarded myself with a trip to Whole Foods, where I’m pretty sure my grossness turned some heads! I tend to avoid that place. Why? I’m normally a coupon-using, bargain hunter when it comes to grocery shopping, but when I go in there I seem to lose all control and buy anything I see that look good…like the time I spent $5 on a microscopic muffin in the baked goods section, because it looked good. Actually, I didn’t know the price til I got to the register. I couldn’t figure what made my bill so high since I had only purchased a handful of granola bars and some mac and cheese. Note to self: never buy anything in there again without a price tag on it! I did get my foodie pen pal shopping done though!

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BROWNIE BATTER DIP
recipe from: Something Swanky
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 1/2 c. butter
  • 2-3 c. powdered sugar (varies by desired consistency)
  • 5 tbsp. All Purpose flour
  • 5 tbsp. cocoa powder
  • 2 tbsp. brown sugar
  • 3+ tbsp. milk (varies by desired consistency)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
Instructions
  1. In a stand mixer, whisk together the cream cheese and the butter.
  2. Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and 1 tbsp. milk.
  3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, vanilla, brown sugar, and 1 more tbsp. of milk if needed.
  4. Whisk all until smooth.
  5. Add remaining powdered sugar and milk alternately until dip reaches your desired consistency.
  6. Enjoy with graham crackers, vanilla wafers, pretzels, fruit, etc.

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