You've probably heard the terms "shop local" and "shop small" before, right? If not, they simply mean to do your shopping from a local business where you know where your products are coming from while "shop small" means to shop from small businesses (not huge franchises). Being a daughter of a small business owner, I'm going to tell you what it means to my family to shop small and to shop local.
A favorite and simple summer smoothie of mine consists of 2 basics: frozen bananas and orange juice. It's smooth yet citrus flavor is a perfect summer treat and I almost always have the two ingredients on hand. On this rainy fall day, I was having myself a "Little House On The Prairie" marathon (because yes I own every season) while sitting in bed and the aroma of my pumpkin caramel candle was taunting my taste buds for a good 'ol fall treat. I made my way into the kitchen in hopes to find something I can whip up. I thought about how long it's been since I had a smoothie. Then a simple idea popped into my head and I had try it! Here's what you'll need:
1 1/2 bananas sliced 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. ground cloves About 1 cup of orange juice (optional ice cubes [I like mine extra cold]) What To Do: After the bananas are sliced, lay the sliced on a plate, wide container, or simply leave them on a plastic cutting board. Sprinkle the cinnamon and clove evenly over the bananas and freeze until frozen. Mine took about a half hour to freeze. Put spiced bananas, orange juice, and optional ice in the blender and blend until smooth, or a consistency you personally enjoy. Add more cinnamon or clove if you want! I'm a cinnamon junky and pile that stuff on. There you have it! A nice Autumn twist to a simple summer smoothie!! Enjoy :) It has been quite some time since I last posted on my blog. Nearly 5 months to be exact. During that time I was juggling several life events such as weddings, my NEPHEW was born, and SUMMER. Need I say more? I also found a company that is super awesome and they accepted me into their ambassador family with open arms.
It's no secret that yoga is in my daily routine, and that I like taking pictures of it. The more and more I post pictures, the more and more I get asked "What kind of yoga do you practice?" And the answer? Ashtanga Vinyasa! Mainly referred to as Ashtanga, which is divided into 6 series developed by K. Pattabhi Jois. Ashtanga is Sanskrit for "eight-limbed" which is what I am going to break down for you so you can see why I chose Ashtanga as my method of Christian yoga practice. The eight limbs are: Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi.
As you all know, I'm running an Etsy shop, selling Mala-inspired necklaces and bracelets. I have already written an article on what they mean to me, and they're about to mean a lot more. You probably all know about the devastating earthquake that happened almost a week ago in Nepal, and I want to use my success with Foxy Malas to help them as much as I can.
Between the Dark and the Daylight: Embracing the Contradictions of Life- a book by Joan Chittister. This book is literally about embracing the contradictions of life. And quite frankly, I didn't get it. This book didn't catch my interest compared to a lot of books I've read, similar to this one. It was hard for me to connect overall, and to understand what I was supposed to be taking from the book.
For those of you that follow and are friends with me on social media, you already know that I've had an Etsy shop open for a couple of weeks now! I'm so excited to announce this to the rest of you. I make non-traditional mala beads, which you can find here. These are inspired by the true mala beads, that are usually made with different seeds and gemstones (different colors), and each color and material is assigned some sort of meaning, whether it's to keep you grounded, to keep you calm, or to get rid of negative thoughts and emotions. They are also inspired by prayer beads, which are almost the same thing, but the name has a wide range for all religions. Mine, however, are still a bit different from the normal Mala/Prayer beads, which is why I call them "Foxy Malas"
Losing Clementine by Ashley Ream, was a phenomenal book. Found in the adult fiction section of my local library. I have to say, when I first started reading it, I was a little annoyed by the main character, the way her thoughts were written out somewhat bothered me, which I later figured out was because I wasn't used to reading someone's thoughts that way. I also realized within the second chapter, that the main character Clementine, was totally and completely relatable, which made her one hilarious being.
I love music. Old and new. I was looking threw my Timehop today, and saw that 2 years ago today, I had arrived in South Carolina for Spring Break. It definitely got me thinking about the long road trip and how I loved making mixed CD's for those kinds of trips. I'd pick my current favorite songs and play them on repeat until I got sick of them. I love a song with substance, a good beat, and for the band geek in me, the band has to do a good job, and not just spit out unoriginal chord progressions. The music has to mean as much as the words, if not more. That being said, here's my top 10 playlist (in no particular order):
1. Hero- by Family of the Year 2. Firestone- by Kygo 3. Sweet Jane- by Cowboy Junkies 4. Caladan- by Grimes 5. Nobody Love- by Tori Kelly 6. If You (Don't) Need (Me)- by Tony Ferrari 7. You Are Mine- by Spencer Combs 8. Push- Nick Jonas 9. Earned It- The Weeknd 10. Dreams-Fleetwood Mac |