Tried It Tuesday

I'm linking up today with Casey over at Hey, Momma for her Link Party #5!

It's time for another installment of Tried It Tuesday! Yay! I've missed writing these posts, so I'm going to share some of the things I've been loving over the summer! Since I haven't posted a Tried It Tuesday in awhile, I'll quickly explain the premise of it:

Tried It Tuesday is a place where I share things that I have been loving. The items can come in any shape or form (makeup, books, YouTube videos, food, drinks, recipes, music, etc.). I am not endorsed by any of the companies who make these products. I just love to share the things I'm really liking at the moment in case it's something you'd be interested in too!

Make sure you let me know if you have tried something new that you love! I would love to check it out! :)

Drinks

I have migraines...really bad migraines. I was getting frustrated because my migraines have been much more under control lately with different medications and treatments, but every time I worked out, I was getting a migraine! My neurologist told me to drink Gatorade before, during, and after working out because all the water I was drinking was flushing out the vitamins I was talking to curb my migraines. I also sweat out more of them! Well, let me tell you, I am totally sick of drinking Gatorade! Blech! I went to Whole Foods to look for some kind of electrolyte/vitamin-based drink. And I found one that tastes great!!

The powder is called 365 Everyday Value Electrolyte Plus Powder. I cannot for the life of my find a picture of it; sorry about that! (I threw my last packet away.) It is made with Stevia, so it doesn't have that artificial sugar taste. And it tastes like raspberries! It's just a subtle taste; I really enjoy it. I bought little sample packets for 50 cents each. Next time, I'm going to buy a box!

I also tried Vega One Plant-Based Nutritional Shakes this week. I tried the plant and greens protein shake. They are gluten-free, soy free, dairy free, and have no sugar added. I love them! Whey protein in many kinds of protein shakes really messes with my stomach. I had no problem with these shakes, and they have great flavors! I tried mocha and vanilla chai. I bought two sample packets on sale now at Whole Foods 2/$6. I think I'm going to purchase this as well. I'm leaning toward the mocha flavor. Sooo good! And a great snack! You can also find it at GNC and on Amazon.

Beauty Products

For some reason, my acne has flared up this summer. I was so tired of it that I started researching different solutions online, and then it hit me! I can go to Lush and find some all-natural products for my acne. The woman I talked to there was very helpful! She lead me towards this soap/cleanser: Fresh Farmacy Facial Soap. It has lavender, chamomile, tea tree oil, and rose. It calms the skin and promotes acne healing. It smells great, is gentle, and doesn't dry out my skin.

I also purchased the Tea Tree Toner Water from Lush. It is fabulous! It helps my oily skin and also has been clearing up my acne. After I get out of the shower and wash my skin at night, I spray this on and let it dry before I put on my moisturizer. It's so refreshing!

App

In July I signed up for a free trail of Audible. I listened to books on CD all the time when I was in grad school, driving 50-60 minutes to school from my home. I tried it again this summer! I usually listen before I go to bed and fall asleep listening to a story. It's so relaxing!

The book I got for free was Down the Rabbit Hole by Holly Madison. I have a few more days before my subscription kicks in, and I can't wait to choose another book!

If you sign up, you get your first book free, then you pay $14.99 each month for one book (which are really expensive otherwise!) and then you can also purchase books at discounted prices if you want more than one. You can always cancel your free trial month before 30 days are up. 

Kitchen Product

Bjorn and I like to have breakfast for dinner every once and awhile and love to make pancakes on the weekend. Pancakes, however, always make a mess. I recently heard about a product that Williams Sonoma makes to help with pancake mess! It's called the pancake pen.

You put the mix in the container, shake it up, and squirt as much mix as you want into the pan. You can also put the remaining batter in the fridge (inside the pancake pen) and make more another morning. It also has two twist off ends for easy cleaning. It's super fun!

Have you tried anything new lately?

Love and happiness <3 Holly

Tried It Tuesday...is Back!!!

Guess what?!? Tried It Tuesday's back!

Since I haven't posted a Tried It Tuesday in awhile, here's the "Tried It Tuesday deal:"

On Tuesdays I typically post random items that I have tried {or found out about} and enjoyed in hopes that you will find something in my list that you may enjoy too! 

Here are some things I've tried recently and enjoyed:

App

I  am seriously in LOVE with the App Word Wall! I got my sister Rachael to play with me too! I love a good brain challenge. Word Wall is a FREE App that challenges you to take a wall of words and find all the pairs of words that are associated with one another until there are no words left to be matched. For example, words can be matched as synonyms, antonyms, sayings/phrases, or parts/whole, just to name a few. 

Here's a picture of an example screen you get when you open the App:

Once you read through the words, you tap two words that you believe fit together in some way, or can be associated together, and they turn dark gray {as shown below}:

My first match was entertainment and film.

And then...

Film -- Entertainment

Crap -- Poo

Animal -- Dog

Drink -- Wine

Once you get towards the end and there are only a few words left, you start to realize that some of your matches may not be "the best" matches/choices, so you end up having to do some rematching. The game will alert you that you can no long make matches with your leftover words. 

I ended up rematching "column" with "support."

Then "dependent" became free, so I could match "baby" with "dependent."

I kept going until all matches were made {I stopped taking pictures after this screen :) }.

At first the timer bothered me, but it only counts up. You get stars if you complete the puzzle within so many seconds, but I've never not made it to the next level. {I think you can take as long as you want.}

So fun!!! You have to try it, and exercise your brain!!

Sweets

My dad was always a caramel fan. He loved butterscotch too. I never had a huge taste for them {I think because of their chewiness}, but I recently found some silky smooth, soft caramels that are delish!

I picked these up at Target. They lasted me a few months; I'm not a huge candy eater. 

They were on sale at the time for $2, but are normally $3.99 for a package of 16 pieces. They are also Gluten Free! They are not too chewy, not too sweet, and have a nice, subtle buttery taste. 

Book

I recently read a few books that I've had stacked waiting to be read, and I have to mention the one I just finished. It was FANTASTIC!

Mockingbird follows Caitlin, a young girl living with Asperger's. Her world is very black and white. Everything around her seems confusing, but her older brother Devon, was always there to help her throughout her life. After Devon was killed in a school shooting, Caitlin's life became even more confusing: her brother is no longer there and her dad is not able to give her his full attention because he is so distraught. Caitlin wants her life to go back to normal, but she doesn't know how to do that. She thinks that understanding how to find "closure" can help her, but she's not sure how to go about it. On her search for closure, she realizes a lot about herself and her new life. 

For My Teacher Friends:

F & P Level: W

DRA: 60

Grade Level Eqivalent: 3.5

Lexile: 630

I absolutely LOVE this book. Caitlin is a character you will fall in love with!

Art

For Christmas, I got silhouettes made for my mom of me and my sisters. They are beautiful! I found a shop on Instagram @missthistleshop also at www.missthistleshop.com that makes custom silhouettes of people, animals, and houses! The owner sends you digital copies that you can get printed in any size you like. Here are what ours look like:

 

I found the gold frames at TJ Maxx. Love them!! Thanks, Meiska!! <3

Music

Does anyone else love Ed Sheeran? I <3 his music, but I have never seen his music video for "Thinking Out Loud" {love this song btw!}. Holy poo, he dances in it!! I watched this like four times Sunday night. Love it!!

Oh! And have you seen OK Go's newest music video? Amazing! They did it in one take! So cool. This makes me smile!! And they count in Japanese :)

Drink

I love Bigelow tea. My all-time favorite is Cinnamon Stick, but my local Kroger and Target DO NOT sell it anymore! It makes me want to loose my mind! (It's the little things that make me happy! I want my tea back, damn it!) However, I did find a delicious new Bigelow tea that I am really digging right now. It does have more caffeine than normal tea, so I have to only drink a cup now and then because of my headaches.

I really enjoy the creaminess of the tea from the honey. I also haven't noticed that the tea gets bitter if you steep it a little longer than you'd like. 

That's it for this week's Tried It Tuesday!

What have you tried, found, or enjoyed anything new this week?

Love and happiness <3 Holly

Tried It Tuesday :)

It's time for another installment of Tried It Tuesday!! Da-da-da-dum! And, let me just tell you, I am seriously exhausted! The first five days of school have really knocked it out of me! I could fall asleep at any minute, so I apologize in advance if this post sounds a little nutty-nuts! We say my dog is in a "nutty-nut" mood when he wakes up from a nap and has a crazy energy spurt, running around like a mad man. He is, after all, a 2 year old! Sorry, for throwing that in there! I feel a little slap happy :) I don't know what the heck I'm talking about!!

Well, let's keep things moving, because I could run off on a tangent all night! Here are my Tried It Tuesday finds from this past week:

Food

This past weekend Bjorn and I celebrated 16 years of being together. On Saturday, Bjorn took me out for an impromptu date downtown. It was so much fun! First we went to an early dinner at Taste of Belgium, a Beglian-inspired restaurant. 

Taste of Belgium Brunch

I have never been to The Taste of Belgium while they had their brunch menu out. I have only been for dinner. First of all, if you've never been to The Taste of Belgium, you have to go! It is soooo delicious! Their mussels are my favorite with their frites! Last time I was there, I tried the escargot. Oh my goodness! Buttery deliciousness!! So for brunch, I ate their McWaffle. It is their homemade Belgian waffle used as a sandwich bun. Inside is a perfectly fried egg,  Gruyere cheese, and bacon. On the side was maple syrup to drizzle on top. It was perfection!

Bjorn ate their famous chicken and waffles. The chicken is battered and fried with a little kick--not too much, just the right amount of spice. It's served with one of their fresh Belgian waffles and a side salad.

Dojo Gelato

After we ate, we walked around Washington Park in Over the Rhine and got Dojo Gelato for dessert. Holy smokes! It was delicious! Dojo Gelato is a food truck that serves gelati, sorbetti, espresso and coffee and it was parked right next to Washington Park last Saturday. They also have a stand in Findlay Market. I tried Apricot Cinnamon gelati, and Bjorn had Lemongrass sorbetti. They had so many interesting flavors to try! Sooo good!

M&M's

Last week Bjorn picked up the new Birthday Cake flavored M&M's for me as a sweet treat after my first day back at school. I love birthday cake flavored desserts, but only when they are not too sweet. Sometimes I find that the cake-flavored treats can taste like pounds of sugar have been dumped into them. I do, however, enjoy M&M's as a sweet treat because there is one serving size and that's it. I usually don't eat the whole bag and then save some for later. I found the Cake Batter M&M's to be a little sweet, so I didn't eat the whole bag in one sitting. Now don't get me wrong, I can eat a bag of pretzel M&M's in one sitting :) The birthday cake flavor isn't my all time favorite M&M's flavor, but I do like them a lot!

Book

I recently found a young adult book that I cannot wait to read while browsing the book aisle at the thrift store. Scott O'Dell, the author of Island of the Blue Dolphins, wrote it. The Island of the Blue Dolphins was one of my favorite books as a kid. The new book I found is called My Name is Not Angelica. It is about a young girl named Raisha who is stolen from her home in Africa to be sold in the slave trade of the West Indies. She ends up being sold to work as a house slave, and this starts the story of her new life. I cannot wait to read this book!!

Source

Movie

Last week Bjorn and I watched the newest Muppet move Muppets Most Wanted. I have to say, not matter how old I am or young I was, the Muppets always do and always could make me laugh out loud. Ricky Gervais and Tina Fey are hilarious in this movie. I just think it is so "Muppets" that no one can tell the difference between the bad and good Kermit because of a little black mole on one of their faces :) It was great! If you haven't seen it yet, you must! It's out on DVD! Here is the trailer:

Music

I love, love, love this new song from Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj! It makes me want to get up and dance!!! Here's "Bang, Bang":

That's all I've got for this week's Tried It Tuesday! Have a great rest of the week!!

Lots of love <3 Holly

Whew! Has It Been a Week, or What?!?

First of all, let me start by announcing the winner of my Arm Candy giveaway! Maja from Kooky Kinders is the winner! Maja, your bracelets should be in your hands on Monday! Congrats! Here's a link to the winner and giveaway page.



Seriously...this week has been unexpected, fun, and exciting. I have been MIA on the blog for the last week, and I wanted to write a post about some of the happy that I've had this week! I've had a tiring, but happy week, but here it goes! 

For this post, I decided to write an update about The Love Life Project. To read more about this project, you can head on over to Jenny Fish's blog Wonderfully Complex! I've been part of the challenge for a few months now, and I love it!

I love taking pictures of the things that make me happy each day, and I love looking back from week to week and smiling at my pictures of little joys. I was even thinking of making a little photo album of some of my favorite happy pictures and call it "Life's Little Joys." That way, I can look back at those pictures whenever I feel like it! :)

So here are the last two weeks in pictures of the little things in my life that mean so much!

April 15th

I woke up one day to find it had snowed! That's crazy Ohio weather for you! April and May weather are so unpredictable here. I seriously didn't believe the weather forecasters when they said it would snow before I went to bed. But sure enough, I woke up, and it looked like this!

Here's a look at the snow from a window at school. By the time I left school, it was pretty much all melted!

Belting out Brian McKnight on the way home from work. Stuck in traffic. Let me tell you, Brian McKnight can definitely get you through some serious traffic jams!

April 16th

My 6th grade students learn about parts of plant and animal cells and then as a project, make a model of one of them. One of my students made an edible model. It's so pretty!









April 17th

I saw this and had to send it to my sister, Rachael! This cat looks just like our cat Ginger (Ginger Rogers) that we had growing up! She's currently 17 years old and lives with Rach!

This is too cute!







Ginger!

April 18th

On Good Friday, Bjorn and I headed down the dealership where we bought our car. There was something wrong with the technology in the lock on the driver's side door, so we went down to get it fixed. On the way, this truck passed us! I snapped a picture and sent it to my mom. She's from Missouri:

After getting the car fixed, we stopped to have a nice lunch downtown at Nada. Delicious!

I got a cactus flower margarita. It was a little sweet, but delicious! I could not have had another. I also had fish tacos. Their fish tacos are fantastic!

Thank goodness for a day off of school during the week! I got to cross something off of my to do list! Bjorn and I went to Batsakes to look at hats! He has been wanting to go there forever, but they don't have weekend hours. They also don't like you taking pictures inside, so I took one of the outside. And here's Bjorn in his hat:

April 19th

Here's  the biggest news of last week! Bjorn and I adopted a new dog! His name is Remy. He's three years old. He was taken care of by an awesome foster family, and he's so sweet! I can't believe we have three dogs! We have been talking about getting another dog for awhile. We thought we'd look for another pup in the summer, but we saw Remy and couldn't leave the little guy! Isn't he adorable?!?

He likes to be held like a baby.

He likes to sleep under the blankets just like Thor!

Here are all the babies together. Thor is still working on being completely comfortable around Remy. Thor gets a little jealous when Remy wants me to hold him :).

This is how he looks out the window.

He's so cute!

They're getting better!

April 20th

Bjorn and I made a homemade dinner of City Chicken, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and green beans! It was soooo good! My mom made city chicken when I was little, and I haven't had it in forever! Bjorn also made his famous homemade gravy. To.die.for.

April 21st

It was my sister Ashley's birthday! I sent her a box of goodies ;) Since she's closer to Ohio now, her box got to her way faster (on her actual birthday!). Happy birthday, sis! Love you!

Me, Ashley, Rachael

April 23rd

On Wednesday after a doctor's appointment, I stopped by the thrift store to look for a few inexpensive baskets to continue to organize my kitchen pantry. Hanging on the end of a rack, I saw this lovely silk jacket! It was 50% off day, so I picked it up for $3.50. I knew the name brand and was interested in looking up how much this vintage blazer would go for on eBay. I found it going for $80! I considered that my deal of the day! I also found a few baskets for .50 cents.

April 24th

I found these hanging baskets on Instagram for sale and it gave me an idea to keep an eye out at the thrift store for some of these to help organize my tiny kitchen!

April 25th

On Fridays, my students turn in their spelling homework. There is a section where the kiddos have to show me that they understand the meaning of each word. I can't wait to see their adorable drawings on Fridays! Here are a few of my favorites!

There were a few highlights of my week of happy!

To read more of my Love Life Project posts, you can go here and here. 

Leave a comment and let me know what made you happy this past week!

Love and happiness <3 Holly