Game of Fives

Happy Survey Sunday! Survey Sunday is easily one of my favorite weekly fitnessandfroyo traditions, as hard as it can be to find new surveys each week. But I found this one through a quick search of Julie's blog, and I couldn't help but give it a go.

Enjoy, and may you learn something new about the girl behind the blog.

Five Places I’m Dying to Visit

• Alaska – Ever since I saw The Proposal, I’m eagerly anticipating a trip to a state where summertime daylight rarely ends.
• Italy – I’ve got some Italian in me, and everything I’ve seen and read about Italy just seems so picturesque.

(Source)

• Peru – Machu Picchu is calling my name.
• Pacific Northwest – When I’m 25 and can rent a car, I would love to spend a few weeks driving through Yosemite, up through Oregon and Washington, and over to Montana and Idaho.
• Chile – My trip to Argentina developed a love in me for all things South America. My uncle has spent some time in the country, and everything I’ve heard of it has been nothing short of amazing.

Five Foods I Eat Every Day

• Eggs, or egg whites

• Chocolate
• Cooked oats
• Pickles (seriously)
• Yogurt

Five Talents I Wish I Had

• Calligraphy - Perhaps I can find a class to take?
• Dancing

My attempt at learning to tango

• Singing, or anything musical
• Photography
• Tennis (more on this to come)

I may not have many tennis skills, but I've got the tennis skirt down

Five Healthy Food Bloggers I Wish Would Cook For Me Every Day

• Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers
• Monica from Run Eat Repeat
• Gina from SkinnyTaste
• Katie from Chocolate Covered Katie
• Gina from Fitnessista

Five Instagram Accounts I Love

• Anthropologie – So aesthetically pleasing.
• 365ThingsAustin – Nostalgia for one incredible city.
• BakerByNature – Serious baking goals.
• RachMansfield – Everyone’s favorite sweet treats turned healthy.
• Betches – Wildly inappropriate most of the time, but wickedly funny.

Five Things I Wear (Almost) Every Day

• Tennis shoes

The only shoes I wore in Argentina

• Grandma slippers
• Padded running socks – Thorlo and Lululemon are my favorites.
• Headband – Typically Lululemon, but I don’t discriminate.

• Shark Watch – I’ve got quite the impressive watch tan line. While I usually trade in the sports watch in favor of a more … “professional” watch that I wear to school, I don’t think I took this watch off one time while in Argentina. It was a permanent fixture.

Five Songs I Listen To On Repeat

• In Your Arms by Nico & Vinz
• Moving Forward by Colony House
• North Carolina by Little Chief
• Work From Home by Fifth Harmony
• Work This Body by Walk the Moon

Five Beauty Products I Use Every Day

• EOS Lip Balm – I put this stuff on obsessively. And it comes in so many fun flavors. All of which I have probably tried.
• Dermablend Powder – Smooth coverage, definitely not cakey, and gets the job done.
• Aveeno Clear Complexion Foaming Cleanser – Okay, I might be guilty of skipping a day or two or three here and there, but this random find is my favorite of any face wash I’ve ever tried.

But this face mask was fun to do

• Benefit They’re Real! Mascara – Mascara and eyeshadow is about as much make-up as I will apply on a regular basis, and now that I’ve tried this particular product, there’s no going back to drugstore mascara.
• Marc Jacobs' "Daisy" Perfume - A sweet-smelling fragrance that works for any occasion.

Five Movies I Can Watch On Repeat

• Harry Potter (All you have to do is say “marathon weekend” and I know what my weekend plans are.)
• She’s the Man
• Mean Girls
• Remember the Titans
• The Breakfast Club

Five Books On My Current Reading List

• The Shining by Stephen King
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison

And I'll do all of my reading here, thanks

Five Random Things I Ate Yesterday

• Nothin’ But Granola Cookies
• Watermelon (I can’t get enough these days!)
• Garden Sammie + Chicken from Local Foods (This is two days in a row, people)
• Orchard Valley Harvest Dark Chocolate Blueberries
• Grapes

And with that, I'm off to get in my final long run before next weekend's trail race. My first, and I'm starting with 13 miles in the middle of a Texas July. Call me crazy, and be on the lookout for a recipe post (or two!) as well as a product review coming in the very near future.

What I'm Into Now

I’ll admit that I have not been keeping up very well with some of my most favorite blogs. I just haven’t had the time to sit down and read them! Or I have used my time in other ways, I suppose! Actually, I think it’s the fact that I felt so bad about neglecting my blog that I wanted to pretend others were doing the same. But I did run across this little survey on both Peanut Butter Finger’s blog and Carrots ‘n’ Cake’s blog, so I decided I had better do it too!. You know I love a good survey!

What I'm Into Now

Celebrity on Instagram

I am probably the least celebrity-invested person that I know. I’m interested in celebrity gossip when it’s told to me, but I won’t ever seek it out. After all of that, I’m sure it surprises you to learn that I don’t actually follow any celebrities on Instagram. But one of my favorite pseudo-celebs to follow on Instagram is the 365ThingsAustin account. I may not live in Austin anymore, but I love staying up on what big events are taking place, new restaurants that are hitting the scene, and you already know I'm a sucker for a Town Lake sunset or sunrise. 

(Source)

Friend on Instagram

I have some very talented friends on Instagram. Whether it's with an artsy picture or a clever caption, checking my Instagram feed is always entertaining. So, this one is a toughie! But I really love people who post fun and colorful pictures of food, so I'm going to give this award to Claire Hogan. Though she is a Houston native, and a graduate of Memorial High School, I did not meet her until my sophomore year at SRD. She never fails to impress me with her photography skills, and I've learned of more than a few hidden gems via her Instagram page.

(Source)

Cocktail

I will typically pass on the wine when offered, but I absolutely L O V E champagne, which is always dangerous because that stuff will get ya. And if you gave me straight orange juice, I would turn up my nose. So maybe my love of champagne cancels out my dislike for orange juice. Whoops. So when Dylan and I went to brunch a couple of weeks ago when I was in Austin, I just couldn’t pass on the $2 mimosa option.

Food Indulgence

Frozen yogurt. Always. Except lately I’ve probably had too much dark chocolate per day (is there even such a thing?). I’m a huge fan of these Bark Thins – they have made a Things I’m Loving Friday appearance – and one of their current flavors is Pumpkin Flax Seed and I just cannot get enough.

Beauty Product

I don’t typically wear a lot of make-up, but I have found the one brand of mascara that I will forever purchase and wear - Benefit They're Real! Mascara. It might sound too good to be true, but this mascara lengthens, thickens, and volumizes my eyelashes. You don’t have to apply a million coats, and I never have to deal with clumps. It’s a little bit more expensive than my old pink and green tube from Walgreens, but it’s worth every penny.

(Source)

Way to Wind Down

Ever since redoing my room (which I haven’t even updated you guys on!), I love being in there. So I, and embarrassing as this is to admit, love lounging on my bed, listening to music, and either perusing Pinterest or catching up on all of the BuzzFeed quizzes I miss throughout the week. A really beneficial use of my time, I know. But at least I get some good recipes out of it! I would normally read a book, but I haven’t found a book that has really piqued my interest. Any suggestions are very welcome!

(Source)

Piece of Jewelry

I used to wear her old, one-dollar turquoise triangle ring, but I unfortunately lost that one during a trip to the gym. My mom was doing some organizing one day, and came across an old, old ring that Granny used to wear. She thought it was a retired piece from James Avery, and she was right! She let me have it, and the only time I take it off is when I swim.

And on that note, I'm off to complete a PiYo certification class at the MAC all day from 9am to 5pm. I didn't read about this on her blog, but I saw it via PBFinger's Instagram account (I'm all about Insta on this post!), and just out of curiosity, I looked up certifications coming up near me. As luck would have it, the only one taking place within 100 miles of me happened to be at my home gym. It was meant to be. I have taken a few PiYo - a combination of pilates and yoga - classes before, and I absolutely loved them. They challenge my body in a way that I absolutely don't do enough on my own, but I still feel like I get a good workout. So why not learn how to teach it? I'll be sure to come back with a full report on how the certification class goes. It's sure be a long, but successful, day!

Squirrel Smoothie Saturday

I am making up for my days with no blog post by posting twice today. One of the many good things about summer is that in the absence of 12-15 hour course loads, there seems to be just a little bit more time in a day. This will be a quick post, but I do have a simple and delicious smoothie recipe to share with you at the end.

But first - Squirrel Saturday. If you are on Instagram, you are probably familiar with the various day of the week alliterations - Man Crush Monday, Transformation Tuesday, Woman Crush Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, Selfie Sunday - the list goes on. While I do participate in Throwback Thursday from time to time (come on, who can resist posting pictures of some of those ridiculous 90's outfits?), I also enjoy different takes on the day of the week alliterations. Tower Tuesday, 

Wilderness or WyldLife Wednesday, 

and now, Squirrel Saturday. Not that I can take credit for any of them, but they are fun to play along with. If there is one thing I have observed while living in Austin, it is how unique the squirrels here are. They are extremely friendly, and I have watched many people feed them. I am not ashamed to admit that I have spent more than a few minutes at a time trying to snap a picture of a funny squirrel. So, when Dylan suggested making #squirrelsaturday a trend, it didn't take long for me to jump on board, as I have quite a few pictures already stored on my phone. It has proven to be quite the hit, so in the coming Saturdays, I urge you to Instagram, tweet, or post a picture to Facebook of a sassy squirrel you may run across, as this is sure to be the next big trend.

And now for the smoothie recipe. I am a big-time smoothie lover, but I have a hard time making my own smoothies, because they never seem to taste as good as one from JuiceLand or Jamba Juice, or really any other made-for-you smoothie. Maybe it's the blender, maybe it's the thickness, or maybe it's a combination of the two. I have found myself playing around with ingredients, and I finally managed to come up with a recipe good enough to share.

Ingredients

• 7-8 medium sized strawberries (sans stem caps)
• 3/4 cup frozen raspberries
• 1/2 cup Flax Milk (or any kind of milk)
• Handful of spinach leaves
• Sprinkle of chia seeds

Throw all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until you have a smooth, smoothie-like consistency. And that's all there is to it. I have found that using at least one frozen fruit really adds some thickness to the smoothie.

And with that, I'm off continue reading Pride and Prejudice. It's really getting good, and I am finding myself falling harder and harder for dear Mr. Darcy.

PostalPix

I don't know if you guys are anything like me, but I am a big-time lover of social media, and one of my favorite forms of social media is Instagram, an app that allows you to take and post photos, adding cool filters and meaningful captions before sharing them with your friends. I absolutely love Instagram, and many of my food photos are taken with Instagram. Yet my Instagram photos are not just limited to food (anymore). I take pictures in just about every situation, so you will find a plethora of different "categories," if you will, on my Instagram account.

As you have probably noticed, there are a lot of special images on my account, images of which I would love to have prints. I don't know if you have ever tried to order photos taken on your iPhone from Walgreens, but they don't always turn out so well. The dimensions tend to be a little bit off, and if the dimensions are okay, the printed photo is a bit blurry. At least, that has been my experience with Walgreens-printed-iPhone photos. I was perusing Pinterest (typical), when I came across a pin that talked about ordering prints of your Instagram pictures. What I came across was an iPhone (and Android) app called PostalPix. It allows you to order your favorite prints in many different size options. I have only experimented with the 4x4 option, but there is also the 5x5, the 4x6, 8x8, 5x7, 8x10, and even a grid option. Based on the quality of prints that I have already received, any of them will turn out great, so you don't even have to worry about finding a special 4x4 frame. And what's even better about this app is that the price is absolutely right. I just purchased 14 prints and my total was $4.18. I am extremely happy with my PostalPix photos, so if you have been looking for a way to print off those special moments captured from your iPhone or Android, look no further, because PostalPix is the perfect app for you. 

In fact, I even had one of my Instagram photos printed (and framed, though I got the frame off of Etsy), to give to my mom for Mother's Day. She loved it, and I loved it so much that I purchased an extra one for myself.

Breakfast

Today's breakfast was another round of scrambled egg whites and sauteed spinach, plus a handful of red grapes on the side. A delicious breakfast that will fuel for me what is sure to be a busy Friday.

I'm off to a 9:15am spin class at the MAC, and I promise I will be back for a review of that, and of my Friday afternoon adventures. Have a great one!

P.S. If you are interested in following me on Instagram, here is the link to my account. You will find that many of the photos that end up on here, first make an appearance on Instagram.