Ombré Nails

Okay so today I decided to take pictures of my nails as I did them so y'all can follow along if you're interested. I'm a bit of a nail polish freak. I paint my nails at least every two weeks just to keep it spicy. Different people have different hobbies, and painting my nails relaxes me so I love finding ways to work it into my schedule.

Today I will be sharing how I do Ombré Nails, which is a design I love doing because it's super easy.

For this design you're going to need:

• Cotton balls (if you currently have nail polish on that you will need to remove)
• Nail polish remover
• Q-Tips (these aren't in the picture below but you WILL need them. If you don't have any you'll just have to do your best with cotton balls)
• White nail polish
• 2 or 3 other colors (similar colors in different shades look best)
• Base coat
• Top coat
• 1 makeup sponge
• Optional fine detail paint brush

I don't really buy nail polish for the brand, usually all I care about is the color, but if you have a brand preference that is totally okay. As you can see I didn't even buy consistent base and top coat brands. To me it doesn't matter at all.

The colors I used today:

• Snow me white by Sinful Colors 
• Bikini so teeny by Essie (this is actually my favorite nail polish brand, but I think it's just because I love the look of the bottles. The nail polish itself I find to be a little too thin for my liking.)
• Pacific Blue by Sally Hansen I tried to do my best to find this color online but I believe Sally Hansen may have changed up their pigments a little because it took forever to find this online. Wasn't aware the color would be so rare... I believe this link will take you to the right one, but I'm judging by the online photograph so I don't know 100%
• My base and top coats are by Revlon and OPI

Alrighty. Let's dig in.

1. Remove any nail polish you had on prior so that your nails are clean. I always like to wash my hands with warm water and soap after using nail polish remover (and I use non acetone) 
2. Paint all of your nails white
3. Let the white dry completely before you continue (check Instagram, listen to a song, cry, whatever floats your boat)
4. Now take your makeup sponge and unscrew the caps of the nail polishes you intend on using after shaking them to stir up the color. Keeping the caps unscrewed as you work allows you to work more quickly
5. Paint a line across the bottom of your makeup sponge with your darkest color
6. Paint a line across the middle of your makeup sponge with your middle color. I tend to make this line thicker (about twice the width)
7. Paint a line across the top of your makeup sponge (or wherever you are on your makeup sponge as long as the lines overlap slightly. You probably won't reach the TOP) with your lightest color. Don't worry there are pictures below
8. Dab the sponge lightly on your nail with the darkest part at the bottom of your nail and the lightest part at the top. If you just press and release you will get more definite lines and it won't look faded. If you dab ever so slightly you can blur the lines between the various colors. If you need to adjust a color (the bottom isn't dark enough or the top isn't light enough) just add more of that color to part of your sponge and dab carefully with just that section of the sponge. Repeat this step with all of your nails, reapplying color to the sponge after each one.

Okay I promised pictures.

Now you're probably thinking "Ew this looks so messy. What'd I do wrong?" Yes it looks messy, but you've done everything right if your nails look like mine. This is where the nail polish remover and Q-Tips come into play. 

9. Dip your Q-Tip in some nail polish remover (I like to pour a little into the cap, and dip my Q-Tips in the cap) and use it to wipe off the nail polish on your skin
10. If you don't want to do any patterns or polka dots or anything extra then add a top coat and you're done! Congratulations on your beautiful nails :)

Personally I felt like taking it a little bit father, because I love my accent nails. On my ring finger only I used a fine detailed paint brush to paint white zig-zag lines horizontally across my nail. There's not much I can say to help you as fine detail nail work comes with practice. I have no special talent or skill (I swear- my artistic capabilities are so depressing) but I've been painting my nails like this for over 2 years. Patience, and you'll catch on. 

So this is my finished product. I absolutely love the way that it looks because it reminds me of the ocean, and water, and beaches, and SUMMER. Happy summer everyone! Comment if you're interested in more nail tutorials.

Jeanne's Bars

Just in case any of you were actually successful with your healthy eating lately I'm gonna go ahead and throw a wrench in it. I've had this recipe for FOREVER, and I used to make these (and eat them) all the time back when I cared less about what I'm putting in my body. That being said, cheat days happen, and it's summer so we should be allowed to have a little fun with what we eat.

Technically these are PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP BARS but I call them Jeanne's Bars because my best friend's step mom is famous for making them and this is her recipe. I have made a few changes, but I'll let you know what they are in case you don't want to make them. 

This is what you're about to get yourself into. I'm sorry for the crappy photography, and also for the lack of pictures on this post- this is the only one. It's actually just a snapchat that I sent to my boyfriend before I brought him a pan of these as a surprise dessert. I didn't plan ahead, and didn't realize I'd feel like blogging tonight. Oops. Maybe I'll update this in the future so I can include more pictures. You'll just have to trust that these are AMAZING.

You're going to need:

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/3 cup softened butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (CHANGE: I use 1 heaping teaspoon of Mexican vanilla)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp flake salt
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup optional chocolate chips for topping
• CHANGE: 1/3 cup extra peanut butter (that would mean you need 5/6 cups peanut butter total- it's just easier to measure it separately, and you will need it separate for the recipe anyways)
• CHANGE: approximately 2 tablespoons extra packed brown sugar 

Prep time: 15 min

Baking time: 25-35 min

Serves: 16

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x9 pan (8x8 works too), and set aside.

• In a medium bowl cream together the peanut butter and butter. 
• Gradually blend in the white sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla.
• Mix together until light and fluffy
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Stir into the peanut butter mix.
• Fold in the chocolate chips until they are spread throughout
• MY CHANGE (optional step): In a mixer combine extra peanut butter and extra brown sugar and beat until well mixed (it will look like gooey frosting). Fold in loosely with the remaining dough so that clumps of extra peanut butter remain (don't mix in very well). The reason for this extra step is to create bites of melted peanut butter along with the bites of melted chocolate chips. The bars are honestly amazing either way.
• Spread into pan and bake for approximately 25-35 min (I always slightly under-bake because they get harder as they cool).
• Remove bars from oven, sprinkle optional chocolate chips on top (I never actually do that step or include that ingredient), and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Voila! These bars are heavenly. You'll both thank me and hate me after you try them. Paleo sabotage! AAH. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do, and let me know in the comments if you'd like more fun (and unhealthy hehe) dessert recipes in the future.

Açai Bowls

So this dish has been a trend that's popping up EVERYWHERE lately. I originally found out about it in Australia, but açai berries are showing up on the shelves of my local supermarkets making it super easy to get my hands on the ingredients in America!

Some background: Açai berries (pronounced ah-sah-EE) are the fruit of the açai palm tree indigenous to the Amazon of Brazil. The dark purple berries are rich with antioxidants, and fall under the category of superfoods, which is why they are such a health trend these days! I'm absolutely in love with them because they taste delicious and are very easy to make.

Recipes for this vary greatly so I'm just going to share mine. You can always try this, and make adjustments in the future to add your own spin on the dish.

What you're going to need:

• 1 ripe banana (or half a banana if you don't want to use banana as a topping)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 packet of frozen açai berry juice (thawed in warm water) (I couldn't find the Simply Balanced brand when looking online so I could link "açai berry juice" but I found another that will work just as well. I'm pretty sure I just picked mine up from Target)
• 1/2 serving of vanilla protein powder OR 1/2 teaspoon organic honey (to taste)
• 2 (or more) cups ice
• Additional toppings (other sliced fruit, nuts, ect)

• Throw half your banana in the blender, along with the coconut milk (honestly you're supposed to use anywhere between half a cup and a cup so I just play around with measurements), the thawed juice puree, the protein powder or honey (keep in mind that protein powder is NOT PALEO so when I'm feeling strict I'll sub with honey. If I don't it doesn't taste sweet enough to me), and the ice. 
• Blend until the mixture is a very very thick smoothie, one that you wouldn't want to try and suck down with a straw. You may need to stop blending once and awhile to stir the ice around if it's not getting completely mixed in, and you may also need to add more ice to reach the appropriate consistency. 
• After you finish that, pour your thick purple smoothie into a bowl and cut up the remaining banana and your other fruits and place it on top of the açai smoothie in the bowl. I used pecans and bananas the last time I made the recipe but I've done other fruit and nut combinations before. Try not to overdo it on nuts because that will add more fat to your healthy meal.

Açai bowls are perfect for breakfast, and I sometimes even eat them as an after-workout treat (like dessert!). I used My Fitness Pal to calculate the nutrition facts for an açai bowl with 1 banana, 3 tablespoons of pecans, and protein powder instead of honey as an example to provide below.

Example Nutrition Facts (with my toppings of choice):

Calories: 639

Fat (g): 35.1

Carbs (g): 55

Sugars (g): 24

Protein (g): 32.5

Vitamin A: 10.5%

Vitamin C: 30%

Calcium: 23%

Iron: 3%

The reason sugar looks so high is you have to keep in mind that this is a FRUIT. I personally don't care when I get calories and sugars from fruit, but that's just me. My biggest requirement was that it had good macros, and I was satisfied with the protein to fat ratio, and it helped me hit my daily carb goal. All in all I absolutely LOVE this recipe. Comment down below if you give it a try! :)

The Paleo Challenge

Okay it's about time. You had this coming.

So I know the word "paleo" is popping up everywhere in the world of fad diets lately but I want you to understand that this is no empty promise to make you drop fat like so many others. There is science to back it up. 

For those of you who have never even HEARD the word before, the paleo diet, sometimes referred to as "the caveman diet", tries to take us back to simpler times when our foods weren't chalk-full of chemicals. It's a high protein, low carb diet, which means it is ideal for athletes. Gluten, and any bread-based foods are eliminated entirely, forcing paleo-eaters to meet their carbohydrate goals by consuming more vegetables. A common misconception is that paleo is all meat. It is not. The human body can only metabolize 30 grams of protein per meal, so it would be pointless to eat pure meat. Paleo focuses on natural, easy-to-digest, fiber rich, resourceful foods to reset your digestive system, and naturally improve your sleep, energy levels, and mood.

As someone who has played around a lot with other types of dieting, including a month of being vegetarian, and a month of being vegan, those who knew me were really confused when I completely flipped sides and took the paleo challenge. I switched from avoiding meat entirely to eating it in almost every meal, and even though I had previously sworn that being vegan would make you feel "clean" I can now say that going paleo has made me feel "cleaner".

My inspiration was the 30 Paleo Challenge on this lovely blog. It goes by the name of "Robin's Sweet Confessions" and I stumbled upon it while on Pinterest and was absolutely thrilled to find that not only did Robin lay out everything we should eat for the first few weeks, but she supplied grocery lists, and recommended workouts. It was too easy. Everything was there. I had to do it.

(This picture and this picture alone inspired me to begin my paleo journey so I need to give another MASSIVE thank you to Robin.)

That being said paleo is A LOT of work to maintain. But if it wasn't worth it, my 30 day challenge would not have turned into a lifestyle that I cannot live without. I have gone back to regular eating for a few weeks here and there, just to see if I would prefer to go back... and I don't. As much as I think I miss Chipotle, pasta (used to be my favorite food!), Dairy Queen, and ice cream in general, paleo has always been worth it to me. If you're STILL not convinced that this is crazy awesome, you need to check out the Paleo Recipes on Pinterest page. Yum.

Now I am no Robin, but I am going to create a paleo challenge blog entry similar in the sense that it will help you kick start your paleo journey because I CHALLENGE YOU TO A 30 DAY PALEO CHALLENGE. It would be cruel of me to do that, and then provide no help. :)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


First and foremost there are rules to paleo:

1. You have to accept the challenge. Remember that if it gets "too hard" and you quit then you'll only know what quitting feels like, and the point is to find out what succeeding feels like. You must give it your all. It will not be easy, hence the word challenge, but it is only for 30 days and you will thank me on day 31. I promise.
2. You have to work out daily. Even if some days all you do is yoga. Or go on long walks. Do not cheat yourself. Trust me on this one.
3. You must take before and after pictures. I didn't even realize how important this was until I looked at my before and after pictures. All in all it is discouraging if you feel like you're not making progress, and if you have pictures then you can SEE the progress you're making. You don't have to share these pictures, but you do need to take them. One set (take a picture head on, and then one of you turned to the side. focus on your stomach and thighs, or wherever you feel like your body personally stores fat) before you even start, and one set on day 7 of each week. Don't forget the final picture on day 30 because that is the second most important one! (arguably your "before" picture is the most important). 
4. Avoid the scale. Numbers are discouraging as well. Weigh yourself before the challenge and then after the challenge is over. If you really want to you can weigh yourself when you take pictures (at the end of every week) but I would be careful. When I first started paleo I GAINED 10lbs in the first two weeks, and later found out it was because I gained a ton of muscle. However by the end of my challenge I was 10 pounds lighter than my original weight, and I've never been a heavy person so it looked like a lot. Every body works differently, and in the end it's how you look and feel that matters the most, not your proportion to gravity.
5. Push Yourself! This diet is hard but fun. It's something new, and it's a crazy new adventure for you to try. You could hate every second of it or you could positively love it. Keep a positive mental attitude and comment here if you have questions or concerns or if you are feeling weak.

LUCKY FOR YOU I HAVE YOUR FIRST SEVEN DAYS PLANNED OUT
Meal plans, grocery list, workouts, EVERYTHING. Check out my blog post to find out what you should eat for the first 7 days to kick start a perfect paleo challenge.

Additional Tips:

In my paleo experience this is what I have discovered:

• If you are craving something that is NOT paleo, write it down. Tell yourself you can have it again when the 30 days are up. It helps you get through weak times, and at the end of the challenge you won't even want it anymore so you can throw the list of cravings you've accumulated away.
• Cook most of your meals. I know that this is not ideal, but neither is eating out while trying to eat paleo. If you do eat out, you should try to find healthier restaurants that are more likely to offer something you can eat.
• Eat a lot of vegetables. Paleo is often thought of as a meat diet, but in all reality there are a lot of veggies at work behind the scenes. You CAN overdose on protein, but you CANNOT overdose on vegetables. My current fave is broccoli.
• Break your meals up, and always stay full. Instead of eating 3 big meals I eat 5 smaller meals. This is not only way better for you in terms of digestion, AND fat-loss, but it keeps you full and IF YOU ARE FULL YOU WILL NOT CRAVE BAD THINGS. 
• If you absolutely must must must must must have a dessert because you just NEED one on a particular day, make a paleo dessert. There are plenty of options. 
• BE CAREFUL WITH NUTS. Keep your nut intake slim to none if you want the leanest results. Nuts ARE paleo but they also stunt your weight loss. That being said, don't be afraid of nuts. A handful a day will not hurt you. I promise. Just don't go nuts. Hehe.

When it comes to what you eat...

If I were you I would follow Robin's food entries as closely as possible. That's what I did until I got the swing of things. I was planning on writing my own food entries for y'all, but then decided I could not beat hers. Sorry.

Just to give you an example of what I eat on a daily basis (keeping in mind I'm not doing a paleo challenge, I'm just eating paleo daily because I enjoy it), I typically consume:

Breakfast: 

Tea

1 full glass of water before I even start eating

2 eggs

2 pieces of bacon

Lunch:

1 full glass of water before I even start eating

Some kind of fish (usually salmon or tuna steaks, but I've branched out to tilapia even though some may disagree with that choice), and 2 cups of broccoli

Snack:

An apple, or a bowl of blueberries

Dinner:

1 full glass of water before I even start eating

Chicken or other meat, vegetable of my choice, fruit

Dessert (I have it maybe once a week... Maybe twice if I hit the gym hard that day):

Banana ice cream (teehee)

As you can see I consume a lot of fruit, which isn't typical to the paleo diet (usually it's heavily focused on veggies and meat), but I do this because I work out daily and I've figured out how many grams of carbs I need in order to survive working out, and because I eat paleo I need fruit to reach my carb goals.

You too can tamper with your paleo balance once those 30 days are up if you decide to continue paleoing (casually invents a word) for longer.

Ummmmm that might be it! Sorry this was such a long blog post. If you're taking the challenge but you encounter a weak day and you want to quit, comment about it for support. I really hope you enjoy this challenge as much as I did. Good luck, may the odds be ever in your favor, and GO PALEO!

June Favorites

Wow long time no post! I know I completely skipped May there but I've been busy... It happens to the best of us. Well here are some of my favorite things from the lovely month of June :)

Food Favorites:

• Frozen Fruit- Literally cannot get enough. I know that paleo is supposed to be low carb but hey this isn't processed, and it tastes like a freaking fruit Popsicle. I literally just buy bags of frozen fruit from the store (like the kind you're supposed to use for smoothies and stuff), put it in a bowl when I'm hungry, and eat it with a fork. It's perfect because it's too cold to eat fast so that controls your portion size, AND it gives you something to much on if you're always hungry (like me haha) and still trying to slim down.
• Kale Chips- If you want the recipe comment below. Basically the same thing as carrot fries but made with kale. (Pro tip: you can also throw raw kale into your fruit smoothies. You won't taste it (unless you put in more than like two cups of the stuff...), and it will make your smoothie a gross color but HEY if you can't taste the vegetables you're drinking, AND you're drinking a vegetable... Why not? If it bugs you just buy colorful opaque smoothie cups. Try this recipe.)
• Broccoli- Alright, if you were reading this list expecting to see something along the lines of "cake, ice cream, cookie dough, and chocolate" you've come to the wrong blog :) Maybe it's weird to some people but personally I'm really enjoying the taste of broccoli lately. I'll throw it in with just about anything I'm eating to meet my carbs goal of the day.
• Tea- I am now a lover of tea. Never thought it would happen because the taste used to repulse me, and I'm a coffee gal ALL THE WAY, but paleo means no coffee- at least in my book. I've been using tea for all sorts of things from detoxing to helping me sleep and I'm learning to love the taste. My current favorite would have to be Twinnings Wild Berry tea.
• Banana Ice Cream- Here we go: something desserty (finally). HOLY CRAP you guys this stuff sounds weird but tastes AMAZING I swear. I encountered it on Pinterest and this might just be my next recipe post because wowza it is a lifechanger. All you need are bananas, a food processor, and ice cream toppings so it's healthy AND easy AND delicious. If you don't like the taste of bananas you can add essential oils to make mint chocolate chip ice cream, etc. It's so good. So. Good.
• Quest Bars- Okay so these aren't paleo. Kill me. Because I work out frequently I've run into a few roadblocks with paleo and have adapted my diet in the last month or so to include processed food and weigh ONLY when necessary and ONLY in the form of quest bars and protein powder. May the paleo gods hate me for eternity. But after doing clean, normal, 100% paleo paleo for a few months it was clear that I could bend the boundaries of my diet a little to include protein powder and these bars (no other granola bars or protein bars fit my needs) because they've helped me so much in the gym... But most importantly they. taste. fantastic. They come in dessert flavors like cookies and cream, and chocolate chip cookie dough (my two favorites at the moment), and I'm just in love. They're a bit pricey but they have 20g of protein and only 2g of sugar PER BAR. LIKE. WHAT. I'll link them here so you can die in paleo hell with me.

Cosmetic Favorites:

It's summer so I'm still wearing as little makeup as I can get away with so literally the only things I have to recommend are for washing yourself...

• Shower Jelly- This is a LUSH product that I happened to pick up about a month ago and just not use because I couldn't figure out HOW to use it. It's a pot of jelly. I was so confused. But I figured out that if you scoop out a little bit and mash it up with your loofah it gets all bubbly and has made my skin SO SOFT. It's LUSH so it's organic and vegan and made fresh right in the store. It's also been a really handy shampoo for the days when I don't feel like torturing my hair with regular shampoo (something you should know about me is I have very dry, very curly hair, and very pale very dry skin). I enjoy the cherry-coconut scented shower jelly.
•  CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser- Basically just what I've been using to wash my face twice a day. So far I have less acne, and no awkward dry patches so this is a success in the world of super sensitive dry skin and I thought I'd post about it in case anyone shares my fate. Nothing fancy- picked mine up from Target, but the link I have is from Ulta.

Other Favorites:

• Black Bikinis- Don't ask why, I don't know, but swimsuits (I live in bikinis) in black are appealing to me all of a sudden so I've bought like six. I also really like anything with lots of straps, and or designs created with the straps. If you're interested I can provide pictures. 
• Champion Leggings- I've been at the gym literally everyday this last month, so my legging purchase has increased significantly. I like the look of Lululemon a lot, but I can't afford to invest in such expensive clothing if I intend to sweat in it so I've stuck to champion. If you have suggestions as to where I can find cheap Lulu knockoffs I am always all ears :)

The songs I've listened to the most this month:

• American Kids- Kenny Chesney
• Wonderland- Taylor swift (no link because it's not on YouTube)
• Girl Crush- Little Big Town
• Fight Song- Rachel Platten (fun fact: I knew this song before it was cool mwahaha)