Music Monday: Tori Kelly

Time for another installment of Music Monday. Today's feature is 'Dear No One' by Tori Kelly from her Foreword EP. I like her, I like the song and hopefully you will too if you don't already. 'Dear No One' is basically a love song to your future soul mate. Cool concept if you ask me. Enjoy!

Here's Tori performing an acoustic version of 'Dear No One' on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (honestly I prefer the original).

Music Monday: Amel Larrieux - For Real

I randomly found this song on Spotify. Although 'Tell Me' by Groove Theory will forever be one of my all time favorite songs, I haven't followed Amel's career so I didn't realize this song was a few years older. I believe it came out in 2004 on her 'Bravebird' album. Either way I'm obsessed with it now. Listen for yourself if you haven't already. Enjoy!

A Random True Story: The Stalker

I'm bored, eating shrimp lo mein and watching Living Single so I decided to write a random blog post about this guy I was never involved with for your entertainment. Enjoy.

So, I knew this guy in high school, we'll just call him "Dan" as I'm not into putting people on blast for my personal enjoyment. Unless they've pissed me off but that's neither here nor there. Back in school Dan and I weren't really friends. I mean, we were acquainted, had classes together and traveled in the same social circle but we never actually hung out or anything. Anyway, the years went on, we graduated and went our separate ways. Me with barely a thought about Dan because, as I said, we were hardly friends. 

Cut to college and the beginning of the Facebook craze. Back then you actually had to have a college email address in order to sign up. Ahh, the good old days. Dan and I became FB friends and eventually AIM buddies as well (that's AOL Instant Messenger for the youngins). Am I the only one who would spend an obscene amount of time trying to come up with a catchy away status? More often than not it would just end up being song lyrics but now I'm getting off topic. I wanna say around freshman year of college was the first time Dan started showing some romantic interest in me. I wasn't interested. In fact, I went out of my way to avoid any type of in person meeting with him.

There were several times Dan asked me to hang out via AIM but I wouldn't. There was one incident in particular that threw me off. Dan is a black man and he told me that he'd never dated a black girl before. My teenage mind was shocked by such a revelation. Then he said something to the effect of "Your black parents would be happy" if we went out. Huh?! I just......what does that even mean? I don't know, it just through me off. Either way, I definitely wasn't interested.

Now, it's some time later and I'm home for the summer or winter break or something. Either way it's like I see Dan everywhere. Out at the club or at my favorite chain restaurant where he happens to work. What are the odds right? I began referring to him as my stalker when it seemed like I was seeing him everywhere all over town. I'm sure I was exaggerating but so what. I had a stalker. 

Fast forward to now and Dan randomly starts talking to me on Facebook messenger. I'd say it started a few months ago, it was still warm out. He asked me out yet again and I finally agreed to meet for drinks one evening. He said he got out of work around 7p so we agreed to meet about 730ish. Mind you, we'd never exchanged numbers all this time. I go, I sit, I wait for about a half hour to forty minutes. He never showed. Then I get a FB message from him asking what I'm doing at almost 830. Say what now? I'm sitting here waiting for you! Fuck you mean what am I doing?! Then he says he JUST got out of work. But I thought we were meeting at 730. Oh, the time I get out of work can vary depending on the case he tells me. This would have been nice to know BEFORE. 

Now, I really didn't want to go out with him in the first place but I was bored and sick of him asking. Plus now that I've matured, I figured I should just go for it because who knows, I might actually like the guy if I give him a chance. Well, he blew it. I felt like I was stood up. In fact, an older gentlemen at the bar left before I did but I ran into him on the way back to the parking garage. He actually stopped me and asked "Did your date not show up?" BURN. He then proceeded to ask if I wanted to grab a beer but he was easily in his 50s so I wasn't into it. Nice guy though.

I told Dan maybe some other time. We finally exchanged numbers but never made any real plans to hang. Then he started FB messaging me again. Not sure why since he was the one who wanted to exchange numbers in the first place. A couple of nights ago he asked if we could make plans to meet up again. I said I didn't think so. Why he asked. Because I'm not interested (never really was tbh) and now I have a boyfriend so that would just be fucked up. He didn't reply and I haven't heard from him since. 

And that is the random true story of my stalker. Now that I've written it all down, he wasn't all that much of a stalker. Oh well, too late to find a new nickname now. Bless your heart if you actually read all this. I'd probably just see the length of this post and decide to not even bother. But thanks if you're still here.

Good day kiddies.

Newly Discovered Music: Banks

Welp! Amazon has done it again. Yet another discovery made while browsing the mp3 section is this lovely lady called Banks. I listened to a preview of one of her songs called 'Waiting Game' and instantly loved her. Naturally I went over to Spotify to find more of her songs in full. I really don't have much to say about Banks other than I just really, really like the vibe of her music. I'm not sure which genre of music this would be considered but honestly, who cares? I like it regardless. I wasn't able to find much information about Banks (i.e. didn't look very hard) but to my understanding she's a new artist so there isn't much to be found at this point. Give her a listen for yourself.

Music Review: Travis Garland

Recently, Travis Garland released his self titled album to the masses. I had listened to some of his music before and even had a couple of his songs on my iPod but I wasn't really going crazy with anticipation waiting for the album. Anyway, I decided to listen to those little 1:30 previews over on iTunes and I really liked what I heard. Enough to spend my little $7.99 (also available on Amazon.com for the same album price but only .99 cents per song).

I'd definitely consider this album to be R&B/Pop. Heavier on the R&B side if you ask me but I'm not complaining. I think Travis is definitely of the "blue eyed soul" variety. If you like artists such as Jojo, Leah LaBelle, Justin Timberlake, etc. then you'll probably like him. Though Travis' music is a bit edgier and more risque if you will (notice the explicit content label). Either way, check it out for yourself!

Track List:

1. Where to Land
2. Motel Pool
3. Easy
4. Abby Lee
5. Clouds
6. Pullin' My Hair
7. You Made Your Bed (So Lay in It)
8. Neighbor
9. Other People
10. Modern Life
11. AllSheWannaDo
12. Homewrecker
13. Blue Electric Roses
14. Chariots of Fire
****iTunes Exclusive Track****
15. 1 of 1

Marriage: Yay or Nay?

There's lots of talk about marriage these days. I think I'm noticing it more because I'm now at an age when the first thing people want to know is when I'm going to get married and have kids. No pressure or anything -__-. The big debate I keep seeing is whether marriage ruins relationships. Many people today don't see the value in marriage other than from a legal standpoint i.e. taxes, healthcare, and other rights that come along with that little certificate. I just feel like our current generation no longer values the institution of marriage for whatever reason.

One argument is that marriage ruins relationships which is understandable to a degree but not necessarily true in all cases. I read somewhere a while ago that marriage enhances the relationship you already have which I firmly believe. If you have a good relationship already, marriage will make it better. But if your relationship is a disaster, getting married will only make things worse. This logic makes perfect sense to me.

Now, with all this being said, I've never been married or even close to being married so I don't speak from experience. Just basing my opinion off of things I've heard and what makes sense to me. I think marriage is challenging either way and something that you need to put effort into to make it work, just like any relationship. But like I said, I have no experience to speak of when it comes to marriage so I'm just guessing here. Hopefully I'll find out someday.

That's all for now.

Music Monday: Birdy

I actually discovered this young lady quite some time ago but for some reason I never thought to make a blog post about her. Weird. Anyway, is another young artist I discovered once again while browsing the free MP3 section on Amazon.com. I'm telling you, they have some good stuff over there. You don't hear me though.

Birdy is a 17 year old singer/piano player from the UK. That's about as much of a bio as you're going to get from me. I'm only here from the music. My favorite song that she does is 'People Help the People'. I saw a YouTube comment that another song she does is a remake but I never bothered to check for sure so who knows. Either way, I enjoy her version. Give a listen for yourself.

Another one I really like is 'Without a Word' (actually I think I like it more than People Help the People)

Newly Discovered Music: AlunaGeorge

That's right, more randomly discovered music for your listening pleasure. I was once again over on Amazon.com browsing the free MP3s but there was nothing that caught my interest. AlunaGeorge was a part of my recommendations based on previous searches. I'm not sure what made me hit play, sometimes I just like the cover art. Who knows?

Anyway, after doing minimal research I found that AlunaGeorge is a group from the UK made up of a young lady named Aluna and a young man named George. Aluna does the singing from what I can tell and George, well, I'm not entirely sure what his role is. Producing? I honestly couldn't tell you. Their music is something of a mix between pop, R&B, electronica, etc. Hard to describe but it's definitely catchy. They also do a remix to Montell Jordan's 'This Is How We Do It' which is pretty cool. Check them out!

Organic Reese's......Sort Of.

Okay, so it's not actually a Reese's cup but it's an incredible simulation. I was walking around the snack aisle in Target and happened to see some organic product by Justin's. To be honest I'm not sure if the company is just called Justin's or if it's Justin's Organic but whatever. According to the wrapper it's Justin's organic milk chocolate peanut butter cups.  

The back of the wrapper says to "Think of your favorite peanut butter cup. Next, magnify that feeling by a gazillion - that's ours." Now I must say I was worried at first because usually when think organic + candy = unsweetened nastiness but I was pleasantly surprised. These organic peanut butter cups were REALLY good! I'll definitely buy these again. I can't say for sure that I'll totally replace my real Reese's cups with these but they're an excellent substitution. I'll also be trying more of Justin's organic products in the future. Give them a try for yourself! 

August Workout Challenge

After successfully completing the beginner's calender from Blogilates.com, I decided to dive in and try the August calendar. Just by looking at this calendar I can already tell it's going to be much more physically challenging than the beginner's but that makes sense. For starters, each of the workouts this month are about an hour long compared to the previous calendar with 30-40 minute workouts. That means exercising for at least an hour a day 6 days a week. Good stuff.

                                              

One thing I really like about the August workout calendar are the meal/recipe suggestions each week. Let me break it down because I know you care....

Sunday - Cook a new recipe from the blogilates.com recipe index (all healthy, cheap eats)
Monday - Meatless Monday
Tuesday - Eat fruit anytime you want to snack
Wednesday - Drink 8 oz of water before each meal or snack
Thursday - Give up one "bad" food or condiment for the day
Friday - YOLO meal aka splurge on whatever you want
Saturday - Veggies with EVERY meal today

I have to admit, I've already failed my first meatless Monday. I just couldn't shake the craving so I'm gonna try to go meatless another day during the week to make up for it and start fresh next week. I also haven't bothered to cook a new recipe from the website but I'm sure I'll get around to it eventually. Other than that I've been good about following the diet suggestions so far.

The monthly calendars on the website are password protected so I wouldn't feel right posting it on my blog. If you're interested just sign up for the newsletter. It's definitely worth it. That's all for now!

My Favorite Snacks (of the moment)

"These are a few of my favorite things......."

Originally I did NOT like Chobani Greek yogurt but this little snack has changed my mind...sort of. I still don't like the plain vanilla flavor but these raspberry with dark chocolate chips bites are really good. I can't get enough.

I bought these on a whim while I was in Trader Joe's. I do a lot of snacking so I picked these up because I figure they'd be a healthier choice than my usual bag of Reese's Minis. Sweet potato tortilla chips. What's not to like? 

These Tostitos chips I literally bought today. I was actually looking for some guacamole chips (which I'll list later) but happened upon these instead. Very good. No salsa needed.

These things are just.....I love them. I can't even describe how much. I've convinced myself that they're a healthy snack because it's dark chocolate. I could be wrong but IDC!!!

There are plenty of others but that's all for now. Good day.

Beginner's Pilates Challenge: DONE!

So, a while back I decided to try the beginner's workout calendar over on Blogilates.com as a way to help me start working out on a regular basis and as an intro to Pilates which I've been wanting to try for a while now. I'm happy to say that I have officially completed the entire calendar. Yay me! This is a huge accomplishment for me because in the past I've never actually stuck with a workout routine. I'll usually start and stick with something for about a week or so before I get lazy and just say forget it. I'm really proud of myself for sticking with it and completing the entire four weeks.

There were a couple of days that I didn't get up early to do the workout videos before starting my day but I made sure to do them later in the day when I had time. There was also one day that I didn't workout at all so I had to double up and do two day's worth the next day to stay caught up. Also, on rest days there's healthy meal suggestions but I only tried the very first one; the banana pancakes recipe. Now that I'm done with that calender I'm not sure what to do next. I'm not going to jump into the July workout calendar at the end of the month so I decided to make my own schedule for the last couple weeks of the month. I just went back through the calendar and picked out some of my favorite videos to do.

To be honest I haven't seen much, if any physical results but it's largely my fault. I really haven't changed my diet too much and I know I should. Just working out isn't enough to see real results, you have to change your diet too which I've learned. That's a lot harder for me and it's gonna take a while. It's actually really easy for me to ADD healthy foods to my diet but getting rid of unhealthy ones is my real challenge. What can I say, I'm a work in progress.

That's all for now.

Newly Discovered Music: Lorde

Have I mentioned how much I love finding new music? Well I do. Maybe it's not new to you but it is to me. In this edition I'm talking about a young lady called Lorde. I say young because she honestly doesn't look much over 16 to me but I actually have no idea how old she is. Anyway, I was turned on to Lorde by someone on my Twitter feed mentioning her. I decided to check out her website and listen for myself. I liked what I heard and decided to download a couple of her songs. Lorde has an EP out called 'The Love Club' and I definitely recommend it. 'Royals' is the single but 'Bravado' is my favorite.

Newly Discovered Music: Jessie Ware - Sweet Talk

Yet another artist and song discovered in Amazon.com's free mp3 section. You really should check it out sometime if you haven't. They have some decent music over there. This was supposed to be a 'Music Monday' post but I was so busy I just didn't have the time so here we are. I really don't have anything to say about Jessie Ware, I just want to share this song with others who might enjoy it as much as I do. The song is called 'Sweet Talk' from Jessie's album 'Devotion.' Happy listening!

Date Smoothie Recipe

So I'm still experimenting with different flavors of smoothies so I'm not just alternating between the same two recipes ALL the time. I recently bought some dates from Trader Joe's because I love them and wanted to see what they might taste like in a smoothie. I looked up some recipes online and pretty much took bits and pieces from each to come up with my own recipe. I didn't make too much because I didn't want to waste it in case I didn't like it so feel free to alter the amount of ingredients used to yield more servings.

                         

-Pitted dates, chopped ( I didn't count or measure them so I really have no idea how many, sorry)
-1/2 cup of unsweetened vanilla coconut milk ( I may use more in the future)
-2 Tbsp of vanilla coconut milk yogurt (I added this mostly just to thicken it up a bit)

                         

Blend it together and boom! There you have it. My one issue is that there was still some date chunks in the blender that I just couldn't get rid of. Maybe I didn't chop the dates up enough? I'm not really sure what happened but for the most part everything blended together nicely. My taste buds are VERY happy.

Coconut Milk Smoothie Recipe

I recently decided to give coconut milk a try because of this health kick I'm on. A while back I tried almond milk but it was just gross. I've never been a fan of almonds so I don't know why I thought I'd like the milk but whatever. Usually I make my smoothies with yogurt but I decided to try looking up recipes that use coconut milk and I found this one. It's very simple and only has three ingredients.

This picture isn't mine but this is pretty much what my smoothie looked like.

-1 cup coconut milk
-1 banana
-2 cups of raw spinach

Mix it all in a blender and there you have it. My only "issue" with this smoothie is the very milky texture. By using yogurt all the time I'm used to the texture of my smoothies being thicker, almost like a milkshake but this wasn't a big deal. Anyway, try it for yourself and enjoy!

Stuff I Like: Wholesome Sweeteners

To be more specific, organic blue agave vanilla flavored syrup by the company Wholesome Sweeteners. I found this product while I was browsing the aisles of Whole Foods yet again. I was actually looking for honey and more coconut manna but I happened to see the line of agave syrups and sweeteners. Now I've never tasted agave anything before so I wasn't sure about this purchase but it was definitely the right decision.

As soon as I smelled it, I knew I did the right thing because it smells SO good. Then of course I had to taste a little drop (just on my finger because I didn't want to just pour it in food without knowing how it would be). Heaven. I seriously want to eat this stuff by the spoonful it's so good. I may never buy regular sugar or honey again. It's that deep. The best part is that it's healthy. According to the label it's "organic, low glycemic, gluten free" AND it's 25% sweeter than sugar. I'm in love. You MUST try this stuff if you haven't already.

Music Monday: Alice Smith

Alice Smith is yet another artist I discovered while browsing the free mp3 section over on Amazon.com. The song available at the time was called 'Cabaret' which I've grown to really love so of course it's on repeat on my iPod. I haven't listened to much of her music but I really like her voice.

Here's Alice giving a live performance of Cabaret. She sounds amazing live! 

Music Monday: Delta Rae

I first heard of the group Delta Rae when I was browsing the free mp3 downloads over on Amazon.com. The song available was called 'Bottom of the River' which I love. I decided to listen to some of their other music and found that they have quite a few songs that I really like. I've added two of my favorite songs below. Give them a listen.

Banana Pancakes Recipe

This is a simple, 2 ingredient recipe once again from blogilates.com. I tried it for the first time this morning and it was really good and also super easy to make. Give it a try for yourself!

Here's how mine turned out (I promise they taste better than they look lol)....

                               

Beginner's Pilates Challenge: Week 1

My week in review:
***Disclaimer: I'm not sure if I'm gonna do a post like this every week. If I do it may not be as detailed.***

Day 1: Total Body

Not much to tell for today. I woke up at a reasonably early hour and did the total body workout per the calendar. I've actually done that particular video before so I knew what to expect. However it's been a few weeks since doing it so it was a little tougher but doable. That's really it.

Day 2: Abs

Due to a change in my work schedule I didn't get up and do my workout first thing in the morning. Had to be to work by 8am and I really wasn't trying to get up that early to exercise so I put it off until later in the evening. First off, I nearly died doing that 1 minute plank. I wasn't able to do the full minute all at once but I was able to last about 20 seconds at a time before breaking down. I think that's good considering I've never done a plank before in my life.

Day 3: Total Body

It probably took 30 minutes or more for me to do 10 roll ups because I had to rest between each. Terrible I know. The cardio workout was really fun. The total body was cool but I realized yet again how terrible my balance is with some of the side lying moves. Guess I have to keep trying.

Day 4: Lower Body

The 10 burpees were easier to do than I was expecting. For some reason I really thought I would struggle with that because I've never done them before but I didn't. Although they did make me VERY winded. I was so out of breath after it was crazy. I'm still having balance issues with some of the workouts calling for you to balance on one knee and one hand but otherwise the videos were today were alright. Also, I really enjoyed the quite cardio this morning. Not much else to say about today's workout.

Day 5: Abs

Another ab day. I honestly don't have much more to say than that. Oh, other than the fact that my balance is still terrible. That's it.

Day 6: Total Body

I realized that I can just barely do sit ups but around about 15 of 20 I got a little better. The back workout was okay but nothing I'd want to do on my own. The booty workout was short but definitely intense. I really felt the burn with that one. Not much else to say about today.

Day 7: Rest

Self explanatory.

Stuff I Like: Red Jacket Juices

The purpose of this post is to pimp out yet another healthy drink I discovered at Whole Foods. Gotta love that place. Admittedly I haven't done much research but from what I understand, Red Jacket makes a line of apple juices mixed with other fruits. This is not to be confused with a regular mixed fruit drink. The primary component is apples. I haven't tried all of them but the ones I have tried I really like. My favorites are the strawberry apple juice and raspberry apple juice. The best part is that this drink is healthy and really tasty. And according to the label the only ingredients are apples, strawberries (or another fruit) and vitamin C. 

I'm sure they sell these at places other than Whole Foods but honestly I haven't bothered to look. Give them a try and enjoy! 

Newly Discovered Music: Wynter Gordon

I've never heard of Wynter Gordon before but I recently heard a song of hers that I really like. If you watch the show Chef Roble & Co you've heard the song called Stimela by Wynter on the latest episode during the Mataano fashion show. I remember thinking that I really liked the song and luckily Chef Roble tweeted the name and artist after someone asked about it. Anyway, I looked her up on Facebook and she has some free downloads available as well as paid songs on iTunes and Amazon. Honestly, there's a few of her songs I like but I'm not yet sure if I like them enough to download.

Here's the video for 'Stimela'

4 Week Beginner's Pilates Challenge

Okay, so I'm not entirely sure this thing I'm doing is called a challenge, but it will be for me. Over on blogilates.com there's a 4 week plan for those just beginning their Pilates journey which is perfect for me. For one it has everything you need to do each day spelled out in front of you so you don't have to worry about it. Also, there's a different combination of workouts everyday so you don't get bored. There's also a rest day included with healthy meal suggestions.

Basically, there's a calendar that you can print out that has a few different workouts each day for you to check off and sign to mark your progress. On the website there's links to the videos for each day so you don't have to bother with trying to search for them. 6 days of Pilates workouts and 1 day of rest at the end of each week. I've already decided that I'm probably not going to follow the healthy meal suggestions just because I don't want to have to go out and buy anything. I'll just continue with my smoothies, salads and oatmeal and call it a day. I'll make weekly posts updating my progress.

See you in a week!

5 of My Favorite TV Theme Songs

The title of this post is pretty self explanatory so let's get right to it shall we? Okay, good. In no particular order....

The Golden Girls 

Half & Half

A Different World Theme (Aretha Franklin version)

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Dawson's Creek 

There's plenty of other tv show theme songs that I like but these are definitely some of my favorites and the first ones to pop into my head. Enjoy the nostalgia kids.

Cranberry Spinach Salad Recipe

I think it's safe to say this is my new favorite salad recipe (my first is a Caesar salad with grilled shrimp...yum!). I originally saw this recipe over at blogilates.com and it sounded delicious so I had to try it for myself. It was even better than I expected. So good in fact that the first time I ate it I made two! Wait, does that sound greedy? Anyway, give it a try for yourself.

               

Ingredients Include 
Baby spinach (washed)
Dried cranberries (a regular pack of Craisins will do if you like)
Candied walnuts (the original recipe uses almonds but I prefer these)
Goat cheese (I used Chevre brand from Trader Joe's)
Raspberry vinaigrette

                

Mix it all together and bam! There you have it. Enjoy!

Stuff I Like: Bolthouse Farms

Has anyone heard of the company Bolthouse Farms? I'm sure you have. They have a pretty decent sized line of drinks and salad dressings but to be honest the only thing I really pay attention to are their drinks. Mostly healthy and full of protein, fruits, veggies, etc. Anyway, the point of this post is just to highlight my two favorite drinks of theirs (so far....I haven't tried all of them). The Vanilla Chai Tea drink which I've been a fan of for years and the Green Tea Soy Latte which I discovered only a few weeks ago. I'd definitely recommend giving the entire line a try because everything I've had has been pretty good. Look in the produce section of your local grocery store.

A small idea of the rest of the drinks but they have WAY more than this.

Banana-Pineapple Smoothie

This should be pretty brief but as I said it my last post I have two favorite smoothie recipes that I really like so far. Again, the recipe doesn't include measurements so I'm just going to tell you what I put in to give you a basic idea. Honestly the only thing different from this recipe and the previous one is the use of bananas instead of strawberries. If done correctly, this smoothie tastes like a virgin pina colada. In the future I may add my favorite rum into the mix for a little smoothie party.

                             

Banana-Pineapple Smoothie
-Frozen bananas (I tried using fresh but they ended up going bad from not using them so frozen works better)
-Crushed pineapple
-Coconut manna
-Goat's milk yogurt
-Vanilla extract (again, a little goes a long way)
-Honey
-Kale

Frozen bananas....

                                                

Looks gross I know lol. Yogurt, kale, pineapple, bananas on the bottom.

                           

And there you have it, one of my favorite smoothie recipes. Enjoy!

My Favorite Smoothie Recipes

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've started making my own fruit smoothies at home as a way to try to add some healthiness to my diet. Lord knows I don't eat anywhere near the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables each day. Right now I'm sticking with fruit but maybe someday I'll branch out into vegetables or mixing the two together. I haven't decided yet but we'll see.

                           

Let me preface this by saying that I never measure anything with my smoothies (or cooking in general for that matter) so I'm just going to give you the ingredients I use and a general idea of weather it's a good amount or just a pinch. Personally, I'd say to just add things based on your personal taste and preference. That seems to work well for me. After a bit of trial and error I've found two smoothie recipes that will be my staples. To be honest I haven't tried very many varieties and mixtures but I'd rather just stick with what I know I like for now. Check them out below:

Strawberry-Pineapple Smoothie
-Frozen strawberries (you can use fresh if you want)
-Crushed pineapple (I prefer to just buy cans and put the leftovers in the refrigerator)
-Goats' Milk Vanilla Yogurt (you read right, goat's milk...it's actually pretty tasty)
-Coconut Manna (after melting it I add a few tablespoons)
-Kale (I just take a few leaves and break them up into the mix)
-Vanilla Extract (less is more so I'd say no more than a teaspoon)
-Honey (no idea how much, just let it drip for a bit)

Coconut manna and goats' milk yogurt both bought from Whole Foods.

                                   

Like I said, I never measure anything. Just use your best judgement. Blend and taste test until you get your desired results.

Stay tuned for my other favorite smoothie recipe in the next post!

Time to Get Healthy

A while back I said I was going to start working out on a regular basis. In fact I've said it several times but it never really happens. I'll work out regularly for a few weeks, maybe even a month or so, then I'll start to get lazy again and just stop. Why you ask? I honestly have no idea. I guess I'm just unmotivated but I'm trying to motivate myself now.....again.

Let me start by saying my goal is not to lose weight, but to get in shape and just be a healthier person overall. I'm skinny but I'm definitely NOT in shape so that's what I'm working towards. Also, I really want to get some nice beach ready abs for the summer. The hardest part for me I think will be trying to eat healthier. I'm not a huge candy/junk food eater but I have my cravings now and again. Especially around that time of the month. Chocolate could easily be my downfall because I love it and I'm not willing to give it up. It's all about moderation they say but chocolate is the least of my problems. I also love salt, hot sauce, cheese, butter, white bread, fried foods and ketchup. I can also be really lazy about food. I'm more likely to eat something healthier while out at a restaurant than I am to take the time to make it at home.

So anyway, that's where I am right now. Slowly trying to incorporate exercise and healthy eating habits into my regular routine. So far I've started making fruit smoothies at home which isn't much but at least it's something. Baby steps and all. And as of this post I'm on day 2 of starting Pilates. I've been wanting to try it for a while now but I'm a little worried about going to a class with people who have been doing it for years and looking a hot mess. For now I'm using YouTube videos because not only are they FREE but I can do them at my convenience in the comfort of my own home. I've started with some POP Pilates beginner videos from blogilates. So far I'm enjoying them and the instructor, Cassey, is really good. Give it a try for yourself! I'll keep you posted on my progress.

New Music: Beyonce - Bow Down/I Been On

Unless you've been living under a rock today, you've probably heard that new music from King Bey is making the rounds all over the internet. I didn't expect a song like this from Beyonce but she's definitely channeling her inner ratchet with this one. Either way, I'm not mad at it. I really don't have much else to say. If you haven't already, give it a listen below.....

Justin Timberlake Song Medley

Timberweek went out with a bang when Justin Timberlake ended his week long run of appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon by performing a medley of his hits from his first two albums Justified and Future Sex/Love Sounds. JT has been appearing on the show all week in preparation for the release of his third solo album The 20/20 Experience which drops Tuesday, March 19th. If you missed it, take a look below.

Favorite Song of the Moment: JoJo - Andre

Now that I'm trying to get back into blogging on a regular basis, I've decided to start a new series to highlight my favorite song or songs of the moment. Generally when I find a new song that I like I'm stuck on it for quite a while but it can also easily change or I'll have multiple songs on repeat on my iPod.

The first song in the series is 'Andre' by Jojo, who you already know I love if you've been following my blog or if you follow me on Twitter. The song is from Jojo's latest mixtape 'Agape.' Honestly, I'm not a big fan of this mixtape other than this song but her first mixtape 'Can't Take That Away From Me' is one of my absolute favorites.

Give 'Andre' a listen if you haven't already, you won't regret it.

Newly Discovered Music: Conor Maynard & Leah Labelle

This will (hopefully) be a short blog post about two new artists that I've recently discovered and so far I like what I hear. First up is Leah LaBelle. I'd heard Leah's name a few times here and there but never really bothered to look her up and listen to her music. Recently another artist that I love, Jojo, broadcast a concert from her living room online in which Leah made an appearance and they did a duet of John Legend's 'Ordinary People.' This was my first time hearing Leah's voice and I must say I like what I heard. I decided to look up a few of her songs and happened to find one that's pretty much been on repeat for days called 'Sexify.' If you haven't heard of Leah LaBelle I'd definitely recommend giving her a listen if you're into Pop music with an R&B feel (a similar vibe to Jojo if you will). Take a peek at her video for 'Sexify' below.

Next up is a guy named Conor Maynard. I first heard of Conor when his song 'Animal' was featured as the free song of the week on iTunes. It's definitely a fun party song in my opinion. I looked up a few of his other songs and there's quite a few that I really like. According to Spotify's description he's been hailed as "the British answer to Justin Bieber" which honestly made me throw up in my mouth a little but I digress. I suppose they have similar styles of music but whatever. I think Conor has a more mature tone to his music and there's definitely some sexual references here and there. Anyway, if you haven't heard of him, take a listen below and enjoy!