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.