Yes friends, it's time for more music that is new to me and possibly to you too. I've all but lost hope in the Amazon free MP3 section but luckily SoundCloud has graced me with some new music recently.
The artist is called Janine and The Mixtape. According to her SoundCloud bio she writes, plays and produces her own beats. Pretty cool I think. Plus she has a nice voice and some good songs. In my opinion she has a very smooth R&B/Pop feel. Similar to the artist Nylo who I talked about in this post. Anyway, give her a listen for yourself down below.
More music for your listening pleasure. Aren't you excited?!
Anyway, I honestly can't remember how/when I first discovered Nylo. Possibly on Spotify this time around. Usually I find my new music on Amazon but since they've changed their MP3 store setup I rarely even search there anymore. I guess Nylo could be described as a mix between soul, R&B, electro, alternative and maybe a few others. Bottom line is she's got a great voice and good music. What else really matters right? Oh, and you can download her songs for free on SoundCloud and free is always good.
Yes, it's time for me to once again put you on to an artist you may not have heard about before. For once my discovery isn't from Amazon.com (ps: They all but erased the free mp3 section...smh). I found Jillette Johnson's music via a Facebook link for some magazine (can't remember which, sorry) listing the top 10 most underrated albums/artists of 2013. The list included her song 'Torpedo' which I instantly loved. I decided to head over to Spotify and listen to the rest of her album 'Water in a Whale' and I liked what I heard. My favorite song of hers is 'Pauvre Couer' with 'Cameron' as a close second. As a side note, another favorite of mine Tori Kelly was also on the list.
Give a listen for yourself if you haven't already or if you want to again....
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).
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!
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.
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
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)
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!
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!
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.
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!
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!
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.
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!
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.
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)....
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!
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.
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.
