A Healthy Balance

This weekend I celebrated my friend Daphne's upcoming wedding with a trip to Ocean City, Maryland. Daphne's bridesmaids planned a variety of games and activities. The weather was dismal but we splashed in the puddles, giggled over stories, and lounged in the hotel hot tub. I love the kindred feeling of being around a group of girls, all there to celebrate a dear friend.  This coming weekend, I'll be a bridesmaid in my cousin Kelsey's wedding. The wedding date seemed so far away when it was first announced, and it's hard to believe it's almost here! I can't wait!! All these festivities have wedding on the brain, so I looked up a few fun facts about the origin of wedding traditions. Enjoy! Fun wedding facts: 1. Wedding rings are typically placed on the third finger of the left hand because ancient Egyptians believed the vein in that hand ran directly to the heart. Romans also called this the "vein of love". 2. Modern-day groomsmen co...

The view from our cabin's front porch It feels good to be come back. My family just spent a relaxing week in Boone, North Carolina for the second year in a row. I found myself pondering the magic of a small town, the joy of walking streets with a touch of familiarity. "Once in a Lifetime" trips are incredible experiences, but also sad in a way, since by nature they are irreplaceable. This week I relished in the joy of a humble vacation, time spent away from the bustle, sitting on the porch to stare at the mountains, hiking through the woods, and shopping down Main Street. I like coming back. It's as if we are forming another ring around a tree trunk, and I can actually feel that ring growing. We built on our experiences from last year by repeating some excursions but also adding new ones as well. Here's a taste of my "old" favorites and new adventures from the week: Downtown Boone, NC Old Favorites: The Dogwood Cafe and Lounge : This hip cof...

Yesterday Patrick and I ate lunch in Harrisonburg on our way to Boone, NC for family vacation. We passed by a trailer downtown that caught my eye-it looked like a food truck, but had signs advertising handmade beauty products. I had to check it out! I stepped inside the shiny, Airstream trailer to find neat, carefully arranged beauty products, from masculine soaps and beard oil to lipstick and glittery bath bombs. It was so cute!   I stumbled upon a "Scrub Bar" at the end of the van where you could make your own body scrub for $10.00. This was too fun to pass up. The container started with a white salt base which we dumped into a bowl next to the station. Then, I selected add-ins: beet powder and hibiscus powder (for color), Himalayan sea salt, Chamomile tea buds, and a few drops of both peppermint and lemongrass essential oil.  I stirred it all together (always the best part!) and then carefully scooped it back into the original c...

Maria here, Beauty Expert. Well, not exactly, but I have become mildly addicted to watching beauty videos online, and I noticed that everyone seems to be using this thing called a Beauty Blender. There's a video on Buzzfeed where girls compare a beauty blender to a real egg, testing both to apply their foundation. (Link to video). Yes, this is silly and weird, but what struck me more was that the assumption that using a beauty blender is the status quo. Over and over again, products were compared to it, or people would whip it out to apply a product they were testing. ("Which Weird Alternative Beauty Blender Works the Best?")   Silly me, applying foundation with my primitive fingers! I decided I needed to try it out, so I purchased the Beauty Blender from Sephora for $20.00  (here) . It's made with non-latex foam, and the description says it achieves "streak-free application with minimum product waste". So while the blender costs money up front, it shou...

"Your Rate Just Went Up Again" is seldom news you want to hear. My online savings account, however, just informed me that they raised their interest rate which means MORE money in my bank! So for once, an increased rate is welcome news! Seeing my savings grow warms my little heart so I've decided to share three of my favorite tools for saving money (or getting it back, technically). 1. Ally.com Online Savings Account: One of the first things my financial manager recommended to me during our consultation was that I transfer some of my savings to a high-yield savings account, bumping my interest from 0.01% (Suntrust Bank) to 0.99% (Ally.com). He assured me that the online account was reputable and safe so I signed up. I've had the pleasure of monitoring my hefty interest each month, and can easily transfer money between my checking account and Ally.com account (it just takes a few days in either direction). Oh yeah, and now the interest rate is up to 1.14%. Woo...

Wasabi Lime Salmon from the Classic Plan Hey guys! I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July with people you love. Patrick and I enjoyed swimming with the family, trying to avoid the downpours in Manassas, and Swirlies with my nephew Hu after avoiding said downpours.  I have some things I want to share with ya'll, products I'm into right now that are helping me in a variety of ways. First up, I'm going to talk about food (duh): Hello Fresh is making meal time at my house more fun, collaborative and tasty! What is it?  Hello Fresh is a subscription meal plan service which sends you recipes and ingredients each week, reducing prep and planning time for meals. They have a meat and veggie plan aka the "Classic", or Veggie (only) Plan; both come in two different sizes, two or four people. There is also a Family Plan geared towards families of four. Each box contains three meals for the week and should be cooked roughly within the week, since they contain ...

Halo Top ice cream is celebrating its 5 year anniversary but has only been on my radar for a little while. Ibotta, my favorite coupon/rebate app, promised me $1.00 off a pint, so I decided it was finally time to try Halo Top for myself. The $4.99 price at Giant curbed my enthusiasm for a minute, but I rationalized that it was about the same cost as a trip to Sweet Frog or Starbucks.  The scoop:   Halo Top has 17 flavors, ranging from traditional (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, cookie dough...) to modern (sea salt caramel, s'mores, oatmeal cookie, pistachio...). Calorie counts range from 240 to 360, with the average falling around 320 per pint. Halo Top uses organic stevia as sweetener, which I'm guessing helps it lower the sugar levels, since stevia has a strong flavor. Other popular brands have 3 or 4g of protein per serving, so the 5g that Halo Top offers isn't a considerable leap. This is still a dessert, not body building fuel. First impression: 320 Calories ...

Here are a list of some of my favorite "new" children's books, which I've encountered the past several years while teaching elementary school. By "new," I simply mean not a classic, or one I grew up reading. So while "The Giving Tree" is awesome, that won't be on the list. Freshen up your library this summer! 1. He Came with the Couch by David Slonim: I love the humor of this quirky book. It's about a family that gets a used couch from a flea market, only to discover that a creature is stuck on the couch. They try ways of removing him, and then ultimately accept him into the family. Engaging pictures and simple text make this a great read for younger listeners. 2. The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett: This is another humorous read with bright illustrations. A baby piglet and girl are accidentally switched at birth, so that the pig grows up in a clueless royal family and the girl grows up in a loving farming family. Elem...