Highlights of the Week and In the Name of Beauty

Happy Sunday Friends!  Well, the weekend has sadly almost slipped by.  Sigh.  But it's been a nice, mellow weekend for me.  Saturday I hung out with Skylar and we went to a park, goofed around, hit up Target, and my inbox exploded from the all the Raw Vegan Cook Book Give Away Entries I received!  I'm not complaining, I love your support and excitement about it!

This morning I went for a quickie little run and did some yoga, and my whole workout routine was done in 45 minutes.  Short-n-sweet, and that includes taking off my shoes and socks after my run and noticing a little sock tan happening.  About 5 years ago we were living on a canyon in San Diego and being that I was childless and had all the free time in the world (for the non-parents, even though you think you're busy and that life is full now, when you look back on this time in your life, you will realize how footloose and fancy-free you really were, but I digress) anyway I would hike the canyon, powerwalk, run, and spent as many hours as I possibly could outside every day and had the most wicked sock tan ever.  I literally bought self-tanner and would spray aerosol self-tanner on my feet because they were glowing white and the rest of my legs were Hawaiian Tropic brown.  It kind of worked, but my feet did have a lovely orange hue from the self-tanner which would rub off on my socks...haha! 

Last week's Highlight and Recap Post didn't publish properly and upload into Google Readers across the land, and I think it was the Technology Gods way of telling me the post was just too damn big.  So I tried to scale back today, but brevity is not my forte.   If you missed last week's recap post and then Republished Highlights and Recaps Post, Click Here or Here to Check those out.

This week, On Monday I Reviewed Products
Reminded you to make Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate 
And my No Bake Vegan PB Choc Chip Coconut Oil Protein Bars
Provided a Cheezy Hemp Salad Dressing Recipe
There was Popcorn with Nooch, Maca, Stevia, Cinnamon, & Chocolate Chips for snacking.  I love this stuff...totally kicks some Crunch-n-Munch bootie!
Desserts
And We Talked About Guilty Pleasures

And what My Non-holistic Confessions Are...
I estimate that 95% of my choices in life from my dietary & health choices to products I purchase and use are eco-friendly, holistically-minded, and "good for me" but no one is perfect and it's unrealistic to hold ourselves to standards that only will serve to frustrate ourselves when we don't live up to them which is why I don't stress out when I know that I am consciously choosing things that others may not "approve of".  But as I discussed in This Post, I try not to feel like I must defend myself or my choices anymore.  Rather, I just choose what's right for me given my current reality, do my thing, live life, and let others live theirs with no judgment from me!  
Thanks Everyone For Telling Me You Liked This Post and What your Non-holistic Guilty Pleasures & Confessions Are!


Tuesday I had a Blogger Meetup at Whole Foods
And Showed You my Whole Foods Finds.
Yes they have alot of bars at this Whole Foods.
I wonder how the Luna Cookie Dough Bars will stack up against my high Raw Vegan Cookie Dough?
Verdict: The Lunas are pretty darn good but my Cookie Dough is better, in my not so humble opinion!

I Raw-ified Brownie Cupcakes
Green Food Included: Romaine Lettuce, Brussels, Asparagus, Sugar Snap Peas, Cukes, Tomatoes
And dressed with Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing
And Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate

And talked about Where do you cut corners or skimp?  What Won't You Skimp On?  The Comments Were Great and What You All Do To Save Time & Money and What Products are Essentials.  Thanks for the Info!

And also talked about Getting Massages...ahhh!

Wednesday I wrote a Comprehensive Post About Nooch

And I Gave You Ten Recipes Using Nooch!  Yes, Ten.
Including my Raw Vegan Kale Chips Recipe among many others...
I mentioned other recipes like my Raw Vegan Peanut Butter Cups Recipe with Nooch!
...And GF Vegan Mac-N-Cheeze
I hope you Check The Recipes Out and maybe the Nooch Post Will Get You on the Nooch Bandwagon.

Thursday in This Post I Announced the Celestial Seasonings Natural Wellness Kit Give Away Winner.  

Thursday I Had a Blogger Meetup
Reviewed 8 Cookbooks


And Reviewed Gluten Free Vegan Eats
Veggies for me with my sweet, light, and fast Holiday Orange Spice Vinaigrette
For Dessert, Scott Broke into one of the Brownie Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Centers and Mint Chocolate Frosting that I Made in This Post 

And you know I always have a few nibbles of Raw Vegan Coconut Oil Chocolate

And We Talked About Touchy Teachers!  The comments blew up on this One!  Everything from What your Thoughts are About Being Touched or Adjusted During Yoga or a Fitness Class to Personal Experiences You've had Being Touched!
 There were some strong opinions on this one! Fun to read these comments!


Friday I made Sweet Mango & Lime Corn Salsa
With Either Spiralized Noodles or Over a bed of Greens
Reviewed and Received Great Treats in the Mail
Made Chocolate:
1. Chocolate Brownie Protein Oats
2. And Dark Chocolate Fudge Balls


And talked about Real Friends 

Can you really be friends with people you meet online?  Are those friendships "real"?  Or are they somehow less valid than someone you meet face-to-face in your town?  The Comments About Friendships, real, virtual, in-person, across the globe, were awesome and I loved hearing your take on friendships!  Life can be so virtual it seems, and many of you shared your experiences with making new friends in this global age while sustaining past or childhood friendships and whom you consider your Real Friends, now.  I totally loved this topic because it's so personal and close to home for me!

In Saturday's Mail I received this Galaxy Granola
Why would they make something called Not Sweet Vanilla?  They must have forgotten about my sweet tooth!  haha! 
Seriously, I like the concept of granola baked in fruit, not oil, and it has 70% less fat, for those of you who watch these numbers.  I don't so much!
So Scott and Skylar will reap the benefits of this crunchy, munchy granola.   

I won Zevia in Katie's Give Away and it arrived.  
Yay for new flavors!  The Ginger Root Beer and the Dr. Pepper Knock-off are new to me!   Scott adores Zevia and Dr. Pepper so these will go straight into his lunch bag. 

Yoga Today


Tip of the Day: My Raw Vegan Cook Book Give Away!!!!


Click Here to Enter Now and Have fun everyone!


Questions
1. Fave Thing You've Done or Ate This Weekend?
Me = Yoga & Popcorn with Nooch, Maca, Stevia, Cinnamon, & Chocolate Chips!

2. What have you done in the name of beauty that takes the cake of "OMG I Can't Believe You Did That"? 
I told you about my self-tanner on my feet only.  That's pretty good. 
Then, trying to shave my legs when I was about 8 with my mom's razor in the bathtub.  Needless to say it looked like a crime scene in the tub.
Junior high, crimping my hair.
High school, college, early 20s, having to have perfectly flatironed or blownout hair, every single day.  The words wash-n-go did not enter my vocab til my later 20's and thank god, because really, no one cares what your hair looks like.  Yes, bad hair days can make up feel totally meh, but save yourself some time and ease up on the flatironing, curling, blowing out, and stressing over your hair my friends!  Not to mention, your hair will love the break from the heat styling!
What have you done in the name of beauty?  Is there anything that you still do that you know probably isn't the best?  Bleaching my teeth once a month is mine.

Stay Tuned For A Coconut Water Recipe...