Sweet Surprises

Hello, hello everybody! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. Mine was quite an eventful one. Saturday was the Media Sponsor Launch Party for RVA Fashion Week.

So it was time to get fashionable, or should I say… more so than usual hehe.

I love the back of this dress, and it’s made entirely out of merino wool so what it does cover will stay warm, mwahaha!

With my awesome friend, David!

(Photo credit to Erik Fox)

It was a fun night, and I got to spend it with a lot of really great people. Eventually, this little lady had to go to bed because casting for the various fashion shows was the next day. I’ve been trying to avoid puffy eyes for these so sleep and water have been essential! I can’t believe the shows are only a month away.

The other day I got a wonderful surprise in the mail.

My dear Liz knows me very well! Butterfingers are one of my favorite candy bars of all time, and she sent me a package of some variations that I’ve never even seen before.

And there were some more hidden treasures.

Easter came early. I’d never tried a Cadbury creme egg so of course she also sent me some and the mini eggs as well! This made my day, and every other day that I’ve been enjoying my favorite candy bar. I also tried a creme egg and I thought it was so cool that they make the fondant look like an egg complete with yolk. I don’t like eggs, and I’ve got a sensitivity to them but these… oh these will sit well with me.

Another surprise! After months of drinking from this cup, just the other day I noticed the message at the bottom, “take life a little easier.”

My roommate and I decided we’d have artichoke night!

Steaming them wasn’t working out, so we roasted them instead.

With a squeeze of lemon juice we were ready to enjoy and watch a movie.

Taking it easy, you know?

After reviewing Bakery on Main I was inspired to make my own gluten-free granola.

I loved the texture and taste that the cornflakes had in Bakery on Main’s gluten-free granolas, so I tried looking up some recipes on line. I couldn’t really find what I was looking for  so what’d I do? Well, I took ideas from different recipes and made my own!

Bird-of-Paradise Gluten-Free Granola

This reminded me of anywhere it gets hot because of the coconut, dates, and banana chips… hence the title.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cornflakes, crushed

1 cup puffed millet

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup dates, chopped

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 banana chips, chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 coconut oil

a few spoonfuls maple syrup

Mix together the cornflakes, puffed millet, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, dates, banana chips, and coconut in a large bowl. Melt the coconut oil and stir in the maple syrup. Add to other ingredients and stir until coated. Pat into a 9 x 13-inch pan, and bake at 350 F until the flakes have browned a bit. Let it cool and break apart.

Oh beloved cluster!

I assure you this granola is so good that it is addictive!

Enjoyed with some Greek yogurt and caramelized blood oranges.

Moment of silence.

Now eat!

I wanted to bring up the question that I left you all in my last post, “what fear would you most like to conquer?” Some of the answers were things that I could definitely relate to. A lot of them had to with confidence, trust, and choices. I like to believe that we are all good in nature, but sometimes we end up picking up all these layers that make it harder to see our true inner-selves. Even makes it hard to trust ourselves as well! I’ve found that allowing time and giving compassion to myself has helped me grow into a more beautiful and fully-realized me. There are so many things that are beyond our control, but that doesn’t mean we have to have a solemn attitude. Instead, find acceptance in that, and learn to be flexible with the world. I think I’ll leave you guys with a great quote I once shared with you all by Nancy Stark Smith, one of the pioneers of contact improv, “the earth is bigger than you, so you might as well coordinate with it.“

May you have a cheerful start to this upcoming week!