I remember when I first found out about Pura Vida bracelets — I had seen Lauren Conrad mention them as good gifts on her blog. The bracelets are  so cute and colorful, but were kind of expensive to me at the time. I bought one of the Style Packs on eBay at a big discount and I really loved them. Since then I have bought a few more, but it wasn’t until recently that I thought about making my own!
This post may contain affiliate links; all opinions are my own. See Disclosures here
Happy New Year! Time for a fresh start and new goals. So many people make unrealistic resolutions and get discouraged before they even start, but if you make the right kind of goals, you will be sure to achieve anything you set your mind to.
So how can you make sure your goals are attainable and ensure your success?
SMART goals! You might have heard of this concept in school or at work, but you can apply it to your personal goals as well. SMART is an acronym to help you define your objective in a way that sets you up for success.
What is a SMART goal?
These five factors can help you formulate goals that you can reach and feel proud about. Think about it, a lot of people say, “I’m going to start working out in January so I can lose weight.” How long does that resolution last? It depends on the person, of course, but the goal is so vague, it can be easy to rationalize and say, “I have done two workouts this week, so maybe I’ll just take the day off and start up again tomorrow.” One day off turns into two and it’s hard to get back on track.
Say instead, that you made a SMART goal about working out — “I’m going to do 4 workouts a week; 1 weight training, 1 yoga, and 2 running for at least 45 minutes each time so that I can do 50 pushups and run 5 miles by the end of the year. I’d like to be able to do at least 25 pushups and run 2.5 miles by July.” This goal is very SMART; it’s Specific about what these 4 workouts are going to be each week. The goals are Measurable and Timely — “50 pushups and 5 miles by the end of the year”. I know what I’m working towards and I know that I can make it if I keep up with my plan — Realistic and Achievable!
Set yourself up for success this year and make your resolutions SMART!
This post may contain affiliate links; all opinions are my own. See Disclosures here
This recipe is super easy and delicious. It’s a pasta casserole that is perfect for staying warm and snuggly during these winter months. This dish is great for an easy date night dinner or perfect for lunch time leftovers. Yum!
I found this recipe on thkitchn.com and made a few changes to better suit my taste.
Ingredients
8 ounces spinach pasta (I like linguine!)
6Â ounces fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
2 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ounces Asiago cheese, grated
1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup half and half
6 ounces basil pesto
Freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Olive oil
Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.Â
Boil 4-6 quarts of lightly salted water in a large pot and cook the pasta according to the package.
Set cooked pasta aside.
Peel, wash, and thinly slice the shallots.
Roughly chop the baby spinach
Mince garlic
Grate the cheese
In a large bowl, combine the half and half, basil pesto, eggs, and greek yogurt. Wisk together until smooth.
Combine the spinach, cheese, shallots, and cooked pasta in a large bowl.
Lightly grease a 9×9 casserole dish with olive oil and mix in pasta mixture with the pesto mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes
Let cool for about 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
This post may contain affiliate links; all opinions are my own. See Disclosures here
I am so excited about this gift box from Lush. I love the fun, colorful wrapping paper and bright orange bow. I love getting individual items from Lush, but it always extra nice to have a neatly wrapped package. 🙂 I received this wonderful box…well, for my birthday. And what a Happy Birthday indeed!
The Happy Birthday gift box comes with four bath bombs and two bubble bars. (And fun streamers and a noise maker!!)
Everything smells amazing — like Lush! The set comes with The Comforter (my fave) bubble bar, Pop In the Bath bubble bar, Avobath bath bomb, Big Blue bath bomb, Phoenix Rising, and Fizzbanger bath bomb.
These are a few of my favorite bath goodies at Lush so this is a perfect gift for me. Plus, I love all the colors. They’re almost too pretty to use! Almost. 🙂
This post may contain affiliate links; all opinions are my own. See Disclosures here
This book is all about improving your life by being mindful of what is happening right now. I first read this book a couple of years ago and it’s great. How many times are you walking to class or your car or at the mall and you’re on your cell phone? Or how often are you thinking about the XYZ you have to do tomorrow or next week instead of paying attention to what you are doing right now? All we have is the present — this moment. Skillful Means is all about living in the moment you are in; being mindful about what is going on around you. No distractions — just really being self aware and clearing your mind. It’s a great book that will help you focus and appreciate what’s happening all around you.
From now until October 1, Starbucks is doing their Star Dash. Basically, it’s another incentive for you to go to Starbucks during certain times of the year in order to accumulate stars to earn a gift card. This “Star Dash” is different from the stars you earn with the Rewards Card, although, you do need a rewards card to participate. Separate from the regular stars you earn with the Rewards Card, these “Star Dash” stars will give you $5 or $10 gift cards depending on how many you get before the deadline. Each transaction will ear you one star. I’m on my way to earning the $10 gift card!
New favorite sandwich for sure. I was looking for some meatless options at different restaurants and a friend suggested I try this sandwich from Panera. It’s amazing —  lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, red peppers, cilantro/jalepeño hummus, and feta swiss cheese (I prefer swiss) on tomato basil bread. I bought ingredients today to make my own version at home! YAY!
I love the clean look and feel of the iOS7 update. I have the iPhone 4S and my camera app is faster and I really like having the “live filters”. Command Center is great and I really like all the new ringtones/sounds. It’s neat to have the option to block contacts and to be able to multi-task between apps.
Clear is a simple task management/list application. It’s clean and easy to navigate with lots of color schemes to choose from.
iTunes radio is basically like Pandora. I prefer it because it’s already integrated into iTunes and it remembers the songs I’ve listened to and makes it easy for me to purchase them if I choose. You can create your own “stations” and mark that you like certain songs. There’s even a Top 100 iTunes radio and you can listen to a shuffle of all the Top 100 songs on iTunes. I think this is awesome for getting high quality audio for more than just a preview of a song you might be interested in buying.
It was actually through iTunes Radio that I first heard “Shot At The Night”. ^^^
The Killers songs are always a little vague, but this one seems to be about taking this once in a lifetime opportunity to get out of a situation that is stale and move on to a life that is exciting and full of happiness. I love this. Plus who doesn’t love a nice 80’s synth ballad! Yay for new music from The Killers! I’m excited for Direct Hits to come out in November.
This mirror is great for applying makeup or tweezing your brows. With 8xs magnification and 360 degree rotation, you’ll be sure to see exactly what you are doing!
I’m surprised this brush doesn’t have better reviews online. A lot of people are saying the brush sheds, but I’ve never experienced any shedding. I really like this brush. I use it to apply my Marc Jacobs Genius Gel Foundation. The brush gives my skin an even, airbrushed yet natural look. The natural and synthetic fibers work together to give a streak-free application that looks great all day.
This dress is super cute. I bought it for a friend’s wedding next month but I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it. The lace design is really pretty, but durable — this isn’t some dainty-be-careful-or-it’ll-rip lace. The A-line makes it flattering for all body shapes and it’s very comfortable on.