Gettin' Glowy

Face oils are all the rage these days and I have most definitely jumped on the bandwagon. They smell great, are totally natural (gotta check those labels) and leave my skin with a nice little glow. I compulsively buy beauty products (it runs in the family) so here are some of my faves:

Living Libations Best Skin Ever

Living Libations is a majorly hippity dippity company in the absolute best way possible. Obsessed with how their Best Skin Ever oil absorbs and smells!

Vered 

Just got this one and so far I'm into it. I'm a sucker for a pretty bottle. 

Mun Nighttime Dream Youth Serum

Every time I try to buy this off of Spirt Beauty Lounge it's sold out, so it's got to be good right? Stay tuned for when I finally get my hands on it. 

Acure Argan Oil

A nice light facial oil I picked up at Whole Foods. I like it for my hair too and not too pricey compared to the others.

evanhealy Rosehip Treatment Facial Serum

Another Whole Foods buy. Their beauty section gets me all the time and I love anything rose scented.

Ila Glowing Radiance Face Oil

LOVED this one. It feels so luxurious, but it's a little pricey so I haven't replenished. Stocking stuffer? 

That's all for now. Oh and The Chalkboard (Pressed Juicery's blog) has a great post on essential oils up today. 

Oh and one more thing...

While I despise Miley, I am obsessed with Wrecking Ball and I stumbled upon this Mumford and Sons/ Miley collab and LOVE. Yeah the dancing is a little creepy, but I secretly wish I could do what that girl can so I'm a little jeal.

Fatty Friday

Whipped up some pretty delice mac n' cheese last night. I attempted to make it psuedo healthy (very pseudo), so browsed my options on the good old interweb. Turns out butternut squash makes a delightful base flavor for the cheese sauce, so no butter needed! Here's what I did:

Boiled about half of a butternut squash (cubed it first) in unsweetened almond milk with a few sprigs of thyme and a veggie bouillon cube for about 15 minutes. 

I then shredded some raw goat milk cheddar cheese and Pecorino Romano*. Probably about 1/3 cup in all. 

Threw the boiled squash/ almond milk mixture in the blender with a few tbs. of riccotta cheese and my shredded cheese mix. 

Took my brown rice macaroni noodles** and coated them with the cheese sauce and voila! Big hit with the fam, especially my four year old Olivia and only took about 20 minutes in all. 

You could totally bake this in the oven for a little after you coat your noodles and maybe throw some bread crumbs and fried sage on top. I would have loved to do that, but my whiney kids prevailed. Perhaps in a few years :)

*I favor goat based dairy over cow because I think I digest it better. I also try to buy raw cheeses when I can because they still have all of the digestive enzymes in tact. Pasteurized dairy products do not. 

**Definitely can use whatever noodles you want to here. I just try to avoid gluten.

The Great Shoe Debate

Table Top Tuesday: Saddle Up

1. S&P shakers, The Zhush 2. Plates, TheModernEquestrian.com 3. Vintage wallpaper 4. Goblets via Pinterest 5. Chairs, TheModernEquestrian.com 6. Home, via Pinterest 7. Scarf, Hermes 8. Dress, ASOS 9. Boots, Chloe

Window Shopping

Dress Intermix and shoes Netaporter

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For all of the insomniacs out there...

Does anyone else have trouble falling asleep (especially on Sunday nights)? Well I for one do. Lately though when I find myself laying in bed tired but unable to actually fall asleep, I've tried some of the deep breathing we do in yoga and it's really worked! Even if you despise yoga as exercise, give the following a shot. It's honestly so relaxing. I promise there isn't any weird chanting involved.

Full Yogic breathing

This combines the above 2 steps in the following way:
First inhale by filling the abdomen and then CONTINUE inhaling as you expand and fill the chest. Then exhale first from the chest as it empties and falls and then CONTINUE exhaling from the abdomen as it draws inwards completely. This is one round of the full yogic breath. Repeat this for 20 rounds.

Remember the pattern… Inhaling - abdomen then chest; Exhaling – chest then abdomen.

GOLDEN RULE: All of the above steps should be done WITHOUT strain. The natural tendency is to heave with effort. The right way is to make it smooth and effortless. Go slow and easy.