- Page 10 of 69 - Live Beautifully Well

New York in 29 Hours

Post author:Melanie
Post published:June 9, 2014
Post category:Events / Family / Travel
Post comments:2 Comments

Holy cow what a great weekend! It was so completely exhausting but so incredibly worth it.

Let’s begin the weekend recap by showing off the fabulous items I won from Caroline’s giveaway a couple of weeks ago! I won a pair of new balance shoes which are super comfy and light weight, and a super roomy New Balance tote/gym bag. I still can’t believe I won. Awesome giveaway!

On Friday morning, Dana and I were off to New York for my cousin Stephanie’s wedding. Our flight was at 6 am which means I was up at 3:30 am. YIKES! By the time we got to our hotel, hung out with the bride to be and bridesmaids (btw I felt very honored to have been able to hang out with them as they got ready!), grabbed lunch with Dana, and finally got to check into our room, I was pooped. It was only about 3:00 and I knew that if I was going to survive the evening I needed a nap.

I napped, got ready, and was ready to go to the wedding! I realize I didn’t take a full on photo of my dress but in case you were wondering, the dress I went with (I didn’t go with Rent the Runway) was a black cap-sleeved adorable dress from Kohl’s. I felt it flattered my growing body very nicely and I felt pretty in it. I wore a white chunky floral necklace, cream heels, a red clutch, and even sported red lips!

My drink of choice for the evening was sparkling water with a splash of cranberry juice. 🙂

The ceremony and reception were so beautiful. The weather was perfect. The couple was stunning. The view was insane. It was a great wedding!

Another huge congrats to Steph and Jeff! I am so happy for you both! xoxo

On Saturday we met up with the gang for lunch and then it was time to head to the airport. Back home we went.

I slept super well on Saturday night back in my own glorious tempurpedic bed. I woke up Sunday morning ready and raring to go and in some serious need of physical activity. My body was tired of being cooped up on that plane!

I soaked up the sun and got in a nice long walk.

I’d have to say this was what you call an epic weekend. New York in 29 hours…done.

How was your weekend?!

Have you ever taken a trip this quick?

Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread

Post author:Melanie
Post published:June 5, 2014
Post category:Breakfast / Gluten-Free / Lunch / Recipes
Post comments:3 Comments

Remember how I told you I treated myself this weekend to some time in the kitchen baking, cooking, etc.? Well one of my goodies that I baked up was two loaves of gluten-free sandwich bread.

I used my nutty gluten-free bread recipe but substituted in some brown rice flour for the almond flour (recipe is below). The end product was a loaf of bread which wasn’t quite as dense or moist as the full almond flour bread. It has more of a sandwich bread consistency. I was pretty pumped about this! At first bite it tasted a bit to me like corn bread, and to me, that was a good thing!

It would be perfect with some deli sliced turkey, mustard and veggies, and of course you can’t go wrong with a pb and j.

What I love about this recipe, and the nutty gluten-free bread recipe, is that they are SO easy. You literally put everything into one bowl at one time, mix it all together, and bake it. That’s it. No need to dirty up any extra bowls for this one.

Gluten-Free Sandwich Bread

Print

Makes two small loaves.

Ingredients

3 cups brown rice flour
2 cups almond flour
2 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 cups non-fat Greek yogurt
4 eggs
1 egg white

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mix together all ingredients (I use a hand-mixer).
Pour into two lightly greased bread loaf pans.
Bake for 50-55 minutes. Bread is done when toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean.

You could try making this in one loaf pan for a taller loaf, but I can’t make any guarantees how it would turn out and of course baking times would vary. Feel free to experiment though!

Enjoy and happy Thursday!

What is your favorite sandwich?

I love a good old turkey sandwich from Subway with all of the veggies (minus jalapeños) with a little bit of mustard. That is another thing I have actually kind of been craving during pregnancy but since I am staying clear of deli meats, I will have to wait another five months. I am PERFECTLY okay with that! Hehe. I also really like any sandwich with melted cheese. Pb and J is a fav too. Oooo and Cubans. NUM!

Baking, Shopping, and Good Food

Post author:Melanie
Post published:June 3, 2014
Post category:Beauty/Fashion / Family / Recipes / Restaurants / Snacks
Post comments:9 Comments

I am most definitely linking up with Becky for Treat Yourself Tuesday today because I have been treating myself quite a bit lately.

This weekend I treated myself to time in the kitchen. I baked up a couple of loaves of gluten-free bread using brown rice flour and almond flour.

And I made these amazing snack bars!

I enjoyed a relaxing evening with two calming essential oils: gentle baby and lavender. I also treated myself to a couple new ones: ylang ylang which smells AMAZING and citronella to try diffusing when we are sitting out on the deck to help keep the skeeters away.

On Saturday Dana and I treated ourselves to lunch at The Bulldog in Minneapolis. We were both in the mood for a good burger (typical these days) and Becky recommended this place for amazing burgers, so we thought we would go check it out.

Patty melt for me! So good!

I treated the babes to a new outfit from Target. It was on the clearance rack for $5 and I just couldn’t resist.

I also treated myself to some maternity clothes and some looser fitting regular clothes. Besides pants and shorts, I should be set for a while! I stocked up on dresses!

Last night I was treated by my brother as he cooked up an awesome stir-fry dinner for me and the fam! As much as I love to cook, I love it even more when someone else cooks for me!

Thank you Becky for hosting the link-up!

How did YOU treat yourself this week?!

Raw Cocoa Bars

Post author:Melanie
Post published:June 2, 2014
Post category:Gluten-Free / Recipes / Snacks / Sweet Treats
Post comments:5 Comments

Thank you for all of the sweet comments in reply to my last few posts! In case you missed them:

Beautiful Changes
Pregnancy: Some of the Details
Gender Reveal: It’s a…

We are so excited to know that we are having a boy and are dreaming about what he will look like, what his personality will be like, and what his interests will be! I’m also having a really good time starting to think about how I want to decorate the baby room.

I have baby on my mind all the time….but one must still eat and function on a day-to-day basis. 🙂

Yesterday I was a busy girl in the kitchen. Along with baking GF bread, and prepping fruits and veggies, I also put together a super tasty, fudgy, chocolaty bar. This bar is refined sugar-free, raw, and perfectly healthy! It’s great as a snack or even a dessert.

There are only four ingredients involved in this bar:

Dates
Almonds
Walnuts
Raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder such as Hershey’s)

They are so easy and so delicious. I ate three yesterday and wanted to keep going back. What I love about making my own bars is that I can make them in whatever sizes I wish. I like to make them in a variety of sizes because you never know when you might need just a mini pick-me-up or a more substantial one!

Raw Cocoa Bars

Print

Ingredients

½ cup unsalted almonds (I used raw)
¼ cup unsalted walnuts
1 cup dates (pits removed)
3 Tbsp. raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder such as Hershey's)

Instructions

In food processor, add almonds and walnuts and process until they resemble wet sand texture; pour into small bowl and set aside.
Add dates to food processor. Process until mixture begins to form a ball, and pieces are small.
Add nut mixture and cacao powder into food processor with the dates. Process until combined; about 1 minute.
Form combined mixture into bars or balls using your hands and store in air-tight container in the fridge for up to two weeks (they last longer but they start to get hard).

There you have it! You don’t have to get the oven going, they are easy, AND they are healthy. There’s no reason not to make these cute lil’ guys!

Happy Monday my friends!

Gender Reveal: It’s a….

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 30, 2014
Post category:Events / Family / Pregnancy
Post comments:22 Comments

I think I have finally absorbed all of the excitement from the gender reveal party last Sunday so that I am now able to share it with you all. It was the most incredible, exciting, and anticipated day.

Let’s talk about the food first because the food was just awesome. I decided to have a taco bar considering tacos are one of my favorite foods. I loved that I could do all of the prep before our guests arrived so that I could just relax while they were there.

We set up our bar area with the tortilla chips, tortillas, refried beans, and taco meat (I went with beef because that’s what I’ve been gravitating towards lately). We kept the beans and the meat in crockpots to keep them warm throughout the evening.

On the kitchen table I set out all of the condiments: onions, black olives, lettuce, jalepenos, cheese, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, cilantro.

When it was time to eat, everyone did their own thing and made their own tacos. It was perfect! The actual dinner portion of the party didn’t happen until after the gender reveal however, so this post is a little tweaked and out of order.

I had zero appetite after our gender reveal because I was so hyped with adrenaline, so while I waited for it to arrive, I munched on some delicious desserts.

Here is my plate of food that finally got eaten a couple hours after the reveal!

Okay, now to the reveal…

The ultrasound tech had written down the gender of our baby and put it in an envelope. I then gave the envelope to my girlfriend Stacy and asked her to do the honor of filling up a balloon with either blue or pink confetti depending on the gender of baby so that we could pop it on the day of the reveal. Needless to say she found the biggest, awesomest balloon in town! That big balloon stared me down until it was time to pop it!

Going into this, I really had no idea if baby was a boy or girl and I was SO ready to find out.

Dana and I both had our large safety pins and it took us a few minutes to get all settled in and ready.

We had our friends and family count down from three.

THREE……..TWO……..ONE……POPPPPPPP!

We are having a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The excitement of this moment was so unexplainable. Having so many of our dear family and friends with us as we all learned the gender of our baby was so special. The pregnancy began to feel more real at this point (well actually it wasn’t until the next day that it really sank in that we were having a boy but still).

Thank you so much to everyone for supporting us and celebrating with us. And a huge thank you to Stacy for taking care of getting the most important item of the day— that balloon!

We are so thrilled to prepare our home, lives, and hearts for a precious baby boy.

Pregnancy: Some of the Details

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 27, 2014
Post category:Health / Pregnancy
Post comments:15 Comments

Hello! I am coming off of an insanely amazing weekend. Not only was it a long one, but we also got some super exciting news! More about that in a second.

First and foremost, I want to thank the incredible men and women who serve and protect our country and those who have served in the past. Thank you for your courage, strength, and dedication. Thank you for allowing us to live freely.

In case you may have missed it, I made an exciting announcement on Friday and then I left you all hanging and waiting for the details. It’s time I fill you in on the some of the details of my pregnancy.

When did we find out?

We found out just before we left for our vacation to London and Paris. I had a midwife appointment and I mentioned that there was a slight possibility that I could be pregnant. We both decided that it would be nice for me to know before going to Europe (not that this would change our travel plans) just so I could know to stay away from the champagne, unpasteurized cheeses, undercooked meats, etc. She sent me down to the lab to run a blood test and a few hours later we found out that sure enough we were pregnant!

This is something we have been wanting for a very long time so we were ecstatic to learn the news.

Finding food to eat in Europe was a bit challenging as they don’t pasteurize many of their milks and cheeses or juices. Also, we read that they don’t often wash their produce so I stayed clear of that in restaurants where I couldn’t go rinse it off. I don’t know if any of this is 100% accurate, but we didn’t want to take the risk. Of course we were also dealing with a bit of a language barrier. We learned how to ask for our meats well-done and of course skipped out on the champagne and wine. It was all good though! But I was very happy that I knew that I was pregnant so that I didn’t have to find out later and then worry about all of the things I ate or drank that I maybe shouldn’t have.

I allowed myself to eat the cheese only if I knew it was scorching hot!

How far along am I?

I am 16, almost 17 weeks. My estimated due date is November 7th/8th.

How have I been feeling?

I can honestly say that I am one of the lucky ones who hasn’t had to deal with morning sickness (knock on wood). I felt nauseous every once in a while in the first trimester but nothing that would send me running to the bathroom.

I was pretty fatigued in the first trimester and would be heading to bed around 8:30 on most nights.

How is my appetite? Any cravings or aversions?

This is a question I love to talk about because it’s food related, duh. In the first trimester, I feel like I could only eat small amounts before getting full. I was starting to notice that when I got hungry I really needed to eat stat. Towards the end of the first trimester and beginning of the second, my appetite went into high drive and I was hungry all of the time and was able to start eating normal sized meals again. Today, I find it best to eat smaller meals and then a few snacks. It sits best with my tummy. I feel my appetite has normalized a little bit, but I am still eating more than I was pre-pregnancy.

Cravings: I was talking to Dana about this one, because I wasn’t too sure if I was truly having any real “cravings.” But then he mentioned how I asked him to pick me up a bag of potato chips and how I had to go get myself a burger one night and then I remembered that yea, I have had a couple cravings. I just don’t get the cravings where I ABSOLUTELY MUST EAT the particular item or I will go crazy. Things just sound good to me and if I can eat them great, if not, that’s okay. I try to go with them because I feel like it’s my body telling me I need something. Chips= sodium. Burger = iron and protein. I have been wanting salty/spicy foods more so than sweet which is odd for me. I have been wanting more red meat than any other meat protein. Another strange one for me.

Aversions: During the first trimester, the thought or smell of chili and coffee made me woozy. Also, chicken in general just wasn’t on my radar. I found that I had a hard time finding foods to eat that sounded or tasted good so often times we would make a meal, I would eat one bite and then have to go make something else because I couldn’t stomach it. Gluten-free pasta was pretty comforting to me. Annie’s mac n’ cheese came to my rescue a few times.

Since the first trimester I feel I am pretty much able to eat anything. My diet is more or less back to my pre-pregnancy diet with tons of fruits and veggies, almond milk, protein (red meat mostly, peanut butter, almond butter, cottage cheese, chicken, fish, beans), whole grains (I have been eating some gluten and seem to be tolerating it well, but still mostly sticking to gluten-free) like quinoa, brown rice tortillas, popcorn, oatmeal, etc. Larabars have been my go-to mid morning snack.

Will I be finding out the gender?

YES! I actually already know it! That’s what all the excitement was about this weekend. We hosted a get together with friends and family which included our gender reveal. We found out at the same time that all of our friends and family found out through a giant balloon popping. The excitement was off the charts! You will have to wait a bit to learn the gender. Any guesses?

The answer was inside of this balloon!

The bump

I hadn’t decided if I was going to share this or not but I know that when I am reading pregnancy announcements and updates that I LOVE to see the sweet bump updates…soooooo. I am doing this for all of you.

I am adjusting to the changes in my body and accommodating my growing bod with elastic waistbands. I am still able to get into some of my normal jeans though! I have yet to purchase a single piece of maternity clothing. I was very fortunate to have a girlfriend who gave me a ton of maternity clothes! This just means more money to spend on baby! 🙂

Rent the Runway decision

The reason I decided not to go with rent the runway for the upcoming wedding is because I wasn’t confident that the dresses would fit my growing belly. They were SO adorable but I just wasn’t comfortable with it. I have found two dresses since then and have two more to try on from a friend, so I should be set now.

Okay, that’s enough for now. I am so excited to share this excitement with all of you! I will check in from time to time with some more updates!

Gender guesses?! BOY OR GIRL??!

Beautiful Changes…

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 23, 2014
Post category:Events / Family / Home Life / Moose
Post comments:33 Comments

Moose is getting ready to be a big brother!

He is studying up and learning about the all of the changes that will be coming to our world this November!

To say that we are excited would be an extreme understatement. Can’t wait to tell you more later!

xoxo

EAT! Getting Summer-y Around Here.

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 21, 2014
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners
Post comments:4 Comments

If you’re hungry, I apologize in advance because this post is going to make you even more hungry. There have been some serious delicious eats happening around here lately and it’s about time I caught you up on some of them.

No need to get too wordy. Let me show you what I’ve been eating lately!

Tilapia, dirty rice, and broccoli made by mi madre, so obviously it just tastes better!

Almond butter and apricot jam toast.

Grilled veggie burgers in a gluten-free tortilla, a lazy attempt at coleslaw, and baked beans. It’s feeling summery around here and you can tell by my meals!

An absolutely amazing breakfast! French toast gluten-free waffle with peanut butter and syrup. YES!!

Steak kabobs and grilled french fries. Summer, summer, summer!!!

Panera’s poppyseed salad. You know the temperatures are warming up when Panera gets this on their menu. It is a must for me to get at least once a summer.

Broccoli cheese soup from Panera. 🙂

Apple with peanut butter. There may have been a couple of mini chocolate chips added to this snack.

GF waffle with pepper jack cheese, mustard and a fried egg. Probably my favorite quick go-to these days. It’s easy, fast, it’s salty and spicy and packs some nice protein with the egg and the cheese!

Beef taco salad!

What do you think? Not too shabby, right? Are you hungry yet?

Thanks Jenn for hosting the WIAW!

I’m always looking for new quick meal ideas. Any go-to’s for you all lately?

House and Fashion Updates

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 19, 2014
Post category:Beauty/Fashion / Home Improvement / Home Life / Moose
Post comments:5 Comments

It’s Monday. Choose happy. I know it’s not always easy but do it. 🙂

This weekend was very productive around our house. We finished painting the basement! The next step will be putting in the baseboards and the door frames and then the cleaning the carpet by hiring Carpet Cleaning New Albany! Eeee we are getting closer and closer to having a finished basement and it is so exciting!

We also bought flowers for our window flower boxes, a couple of plants, and vegetables for our garden. This year we are going with zucchini, three different tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and red bell pepper. Everything is planted so now we just wait a 2-3 months and hope for a bountiful year! Last year the weather wasn’t in our favor and our veggies didn’t do well at all. I have a feeling it will be a good year this year.

I wanted to let you all know that the dress and shirt I bought from Filly Flair fit perfectly and I will be keeping them. I’m wearing the dress to a wedding this summer and the shirt for kicking around. Yay for cute clothes!

Now I just need to find a necklace to go with the dress. I really like how the mint one looks with the dress so I might be on the search for something similar. What do you think?

I still haven’t decided if I’m going to use Rent the Runway for a dress I need for a New York wedding that I’m going to in June. I’m actually learning towards not using it only because I have a girlfriend with a couple of really cute dresses that I could borrow plus I want to go to a couple more stores before deciding. The biggest issues I have with RTR is that 1. I don’t get to keep the dress afterwards (I LOVE dresses) and 2. I’m afraid I won’t like it or I won’t like how it fits and then I’ll be stuck with RTR store credit. IDK. I’m still up in the air about it but my guess is I will more than likely not use it right now. But thanks for helping me “shop” and giving me your opinions on the dresses. They really are adorable! I probably would have gone with this one:

Moose turned 6 years old on Saturday! We celebrated by giving him a little bite of steak and throwing the ball to him in the yard.

Plus mother nature gave him beautiful weather all weekend. It was such a nice treat!

Alright, that’s all the updates I have for now.

I want to know… How was YOUR weekend? What were some highlights?

Confessions

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 15, 2014
Post category:Misc.
Post comments:17 Comments

I’m not sure if I’ve ever written a “confessions” post but I thought it might be fun so I gave it a whirl to see what I could come up with.

1. As much as I love creating new and healthy recipes, I dislike actually writing down the recipe measurements. I’m not one to usually measure so it’s just one extra step that hinders getting the food into my mouth. 🙂

2. I have a serious problem with dirty teeth. If my teeth start to feel too scuzzy and I am not able to brush them, it can really mess with my mood.

3. It’s rare that I swear, but get me stuck in traffic with inconsiderate drivers and you might hear a couple naughty words slip out of my mouth. Then I immediately apologize for swearing and put on some music to distract myself. Pull yourself together, Melanie.

4. I am terrified of spiders in my house. I am lucky to have a husband to kill them for me but when I’m home alone and I have to kill them myself, I am a nervous wreck. I grab five tissues and go crazy on the 8-legged creepers. Poor guys.

5. It’s rare that I actually try on a piece of clothing in the store. For some lazy reason I would rather bring it home, try it on, and then bring it back if it doesn’t fit. This defeats the whole laziness theory so I just don’t understand why I do it. If it’s a store that I rarely set foot in however, I will often try the piece on. Target on the other hand, I NEVER try things on in the store because I know I’m more than likely going to be there within the next two days anyway.

6. I truly LOVE Young Living Essential Oils and I literally want everyone to know about them but I never ever, ever want to be pushy about them. I just want everyone to know the amazingness that is EO’s!

7. I hate clutter. It gives me total anxiety. This is getting worse as I age. Living in a completely clutter-free home isn’t realistic, but I try to put things away and keep them in order to keep myself somewhat sane. Anytime I can organize areas in my home, I feel immediate gratification.

Those are my confessions for today! That was fun! I might have to do these posts more often!

I am linking up with Amanda and Thinking Out Loud. Thanks Amanda for the link-up!

Happy Thursday! What are YOUR confessions?