What I'm Loving: September 2013

If you're a lover of Etsy, but sometimes find the vast array of awesome items on there overwhelming, you just might love Jones Design Company. Emily, the owner of JDC is a wife, mother, and creator extraordinaire. Her always inspiring creativity has been featured in many of my favorite blogs and companies, including: Better Homes and Gardens, Design Sponge, HGTV, The Huffington Post, and perhaps my most favorite of the list, Apartment Therapy. She offers adorable designs, some for download and others for purchase, that are sure to add some inviting warmth to any home or office. In fact, the adorable "Autumn Essentials" print below is offered as a FREE download for her subscribers! Her blog is jam packed with creative goodness. The first place I suggest starting on her blog is the ahh-mazing tour of her home decorated for Fall. You're welcome. (:

I don't know if you've seen the many raves about this Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay recently, but let me tell you, it lives up to its description for some deep pore cleansing. Immediately after my first mask, any blemishes I had on my face had surfaced for accelerated healing. It is 100% natural bentonite clay that you mix in a 1:1 ratio with raw apple cider vinegar. I recommend Bragg's Raw Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother, which you can buy on their website here, Whole Foods, or I get it from our local produce stand. The Indian Healing Clay can be found at Walgreens and Whole Foods for roughly $7 (I ordered off of Amazon), which is a steal, because undoubtedly, the jar will last quite a while. I only use a teaspoon of clay and a teaspoon of vinegar for each application. I highly recommend trying this out!

Along with half of social media, I'm itching for Fall and all it's cozy goodness. I try my hardest to tame my urges to buy from the first, small wave of clothing that comes out, because year after year, I learn that the better stuff comes out in the more composed, second wave. However, I can't say this stopped me from getting a head start on some staples in the accessory department! I live a very short distance from both Target and Tjmaxx, which makes for quite the love-hate relationship.

Some items I couldn't pass up though, were:

BOXWOOD WREATH: I've been eyeing this baby up since the Spring, actually, but finally couldn't resist any longer. This wreath definitely fits in the "home staple" category for me, because I plan on using it accordingly to each season, year-round. You can see where I've placed it in my home by following me @kalinorton on Instagram!

BAMBOO GOLD TOE FLATS: I actually scored these at a Imagine, a local boutique. With long days on my feet shooting weddings, I'm always on the lookout for some stylish and comfy flats to see me through. I adore these!

MERONA BLACK SACHEL HANDBAG w/ GOLD ACCENTS: This structured bag from Target is similar to the popular Phillip Lim line one also released at Target, and sold out instantly, last week.

In an effort to find alternatives to the industrial strength deodorant, filled with aluminum and other chemicals, I've been toying around with a few. I still haven't found one that works for some hard core gym sweating, but I have found two that seem to work for my less intense moments of life. One is Tom's of Maine, which I will discuss later, and the other, which I LOVE for less vigorous days at home, is Lush's Aromaco Deodorant Bar and Powder. Lush products are made from organic fruits and vegetables, the best essential oils, and the smallest amount of safe synthetics. The deodorant is applied by rubbing the bar on the skin under the arms, then adding a bit of powder on top. I love this deodorant because I remain feeling fresh and fragrant on days of lighter activity and I know that I'm using a product that is non-toxic to my body. Plus, I even use the deodorant powder as a safe fragrance atop my coconut oil when moisturizing my body!

If you're not familiar with the awesome, equal rights, healthy foundations Lush builds their products and company upon, you should go read their rockin' mission statement. Seriously. Also, if you'd like to read more about the toxicity of antiperspirants, WebMD has a pretty informational article, here.

I've been experimenting and observing which non-toxic moisturizers work best with my skin type quite a bit lately. As I've recently decided to start ridding all toxic products from my regime, I started with Image Skincare's line. Due to many studies linked to the health risks of parabens in many cosmetics and skincare lines, I sought out to find a safe alternative. Luckily, one of my closest friends, Connie, is a licensed Aesthetician on a mission to provide her clients with the knowledge and tools for healthy, safe skincare. You can read her credentials, here. Although, I'm hoping she will start a blog of her own soon to share the wealth of knowledge she has on the topic. (;

While Image is an established skincare product line, Connie also promotes many natural, "from the Earth," if you will, skin health alternatives. After doing some of my own research and learning some things from Connie and her wealth of information in the department, I decided to try coconut oil, then another oil I bought from the local farmer's market for my facial moisturizer. While I still use and LOVE both of these types of oil for other uses on my body and facial regime, I've found Image's Vital C Hydrating Anti-aging Serum and Hydrating Eye Gel to be the best uses for my actual morning and night moisturizers. I have pretty dry skin, especially under my eyes, so I like the heavy duty moisturizers--although, still non-toxic! However, this really depends on you, as I have other friends who the coconut oil or other oils work perfectly for.

Hope some of my September favorites find their way into your heart, as well!

This is What Makes us Girls...

"We spend a lot of time, as women, analyzing and trying to fix the things that aren't quite right, and we should spend more time appreciating the things that we do like."

 No matter how gentle your heart is, how graceful you appear, or how much you love, I've learned that always, always there will be naysayers. I've learned that whether you have tough skin and seemingly unprecedented confidence or a gentle aura and a welcomed warmth, someone will find a way to try and downplay what you have to offer. I've learned that perfection is an illusion, and in fact, one that the more you chase it, the harder it comes crumbling down. I've learned that everyone is fighting their own battles and being grown up is the most interesting balancing act.

Comparing, struggling, striving towards a new perfection, daily. It's something that just makes us girls. I've learned that in the fear of being broken or losing control, we sometimes fence ourselves in. We create pretty boundaries that make everything tidy and in place, but while we're doing that, we're missing out on what's going on outside of the fence. Not to mention, we're probably driving ourselves crazy. I'll be the first to admit to you that I'm guilty of this. It's an ever-changing balance game.

What do you do to keep the balance in?

Life is a balancing act, fact. Nonetheless, we all have to live it, we all have to balance, and we all struggle. But why? Shouldn't life be a beautiful, carefree experience? We only get one; so the most logical answer would be to live it as beautifully and carefree as possible, right? But, oh yes, then there's the part where you're a grown-up, where you have daily stressors, weekly obligations, and too many people to give your attention to. Then what? How do you keep beauty and balance in that? I've decided to make it a point over the next few weeks, to try a few things to manage life and the happy, healthy balance. Especially for the women out there who feel as though they're fighting an endless battle in try to do it all and be it all for everyone, this is for you. Stay tuned for some tips and tricks, and more importantly, some translucence, on what I've learned and the things that work and don't work for me.

In the meantime, if you haven't seen this Dove Real Beauty video that went viral a few months ago, you should most certainly click the link and take a few minutes of your morning to watch. And if you have seen it, watch it again. It'll get your day moving in the right direction, especially if your morning started off on the wrong foot.

You are beautiful. Happy Tuesday!

Shrimp Quinoa Salad + Cupcake Angelfood

After the past two weeks of chicken, I was ready for a light, summer meal this week for date night in, so I decided for this tasty quinoa salad from Iowa Girl Eats. Side note: If  you've never visited her blog, do it! She's got some great recipes and healthy life motivation. I tweaked the recipe a little, but I really love the simplicity of throwing this salad together and the option to serve it warm or cold. I also made this salad for a girls night in with some of my friends and it was a super hit!

Quinoa is something new that I've tried to start cooking with more, as a healthier alternative to white rice and pasta. If you've never cooked quinoa before, fear not! It's as easy to cook as rice and has your typical grain taste, nothing crazy. On top of that, quinoa has some GREAT health benefits. It's high in protein, which makes it a great choice for a grain. It also contains tons of fiber, almost twice that of other grains. You can read more about the health benefits of quinoa here.

Serves: Approximately 5 people

Ingredients:

1 lb shrimp (sauteed in a little oil and garlic) 1/2 cup dry quinoa 1/2 cup red onion, chopped 1 orange, peeled and segments chopped 1 avocado, chopped 1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained 1 cup frozen corn, thawed 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped salt & pepper

For the Lemon Vinaigrette: 2 lemons, juiced (need 1/4 cup juice) 2 garlic cloves, microplaned or finely minced (I substituted garlic powder) dash of sweetener (agave nectar, stevia or honey) salt & pepper 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Set aside to cool.
2. For the Lemon Vinaigrette: combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid, and shake to combine. Or, add lemon juice, garlic, sweetener, salt and pepper into a small bowl and whisk in oil.
3. Combine cooled quinoa with red onion, orange segments, avocado, beans, corn, cilantro, salt and pepper. Pour Lemon Vinaigrette over the salad and stir to combine. Serve cold or at room temperature.

And because we're still having peak summer temperatures over here, I was definitely in the mood for a white wine paired with the summer feel of this dinner, so we had Angel Food by Cupcake Vineyards. I'm not huge on super sweet whites, which is what I thought this would be the first time I tried it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a white blend, and while it is on the sweeter side, it has a lot of Chardonnay characteristics, with flavors of the toasty vanilla I love. Think of it as Chardonnay's more optimistic little sister. (;

If you're still looking for some easy, tasty summer recipes or drinky drinks to beat the heat, I highly recommend trying these!

No-mayo Chicken Salad + Kendall Jackson Avant

There's something about a delicious, healthy life and the enjoyment of a corresponding wine that just makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Cooking a delicious, healthy meal, pairing the perfect wine, and mixing good company might be one of my most favorite things in the whole world. I'm pretty sure I could talk about good food and good wine for days AND I absolutely love when people share healthy recipes and wine recommendations with me. So, I've decided to make weekly foodie posts with new, healthy recipes I'm trying and fabulous wines I'm diggin'. Sounds like a win, right? I thought so too.

So, here's our first ever of many "What I'm Loving" foodie posts. I imagine a crowd roar in my head here...

First of all, let me start out by saying that Preston and I have adopted a new way of eating that we've come to absolutely love. I talked about some of those changes a little in this post. With that, we've given up (for the most part) wheat, red meat, and several other things that we realized might be bringing down our energy levels and contributing to other problems. I'll talk more about this in a future post. Among that, we've eaten much more fish, the occasional chicken (hormone-free when possible), fresh fruits, veggies, and grains. This week we were both a little fished-out, so I decided to try my hand at a healthy, no-mayo chicken salad to eat on some lettuce wraps. OH MOMMA, let me tell you, this chicken salad did not disappoint!

Here's what I used:

2 Large Chicken Breasts

1 1/2 Avacados

2 Boiled Eggs

1/2 Cup Fresh Basil (remove stems)

1/4 Cup Dried, Unsweetened Cranberries

4-5 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Seasonings: Sea Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Cayenne

Wraps: Romaine Lettuce

Add desired amount of chicken salad, roll and eat. Voila. (: I'm honestly terrible with measuring out my seasonings, so I'll try to be better with that. Be sparing with the sea salt, but the rest you can pretty much season to your preference. Remember, put less and you can always taste test and add more.

And because the aura of a delicious dinner is best paired with a little vino, this is one of my favorite Chardonnays I recommend to pair with such a light meal. I'm mostly a red wine girl, but hot summer days sometimes make a cool, crisp white a great change of pace. For those of you who may not be akin to Chardonnay, I still highly recommend you try this one from Kendall Jackson.

Although it's a Chardonnay, it's made in a way that brings together two separate blends, allowing you to taste more of the fruit-forward notes you would find generally in a Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc, yet combined perfectly to still taste the slight oak notes that bring in the warm vanilla and spice you often get from a Chardonnay. This little mix of flavors is why it's one of my favorite whites! Some of my near and dear friends like to giggle at me for this, but I like to think that my favorite Chardonnays have a nice, slight buttery taste. Make fun of me if you will, I'll keep appreciating my hints of butter. (;

So, if you're feeling the urge for trying something new, light, and delightfully refreshing, these are definitely my two top recommendations for this warm summer week! Happy Wednesday, my friends.

What I'm Loving: July 2013

I was brainstorming how I'd effectively start sharing with you guys on here, instead of just through Instagram, which I LOVE, (I'm an Instagram junkie and I don't see that changing anytime soon!), but I wanted to really connect, with more consistency, with more purpose. As I was brainstorming, a GINORMOUS light bulb went off for me. As you probably know, I'm a lover of a list including, but not limited to: all things pretty, a warm, inviting home, being a organization obsessor,  living a healthy life enriched with good food, good wine, and good friends. Clearly, the list of things I love goes on and on. That's when I realized, "HEL-LO Kali!"  My friends and I share the products, tips, foods, wines, shows, bargain finds, etc on-the-reg!  Alas, we have "What I'm Loving" posts. Every month I will share with you guys the things that are making my world a better place that month. Because if I'm loving them and they're in my top list (which means it's probably more like I obsess over them), I'm assuming you might just love them as well.

Sooo, here we go, with the top things I cannot live without this month...

JOSS AND MAIN is a site I came across recently that has ahhh-mazing deals on items for the home that have high-end designer looks--rugs, furniture, accent pieces, pretty much anything for the home! Since I'm constantly looking for pieces to add to my house to warm it up and switch it up, finding this site was like hitting gold.

Joss and Main presents classic, quality looks at extremely reasonable prices, up to 70% off in some cases! What I really love about the site, is the way they curate the collections into "Inspired Galleries" for sale. Joss & Main doesn't just put pieces up in a gallery labeled "Furniture" or "Decor," instead, they have curators who piece together looks perfectly into a gallery. The pieces are only on sale for a short amount of time, but they're honestly so beautiful and perfectly presented, that you'll know 100% what you want when you see it on their site. If you're looking for a little home revamp, or even just an accent piece to brighten up a dull corner, I highly recommend you check them out!

After many years of struggling with my weight, I've come to adopt a healthy mentality, instead of a skinny one. And what did I learn? If you focus on being healthy and educating yourself in that department, weight no longer really becomes an issue. When you fuel your body with the things it needs, it performs as a well-oiled machine. Which brings me to my new motto...

"A green smoothie a day will keep the doctor away!"

Ok, maybe Hippocrates said it a little more eloquently when he said, "Let food be thy medicine," but either way...I'm singing these praises, loudly. Preston and I have recently adopted the habit of daily green smoothies and let me tell you, the way it has transformed our daily lives has been mind-blowing. Just a few of these benefits we felt for ourselves were extreme increased energy, diminished cravings for sweets, breads, and pastas, clearer and brighter skin, and clarity of mind...just to name a few front-runners. Other fabulous health benefits of a daily green smoothie include: natural weight loss, increased consumption of fruits and veggies, easy digestibility, clearer skin from the intake of water, fiber, vitamins and minerals, fewer mood swings (hello!), and a stronger immune system.

On top of that, the possibilities are endless for what you can add to green smoothies to cater to your own health needs and taste buds. If you're interested in doing a little tango with some green smoothie in your life, here's a good recipe to start out with:

BEGINNER'S GREEN SMOOTHIE

3-4 Handfuls Spinach

1 Banana

3-4 Strawberries (or small handful of berries of your choice)

1/2 Citrus Fruit (I suggest grapefruit or large naval orange)

TBSP Chia Seeds (optional...they have no taste, will just aid in smoother consistency, and added chia health benefits of course)

5-8 cubes of ice + water filled to cover the ice (this ranges...I add more if it seems too thick)

In case you were wondering, despite the name, green smoothies DO NOT taste overly green. In fact, with the above recipe, you will likely only taste the fruit. Eventually, your taste buds will adapt to the smoothies and you will be able to dwindle down the fruit, but for your first few, add fruit as needed. Tons of fruit is still infinitely better than no fruit. Just to give you an idea of where you will be able to get once you get accustomed, I'm down to 1/2 banana, 1/4 grapefruit, 3-4 handfuls of spinach in mine.

I could talk about this topic forever, so if you are interested in learning more about it, leave me a little comment below and maybe I'll do a separate blog post just on this someday.

I've recently adopted the practice of using virgin coconut oil, not only for cooking, but as a moisturizer. And let me tell you ladies, just go ahead and quit buying those expensive ones with all of their empty promises and toxic chemicals. Virgin coconut oil is rich in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that soften skin, prevents wrinkles, sags, and age spots, and oh yeah, has NO HARMFUL SIDE EFFECTS.

I have been absolutely amazed at what it has done for my complexion. For a few weeks now, I've been applying it at night in lieu of my night time moisturizer after removing my makeup, and I absolutely love what it has done. My face is softer and brighter, and the awful under-eye circles I've never been able to get rid of are much less visible. I love it so much, I've actually replaced all of my moisturizers with it. I've always been a lover of lathering my body up with lotion at night, so instead, I use virgin coconut oil. The smell is subtle, yet soothing, it dries in a few minutes just like lotion, and leaves my skin feeling clean and refreshed.

Oh hey...I cook with it also. Double win! But that's for another day. If you want to read more about some beauty uses for coconut oil, this is a fabulous little read.

I'm not even going to lie to you. People have been telling me to try yoga for years, and every time I was a total gym snob and thought, "That sounds really nice, I'm glad you have a metabolism that allows you to NOT bust booty during your free hour at the gym. I'm so NOT going waste an hour of gym time doing some glorified stretching when I could instead be burning oodles of calories with cardio and weights." Holy moly, I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG. In the back of my mind I think I knew it would happen, too. I knew that there was a reason these people raved about yoga so much. Let me name a few benefits I've gained, so you can brush me off like I did to so many other people for years. (:

Yoga has showed me that I can get a fabulous mind and body workout without killing myself with a high intensity workout every day. You see, I'm as Type-A as they come. Doing nothing, or heck, even doing something that feels like it could be nothing or something that may just look like nothing gives me anxiety and stress out of the roof. This is why yoga was not enticing to me. I heard what people were saying, but I think I had a fear of wasting time. My valuable time. My only holy hour or so I have  some days to workout, doing stretches. I am here to proclaim at the rooftops to all of you TYPE-Aers out there...WE NEED YOGA. It has improved my work focus and my workout abilities, making me much more efficient at both. Yoga, I will forever sing your praises!

Last, but certainly not least of this month's raves, is Emily Ley's Simplified Planner. Now, I will say, I don't think this planner is suitable for everyone. If you don't use a planner to keep all aspects of your life organized, this might not be for you. However, despite iPhones, iCals, iMacs, I still prefer to have all of my appointments, passwords, client info sheets, everything in tangible form right in front of me. I've found a tangible planner to work best for running my business, my home, and all things in between. If you are a person like me in this regard, this planner is PERFECT for you. Emily is the branding and organizing queen, so her planner is constructed in a way that allows you to easily manage various faucets of life, likewise. It's in binder form, which allows you to personalize it to work best for you.

Emily also has FREE PRINTABLES that appeal to the super-organizer which help with things like username/password keeping, client info sheets, fitness tracking, teacher lesson plans, kitchen measurements, and MUCH MORE. I urge you to hop on over to her shop and check out these and the other fabulous things she has to offer. Her Simplified Planners are SO FAB that they sold out within weeks of release, unfortunately. Luckily, she has been known to release these little beauties twice a year. Who knows, maybe I'll even do a little giveaway for one when her next batch comes out. (;

Whew, what a blog post this was. I hope reading this makes a fabulous start to your weekend. Happy Friday my little lovelies!