KeVita Probiotics

I am the first to admit that I often find myself in the "crazy drink" aisle searching for a new go to health drink. I stumbled upon the KeVita Sparkling Probiotic drink in Strawberry Acai Coconut and I'm officially obsessed. Before I explain why I love it so much, let me give a disclaimer that I am in no way a health professional and everything I am about to say  is solely based on my experience, opinion and some research. 


What's to love....

1. The taste. The ingredients are what first attracted me to the drink. Strawberry, coconut and acai... sign me up! It taste like sparkling water with a hint of coconut and a strawberry base. It is light and refreshing, making its easy to drink with meals and a refreshing option to cool you down. 

2. The benefits. As soon as I realized how much I enjoyed the drink,  I wanted to make sure it's as good for me as I assumed. I knew the label showed low sugar (1g per serving), low carbs (2g per serving) and only 10 calories per serving... but what does it actually do?

Probiotics are used to help with digestion, so I figured it would help speed up my metabolism and lose weight - is that true? I'm not sure but I can tell you that after my research I found multiple other reasons to drink the probiotic, mainly from the blog post 10 Reasons Everyone Needs Probiotics.  Some of the reason include:boosting your immune system, good bacteria to ward off unfriendly female infections, lowers bad cholesterol, lessens the harshness of a detox cleanse on your stomach, alleviate allergies and helps manage stress. Again, I am not a doctor but I can share that in my experience, this drink helps to boost my energy and leaves me feeling healthy and strong. 

3. The cost. Health drinks can be pricey, some reaching the $10 mark. This drink will give you the benefits without breaking the bank. I typically purchase the drink at Wegman's for about $3.50 with tax. 

What you should know: There are live culture in the drink, so when you see things floating around- don't be alarmed.  The drink is lightly carbonated, so shake the it lightly to blend the ingredients and avoid overflow when opening. 

Personalized Glassware

I recently started apartment shopping and as tedious and exhausting as looking at apartments and neighborhoods can be, it is so exciting! I can’t wait to find my new space so I can pick a color scheme and start shopping for furniture and decorations! One of the things I’m looking forward to the most in my new apartment is having my girls over for dinner and drinks! Especially my Baltimore friends- I can’t wait to show them DC!

I've been obsessing over glassware and table settings.  My favorite site for customized glassware is White Elephant Designs. I love their stem-less wine glasses with state outlines. I chose to order the Maryland glass with a heart over Baltimore, my family is in Baltimore, I went to college in Baltimore and I met my boyfriend in Baltimore. It’s a special place that I want to keep close while in DC.

I opted for a Navy blue state with a gold heart (like the Texas one shown below). They offer a great selection with 16 different colors to choose from and plenty of design options as well!    

(Photo credit: White Elephant Designs)

Designs to Choose From:

(Photo credit: White Elephant Designs)

Colors to Choose From:

(Photo credit: White Elephant Designs) 

Dove's Choose Beautiful Campaign

The new Dove advertisement is gut-wrenching beautiful. It broke my heart to watch women walk through the “average door”. I thought… what is average anyway? What is beautiful? Who gets to determine what is beautiful? ...You. In today's society with images of 'perfection' and 'beauty' being skewed with photo shop and unobtainable bodies it can be hard not to compare yourself to others and feel inadequate. The truth is everyone is different and true beauty lies within your uniqueness.

You determine how you feel. No one can make you feel any other way unless you let them. #ChooseBeautiful

Check out the video here

2015 White House Easter Egg Roll

Forgive me for lack of posting lately. Between apartment searching, an increased workload at my full time job, and grad school it has been difficult to find time to blog. However, this experience is something I have to share!

This past Monday, April 6^th was the 137^th White House Easter Egg Roll. The tradition began in 1878, making the Easter Egg Roll one of  the longest traditions in White House history. This year’s theme was #gimmefive to support the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative, marking its 5 year anniversary.

The first question everyone has… how do you get tickets?

Every year the White House holds a ticket lottery in February. You sign up, rank your desired time slots and cross your fingers you will win. If selected, you will receive an email in March with instructions. My jaw dropped when I received the congratulations email , I received the 7:30-9:30 am time slot. The most tickets you can receive are 2 adults and 2 children.  I invited my sister, nephew and little cousin. We stayed at the Westin, City Center, D.C.  the night before to make it feel more special. It was a little difficult staying in a hotel with a 2 year old after a Sunday full of Easter celebrations, but totally worth it. The Westin is only 5 blocks from the White House, so it made our early morning walk easier. 

It was an incredible experience. I think it’s safe to say that all Washingtonian still get chills when walking by the White House and I was lucky enough to stand on the South lawn (I am a Scandal addict and I kept thinking about Smelly Melly on the balcony eating fried chicken :) ) . There were so many activities including:  games, crafts, dancing, exercising, live music, animal information centers, basketball, egg hunts and of course, the Easter Egg Roll!  I wish I could say I got to see the live taping of Kelly and Michael or the Today show but it was still pretty cool to know they were there when I was!  

With 350,000 tickets sold it was a bit crowded but worth every line we had to wait through! I hear the President and the First Lady arrived around 10:30 am so we didn't get to see them in person (man!). When we left, we received the wooden 2015 Easter Egg Roll Egg, so special. The whole experience is something I will cherish forever.  I've already ordered a ton of photo's from shutterfly and a new image mouse pad to keep in my office.

Share in the Experience:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/eastereggroll

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/06/politics/michelle-obama-easter-dance/

(Here's my mouse pad from shutteryfly.com Notice the Snipers on the roof!) 

Dominic(2) and Reganne (9)

Reganne enjoying the Arts and Crafts Table! 

Farm to table 'Eggs'ibit!