What Is Your Happy Place?

Yesterday was the first big snow of the season here in Omaha, and it was kind of a big deal. 

Nope, actually it was all anyone could talk about! The lines at the grocery store were extremely long, as everyone prepped for Winter Storm Dion to unleash his “fury.” Rumors swirled of the potential accumulation amount, and I heard everything from 4 inches to 2 feet. For your information, the final total was a whopping 3 inches. 

Given the fact that this storm was all anyone could talk about for 5 days, I was actually shocked at how poorly the roads were plowed. Perhaps the plows on the East Coast are just better?

I was able to make it to the gym to meet my good friend Becca for my Winter Wonderland circuit workout, and then I opted to avoid the slick roads for the remainder of the day. I holed up in the kitchen until dinner time, cooking up a warm, cozy meal, as well as a fun breakfast option for the blog. As I looked outside at the beautiful snowy landscape, I couldn’t help but feel very peaceful.

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Since I had nowhere to go, I didn’t feel rushed and  decided to simply enjoy my time in the kitchen, listening to a Pandora country music station, as I buzzed around the kitchen. A couple hours later, I decided to throw on a classic Christmas movie to play in the background, Love Actually.

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Once again, I forgot how much I love this movie – definitely put me in the holiday spirit! It might have helped that I was testing out a recipe for the blog: Egg Nog French Toast with a Cranberry Strawberry Compote.  Continue Reading →

30 Things you Might Not Know About Me and a GIVEAWAY!

Howdy from Omaha y’all! (Nobody actually talks like that here, but let’ s just go with it).

After more than a year, it feels great to be HOME. I don’t live here anymore (and maybe never will again), but Omaha will always feel like home to me. There is nowhere else in the world that I can go and be reminded of such fond childhood memories, from standing in front of that giant crowd on Friday night and cheering for our high school football team to walking to Hy-Vee with my friends (before we could drive) to chow down on some of their signature mac n’ cheese.

Birthday shot from 2011

Birthday shot from 2011

Every time I come to Omaha, it’s just one big shot of nostalgia. And I love it. I feel so lucky to be celebrating such an important milestone with nearly all of the most important people of my life (and copious amounts of margaritas and Mexican food).

I’ll try to recap the birthday shenanigans on Monday, but until then, I thought I’d give the newer SHLB readers a chance to get to know me a little better. In honor of the 30th b-day, here are 30 things you might not know about me. 30 things is a lot of information. So, to bribe you all into reading this post, I’m hosting a giveaway.

Please leave a comment on this post with 1 thing I don’t know about YOU, and you’ll be entered to win a Sometimes Healthy Living Blog Care Package with the following of my “favorite things:”

As Chris Harrison would say, "The BEST giveaway EVER."

As Chris Harrison would say, “The BEST giveaway EVER.”

  • Goldfish (Cupcake, French Toast, Brownie, Pretzel, Pizza and S’mores flavors)
  • Swedish Fish
  • Blue Diamond Almonds Variety Pack
  • 1 Year Subscription to SELF magazine
  • Cupcake Secrets Book

You can enter until next Tuesday, July 23. I’ll randomly pick a winner and announce in my post on Wednesday.

So, here we go! Continue Reading →