Beverage
A few weeks ago one of my friends hosted a “Night In”, in honor of the lost art of cocktail parties. I love this idea, especially now that a night out includes the need for a babysitter on top of everything else.
While I’m always down for a casual night in, I’m also in favor of something a little fancier, require you me to dress up {as opposed to my mom-attire gym pants uniform} every once in awhile. The beauty of celebrating at home is that you have a little more room {in time and budget} to get a little fancier with the festivities.
I decided to merge the two somewhere in the middle and create a drink centerpiece that can go either way. Make a true Southern affair with mason jars, jeans, and wildflowers, or kick it up a notch with cocktail glasses and heels. Either way, I’ve got a drink for you:
Meet the Beergarita.
What once was deemed a classless action, dumping a beer bottle upside down in your margarita glass, has now become fanfare for celebration. It’s a drink in and of itself and it’s delicious.
You can even make it a Mockarita if you so choose to skip the beer part, or if you’re in need of refreshment and it’s just not quite cocktail hour yet.
This version keeps health in mind too, without going wild and crazy on the calories or the sugar.
Kick it up another notch for summer and freeze some of the juice ahead of time. Then toss it in the blender with a little more juice or even some chunks of frozen fruit for a nice refreshing slushie. {Save the sparkling water for the end so you don’t make a ‘rita explosion.}
Top it with lemon, limes, oranges, or whatever fruit you have on hand. You can even get a little adventurous and toss some mint or basil in the mix. Omit the beer and double up on the sparkling water for a mocktail version.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some fruit to drink. 
by with a Side of Sneakers
- 1 bottle beer (12 oz) {a light lime beer would be great. I used my favorite gluten-free pale ale}
- 1 can fruit-flavored sparkling water {I used a cherry lemon. Lime would be delicious too}
- 1 lime
- 1 orange
- 12 oz Trop50 Raspberry Acai juice
- Optional: basil or mint for garnish
- Optional: ice cubes for slushie version
Combine beer, sparkling water, and juice.
Squeeze in juice from lime and orange.
Stir to combine.
Pour over ice {or frozen juice cubes}.
Serve cold.
Also try frozen and blended!
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Trop50 has the great taste and goodness you expect from Tropicana, but with 50% less sugar and calories and no artificial sweeteners.
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Trop50 via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Trop50.
What’s your favorite healthy drink for a Girls’ Night In? For more ideas on how to make a rockin’ girls’ night in, check out the Foodie Girls Night In Pinterest board or the collection on Foodie.com {see below}.
Workout Gear
Well guys, my time with adidas is coming to end this month. Sad for me because I’ve loved working with this brand and team. Good for you if you’re tired of hearing about it {but I hope you’re not}.
With the holidays around the corner I figured there was no better way to wrap this series up with a holiday gift guide of my absolute favorite pieces of fitness gear that I’ve come to love from adidas.
So without further adieu, here’s a sneak peak. You can read all about the pieces on adidas women’s training site.
1. Climawarm+ tights. 2. TechFit Climawarm Funnel Pullover. 3 .Springblades. 4. Shimmy Headbands. 5. Supernova Racer Bra.
Thank you adidas women’s training for the opportunity to work with you and learn all about this amazing brand!
adidas Women designs innovative performance products to help women commit to their best self and conquer their fitness goals. We inspire women to look and feel their best – be pretty, be tough & be confident.
Compensation was provided by adidas via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of adidas.
Exercise
So this morning it was a glorious 65 degrees {at the crack of dawn, otherwise known as “party time” to my toddler}, but afternoon brought the 85+ degree heat that’s more in tune with this hot, humid summer we’ve been having. I love cool weather, but it’s frustrating when it quickly turns from refreshing to hot, especially when you’re trying to cram in some outdoor exercise. It’s so easy to use the unpredictable weather as an excuse for letting your workouts slide, especially as we adjust to the chaos of back to school and other fall happenings.
This month on the Adidas women’s training site I’m sharing my tips for staying on track when the seasons change.
Dressing for any kind of weather is key: I’m a fan of shorts with long sleeves, especially a jacket you can take off mid-run. I’ve been digging the Powerluxe woven shorts and their futuristic camo-y print. {Hey, camo is in this season! 
}
The coordinating Powerluxe RainShine jacket is light yet protective. Obviously I love the hood and thumbholes.
I always forget how long I’ve been running in my current shoes, so I use the change in seasons as reminder to check my bank account and guess how many miles I’ve put on my shoes; I’m typically in need of a new pair by fall. I put a lot more miles on my shoes in the cooler weather, so started out with a fresh pair is crucial. I’m obsessed with these adidas Energy Boost shoes– they fit like a glove sock, and absorb a ton of impact, which is perfect for my injury-prone knee.
#shinewithsweat
adidas Women designs innovative performance products to help women commit to their best self and conquer their fitness goals. We inspire women to look and feel their best – be pretty, be tough & be confident.
Compensation was provided by adidas via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of adidas.
What tips do you have for staying on track as life gets chaotic this time of year?
Health Info
Back to school, back to school, to prove to dad I’m not a fool…
Yesterday I got a letter in the mail. A letter I’ve been waiting for for the better part of summer.
The back-to-school letter. The one that verifies my son has a spot in preschool and the most important piece of info of all: school starts in September!
This might be the first time ever I’ve been excited for back to school season. Now don’t get me wrong, I hate every second I’m away from my son, but preschool {aka glorified daycare} is the perfection solution for our family. I get time to work and do crazy things like shower and get dressed. You know, things most people do when their kid naps. {Nap is an evil word in this house.} This can better be summed up by this: the summer insanity of trying to fit everything in can end!
But there’s one thing I’m not looking forward to: the surplus of snot. Seriously a day doesn’t go by when I walk past a kid with a runny nose. Sometimes that’s all it is, but most of the time that means colds and viruses get passed around more than the toys do.
In addition, KB has allergies and wheezes, so making sure he doesn’t get sick is going to be extra high on the priority list. When you’re kid’s around other kids there’s no fail proof solution to prevent the spread of germs, but we do what we can.
– Wash hands immediately upon leaving school. {Handsanitizer on the way out.}
– A healthy diet. You probably just laughed out loud if you also have a toddler. Even though feeding time can be battle, KB gets fruits and veggies no matter what. Vitamins and phytochemicals help build a solid foundation for immunity. If you can’t get your kid to eat the good stuff, a kid-friendly vitamin is an alternative.
– Exercise. I don’t really need to worry about this one for Kabes since he never ever stops moving, but I need to make it a priority for myself so I’m not the one bringing sickness into the house.
– Sleep. sleep sleep sleep. The forgotten health holy grail. When you’re trying to cram everything into a single day, sleep often seems like the least important thing to sacrifice. I’m telling you, it’s not. After 8 months of rarely sleeping more than an hour at a time, I can personally attest to that. Before KB learned to sleep I had more colds than I’ve had in the past 5 years at least.
Sleep isn’t just important for adults; it’s just as essential for kids too. KB almost always goes to bed at 7. If he’s realllllllly tired he might go down a little earlier, but for the most part it’s the same time every night. He’s a little unpredictable when it comes to wake up time, but he usually gets a good 10 hour chunk. I know bedtime is bound to become a battle as he gets older, but keeping a consistent bedtime can even help boost brainpower later in life, regardless of the total number of hours slept. Who’d turn that down?!
L’il Critters™ are the #1 child gummy vitamin. We are the better tasting gummy vitamin that is preferred by Kids and trusted by Moms. “We Make Nutrition Taste Good.”
Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Church & Dwight via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Church & Dwight.
Workout Gear
Do you ever learn about somebody’s job and say to yourself, “if only I knew that was a job”?
I have a long list of those jobs I want to do when I grow up. Like the person who comes up with the names of nail polish colors or the person that builds the miniature version of camping tents to display in stores.
Last week I added one to the list: an engineer that specializes in human kinesiology and anatomy. Or something cool like that. I met a woman that’s job is to visualize the human body as a machine: a series of levers and pulleys. She uses that info {along with a billion other things} to improve the design of running shoes and other training gear. Cool, huh?
I learned about this fabulous job last week while visiting the adidas headquarters in Portland, Oregon. How’d I get so lucky? I’ve teamed up with adidas Women’s Training to bring you info about the brand, training gear, and more.
Last week we spent a whirlwind day exploring the adidias headquarters, learning how women’s training gear goes from idea to design to product. It still kind of blows my mind how it all comes together into the gear you and I wear.
{with SarahFit & Bows&Sequins}
From concept, to test samples, to final product:
After learning about the brand and gear we got our butts kicked by trainer Jenni in the adidas gym. Pretty cool. I’d love to have a gym and soccer field at my office.
During our workout we had a chance to test out some of the gear we’d learned about. {Above I’m wearing the Baby Bro boyfriend tank and the TechFit sports bra.} I’m a fan of the TechFit sports bra– it has a mesh back to help keep you cool and is supportive without being too tight. One version has removable molded cups, which helps make it more appropriate to wear on it’s own, if you know what I mean. {I’m wearing that one below. The Kynado insisted on being in the picture. Such a ham.}
If you need more support than the TechFit bra provides {medium support}, the Supernova Bra provides extra support as well as a cute design: cross back straps and an implied v-neck design with the signature 3 stripes on the side. Perfect when it’s just too hot out for a shirt. 
All the bras come in just about every color you can think of.
{adidas Supernova Racing Bra on left; adidas TechFit Bra on right.}
#SHINEwithSWEAT
Do you wear adidas workout gear? Did you know they made more than soccer warm-ups and Sambas? {Bringing it back old school, huh? You know you wore them…}
adidas Women designs innovative performance products to help women commit to their best self and conquer their fitness goals. We inspire women to look and feel their best – be pretty, be tough & be confident.
Compensation was provided by adidas via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of adidas.
