One to Nothin'

Power Wiggles

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Every single time I shoot for an outfit post I end up snapping multiple photos of me doing some sort of silly, ridiculous, spinning, twirling, dancing — or in this case looking constipated and on the verge of bladder bursting. On more than one occasion that top right dance move has been referred to as my “power wiggles.” If you’ve been reading my blog for a while (or even if you’ve only read my ‘about me’ page) you might have already picked up on one of my prevalent personality traits: extreme goofiness. I try not to take myself too seriously. I’m far more comfortable laughing at myself and making ugly faces than I am talking about my feelings or trying to look sexy. However, methinks with this whole moving-across-the-country-away-from-my-entire-family thing coming up, there might be a little more reflection and serious talk on this here space. So just promise to be kind. You know the next day I’ll be posting pictures of me drinking wine with a koozie and twirling amongst the Redwoods.

Paleo Sweet Potato Casserole

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Sometimes I buy things that I’m too lazy to use right away. About the time when my sweet potatoes had sprouted medium sized trees, I decided it was time to make something with them. Since I’m not a fan of baked sweet potatoes (especially when copious amounts of butter and sugar are not an option), I thanked sweet baby Jesus for the internet and paleo recipe blogs in general. After some searching through the internetz, I found this recipe for sweet potato casserole and it was super delish. Here’s what I used:
2 small sweet potatoes
1 package grass-fed ground beef
3 T coconut oil
1/2 yellow onion
4 eggs
1/2 c coconut milk (unsweetened, from the can)
1/4 t sage
Salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder to taste

First I peeled the sweet potatoes and shredded them in a food processor with the attachment to make hash browns in and preheated the oven to 350 degrees. I greased a glass dish with coconut oil and poured the sweet potato into the bottom of it. Then I browned the ground beef, onion and 2 T coconut oil over medium high heat and layered it over the sweet potato hash. After mixing the rest of the ingredients together and pouring them on top of the meat, I baked the concoction uncovered for about 45 minutes and pretty soon it smelled amazing.

I added sriracha (duh) and nommed all night long. Super easy, super delicious. Win.
I’m starting to run out of ideas for meals lately (probably due to the lazy factor) so please share any and all of your favorite paleo recipes in the comments! I have two weeks to go. Keep me motivated, friends.

Mermaids, Dinosaurs & Magic

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My weekend was rad. Well, Sunday was. Friday and Saturday I worked my butt off, where one of my customers made me this figurine out of clay!

 But then came Sunday. A certain bearded gentleman picked me up at 9am to go to Weeki Wachi Springs to see real-life mermaids (I have now blogged about hanging out with mermaids and unicorns. It’s okay if you’re a little jealous of my mythical creature encounters.) and see real-life mermaids we did. We were fully expecting them to be frozen solid by the time we got there, or at the very least be wearing sweaters, but alas they were as skank-tastic as Ariel was and far less ginger-fied. We, on the other hand, were frozen solid (and yes, 45 degrees is the freezing point for this here Floridian).

After watching the mermaids fight off evil witches and dive down into the spring (one held her breath for almost three minutes!), we started driving somewhere and I wasn’t allowed to know where. We saw a ballin’ peacock, a bald eagle, countless cows, half of a giant dinosaur and a ginormous bull throughout our travels. I kept trying to guess what we would see next, but my giraffe guess was a failure. We also had a pretty epic playlist going the entire time, which you can get a little taste of by clicking the play button below. So as we drove I started to get a little nervous when I kept seeing signs for Miami considering we both had to work in the morning, and was relieved when we got off on the Orlando exit (which only about an hour and a half from my hometown). I still wasn’t allowed to know what we were doing though, so we stopped at Graffiti Junktion for dinner (I got salad, relax. I kept it pretty paleo the whole time, by some force of will power I didn’t know I possessed), we got tea at Infusion Tea and after getting cryptic hints like “We’ll see bears there!” “Peanut butter sandwiches” and “Elvis Presley!” finally I was allowed to open the glove compartment where I found…
Orlando Magic basketball tickets!!!
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Orlando Magic
I had never been to a Magic game (or any professional basketball game for that matter) and it was on my Florida Bucket List, so Mr. Beardman hooked me up! We had amazing seats and even though we got the snot beat out of us, I had so much fun. As it turns out, basketball is far better for my attention span than football. After the game we went to a beer place that had a hidden speakeasy (I’m obsessed) where I somehow managed to resist warm chocolate chip cookies, pizza and beer for days. ALL of my will power was used on those cookies, you guys. They smelled SO freaking good. I can still remember the smell..
Then after getting lost in the ghetto and freezing our asses off, we eventually found the car, blasted the heat and sang our lungs out to the playlist that rules all the other lowly playlists in the universe.
Basically it was the most perfect, fun, wonderful Sunday ever. I’d say it gave this Sunday a run for its money. Two more items crossed off the bucket list, just a few more to go!

High Five for Friday

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Five exciting, wonderful, holy-cow-just-pissed-my-pants things from the past week:
1. Sunday. We’re heading to Weeki Wachee Springs on Sunday to cross mermaid watching off my Florida Bucket List and apparently there are other surprises in store too. I don’t know what we’re doing,  but I am stoked!
2. I got a raise! *high five*
3. I’m 1/3 of the way done with the Whole30. No major slip ups and I feel pretty fabulous. I even ran thrice so far this week (yea, I just wanted a reason to say “thrice”).
4. I saw Silver Linings Playbook AND Perks of Being a Wallflower this week and both of them met the high expectations set for them.
5. April 12! I finally picked the date. I’m driving to California starting APRIL 12! And one of my coolest friends ever is coming with me. We’re doin’ it big. We’re starting in little ole Ocala, Florida, then we’re driving through NOLA (maybe we’ll grab some drive-through margaritas), we’re stopping to see one of my sorority sisters in Houston, then New Mexico and Arizona (what awesome things should we do there?! I’ve never been to either!), we’re going to hang out in LA, maybe we’ll see the world’s largest ball of twine, but we’re definitely going to sing our lungs out the entire way and end up in San Francisco. I foresee lots of beef jerky, sour cream & onion Pringles and energy drinks. I can’t even begin to accurately describe how excited I am.
Happy Friday, friends!

Linking up here.

Paleo Squash Fest

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Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day by far, regardless of the time of day, and one of my favorite local breakfast restaurants, Scrambles Cafe, has this epic meal called “Spud Fest.” It’s kind of like a breakfast party in your mouth: home fries, bacon, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheddar cheese, topped with eggs (at least that’s how I used to get it. It’s totally customizable). It’s my fave. Needless to say, I haven’t allowed myself in that establishment for quite some time considering I can’t have cheese and now I can’t even have white potatoes, so I decided to make my very own Whole30 version of Spud Fest. Here’s what you need:

1 butternut squash
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
mushrooms
1 T olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 package lean ground turkey
1/2 avocado (optional)
Sriracha
Salt
Pepper

First preheat the oven to 400 degrees, then cut the butternut squash from the neck (leave the bulbous part for another day and time), cut off the skin and chop it into cubes a la home fries. Toss the cubes in olive oil, salt and pepper, then spread them out on an aluminum foil wrapped pan and bake for about 20 minutes (at which point use a spatula to flip them all over to brown the other side for another 10-20 minutes).

While the squash is baking, brown the ground turkey over medium heat. Once it’s cooked all the way through add the onions, peppers, mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste. When veggies are at desired tenderness, combine with roasted butternut squash, fry the two eggs and dump them on top of your delicious pile of goodness. Garnish with an avocado and sriracha to make it that much better.

Enjoy!

Music Monday/Braided Updo

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And the braiding obsession continues..
I jacked this idea from one of my favorite bloggers here, and reproduced it in a far inferior manner (oh hello there bobby pins). But it’s super easy and a unique way of getting your braids on. I think braids are the no. 1 thing I missed after chopping off all my hair for Locks of Love a year ago (read about it here) closely followed by my super easy scrunch-and-go waves that seem to disappear the shorter my hair is.

In case you hadn’t guessed, my weekend was uneventful. I worked Friday and Saturday then spent Sunday sleeping, resting, cooking, running and watching the Oscars. Was anyone else completely unaware of Seth Macfarlane’s total hottie status? I just know him as Brian Griffin, but homeboy can sing, dance, he’s hilarious AND beautiful. I think I has a new Hollywood crush. I’m still really confused as to how Ted was walking around on stage though. Hollywood and their witchcraft.

And to complete this super random Monday post, here are some of my recent song obsessions.

I hope your Monday is relatively painless!

Whole30 Day 6

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I wasn’t planning on posting anything today, guys, but I have to say…
I feel awesome.
So far this Whole30 has been way easier this time around. My cravings haven’t been as bad (knock on wood) and even though my sinuses are stuffed up and my skin is dryer than usual (breaking out as a result) I know it gets worse before it gets better. I have been getting pretty tired throughout the day, but then I fall asleep so easily at night. And it’s nice to not feel bloated for once. 
Needless to say, I’m pretty excited. Just thought I’d document this great feeling in hopes that I can reread it next time I’m faced with donuts or sour cream & onion lays.
Oh, and my take on coffee is way different this time around; Coconut milk straight out of the can has been quite sufficient for my cream/sugar needs. Read about what happened last time here.

Florida Bucket List

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For those of you who haven’t been reading all that long, let me fill you in. I’m a Florida girl. I was born and raised in the sunshine state, never living farther than 45 minutes away from my small town of Ocala. I spent kindergarten, eighth grade, high school and college graduation here. I went to the University of Florida in 2007 (and had been a Gator fan since birth) and moved back home in 2011 after graduation. Two years later I’m still here and it’s time to move on to bigger things. Florida has treated me well, don’t get me wrong. I don’t doubt that one day I’ll return to this humid, sunny, laying-out-in-February-while-getting-eaten-alive-by-mosquitos climate because not only does my entire family live here, but I really do like it here! For now, though, when my only responsibilities are taking care of my pudgy beagle and myself, I’m ready for an adventure. In April I am packing up my clothes and my dog and heading across the country to California. Before I go, however, I need to cross some things off my FL bucket list (a couple of which I recently accomplished).

1. Visit Universal Studios to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
2. See a drag show at University Club in Gainesville
2. Go to South Florida (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Boca) to visit some of my best friends
3. Go ziplining
4. Eat a vegan pizza at Satchel’s in Gainesville
5. Go to a Braves game
6. Get at least one more bubble tea from Cafe 11 in St. Augustine
7. Go to an Orlando Magic game
9. Go to Amelia Island
10. See mermaids at Weeki Wachi
Do any of my Florida friends have suggestions to add to the bucket list? Or, if you’ve never been to the sunshine state, what would you most want to do while you were here? (And for the record, I’ve pretty much been to every park in Disney, as well as Seaworld and Busch Gardens, and as much as I’d love to revisit them all before I go, I need to save some mula.. also, I hear there’s a whole new land of Disney on the other coast..)
Here’s a lovely video from one of my newest music discoveries to kick off your weekend. Happy Friday!
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