Last Valentine's Day, my husband and I went on a typical kind of February 14th date - which is rare for us. Normally, we like to do something adventurous, like kayaking or hiking together, but other years I've cooked one of his favorite meals and we'll stay in and pop open a bottle of nice wine. But last year was our closest thing to a cheesy candlelit lovey dovey V-Day date... only it actually was super memorable and not at all the norm that most people probably think of for a dinner out on the holiday of love. On V-Day night, we ventured over to the La Jolla area of San Diego for a rooftop dinner at Trilogy Sanctuary, a vegan cafe and yoga studio that I adore. We were expecting a 3-course dinner with live music on the cafe's relaxing outdoor patio, and Trilogy did not disappoint. From ... [Read More]
valentine's day
10 Ways to Show Some Self-Love This Valentine’s Day
This Wednesday marks the holiday of love, and for any of you out there rolling your eyes because you think it's just a Hallmark holiday, I agree with you. But I also believe that it's important to celebrate our relationships not only with our significant others, but also with ourselves. Why? Because your relationship with yourself is the backbone for every relationship in your life, and it's something that should be honored. Many of us are constantly running around taking care of our loved ones and responsibilities, but don't forget, you cannot pour from an empty cup. Showing yourself some self-love doesn't need to be some grand gesture. The idea of celebrating yourself this Valentine's Day - or any other day of the year - is simply that you take time out of your busy schedule to ... [Read More]
Brownie Batter Almond Butter Banana Bread {vegan}
Here's a fun tidbit: February is National Chocolate Lovers' Month. There are so many days and months out of the year declared food holidays - but I'm not complaining, I kind of like celebrating the randomness. The other day, I decided to start checking out the food holidays of February. Besides the entire month being declared a chocolate lovers' celebration, we also just passed National Carrot Cake Day and National Homemade Soup Day last weekend. And then there's National Fettuccine Alfredo Day on the 7th, National Drink Wine Day on the 18th, and National Chocolate Mint Day on the 19th.... and those are just the holidays that I can really get behind, I'm leaving out the ones that didn't appeal to me! Chocolate is certainly worth celebrating, don't you agree? Someone asked ... [Read More]
Healthy Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cinnamon Cookies {vegan}
Does anyone else just all of a sudden get in the mood for baking sometimes? The measuring and mixing, pouring and stirring, baking and cooling. The smells of something delicious coming together and the anticipation of taste testing. It's therapeutic to me. Last week as I was jotting down a bunch of things to nab at the food store and planning out what healthy snacks I'd make this week, I got bitten by the baking bug. And I didn't feel like just following a recipe, I was in the mood for experimenting and getting creative. Today's recipe is a result of that baking bug. These cookies center around a few of my favorite things: the combination of chocolate + peanut butter & cinnamon. Cinnamon is without a doubt my favorite spice. I'm constantly sprinkling some on my fruit, in my smoothies, ... [Read More]
5 Healthy Valentine’s Day Desserts [All Dairy Free!]
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so today we're chatting about healthy dessert recipes! My hubby and I don't get too crazy for Valentine's Day. We'll sometimes go on an adventurous date, like going kayaking in La Jolla as we did last year, or sometimes we'll just have a nice dinner at home. To me, Valentine's Day just serves as a reminder of what's important in life. It should just be about spending time with the people you love - whether that be a spouse, your kids, your girlfriends, or even just dating yourself. I'm not sure what we'll be doing for V-Day this year yet, but if there's one thing's that for sure, it's that I'll be baking something fun surrounding the day of love...because I take advantage of any excuse to bake! Baking is definitely a ... [Read More]
Taking Time to Date Myself {Weekend Recap}
Happy Hump Day! Today I'm backing it up to a couple of days to last weekend. Any longtime readers may remember that when my hubby left active duty for the Marine Corps almost 2 years ago, I wrote a post about lessons I had learned as a USMC wife (read it here!). I talked about my experience as a military wife - a chapter of my life that was seemingly over (although I still referred to my man as a Marine - because once a Marine, always a Marine!) but I mentioned something in there about never say never to being a military wife again.... Well, it turns out that I'm now a Marine Corps wife again! This time around is a little different because my hubby is now a Marine Corps Reservist. He missed being a Marine, and it just sort of worked out that an opportunity opened up at the base ... [Read More]