Last Sunday, I wrote a post on 22 gifts ideas for her under $55. It was a fun post to put together filled with kitchen, clothing, food, and other gift items!

[image sources]

(Side note: Word in the comment section has it that you can buy vanilla beans at Costco for cheap! Hopefully that’s in Canada too?)

One of the items on my list is this gorgeous Ellie Eternity Scarf made by the fabulous Lisa Marie from Bearded Owl’s Hoots on Etsy. I fell in love with this scarf, and Lisa’s other products, as soon as I saw them.

Such as the Philomena Snood and Critter Mitt Warmers…I could seriously use those for typing at the computer!

and the Chunky Pom Pom knit:

After I wrote that post, Lisa Marie wrote me and offered to send me a scarf as a thank you! I thanked her for her generosity, but asked if we could do a blog giveaway for the scarf instead. It’s more fun for me to share the holiday spirit with you guys! Lisa was excited for a giveaway on the blog so here we are.

Lisa Marie writes…

Hoo-T!

The Ellie Eternity Scarf is designed to be extra cozy and snuggly. It measures over 7 ft long in circumference, leaving plenty of room for you to wrap and scrunch as little or as much as you want!

Made in the softest 100% Acrylic blend.
One size fits most.
Available in most colors.

Note: Lisa Marie can make her products completely wool free if desired.

Can’t you just imagine wrapping yourself up in this huge scarf and not taking it off until May?

The winner gets to select the colour too, which is always a tough decision….especially when most of the colours are names of yummy foods…

I’ll have oatmeal with a side of pumpkin spiced figs please.

To Enter: (the contest is now closed)

Leave a comment below telling me two things: 1) your favourite holiday cookie and 2) your fav scarf colour.

These are things I need to know.

The contest is open to anyone worldwide and I will pick the random winner late Sunday night.

Goodluck, stay warm, and a big thanks to Lisa Marie!

Update: The winner of the giveaway is Abbey L! Congrats!

DISCOUNT CODE OFFER: Lisa Marie is generously offering a 10% off discount code for her shop! Just enter SHEGLOWS in the checkout.

I had my first One Lucky Duck experience in NYC after hearing so many good things about it over the past few years. One Lucky Duck was founded in 2005 by Sarma Melngailis, the co-creator of the Manhattan raw food restaurant, Pure Food and Wine. Sarma started One Lucky Duck to help bring the raw, vegan and organic lifestyle out of the underground and into the mainstream.

At One Lucky Duck, you can find all kinds of amazing raw vegan snacks from raw macaroons to chocolate chip cookies, handmade in small batches in the kitchen at NYC’s raw vegan restaurant, Pure Food and Wine.

We visited the Chelsea Market location and I was so excited to step inside this cafe!

We did all kinds of NYC sightseeing on this day of our travels, so the market was a nice change of pace after rushing around all day.

I bashfully asked the server if I could snap a picture or two. I don’t know about you other bloggers, but I get shy when I take pictures of food…!

It’s a really cute & cozy cafe. All of their products are on the wall including a fridge for fresh juices and whatnot. I got myself a few goodies (macaroons, raw chocolate, and buckwheat crispies) and a shot of wheatgrass for good measure.

It was hard to choose! I’ve somehow managed to open everything over the past few days and everything tastes incredible. I especially fell in love with the buckwheat cinnamon crispies (below).  Maybe I can make these at home too? It’s on my list.

[source]

Since you all can’t be here with us (physically, at least) in New York, I thought I would do the next best thing…bring New York’s One Lucky Duck goodies to you!

I’m giving away a One Lucky Duck Big Gift Sampler as a personal gift from me to one lucky OSG reader. This is a HUGE box of delicious loot that you can share with family and friends over the holidays or enjoy all for yourself!

What’s inside this awesome gift pack?

This One Lucky Duck Big Gift Sampler includes a package each of the following:

• Chocolate Macaroons
• Cheese-y Quackers
• Cinnamon Striped Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Honey Bunches Bar
• Buckwheat & Hemp Granola
• Blonde Macaroons
• Vanilla Crispies

aka……some of the most popular goodies from One Lucky Duck. YUM. You can click the links for more product info.

To enter this giveaway:

Leave a comment below telling me one of your favourite vegan foods and I’ll pick One Lucky Duck on Tuesday! Goodluck.

This contest is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.

Today marks 3 years since I started blogging on October 31, 2008. My, my how times flies!

Every year that goes by, I’m so grateful for YOU sharing this journey with me and allowing me to grow as a person, make some mistakes along the way, and pursue my dreams. I don’t have all the answers or even many, but what I do know is that we all have something to learn from one another. Sharing our life experiences, gaining insight, laughter, great food, and wisdom. That’s what you give to me each day.

I also know that I really, really have no control around brownies. Or Sketchie cuddles.

Yesterday I spent a bit of time reading through old blog entries from 2008…oh man, it was funny to read some old posts! The blog has certainly changed and grown in so many ways, as have I. One of my biggest challenges over the past few years has been learning to listen to my heart when sometimes it feels like it’s being pulled in a thousand directions. So far it hasn’t steered me wrong more than… a few times. But that’s OK too.

I’ve been sitting on some blog news for a while now, but it didn’t really feel fitting to throw at the end of a recipe, so I’ll share it with you today!

Thank you for your votes in Chatelaine Magazine’s Women of the Year awards! I found out last week that I’m a winner in the Hot 20 Under 30 category and I couldn’t be more excited to be included with so many inspiring women.

I really encourage you to pick up the magazine if you can (it’s on newsstands now) as it’s jam packed with women’s stories of personal triumph, business ventures, and so much more.

Secondly, I’m thrilled to tell you that I recently signed with a literary agency, The Lisa Ekus Group. As you may know, a huge dream of mine is to write cookbooks. I took my time to find an agent I clicked with and I couldn’t be happier to be with the LEG “family”. The LEG will present my proposal to publishers early in 2012 and I hope to get a cookbook deal out of it. For the past while, I’ve been trying to juggle increasing demands with both the bakery and blog businesses and I’ve been running myself into the ground trying to do it all. To give myself the time required to finish the intensive proposal and hopeful future cookbook, I’m closing the bakery. That’s not to say that I will never run the bakery again (who knows maybe someday I will open a storefront), but for now it won’t be open. Your support with the bakery has truly meant the world to me over the past couple years. As a thank you for your support, I hope to include a couple Glo Bar recipes in my future cookbook. This way, you can make them in the comfort of your own home whenever the craving strikes!

Lastly, I’m excited to be working with Chatelaine Magazine as one of their Health and Wellness bloggers. I’m contributing my favourite seasonal vegan recipes for their blog. If you haven’t checked out their website you really should! It’s brimming with great information and thousands of delicious recipes. I’m really excited to take on freelance work because it’s a great opportunity to spread my love for vegan food. Another opportunity I’ve had recently is to develop the recipes for an article in Glow Magazine, which you can see below.

Ok, now that’s out of the way, let me get to the fun stuff!

I tried to think about one of my favourite kitchen items that I could giveaway on the blog. One of them would definitely have to be a cute apron! They really make cooking and baking more fun.

I picked up this apron and matching pot holder at Pier 1 last week for the giveaway. If for some reason you don’t like this apron, I’ll be happy to buy you an apron of your choice from Anthropologie. I know that not everyone likes pink floral like I do, so there are no hard feelings. I want you to love it!

To enter the giveaway please leave a comment below. Contest closes next Sunday Nov 6th and it’s open to anyone, anywhere. Goodluck!

…and Happy Halloween! T minus 8 hours until I become a Queen of Hearts again…

It’s Hockey Season and that means I’m feeding snacks to a bunch of hungry guys during our weekly game night.

Impressing the male species with vegan food is one of the biggest challenges of all. It’s not so much the taste of the food that I’m worried about; it’s more the stereotype of what vegan means to them. Often, the word vegan doesn’t evoke warm and fuzzy feelings like….beer or pizza….or nachos.

So I make nachos, spiced bar nuts, pizza, and beer fries.

Now they think vegan is just some weird code for really awesome food.

Score.

The other night I was trying to think of some “guy-friendly” snacks (oh, now I’m stereotyping!) and I came across some delicious looking snack recipes in The Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay Nixon. The publisher sent me this cookbook to check out and I’ve been meaning to try it for a while now. There are all kinds of dips and appetizer recipes to choose from, in addition to breakfast, sides, entrees, appetizers, sauces/dressings, and dessert recipes. Most recipes also have a full colour photograph which is always a nice feature if you are a visual person like myself.

Lindsay specializes in fat-free and low-fat vegan recipes and you can find over 175 recipes in her cookbook. There are also a lot of tofu, tempeh, and seitan based recipes such as her Seitan Pot Roast and Fettuccine Alfredo. If you are a soy fan, you will find a lot of unique options. 

For game night, I made Lindsay’s Spicy Mexican Dip (above) made up of cannellini & black beans, nutritional yeast, spices & seasonings, and a hint of lime. I was feeling feisty so I made the Nacho Cheese Sauce and swirled it into the dip before baking it for about 35-40 minutes. Amazing. The only thing I regret was not putting a layer of Daiya Cheese on top!

I served the dip with Lindsay’s Chili-Lime Corn Chips. They are very easy to make and the flavours went perfectly with the dip.

First things first, the boys thought it was actually a real cheese dip.

Secondly, the dip was gone in 10 minutes.

I forgot all about the fact that the Leafs were losing.

I also made the Fruity Cereal Bars (it’s a good thing because the dip didn’t last long) which are fat-free knock offs of those commercial cereal breakfast bars that we all know and love. I wasn’t expecting much from a fat-free cereal bar, but these were good. The oatmeal base is soft and light (a common outcome when using applesauce as a fat replacer) and the gooey jam topping made me want to eat the entire pan.

Sadly, I had to share. 

I even thought about trying the the, ‘You don’t want this, trust me! It’s healthy, it’s VEGAN!’ line, but it didn’t work. My cover was already blown.

Vegan food is just a code for really awesome food, remember?

The Happy Herbivore Giveaway!

If you’d like a chance to win The Happy Herbivore Cookbook leave a comment below. I’ll pick the winner on Monday and ship you a copy of this book. Open to anyone, anywhere.

Last week, my best friend Allison asked me if everything was ok because she hadn’t seen a blog post from me in a few days and was getting worried.

‘…not that there is anything wrong with you taking a break though!!’, she sweetly added.

Allison is a great friend.

I knew there was a major issue if she wasn’t seeing new blog posts because I hadn’t taken a day off blogging in over a week. I figured she wasn’t the only one having problems, so I asked you guys on Twitter and Facebook and just as I suspected many of you hadn’t seen any new posts since my Thrive post on August 14th. Some of you thought I died. I’m sorry to disappoint.

Eric and I were able to pinpoint the issue to some cache settings in PHP that were changed the same day of my Thrive post. Basically, it was caching entire pages on some of your computers (saving in memory) so new posts wouldn’t appear; however many of you weren’t impacted at all. We removed these changes last week, so hopefully everything is running smoothly now.

I guess I can’t ask you who is still having problems seeing new posts though can I?

Without further ado, In Case You Missed It…

1) Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Spiced Doughnuts

I dusted off my doughnut pans and cranked open my first can of pumpkin, albeit prematurely.

2) Rosemary Olive Oil Chips

The hit of Eric’s birthday party. I was left with a few scraps!

3) Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Glazed Doughnuts

One of the craziest things I’ve ever made.

4) 5 Ingredient Cheeze Sauce 

Stove-top, old fashioned easy cheeze sauce that comes together in minutes flat.

5) High Protein Tortilla Pizzas

I really did intend on saving Eric one…

6) Athens Honeymoon Photography

I’ve got the travel bug and you’re coming with me!

7) Chocolate Cake Batter Smoothie

You missed a spot.

8.) Zucchini Bread Oatmeal

Another way to sneak greens into your breakfast without tasting them.

9) Stuffed Mushroom Phyllo Roll & Mango Kale Salad

The beginning of my obsession with Phyllo.

10) Chocolate Chunk Toffee Bars

I made these for Eric when he was suffering from IMS.

11) How To Create Career Happiness FAQ

For a nice follow-up post (and great discussion!), check out this Graduation Fears that I posted a while back.

12) This Is Not A Real Post

Out with the old, in with the new. Boy, were there mixed opinions on my header change!

Since many of you weren’t able to see my last Feel Good Tea Giveaway post, I thought it would be fun to have a giveaway today.

In honour of my favourite Canadian athletic store, I’m purchasing a $50 Lululemon gift card and giving it away to one lucky random winner. To enter, simply leave one comment below.

Contest will run until Wednesday. Goodluck!

[Image from my Operation Beautiful Book Tour Post]

‘I don’t have a goal weight, I have a goal life.’

I heard this quote while watching an interview with an Extreme Weight Loss participant and it really clicked with me!

Along my journey, I realized that a certain number on the scale wouldn’t magically make my life perfect. For years I chased this number while becoming more and more unhappy.

I now focus on creating the life that I want, by taking small steps each day. It’s about how I feel each day when I wake up. If I wake up happy and eager to start the day, I know I’m on the right track. A certain number can’t dictate my happiness, but I can make changes in my life to feel my best.

While, I’m busy baking up orders today, I thought it would be fun to have a Glo Bar giveaway!

Leave a comment below sharing a lesson you’ve learned along your journey or simply share one of your favourite quotes.

One lucky winner will receive a delicious box of 10 Glo Bars! Goodluck!

Coming up, one of our favourite recipes so far in 2011….get excited!

Good morning

How goes your Tuesday?

I believe I have some contest winners to report for OSG’s 2nd Birthday! We had 1030 fabulous ladies and gents enter the contest and I wish I could give you all something, but I’m afraid that would put me in the poor house. So for now, I will do the best I can!

Thank you to EVERYONE for your amazing and inspiring comments, and of course, for your support with the blog!

Here are the randomly chosen winners…

$25 Glo Bakery Gift Certificates:

Kate: Happy birthday OSG! I started reading your blog a couple of months ago, but this is my first post! I love it! Something I love to do is run (and eat)! It’s a love-hate relationship really, sometimes I love running, sometimes I only love it after I’m done. But I just registered for my first marathon in February and I’m super excited about it!!!

Amanda R. WOAH BABY! Im glad others share my addiction. “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You, too? Thought I was the only one.” Im suddenly feeling VERY popular. i can believe it though, as much as my friends and fam like to give me a hard time about loving on your blog- it has become my most visited page (yupp, you beat out Mark Zuckerberg, sorry facebook) Nothing like a good contest to get people commenting, huh?! Probably like a lot of the other girls this is my first little throw back so guilty. What i LOVE ABOUT MYSELF is my PASSION to DISCOVER me. At twenty I have lived a lot of life. Some of it has been hard and some of it has been sad. Most of those sad and hard times weren’t actually as sad or hard as i thought, and all of them i would relive again and have grown to LOVE. I love them, because they were a kick in the butt. They made me realize what I didnt want in life, who I wasn’t, and how I didn’t want to end up without any serious consequences. They also led me towards experiences and opportunities that i would have other wise maybe never have experienced. Not that I don’t struggle every now and then, cause of course i do- but I am focused on bettering myself, loving myself, and figuring out who i really am. Not who I was, or who I thought I wanted to be, or even what people tell me I should be. I love dancing to my own music and figuring out just what genre’s make me wiggle my cute little booty.

Regan Mrs. Angela,Thank you so much for writing your blog, I enjoy reading it because it causes me to look inside myself and think. I am currently a senior in highschool and I believe at one of the hardest points of my life. I am constantly being judged by myself and others and have had a hard time with self-esteem, I am a swimmer and sadly will never be skinny. Since I have begun reading your blog I am encouraged to know that there are others out there who are going and have gone through these hard times. Each day I try to encourage myself to eat the best food I can, instead of strictly limiting myself with calorie counting. Just this last spring my family has decided to try and eat as much organic and healthy food as we can. It has been a slow process transitioning to paying more for less food, not getting Sonic, and trying to eat the best food for our bodies. Thank you for everyday continuing to give me hope that some day I will have the strength to truly and fully love myself.

Kate I have struggled with an eating disorder all my life. Binge eating, fast diets, you know what I’m talking about. But ever since I was little I said to myself.. “One day I’ll just cook everything myself and it will all come from the earth beneath my feet and I will be stronger and healthier eating the foods that were meant to be eaten”. Citric acid, high fructose corn syrup, yellow dye #2, where do those things come from? Animals don’t eat that stuff, why should we? What is it even doing to us? I stumbled upon your blog one day from another blog someone had posted as their facebook status, yours was their “favorite health blog” (Smartprettyandawkward.com). I couldn’t BELIEVE it, I had found the key to living the rest of my life. I now had access to this secret healthy recipe shrine. Every morning I open my computer and see what your daily recipe is, and gain a little more inspiration each day. I’ve found exercise to be fun, and delicious food that I always knew would someday find me and open my eyes. I want my life to be long and useful, and not to mention a GLOW to go along with it.

Helen Let me start by saying Happy Birthday OSG!! I absolutely love this blog and I am so glad that you started writing it As for myself, my passion is my boys! I have to admit that they are my number 1 fans..haha! Noah is always saying “Mom your a great chef”, which I am not a chef career wise. I have used several of your recipes to make healthier versions of their favorite foods. Thank you for your inspiration, ideas, and yummy treats!

Draw for a homemade batch of cookies, Glo bars, or muffins (any from my recipes page!) shipped to your doorstep:

Carrie H Thank you for this reminder of your inspiring story! I love your blog, Angela. I’ve struggled with disordered eating, severe low self esteem and depression for a long time, but I can honestly say that in the past year or so, I’ve really started to appreciate myself for who I am and what I can do. My amazing supportive husband and I had a wonderful vacation to Hawaii last Christmas, and I decided beforehand that I wasn’t going to let my eating issues spoil that trip (like they sadly did on parts of our honeymoon in 2007, but I’m not going to continue to dwell on that — I did for YEARS), and then in May, I ran my first marathon. I’m learning to honor myself and be appreciatiave of my health, and while I still struggle sometimes, I really focus on no longer dwelling so much on appearance. Thanks for reminding me of that this morning!

Grand prize draw for $100 Glo Bakery gift certificate

Susan My passions change as my life changes. What I was passionate about when I was single vs when I became married vs when I became a mother are very different, but equally fulfilling. You need to be willing to accept those changes and let go of what worked in the past when it stops working and find what works now.My life journey lessons include always having a goal to strive for – otherwise you stagnate.I learned the hard way, YOU are responsible for making yourself happy – no one can do it for you and it’s not fair to put that burden on someone else – not your husband, not your kids. You are your own entity – own it – love it – take responsibility for it.

If you are a winner please email me (angela@ohsheglows.com) and we will get this party started!

I’ll be back around lunch time, I have a delicious recipe coming on up for you! See you shortly.

Today’s run was probably one of the most memorable runs I have had in a long time, if not ever. Please be warned this is a verbose post!

I don’t know what is going on, but my runs lately have been craaaaazy…

On today’s run, this note became much more real…

But I will get to the reason why in a minute.

After breakfast, Eric and I geared up for our planned bike-run outing. Him on bike, me on foot. I filled up my Camelbak and we were off!

[I don’t listen to music when he is with me because we chat, but I brought the tunes for when we parted ways.]

Today I was planning on doing my last LONG RUN before my half marathon on May 30th. I wanted to do between 10-13 miles today.

I knew I had to get in this run today or my anxiety would be quite high for the race. My training for the half has not been where I wanted it to be. My groin strain set me out for a while and I found it difficult to get in long runs while training for the try-a-tri.

I know deep down I am not trained for this half like I was for my first and second half marathons last Fall 2009. I have accepted this. I know that I have been out there every day that I could and I gave this training (and the try-a-tri) 100% effort. I am going to have fun with my half next weekend and just play it by ear and not stress myself with a time goal! What shall be will be.

Eric was my on site photographer today.

I am hoping all my hill training will benefit me in the race next weekend. I climbed 1836 vertical feet (0.35 miles) on today’s run!!!

I think Eric was so bored on this bike ride because he basically went along to keep me company and he had to bike quite slow next to me. I think a snail passed us. I thanked him a million times for coming along to entertain me! I couldn’t have done it without him. His words of encouragement were so needed during the long hill climbs.

After 7.5 miles I dropped Eric off at home, filled my Camelbak with H20, and fueled up.

I was covered in salty sweat from head to toe. It was hot out there.

I had two dates for fuel…

…and I was off.

I did not want to go back out there. I almost talked myself out of it. Eric mentioned that he was going to watch a movie and I wanted to just stay inside and cuddle him on the couch.

However, I kept my half marathon goal in my mind and I headed back out there.

This was a deciding moment of dedication for me.

I told myself, you are so much stronger than you think, and I was convinced.

I would like to give a special shout-out to two songs that honestly made the difference in my energy for this second part:

• ‘Forever’ by Chris Brown (never fails to remind me of this epic video and then this one!! hahah)
• ‘Not Myself Tonight’ by Christina A.

Fun songs.

I looped the neighbourhood a couple times. Around mile 11, I was debating in my mind whether I would run up to the end of the street or whether I would turn back early and head home. I decided to run to the end of the street.

As I was running to the end, the unthinkable happened.

I witnessed an accident!!!

A huge Harley Davidson motorcycle was turning left onto the street I was on, when all of a sudden the bike swerved and flipped on the side, skidding, and pinning a man and a woman onto the pavement underneath the bike.

I screamed, in shock, and bolted to the accident. I was about 30 feet away and ran to them as fast as I could. Sometime during this I lost my sunglasses. The man was struggling to get the bike off of him and the woman, but he was trapped. The woman was screaming in pain and it was one of the scariest things I have ever seen. She got the worst of the accident because she was trapped under the bike the most and it was crushing her legs.

I immediately grabbed the Harley, which was on its’ side, by the seat, and lifted it off of the people who were stuck beneath it. I have no idea how I was able to lift the bike…Eric tells me they are around 500 pounds!!! I now believe what people say when you are in a dangerous situation and the adrenaline is pumping, you can accomplish amazing feats of strength. Unfortunately I pushed the bike up with mostly my left arm, which is my sore tricep, so I am hurting a bit right now, but obviously it was a necessary act!!

[image source]

That is similar to what the bike looked like.

As soon as I got the bike off them a nearby couple (who heard the screaming) called 911. The woman was bleeding and all scraped up and I am almost positive she broke a leg, if not a foot. I felt so bad for her and kept reassuring her that the ambulance was on its’ way. She was crying and in shock. Not even 2 minutes later the ambulance arrived. I was so surprised at how quickly they arrived. Kudos to the paramedics!

After they were taken away, I wished them well, and then I left for home. I looked around for my sunglasses and found them right about where I was when I first bolted over. I guess they fell off me…I don’t remember. I was about a mile away from home, and that mile was run in shock. I could not believe what just happened and I was a bit choked up over it. Luckily I decided to run to the end of the street or I would have turned onto a different street and not have been there to help.

Despite the accident, I managed to have a strong long run.

The run:

• Distance: 12.44 miles
• Time: 2 hours 6 minutes
• Avg pace: 10:08 min/mile

Mile splits:

• Mile 1: 9:31 min/mile, ascent 147 ft
• Mile 2: 9:35, ascent 118 ft
• Mile 3: 9:58, ascent 154 ft (I started to doubt myself after just 3 miles)
• Mile 4: 10:38, ascent 131 ft
• Mile 5: 10:24, ascent 144 ft
• Mile 6: 10:35, ascent 285 ft (part of murder hill!!!!)
• Mile 7: 10:12, ascent 159 ft
• Mile 8: 10:04, ascent 102 ft
• Mile 9: 10:28, ascent 192 ft
• Mile 10: 10:20, ascent 76 ft
• Mile 11: 9:46, ascent 116 ft (just before the accident, I was trying to finish strong)
• Mile 12: 10:13, ascent 158 ft
• Mile 12-12.44: 9:34, ascent 55 ft (finished strong!)

After returning, I did what I said I would never do.

I had an ice bath…

Getting in was the worst part. Actually all of it was the worst part.

With green tea to warm me!

It was not fun, but my legs do feel better than they did. I also iced my sore tricep. My body is basically hurting all over right now. This week is a taper week though, so I will be resting a lot!

After the ice bath, I had quite possibly one of the biggest salads I have ever made in my life. I realize I say this a lot. :happy:

The uber big salad contained: 2 organic romaine hearts, 1 tomato, 1 cup chickpeas, salsa, mustard, pure maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, turmeric spice (reduces inflammation), hummus, black pepper, sea salt.

The only way I can explain these salad toppings is that I felt similar to a pregnant lady. There was no wrong topping for this salad. It just all seemed appropriate. [It actually tasted great too, but again that could have been the crazy hunger talking…] After the salad, I had a Raw + GF Glo Bar.

Last but certainly not least, I wanted to tell you guys about this really awesome Live Well 360 Core Fitness bag! My friend Sheila from Live Well 360 told me about this bag they were designing months and months ago and she asked me if I would like to review the bag and also donate Glo Bars for this amazing giveaway they are having. Of course I said yes!

The bag is beautiful. I was blown away by the quality of the bag, right from first glance.

The 360 Core bag boasts ‘storage compartments for shoes, jewelry, beauty products, and more along side a new level of durability through its ballistic nylon exterior, satin nickel hardware, and heavy duty zippers.’ The bag reminds me a lot of Lululemon bags, with the motivational words plastered all over the lining and all the functional pockets inside.

My favourite part of the bag is this awesome hidden pouch (shown below left) where you can put your sneakers and dirty gym clothes. What a genius idea!!!

The bag is pricey- at $129- but after I received the bag I understood the price point. The quality and attention to detail is very apparent. You can tell that so much love and time went into creating this bag. Sheila also tells me that many people are using the bag for a travel bag too.

Live Well 360 is having a huge giveaway for fantastic health and fitness products. There are tons of items up for grabs- including a Garmin forerunner- and even Glo bars!

The What’s In Your Bag Giveaway ends tomorrow (May 25th, 11:59 PM PST). For contest rules, see here.

I have decided (with Sheila’s blessing!) to donate this bag to my Shop 4 A Cause 2 charity auction. You guys will have the chance to bid on the bag should you wish! I am confident it will go to a great home :biggrin: and we will raise some awesome money for cancer in the process!

Well, that was a record-long post clocking in at 2 hours. I must apologize not to have the cupcake recipe up, but I promise it is coming tomorrow morning.

Today’s question- Have you ever been in an emergency situation before? Were you surprised at how you reacted?

Have a great night!

Swimming laps is FUN!

But first, the winner of the 4lb Amazing Grass giveaway!

Congrats to CARLY!!!

Carly said, “My turning point was when I got sick of being in a body I didn’t feel comfortable with. I didn’t want to be a the beach for another summer feeling the same crappy way. During the same time I also became completely inspired by reading your blog and so many amazing other health blogs! Watching these strong, confident, driven women made me realize that I am the same way and I can do it too! Thanks for all your inspiration Angela! p.s. I made my first green monster today!”

Carly, please email me (angela@ohsheglows.com) with your mailing address.

For those of you who didn’t win, Amazing Grass is offering Oh She Glows readers a special 20% off discount code- just use ‘OHSHEGLOWS’ in the checkout!

~~~

Before leaving for the pool last night, I was so excited and nervous. However, once I put my new swimsuit on, I felt confident. There is something to be said about a new piece of workout gear for inspiration!

I had a few almost freak-out moments once we were there, in the flesh…

1) Seeing a gross band-aid stuck on the garbage can in the change room.

2) Two minutes before 8pm, our swim was about to begin. I FROZE with fear. I was this close to saying to Eric I didn’t want to go in the water. We decided to sit on the sidelines for a couple minutes and just watch. I visualized myself rocking the laps!

3) Walking 4 feet to the pool without my flip-flops on. Ick.

4) Seeing a small white mystery object floating underwater, approaching me as I swam closer. I dodged it like a bullet and hoped that it sunk to the ground. Whew.

Here is what I ended up doing:

I swam 750 metres (30 pool lengths) in 40 minutes. I took plenty of rest breaks and just took it nice and easy with no pressure! After lap 1, my body was in shock and I was panting for air. I found that I got used to it after a few laps and got into a nice rhythm. I alternated between the front stroke and breaststroke.

Question: If our pool length is 25 metres, what is considered a lap- 25 m or 50 m?

What I learned after Day 1:

• The slow lane is our friend
• Leave about half a length in between me and the person in front
• Bring two towels. I only brought one towel and it got soaked before I even showered.
• GET EAR PLUGS (many of  you mentioned this). I still have water logged in my right ear this morning. Anyone know any tricks to get it out?
• Good goggles are essential. I loved my new goggles and they work great!
• It really isn’t as scary as I thought it was going to be!
• Peeling off a swim cap hurts
• Bring a lock for the locker
• Saunas feel amazing after a swim
• A lesson would be very helpful

After we got home we were hungry and thirsty and each snacked on a Glo Bar:

This morning my tummy was rumbling and I had a lovely bowl of Vegan Overnight Oats waiting for me! I love coming down to breakfast ready to go.

After coming out of the fridge overnight:

In this bowl: 1/3 cup oats, 1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate Powder, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 3/4 cup almond milk, 1 banana, mashed.

My toppings included Nuts 2 You cashew butter (this brand isn’t as good as Artisana) and my Reduced-sugar maple coconut syrup.

Oh this was soooooo good. I am absolutely hooked.

I had it along with a fresh juice:

I have come to the conclusion that I do not like celery in my juice! It tasted murky.

With my creation (along with crazy bed head!)

By the way, I am so proud of Eric!!

He did awesome last night. Especially for someone who has never had lessons before. We chatted about it more and I think he is now open to the idea of taking a lesson with me so I am going to look into it.

When Eric was a young boy, his class had to do 3 swimming sessions together. Well, Eric couldn’t swim and he got teased by all the kids! Him and another boy had to wear lifejackets to help them swim during these sessions and the kids teased them and laughed. He was so embarrassed because he couldn’t swim well.

He said ever since then he has disliked it and had no confidence when it came to swimming. I am so proud of him that he is conquering this huge fear of his. I am really trying to encourage him as much as I can and help build his confidence. I don’t want him to get overwhelmed, but just to take it one day at a time. He was really worn out and out of breath so I just encouraged him to take lots of breaks and get out of the water and drink water. I think that really helped him and he didn’t feel pressure to crank out a gazillion laps.

Today’s question- Were you ever teased about something as a kid that stuck with you for years? Did you ever find a way to get past it?

When I was young I got my share of teasing! One thing that sticks out in my mind was a boy who told me my arms were too big and muscular. This happened in grade 7 and it stuck with me for years and years. When Eric and I started dating he confessed to me that he loved my arms and thought they were so attractive. It took me YEARS to believe him and to start appreciating my arms for what they do for me each day.

Including BAKING, which is where I am going now for the next several hours! Eric is going to be working on renos today. After that we are going back to Swim & Sports to get some ear plugs.

Have a great Saturday!

Greetings!

Chia Seed Giveaway:

I enjoyed reading your swimsuit confidence tips immensely! Many of them made me giggle.

Verdict: Just STRUT your stuff, mmm kay???

The winner of the chia seed giveaway goes to…MONICA!

Monica said: “It’s easy for someone to feel self conscious in a swim suit, so I have to agree with you- just rock the suit! If you feel uncomfortable, you will probably be seen that way. Also, just make sure it’s not TOO tight.”

Congrats! Please email me (angela@ohsheglows.com) with your mailing address and we will get this shipped out to you.

Amazing Grass Giveaway:

I am always asked what my favourite Amazing Grass products are:

Amazing Grass Chocolate Green Superfood and Amazing Meal Chocolate are my two favourite products. (Click image for more info).

I have an amazing giveaway today for one lucky winner!

Up for grabs:

• 2 pound supersize container of Chocolate Superfood
• 2 pound supersize container of Amazing Meal Chocolate

How to Enter:

I talk about my ‘Road to Health’ a lot on the blog (full series here). Now, I’m curious about you! Tell me in one comment below if there was a turning point in your life that got you on a healthier path and started your own road to health. What was it? If there wasn’t a turning point, let me know something in your life right now that helps you feel healthier each day. Share your tips and tricks!

My turning point was seeing my weight creep to the highest it had ever been after a routine weigh-in at the doctor’s office. I gained almost 30 pounds in my first year of university and I hit rock bottom. The doctor bluntly looked at me and said, ‘It is really easy to consume more calories than you intend to when you are in university…late nights…partying…it all adds up over time…’ I was embarrassed and I knew in my heart that he was right. After that I vowed to make changes!

Some day-to-day things that keep me feeling amazing are: green monsters, exercise, Amazing Grass, Vitamins (B12, Calcium-Vit D-Magnesium), Sencha Green Tea, colourful fruit/vegetables, and minimally processed foods.

Contest is open to US and CAD residents only. Contest closes Saturday at 8am EST.

GOODLUCK!

See you tomorrow morning for an amazing breakfast banana split recipe.