Happy Halloween!
Before I get to part 1 of the giveaway, I want to share a last-minute Halloween idea.
I present to you: Spooky Shakes…
They are more homely than scary, but let’s just go with it!
I spotted this on Martha and I thought it was a cute idea. To make: all you do is melt a tiny amount of chocolate (about 1-2 tbsp) and then paint chocolate ghost faces on the inside of the glass using the end of a popsicle stick. Easy.
Place the glasses in the freezer or fridge to set the chocolate. For the shake, I blended vegan vanilla ice cream (I love almond or coconut varieties), with a splash of almond milk and some ice, served with a cinnamon stick. You could even make a healthier shake by blending frozen bananas with almond milk. The chocolate faces stay intact thanks to the cold smoothies.
Now, for part 1 of the giveaway…
Today, I’m celebrating YOU – the kick-butt, Green Monster chuggin, recipe-lovin’ Oh She Glows community! On October 31, 2008, I started the blog on a complete whim, not thinking I would ever have the attention span to stick with it, but here I am 4 years later still smashing my head against the keyboard daily and chasing my dreams. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who read the blog each day and my hope is that you find as much inspiration here as I’ve found in all of you.
Now, to celebrate!
1) Blendtec Total Blender & Twister Jar
Blendtec has been gracious enough to donate one of their coveted Total Blender Classic Wildside machines (picture above) valued at $454.95 USD! Whoa baby. I’ve reviewed the Blendtec before on the blog and I can attest that it’s a great machine.
About the blender: “Total Blender Classic Series® is the all-in-one appliance that makes smoothies, fresh juice, ice cream, milkshakes, cappuccinos, margaritas, soups, sauces, bread dough, dressings, salsas, and more! It replaces up to 9 other appliances with one fast easy-to-use machine, at a fraction of the cost. This package includes the new precision tuned 4″ blade in the large nearly 3-quart total capacity BPA-free jar. The new large blade / large jar combination powers through tougher blending tasks and larger recipes with ease, and in less time.”
In addition to the blender, they are also giving away a Twister Jar (shown below) valued at $119.00 USD!
About the Twister Jar: “Blendtec’s newest innovation, the Twister Jar, is designed to blend your thickest recipes such as: Nut Butters, Hummus, Baby Food, Dips, Thick Shakes, Dressings and more! Best of all, it’s compatible with all Blendtec Home Blenders.”
Update: The giveaway winner is….
Thank you for sharing your touching (and often hilarious!) “lessons to my younger self” comments. If you are ever feeling down and need a pick me up, just read through the comments. It’s amazing to see how many of us have struggled with the same life lessons.
The lucky winner of the Blendtec machine is #3659 – Alicia Woulfe! Congrats! I will email you shortly to collect your mailing address. Thanks to everyone for participating!
How To Enter:
Giveway is now closed.
When i was younger, I struggled with body image issues. I was very unkind to my body and would beat myself up everyday for not being “perfect.” Your blog has truly inspired me to lead a healthy life and to love and respect myself. I truly regret spending all that time feeling bad about myself. If i could say anything to my younger self, I would say “You are already perfect.”
I would remind myself no matter how big the mountain seems today it will be the molehill in my rear view mirror tomorrow. Mountain or molehill, it is still just one step at a time!
As depressing as this is, my advice would be “NO DISORDERED EATING” I am STILL, years later, having issues (stress fractures etc) from those days of being underweight :(
I would tell my younger self that I am smart even though I was labeled with a learning disability. I will find my passion and I will have no limits! What an amazing give-away!!! :)
I would tell my younger self to recognize that you have everything important in life, your health, an amazing family, and a network of friends that you thought you could only dream of having, so don’t take these things for granted! I would also tell her that life is about making meaningful connections with other human beings and if you focus on that, everything will turn out just fine :)
Angela, I love this blog and your story, it’s such an inspiration. Keep up the amazing work!
I would tell my younger self to appreciate the body you have…in 10 years you’ll realize how darn good it looked!!!
and i just tweeted!
I would tell my younger self to plan better for the future and go after what you REALLY want, not just what you want in the moment. It feels good to accomplish those bigger goals and be proud of yourself.
I repinned your homemade rolo recipe :)
I would tell myself too not care so much about what other people think!
I would advise my younger self to follow your heart and not worry about peer pressure or parent pressure, have the strength to do what you love.
I would tell my younger self to stop worrying about looking like your friends and the girls you see in the magazine. Your brown skin is beautiful and let that fro go!!
I would tell my younger self you are beautiful just the way you are.
If there is one thing I would want to try to always remind my younger self is to live in the moment and be happy in that moment. Sometimes it can be easy to spend too much time planning the future that you end up missing the present!
Also, I tweeted the contest on Twitter… my very first “tweet” even though I’ve had a twitter account for a while now!
Dear younger self,
Get a job. Really. I mean, it’s nice to have an extended childhood and all, but think of how terrified you are going to feel when you have no work history and no social business prowess entering your first job interview. And while you’re at it, set up a savings account. The sooner you start saving, the sooner you can buy that dream house that your future self will begin planning for on a new social network that will be called Pinterest, and the sooner you can stop throwing your money down the drain. Thats tens of thousands of dollars that you could have invested.
Love, Your Future Self
I’d tell my sixteen year old self not to worry so much!
I’ve also pinned!!! http://pinterest.com/pin/129971139217520993/
Don’t be so afraid of failure that you fail to push yourself. Try new things and don’t worry so much about whether or not you succeed. Just enjoy the experience.
I would tell my younger self to stop worrying what people think of you. It’s more important to be happy, healthy, and true to yourself than to be liked by everyone.