Hi everyone! This might be something a bit different and I've never really talked about food on my blog before. But, hey. First time for everything, right? I am actually a self-proclaimed foodie at heart and my love for food has never really changed. I have some of my favorite food items for you all today and I am excited to share what I have been shamelessly indulging and obsessing over lately.

If you take away my peanut butter, you take away my soul. I have lived on peanut butter ever since I was a little girl. I would literally take a huge soup spoon and just eat it out of the jar. Peanut butter is a sacred food in my family because we eat it all the time. I am thankful that I don't have peanut allergies! Sorry for any of you who do. You are missing out! The Jif To Go cups are awesome to take to school or on trips. A little shot of peanut butter never hurt nobody!

The next thing I have been enjoying is honey in my tea. Not just the liquid kind. I don't know how I discovered these Melville Candy honey spoons, but they are the best things in the entire honey universe. They taste more like candy than actual honey, though. I think there's just more sugar in them, but that makes them a hundred times better when you dip them in your green tea! They also come in a bunch of other flavors as well!

I have never been an applesauce fan really. I don't know if it's just the texture of it that I don't really like...I just never liked eating a huge spoonful of it. Now, the applesauce game has changed so much! They're creating these awesome pouches of it that make eating it so much more fun and you don't have to eat it spoonful by spoonful. These Trader nice to take with you to school or to work for a little snack.

My mom picked these weird looking mints up at Trader Joe's the other day. She said that they tasted like minty green tea...and they do! However, my dad said that they tasted like dirt. So, I guess if you like green tea flavored things, you'll be okay with it, ha!

Right now I have been trying to make myself drink tea instead of coffee and I have to say, it's going pretty well. Instead of getting my caffeine through calories and sugar which is most coffee, I drink a cup of tea! I love Trader Joe's organic green tea and I also love to dip my honey spoons into it. I try to have a cup of tea before I go to bed to relax my muscles and everything. Tea is great for you and it isn't as bad as a cup of coffee with a ton of sugar that you don't need. 

I might be doing more posts like this in the future if you all like them! This isn't a food blog by any means, but food is important and I love changing things up for you guys.

Xoxo, Nat

Happy Tuesday everyone! How's your week so far? I have a huge test coming up (the ACT ugh) and that means stress stress stress! You all know how much I have been loving yoga and I have been doing it for almost two years now and I am loving it. It's been keeping me from stressing too much about school. I am a passionate yogi who wants to share her tips, thoughts, and experience with all of you! I will also go through some other tips on staying active and being mindful of your body.

I haven't been the one to worry about their health all that much and as I am growing older, I am seeing the effects of not treating your body as you should (not hydrating enough, eating too much crap, watching too much Netflix...you know). My sister recently gave me her Fitbit Flex to wear since she doesn't really use it that often anyway. This isn't just a pedometer. While I can keep track of my ten thousand steps each day (which is recommended), the Fitbit does a ton of other stuff. Fitbit has tons of other options like ones with heart monitors and clocks, too. I also have different colored bands that you can get to match any outfit! This one specifically counts your steps, distance, calories burned, exercise, water intake, and your sleep! This band has helped me with a lot lately and I feel like it has made a change in my overall diet. I am always striving to be active and walking all the time now. I also love to track how much water I drink each day. That was my New Year's resolution anyway.

 I have noticed that after these few months wearing the Fitbit, I am more focused and energized. Sure it's not like an AMAZING necessity; I think it's just a great way for people who don't feel that motivated to take action about their everyday routine or diet in order to better themselves. I love wearing this to yoga to count my active minutes and exercise, too!

I have been getting into the habit of writing down my thoughts and intentions that I take with me to my yoga practice. My instructor always sets some sort of positive intention for us to remember during our practice. I love how yoga becomes not only a physical activity, but a mental one too. Staying grounded on your mat, and sticking to that thought. Whether it's to just be present, or something as personal as working hard for yourself and only yourself. 

My instructor also says a beautiful quote at the beginning and end of every practice and I love to write these down. Even if I just jot it down on my phone right after, I can always come back to it and remind myself why I love doing yoga. I think that it's important to stop and think of the moment. What you want to accomplish then and there. You don't worry about yesterday or tomorrow. 

I think one of my main goals this year was to just drink water and hydrate. I put so much crap into my body and I feel so bad after. It's not like I hate water, I think I just forget to drink it! I have noticed my skin clearing up a lot more and getting softer than it has every been. I love using this water bottle by Lifefactory everyday at school and also at yoga. It's great to travel and bring with pretty much anywhere! It's spill proof and doesn't break because of the silicon cover (trust me, I have dropped it a few times already). It's also BPA free so no bacteria or mold will form. 

I also think that it's important to have a variety of different exercises so you're body doesn't keep repeating the same movements. It creates no change or makes any other improvements in your body when all you do is like cardio for an hour and that's it. Your body craves different things, it needs different things! My yoga studio offers many different classes. My favorite is Sculpt! We work on all parts of our bodies to the extreme. We do cardio, ab and core work, and muscles in our arms and legs. I have been loving to lift if you can believe it. I feel like I get a great workout after I work my biceps, triceps, shoulders, and my back really hard during Sculpt. 

My studio also has detoxifying and balance improving classes like the Hot Power Fusion (HPF) class. I love this when I need to really stretch out and release all of the gross toxins in my body. It's not as hard-core as Sculpt, but it is set at a very high temperature and humidity.  

I have been loving this Yoga Girl Head Wrap by Lucy. The pattern is so cute and it really helps keep my hair out of my face during my Vinyasa flows!

Do people name their yoga mats? Is that a weird question? I think that anyone's yoga mat is sacred to them! It's like my baby I love it so much and we've been through so much together (Natalie, calm down). I got this a couple months ago after I won a yoga challenge at my studio and received a gift certificate for any merchandise they sold. Of course I would get a new mat! I have heard so many amazing things about Lululemon's 5mm Reversible Mat. It has changed my yoga practice for sure! I don't slip or anything! I really recommend investing in this mat if you are a yogi like me. Some might say that it's a lot to spend on a mat, and that's true. However, I use this almost every day and it has really improved and helped my yoga practice. 

I also like to carry my mat with the Gaiam Yoga Sling. I know some people use bags and sleeves and stuff, but I don't think they're practical because they're so much to carry and hassle with. You have your water bottle, towel, mat, and like all your other belongings already. This strap is just the right thing you need!

I hope you guys enjoyed this post and it brings some new exercise and fitness inspiration whether you are a yogi or not. I think it's vital to include some form of physical and mental exercise in your life! How do you guys get moving and active? Any other activities I should try?

Namaste, Nat

Hey friends! So today I have a different type of post for you guys. You all know how much I love Ellie Goulding right? You don't? Well, here's a specific post on all the great reasons she is one of my role models and favorite person of all time. So, Seventeen Magazine is one of my preferred magazines to read. It's interesting, youthful, fun, stylish, and full of inspiration and honest advice. This month's cover was Ellie Goulding and I was so excited when it arrived in the mail. The things she said in her interview actually inspired me so much to write this post!

Seventeen called her, "honest, unpretentious, and totally relatable" and I couldn't agree more. The article states that as a child, Ellie has dealt with social anxiety at school, boy troubles, divorce, insecurity, and body confidence issues. It's obvious that Ellie has worked very hard to get to where she is now. She is an amazing, talented musician, but she is also a great woman inspiring others to follow their dreams. The segment says that Ellie "wants [young girls] to know that everything is going to be okay" and to always look for the positives. I really look up to and admire her for that. If you all want to learn and read more, you can read here.

I have loved Ellie Golding's music for so long now. When she released "Lights" I was hooked on her unique and beautiful, wispy-like sound. She has deep songs that make you think and upbeat songs that just make you move. She has this specific way of connecting with you that I think no other artist has ever done. As a matter of fact, I'm listening to her new album, Delirium, right now! I have it on repeat because it is just so good. 

Not only is Ellie Goulding a great musician, a strong woman, and a lover of exercise and her two cats, Wallace and Lennon, she is just a real person. Yep, you guessed it. She's real. There's no cover-up media nonsense or fakeness about her. I would love to be her best friend one day and work out with her or something. She's just so cool.

I listen to her on the radio, at school, and I love listening to her when I exercise. She is like a maniac when it comes to working out (she's also like a Nike representative so that's cool, too) and her songs really make me motivated and focused on doing the workout for myself. Whether it be running or yoga, I am automatically pumped and I push myself harder because I know Ellie Goulding would too. I always remind myself that if I want to better myself by exercising, I am only doing it for myself. I am not doing it for anyone else. I am not doing it to make myself skinny. I want to be really strong— just like Ellie. 

I also really love how Ellie Goulding believes in all women. She gets what we go through and how hard it is for women to sort of make something of themselves in our society. She comes from a loving and caring mother that raised her all by herself and she's surrounded with a huge "squad" of strong women. I love that in a role model. 

Here are some of my favorite songs of hers that I relate to and love listening to:

"Animal"

"The Writer" 

(I have listened to this song every time I feel sad. It's just so pretty.)

"Anything Could Happen"

"I Do What I Love" 

(I feel so bad ass when this song comes on. It's like a fight song sort of. It has a great tune and reminds me of Bollywood for some reason... maybe the percussion or something)

"Around U"

(I love jumping and dancing to this song.)

"Army" 

(I love this song a lot because instead of it being like a love song, it's about having great friends and support from your army of peeps and not needing a man to be fulfilled and loved.)

"Something In The Way You Move"

(I love working out to this one. It's mah "lady jam".)

"Here's To Us"

(I believe that this is a new song of Ellie's that was just released for the Girls album. It gave me all the feels! It's quite a beautiful anthem about love. My favorite lyric is "You’ve fallen on your feet giving everything up / There’s something in the way love is never enough,".)

I have always enjoyed Ellie's electric tune and poppy feel. Her past albums like Lights and Halcyon Days were a bit darker I feel and her new album Delirium is like an awakening of bright sounds and anthems. She has a great variation in her music and I think that a lot of people like her because of how different she is. When I first heard "Lights" on the radio, I had no idea who she was! She didn't sound like anyone else I have ever heard. Maybe her British accent intensifies her voice, but I have never heard another singer sing like she does, and it's beautiful.

I am so insanely excited to see her perform when she comes to Chicago for her Delirium Tour and I know it will be one of the most amazing performances that I have ever seen. Ellie Goulding doesn't really make her way "across the pond" that often. So, this will probably be the only time I will ever see her. Besides her coming to Lollapalooza this summer. 

Ellie Goulding has made a huge impact on my life and she taught me that no matter how hard you want something, no matter how hard you work for it, you will get there. She inspires me to be stronger, physically and emotionally. She also inspires me to just be a better version of myself, to just let loose and dance. I'm sure she has inspired many others; she will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Xoxo, Nat