Good morning and happy Wednesday! I hope your morning is trucking along smoothly so far.
Workout + Breakfast
My day kicked off with a 6 a.m. Pure Barre workout with my friend Lindsey, followed immediately by an impromptu coffee date. Lindsey and I met at Pure Barre a few weeks ago and she’s quickly becoming a good friend of mine. Today I learned that her sister has a food blog called Sugar Dish Me and I got a little sidetracked while typing up this morning’s post as I drooled over her delicious-looking recipes. Her healthy dill chicken salad is now on my “must make” list!
After my coffee date with Lindsey (I ordered a vanilla latte), I snacked on a chocolate chip brownie Larabar my way home.
I stocked up on these bars after finding them on sale at TJMaxx before I left for California last week. At first I didn’t understand everyone’s obsession with Larabars but then I tried the bars that had a chocolate or peanut butter base and was officially converted into a Larabar fan. Apparently the fruity Larabars aren’t really my thing, but if you throw some cocoa powder or peanut butter into the mix, I can’t get enough of them.
Once I made it home, I peeled a fresh orange to enjoy while typing up this blog post.
Now it’s time for Sadie’s morning walk before snack + computer time. I have a feeling this breakfast won’t hold me over for too long. See ya after lunch!
P.S. For those who asked about the details from this outfit…
- Crop tank with lace back: Frenchi ($10; via Nordstrom Rack)
- Yellow lace bra crop top: Free People ($19 via Nordstrom Rack, available in more colors on FreePeople.com)
- High-waisted maxi skirt: Soprano ($18 via Nordstrom Rack – So sorry I couldn’t find it online but the black/white version of this one is similar)
Question of the Morning
- What is one snack food you feel like everyone loves that you just don’t enjoy?
My initial answer to this question was SoyJoy bars… but I feel like they aren’t exactly loved by most. Bleh.
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OMG I haven’t had the Chocolate Chip Brownie one yet, that sounds delicious!
Larabars are SUPER easy to make too, I just tried making some the other day and they came out pretty good!
I loved that outfit! Kelly on Kelly and Michael is wearing a crop top today too and I saw 2 ladies them wearing them on Jersey housewives.
Snack I hate – hard boiled eggs! Just can’t do it!
I make my own version of larabars that I actually enjoy more than the store-bought ones (hence why I take the time to make them). I used to eat greek yogurt because it was a good source of protein, but never really actually liked it. I stopped and don’t really care that it’s not my thing 🙂
One snack food that I feel everyone loves that I don’t enjoy(anymore) are energy bars. I think I maxed out when I used to eat a Luna or Lara bar almost everyday a few years ago. Now I avoid them at all costs!!
The number one thing I love about your style is that it is so down to earth and affordable! You always look amazing, well-put together, and professional, but then you list your prices, and my heart soars with hope! Thanks a bunch! I am off to thrift shop for my fall semester of my senior college year! I am going to try to mimic this outfit in some way! 😀
This is so sweet. Thank you, Shelby! <3
I love Laura bars. My go to snack lately has been bananas. Great for the brain!
sounds like a great start to the day! i haven’t tried that larabar flavor, but it sounds delicious.
gimme your abs!
yes!!! Those SoyJoy bars are the worst!
I don’t like Larabars. Not even the chocolate or pb ones. My boyfriend likes them, but I just can’t do it.
Fresh strawberries. I’ve never liked strawberries (except in jam form, where they’re dredged in sugar and cooked), but whenever my mom would get my dad and sister the humongous strawberries from the grocery store, I couldn’t eat them. They were too sour. Then, I started growing strawberries in my garden (for my dad and sis, and to make jam), and compared the ones I grew to the ones from the store, and I think I found the problem: Store strawberries aren’t picked at the right time, and are white in the middle, whereas homegrown are red and sweet all the way through.
Cereal bars in general…I’m just left hungry after them! And cereal! Give me an avocado and some nut butter!
Pretzels! I don’t like them.
Our random coffee date made my day!! Thanks for the shout out to my sister! 🙂 I hope to see you at class soon.
Me too!!! 🙂
I am not a chip person. I can do dry cereal or popcorn, but I have a strong dislike for salty chips.
My girlfriend who lives in CA turned me on the Larabars and when I saw you were eating the Chocolate Chip Brownie (our fav!) – I don’t know why, I got super excited!!! I LOVE those and always stock up when on sale! (Now I want one….)
Almonds… I don’t know why, but everyone I know likes to snack on these and it’s just not my thing. I have to realllly be in the mood for them. 🙁
Coffee & Barre sounds like a fantastic impromptu date to me! I’m trying to get my sister to come along and bribing her with a little coffee brunch date after!
I would say almond butter! I just can’t get myself to love it! I love peanut butter but for some reason almond butter grosses me out!
Those seaweed strips you mentioned a few weeks ago. I went out and tried some and almost threw up! hahaha tasted like a dead fish to me.
Yes, I’m glad I’m not the only one! When I opened the package they smelled just like the ocean, which is not a smell I want for my food. Yuck.
Send them my way!!! I freaking love those things. So sorry you weren’t a fan! 🙂
No worries!! I wanted to try them…plus they were only like $2 haha 🙂
I absolutely love your outfit. I wish I could pull that off or even wear something like that where I live. Probably unlikely though. 🙂 The snack food that I just can’t do.. Olives. Not a fan at all.
That flavor of larabar sounds so tasty!! I too love a chocolate chip base 🙂
Thank you for the outfit details! I was obsessed!
Snacks I hate? Ha. That is easy for me! I am slightly ashamed to say I hate chocolate..so everything that has chocolate is a no-no for me…Yes I am a weirdo!!
Clift bars! Everyone I know loves them and for some reason I just can’t get behind them! It is one of those things that I wish I could like just because of how everyone describes them as being so tasty. blehh. Dang taste buds.
I LOVE Larabars! The chocolate chip cookie dough is my favorite and one of my go-to pre-workout meals! That one food that everyone loves is sushi. I used to LOVE all sushi but soemthing happened and now it really grosses me out and I just don’t enjoy it anymore.
I LOVE that skirt but won’t dare attempt to rock a crop top because my belly is where I like to store the little extra that keeps me warm in the winter time.
Even the name SoyJoy sounds awful. I’ve basically stopped snacking over the last few months. I’m usually not even hungry, and it means I have less food to plan and more calories to spend on meals.
Haha, the picture of the half-eaten larabar in your hand is funny. You don’t need proof that you ate it, I believe you.
Super cute outfit…as usual.
Snack wise – kale chips. Or kale anything for that matter. Blech!
Ugh agreed! Kale is the worst
I loooove Pure Barre! I fell in love after the first class and now that my sticky socks just came in the mail, I’m headed out in a few minutes to my second! Then I’ve got two more scheduled this week because I just can’t get enough. 🙂
My husband and I recently started eating Paleo after my doctor recommended it for my stomachaches. It’s literally changed my entire body in less than two weeks. I feel SO much better. Larabars are about the only bars I have found that are remotely Paleo, but I had tried so many without much of an impression, I finally found the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and the Chocolate Chip Brownie. They have quickly become my favorites! I think I’ll have one after Pure Barre myself…
I feel ya on the Pure Barre love! <3 <3
I have a strange question. Do you ever feel like when you do a Barre workout that it is not a real workout? I always feel if I do yoga or barre it’s not a real workout. That probably sounds so weird.
PB2. Everyone raves about how it’s such a great replacement for peanut butter. When you prepare it to mimic actual pb by adding two tablespoons of water, I can’t see anything but a pile of poop. That’s right. PB2 looks like poop and doesn’t taste much better.
LOL!
I used to really despise dates and didn’t understand how anyone could like them, but, luckily, I’ve learned to like them over the years! They’re especially good when combined with coconut butter or almond butter I think!
Oh and I took my first pure barre class last week and I think I may still be sore from it! I have no clue how you do it so many times during the week! It worked muscles I didn’t even know I had.
Did you like it!?!? I am kind of addicted… 🙂
Loved it! It’s a whole new approach to strength training/toning that I’ve never tried before with the isometric holds and tiny pulses. I don’t think I realized how weak I really was in some areas until I took it.
Cucumbers. I love almost all vegetables but I am just not into cucumbers. It’s funny because most of the people that I know that don’t really like vegetables like cucumbers. Not a fan.
Thanks for the info on you outfit! Gorgeous!
Larabars threw me off at first, but now I love them! The coconut cream pie is just pure heaven!
When I was in China I tried lots of local snacks, I really didn’t like meat flavoured chips, it was really salty and it makes your breath smell like fat pork (the main dish served in the area). There was also a wide variety of chicken feet, dried fish and scorpions. Weird stuff.
I have the SAME feeling about Larabars! I’ve tried several flavors, thinking “I’ll definitely like this one” each time, but I’ve never found one that I enjoy. I’ve never seen/tried a chocolate or peanut butter flavor one though so maybe I’ll give it one last hopeful shot.
Your outfit is seriously adorable.
I don’t like chocolate and peanut butter together. It’s really weird, because I LOVE them separately but I do not enjoy the flavors mixed!
The stickybun lara bar in the bright pink wrapper is my faaaavorite. It is seriously like dessert!
I can’t believe all of those items were acquired at Nordstrom Rack! I’m usually a TJ Maxx girl myself mostly because I can walk there (DANGER! :D) but maybe this weekend I’ll break down and drive to the Rack.
As for a snack food I can’t get behind, well that would be celery. It’s just so blah to me and I don’t like the texture when its in large chunks. As an accompaniment for egg salad I think its great for some crunch, but otherwise I’ll take some carrots.
I don’t like cereal-any kind. That is definitely something most people like!
Julie, do you still use a flat iron to curl your hair, or so you use a wand? If you use a wand, what barrel size do you use? Love how your hair is styled here! Thanks 🙂
Thank you!! I’ve actually been using a curling iron (1.5 inches, I think??) and wrapping my hair around the outside of it. I am planning to do a tutorial at some point!
OMG you are seriously rockin that outfit. Too precious!
Thank you!!
I definitely agree about the fruity vs. chocolate/PB LaraBars. They are just so much tastier!
I absolutely love that outfit, you were rocking it girl! I will have to try the chocolate/PB ones, I wasn’t a big fan of the others either. Greek yogurt, there are about 2 brands I actually enjoy. All the rest tastes like fruit sour cream to me haha.
food i don’t like that everyone loves is anything with caramel, or caramel flavored. so not my thing!
I’ve gotten hooked on Larabars recently. I travel a lot so always have bars with me and I’m trying to cut back as much processed food as I can and these bars have very few ingredients compared to most granola bars that have tons of processed junk! I love the Peanut Butter Cookie – only 3 ingredients: peanuts, dates, sea salt! And it’s delish!
I hated all nuts for the longest time. Wouldn’t eat anything if it had any kind of nut in it! Now I love most kinds!
I actually enjoyed the soyjoy bar I got from an Influenster campaign. It was a cranberry flavor. I’m a fan! I was surprised to find out that others weren’t haha. I’m doing a 28 day healthy eating challenge with my local Whole Foods & I just tried my very first Larabar! I really enjoy them! So far, I’ve had the Peanut Butter Cookie and the Cherry Pie.
BANANAS! I so wish I liked them due to their nutrient content/ portability/ ease…. but I just don’t. Texture totally weirds me out and I can’t handle it! ha
The chocolate chip cookie dough larabars are my fave. I’m with you – chocolate > fruit for that brand!
I love finding great fitness friends. I met some of my very favorite people in the world at my yoga studio. I think I’m more picky about how the snack is prepared than I am about the snack itself. For example: I like apples, but I’m not a fan of eating whole apples so I always cut mine into slices and core them before eating them. I’m also mildly allergic to pears and kiwis, so I definitely avoid those.
That’s my favorite flavor of larabar! Yoga + coffee with a friend sounds like the most perfect morning. Your outfit is too cute. You’re making me want to go to Nordstrom Rack. A lot of people I know love celery sticks dipped in anything and I think celery is the most disgusting food ever.
I’m not sure if melon/honeydew are popular with most people, but I’ve never been able to enjoy them even if I eat it when someone offers it to me. Growing up my mom would force me to eat them but it’s probably the only food I don’t fancy, eek! Makes my throat itch too sometimes.
My sister hates cantaloupe and honeydew, too!
I’m with you on the fruity Larabars. Not my thing, at all. I don’t know if this counts as a “snack” but I can’t handle Almond Butter. Yuck. I love almonds, but not in liquid form. 🙂