Lunchtime Links for January 25th, 2021

• The Kitchn: The best garlic shortcuts. 
• The Impulsive Buy: Reese's snack cakes.
• Crazy for Crust: Chocolate cupcakes.
• Apartment Therapy: At home workout tips.
• Cookies and Cups: Chicken noodle soup.

bkr Water Bottles at Marshalls

Just when I think I don't need any more water bottles, I had to come across these super cute bkr bottles on a recent trip to Marshalls!  I've seen them at both TJMaxx and Marshalls recently, and it's been a lot of fun discovering them at random times. There are various sizes of bkr bottles, and I'm quickly adding more and more varieties to my collection.  

It should surprise no one that I bought the cute little buttered toast bottle - the little faces are too cute! These bottles are glass and the cap, bottle, and sleeve are all dishwasher safe which makes them really easy to clean.  They're a cute and easy way to drink water throughout the day!

 

Briogeo -Superfoods Hair Pack

I bought this Briogeo Be Gentle Be Kind Superfoods Hair Pack from Sephora a while ago, but I wanted to make sure I had used it at least a few times before writing about it.  If you get any of the Sephora Play subscription boxes, you might already be familiar with the Briogeo brand - I think there's been a few times where their haircare samples have been included in the boxes.  That is how I became familiar with the brand myself, from trying out a few of their hair masks and conditioners.   I'm especially a big fan of their Rosarco Milk Reparative Leave-in conditioning spray, which leaves your hair super soft!

First off, I'm a sucker for fun packaging, which is what I liked about this Superfoods set to begin with - they're like the green juice bottles that I can't help checking out whenever I'm in Whole Foods or some fancypants juice bar, haha.  Based on the Sephora item description, I think this set is suitable for all hair types if you want some extra hydration (who doesn't?)

"This nutrient-rich duo is formulated to visibly replenish dull and parched locks with a supercharged boost of vitamins and hair healthy ingredients. Be Gentle, Be Kind™ Matcha + Apple Replenishing Superfood Shampoo is a green-juice inspired shampoo, packed with matcha and apple to cleanse and help nourish hair without stripping it of moisture. The Be Gentle, Be Kind™ Kale + Apple Replenishing Superfood Conditioner is a smoothie-textured conditioner that will give your hair a daily dose of kale and apple to nourish and hydrate. By harnessing the power of fruit and vegetable fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, this regimen will support the vibrancy of hair and as the perfect companion to your wellness routine."

You can definitely smell the apple from both bottles - it's such a light and fresh scent, especially welcome in these humid summer days. My hair has been very soft after using these, and doesn't weigh my hair down at all.  As an extra bonus, if you're in the market for some new "clean" products to add to your routine, this definitely fits the bill.  Briogeo products continue to be my go-tos for hair products and I'm very happy that I tried out this set!  

Lunchtime Links for April 21st, 2015

• Weelicious: Hummus veggie wraps.
• Crazy for Crust: Reese's Pieces Cookies.
• Gimme Some Oven: 5 ingredient tropical smoothie.
• Handle the Heat: Chocolate chip graham cracker cookies.
• Sugar and Cloth: Beach macarons.

Lunchtime Links for January 16th, 2015

• The Pioneer Woman: Tomato soup with Parmesan croutons.
• The First Year Blog: Football Oreo balls.
• How Sweet It Is: Creamy roasted garlic potato soup with crispy Brussels sprouts and chili oil.
• Crazy for Crust: Easy pretzel buns.
• Picky Palate: Spicy honey chicken vegetable rice bowls.

City Sports - Rockville, MD

I was recently invited to check out the new City Sports location in Rockville, Maryland as part of their Bloggers' night, and I was excited to check out this new store with my friend A.  You might think this is a little random for my blog... it is, but I always like checking out new stores in my area, and I always like fun workout clothes haha.  This City Sports is located in the new Pike & Rose complex, which is still under construction but coming along very nicely.  There's a big parking garage in the space, and already a few new restaurants and shops that are open for business.

The store is spacious, and I noticed something that I'm not sure was on purpose.  As far as I could tell, the shelves and signage weren't tall enough to block the rest of the store behind it - which is great for someone that is really short, haha.  Even I could look around the store and see each section easily.  Everything is laid out clearly so it's easy to figure out which section you're looking for.  The staff was very friendly and eager to help out, so be sure to ask any questions you have - especially about running shoes!

For the event, there was a Brooks rep at a table with different products displayed, and their different shoe designs (and each one's benefits) on the display board.  A lot of the shoes looked familiar because I regularly see them on The Hungry Runner Girl's blog :o)

You might notice a theme in the items I was drawn to, haha. I love the combination of dark grey/black with the bright mint/turquoise! I feel like these bright pops of color would actually make me happy to work out, haha. 

I also kept coming back to this SUPER SOFT Nike running hoodie (pretty much the same as this one online, I believe).  It looked so comfortable, and I maaaaaaay be going back to the store to take another look at it.  

Thank you to City Sports for inviting me, the delicious Del Frisco's Grille appetizers, and the super fun gift bag as well. Welcome to the neighborhood, City Sports! 

*I was invited to a blogger's night at this City Sports location but not required to write a blog post, I just wanted to share my shopping experience!*

City Sports - Rockville

11600 Old Georgetown Road

North Bethesda, MD 20852

BluePrint Green Juice

These BluePrint juices aren't new, but I have been enjoying them for a while now so I figured I would post about them.  They aren't cheap, but on occasion Whole Foods has had sales on them, and I always make sure to take advantage.  These specific juices were being sampled at Wegmans, and they had a great coupon for these as part of the promotion.  

Don't let the color deter you - I find these juices refreshing and really easy to drink.  Now, I've never had these as part of a real cleanse, but I do like drinking them after a heavy meal or as a healthy refreshing drink.  Be sure to try the other juice combinations as well!

Lunchtime Links for May 19th, 2014

• Kirbie's Cravings: Single serving microwave matcha cookie.
• The Pioneer Woman: Lasagna rollups.
• Crazy for Crust: Healthier banana bread.
• Damn Delicious: CPK's Kung Pao spaghetti.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Salted peanut butter cup chocolate chip cookies.

Lunchtime Links for May 13th, 2014

• Kirbie's Cravings: Sweet and sour chicken.
• Averie Cooks: Strawberry banana pineapple smoothie.
• Damn Delicious: Avocado egg rolls.
• Love & Olive Oil: Frosted Funfetti layer cake. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Cappuccino cheesecake bars. 

Lunchtime Links for April 16th, 2014

• Damn Delicious: Spaghetti Carbonara. 
• A Kitchen Addiction: Dark chocolate chip graham banana bread.
• The Comfort of Cooking: Garlic Parmesan knots.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: Asian crispy honey chicken.
• Gimme Some Oven: Sea salt and vinegar kale chips. 

bkr Water Bottle

The minute I saw the bkr bottle sale on One Kings Lane, I fell in love with the minimalist design and the variety of colors that the bottles came in.  I immediately gravitated towards this Crush color, and in the end I'm really glad I got this one.  It's such a bright and fun color, it can make even water exciting, haha.  The bottle itself is made of glass so it's super durable without being too heavy for regular use.  Check these out if you're looking for a stylish and travel-friendly bottle for your beverages :o) 

thinkThin Giveaway - Winner!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:11Powered by RANDOM.ORG


(For some reason it keeps going back to "100" in the Max field above, I did do this with the right number!)
The winner of my thinkThin Wellness box giveaway is #11, Jordan, whose favorite healthy snack is:
I love broccoli with hummus or edamame (fresh or dry-roasted) for a quick, healthy snack. I've tried ThinkThin bars before and absolutely love them. 
I got lots of great responses about everyone's favorite healthy snacks, like fresh fruit, nuts, vegetables, and yogurt. Thank you to everyone that entered! 

thinkThin Bars - Review and Giveaway

I was recently approached with an offer to sample several varieties of thinkThin bars, which may be ironic considering the not-so-health-minded nature of my blog, haha.  However, I had seen some of these bars before at Whole Foods and thought it would be a worthwhile product for me to try out.

Just under a week ago, my package arrived, containing three boxes with the following bars:

thinkThin Chunky Peanut Butter Protein Bar:
- This high protein bar packs the nutty flavors of chunky roasted peanut butter blended with cocoa and covered in luscious milk chocolate. With zero grams sugar and no gluten, it's a guilt-free treat you can feel good about.

thinkThin Crunch Blueberry Mixed Nuts Bar:
- With 60% less sugar and 2x the amount of protein than leading fruit and nut bars, this delicious nutty delight is not only a good source of fiber packed with peanuts, almonds and cashews, but also has a generous helping of blueberries - nature's jewels and nutrition-rich superfruits.

thinkThin Crunch Coconut Chocolate Mixed Nuts Bar:
- Weirdly, this one had no description on the website, haha. It is similar to the Blueberry Mixed Nuts bar, but with coconut flakes on top and a chocolate coating on the bottom half. 

The chunky peanut butter bar, I could definitely see myself buying on my own - helllllloooo, peanut butter and chocolate, no complaints here. But then I just had to laugh at the irony of receiving BOTH a blueberry and coconut-based bar, considering my general disdain of those specific flavors. It's almost as if the company really wanted to challenge someone to review something they wouldn't normally eat, haha.

Anyhoo, I tried all of the flavors out, and here are my quick notes on them:

Chunky Peanut Butter Protein bar: Woo! This is a filling and tasty bar, especially if you're a fan of peanut butter like I am.  I had this for breakfast for a few days, and it was a convenient and quick way to eat at work.  I initially thought it would actually be more chunky (as in, chunks of peanuts inside), but it's still more on the chewy side than smooth in terms of consistency.  For being a relatively small bar it definitely kept me full until lunch.

Blueberry Mixed Nuts bar: I actually liked the appearance of this bar at first glance- it looked like there were lots of whole nuts and other stuff packed into the small snack-size bar. Like I said before, I don't like blueberries but fortunately (for me), this bar wasn't packed with tons of whole berries, more like dabs of blueberry pieces throughout.  It started to taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich after a few bites, due to the abundant nuts and the pockets of blueberries.

Coconut Chocolate Mixed Nuts bar: This bar is the same snack-size as the Blueberry Mixed Nuts, but with a liberal sprinkling of coconut on top.  I liked the layer of chocolate on the bottom of the bar, because hello, chocolate. Not my favorite, but anyone that is a fan of coconut/chocolate will enjoy this one.

Overall, I was happy to try out something new, and I think these bars are a great option for a quick breakfast, snack, travel companion, or a little something to tide you over when you're feeling Hangry.  I'm planning on bringing a few of the peanut butter bars on my trip to Japan (TOMORROW!) in case I get hungry on the plane rides.

Now, here's the fun part!  In addition to my samples I was offered a chance to give one of my readers a chance to try these out too, in a Wellness Box:

Wellness Box includes:  one 10 bar box of thinkThin® high protein bars (with 0g sugar), one 10 bar box of thinkThin® Crunch (with 10g protein and 70% less sugar than leading fruit and nut bars), three boxes of thinkThin® Bites.

Here's how to enter:

• Follow my blog ("Join this site" widget on the bottom left section of this page), if you aren't already following.
• Leave a comment on this post with your favorite healthy snack. Apple slices? Yogurt? Rolled up turkey slices?  Let me know!
• Giveaway will run from 10:00AM May 21st - 5:00PM June 3rd (Eastern Standard Time).
• Winner will be chosen at random and notified via e-mail (so please make sure there is a valid e-mail address attached to, or included in the body of your entry). The winner's name will be announced on my blog after winner verification.
• One entry per person, please.

I look forward to seeing the entries while I am in Japan! 

Lunchtime Links for May 14th, 2013

• Two Peas and Their Pod: Salted caramel skillet brownies.
• The Pioneer Woman: Quick and easy roasted red pepper pasta. 
• Cookies & Cups: Bacon praline brittle.
• Oh, Ladycakes: Salted chocolate-pretzel peanut butter cookies. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: 2 ingredient Nutella mousse. 

CVS Deals - Week of 05/05/2013

This week, there are lots of great deals on toothpaste, greeting cards, and body lotion at CVS!

First, for those of you that continue to suffer from seasonal allergies like me, you can get a box of Kleenex for super cheap haha.

- Kleenex 100ct, lotion 70ct, or upright 60ct: $0.99 on sale, $0.25 CVS kiosk coupon (it will print out when you scan your ExtraCard).

- Two Colgate Optic White toothpastes: $2.99 each on sale, $1/2 manufacturer's coupon, $2 Extra Bucks back.

- Hallmark greeting cards/gifts: Buy $20 of Hallmark items, get $5 Extra Bucks back.  And yes, this does include the $0.99 and $1.99 cards!

- Bic Soleil disposable razors 3-pack: $6.99 on sale, $3.00 manufacturer's coupon, $2 Extra Bucks back.

- Aquaphor/Eucerin body products: Buy $20 of either brand, and get $10 Extra Bucks back. I got two tubes of Eucerin intensive repair hand cream and one tub of Eucerin original healing cream, with a $3/2 manufacturer's coupon and $1.50 manufacturer's coupon.

Happy shopping everyone!

Lunchtime Links for February 28th, 2013

• Eat, Live Run: Salmon honey teriyaki.
• Dessert for Two: Nutella recipe round-up.
• Table for Two: Holy Yum chicken.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Red velvet hot chocolate.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Cauliflower steaks with ginger-soy sauce.

Lunchtime Links for February 25th, 2013

• Picky Palate: Red velvet Milky Way cake cookies. 
• Brown Eyed Baker: Buckeye brownies. 
• Bakerella: Mini puppy cupcakes. 
• The Kitchn: Swiss roll cake. 
• Kirbie's Cravings: Healthier red velvet cake. 

Lunchtime Links for January 29th, 2013

• Brown Eyed Baker: Chipotle chicken and corn chowder. 
• Picky Palate: Soft batch style chocolate chip cookies. 
• Table for Two: Skinny chicken and broccoli alfredo.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Truffle stuffed chocolate chip cookies. 
• How Sweet It Is: No-bake double chocolate peanut butter snack bites. 

Lunchtime Links for December 17th, 2012

• Aida Mollenkamp: Hazelnut-chocolate linzer cookies. 
• How Sweet It Is: Thai chicken quesadillas.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Healthier red velvet cookies.  
• Table for Two: Molasses ginger cookies. 
• Cookies & Cups: Gingerbread cupcakes with white chocolate pudding frosting. 

Lunchtime Links for September 5th, 2012

• Serious Eats: Flap Jack cupcake at Baked & Wired.
• Eat Yourself Skinny: Summer veggie potato salad.
• Gallery Girls: Recap from TVGasm. 
• The Kitchn: 5 empanada recipes. 
• The Pioneer Woman: Chocolate covered s'mores.