Snack Time!

We’re people on the move and sometimes our days can get stuck in a traffic jam. Does that mean we should skip eating? Nope!

Should we reach for a candy bar? Nope!

It can be pretty challenging to find a healthy snack to eat from convenience stores. I like to always have a healthy snack with me so that if something I’m doing takes longer than expected, I am able to make a healthy choice without sliding into the ‘hangry’ zone.

Some people feel best with small frequent meals, others do best with three square meals. There is not a hard and fast rule - whatever works best for you to support even energy and mood throughout the day is the right answer for you.

If you do choose to have snacks, aim for something 100-200 calories total. Don’t forget to count drinks too! If you have a low-fat latte, that frothy milk provides calories! Ideally, snacks should include more than one food group; I love to pair nuts and fruit!

For the busy BlueTique shopper, totable snacks are a win-win. They don’t make a mess in your cute new tote and you won’t delve into the hunger danger zone. I love to use a metal tin to keep snacks at hand without creating a lot of trash.

• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (sometimes called pepitas) + 1 small latte
• 1-2 mini babybel cheeses + 1 serving of whole grain crackers
• ¼ cup peanuts + ¼ cup raisins
• 1 clementine + ¼ cup brazil nuts
• 1 cup pea pods + ¼ cup hummus
• 1 LARABAR
• ¼ cup dried cranberries + 2 tablespoons dark chocolate

    With good planning and prep, there is no reason to get hungry! Enjoy those healthy snacks and keep shopping.

    Ready for a challenge? How about 21 days of real food! Start the month with good food and invite your friends. Enroll here.

For more tips and tricks, visit Grass Roots Nutrition, LLC in Oxford, Ohio. Grass Roots Nutrition is owned by by Holly Larson, Registered Dietitian and is your source for accurate and reliable nutrition recommendations. Visit Holly online at www.hollylarsonrd.com and follow her on facebook at www.facebook.com/hollylarsonmsrd, twitter @HollyLarsonRD and see what’s cooking in her kitchen on pinterest. 

Holly loves writing for BlueTique - a company that provides affordable fashion on your campus and online. Have a delicious, healthy day!

New Year, New Inspirations

Happy Friday, everyone! These past two weeks have been crazy. It's finally a new year and next week it will seem that all of those parties and family gatherings never happened, a faint memory of our past. While some of you may still be recovering from Tuesday night's festivities, the weekend is upon us...finally! This gives you the chance to really make your comeback and get excited for this new year, full of new possibilities. I know we all make countless resolutions and yes, many are hard to keep. But this year just do the best you can, Rome wasn't built in a day. So for this post I won't talk about my resolutions or what my plans are, but just what inspires me. I'm sure you can all tell from my past posts that I'm a daydreamer, so I've gathered a few of my favorite images from around the web as a start to my inspiration board for 2014. I hope these images inspire you too! May all of your hopes and dreams come true in 2014..make it count, y'all!!                                  

                                              

          

 

What inspires you?!

Let me know in the comments below!

New Year!

Hello beautiful people!
Back to work and it feels like a Monday, thank goodness it's actually Thursday. Lots of coffee will be consumed today. I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe NYE, now it's back to reality. With a new year comes the majority of Americans believing that they can start fresh, "New year, new me," right?

While I was thinking (googling) how many new years resolutions are made, and how many are kept, I started to think about how I really think about all of it. People make these resolutions public knowledge because they are making them for the public, not for themselves. Now, I know some of you are thinking, "No, they're making sure someone can hold them accountable," or something like that, but I call bull hockey. Living for  the approval of other people is something we are all guilty of, so, why not take care of yourself this year?



I hope this year is everything you have ever wanted for yourself. Where there is a will, there is a way:)

Made with love,
Chaney

NYE Make-up!

Happy New Year Beautifuls! 

Couldn't think of a better way to close out the Bluetique Blog year and write my first post, than to share one of my biggest passions with all you lovely ladies - makeup, makeup and more makeup! Just wanted to share some really easy, yet statement looks for New years with y'all!

This was such a fun one to do and I had some amazing faces from the office to play on!

Whitney needed a little extra help! :)

Hunter has the most lovely green eyes so I did a very simple smokey eye on her using purples to bring out her eyes.  I first used a purple liner from Urban Decay, color 1999, in her crease before I put any shadow on so that the shadow would be more intense over top.  Next, I used a pallet from Lorac called Star Struck that has three different shades of purple, starting with the darkest in her crease and along her lash line.  I applied

the lightest color to the rest of the lid and then blended the two together with the last color.  I added a little liner and mascara, filled in the brows and Hunter is ready to go!

Whitney was obviously a little more challenging! haha that picture makes me giggle!  Whitney has the perfect eye shape to do a thick winged liner.  This is such a super easy to look to achieve.  I added a base color to Whitney's eyes (MAC's Rice Paper shadow) and defined her crease slightly with a mat brown shadow.  Starting from the middle of her lash line,  I pulled the black gel eyeliner (MAC's Blackout)  above her lash line to create the cat eye effect.  Then filled in below that line to make the line thick.  Mascara is all the needed after that!  Did a slight contour to her cheek bones (Guerlain's Bronzing Powder in shade 4) and added a red lip (YSL's Rouge Pur Conture #1) and that completed her pinup look!

Hope to have inspired you to go home and play with the fun makeup goodies that you have and to enjoy your New Years Eve!  Goodbye 2013, Hello Gorgeous 2014!

Jaci

Aerial Yoga

So this past weekend I needed some change in my regular fitness routine..it seemed I was sick of running throughout the neighborhood for the millionth time. I had recently heard about a new studio in town that offers Aerial Yoga which is basically flying, I decided I'd give it a go.

This was the coolest experience I've ever had. Once enrolled in a class the instructor fits you to your hammock so you'll be sure to master moves above the ground. We did everything from planks to downward dog and to my favorite, crazy inversions. If you're lucky enough to have a studio in your town offering aerial yoga..I suggest you try it ASAP!!

Here's a little video for you to enjoy :)

So tell me, would you try this?!

Let me know in the comments below.

Happy Monday, y'all!

Let's go to the Movies

Hey kids, it's that time of year again. No, no, not that thing happening on the 25th but all of the movies coming out this month! If you're like me, then you have to be uber excited to see all of this greatness Hollywood has in-store for us. I mean we go from the fantasy world of Bilbo Baggins to the vivacious world of the seventies..and everything in between. Here's a list of all the movies I'm looking forward to seeing this month.

1. American Hustle

The cast is enough for me..Good Times, Bad Times may have a little something to do with it, too

2. The Wolf of Wall Street

Leo is in it..enough said

3. Inside Llewyn Davis

If you're in to folk music, this is for you. Also, did I mention Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan are in it?!

4.Saving Mr. Banks

Who can't wait to learn about the real Mary Poppins?!

5. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Just looks wonderful in general..Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig, y'all

6. Her

I mean, Spike Jonze is back

So tell me, do you want to see any of these movies, what are you looking forward to watching this month?!

Happy Holidays!

Blue Apron Meals

So if any of you are like me, you love to cook but absolutely have zero time to get to the market and fix all of the gourmet meals you dream about. Enter Blue Apron Meals, my new lifesaver. Basically you'll create an account with them and pick your preference of meat & fish or vegetarian. I personally chose the meat & fish and I loved it...I hear the vegetarian is just as wonderful and even better if you're a clean eater. So once you sign up, you get your box every week. I picked the lowest amount of meals per week available, mainly because my weeks are crazy and plans change in an instant (oh the lifestyle of a twenty-something).

 This. is. the. best. thing. ever. 

I'll show you what happens when this gift arrives at your door

First, the box comes (yay!)

It's insulated..don't worry

Then all of this prettiness happens

These were the meals in my box:

1. Sesame Chicken

2. Chipolte Steak Salad

3. Seared Hake

I decided to go with the sesame chicken, because who doesn't love Asian cuisine?

So you pull all of the ingredients and get to cookin'

It gives you a step by step guide..a must for me

and voila!! Yummy sesame goodness for me

I also love these meals because they serve two to four people, so have your friends over and they'll be super impressed by your gourmet meal...or save them for leftovers. I did with the chicken and the salad, they were great for work the next day.

All in all, I'm a super fan of Blue Apron. I would definitely give it a go or maybe gift it as last minute idea...who doesn't like food delivered to their front door?

So tell me, is this something you would try, do you like to cook?

Let me know in the comments below :)

Happy holidays, everyone!