heather & olive

a girl can never have too many cheeky bags.

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Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my younger (and wiser) sister, Mer. Mer, take it away!

This is Mer on her wedding day last year in Jamaica.

Thanks, HMC. I was so excited when my sister asked me to write a guest post on her fabulous blog. I knew she wouldn't just let me take the reins and chat about anything I want (in which case I would probably just show pics of my dogs and cocktails) and so I'm going to let you in on a significant lifestyle change I have recently made: becoming a vegetarian (pescetarian).

Right around Ash Wednesday, I was shown some very disturbing videos about the conditions of many 'farms' from around the country. This, paired with my discovery of Esther the Wonder Pig, made me decide to stop eating meat for Lent. Now, I'm barely a practicing Episcopalian so everyone thought it was pretty funny that I even wanted to give anything up-- and it's well known that I LOVE bacon. However, I made a decision and I wanted to stick with it despite the naysayers. It has turned out to be so much easier than I ever could have imagined! Not only am I eating more of the things that I already knew I loved, like avocados and portobellos and other veggies, I am so much more aware of what I'm putting into my body and the nutrients I need which I was previously getting from meat. I've never been one to drink a cup of milk, but I've discovered almond milk and have been enjoying several servings a day. I'm also eating more tofu and fish, and have even started taking vitamins (the adult gummy kind, of course).

{ via Esther's Instagram}

I hadn't really missed meat until this past weekend, when my sister got wings that looked absolutely delicious and when I was (slightly) hungover Sunday morning and knew bacon would help solve the problem. That said, this whole lifestyle shift will definitely go way beyond Easter. I will never try to push this on anyone and I can be around people who are eating meat. I also don't think I'm 'clean-eating' and still love diet coke and nachos and other things that I should probably stay away from. I've been following a gluten-free diet for almost 8 years since the unfortunate discovery of a wheat allergy, so I'm used to having to pay attention to the ingredients of everything I eat-- but this has somehow made me realize that as I get older (30 this year womp womp), I need to take better care of myself and this one body I have. I consider myself a runner and have even noticed that I feel stronger and healthier when I'm hitting the pavement.

I'm not saying I'll never have meat again, but if I do, it will only from known sources, like the local farms near my home. And that's all for now.

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Good job, Mer Mer!

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I had such a fun, jam-packed weekend: there were delicious meals and a sleepover with my sis, a tasty lunch with my mom, and a "True Detective" marathon. I stayed up way too late last night watching the last episode and eating cake (for some reason I had a hankering and I made an entire sheet cake to enjoy by myself). I was kind of freaked out (by the show, not the cake), but I highly recommend if you haven't seen it yet!

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Ahhhh Friday, I'm so happy to see you. Truthfully, the past couple of weeks have flown by: I started a new project at work that is keeping me busy (and not overly stressed) which is a very nice change. The snow is finally melting, I can take Olive for long walks without her dragging me to the door due the cold, and I started running again--things are on a much overdue upswing.

On tap this weekend: a sister sleepover and helping my riding instructor at her barn.

Happy weekend!

From a young age, my taste in pudding has been comparable to that of a 95-year old woman. I live for pistachio and butterscotch and tapioca and rice varieties.

When the chia craze hit the scene, I of course was drawn to one particular method of preparing this fiber powerhouse--in pudding form!

I initially used this recipe, and I was not amused. It was not nearly sweet enough. And yes, I understand that chia seed pudding is supposed to be a healthy variation of pudding, but in my book, pudding is pudding and requires some sweetness.

For round two, instead of using plain greek yogurt and unsweetened almond milk I went with vanilla bean greek yogurt and sweetened almond milk. And it was tasty! Topped with some fresh strawberries I had myself a healthy morning snack to get me over the 11:00 hump.

I am admittedly not a salad girl. It's once in a blue moon that I'll order a salad at a restaurant, especially one as a main course. The only time I ever really had salad phases were 1) in high school when I was obsessed with Applebee's Shrimp Caesar Salad (I didn't know any better) and 2) in law school when my friend S. and I would regularly hit up the Cheesecake Factory for their BBQ Ranch Chicken Salad. Basically, I wouldn't eat salad without fried shrimp or onion strings coupled with a heavy dressing.

I'm sad to say my taste in salad has not evolved in the manner I had hoped, and I still love the marriage of veggies and BBQ sauce. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across this recipe via the ol' Pinterest:




This salad recipe is DELICIOUS. As a replacement for my beloved BBQ chicken, you roast cauliflower in the oven for 7 minutes, brush it with BBQ sauce and then put it back in the oven for 3 more minutes. Combined with avocado, red onion, carrots, black beans, corn (which I forgot) and ranch dressing, you're left with a tasty southwestern salad that seriously fills you up.