WIAW #33: Whole Foods Edition

Hey WIAW friends! Wow, it's been ages since I've done a WIAW. 
All I can say is that it's great to be back! 
To be totally honest, I kind of forgot about the blog, and I was busy doing a million other things: job searching, volunteering at church, reading, hanging out with friends...blogging slipped my mind for a while. On top of that, my dad had an unexpected quadruple bypass surgery a couple weeks ago. Although that was kinda nuts, I'm definitely inspired now more than ever to live and eat healthfully. But now I'm back and ready to dive back into the blogging world! 

This week, I'm gonna share some of my favorite finds from Whole Foods today. I found a lot of really great stuff, and I'm highly impressed with Daiya & Earth Balance for all the new products they put out this year. I was overwhelmed and wanted to try everything!

Let's start with these: Hail Merry Miracle Tarts! They have the chocolate almond butter and Persian lime flavors. I've been wanting to try these for years, but my Whole Foods never carried them before. How AWESOME that they finally carry them and I get to taste them! I'll let you know my verdict when I actually dig in to this scrumptious looking thing. I'll probably love it, because I love anything lime flavored.

Cashew butter! One of my favorites. And I love that it's in a squeezable pack.

I LOVE JUSTIN'S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS. Their dark chocolate is my favorite, but this white chocolate variety is seasonal, so why not try it?! I can't wait.

So, I tried the So Delicious greek coconut milk yogurt a while ago and wasn't a huge fan, but now they have greek almond milk yogurt! I'm pumped to try it. Also, the strawberry banana yogurt was new to me!

I love Tofurkey. And it was WAY cheaper than regular chicken sausage, which is what I was originally looking to buy. It's healthier for you, too.

I think the new EB packaging is stellar! I love that they are all square containers now instead of circular tubs. I usually buy the whipped variety, but I thought I'd try to new Omega-3 variety this time around. 

Aren't these nifty? They are like fruit leather, but this is VEGETABLE leather! Never heard of it before, but I'm curious to see what they taste like.

I also bought some Earth Balance mayo and miscellaneous other groceries. I'm ready to get back to a largely vegan diet, minus some occasional dairy and meat. The healthier the better - I never want to go through the surgery that my dad went through! 

That's all for now, loves. Talk to you soon!

Things I'm Loving #2

Because Friday was the Daring Bakers reveal day, I didn't post this week's "Things I'm Lovin'"! Sad, right? Here it is now to make it up to you! 

1. A Canticle for Leibowitz

I have to read this book for school in the fall, actually. For my english senior seminar class. Being the great student that I am (not), I decided to starting reading it early. It's really pretty good! The only reason I'm starting now is that I know once school starts, I won't actually read anything. I'll sparknotes all of my books. Because English students do nothing but read, which I don't have time to do during school. Kinda ironic, right? Anyways, the book is about this little monk-to-be who is stranded in the dessert during Lent, fulfilling his Lenten fast. He meets this crazy traveler, who actually leads him to this undiscovered fallout shelter from a pre-apocalyptic world, where the monk accidentally finds the remains of Saint Leibowitz's wife. It's a good read if you are looking for a good book. I love a good post-apocalyptic novel (The Hunger Games, anyone?)

2. LA Fitness

This is the gym I recently became a member of - until I go back to school. It's only $10 a week, and you can pay on a week to week basis. Cool, huh? And it's super close to my house.

3. Sheet Protectors

I love these because they can turn any sheet of paper into a dry erase board. Just slip your paper in the sheet protector and ta-da! You can write on it with a dry erase marker and wipe it right off. Try it for yourself! 

4. Turkey Pepperoni

Get the low-far turkey pepperoni. I love eating these as part of my lunch of as a snack. 15 slices has only 80 calories! Yum.

5. DIY Workout Shirts

These are super easy to make, and I love them! You can find out how to make them on Pinterest. There are a million explanations on how to make them! My only note - use a L or XL tshirt, because they will get tighter when you start cutting and tying. 

6. So Delicious Almond Milk Products

I'm not a fan of their almond milk ice cream in the pints, but have you tried these? 

The stores around me are finally getting these products in, and I love them. Those mini ice cream bars are divine and have a strong coffee flavor. And I love almond milk anyways, but this has extra protein. Win!

7. Trash Cans

Okay, weird, I know. But I just got a trash can from walmart that is the perfect shade of red and totally matches the walls of my room. I love it! 

What have you been lovin this week? 

Much love, 

WIAW #28 & 21 Days of Giveaways: So Delicious

First thing's first - congratulations to the winner of a jar of White Chocolate Wonderful from Peanut Butter & Co - Jess from Floptimism. You rock! Email me your address so I can get those coupons mailed out to you! Scroll down to find out what the next giveaway is, but first, here comes what I ate...on my 21st birthday!
First up: my cake. And cupcakes. I took the cupcakes to my internship this morning - they were a honey cake with lemon curd icing and whipped cream. With a flower made from homemade marshmallow fondant. I also played with fondant on my birthday cake - a lemon poppyseed cake with lemon curd/whipped cream filling and lemon icing. Clearly my fondant cracked and was a little dry, but it was fun to play with!
Here is the cake recipe, and here is the cupcake recipe.

What I ate for dinner at Maggianos: 

Salmon Oscar with orzo, lemonade, free lemon cookies, cake & ice cream

Here is what I drank!

In general: a few shots, some beer, and a few fancy-shmancy drinks. Our waitress was extremely nice and was obviously trying to get me drunk (she filled my shots higher than everyone else's...).

Here is what I got for presents:
Because I forgot to take pictures, I'll just tell you. A Kindle Fire, two $50 Target gift cards, a $50 gas card, and two of my favorite brownies. Yummy.
What I wore: 

I wore the orange dress to my internship and the pink top with leggings to Bar Louie's!

I was totally pimpin' with all my boy friends that came :)

Pretty awesome, right? :) I thought so. I had a really good time! Now, are you ready for today's giveaway?

Today's sponsor is So Delicious! I absolutely adore this company. The people are so friendly and their products are super delicious. You can't go wrong with them.

One lucky winner will receive a coupon for a free So Delicious product. Anything you want! If you are lucky enough to have their new almond milk products sold around your neighborhood, I highly recommend trying out something from that line. Unfortunately, I am not one of those lucky people :( Oh sad, sad day. 

I was recently sent 3 free product coupons from them to review their almond milk line, but as I already mentioned, I can't find it anywhere in Cincinnati. So I decided to review 3 of their other products.

I loved these because they actually tasted like a banana split. And you know what else? Only 100 calories in each one! Yum!

These are awesome purely because they are sugar free (sweetened with stevia) and have, I think, 70 calories per pop. Not to mention they were super chocolaty. 

Passion fruit & mango ice cream! Delish. This was like a tropical party in my mouth. I love fruity ice creams. 

Now that you have some ideas on how to use your free product coupon, here's how to enter for your chance to win...just a leave a separate comment below for each entry. Thanks!

MANDATORY: Follow Passing Daisies and So Delicious on Twitter and tweet the following: "I just entered to win free product from @So_Delicious on PassingDaisies.net. You should enter too! http://bit.ly/nQkq1N #21daysofgiveaways"

Want more chances to win? Who doesn't? Here are more ways to enter: 

1. Subscribe to Passing Daisies. If you subscribe, you get three extra entries!

2. Tell me something you would like to see more of on Passing Daisies. Recipes? Reviews? Workouts? Anything?

3. Be creative and write me a snazzy poem or song for my birthday. Bonus points if you make a YouTube video and sing it to me! :) I will feature your songs/poems on the blog if you do this! 

4. Follow me on Blogger.

5. Pin this post on Pinterest and mention PassingDaisies.net in the description.


THIS GIVEAWAY ENDS TONIGHT AT 11:59 PM EST.

That's it! Side note - don't forget to like us on our newly updated Facebook, if you don't already. Thanks kiddos and good luck! The winner will be posted tomorrow morning, along with the next giveaway!

Much love, 

WIAW #26: It's Not Too Late!

It's still Wednesday! I can still make the party on time!!

I seriously always forget about WIAW until its too late (or nearly too late, in this case) Isn't it awful? This is why I so often miss the party...

But not tonight!

{What I Ate}

Froyo with Stuart

Quinoa fried rice with brussel sprouts, tofu, carrots & edamame

Fresh blueberries with whipped cream

So Delicious Passionate Mango coconut milk ice cream with chocolate chips

Pineapple coconut water. I think I need to stop trying to convince myself that I enjoy coconut water, because I really don't. Most of this went down the drain. What's wrong with me? Everyone else raves about this stuff.....the exception to this is the chocolate Zico coconut "water" that my foodie pen pal sent me last month. That also had coconut cream and tasted like yummy chocolate milk.

{What I Will Eat Soon}

My Perfect Fit Protein came in the mail today! Yay! I'm so excited to try it!!

{What I Want For My 21st Birthday} 

Which, by the way, is in 19 days (June 4, for those who don't want to count). What is everyone sending me in the mail?! :)

I actually don't have to wish for this. I already know I'm getting one. I can't wait! I can finally buy all of the Hunger Games books and re-read them... and buy my textbooks on here! This will be so much easier to carry around than a million books I don't use! YAY!

This was also part of my birthday present - a new desk for my room. Isn't it pretty? Especially with the roses from Stuart, my Marilyn picture, and my cupcakes picture?

I printed this picture off and framed it. I love it. 

Now, here is what I would want if I was rich and could buy a million more things:

Running Biblical tank

Anchor hoodie

Laptop skin

Mockingjay pin

The Cookie Dough Lovers Cookbook

Yellow Sperrys

Micky Mouse sweatshirt

NUDE HIGH HEELS!!!!

Wagon wheel tank

Brown boots

Super cute swimsuit

....and about a billion other things. Have I bored you out of your mind with pictures yet? One last thing; I am turning 21, after all...

These all sound delicious to me.

{What I'm Currently Doing}

Watching Pride & Prejudice on TV. I somehow managed to pull a B in my Jane Austen class this semester, which shocks me, considering I read 3/4 of Sense & Sensibility and nothing of all the other books. Regardless...I love all the movie adaptations I've seen so far. The BBC adaptation of Sense & Sensibility with Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Dominic Cooper, & Kate Winslet is my favorite so far, I think. 

"I will have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on." - Mr. Darcy

Okay, I think I've bored you all for long enough now... enjoy the rest of your WIAW reads and see you soon! <3

Much love,