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ShiftCon Eco-Wellness Influencer Conference will be October 3-5 in Atlanta this year and I’m so excited to attend! I have been evolving to be more aware of making sustainable choices in my daily life from reusable items instead of disposable, choosing organic items or growing my own in my small container garden.
ShiftCon gives you a chance to see the city (great time of year to visit), network with organic brands, natural brands and other bloggers, eat Non-GMO food for a weekend, learn more about the movement for nontoxic products & bring home tons of swag!
Why attend the ShiftCon conference?
Lots of swag from the awesome swag bag and freebies on the floors to enjoy and/or blog/vlog about, review, etc.
Meet companies and brands to collaborate with for us to promote their products.
Make friends with other “green bloggers” no matter what shade of green and learn some things to help you along.
Enjoy networking and parties.
Great Non-GMO food to enjoy!
The booze is better for you too! ShiftCon has sourced Organic wine and Preservative-free beer.
Write off this fun event because it is actually a business expense.
Even if you aren’t an influencer it is a great way to find new ideas on how to live more sustainable and try new products.
Friday and Saturday start with a fitness workout ex. yoga.
Learn and be inspiredfrom healthy living pioneers at the seminars
This conference brings together influencers focused on green content creation, food and environment.
To join me in the fun, learn, and network you can use the link below.
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We all have an intimate relationship with our shoes. What we wear on our feet define how we feel on any given day. Comfortable, sexy, sporty, fashionable, etc.
LOVE THESE LOUBOUTINS! They are the most comfortable Louboutins I’ve tried on!!
My Shoe collection ranges from high end designer stilettos (Louboutin) and Valentino Rockstud Sandals to everyday walking shoes and sneakers. I love it when comfort meets fashion and versatility is great too! The rockstud sandals are great with dresses, shorts and capris. They tick every box!! I wear each of these as often as possible since they elevate any look and can be worn with so many outfits. My cost per wear is very low because of that!
We live part-time in the city and walk to restaurants frequently so I like flat sandals and wedge heels for walking in the city. We spend Friday-Monday at our lake house as much as possible so I wear a lot of sandal types there as well unless it is winter and I live in my Uggs for everyday stuff.
I walk our chihuahua everyday and wear sandals or sneakers usually. I am loving Vionic brand for everyday comfort and they are supportive for your feet. I usually wear inserts for support, but this brand has it built in! I wore Vionic and Merrel sandals for long days at Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Universal + Islands of Adventure. They were great!
We have been running at least one 5K each month and practicing in between so I have fallen hard for my Nike Pegasus running shoes too! I’m getting a second pair so I have one at each house.
Shop my shoe collection below!
Check out these video reviews of my top 2 favorites linked below!
Louboutin Review They are designer shoes that are actually comfortable to wear and so versatile with jeans or a dress! Cost per wear is low because you can wear them so much! I would size up a half size. I’m normally a 36.5, but got the 37 in these.
Every fashionista should know about the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale in July! It’s the only sale that you can shop the new fall 2019 clothes, shoes, and accessories on sale before the season even starts! No need to wait for the end of season sales to score big!
So they have changed a few things for this Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and I’m going to outline the changes and early access dates for you here.
Annual Nordstrom Anniversary Sale – Early Access July 12-18 (for cardholders) Sale starts for Nordstrom card holders at 12:30pm EST (11:30am CST, 10:30am MST, 9:30 PST or when your local store opens!)
Get your Nordstrom card now to save during the early access. Early access is for Nordstrom credit card holders only. During the early access you can buy items that are coming in for fall at a discount which is amazing! This means you have 1st access to items that may sell out. Having said that they will hold back come items to re-release once the sale goes public to keep it appealing and fair for everyone. They keep adding inventory throughout the sale so keep checking back. Early access is available online, in person at the store and through the app.
Anniversary is essentially a fall preview event and then they go back to full price. So you get the new fall fashions for a steal! They will still have other seasons on sale during this time too.
Homesteading is a way of self sufficiency to produce what you will consume. Other aspects are making your own cleaners, recycling, composting, the zero waste concept, farm to table at home (no animals or meat in my case). You can dip a toe in the pond or go completely off the grid as they say. Gardening is a major component of homesteading. I am a fan of reducing my carbon footprint and gardening is one way to that.
Homesteading is a way of self sufficiency to produce what you will consume. Other aspects are making your own cleaners, recycling, composting, the zero waste concept, farm to table at home (no animals or meat in my case). You can dip a toe in the pond or go completely off the grid as they say. Gardening is a major component of homesteading. I am a fan of reducing my carbon footprint and gardening is one way to that. Also, I know exactly what kind of organic soil and fertilizer I’m using to keep our food pure. I’m going to be growing our food this year in containers instead of the ground. I think that will be easier for me especially at our condo.
Producing your own food is very rewarding. I started an herb garden in a container last spring and loved making pesto with my harvest of basil. I would make zucchini ribbon pasta or noodles with this fresh pesto and wished I could grow my own zucchini. Last year I would buy my zucchini at the farmers market, but this year I want to grow all of the vegetables that I like to make our keto vegan meals and snacks. I will try to reduce the amount I buy from the regular grocery store and eat fresh home grown whole foods as much as possible. I have even started grinding my own organic peanut butter at Whole Foods.
We have a condo in the city and a house at the lake about an hour away. I will try some veggies and herbs at each location. I bought 2 different self watering type systems so I can get away with only watering once a week since we split out time at each house. Once I know which works better I can branch out and do more veggies later! I’m experimenting with how many plants of each to do. The idea is to have enough to eat and freeze for the winter eventually. We’ll see what needs to be added or taken away next year when I see how this year goes.
Getting Started with container gardening
I bought these Burpee Organic starter kits to try some from seeds along with organic seeds and soil! I’ve planted green beans, zucchini squash, tomato, basil and spinach in one and a bunch of others including cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber, italian red of Florence onion, okra, sweet peppers, white beets, kale, box choy and some flowers. I’m hoping I’ll grow enough flowers to keep a vase of the cuttings each week.
Tips
Start in the sunny location you plan to leave the starter kit. I put a small table in front of a sunny window in the breakfast nook.
Flip all of the dirt pellet/pods so they are flat before adding water.
Use a watering can with warm water to fill the starter kit and pour over pellets.
Keep a gardening journal for what seeds worked best, what veggies you need more or less of next year, etc.
I also bought some organic baby plants, seedlings, from a garden expo and farmers market. I’ve been told not to plant until April 15 so there is no real chance of frost which would likely kill them. I will plant these in raised beds. I’ve already planted most of them in containers. I got the Keter Urban Raised Bed for the deck at the lake house. I will try the City Picker’s smaller self watering container on our balcony at the penthouse and some at the lake house too. I like that they are on wheels in case I need to move them for any reason. Since I started the first seeds on April 5th I won’t plant until May 5th since they are supposed to start inside for 4 weeks.
This 4 ingredient recipe is a pretty quick and easy snack for the game or potluck dinner!
I literally took frozen cauliflower without cooking it and shook it up with Sweet Baby Rays wing sauce (vegan) in a glass pyrex bowl with lid, then dipped the saucy cauliflower in finely ground flaxseed and nutritional yeast instead of breading. I baked it at 425 for 20 minutes and voila! Next time I might try just pouring the wing sauce in the bag and shaking it in there. Once coated I think you could pour the nutritional yeast and flaxseed into the bag and just shake in the cauliflower bag! Let me know in the comments if you try this!
You may also like some dessert or fat bombs linked below:)
Knowing what types of things you’ll want to do once you arrive will help you determine what to pack. For me I love going to great restaurants and shows. Also, since I want to enjoy the restaurants and eat whatever I want I planned on running for 30 minutes each day. I used my running shoes to walk the strip while my husband was working and wore my heals to dinner and shows. You may be surprised how much you will walk when you are there if you want to explore.
I have to say I was impressed with the number of vegan and vegetarian options available. There is a great website called vegansbaby.com with some great tips for where to eat if you are vegan or vegetarian in Las Vegas. I also love the app HappyCow and their website happy cow.net
We stayed at the Delano again and I really must say I love it! They don’t have a casino, but it is so close to Mandalay Bay you don’t miss it! The restaurant, Della’s Kitchen, is a really good farm to table and I was able to get us fresh squeezed green juices everyday. The Bathhouse Spa is very nice as well! I loved the robes and wished they sold them!!
There is a little shopping area with LUSH and I got some pampering sparkling bath bombs for the room too!
We went to Tom Colicchio’s Craftsteak and I actually couldn’t choose between the salad options so I had one as my appetizer and the other as my entree! We also went to Aureole which has an amazing wine cellar that the wine angels fly in to retrieve the bottle you order! Tres cool! Nobu is my favorite though, more on this one later…
Here are some tips on things you’ll want to check off your list while in Las Vegas.
Beatles LOVE Cirque de soleil
Mat Franco Magic Reinvented Nightly
Michael Jackson, ONE Cirque de Soleil (mostly dancing & only limited acrobatics)
Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden is very impressive they change the theme seasonally
High roller Ferris wheel or FlyLinq zip lines at link promenade
Roller coaster at New York, New York
Fremont Street Slotzilla zipline
Stratosphere
Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen in front of Caesar’s Palace
Lady Gaga Enigma, Gwen Stefani, Cher, etc
Flock and Fowl -Special Hainan chicken (popular in Singapore)
Wynn shops on the strip (new as of January 2019)
Nobu at Caesar’s Palace…
We love this restaurant!! It is top quality food that is artistic in presentation. They have vegetarian and vegan options. The Omakase (tasting menu of chef’s selections) is amazing! I had the vegetarian (it may have been vegan actually) and my husband had the chef’s special and we both loved ours!
Great cocktails and wine selection.
According good ole Wikipedia Omakase is a Japanese phrase that means “I’ll leave it up to you”.
Diners “dream” of the dinners at Nobu Matsuhisa’s Japanese “hot spot,” proffering “melt-in-your-mouth” sushi and “mind-blowing” cooked dishes like the “star”-quality miso black cod, plus omakase options; a “helpful” staff distributes everything in a “cool,” “hopping” space ripe for “celeb sightings” – “how could you not love it?
…Zagat
I concur!! We are thrilled that they are opening a Nobu at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead soon!! I’m hoping it is just as good!
Next trip to Vegas I want to see the Beatles LOVE Cirque de Soleil. Did you see this or would you recommend another? Let me know in the comments!
I’ve compiled some really unique gift ideas for the one you love this St. Valentine’s Day!
Personally I’m giving my husband one of the items linked below and time permitting one of the DIY projects because I’d like to give him a nice gift he can use that shows him I respect his interests/needs and one that took some TLC. Either one will show him I love and care about him, but I’d like to add on a little DIY topper if I have to time to make one…
You can be inspired by some of the items linked below, try one of the DIY’s mentioned, or both💗
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Tickets to a concert, sporting event or comedy show are always a good idea! A special movie date night with an invitation to go out to dinner and a movie or stay in! Cook or order in:)
Boudoir photo shoot picture DIY or professional.
Andies mint candies, keto cookies , or any baked good with mint flavor that has a tag or card that says We were mint for each other. XOXO
Bourbon or airplane size bourbon nips in a heart box, tag or bag that says Every minute that is spent without you is a minute wasted XOXO Really any liquor could fit here!
A framed actually printed out photo or photo book from a special event or trip with a homemade or store bought card.
A container or basket filled with candy he likes, beef jerky, nips of liquor, wine, beer, energy drinks, etc.
Depending on your guys interests you could make a whole personalized gift basket! You could start with one of these ideas or a potpourri of items with travel gear, fishing, golfing, guitar, cooking, gardening, soccer, sports related stuff for his team, etc. Remember Chocolate kisses and a tissue paper base can help you fill it up!
This Mug Cake takes about 5 minutes start to finish! See below for details! Aquafaba makes this mug cake Vegan too! Aquafaba is the liquid that is in a can of chickpeas (AKA garbanzo beans). It is often used as a vegan substitute for eggs or egg whites! Let me know if you try it or have any questions in the comments!
Ingredients:
3 tbsp Peanut Butter
3 tbsp Aquafaba (liquid from can of chick peas)
1 tbsp Cocao Butter
1 tbsp Almond milk
2 tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
2 droppers full Stevia (or to taste)
Baby Showers mean I get to do a lot of baby shopping, and I love it!!! These top 10 baby shower gifts will be a cherished gift for a daughter, niece, friend, sister, sister-in-law, etc. There is something for every budget! Happy shopping!!
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