Summer Peach Popsicles

First, HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!! Although, it has felt like summer here in Texas since the middle of May. Summer is without a doubt my favorite time of the year! Despite the heat, summer bring the best fruits, the best vacation memories and the best birthday... MINE! (June 25th). Today, it is a bit cooler, only around 88 degrees (cooler for Texas) but this summer treat will still hit the spot! 

These past few days have been no joke with the heat index so I thought making popsicles would be a nice cool treat while I lay in AC or the pool. I have a sight obsession with peaches so I keep a bowl full of them during the summer; except when my dad comes to visit, they always disappear. Go Figure! Actually in my photos, I had about 6 in the bowl and 3 "suddenly" went missing after my dad left my apt. 

These are seriously made with things I already keep around the apt such as honey, almond milk, yogurt and fresh fruit. Honestly, this could be made with a wide variety of fruits if your weird and not a peach fan. Totally kidding! Seriously though, make this your own recipe. In fact, I had some blueberries already frozen in the freezer so in a few molds I threw those in too! If you are making these for a toddler under 2 years old, use raw sugar instead of honey as a sweetener. 

A few fun facts about peaches!!

1: Peaches are actually a member of the rose family. 

2: A large peach has less then 70 calories but has about 3 grams of fiber.

3: Peaches are best from June through August 

4: To check for ripeness in a peach, The flesh should have a slight give, but use your whole hand vs. fingertips to check since the fruit bruises so easily. Also, check for an even coloring of golden or creamy yellow.

Now, on to the recipe!

Summer Peach Popsicles 

Ingredients:

- 3 peaches 

- 1/2 cup of plain yogurt or vanilla greek yogurt

- 1/3 cup of honey 

- 1/3 cup of Almond milk 

- dash of vanilla extract 

- dash of salt 

Directions:

1: Cut and Dice the peaches. Place about 1 cup of the diced peaches in a bowl and set aside.

2: Add the remain peaches to the blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth.

3: Pour mixture into a bowl (or a large measuring cup which will make it easier to pour into the molds) and add the remaining diced peaches.

4: Divide it evenly among the molds. Found some fun one on amazon. Freeze until solid, usually about 5 hrs.

Enjoy!! 

What are some of your favorite ways to beat the summer heat? 

5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Smoothies

Y'all.....first let me apologize for being absence for awhile. For some strange reason, I thought it was a good idea to work a full time job, take 9hrs worth of credit for my masters degree in ONE semester and live my life. #GeniusMove It should be against the law to have a full time job and get your masters degree. Personally, I think I should get a weekly check until I graduate but enough of my whining.

With the long nights I've recently experienced, it was even more important that my morning smoothie had a little extra "jump" in it to make it through the work day. I am not the nicest person when I'm sleepy AND hungry so my smoothies must be filling, full of energy and tasty. (I get mad at bland food too)

Hi! Im Jerica and I occasionally get Hangry. 

Anywho!! Here are some of my favorite things to add to my morning/afternoon (depends on how I feel) smoothies to make them healthier and full of energy. 

We're Obsessed Wednesdays

Welcome to our series We're Obsessed Wednesdays! Here we share some of our favorite things we love each week. None of these are affiliated posts, all opinions are our own. We just really really enjoy these products.

1. Let me just say, if you told me to try a drugstore makeup I usually would frown up. Basically out of frustration. Being a woman of color with combo/oily, most drugstore foundations either

A. Don't have my shade (very frustrating)

B. Mostly for dry skin

or

C. Say they are for oily skin and by the end of the day, your looking like an oil slick by the face.

So, I mostly avoid them at all cost. Expensive shades tend to do what they say they do and carry more then 3 shades for us girls with darker skin tones. 

So I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled across this formula when I was at walmart. 

First, Maybelline Fit Me Matte+Poreless Foundation comes in 24 different shades! Imagine my delight when I didn't have to chose from medium/ dark to dark. (insert annoyed face). 

Second, with the help of an awesome primer, this primer actually stays on the face & I'm not nearly as oily as I am with other drugstore foundations. 

Third, when you find your color, it blends so well!! Omg, I was most impressed with this. Btw, I am 330 Toffee just to compare. I love using this foundation with a brush that has firm bristles.

  Fourth, this foundation is only about $6.50 at Walmart, my usual foundation can run between 32-40 dollars! Can we say Steal??? 

2. Y'all, I only spent 6 bucks in Walmart for foundation so it was only natural that I take my savings and spend them on another item I was excited to try. That is my spend logic when it comes to makeup so judgment shall not pass. Anywho! I've been wanting to try this Expert Face Brush by Real Techniques for sometime now but seriously, every. single. time. I would go to purchase it at the store, it was sold out. Must be something to this brush if the different stores can't keep it in stock. Haha! 

For about $9.00, this brush does the job so well I can't believe it's so cheap! This brush is ideal for cream and liquid foundations so it works amazing with my Fit Me Foundation and my higher end foundations. It gives me that flawless airbrush finish I love but it is so easy to clean. I found mine at Walmart but I do know Ulta and Target also carry it.

3. Sometimes you feel like splurging on some makeup and that's where this BB Gel from Cover FX comes in! It's a Mattifying Anti-Blemish BB Gel that is worth the $45 you spend on it at Sephora. I know, I know...y'all are looking at me crazy right now, but a little goes a long way so it's definitely going to last you for quite some time. The formula is lightweight because it's a BB gel, but has enough pigmentation to give you the full coverage you need. You can go from sheer to full coverage with one foundation! If that's not a blessing, I don't know what is!

4. My beautician uses Moroccan Oil Luminous Hairspray on me all the time. I remember when she first used it, she sprayed so much that I started sneezing and I just knew my hair was going to be stiff as a board. Miraculously, it wasn't! It was actually the total opposite. My hair moved luxuriously with the wind and still managed to keep its style. I fell in love with the stuff ever since and had to get it for myself. You can get it as well for $10-$26 on the website, depending on which hold you need.

D.I.Y. Whipped Shea Butter

Moisturizing your skin is so important. It relieves dry and cracked skin, relieves symptoms of eczema, and can even help stop the development of stretch marks. Store bought lotions aren't always the best choice because they have so many chemicals that can be detrimental to our bodies. That's why I've been going the natural route with my hygienic products! (Check out our post about healthy skin, here.)

Four Foods With more Vitamin C than Oranges

Man, where do I begin? Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin which is a fancy way of saying your body does not store it; so you have to get what you need from your diet. So often the only things you really hear about vitamin c is that it will help cure your cold (totally no true) and oranges are a great source of the vitamin. While oranges do give you a nice little supply of the vitamin, there are actually plenty of other fruits and veggies that give you even more vitamin c per serving.

We're Obsessed Wednesdays

1. MOST of the time, my skin is usually a good girl. No breakouts, no redness and no real problems. But every once in awhile, she decides to raise a little hell and it's just awful. I feel like Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool. Ok, so I am being a tab bit dramatic but still, no woman likes it when her skin is horrible. It was partly my fault because I was being super careless with no regular skincare regimen. I usually enjoy the 3-step system of Clinique but my wallet was like, "Girl....that is not going to happen anytime soon". Sooooooooo....I had to find an alternative; I found this new line by Olay called Active Botanicals. Within a week, I can already see a huge difference in my skin which has me SUPER EXCITED. I have the cleanser, the day moisturizer and the overnight mask. While I'm sure they are all working amazing together, I honestly believe that overnight mask is what is sealing the deal! 

We're Obsessed Wednesdays

1. In this age of racial and social injustice, Beyoncé has truly made me proud. Saturday, she dropped a new song and video by the name of “Formation” where she addresses everything from the Illuminati rumors to Blue Ivy’s hair to police brutality all while proudly proclaiming that she is proud to be a “Texas Bama”! Though there is so much controversy surrounding the video and song (we won’t get into that negativity here), it has truly humanized Beyoncé for me. A lot of times, we tend to forget that celebrities are real people with feelings, emotions, and opinions. What I got from Beyoncé is her saying, “Even though I have all this money and fame, at the end of the day I’m still just like you. I still remember where I come from. I love the beautiful black woman that I am and you should love yourself too!” If that wasn’t enough, she then performed her new song at the Super Bowl the next day AND announced her world tour. Whether you like it or not, the woman is a powerhouse and has this game on lock. Though I may not consider myself to be a part of the Beyhive, I am definitely obsessed with Beyoncé this week. Guess I’ll just go ahead and get in formation!!! 

2. I’m not a big fan of store bought smoothies or juices because of all the sugar and preservatives they could potentially hold, so naturally I was hesitant about picking up this protein drink. I finally decided to give it a try and I’ve been obsessed ever since! Bolthouse Farms has a variety of flavors, but the Vanilla Chai Tea and Mocha Cappuccino are my personal favorites. One thing you have to be VERY mindful of is that these drinks are loaded with calories and sugar. One serving (8 oz.) is 180 calories and holds 26 grams of sugar. That means if you’re drinking a whole 16 oz. bottle you’re taking in about 360 calories and 52 grams of sugar!!! This is why I like to drink this as a meal replacement by itself and NOT every day!  It’s a great once or twice a week treat that fills me up and cures my occasional sweet tooth.  You can find Bolthouse Farms drinks at any grocery store close to the cold fruit section.

3.  These little gems are for my left handed people, my stationary obsessed people and my pen fanatics. Being left handed, I have the worst problems with pens not drying quickly so when I write, it either smears on the paper from my hand OR gets all over my hand. Usually both. Grrrrrrrrrr. Also, huge shoutout to Ginger from Ginger Marie Blog  and Sevi from Ware is the Vodka for introducing me to these Staedtler Pens for my planner. Now, I seriously use them for everything I need to write it. They come in super fun colors, dry super quickly and are super easy to write with.  Fun little feature: these pens come with a Dry Safe technology. This means if your forgetful like me, you can leave the cap off this pen for DAYS and it will not dry out! Find these bad boys are Target.

4. Tarte Cosmetics  has been one of my favorite brands for a while. I love their packaging, their philosophy and use of cruelty-free products. With their products, they cover everything from sweatproof to SPF coverange to (my personal favorite) 12-hr power formulas. I am OBSESSING over this Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette because of how smoothly it goes on with so much pigment. Pigment for days, eye shadow for weeks and Slaaaaaaaaaying for years Hunty. Yes I am that animated for this palette and if you read the reviews, I’m not the only one! Find this beauty at Ulta, Sephora or Tarte Cosmetics. Excuse me while I go hug my beautiful palette. 

Podcasts: Get Into Them!

Sometimes an escape from work is needed. Unfortunately, hopping in our car and taking a road trip to the nearest sandy beach is more than likely not an option. So, there has has to be some kind of escape, right??? Of course there is!

Podcasts have been around for a while now, but I never really got into them because I had no idea what they were. I was under the misconception that they were only used for education or lectures, but there are so many genres from relationships to sex to comedy to sports and everything in between. I was first introduced to them because I randomly followed a guy who goes by MyPotnaB on Twitter. I would always see him tweeting about his podcast episodes, but I never paid it any mind.

We're Obsessed Wednesdays

None of these are affiliated posts, we just really really enjoy these products.

New Week, New Obsessions!! 

Hello Loves! Hopefully your week has been going well and we can smell Friday around the corner. This week has been so uneventful but we are excited to share our new obsessions with y'all. Lets get right into it, shall we?

We're Obsessed Wednesdays

Happy Hump Day!!! Welcome to our new series 'We're Obsessed Wednesdays" here we share some of our favorite things we love each week. None of these are affiliated posts, we just really really enjoy these products.

1) Shea Butter is officially apart of my skin care routine. It has become a new obsession of mine and I love using it to moisturize! It is a solid fatty oil that is rich in Vitamin A, D, E, & F, so the benefits are endless. It helps to relieve dry skin because of it's moisturizing abilities helps reduce cellulite and may even help fade stretch marks. 100% natural or organic Shea Butter is the kind you want to get with NO additives or preservatives. I got mine called Ashanti Naturals from a beauty supply in my neighborhood, however you can find real Shea Butter anywhere on the internet or even The Whole Foods store. 

2) MAC Cosmetics has always been my go to for my lipsticks and foundation. Seriously, they have the best foundation for women color and for people with combination/oily skin. Rarely have I ventured out of these two areas with them. Recently however, I've gotten a little better with my makeup skills (Go Me!) and I wanted to try something new: highlighting and skin finishers! Desiree being the awesome makeup artist and knowing me for years suggested that Global Glam Mineralize Skinfinish would look good on my skin tone. Man oh man, when I wear Global Glam, I feel like a golden skinned Goddess floating! The glow it gives my skin compliments so well with my undertones and my contour! Plus a little goes A LONG WAY! I barely have to put any on to achieve the level of Golden Goddess I want! Haha 

3) Podcasts have changed my life at work. I recently got into the world of podcasts after I randomly followed this guy on Twitter and found out that he had his own podcast. I decided to give it a listen and I've been obsessed with them ever since! Since then, I have 6 different podcasts that I listen to and I'm always looking to find new ones. Podcasts have so many different genres ranging from relationships to sex to wellness to inspirational to comedy and everything in between! It definitely makes my day go by 10 times faster! I just put in my headphones and my productivity goes up by 100%! 

4) This mask is one of my best kept secrets. Sometimes my skin gets so tired and all out of wack that I need to do something different to calm it down. This lovely mask helps so much because it's nice and refreshing. I'm not a huge fan of cucumber scented items so to find this mint one was like a dream! Queen Helene Masque Mint Julepe eases my tired skin, reduces harsh lines and shrinks my huge pores. It even helps rinses away blackheads! Best Part: you can get this bad boy at Walgreens for under 4 bucks! 

Review: OrangeTheory Fitness

About two weeks ago, I packed my gym bag and attended my very first event with the Dallas Fitness Ambassadors! I was super excited to head over to OrangeTheory Fitness and attend one of their unique classes. If your like me and have not heard of OrangeTheory Fitness, let me tell you, it was TOUGH but effective. (more on that later) Like tough enough that me, who has been an athlete her entire life and have been through several two-a-days in high school in this Texas heat, wanted to quit so badly. The awesome thing is that with me being surrounded by so many positive strong women, I did not give up!

My Journey To Healthier Skin

I am on a journey to healthier skin.

After years of not moisturizing, not drinking enough water, and just all around neglecting my body, I think it's time to take charge. I absolutely hate my skin. I have dark spots, suffer from folliculitis in God forbidden places, and acne scars plague my face from years of breakouts that weren't taken care of properly. I've researched and used so many different products and nothing seems to work which is mainly due to my inconsistency and laziness.

Since I got the eating right part down, I figured it's time to take extra measures to getting my skin to the glowing beauty it once was (pre-puberty). In an effort to do so, I've been looking for more natural products to use on my body as opposed to the commercially processed products that are sold.
For years I've heard about the benefits of African Black Soap, Cocoa butter, Shea butter, and Coconut oil. It's one of those things where I've been meaning to try it, but never got around to it. Monday night I randomly decided to give it a go and I must say, I'm never going back!

After just 3 days, my skin feels so much smoother than before!! Dark spots that I once had are starting to lighten up (nothing drastic, but very noticeable). I feel so cleansed once I get out the shower and once I apply my Shea butter, my body feels so moisturized! Here are the benefits of African Black Soap & Shea Butter:



African Black Soap:

African Black Soap is made from the ashes of plantain skins, palm tree leaves, cocoa pods, and Shea
tree bark. It promotes healthy skin by helping to relieve acne, eczema, brightening, toning & firming skin, and even helps to relieve razor bumps and ingrown hair bumps.  Black soap is made mainly in Ghana and should ALWAYS be 100% organic with no other preservatives or chemicals added to it.

Shea Butter:

Shea butter is made from the seeds of the fruit of the Karite Tree. It is a solid fatty oil that is rich in Vitamin A, D, E, & F. It has been used heavily in the cosmetic market in lotions, bath products, hair products, and much more. Unfortunately, some of those products are accompanied with other chemicals that are not so good for your skin. 100% organic Shea butter, however, is amazing for the skin and helps to relieve dry skin because of it's moisturizing abilities. Shea butter also helps the skin's natural collagen production, so cellulite can be reduced, it helps fade stretch marks, and protects the skin from UV rays.


Where To Find Them:

Shea Moisture has an African Black Soap Line, where everything from the actual soap, to skin toner, to shampoo & conditioner can be bought. Their line is found a most drugstores and Walmart. You can also find African Black Soap at your local urban beauty supply. However, make sure to check the ingredients and ensure that your soap is 100% organic!
Pure Shea Butter can also be found at urban beauty supplies or online. BGLH Marketplace sells raw or scented and whipped Shea butter that is made from natural ingredients.

Since these are natural products made from natural ingredients, food allergies may affect your ability to use these products. As with anything, please remember to consult with your dermatologist before usage.

We're Obsessed Wednesdays

First, Lets all give thanks that it is Wednesday and the work week is almost over! Whoop!! 

Anyways, Welcome to our new series 'We're Obsessed Wednesdays" here we share some of our favorite things we love each week. None of these are affiliated posts, we just really really enjoy these products.

Cherry Berry Smoothie!

Ok, I need your help with something. You know how when you lose weight and you keep checking yourself out in the mirror? How do you pull yourself away? 

Wait...it's just me? Oh. Carry on then. Im just super super super proud of myself for losing 4 pounds so I can pass a mirror, shiny car, window and I'll still check myself out. I feel like I should have a donut for a celebration! Moderation is key people! 

Detoxing Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! It's a new year which means it's time for EVERYONE to start their 2 month "weight loss journey". Gyms are packed solid, spinach and kale are sold out of every grocery store, and Instagram models are having sales on Fitness Tea. Since everyone wants the secret to quick weight loss, here it is: WORK OUT AND EAT HEALTHY FOR MORE THAN A WEEK!!!

I'm sure you know that though, after all...you read my post about losing weight and you're aware that consistency is key. However, let's be realistic: the holidays are over and I'm sure more than a few of us may or may not have packed on 1, 2, or 5 pounds over the course of the past 3 months. Don't be ashamed, it happens to the best of us! Now, it's time to get back on track! Let's detox!

Sure, there are a plethora of detox Pins on Pinterest, detox tea sales on Instagram, and Facebook pages from fitness gurus that promise THIS package you pay $19.99 for will help you lose the weight. However, there's one ingredient that has been proven effective time and time again for weight loss: Organic Apple Cider Vinegar! Most people don't realize the many health benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar or ACV as it's often called:

• The acetic acid in ACV helps lower cholesterol and help kill certain bacteria in your body.
• ACV helps to lower blood sugar and is a great aid for those who suffer from Type 2 Diabetes. 
• The amino acids in ACV help to counter fatigue that some may experience from stress.
• Daily consumption of ACV can help aid in weight loss over a period of time. 

One thing to be sure of is that your ACV is pure, organic, unfiltered and still has it's "mother" in it. Mother is what is left over after the fermentation of the vinegar which is why it's so effective and beneficial to your body. It's best to dilute ACV because the high acid content may cause esophageal issues (detox recipe below). The best ACV that is most popular is Bragg's Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar. It can be found in just about any grocery store right next to the white vinegar. So what are you waiting for? Get started on your daily detox! Your body will thank you! 

ACV Daily Detox Drink

• 8 ounces of water 
• 2 tbsp of ACV 
• Juice from half a lemon
• A pinch or two of cayenne pepper

*Warning: The taste is not that great, but after a while you'll get used to it! Remember, this is something that will help you in the long run. However, it is NOT a miracle drink. It will not magically make you lose weight. As always, you have to incorporate a healthy lifestyle such as diet and exercise. Also, talk to a physician before doing any detox.