Homemade Starbucks "Medicine Ball"

Over the past few years, my co-worker has mentioned how good the "Medicine Ball" tea from Starbucks is - especially if she felt like she was getting sick or had a sore throat. At times, she has literally raved what a miracle it was and how it helped her compromised immune system.

I finally tried one a couple weeks ago when I was at the airport at 6am...before the sun was up! I had been feeling sick the days prior to my departure and was trying all natural remedies known to man to not be sick for my trip.

And what do I decide to do but wait in the longest line available at the airport at 6am. (Why do people want coffee before a flight? I'll never understand it. Don't you want to be sleeping?) But, I digress...

"Medicine Ball" time here we go!

It. Was. Delicious.

If you follow my Insta-stories, I snapped a shot of the yumminess. It really soothed my throat and was very tasty. I was surprised, too, that it was less than $3.

The closest Starbucks to me is 15 minutes away so I'll be honest here...I do not go often.

Which led me to creating this recipe at home! (With the ingredients I use, it winds up being about $1.60 per 20oz of deliciousness...you can make it even less if you use a different lemonade brand, but Uncle Matt's is where it's at! I also highly recommend their orange juice and apple juice! Or if you use less lemonade, the price per 20oz would be less.)

 Cami's Version of the "Medicine Ball"

-7oz of lemonade (more or less depending on how sweet you would like it)
-13oz of water
-1 bag of Jade Citrus Mint Teavana
-1 bag of Peach Tranquility Teavana
-1 teaspoon of honey (more or less depending on how sweet you would like it...ALSO, raw & local honey is the best but unfortunately I am currently all out!)

1.) Put your lemonade and water in a pot on the stove and bring it just about to a boil.

2.) Pour our lemonade/water mixture into your tumbler or extra large mug.

3.) Add your tea bags and let them steep. (I personally leave my teabags in my mug because I LOVE the flavors of the tea.)

4.) Add your honey.

5.) Let this yumminess soothe your throat and enjoy the taste!

I would like to note that this tea is NOT caffeine-free...the Jade Citrus Mint tea has caffeine in it...16-25mg of caffeine. (1 cup of coffee has roughly 95mg in it.) So it doesn't have a ton of caffeine, in comparison, but wanted to make you aware. If you are drinking this at the end of the day and are sensitive to caffeine, maybe take this tea bag out once you are finished steeping it.

Now go and enjoy a "Medicine Ball," whether you are sick or healthy, I promise you, you will enjoy it!

CBD, Collagen, Superfoods & Electrolytes

Disclosure: This post may contain Amazon affiliate links and other affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you, when you make a purchase. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful. 


Guess what CBD, collagen powder, superfood supplements & electrolyte powder all have in common?

Yes, they all have amazing health benefits. But they are also four products that I always travel with!

This past weekend, I was in Miami for the Seed Food & Wine Festival Summit and Tasting Event. That was four days packed full of a whole lot of knowledge, food, wine, beer, lack of sleep, and germs. (Don't tell me I'm the only one who thinks of germs when you're surrounded by a  ton of people and in new places?)

I take CBD, collagen powder, superfood supplements on a daily basis as it is and electrolyte powder when I need a little boost (particularly nights where alcohol is in the mix.) So you better believe I wouldn't forget these goodies at home when I travel!

For those who may not know what CBD is yet, it is absolutely wonderful. CBD (which stands for Cannabidiol) is a chemical compound that is found naturally in the cannabis plant; however, it is not mind-altering. You will not get high from taking CBD. Research has found that CBD interacts with receptors in your brain and nervous system and helps a myriad of systems. These systems include: anxiety, chronic pain, headaches, insomnia, and the list goes on. 

It personally helps me on a daily basis keep my aches and pains at bay (the sad truth comes out - I'm getting old!) When I'm traveling, CBD helps me relax and sleep. I tend to have trouble sleeping when I am somewhere new. Greenroads, the company that makes the CBD I use, has all kinds of CBD products. Until this past weekend, I stuck with the oils. One night, I tried the "sleepy z's" that Greenroads offers; it has a minuscule amount of melatonin in it. Let me tell you! I had an amazing sleep. 

I will never travel without CBD. I actually have a bottle of it in my purse.

Collagen powder is amazing! It has 2.5g fat, 1g carb, and 10g protein...you can add it to your smoothies (which is what I did on this trip) or even add it to your coffee instead of creamer. Collagen is good for you hair, skin, nail, and joint support. I like this brand because it is non-gmo, grass fed, and dairy, whey & soy free. This flavor is tasty in a banana, strawberry smoothie!

For home, I just get a big canister of collagen powder. But when I travel, it's easier for me to get the collagen powder in individual single serving packets.

Again, single serving packets for travel for the win! Amazon Grass has MANY different superfood options (and flavors.) The detox & digest is made with all farm fresh alkalizing greens, more than twenty four cleansing ingredients, and 1 billion probiotics. The ingredients help eliminate toxins and soothe digestive support. 

I found this gem on accident. My husband, an avid soccer player, always drank unflavored (no dye) Pedialyte before game days and long practice days. I try not to buy plastic bottles so thought it was time to look into an alternative...here comes Ultima Replenisher! I started off with the single serving packets so we could test our the flavors and quickly came to lemonade being our favorite. The product has zero sugar, zero calories, 6 electrolytes and plant-based colors.

When looking into the reviews, I noticed many people saying they would take it before a night of drinks and it helped not being hungover the next day. Also, feeling note quite "right" the next day, I have taken it again and it has helped spunk me back up.

Do you travel with supplements? If so, tell me your favorites!

organic & raw KOMBUCHA

Words of Enlightenment: 
When we root ourselves in gratitude, our joy grows & blossoms. It reaches up & branches out until a forest blankets the earth & fills the whole sky.

Recently, I have gotten into kombucha...probably the last six months or so. And by "gotten into," I mean enjoyed it regularly. Every brand (and flavor obviously) has it's own flair to it.

As of now, my favorite kombucha is GT's Living Foods - Living in Gratitude fall edition! To me, it's like fall in a bottle...apple, turmeric, carrot & spices. In Florida, we have yet to transition to fall so I am extra excited for this flavor!

Besides the deliciousness of this drink, what I think is really amazing is the fact that GT's Living Foods has partnered with Feeding America. Until the end of the year, if you post a photo, tag the brand and include #LivingInGratitude on social media, the company will donate 10 meals to families in needs (up to 500,000 meals.)

If you drink kombucha, have you tried this one yet? 

Also, I really want to try making my own kombucha! Has anyone ever tried that and if so, share your ways with me!

LIIFT 4 - Plan C - Meal Plan

1,800-2,099 calories

Consisting of: 5 Veggies, 3 Fruits, 5 Proteins, 4 Carbs, 1 Healthy Fats, 1 Seeds & Dressings, 5 Oils & Nut Butters (tsp)

Real quick, LIIFT 4 is an 8 week program from Beachbody to build muscle and burn fat. The workouts are four days a week with each workout being 30-40 minutes. The workouts consist of weight training (my favorite) and HIIT.

I can discuss LIIFT 4 more in depth in another post if anyone is interested, but I wanted to give an example of the Plan C Meal Plan. (Plan A is readily available online but Plan C seems to be MIA!)

Not anymore!

With this program, a specific nutrition plan is recommended. If you are looking to build serious muscle (like me!) it is recommended you bump up two plans which is what I have done. Plan C Meal Plan consists of: 5 Veggies, 3 Fruits, 5 Proteins, 4 Carbs, 1 Healthy Fats, 1 Seeds & Dressings, 5 Oils & Nut Butters (tsp).

The easiest way for me to follow is to meal prep every few days. For example, I will boil a bunch of chicken, cook a bunch of ground chicken, make a pot of brown rice, bake potatoes and veggies, etc. This will make sticking with the meal plan MUCH easier...you won't have any excuses.

Beachbody meal plans correlate with colored containers. My mom and I actually followed a different meal plan program with these containers years ago. We both purchased the containers only to make our life easier - and now I get to use them again! So instead of having to measure everything out, you can use the colored containers which are already measured for you. (Gotta love time savers!)

You can snag the colored containers for a great price on Amazon Prime. You also get some additional goodies as well from Efficient Nutrition. The great thing about them too is that they are BPA free!

Happy eating!!

Disclosure: This post may contain Amazon affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful. 

Going to Try This Crazy Idea - Wash My Face with Coconut Oil...

I kind of forgot how amazing coconut oil is suppose to be for your skin until my sister asked me where I got mine over the weekend. She spent the night at my house a few months ago & I had her use some of it on a breakout she had on her face. Over the weekend, she told me how much it helped her breakout a few months ago & now that she was encountering another breakout, she wanted to use it again.

It reminded me of all the research I have done on coconut oil & all of the amazing benefits. (I still can't get into oil pulling though!) A handful of my friends have been using coconut oil to take off their makeup & wash their face. I've always been too chicken to try it!

Until last night, that is!

My sister, completely un-biased from the whole "coconut oil craze" had first hand experience from it and truly saw the benefit from it...even from just a few uses, many months ago!

Last night I put some coconut oil on my face & used a cotton pad to remove my makeup. It removed the makeup SO well! I then put more (a small amount goes a long way!) on my face, rubbed it around with hot water & at first I tried using my hands (like normal face wash) to remove the coconut oil. But that did not workout too well so I used a wash cloth to remove it.

I have sensitive skin & usually after I wash my face, my skin feels very...tight and like I need to put moisturizer on RIGHT away. Well last night & this morning, that was not that case! It felt smooth and my skin tone was pretty even. Usually I have red blotches on my face after I wash it - not last night or this morning!!

I am excited to see how my new routine works for me! So far, I have faith that it will work! Sometimes you just have to take the plunge & put your worries aside.

From what I read, it is important to use organic virgin coconut oil, so this is what I ordered a few months ago (and as you can see, haven't used too much of yet!) -

 

I'll let you guys know in a couple of weeks how it's been going!

Have you used coconut oil as a skin care regiment? If so - what has your experience been?

Send Sonya to Japan!

One of my best gal pals from college, Sonya, is heading to Japan to teach English in just a few short weeks! She has a heart of gold and will be such a great teacher - I'm so excited for her future there!

Let us try to help this ambitious gal if we can. Instead of me telling you the details, I'll let Sonya tell you...

Diabetes has been such a focal part of my life since I was diagnosed in 2001. I've had many highs and many lows, and for a while I thought being a diabetic defined me. I was embarrassed to tell my friends some of the issues I was struggling with. I wanted to be a normal young adult. More importantly, I had in my mind this idea that I had to be tethered to a full time job in order to keep my medical benefits. My mother would tell me all the time you have to have somewhere to jump, you have to have a plan. I love Disney. Working for a company that takes pride in their customer service and strives to do the impossible inspired me to do a little soul searching. I have always wanted to learn a different language. Disney has such a plethora of people that it's hard to imagine you wouldn't hear different languages walking through the parks. With this idea in mind, I wanted to have a cultural experience that benefited not only me, but others as well. I want my learning experience to be a teaching experience as well. And so, I searched in Google "Teach English in Japan" and the rest is history. Diabetes will always be a part of my life, but I don't want to feel like it is keeping me from seeing the world. The medical bills and medications will be expensive, and this is why I ask for your help. Nothing would make me happier than to look back on this amazing experience a year from now and know their are people all over the world who believed in me, and wanted to see me succeed, no matter what the price. If you can, please donate. And if you can't that's ok too. I just thank you for reading about me, and if you can, spread the word. The days get closer and closer, and while I admit there's a bit of fear in the pit of my stomach, I'm so excited, thrilled and honored to be offered such a life changing experience.



You can donate to her cause here. And if nothing else - please share this post - the more that are aware, the better. And remember - don't let your struggles define you - fight against it & turn it into a life experience.

You can follow the link below to learn more - receive updates, donate, etc.!

Fall is in the air!!

Ok so as "fall" as Florida can get - it's coming!! I can feel it in the air at 6:30am - by 9:30am - it's gone. However - in just a little bit, hopefully fall will stay with us during the day a little longer.

In an effort to feel fall, I think it's important to decorate...and craft it up!

We had a girls night recently and made some fall wreaths. Yes, a little premature since it's not even October yet...but, that's ok. (After all PSL season is in full effect anyway.)

Final product...

Do you plan on decorating a wreath this fall? I'm already excited for pumpkin decorating!

Cars.com brings you the #newcarface

This post sponsored by cars.com 

Honestly, shopping is always such a chore for me. The only thing that is “easy” for me is food shopping. Anything else tends to be tough for me. Right from clothes shopping, up to car shopping.

I love looking a new cars – when it’s for fun and I’m purely just “window shopping.” When it comes to NEEDING a new car and NEEDING to go shopping, it’s tough!

A few years ago when I was in a car accident and my car was totaled, besides all of the medical issues that it brought, it meant I also needed to go car shopping. (For inquiring minds: someone “sneezed,” which caused him to run a red light & hit me.) #newcarface

ANYWHO! I had so much fun from the start – car shopping with my dad…looking at cars online and then going to the dealership to look at them…coming back home, researching more, and going back to the dealership. It was a fun experience (mostly because I got to do it with my dad) for the most part. It got stressful quickly because I needed to make a decision since I needed a way to get to work.

After countless hours researching, tons of different dealership, lots of online searches, I finally found the perfect car which led me to having that new car face. (Actually…my dad did!) It was the best decision for me at the time and the car is still treating me well! I am very happy that my dad persuaded me in the direction that he did.

Speaking of cars, I have a super fun new car contest for you, brought to you by cars.com! If you win, they will pay your car loan off, up to $25,000. You can’t beat that! They take all of the drama out of car shopping.

There are a few different ways you can submit an entry to the contest…make sure you only submit though:

• On Twitter: Upload a photo of your new car + happy new car face. (Must use #newcarface and mention/tag @carsdotcom in your post.)
• On Instagram: Upload a photo of your new car + happy new car face. (Must use #newcarface and mention/tag @carsdotcom in your post.)
• On Facebook: Post a photo of your new car + happy new car face on the Cars.com Facebook wall (as a new post). (Must use #newcarface for your entry to be valid.)

You can visit more contest rules & examples here.

Contest fine print: A “new” car is considered to be bought or leased after 1/1/2012. Open to legal US residents (excluding MD, NJ and TN), 18+ who hold (or whose immediate family member holds) a qualifying vehicle loan or lease. Begins 7/29/14 at 8:00:00 am CST and ends 1/2/15 at 12:00:00 pm CST. Prize value up to $25k. Subject to the Official Rules at http://bit.ly/1pLUGey. See Official Rules for full details, including eligibility criteria and qualifying vehicle restrictions. Sponsor: Cars.com, a division of Classified Ventures, LLC.

If you decide to enter your happy new car face into this awesome contest – best of luck to you!

I'm Mingling Today!

I decided to mingle with Meg & friends today!

What would I do if I had $100 to splurge with?!

Clothes? Makeup? Dog toys? Accessories? Kitchen gadgets? Art/craft supplies?

I'm going to go with a clothes (and 1 dog toy per furbaby)!! Mostly cute summer dresses so I could wear them to work, too. I haven't gone a clothing shopping spree in quite some time...it's a shirt here & there...nothing major.

New clothes always make you (me!) feel pretty. And who doesn't like to feel pretty?

Lately, every time I have attempted to snag a shirt or two, I have struck out! I can't even show an example of what I would buy - I'm so behind in the fashion scene. ;)

If you had $100 to splurge with, what would you pick?

USA vs. Nigeria

In preparation what starts on Thursday, which is known as the World Cup, we went to the USA vs. Nigeria soccer match at the Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville over the weekend. It was the last US "friendly" before the World Cup starts. A big game!

I had never been to a professional soccer match before - it seemed like time went by quicker versus watching it on tv! Minus the incredibly heat and hot sun, it was a blast!

A summarized version of our day, minus all of the new soccer/US chants I learned, in photos:

One Nation - One Team!

Waiting for the match to start!

We watched the US soccer team tour bus pull in!

Shot of the stadium when we first sat down 

The US team warming up

Panoramic view!

<3

WE WON! The final soccer was USA, 2 - Nigeria, 1.

What a fun day! I would definitely go again. It was also awesome to see all of the American pride & spirit - everyone was pretty much wearing red, white, and blue - or at least a soccer jersey.