Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition

Notice anything different about my blog? This weekend it got a BIG makeover! All credit goes to Brittany, an awesome Canadian gal who redesigned my layout, made me a new header, and got it all optimized for computer, mobile and tablet readers. If you saw what this blog looked like before the makeover you know she is SERIOUSLY talented. She’s starting a web design company called Louis & Lola and is looking to beautify more blogs. She can be reached at [email protected]. I could not recommend someone more highly than I do her. I never imagined my blog would turn out this good, it is everything I have always wanted it to be and I absolutely love it! I just wanted to do send a little shout out of thanks to Brittany! <3

As for changes on the blog I still have my About, Contact, Fashion, and Food pages. The big change with them is that I’m actually using and updating my Fashion and Food pages now. Every time I make a recipe and share it in a post here I will take a picture of it and link it on the Food page back to the original post. This should make for quick browsing if you’re just looking for a recipe or are trying to find something you read about on here a while ago. And anytime I’m out and about and dressed somewhat cute I’ll take a picture and update it on the Fashion page with details of where I got everything I’m wearing. I’ll also make a little note on a main post that the Fashion page was updated. I also now have my Tweets synched with my website, archives of my posts, and a share button to help spread the word about my blog. I’d love you forever if you posted it somewhere. <3

Between blog updates and spending the weekend in State College with Josh this weekend was a busy and fun one! To celebrate the semester being over (I got all A’s!) Josh and I met up with a group of people in his program for dinner at Duffy’s Tavern in Boalsburg, PA. Boalsburg is only ten minutes away from State College and is the cutest little town. Josh and I headed over early so we could visit our favorite furniture store.

We discovered Riley on Main on a whim this past summer when Josh’s parents were in town and we ate at Duffy’s. I can still remember walking in and feeling like I had walked into the place that was meant to furnish my dream home. The ladies who run this place have such great style and always have little snacks out to munch on while you shop. Starting this Friday they’re going to do happy hour on the deck outside! Josh and I definitely have plans to go back for that sometime this summer.

They were closing a few minutes after we got there so we had to browse quickly but I found my dream desk. Too bad its $1400. Maybe one day when I have my MBA and big girl job I’ll be able to afford it. ;p

We were starving by dinnertime and were so excited for Duffy’s. We were a little nervous about getting in because it was Penn State graduation weekend and we didn’t have reservations. We also had a party of eleven. Thankfully Josh was a miracle worker and they managed to pull tables together (despite being sold out!) and have us seated together in our own little room.

I got a veggie cheeseburger with potato salad. It was really good. A way I found to reduce some extra calories with out to eat meals is to only eat one half of the bun. Even better than the food was the company. We had a lot of fun hanging out and chatting over dinner.

About seven of us were still hungry after dinner so we decided to head back to State College and celebrate the gorgeous weather with some froyo from Kiwi! I got cake batter and strawberry yogurt and then topped them with blueberries, mochi, strawberries, Gertrude Hawk caramel chocolate cups and cookie dough. It was heaven in a bowl.

I was so excited to be spending the weekend with Josh. He was away last weekend in San Diego and I really missed him. He was so sweet and surprised me with a cow and seal and a crow mug from a coffee shop he frequented a lot while he was there and absolutely loved. Looking at all the pictures he took I was amazed at how beautiful San Diego is. I really want to visit there someday!

Josh and I are making a big effort to try and eat healthy and get in shape this summer. I took lots of pictures of our food this weekend to share some ideas for healthy snack and meal ideas. I’m a big fan of Chipotle burrito bowls. You reduce the carbs by nixing the wrap and all their ingredients are natural and fresh, not to mention super tasty! You also can’t beat the $6 price tag, and that includes guacamole if you order the vegetarian bowl!

Josh is so talented with mixing and pairing food and flavor combinations. This spinach salad was only three hundred and fifty calories and was covered in tomatoes, peppers, carrots, chickpeas, reduced fat feta, walnut shavings, and Josh’s homemade salad dressing.

He made it by mixing Castella bruschetta with Asian rice vinegar. It tastes so good and has such a bold flavor and only added 35 calories to our meal!

Josh made an extra batch of the dressing and marinated some tempeh in it for a few hours. He then grilled it up and we broiled spinach, cheese, pepper, and tomato tempeh sandwiches. They were soo good. I could totally see myself packing this for lunch when I start working at my internship next week!

Of course no weekend in State College is complete without at least one visit to Wegmans! Josh and I stopped by for dinner one night and I picked up some of their tomato orzo soup. Its so good and so hearty. And only 200 calories a serving!

For dessert one night Josh and I had a serving of Turkey Hill’s Banana Split frozen yogurt. We added some sliced mango and topped it with cool whip. It was so delicious! This is definitely one of my favorite new flavors.

I don’t know how I avoided oatmeal until I was almost twenty years old. Now I absolutely love it and usually eat it once a day. I made some Quaker Oats with blueberry Chobani and a cut up banana. It was so good.

Josh and I clipped a $1 off coupon for Quaker Oat’s new Real Medleys instant oatmeal bowls and were super excited to try them out. With the coupon it only ended up costing us $0.70! Josh absolutely loved them. They were a little sweeter than I’m used to with my oatmeal but still delicious. We both agreed this is the perfect healthy traveling breakfast. You just add hot water and let it sit for three minutes. Josh plans on using them on his trip to visit his parents in Connecticut this weekend!

Josh and I went to Sams Club this weekend to stock up on random household items and scope out the samples. Those totally make my shopping experience! ;p While we were there Josh spotted a new-to-us Sabra flavor called Tuscan Garden Hummus. It is so good, and dare I say it my favorite hummus flavor to date? I know that’s a big statement coming from someone that eats Roasted Red Pepper hummus every single day. ;p

While we were being adventurous and trying new things we decided to try the Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausage. I’ve heard really good things about them and was excited to see how they cooked up.

I sauteed them with spinach, red pepper, onions, and cheese. It was so incredibly delicious and such a healthy meal, I am definitely a fan of the veggie sausage!

For breakfast one morning I decided to try mixing a banana with Honey Nut Cheerios. I don’t know why this never occurred to me before but it tasted so incredibly good! I always plan on mixing in a little extra fruit to my cereal from now on.

We also had a lot of coffee this weekend. We just picked up a coffee shelf for Josh’s Keurig this weekend and have had a fun time sampling some new flavors. My favorite is still the Donut Shop Coconut Mocha. We also found its a good snack because if you just add milk and nix the sugar (This was hard for me to do at first but after a few weeks I don’t even miss it or notice the difference in taste. I’m starting to like coffee that tastes like coffee!) you’re getting a low calorie snack with a little extra added caffeine buzz.

And that was our weekend! It was a super fun one that, like always, went by way too fast! Time to head to bed so I can get a good nights sleep. I’ve got a lot of paperwork to fill out for my internship tomorrow!

Question of the Day: What do you think of the blog redesign? Are there things you especially like or changes you’d suggest making? I’d love to hear!

* The Fashion page was updated with my outfits from this weekend!