A Side of Sweet

Chai Spice Poached Pears with Chai Sorbet

Happy Halloween! Phew, now that I have that out of the way, I can officially start planning for the holidays, right? We’re not going home for the holidays this year so I’m counting on all of you to get me in the holiday spirit.

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday for many reasons. The first and second ones are pie, but a close third is that fact that Pat and I got engaged on Thanksgiving! I love gathering everyone around a big table and eating until you are so full you feel like you’re going to pop…. Read More »

College Fashion Week

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend San Francisco College Fashion Week with my gal Lauren. I know what you’re thinking – “girl, you ain’t no college student!” You’re absolutely right! I was actually a guest of the organizer of College Fashion Week – Her Campus Media. The night was a ton of fun and started with makeup by Bare Minerals and hair touch-ups by TRESemmé. Any event that starts with pampering is tops in my book!

My favorite thing about College Fashion Week was that the models were actual real college girls! These girls had volunteered for the event and modeled clothes by Boohoo. It was so much fun to see these real girls with no modeling experience rock the runway with confidence! I think about myself in college and there is no way I could have walked a runway in front of so many people…. Read More »

24 Hours in Corvallis Oregon

Because we were only in Oregon for a couple of days, we had only 24 hours to explore Corvallis. We woke refreshed after an amazing night’s sleep on the Christmas Tree Farm at Donovan Place. Because I was at the peak of my half marathon training, we started the day with a brisk run up Bald Hill…. Read More »

Donovan Christmas Tree Farm in Corvallis, Oregon

Oh my gosh, I’m so excited to finally share some more photos from my recent trip to Oregon with you! We had a memory card malfunction that was almost catastrophic, but things have been sorted out and I promise it was worth the wait.

For this trip, Holly and I really wanted to explore Oregon outside of Portland. We headed about 1.5 hours south of Portland to the Willamette Valley – also known as Oregon’s wine country. Our first stop was the lovely town of Corvallis, where we stayed on the amazing Donovan Place – on a Christmas tree farm!

Fall Pasta with Pumpkin + Collard Greens (Vegan)

Vegetarian Vegan

We picked up our Eatwell CSA (community supported agriculture) box last week and it was my first encounter with collared greens. I have to admit, I had to google them and also scour Pinterest for inspiration. Because I was training for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon, I knew I wanted some good carbs to get me ready for the race. I also had a CSA pumpkin to use and I haven’t quite bought into sweet pumpkin desserts yet this year (I know, pumpkin spice what?). For some reason, savory pumpkin dishes have been calling to me instead. So basically, thanks to the randomness of Google, the inspiration of Pinterest, my training carb needs and the fabulous local and season veggies from our CSA box, this fall pasta with pumpkin and collared greens was born. What can I say…it was a group effort?… Read More »

Nike Women’s Half Marathon + Jawbone UP24 Update

Here’s my race report from running the Nike Women’s Half Marathon San Francisco this weekend! I just couldn’t wait to get it up on the blog because it was definitely one of my favorite races I’ve ever done. As promised, I’m also going to share my thoughts on wearing the UP24 (thanks to my collaboration with Jawbone) and how it helped me get into marathon shape! I hope you enjoy this race report!… Read More »