6 Must-Have Travel Necessities

Hello Darlings!

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you may have noticed that I am in Hawaii! My sister and her husband are stationed out here and just welcomed a very darling new boy, H, into their family. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the little munchkin so out I came.

With any long plane ride comes quite a bit of packing, so I thought it would be fun to chat about my six categories of must-haves during any trip.

Raspberry-Mint Limeade Frozen Yogurt Sponsored by Yulu Yogurt

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With the Solstice come and gone, it is officially summer! And now that the crazy Denver weather has (somewhat) subsided, it is hot, hot, hot here in Colorado! I don’t know about you, but when the temperatures reach the 90s all I want is frozen yogurt and lemonade. So, when Yulu Yogurt reached out and asked me to try their new Aussie-Style yogurt I decided to create a recipe that would cool down my body and perk up my taste buds. Enter: Raspberry-Mint Limeade Frozen Yogurt.

Weekly Snack Attack

Hello Darlings!

If you you’ve been following my WIAWs for a while, you might have noticed that 1. I am really bad about them getting posted on Wednesdays and 2. I am pretty bad at capturing a single day’s worth of food. However, I am a big fan of photographing my snacks! Which, quite frankly, are often a bit more fun anyway!

So, without further ado: Snacktime!

Wisdom Panel 3.0: DNA Testing for Pups!

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The following is post sponsored by Wisdom Panel 3.0

My two Samoyeds are my fur-babies, and I spoil them as such. From their own Instagram account,to top tier food and homemade treats, I want to make sure that they get the best of the best. I know everything there is to know about them, and quite a bit of that information comes from knowing exactly what breed they are. Knowing your pup’s breed can be integral in diagnosing health issues, learning how to train your pup, and perfecting their nutrition plans.

While my girls are purebred Samoyeds from a show line, I have so many friends with puppies that are rescues and mixed breeds that aren’t exactly sure what breed of dog they actually have. Enter Mars Veterinary.

Sports Bras That Actually Fit: Title Nine #T9FitFest +Giveaway!

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Sports bra shopping drives me crazy. You want something that is cute, supportive, doesn’t bunch up your T-shirt, and most of all fits without digging in or completely flattening out the girls. Generally speaking a bra that fits all of those criteria is pretty hard to come by. My sports bras have always felt too restrictive (pancake boobs) or a bit too busty (cleavage is awesome sometimes, but when you’re falling out of your bra in headstand? Not so much.) and there didn’t seem to be a middle ground.

Daily Handbag Essentials: Stress Less, Smile More with Bach Rescue!

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What do you bring when you know you’re going to have a stressful day? I have a few staples that I don’t leave home without! I love carrying around my Michael Kors suitcase of a handbag because I have easy access to everything I need, which is incredibly helpful when I feel my chronic anxiety start to become overwhelming.  From homeopathic remedies to tasty chocolate I carry around a bit of everything to help calm myself down!

Yoga Poses to Beat the Winter Blues & Kharma Khare Yoga Mat Review

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My yoga practice is a bit unorthodox. And because of that my mats take a beating. From puppy paws to Red Rocks’ dirt to mountain snow, they have to bear a little bit of everything. So when Kharma Khare reached out to see if I might want to take their Hybrid Bliss Non Slip Eco-Friendly Yoga Mat for a test drive I knew I had to put it through the ringer before sharing it with you lovelies. And, boy, did it pass with flying colors!

The Perfect Super Bowl Snack: Chex Mix! (&Giveaway! (Closed))

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I am all about an easy snack, especially when watching sporting events. With the Super Bowl coming up, Chex reached out with a fun box full of goodies to make sure your game day party goes off without a hitch.

So, of course I had to celebrate with a little party of my own- Chex Mix included!

Simply Elevate Your New Years with Gloria Ferrer #LiveGloriously

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This past year for me has been hectic, especially because I tend to over complicate things. One of my resolutions for 2015 is to live more simply. Whether that be from choosing not to fully book my schedule each week to allow more down time, or stop fretting about perfection, especially when it comes to food, I’m giving myself space and time to breathe.

A Barnes & Noble Love Affair: Discovery Weekend

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It is no secret that I am a huge nerd at heart. I am that girl, the girl who takes the time to sent text messages using correct grammar, who cringes when I get flirty messages with the incorrect use of you’re/your, and the one who will secretly snoop through your bookshelf when invited to dinner. Barnes & Noble is one of my happy places, not particularly great for my wallet, but one of my happy places nonetheless.

 So when I was invited to pop over to a Barnes and Noble store with a gaggle of Colorado bloggers to learn more about B&N’s Discovery Weekend event I jumped at the chance. We were given cookies and coffee (not a wonderful combination for miss sugar high who was raring to go until about four in the morning) both of which were delicious. These cookies, mind you, we’re s’mores cookies that were about the size of your face and will be available for purchase for $1 during select times over the weekend (11/21 7:30pm; 11/22 10:30am – 1:30pm – 7:30pm; and 11/23 at 2:30pm).

Yoga Poses for Tight Hip Flexors

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One of the most requested anatomical yoga posts here on Chickadee Says is all about hip flexors! From runners to climbers and every athlete in between, hip flexors help athletes move in many ways- picking up your knees to bending at the waist. Opening the hip creases allows for more fluid movement as well as greater hip mobility.

Some of the poses below are advanced, so make sure you warm up before adding them into your practice. And, there's no better way to warm up than practicing in some awesome Fabletics gear! I am loving these pants and EVERYTHING (not joking) from the November collection!

5 Favorite Olive Oil Alternatives

For a long time my go-to oil was olive oil. I used it for cooking, moisturizing, for my hair- pretty much everything. However, long gone are those days! 5 amazing olive oil alternatives are constantly stocked in my pantry (and bathroom cabinet!) and, no offense to olive oil, but they rock its socks off!

Forever Faster: PUMA Gear Review

The following post is sponsored by Fitfluential LLC on behalf of PUMA.

Hello Darlings!

As a yoga instructor I am incredibly picky about my workout clothes. They need to fit well (no slippage in asana, thank you), be versatile, and be super comfortable. I was asked to try out two outfits from PUMA, one from their performance line, and one from their fashion comfort line and sneakers to complement both. I took both outfits for test runs- it turns out I need more PUMA in my life!

Fair Trade: Be Fair, Buy Fair, Protect the Planet. (& prAna Giveaway!)

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As October comes to a close I hope that you have been bombarded (in the best way possible) with information about Fair Trade goods. October is Fair Trade month, but honestly I think every month should be.

As consumers, sometimes it feels like we go shopping constantly; and with that, we are exposed to an incredible amount of choices. Whether it be at the grocery store, the mall, or online, we are fortunate enough to have to chance to choose what we buy. Why not use that buying power to benefit others while getting high quality products for both you and your family?

Meatless Monday: Vegan Double Onion Chip Dip

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Now, I’m a hockey girl through and through. However, I do happen to enjoy some delicious Monday night football-watching probably not-so-good-for-you snacks. Since coming to Denver I have noticed that I have made quite a few friends who are equally as enthused about sports as I am, but have vegan eating habits. So I decided to do a bit of a recipe makeover to make one of my favorite dips vegan!

I have been enjoying Vegenaise for a quite a while- I actually like the taste (milder) better than regular Mayonnaise! So when Vegenaise decided to send over a box of my favorite vegan mayo I was super pleased!

#buildayogaBOOty Instagram Challenge with Chickadee Says!

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If you follow Chickadee Says on Facebook or take a peek at the questions I leave at the end of my yoga posts here on the blog, you might have noticed that I love to know what all of you are looking for in terms of yoga. Generally speaking I fashion a “5 Yoga Poses for ________” post in response. However, one of my most requested posts is for poses to shape, lift, and build your yoga booty!

Yoga Poses For Headache Relief

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Now, I don’t know if it is the season changing (grumble) or Denver’s rather erratic weather, but my allergies (which, I rarely get thanks to these tips- yep, tooting my own horn) are out of control this fall. And along with the itchy eyes, sniffle-y nose, and over all rather surly demeanor, I have been getting headaches like it is nobody’s business. Now generally speaking, I have a number of remedies I use for headaches- my favorite is Traumeel (yay holistic medicine!) but my box of headache helpers tends to stay in my medicine cabinet. So, when I felt a migraine coming on when I was teaching at the studio I pulled out some yoga moves and the headache subsided!

Picture Sharing Made Easy: The Seahorse App

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Being Twenty-Six I feel like every time I scroll down my Facebook feed I spot another engagement, and another wedding hashtag so you can follow the images that are posted on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I know from experience that trying to save all of the pictures so that they are in a central location and available for everyone to use is a huge hassle. Insert Seahorse.

Barre 3: Beautiful and Brutal (In the Best Way Possible!)

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I had always been curious about taking Barre classes. They sounded like fun, but for me if I am going to go workout, I want to get my butt kicked, and I (very wrongly) assumed that Barre classes were more pretty than functional. Oh, how wrong I was.

Now I know I shouldn’t have assumed that classes at Barre 3 wouldn’t be difficult because, quite frankly, many think the same thing about yoga, and I happen to pass the Barre 3 Denver location as I drive to teach each week. But alas, after Barre 3 reached out and offered to set me up with a class pack and a subscription to their online classes I thought, why not?

Yoga Poses for Lower Back Pain

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In each of the yoga classes I teach I really try to focus on bringing balance to both the front and back sides of our bodies. So often we tend to ignore what we can’t see, and thus even in a yoga class we breathe only to fill our chests and bellies, not the back sides of our ribs. Or when we engage our abs we tighten up that ‘six pack’ and ignore the corset of muscles that circles the backside of our torsos as well. We hold children, sit at a desk typing, cook, and so many other tings using the muscles in the front side of our body and that leads to a bit of back pain if we don’t regularly work and stretch our backs as well.