Good morning! I have an easy breakfast recipe for you to make you feel a little fancy on those mornings when you need it. Do you ever just wake up and the weather is all dreary and it makes you want to curl up and not do ANYTHING?! That's a bit like how I'm feeling this week - the weather is sad and it's really affecting me. It always amazes me how much the weather really does affect my mood. Boy, do I really miss the Florida sunshine and heat sometimes.  Anyway, enough complaining...let's talk about this Berries and Cream oats recipe. They're delicious and so so easy. Also I've found a new love for full fat yogurt, which I dolloped on top. I don't eat much dairy. Cheese sometimes in my eggs or on top of salads or meals and that's about it. I'll go in and out of phases where I love yogurt or hate it. Lately I've been loving it I've promised myself that I'll never buy non-fat or low-fat yogurt again. You guys, once you try a full fat cream yogurt (I've been buying this one from Trader Joe's) you'll never want to go back to non-fat. For one, the taste is incredible. It tastes like straight cream and I'm totally okay with that. Secondly, it is minimally processed and it contains HALF the amount of sugar as any of the other non-fat or low-fat plain yogurts. When products are stripped of the fat, companies will add in sugar to make it taste better. NO, BAD. It also contains a boat load of calcium. Go full fat, I dare you. I promise you won't get fat. 

Berries & Cream Oats

[yumprint-recipe id='25'] I just devoured my bowl and it was DELICIOSO. Now I'm off to go take a yoga class that I'm hoping will allow me to take a nice little nap before I go into work for the afternoon and night. I'm totally a morning person, but it really catches up to me when I'm training until 9pm at night. How do I teach myself to sleep in?!?!?

Have a great Tuesday!! 

XO- Rach

What's your favorite oatmeal combination?

Does the weather affect your mood?

Dreary weather - love or hate it? 

Happy Tuesday!!  How are you all doing, party people?? Everything has been good over here - had a nice relaxing weekend. I babysat, we've been watching a cutie husky, got into trouble at Lululemon on Friday, worked Saturday, taught spin on Sunday...the usual! 

Yesterday at work was also one of the best Mondays I've had in a while. We had an awesome team meeting at work and discussed the difference between motivation and inspiration.

Motivation

Motivation is what motivates you from the outside and compels you to take action...it could be money, shoes, fitting into your favorite dress, the summer coming up, etc. For me, I am motivated highly by three main things right now. Money. I mean, I gotta pay the rent and I have a few vacations coming up that I need to save for! Plus I like to treat myself sometimes with unnecessary overpriced Lululemon crops. It happens. I'm motivated by being able to turn my clients' days around when they come to train and it's the last thing they want to do. And then they leave with a smile and that feeling is the best one ever. Lastly, I'm motivated hugely by doing something I enjoy every day. It doesn't feel like work. Before I left my job in advertising I was a total energy vampire. I was miserable and I let it show. Now I feel like it's quite the opposite. What motivates you?

Inspiration

Inspiration is something from within that you connect with. It's a feeling that drives you to be more passionate and excited about something. I'm inspired by a lot of things. I remember when I was searching for a new job and complaining about my current situation, my both my parents and Michael told me "Rach, you either stop complaining, or find a way to make yourself happy..." I remember being so inspired by this idea that I literally had complete control over the changes I wanted to make. And then I did it because they all believed in me. I've always been inspired by my hardworking parents. I also am inspired every time I work with my clients and they reach a new goal. It just reassures me every time why I love what I do so much. And I'm only getting started! Are you inspired yet? What inspires you?

And now I don't mean to switch gears to abruptly but...

Spiced Carrot Muffins 

I love anything with a little spice to it. I used cinnamon, ginger and ground cloves in these muffins for a delicious blend of fall spiciness. Even though it's totally spring. 

These muffins are super hearty with raisins, sunflower seed and chocolate chips, because, well, can't bake without chocolate chips. 

[yumprint-recipe id='24'] I hope you enjoy!! 

Now I'm off to eat lunch before I head into work for another awesome, busy day.

XO- Rach

Let's chat...

What are you motivated by?

What are you inspired by?

Are you so incredibly excited for summer?

When your best friends from childhood come to visit for a long weekend, you do all the tourist things, eat all the food and drink all the beer. My best friends Hailey, Elizabeth and Melissa came to visit me in Philly this past weekend and it couldn’t have been a better weekend. The weather was PERFECT and I was able to show them literally almost every Philly neighborhood. I didn’t think we would fit as much in but we did a lot!

 They all got here Thursday night and on Friday morning we started our adventures in Rittenhouse Square. 

After Rittenhouse Square, we headed down to Reading Terminal Market for a delicious lunch and 4^th Street Famous Cookies (so damn good).

 After a large lunch, we walked up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to run up the Rocky Stairs  lay in the sun at the top of the Rocky Steps before I made them all take my 4:30 spin class.

After a quick recharge in the sun, we made our way to Body Cycle Studio for my class! You know true friends when they take your cycle class on vacation… 

Caught in action...

On Friday night we started at Independence Beer Garden (Hallelujah so happy it’s back open!!), danced at Fado and ended Ubering to Big Ass Slices for some Big Ass Slices of pizza. No pics here because pizza was our priority. Let’s just say my early Saturday morning at work was quite a challenge.

On Saturday when I got off of work, we roamed around the Italian Market for some Philly Cheesesteaks from Geno’s and some cannolis. A true Philly meal. After that we head over to Old City, Society Hill and Race Street Pier. We were totally exhausted after Saturday so we head back to my neighborhood to finish off the night with margaritas and Mexican food at a cute little place near my apartment.

On Sunday we were citied out so we went on a little hike through the Wissahickon Trail…

It was a good ass weekend!! I already miss my girls and I’m so happy they could all make it up to visit :)

XO - Rach

How was your weekend? 

What's your favorite city to visit?