I Moved!

Hi everyone! I officially moved over to Word Press! Follow me there :)

http://happily0heather.wordpress.com/

Nike Women's Half Marathon

It's official, I just registered for my first half-marathon: The Nike Women's Half Marathon. The only problem? I don't know if I'll get selected!

This half-marathon is so popular that they do a random drawing after a month of registration. Signing up for a half-marathon has been on my bucket list of things to do and I'm so ready to cross it off! The race is scheduled for April 27, 2014 so it gives me plenty of time to get my butt in gear. Fingers crossed I get chosen!

If you're interested in registering for the D.C. Nike Women's Half Marathon check out their Facebook page here.

 

Crock-Pot Pulled Pork Sandwich

Last night we had dinner in and I fixed one of my favorite recipes, crock-pot pulled pork sandwiches! The recipe is from the life saving website, The Gracious Pantry.

 Clean Eating Crock-Pot Pulled Pork Sandwich

 Ingredients:  

8 boneless pork chops
2 (15 ounce) cans of no sugar added tomato sauce 
3 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp cumin 

2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp cayenne

Directions: Cut any extra fat off pork chops and place in crock-pot. In a medium mixing bowl mix together tomato sauce and spices. Pour sauce over pork chops. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. 

Enjoy! 

Finding Warmth

 Good morning blogging world! I woke up this morning absolutely freezing, which of course makes getting out of bed SO much easier (not). I fixed myself a nice warm bowl of oatmeal and wrapped myself in about 4 blankets trying my best to get warm. After my oatmeal it was definitely time for some coffee. After going on a pumpkin coffee overload the past few weeks, I was in the mood for something different. 

Definitely my new favorite coffee combo! I'm obsessed with that creamer and it pretty much tastes amazing with any flavor coffee. It did the trick, I was nice and toasty and ready to start my Monday!

 

Weekend 

For the second Friday in a row, I went wedding dress shopping! This time I checked out Posh Bridal in Frederick, MD with my mom and Maid-of-Honor, Taylor.  

The store was small but their selection was unbelievable! I could of tried on dresses for hours. After trying on dress after dress of what I thought I wanted, I left the store in love with a dress that was everything I originally didn't want. Has this happened with anyone else!? I'm so confused! 

After several busy, event filled weekends, Aaron and I enjoyed a nice relaxing Saturday at home that was filled with food. We were feeling lazy when dinner came around so we decided to try Carrabba's Italian Grill for the first time. It's about 2 minutes from our apartment so it seemed like the obvious choice.

I can't remember what exactly I ordered, but it was a special where you choose 3 different entrees and you can sample each one. It was delicious! Of course I also had to get a glass (and a half) of their blackberry sangria. Yum!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday! 

Friday Favorites

It's no secret that Friday has became "favorites day" in the blogging world. So, since I'm new to all this I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon!

1.) Wedding dress shopping

Last Friday was my first bridal appointment and I fell in love with two dresses. They were beautiful and I loved myself in them but I wasn't crazy excited and they left me curious as to what else is out there. Today I'm hitting up Posh Bridal in Frederick, MD with my mom and Maid of Honor, Taylor. 

2.) Trail runs

I haven't mentioned it yet, but I'm a big runner. Unfortunately, my body doesn't agree with me most of the time and I'm often left with hip and knee pain. I'm not sure if it's in my head or actually works, but running on dirt as opposed to pavement seems to go a little easier on the joints. Plus, this time of year it's gorgeous! 

3.) Simple Moisturizer

I bought this basically because it's: cheap, large and made from natural ingredients. It turns out I actually love it! I also have the eye make-up remover and it works wonderfully!

4.) Vineyard trips

 

The area I'm from in Virginia is known as "wine country," and I love it. There are vineyards EVERYWHERE! I've only been to a handful, but I recently went to Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane and fell in love. They donate a ton of money to local animal shelters and some of the wines are named after the family's dog. Too cute!

That's what I'm loving lately. What are some of your current favorites?!

Happy Halloween!

 Since today is Halloween and also happens to be Thursday, I figured some 'throwback Thursday' Halloween pictures were appropriate.  Since I live in an apartment and won't be getting any trick-or-treaters, my only plans for this evening are cuddling up on the couch and binging on bad 80's Halloween movies.

                                 

Happy Halloween!

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

This is the first of many recipe posts I hope to do! I love keeping a mostly healthy lifestyle, but unfortunately I LOVE sweets. After lunch and dinner I crave something chocolate, so instead of reaching for a sugar filled candy bar I make my own! These cookies are super easy and super delicious. They're also relatively "clean" if you use the right products.

No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup natural peanut butter

1/4 cup wheat germ
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions: Combine all ingredients into a medium size mixing bowl. Spoon mix into medium size balls onto a plate and place in freezer for 45 minutes. Remove plate from freezer and store cookies in a freezer-safer container.

 

Enjoy :) 

A beautiful day in Georgetown

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of spending the day in Georgetown with one of my best friends, and maid of honor, Taylor. The weather couldn't of been more perfect and didn't hit a bit of traffic. That might not seem like a huge deal, but if you know anything about the Northern Virginia/D.C. area, it's a true miracle!

Our main reason for the road trip was a quick stop at Georgetown Cupcake for their season pumpkin spice flavor.

 

 

Along with avoiding traffic, we somehow managed to avoid waiting hours for our cupcakes as well. If you're familiar with Georgetown Cupcake, its' featured in the TLC show "D.C. Cupakes," which makes it a popular tourist spot. The odds were in our favor and we walked right in and got our cupcakes.

My flavors included: two pumpkin spice, pumpkin cheesecake, honey banana, toffee crunch, and red velvet. So far I've only tried the pumpkin cheesecake...YUM! 

After we got our cupcakes it was time for lunch. We stumbled up Serendipity, a restaurant famous for their frozen hot chocolates.

Now I see why! We tried the peanut butter flavor and added white chocolate syrup on top. Both of us combined could only manage to get about half way through, but it was worth it!

After lunch we went on a much needed walk along the canal. Georgetown is truly a beauty!

 

Hello Bloggers!

Hello everyone and welcome to Happily Heather!

I'm pretty new to the whole blogging world so please bare with me, and feel free to offer up advice! If you haven't caught on yet, my name is Heather and I'm so excited to enter the wonderful and crazy world of blogging! Since this is my first post and you probably don't know anything about me (other than my name is Heather) I thought I'd start with some fun facts!

1.) I recently got engaged (May 18th, 2013) to my college sweetheart, Aaron. He is my best friend, my soul mate, my personal trainer, my counselor, my massage therapist, and most of all: the love of my life. 

 

2.) I am completely obsessed with my cat Sophie. She's like my child and I don't care who knows it. If it weren't for Aaron I would have at least 4 more cats. Yes, I realize I need a dog.  Badly.

3.) I am addicted to caffeine and coffee. I recently managed to kick my unhealthy addiction to Diet Coke, but caffeine in general? No way. Pumpkin spice latte, please!

4.) This pictures shows three of my favorite things ever: hiking, fall, and Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia. If I could live on that rock I would. 

Well, that's enough about me for now. I look forward to sharing even more about myself as well as getting to know everyone else out there! Goodnight!