DELICIOUS POST WORKOUT SMOOTHIE

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One of my favourite things about long distance running is- the post run meal….yes. I'm Italian and I was raised to be OBSESSED with food. I can't help it, it's in my blood.

In some past fitness posts (here, here + here) I've shared with you some tips that help me keep fuelled in those long runs…but…I've been holding out on you. There's one more strategy that really gets me going in my final kms... ENVISIONING MY POST RUN MEAL.

 When I'm tired and sweaty and cranky with two km to go, I just start picturing what I will be devouring as soon as I'm done my run and BOOM! all of a sudden, I have way more energy to complete the run! It works every time....every time. 

But I've been realizing you just can't down anything when you finish a run. You need to put some protein back in your body! But guys...for years I've had a love hate relationship with protein powder. I know it's good for me but every one I tasted has been all ewh. ewh. ewh. 

Until I got my hands on Bodylab's Decadent Chocolate Fudge protein powder. YOU GUYS. This stuff is goooood. And it's not like other protein powders that are designed to bulk you up. In Bodylab's protein powders are a bunch of awesome ingredients that help fuel lean tissue, rev metabolism and do lots of other great things! Bodylab was created by women and for women and JLo runs the show..HELLO! Sign me right up to get a booty like JLo's.

Because of the length of my run, I added a couple things to this smoothie, but the powder is good enough to have with just water!

POST WORKOUT SMOOTHIE

ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 3 cups almond milk
• 1 scoop body lab decadent chocolate fudge protein powder
• 5 ice cubes

instructions:

1. blend all ingredients in blender. pour into two cups and enjoy!

And I have some GOOD NEWS! The good peeps at Bodylab are giving you a discount code to receive 25% off your order AND free shipping! Just use the code ssheart25 at checkout. #booyah. 

(Bodylab kindly sent me their products to try out but all opinions expressed are my own.)

Happy post run future smoothie eating!

xo,

s.s.♥︎.

FESTIVAL STYLE INSPIRATION

Oh hello festival season!! I don't know about you but I'm experiencing mega festival withdrawal. It's been two years since Coachella. :(

 Amazing music, sunny skies, palm trees...so wish I was there right now!!! But if I can't be there in real life, I can at least go online shopping and pretend I'm there riiigggghhht?

1. Floppy Hat
2. Black Tank
3. Glitter Water Bottle
4. Kimono
5. Fringe Purse
6. Denim Cut-Offs
7. Gladiator Sandals

How incredible is that floor length kimono? Sooo want it. And that gold glitter water bottle!! Ah!

Got exciting plans for the weekend? I DO! It's Rachel's stagette and we're all PUMPED! Can't wait to hang and celebrate the bride to be! Hope you have a wonderful one.

stay gold,

s.s.♥︎.

BUDGETING AS A MARRIED COUPLE

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So remember when we talked about budgeting a couple of months ago? I shared why I started budgeting and how I got out of debt and today I'm sharing all about budgeting as a married couple. I'd love to say that budgeting is simply a THRILLING topic to talk about in your marriage but you all would know that I'd be straight up LYING. It can be fun at times, but at other times it can be just dreadful...because no one wants to be the one crushing the dreams and talking about money (or lack of) all the time. Money is a funny thing that can be used to make people distracted/angry/greedy/etc or it can be something that is used to glorify God. We try to make it the latter.

As I wrote before, it is very important to me to be accountable to every dollar I make. This was very easy for me as a single person with one debit card BUT add another person and another debit card and this can get a little bit tricky. This is where something like MINT sets you up for a win.

Before we got married, we sat down on mint and created a budget that we thought would work for us. With mint, you connect all your accounts and credit cards and then all your transactions start appearing. You can then organize those onto different budgets. Mint shows you where all your money is going.

I'd love to say every month, we're under or on budget but nope we're still learning. Some weeks I'm so busy I barely go on Mint and then all of a sudden I check and I'm all like OH MY GOSH WE HAVE $20 IN THE GROCERY BUDGET TO LAST US UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH. Food is the #1 budget we go over in...ha.

We're not experts but here's the advice I have for you on budgeting as a married couple.

1. SET YOUR BUDGET ACCORDING TO YOUR PRIORITIES/GOALS

It's good to get on the same page as a married couple on where you want to spend your money. Is saving up for a house a priority? Do you tithe? And how much? (Ps. I'll be talking about tithing next week!) For us, tithing is a HUGE priority so we make sure it's clearly in our budget. Do you have a clothing allowance? Set the budget and be willing to compromise.

2. LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS

Be wise. Budgeting is all about living with in (and under) your means. But as a married couple sometimes you can get carried away with things (travelling, new cars, buying expensive clothes, house renovations). For us it's real hard to not dive into renos...our bathroom doesn't even have baseboards BUT we know right now we're not financially set up for that so we make do with what we have. 

3. DON'T LET MONEY COME BETWEEN YOU

It's real easy to fight about money. Those fights are never worth it. Money comes and goes. Your relationship happiness should not depend on what is in the bank. Stressed about money? Make a plan, set a budget and stick to it. Determine to not let money come between your relationship.

above image taken by Amy Gary Photography

I'd love to hear your tips for budgeting as a married couple! Please share them in the comments :)

xo,

s.s.♥︎.

EYE CANDY // 2

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Hiiiii. Hope you had a fabulous weekend/Monday. Mondays are my day off after a very full Sunday and I like to keep them chillll. James and I were able to spend a bit of time together which was nice. He's been crazy busy with school and band stuff. He just finished a 5 day local tour with shows in Duncan, Vancouver, Victoria, Victoria and Nanaimo. I went to the Duncan and second Victoria show and all I gotta say is daaaang. Towers & Trees puts on a good show! I so loved seeing my man up there doing what he loves to do. He'll be leaving soon for a three week tour. I'm going to miss him SOOOO MUCH! But I'll be busy here with work, school, Rachel's wedding, blogging, running and house stuff and pinteresting obvs......

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 

Are we BFFS yet???

Snapchat: lauraliira // Instagram // Pinterest // Facebook // Twitter

xoxo,

s.s.♥︎.

RICH + DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

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You guys....

I made you the BEST chocolate layer cake. It's rich and delicious and dare I say the word that everyone hates...mmmmm......nope, nope..I'm just going to say it is not dry....not dry whatsoever.

It was my first time baking a triple layer cake...oh wait, actually second time...Courtney and I don't talk about our first failed attempt...but here's a photo to prove it...

Let's just say we weren't prepared...it did taste great though...

But moving on to chocolate cake....

I brought my A-game when baking this baby. I went out and bought three round cake pans and made sure I had all of the ingredients ready to go (that is VITAL for baking!!) 

And I was sooo happy with the results. I served this at our Easter Dinner and everyone looooved it. I served some leftovers to friends four days later and it was still mmm....not dry and delicious.

So if you want to impress a bunch of people or just eat A LOT of amazing cake then have a go at baking this one!

RICH + DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE LAYER CAKE

makes 16 servings

Ingredients:

for the cake:

• 3 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 oz unsweetened chocolate squares, melted and cooled slightly

for the frosting:

• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate squares
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 pkg (250g) light cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of three 9-inch round cake pans. Cut circles of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pans and place in pans. Lightly grease paper.
2. Combine sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Beat eggs on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer for about three minutes. They should be thickened slightly and are lemon coloured. Add buttermilk, coffee, oil, vanilla and melted chocolate. Mix on low speed until well blended.
4. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix on medium speed until batter is smooth. Divide batter evenly among pans and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes then remove cakes from pans, peel off paper and cool completely before frosting.
5. For the frosting, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder and whipping cream in a medium pot. Cook slowly over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 1 minute then remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Stir in vanilla and then let cool to room temperature. 
6. Beat cream cheese and butter on high in the bowl of an electric mixer. When smooth add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat on medium speed until well blended. Refrigerate frosting for about an hour.
7. To frost cake, place one cake layer on cake stand. Spread 1 cup frosting over top. Repeat with second layer. Place final layer on top. Ice top and sides of cake with remaining frosting and then decorate cake.
8. Enjoy!!