This past Saturday I had a great opportunity to attend the first ever Food Allergy and Celiac Convention at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World.
Put on by two lovely ladies, Laurie and Sarah, this event was great for everyone and anyone who is plagued with food allergies of any kind (like myself).
There were many great speakers and vendors. The vendors were probably my favorite part of the whole convention. As a blogger, I love networking and talking to vendor's. Its always fun to talk to the people behind the products and marketing of those products.
I loved hearing Dr. Kendra Becker. She was the first session my mom and I went to. She gave great tips for natural remedies for all kinds of sickness. My mom took a lot of notes that I am going to be asking for later. Dr.Becker was so nice and I was even able to ask her some questions afterwards about my own health and what I could be doing.
Like I said before, the vendors were probably my favorite part of the convention. Some of my favorites were:
Enjoy Life, Saffron Road, Simply B, Garden Lites, Barnies Coffee Kitchen, Baby Cakes NYC, and Young Living Essential Oils .
It was such a great weekend and I can't wait for next year.
Also a big ShoutOUT to our friend Mrs.Sherri from the Pixie Travel Agency for hooking us up with a nice room at the Coronado for the weekend :)
Put on by two lovely ladies, Laurie and Sarah, this event was great for everyone and anyone who is plagued with food allergies of any kind (like myself).
There were many great speakers and vendors. The vendors were probably my favorite part of the whole convention. As a blogger, I love networking and talking to vendor's. Its always fun to talk to the people behind the products and marketing of those products.
I loved hearing Dr. Kendra Becker. She was the first session my mom and I went to. She gave great tips for natural remedies for all kinds of sickness. My mom took a lot of notes that I am going to be asking for later. Dr.Becker was so nice and I was even able to ask her some questions afterwards about my own health and what I could be doing.
Like I said before, the vendors were probably my favorite part of the convention. Some of my favorites were:
Enjoy Life, Saffron Road, Simply B, Garden Lites, Barnies Coffee Kitchen, Baby Cakes NYC, and Young Living Essential Oils .
It was such a great weekend and I can't wait for next year.
Also a big ShoutOUT to our friend Mrs.Sherri from the Pixie Travel Agency for hooking us up with a nice room at the Coronado for the weekend :)
: Destiny Defined : Book one of the Destiny Series :
By J.A Marx
A dramatic shipwreck emancipates Riki Hammad, but the island where she finds refuge is compromised. Unless she finds a power truly great enough to defeat her dark past, she will choose death over returning to captivity. Lord Vétis, high priest of a cultic underground, will stop at nothing to reclaim their chosen one. Using black magic, he manipulates Riki and her four self-assigned bodyguards, triggering a battle that consumes the entire island. The underground will never allow Riki to live out her dreams of a normal life . . . something she has never known.
:: My Review::
J.A Marx tells a great story in Destiny Defined. Its full of action, friendship, and fun. The characters are interested and sometimes even relatable. I found my self even laughing at some of there dialog from time to time. I really enjoyed this read and think its perfect for any avid reader you have in your house. I can't wait to see what happens in the rest of her series!
*I was given this book to review from Litfuse Publicity. All views and opinions are completely mine
Two Friday Favorites in a row?? No you are not seeing things ;)
Here are a few of my favorite things.....
The newly released trailer for Cinderella:
I am excited for this movie. Cinderella is one of my favorite princesses and I love films like "Ever After" that recreated the famous story. I am very interested in how disney portray this film
Christmas DIY:
This upcoming christmas season has me inspired to be more crafty. Whether or not that happens is another story but I can atleast pin all the ideas that appeal to me to my hearts content. ;)
My new favorite sweater:
I love my new LC Conrad sweater. Its the one in the picture below. And I may or may not be heading to kohl's on Friday to buy the boots in the photo as well ;)
Baby it's cold outside:
This new version of "Baby it's cold outside" with Idina Menzel and Michael Buble is perfect for cold weather that has covered most of the US this week, including Florida.
My goodies from Enjoy Life:
I loved this lovely package of goodies I received from Enjoy Life :) I won a couple weeks ago on the #FACCWDW twitter party :) They are also apart of the Food Allergy and Celiac Convention this weekend (That you should come to if you happen to be in the area!)
Happy Weekend Friends!
Here are a few of my favorite things.....
The newly released trailer for Cinderella:
I am excited for this movie. Cinderella is one of my favorite princesses and I love films like "Ever After" that recreated the famous story. I am very interested in how disney portray this film
This upcoming christmas season has me inspired to be more crafty. Whether or not that happens is another story but I can atleast pin all the ideas that appeal to me to my hearts content. ;)
http://thelovelydrawer.com/festive-freebies/ |
This new version of "Baby it's cold outside" with Idina Menzel and Michael Buble is perfect for cold weather that has covered most of the US this week, including Florida.
If you happen to be in the Orlando area this Saturday, you should come to the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World for the Food Allergy and Celiac Convention. It's gonna be a great time with great speakers and vendors.
Last I checked there were still tickets left! So, grab a ticket and come on down for an awesome time!
I'll be there tweeting and instagraming to my little hearts content and I hope to meet some of you there as well!
I'll be there tweeting and instagraming to my little hearts content and I hope to meet some of you there as well!
: For more information check out the website :
http://celebrateawareness.com/tag/faccwdw/
: Also for more recent updates check out the facebook page as well :
https://www.facebook.com/faccwdw
Soaking your Quinoa.
Now I will be honest. I didn't even know about this till my mom sent me "The Crushing Cancer Kitchen" blog post.
According Dana, by soaking your quinoa for 12-24hrs before cooking it "It releases the phytic acid (an anti-nutrient found in grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, that binds to and can prevent us from absorbing the nutrients) and activates the phytase (an enzyme that helps them to digest)."
I don't know about your but I'd like some healthy enzymes in my food :)
All you do is fill a container of your choice with quinoa and twice the amount of water (Ex: 1 cup of quinoa = 2 cups of water). Then add a splash of apple cider vinegar and viola!
I dont do this all that time. I forget to do it a lot. However, when I do I can tell the quinoa is a lot fluffier then normal and I feel good knowing I'm getting more out of my food by planing ahead.
Are you going to start soaking your quinoa readers??
I sure am.. when I can remember ;)
I figured it was about time I do another Friday Favorites. I keep going back and forth on whether or not I want to do a monthly favorites or a weekly Friday favorites and I always seem to go back to the weekly Friday Favorites. It's been my blog staple for a while now even though I haven't been as consistent with it as I used to be.
But without further ado:
Here are a few of my favorite things....
(I bet you were mentally singing it in your head too ;) )
LC Conrad Bathroom Collection:
If you have been reading my blog for a while you know I am obsessed with everything Lauren Conrad. She inspires a lot of my wardrobe. Recently she released a bathroom collection with Kohls and I want all of it.
We are actually in the process of making plans to redo our small little bathroom. My favorite color scheme of the collection is this one:
But without further ado:
Here are a few of my favorite things....
(I bet you were mentally singing it in your head too ;) )
LC Conrad Bathroom Collection:
If you have been reading my blog for a while you know I am obsessed with everything Lauren Conrad. She inspires a lot of my wardrobe. Recently she released a bathroom collection with Kohls and I want all of it.
We are actually in the process of making plans to redo our small little bathroom. My favorite color scheme of the collection is this one:
Now, I know my husband (and blog spell checker/editor ;) ) is going to see this and say it looks to girly. But please know dear husband that I will make sure I gather other inspiration besides this collection to decorate our bathroom so it doesn't seem so girly ;)
Speaking of bathrooms. (sorry, i've got bathrooms on the brain apparently lol). Have you heard of this stuff, Poo-Pourri? I saw this stuff in a local boutique here in my town and I thought I'd try it out.
I am a true believer now. I love it! We have only one small bathroom in our house and sometimes you gotta go while the other person is in the bathroom getting ready. Its just how it is. This stuff works wonders and helps your bathroom (and you) not smell like... well you know..And saves the person who has to use the bathroom next from having to hold their breath. ;)
Follow Samantha Riley's board Christmas Idea/Decorations and GIFTS! on Pinterest.
I loved hearing Heather White speak at Wow Summit this weekend. She shared about EWG.com and as soon as I got home I jumped on it to see what products were not good for my home. Sadly I have been buying what I thought was good products for my home that are not :o Next time I go to the store to buy cleaning supplies I am going to buy the right ones for sure!
Christmas Banners:
I am not a DIY person but I really think I could get accomplish either of these banners if I put my mind to it :P I think they're so adorable and looks fairly simple.
http://blog.vickybarone.com/2013/12/06/diy-merry-christmas-garland/ |
http://www.marvelousmommy.com/2013/12/diy-merry-christmas-burlap-banner/ |
Reign:
I don't watch much tv. However, I do enjoy netflix and amazon and finding show's to watch while im around the house or doing my hair. I saw Reign on netflix and remembered I had seen it on the CW and wanted to watch it but never got a chance. So, I started watching it while I was doing my hair one morning, fast forward to a week later and I had caught up all the way to the newest episode of the new season..... Its that addicting folks.
I will say there are some moments of the show are a bit rique (i'd say like 10% of some of the episode). I tend to ignore those parts. But all in all its a great show and now Thursday nights are "samantha's tv night" according to the husband. Poor thing, if he's home he has to sit through two hours of TV shows that don't interest him at all. The Vampire Diares and Grey's Anatomy (i flip back and forth), and Reign. He's a good spot though. He get's football. I get vampires, doctors, and queens.
Happy Weekend Friends!
My mom and I
If you were scrolling through Instagram and Twitter this weekend, you were probably bombarded with pictures and tweets from myself about the Wow Summit conference hosted by Mom's Meet.
NOW BEFORE WE GO ANY FURTHER, I know what you're thinking...
"But Samantha, you are not a mom?"
However, I will be eventually and I am one of those people who likes to be prepared for future events. The Mom's Meet Wow Summit was a great event to prepare myself for future motherhood (Which will hopefully be in 2-3 years ;) ).
The conference was for like minded lady's and moms who are passionate about raising their families the natural and healthy way.
And if you have been reading my blog for a while, you know I am all for being healthy and natural!
There were tons of great speakers, awesome sponsors who showered us with tons of free products and samples, and a great atmosphere.
I'm going to try to simplify the weekend with some of my highlights.
Robyn O'Brien gave an awesome keynote speech about why we have the right to know what's in our food, and that with all these new food allergies popping up we should be aware that its not always us changing, its the food.
She showed the two slides about the double standard in food. I know they are hard to read but the one to the right is example of the U.K ingredients list for Nutri Gran and The U.S ingredients list for the same product. How insane is that!? I personally think its ridiculous we can't put natural products in our own food. If the UK can do it, why don't we? How hard is it?
She showed the two slides about the double standard in food. I know they are hard to read but the one to the right is example of the U.K ingredients list for Nutri Gran and The U.S ingredients list for the same product. How insane is that!? I personally think its ridiculous we can't put natural products in our own food. If the UK can do it, why don't we? How hard is it?
The next was a session hosted by Nature's Path about GMO's. I personally HATE GMO's. Don't even get me started. It's so scary to think that are food has this stuff in it (unless it has a GMO label).
I forgot to take a picture of this slide but here is a similar chart that was showed. Below is all the countries (in green) that required GMO labeling.
So Russia has GMO labeling but not the U.S????
I think that's a little ridiculous.
Don't get me wrong. I love my country. I love the freedom we have. But I also feel we have a right to know what we are buying is healthy for us and not full of pesticides and chemicals.
My next favorite talk was from Heather White. She talked all about keeping your home free of unnecessary chemicals. This was full of great information from me because I am in the process of trying to switch over all our products to greener more eco-friendly versions.
Heather's company EWG has great information on their site here : http://www.ewg.org/
Last but not least all of the sponsors at the conference were amazing! Zevia, Flu Nada, Sweet Leaf, Suja, Smart Flour, Dippin Chips, Mrs Thinsters, Canyon Bakehouse, Kiwi, and so many more. Everyone was so nice, friendly and so excited to hear and work with bloggers.
As a blogger I love meeting companies that love to work with us. Its encouraging :)
Thanks Mom's Meet for invited me to come! I'm crossing my fingers I can come next year!
I forgot to take a picture of this slide but here is a similar chart that was showed. Below is all the countries (in green) that required GMO labeling.
So Russia has GMO labeling but not the U.S????
I think that's a little ridiculous.
Don't get me wrong. I love my country. I love the freedom we have. But I also feel we have a right to know what we are buying is healthy for us and not full of pesticides and chemicals.
My next favorite talk was from Heather White. She talked all about keeping your home free of unnecessary chemicals. This was full of great information from me because I am in the process of trying to switch over all our products to greener more eco-friendly versions.
Heather's company EWG has great information on their site here : http://www.ewg.org/
Last but not least all of the sponsors at the conference were amazing! Zevia, Flu Nada, Sweet Leaf, Suja, Smart Flour, Dippin Chips, Mrs Thinsters, Canyon Bakehouse, Kiwi, and so many more. Everyone was so nice, friendly and so excited to hear and work with bloggers.
As a blogger I love meeting companies that love to work with us. Its encouraging :)
Thanks Mom's Meet for invited me to come! I'm crossing my fingers I can come next year!