One Lovely Blog Award!

The winner of my Best of Hartford Voting Party giveaway is the duo of Connecticut Bloggers!

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I will contact you to find out if you want a gift card from Esca, Spotlight Theaters, or Umi Sushi + Tapas. Don’t forget to check out the voting parties happening in the Hartford area this month!

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Pete and Gerry’s Lemon Meringue Tart

Attention CT locals – my Hartford Advocate Best of Hartford voting party giveaway ends tonight at 11:59PM EST. Be sure to enter for a chance to win a gift card to a Hartford area hotspot!

During my Mohegan Sun WineFest recap, I teased that you’d be seeing more from Pete & Gerry’s Organic Eggs on the blog this week. I’m here to deliver!

Raspberry egg custard!

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Best of Hartford Voting Party Giveaway!

Man-oh-man, you guys love your Oakley shades! So many people entered the Sunglasses Shop giveaway for a free pair – thank you for the participation! Drumroll please, the grand prize winner is…

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Karen M! Congrats and I will contact you for shipping info and your choice of shades (if different than the Dirty Dog Vendetta Fluro Pink 53215 Polarised you mentioned in the comments)! VERY cute choice BTW!

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Mohegan Sun WineFest 2013

Remember friends, the giveaway for a free pair of Oakley sunglasses from Sunglasses Shop ends tonight at 11:59 PM EST! Be sure to enter this fabulous contest!

Last year I went to Mohegan Sun Casino‘s annual Sun WineFest and had so much fun, I needed three posts to share my experience! This year I am going to do it all in one post, but that’s not because I had less fun. Au contraire, I’d say this year was MORE fun because I reunited with old friends I’d met during and since last year’s event, met a blend I LOVE in person, and got to share the experience with my close friend (and namer of this blog), Rachel.

Me and the gorgeous Rachel in our glasses and fancy media badges!

My love for Mohegan Sun is no secret. I visit as often as I can whether I am there as their guest or just ready to have a great time with friends and family. I love entering the casino and feeling like I’m in another world – yes I know they do that on purpose. But I only lost $20 on the craps table this night (unfortunately my lucky streak has ended) because I spent most of my time in the ballroom of the convention center at Saturday’s Grand Tasting!

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Fashion Friday: Sunglasses Shop Giveaway!

Sorry for being MIA yesterday, guys. Work was moi busy. But I did post a cool Tribesports core workout graphic on the blog’s Facebook page, so make sure you head over and check that out. Also, the Captain Jabbo winners may have been chosen, but remember the promo code is still good until 2/17!

I’m a spoiled blogger, I’ll admit it. In today’s post you’ll see my second pair of complimentary Oakley shades – yes, second. I received a pair of active wear sunglasses at the Fitness Magazine Meet & Tweet last May.

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My First Vlog: “Spirit Junkie” Reflections

Perfect timing, Universe! Gabby Bernstein’s latest vlog is on Body Image. I loved watching and wanted to point you all to her post so that you could watch too! Then watch my vlog, oh geez, I’ve set myself up for embarrassment 😉

I’ve been teasing you guys for awhile about a review and my reflections on Gabrielle Bernstein‘s “Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Self-Love and Miracles”. Concepts from the book that resonated with me have already been mentioned here and there, but I’ve never written a full-on post.

Kinda wanna find this dress and make this my adorable Halloween costume this year. (Source)

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Cooking by the Book at Connecticut Historical Society

Thank you to those who entered my Captain Jabbo sailor bracelet giveaway! I received 103 entries total. This is a particularly good giveaway because there are THREE winners – more love to spread! I used random.org to select the following comments:

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Company, Not Cravings

I figured now that I have a grand total of six recipes (thanks Mom) that I’ve posted on this blog, it was better earlier than never to create a Recipage! I hope to continue to add to it (albeit slowly).

During a Gabby Bernstein Spirit Junkie meditation on Saturday night, the idea for this post (complete with title) came to me. I was reflecting on my evening out at Rooftop 120 with a new friend, old friends, my parents, and my favorite bartender. Memories of the evening associated with them came to mind first.

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Fashion Friday: Captain Jabbo Bracelet Giveaway!

Two thumbs up for Caitlin, folks. I so appreciate your encouraging comments and tweets about my plans yesterday to NOT do more of a workout than one Group Step class at the gym, and still go out to a restaurant afterward and enjoy myself. I have to admit, it was tough. I was tempted to skip a snack before the gym because I was trying to restrict and compensate for not working out “enough”. But I didn’t because I knew that I wanted to be strong, fight the ego, and be true to me! And truthfully, Caitlin knows she needs a snack before she works out.

Nicole, I love you.

Nicole, I love you.

The step class felt great, and though I still felt seeds of doubt about doing enough working out or being “hungry enough” for my dinner, my worries really did dissipate almost completely the moment I sat down. I had great food, drinks, and company. I did not overdo it on food/drinks whatsoever and even ditched my comfort zone and stayed out at the restaurant until 11pm! This morning when I woke up I felt a) exhausted and b) wonky in the stomach area. So I ditched the planned P90X Yoga session and did some basic stretching. That’s IT for me today. I feel REALLY proud right now because though I’ve got some anxiety going on right now, I’m being kind to myself and I have faith in that and know I’m doing what’s right!

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Beautiful Blogger Award

Woo hoo! I loved reading your comments on yesterday’s flashback WIAW about your childhood eating habits and hope to reply to them all today. A couple of you mentioned doing your own posts about that topic – PLEASE DO! I’d LOVE to see what you munched on as a munchkin 😉

My HLS roomie Alex of Wholesome Living nominated me for the Beautiful Blogger Award! I really enjoy filling out these little surveys especially because lately I’ve just been enjoying writing more about moi and my musings, thoughts, what have you. In fact I’m going to cheat a bit and use this survey to share some more current words running through my mind, not just general “about me” stuff.

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