#LEAN14: more from juice press.

Last week I posted about some of my favorite new raw foods from Juice Press, and this week they were kind enough to send me some samples of there newest treats to give a try!

Juice Press

I opened the bag to find Liquid Gold cold-pressed juice, Vital Force Very Berry smoothie, and their raw Mango Chia.

Juice Press

I had really been wanting to try their new Liquid Gold juice (since I love its “cousin” The Remedy). It includes anti-inflammatory properties from turmeric and ginger, which helps relieve muscle tension. It’s also full of vitamin C.

formula: orange juice, turmeric juice (filtered water, turmeric root), pineapple juice, grapefruit juice, carrot juice, ginger juice, lime juice, celtic sea salt.

taste: loved it! It’s really refreshing, with the perfect amount of kick from the ginger.

Juice Press Liquid Gold and Vital Force Very Berry

Next up is the Vital Force Very Berry Smoothie. It’s a vegan probiotic yogurt packed with antioxidants from the blend of strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and goji. Vegan probiotic supports the healthy bacteria in your digestive system and maca gives you an energy boost.

formula: almond milk (water, almonds, coconut oil, vanilla, sea salt), bananas, filtered water, strawberries, soaked cashews, blueberries, raspberries, dates, lime juice, goji berries, probiotics, maca powder, sea salt.

taste: I loved this one as well! I wasn’t sure what I’d think about it being a smoothie in a bottle, but it was really delicious. It was just like a thick, strawberry yogurt – it could almost pass as a milkshake-like dessert!

Juice Press Liquid Gold and Vital Force Very Berry

Last up was the Mango Chia pudding. According to their website, Juice Press took their classic chia seed pudding and added vegan probiotics and the sweet and tangy flavors of mango to make this snack even more nutritious. By using sprouted almonds and chia seeds as the base, it’s a pudding that supports healthy bacteria in the digestive system and is rich in protein, fiber, omega 3’s and calcium.

ingredients: mango, almond milk (water, almonds, coconut oil, vanilla, sea salt), soaked chia seeds (water, chia seeds), deglet noor dates, coconut oil, vegan probiotic, cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt, almond extract.

taste: I must admit that I was skeptical about this because I made chia pudding in the past and didn’t love it. But, clearly I was doing it all wrong. This chia pudding was smooth and creamy (not watery/gooey like mine was) and it had a perfect sweet flavor from the mango. Definitely great for a morning or afternoon snack.

Juice Press Mango Chia Pudding

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Which Juice Press juice and/or food would you want to try most?
Have you ever had chia pudding? Are you a fan?

snapshots.

Gym things.

More Juice Press goodness. This time their Anytime Taco.

Juice Press Anytime Taco

Sometimes ya just have to ditch the makeup for a day.

And sometimes it’s time to trade in all black attire for the lighter side.

neutrals

On Saturday we had brunch at one of my favorite spots, The Fat Radish.

The Fat Radish NYC

Bloody Mary, The Fat Radish NYC

I can’t not get their avocado toast…

Avocado Toast with Spicy Eggs, The Fat Radish NYC

Epstein’s is always fun for some Saturday silliness.

lol Mon.

Fuel to keep the fun going into nighttime…

A random pup in a cup. Clearly blog-worthy.

photo 4 (3)

Last but not least, this…

Proverbs 30:5

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What’s been the highlight of your weekend so far?

#LEAN14: juice press {raw food} review.

One of the things I love most about my new neighborhood is that I’m pretty much surrounded by healthy places to eat. One of those places is Juice Press, which I had previously only tried their (yummy) cold-pressed juices. Over the past two days, though, I finally had a couple of their raw food options. And let me just say…oh my raw.

First up was their Raw Falafel.

ingredients: kale, cucumber, tomato, sunflower seeds, almond, buckwheat, filtered water, lime juice, jalepeno, red onion, sea salt, garlic powder, coriander, parsley, cilantro, spices, tahini sauce on the side (filtered water, tahini, lemon juice, coconut sugar, sea salt, spices).

taste: delicious! It definitely had a different texture than baked/fried falafel, but I personally loved it. The flavor was great, and the meal (falafel + salad) was a lot more filling than I anticipated.

Juice Press Raw Falafel

Juice Press Raw Falafel

 

The next day for lunch I got the Ravioli, which is actually made from turnip and filled with a basil cashew cheese. Served with sun dried tomatoes over an arugula salad with a scallion vinaigrette.

ingredients: arugula, turnip, sun dried tomato, basil cashew cheese (cashew, sunflower seed, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, spirulina, sea salt, garlic powder, black pepper), scallion vinaigrette (lemon juice, olive oil, apple cide vinegar, agave, scallion, black pepper, garlic powder, sea salt), rawmesan (sunflower seed, nutritional yeast, sea salt, black pepper, tumeric).

taste: AWESOME. I wasn’t sold when I first learned that the ravioli “pasta” was actually turnip, but it totally worked. It had a bit more of a crunch than regular pasta, but the flavors and creamy consistency of the basil cashew cheese still made it taste like real ravioli.

Juice Press Raw Ravioli

Juice Press Raw Ravioli

 

Finally, for dessert I got the Sin-O-Bun. OMG.

ingredients: buckwheat, date, golden flax, cinnamon, vanilla, topping (irish moss, coconut, coconut sugar, vanilla.

taste: Let me just say that I’ve tried a lot of “healthy” desserts in my day, and this is by far one of the best I’ve ever had. Not only is it rich and decadent, but it tastes…real. Not like it’s loaded with fake ingredients. It was a really satisfying dessert that didn’t leave me feeling sluggish afterward.

Juice Press Raw Sin-O-Bun

Juice Press Raw Sin-O-Bun

Juice Press Raw Sin-O-Bun

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Have you ever eaten raw food? Are you a fan?

Travel Brilliantly with Marriott.

If you follow me on social media, you probably noticed that last week I had a “stay-cation” adventure in NYC. It was all thanks to Marriott Hotels, who were kind enough to invite me to join their Travel Brilliantly campaign.

Marriott Travel Brilliantly

I was really excited to be a part of this for a few reasons. First and foremost, I love an opportunity to share my favorite things to do in NYC! Secondly, I get so many requests about where to stay when visiting New York, so I definitely wanted the chance to check out what Marriott Hotels had to offer. And I must say, I was VERY impressed.

From the get-go, I loved the ease of my stay at Marriott Hotels. I was able to utilize their mobile check-in on Thursday morning, which couldn’t have been more simple.

Marriott Mobile Check-In

When I arrived at the hotel around 5pm that day, my check-in took all of about 20 seconds. It was so seamless!

I stayed at the New York Marriott Downtown located in the Financial District, blocks from One World Trade Center. The view from my suite says it all…

One World Trade Center

My room itself was amazing too. Kiiiiinda wish I could live here…

Marriott Hotels

Perfect selfie mirror – check 😛

I felt all sorts of special when I was welcomed with a card and some fancy chocolates.

Marriott Hotels

After I got all settled in, I met up for a tour of the hotel with the Marriott team and some other bloggers. We also got to learn more about Travel Brilliantly and the fun new Marriott Mobile technology, followed by a welcome reception with cocktails and au d’oeuvres.

Marriott Hotels

And then, it was time for me to experience Travel Brilliantly for myself! First off was a visit to nearby Century 21, where I was able to use a Visa gift card to do a mini shopping spree. I kept with the mobile theme by having my lovely Instagram followers help me choose which outfit(s) to buy.

Century 21 Department Store

Since the prices were way marked down, I went with two of the outfits! With your help I chose the pink dress and the green pants. Gotta love a shopping success 😀

harem pants

After a quick run back to the hotel, I got on my phone once again – this time to schedule an Uber car to bring me to my next destination.

Uber

I’m not exaggerating when I say that Uber is one of those apps I can’t live without. It’s leaps and bounds more convenient than waiting outside to hail a cab, and you can even follow the car on a map with a countdown to see when it’s going to arrive.

Uber brought me right to my dinner reservation at Empellon Cocina in the East Village, which I booked through OpenTable (seriously – what did we do before mobile technology?!). Rachel and Dara joined me for some of the best Mexican food I’ve had in the city.

We were going to order off of the special restaurant week menu, but decided to just do a la carte (mostly because we wanted their famous masa chips & pistachio guacamole, haha).

Empellon Cocina NYC

All of the food was so delicious! Thumbs up from Dara 😉

Empellon Cocina NYC

Empellon Cocina NYC

Empellon Cocina NYC

After dinner we got picked up by Uber again, this time a big ol’ fancy Escalade.

Uber

We met up with some friends at Brinkley’s in SoHo, then went across the street to GoldBar.

GoldBar

It was such a fun night out on the town! As if I didn’t feel spoiled enough, I loved being able to go back to my hotel room and get an amazing night’s sleep. As difficult as it was to wake up in the morning, I loved feeling extra pampered thanks to a room service breakfast. I’m a sucker for the “bed office.”

breakfast in bed

A few hours later it was time to check-out, which was just as seamless and easy as the mobile check-in. Just a simple click on my phone, and I was good to go! We actually did a “Mobile Check-out race,” which included certain tasks to be shared on social media, and guess who won? Meeee!

I really must say I loved my stay at Marriott Hotels and learning more about them. Even though Marriott Hotels is already an industry leader, they’re on an exciting transformational journey looking for new ways to interact with and accommodate their guests. They’re working hard to introduce technological innovations for the next generation traveler, including being the first to introduce the mobile check-in and check-out.

Another way Marriott Hotels is enabling guests to Travel Brilliantly is through their Guest Services app, which allows guests to request service at their fingertips. I really love that option because it’s not only convenient, but it’s personalized and makes you feel like a VIP during your stay.

Marriott Hotels Guest Services

Click here to learn more exciting information about Marriott Hotels Travel Brilliantly!

Thanks so much to Marriott, Uber, Century 21, OpenTable, and Empellon Cocina for accomodating such a fun NYC adventure.

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Disclosure: please note that I was given a complimentary 1 night stay at New York Marriott Downtown, a $200 Visa gift card, and $40 Uber credit. All thoughts and opinions in this post are my own.

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Is mobile check-in/check-out something you’d like to try?
What’s your favorite travel app?

happy hour with WerYoo.

If you couldn’t already tell from my blog and social media outlets, I love sharing things with other people. Lucky for me, there are so many apps now that allow you to connect with people in so many different ways!

So when I was offered to give WerYoo a try, I was more than happy to.

Weryoo

WerYoo is a fun new app that connects people and pictures using locations. I liken it a bit to Instagram meets FourSquare. The features I like most about WerYoo are the photo editing options, and also that you can find people/photos in your location in real time. Pretty cool! You can download WerYoo here.

I used WerYoo to capture a recent happy hour with my girl friends. Earlier in the week we enjoyed food and drinks at Flatiron Hall – a great new beer hall and brew pub in the Flatiron District.

Flatiron Hall

Flatiron Hall

Flatiron Hall

Flatiron Hall

Flatiron Hall

Flatiron Hall

Please note I was compensated to cover our food/drink and try out the WerYoo app, but opinions herein are my own.

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What’s your favorite app? Find any good new ones lately?

a lovely saturday.

As usual, the weekend couldn’t have come at a better time. After a couple of crazy weeks with planning to move, Speakable, etc., I was so ready to have a few days to relax and spend time with my friends!

If I’m being honest, the days I work from home are spent makeup-less with my hair in a ponytail, so yesterday I took the opportunity to get a bit more dolled up.

Aaaaand POUT.

Then I met up with the girls for brunch at Diablo Royale in the West Village.

I had been wanting to go there forever, and it was great! I loved the look and feel there, and you can never go wrong with Mexican.

Afterward we went to Hudson Clearwater, where we ended up spending the remainder of the overcast day. I tried to be all fancy with my new camera by snapping Monica’s espresso shot…

…I’m getting there, right? 😉

But don’t worry, I’ll never be above taking selfies.

The night ended early for me since I had a busy day (today), so I wrapped Saturday up by watching documentaries on Netflix. I’m cool like that.

Last but not least is this great devo from yesterday. “Gain happiness by letting go of this life…”

(from the daily devotional God’s Promises Day by Day)

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How did you spend your Saturday? See any good documentaries lately?