snapshots.

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Once again, some photos from this week almost didn’t make the cut. Keyword, almost. So here’s a behind-the-scenes peek of happenings from the past five days!

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Long walks along the Hudson are my favorite new pass time.

A Sunday cab ride selfie, duh.

Pretty post-shower roses make for a happier apartment.

Thanks to Klout I got a free sample of Lean Cuisine’s new Honestly Good meals. This one was really good! Or should I say, honestly good ;) haha sorry, can’t help myself….

Essie’s Dj Play That Song is the newest addition to my favorite polishes (Thanks Jessi!).

An afternoon pick-me-up from Smith Canteen…

…goes perfectly paired with a MacroBar. Yum!

Some great devos…

“the greatest of all surprises.”

Last but not least, I got BAPTIZED last night! I had been baptized when I was younger, but always wanted to publicly dedicate my life to God as an adult. Long story short – it was such an amazing and already life-changing experience.

I’m off the enjoy the (long) weekend, enjoy yours! :)

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What was the highlight of your week? How are you spending the holiday weekend?

quest bar review & giveaway.

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As if I didn’t love the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Quest Bar enough – did you know if you microwave it for 15-20 seconds it get all ooey and gooey and more cookie dough-like?! Trust me on this one.

I had tried some other Quest Bar flavors here and there, but nowhere near all of the delicious varieties they come in. That’s why I was so thrilled when Quest sent me a huge sample pack of their products!

First off - I didn’t even know Quest made peanut butter cups, so I was really excited when I saw them in the sampler. I’m always a little wary of “healthy” candy, but these peanut butter cups are seriously delicious. I really can’t believe they have 20 grams of protein!

Tip: I especially love eating these frozen.

I’ll admit that when I first saw Quest Bars all over blogs and in health food stores, I was skeptical of the hype. But after trying them for myself – not to mention comparing the nutritional stats and ingredients to other protein bars (more protein, less calories, less weird ingredients) – I can definitely say I have a new favorite bar.

After trying almost all of the flavors, some of my favorite new Quest Bars are White Chocolate Raspberry, Cinnamon Roll, and Peanut Butter Supreme (which tastes like straight peanut butter fudge. Yum).

I also found that there are dozens of recipes for healthy desserts using Quest Bars. I can’t wait to give them a try!

Want to try Quest Bars for yourself? Quest is letting me give away sample packs to TWO lucky readers!

The sample pack includes 12 flavors of Quest Bars, 2 packs of Peanut Butter Cups, and 2 of the new White Chocolate Raspberry bars.

There are THREE ways to enter:

1) Follow Quest on either Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

2) Leave a comment at the end of this post saying which flavor you’d most like to try. (optional)

3) Tweet about the giveaway: copy and paste - “I entered @alagracie’s @questnutrition giveaway! http://tinyurl.com/k4klskn” (optional)

***Please be sure to leave a comment for each entry in order for them to be counted accordingly.***

The contest will end on Monday 9/2 at 5pm EST. Good luck!

UPDATE: winners have been emailed!

the fresh diet.

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Since moving to New York, my eating habits have taken nearly a 180 from when I used to live in Pennsylvania. Due to factors like transportation, cost of groceries, spontaneous dinners out, and primarily just having a more on-the-go lifestyle, I don’t cook meals from home nearly as much as I’d like to.

This used to bother me because I really do love to cook! But, at the same time, I’m so happy with how my career and social life keeps me busy. For a while I was making it work by buying a lot of frozen meals, but – as I’m sure you can imagine – they get pretty old after a while.

Last week I had an “aha” moment when I remembered how many great meal delivery options there are in New York. Back in June I tried Chefs Diet for a week, and it was right up my alley, so I knew a program like that would be perfect for where I’m at in life right now.

Enter: The Fresh Diet.

From the start, the customer service at The Fresh Diet has been great. The representative I spoke with helped me review my goals, set up my profile, answered my delivery questions, etc.

So far, what I really love the most about The Fresh Diet is the customization options. When I log in as a member on their website, I can put foods I don’t care for on on a “dislike” list. Even better is that I can choose from 4-5 options for every one of my meals and snacks for each day. Not to mention there is so much variety to choose from with the meals. I love knowing I can switch up my menu from day to day.

What’s also great about The Fresh Diet is its convenience. There’s the obvious convenience of having my meals delivered to my door every day, but there’s also the fact that The Fresh Diet (weekly plan) is available in all 50 states (with their daily plan available in and around most major cities). The Fresh Diet is also the least expensive out of the “higher end” meal delivery services I’ve come across, with deals and discounts offered often.

Each morning I open my door to a cooler full of my freshly-made meals, complete with a menu.

So far so good, right? The thing about a meal delivery service, though, is that it really all comes down to the food. Thankfully, The Fresh Diet has not disappointed.

Long story short: the food. is. awesome. It actually feels like I’m eating meals prepared by a personal chef for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

(Cornmeal Dusted Pork Loin with Balsamic Poached Raisins, Spiced Tomato Saffron Couscous, Water Chestnut and Brussels Sprout Puree)

My only concern about the meals when I first saw them was that the portions were pretty small – a lot less than what I usually eat. But after eating each meal, I found that they were actually more filling than what I normally eat (which is probably thanks to their 30/40/30 nutrition concept). Not to mention I found myself eating more slowly because the food is just so satisfying.

Right now I’m on day 3 of The Fresh Diet, and I’m particularly excited about what’s on today’s menu (hellooo lasagna). I’ll be sure to share my review of more of the meals throughout the 14 days!

Please note: I was not compensated for this review. The Fresh Diet provided me with a discounted rate for 14 days of their program.

Have you ever tried a meal delivery program? Is it something that would benefit your lifestyle?