Good morning everyone! I hope your week started out well yesterday! I had a semi-painful day with physical therapy (bruises up and down my legs) but I’m definitely seeing improvements! Oh and I did some studying… Today I have ZERO activities planned, so I’m hoping to get my take-home final finished! Yaaaay. I know, don’t be too jealous.
Today I have a few things I’ve been wanting to review for all of you, so I thought I’d go ahead and put them all in one post!
David’s Tea
I’ve been wanting to try David’s Tea for ages, ever since I heard about it from Meg! I was so excited when I saw a location was going in not toooo far from my house (still well over a mile walk but only a half mile from my physical therapist!). What did I think of it? Impressed would be in understatement.
They had a TON of tea flavors to choose from, and as soon as I walked in I was greeted, given a tea sample, and had how they work explained to me. I told Benjamin, who was helping me, I just wanted to try out a cup of tea. He asked what type I was looking for and then pulled down several options, having me smell them and then left out the “big contenders.” Basically it was a blast. Yes, I’m weird.
There were SO MANY flavors I wanted to try (Blueberry Jam, Chocolate Chili Chai, Buttered Rum, Cookie Dough, Banana Nut Bread… I could go on forever) so I know I’ll be back! I got a green tea called Toasted Walnut, because it smelled perfect to me right then and for walking around outside in the cold. If you live near a David’s Tea, be sure to check it out!
Pure Barre Charleston
As I mentioned in my Charleston re-cap post, I took a class at Pure Barre, in Mt. Pleasant (a suburb of Charleston). A friend of mine goes there so I took her recommendation and checked it out. I do have to say it was awkward when I showed up, I had no idea who the instructor was and I was just glad I’d already paid online. I followed others’ examples and grabbed weights, a small ball and a resistance band and waited for class to start.
The warm up song was INTENSE. I was seriously trying to figure out how to get out of there! Luckily it wasn’t quite as scary as class went on, but I certainly felt the burn! The class uses very small, isometric movements set to upbeat music. The moves were a little confusing but I was assured by my friend that it takes a few classes to really get the hang of it.
I liked the class, but I didn’t LOVE it. I think it would take going a few times to really get into the groove of the class, so if I could afford to go 3x’s a week, then I think it would be a great investment, some of the women in there looked so toned!
KIND Bars
KIND Healthy Snacks contacted me last week to tell me about their campaign to give back during the holidays. You all know I LOVE KIND Healthy Snacks, they are all natural foods made from simple, pronounceable foods and gluten free! Kind’s new campaign is called Snack & Give Back, a partnership with Arianna Huffington (of Huffington Post), Bobbi Brown (of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics) and Grace Potter (of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals). Each of them have personally created KIND cubes, which you can purchase to support three charities: The Committee to Protect Journalists, Broome Street Academy and the Alzheimer’s Association. KIND is donating $10,000 to each charity as a part of the campaign.
The Arianna Huffington GPS for the Soul Cube was created to help free you from the stress of a hyper-connected life and find a centered place. It includes Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew + Antioxidants, Almonds and Apricots in Yogurt, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt and Pomegranate Blueberry Pistachio + Antioxidants.
The Bobbi Brown Eat Pretty Powerful Cube was curated by Bobbi to empower women to embrace and enhance their unique beauty, not only through the makeup they wear, but also the ways they choose to live, eat and give back. It includes Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt, Cashew & Ginger Spice, Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan, and Madagascar Vanilla Almond.
The Grace Potter Backstage Snack Pack was designed by Grace to remind people that eating well and doing good are key aspects of being a true ‘rock star.’ The cube includes Peanut Butter & Strawberry, Almond & Coconut, Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew + Antioxidants and Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt
A portion of each cube goes to support their chosen charity. KIND sent me some of the flavors to review. You all know I already love them, but they send me a few I hadn’t tried before! First of all, the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt (which I’ve tried) is by FAR my favorite! It’s heaven! I actually liked all the Nuts & Spice flavors. And I’d never tried the Almonds and Apricots in Yogurt, but it was delicious! I know I sound like a broken record, but I highly recommend KIND bars, and these cubes are a cute, healthy and fun way to give a gift and support a charity!
Cubes are available for purchase at www.SnackandGiveBack.co for $42.95 (which is actually a great deal with ALL the bars that are in one cube and the donation to a charity!
Are you much of a tea person?
Would you buy something simple (and delicious) like KIND bars as a gift if it went towards charity?