Want to have a coffee date with me? Let’s do it! Pour yourself a cup and settle in.
If we met up for coffee in real life, I’d order a cafe miel (honey cinnamon latte). What would you order? Maybe a chai, maybe a vanilla latte. Or maybe you’ve already made the switch to iced coffee?
At any rate, we’d probably dive in to a conversation right away. And here’s all the life updates I’d have for you:
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You’ve seen those gorgeous, colorful, meticulously-styled gluten free charcuterie boards floating around Pinterest and Instagram. And you’ve likely wondered “how the hell do they pull that off?”
At the beginning of the year, I threw a holiday soiree for our friends. Partially because hanging out with friends is awesome. And partially (selfishly) because I wanted an excuse to try my hand at building a beautiful gluten free charcuterie board.
What did I discover? It’s not as hard as I expected.
In fact, once I built my first board, crafting more has been downright easy.
But since posting my own creations on Instagram, I’ve gotten numerous requests from my internet friends and IRL friends to put together a tutorial so they can build epic charcuterie boards to delight and awe their friends and family, too.
This tutorial will show you how to build an epic gluten free charcuterie board — from planning what to include, balancing flavors and textures, and styling the board for the biggest visual impact.
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Let’s be honest: You’ve got a bit of stress and craziness in your life. That’s likely why you’re here — for strategies on how to simplify your life!
I guarantee you — a simpler life is attainable. These 10 ways to stress less and live more simply are excellent steps to get there.
All of these simple living tips have made a huge impact on my life.
I’m happier. More focused. More laid-back and carefree. There’s just not as much to stress about now I’ve adopted these simple living practices!
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February is almost over, which means it’s time for another coffee date!
If we met up for coffee in real life, I’d order a pour over and nestle in for an intimate conversation. Maybe you’d also get pour over, driven by my adamant opinion that it’s superior to brewed coffee. Maybe you’d choose a chai or maple cinnamon latte. Whatever you get, you’ll probably finish it long before our conversation is over — I like falling deep into discussions about life, goals, and dreams.
Here’s what’s happened since we met last month:
Early in February, I hosted an informal hangout for some of my closest CrossFit girlfriends, entirely built around their desire to experience one of my charcuterie boards.
I may just have to write up a post about how I build these out, because everyone falls head over heels for a good charcuterie board!
At the beginning of the year, I set a few goals. One of those was to have coffee with at least one person each month. For me, this was a more concrete way of saying “spend more time with people” — since I’m primarily self-employed, it’s easy to simply hang out and home and never really interact.
To see who might be interested in having coffee with me, I put out some feelers on social media. And hot damn did I get peppered with requests for coffee dates!
Right now, instead of coffee every month, I’m having coffee with someone different every week as long as schedules match up.
I was honestly shocked at how many people (some of whom I hardly know) said that they definitely want to get together for a conversation. The lesson here is that sometimes you just have to ASK!
I stepped out of my comfort zone in February and started doing weekly Instagram Live videos!
Sure, it doesn’t sound like that much. But the minute you turn that camera on yourself for a live broadcast, you start fidgeting, stumbling over your words, and staring awkwardly at your own face. I probably sat in front of my phone for a good 15 minutes before getting the courage to hit “go live”.
But so far, it’s been fun! Just last week I went live while I prepped a few meals for lunch throughout the week (Greek chicken bowls) — and I’ll likely do more meal prep live videos in the future. So follow me on IG if you want to tune in!
Winter’s here in full force this February! Fargo’s had 17.3 inches of snow so far this month. At least, that’s the last record I could find — we’ve had a bit more snow since then.
Of course, these cold temps and piles of snow means the sickness rolls in.
I finally got sick this winter. And unfortunately, it laid me out for almost a full week! I felt like I might be getting sick on Friday night. Then I woke up Saturday feeling like I got hit by a truck. I slept for almost 18 hours that day — seriously.
Fortunately, I’m feeling a lot better now, but I’m still not running at 100%.
The CrossFit Open kicked off the last weekend of February. If you’re a CrossFitter, you likely already know what the Open is. If now, I’ll poorly summarize it: It’s a global competition for CrossFit athletes, centered around one workout every week for 5 weeks.
As a longtime CrossFitter, the Open is a huge event for me.
But this year, it snuck up on me a bit. I’m so focused on other parts of life (and BIG changes happening) that I really haven’t gotten caught up in the excitement.
The first week’s workout was:
15 minute AMRAP
19 Wallballs
19 Calorie row
That combo of wallballs and rowing was absolutely a hellhole for short (and unconditioned) little me. At the same time, I’m glad those two movements are out of the way!
I got 5 rounds plus 5 reps. Yes, I did consider redoing it before the deadline. But then I decided I have better things (and workouts) to do, so I left that crap in the dust!
I’ll probably have LOTS more to say about the Open for next month’s Coffee Conversations!
They’ve been feeling a bit lonely since I’ve been spending more time away from home thanks to my coffee dates and my part-time job.
So they’d like you to treasure your time with friends, family, and acquaintances. Every interaction can be special. Remember that as we move through March!
Ever wondered what to do with plantains? I rounded up 30+ plantain recipes to showcase my favorite food and help you never run out of ideas!
Every recipe is paleo and gluten free, and they range from breakfast and weeknight dinners to scrumptious desserts and quick side dishes.
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