Tag: happiness

Adventures to Wellness is Coming

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Things are changing around here. And I’m super excited. The most excited I’ve been in a long time about a personal project.

If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know I’ve had a designated blog space since 2009. It started on Blogger as It’s Always Something… and then evolved into Barefoot ‘N Running, the space I wrote the longest.

But when I quit running regularly, I quit writing there. When I finished grad school and started working full-time, I quit writing for a little while.

Then about two years ago, I create When I Grow Up I Want to be a Chef. I always thought I wanted to be a food blogger. To create recipes and share them. To take food photography.  But I felt pigeon-holed and lacked creativity to share recipes. And to be honest, I’m terrible a writing recipes because I don’t measure anything. My cooking style is intuitive. It’s how it looks and smells and tastes more than it is measurements for people to recreate.

And to be honest, I felt like I failed at When I Grow Up I Want to be a Chef. Because it wasn’t like everyone else.

But in reality it wasn’t me at all.

So here we are. Eight years into having a personal writing space on the web, and I have it no more figured out than when I was 22.

Truth bomb: I’m not ever going to have it figured out.

But what I do know is I need a space to write and share and build community. And if the spaces I developed in the past are no longer serving me, I need to evolve.

So here we are.

Adventures to Wellness is a space to help me find balance. Or share how I’m constantly finding balance in the everyday. It’s about being able to adapt. And finding gratitude. And loving the beautiful, messy life I’ve been given.

It’s an adventure to living my healthiest life.

It’s about sharing food in a way that I want to share food with photos, links to recipes, sharing bloggers I love, recipes, food prep, farmers market shopping, buying local.

It’s about sharing exercise practices, exercise failures, lack of motivation, finding motivation, taking care of myself.

It’s about sharing life with music, movies, love, best practices, worst practices, failures, storytelling and just being a real person that you can relate to.

It’s about figuring it out on the fly. Being open and honest.

Finding balance is an ever-changing, ongoing adventure. Finding my own version of wellness is an ever-changing, ongoing and, ultimately, life-changing adventure that I can’t wait to share with you.

Welcome to my new space.

With love,
Ashten

P.S. Official site launch and new content begins September 1, 2017. I have lots of ideas and things to share with you. Get. Excited.

Skin Care with Integrity

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I’ve always been one of those people that want more out of stuff.

A good skin care regime has eluded me for years. During my teens and early twenties, I fought acne. Nothing seemed to work for me. I took every medicine known to fight it, and I tried every cream to find clear skin.

When I heard about Beautycounter, I felt like it was different. Not only was it a beauty and skin care company, it was a mission based company working towards getting safer products into the hands of everyone.

With little regulation in our personal care products, major companies are allowed to put nearly anything in our makeup and skin care products. Fragrance being the ultimate “hiding place” for known carcinogens and toxic chemicals. But because it is listed on the ingredient label as fragrance and the lack of regulation, those toxic things do not have to be defined at all. Scary, huh?

Beautycounter changed everything for me. I found safer products that worked at a high standard. I love that the company worked to create safer products that didn’t feel granola.

This stuff works. I have loved every product I’ve tried. So much so that I became a consultant.

If I found products that work for me, that I love, that are within my budget, why not take the leap of faith to work toward getting more people safer products. My family and friends safer products. As much as it is about me and my love of Beautycounter, it’s also about me sharing it with other people. Educating people about the subpar beauty industry we currently participate in. Sharing safer, high performing products with people I know and love.

It’s so much bigger than me. So much bigger than a tube of mascara. It’s about demanding better. Demanding more as a consumer. Learning the why behind it.

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Ask me why I chose Beautycounter over everything else. Ask me why it’s different. Ask me why it works for me.

Steak Tabbouleh 

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Green Chef is killing it with their Paleo menu this week. 


I whipped this up in about 20 minutes after my one mile evening run. I loved the cauliflower rice mixture with tomatoes, cucumber, fresh mint, fresh parsley and a lemony vinaigrette. But I think it could have been better with chicken.  

Tonight’s one mile put the hurt on me. 

I’ve not been watching my pace. Just seeing what feels comfortable to my lungs and legs. 

I was much faster today without intending to be. And I felt every step. My calves hurt. My legs cramped up. I had multiple side stitches. I chalk it up to not drinking enough water (and the three very small cookies I ate before leaving work). 

Three days. Three miles. Things are on the up. I love these long summer days. 

Curry Shrimp Salad and One Mile a Day

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This dinner was on point. 


Green Chef wins again. I’ve figured out I really like curry. I like to use the spice in my own recipes. I like to eat traditional curry made by this Indian guy at my office. But I don’t love a curry dish at a restaurant. 

 A little curry powder goes a long way. But this shrimp salad is on point. So on point that I plan on recreating in my own way. 

One Mile a Day

In other news, I’ve started running again. My sweet mom gave me a great idea for running inspiration. 

I’ve been hung up on running like my old self. You know…the one who ran 13 miles for fun on the weekends. 

Now the thought of running that far doesn’t even sound appealing. But work has been pretty stressful, and I’ve been craving some kind of mental release. So back to my running roots I go. 

So here’s how it works (in case you want to do it, too):

  • Run one mile each day

That’s it. 

It doesn’t matter if you walk most of it. If it hurts (cause it will). If you kinda hate it (cause you might). If you run the entire mile without stopping (go you). 

What matters is you made the effort. That you did it. Each step works towards a healthier you RIGHT NOW. Not the old you. But the present you. 


This is day two for me. First day was 13 minutes and some change. Today was 12:27. Each day I hope to get a little better, a little stronger. And each day I will honor what my body can do. 

Anyone want to take the One Mile a Day challenge? 

Grilled Kielbasa with Yellow Squash and Roasted Okra

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I am in no way a professional cook. But I know my way around the kitchen. 

That having been said…being a grill master is a different ballgame. I play in the minor leagues when it comes to grilling. Like I can do it, but it could be better if someone else did it. 

The boyfriend started the grill. It made it to flaming hot status. I put pork chops covered in BBQ sauce on said grill. And I almost burnt the house down. 

So really…kids, don’t play with fire. 

But dinner turned out pretty good. 

I managed to save the pork chops, but I threw a Pederson Farms Whole30 approved kielbasa on the grill for good measure. 

I roasted the okra in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. And I grilled the squash. 

Do yourself a favor and get the Pederson Farms kielbasa. It is a game changer. Sugar free. No nitrates. No MSG. Yes. Yes. Yes. 

Anyone else had issues being the grill master? Or is it just me?