Living Juicy

For the last few months I've been on a "wellness" kick -- you will continue to read more about this as my posts become more frequent. Back in February,  I came across a movie entitled:

 "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead" - catchy title, eh?

 I just *had* to know what this movie was about. Since I lived in mommy-land suburbia, I rarely {ok, NEVER} went to the city to catch up on cool documentary movies.

I rented it from iTunes and was hooked. In fact, I watched it 3 times in 2 days. Seriously. I LOVED this movie!

The premise is that this average overweight, albeit very sick, 40-something man decides to allow his body to heal itself. That is, he nourishes his body with optimal nutrition on the premise of Hippocrates, "Let Food be thy Medicine and Medicine be thy Food."

This film documents his SIXTY DAY green juice fast {which was done under a doctors supervision, I might add}, and ultimately how he was able to cure his disease -- and lost almost 100 lbs -- all by drinking vegetable juices, then eating only fruits & veggies until he was completely off his medication. 

Obviously there's a lot more to this movie, but that's the gist of it. 

I had been toying with the idea of juicing before, but I really didn't know much about it. This movie inspired me to promptly buy a fancy Breville juicer and I haven't looked back since. 

 

No, I haven't been on any juice fasts, but I do enjoy an {almost!} daily hit of the lean green goodness.  Juicing is different than smoothies. I don't know how to explain it, but I can literally feel the goodness in my cells almost immediately after drinking my juice. I still enjoy a Green Monster smoothie, but I've learned that the juicing is important, if not VITAL to my health and well-being too.

Since then, I also discovered the AMAZING Kris Carr - wellness warrior and green juice goddess.  She is living with cancer and filmed a documentary about her healing called, "Crazy Sexy Cancer." If you have a moment, check out her website. LIFE-CHANGING.

Image via here

She has also written a number of books, including Crazy Sexy Diet and... my FAVOURITE  - an e-book called:

 Crazy Sexy Juices & Succulent Smoothies. 

 

I highly recommend it for dozens of recipes, not too mention her delightfully catchy "Hey Girlfriend!"-style of writing. Kris Carr knows her stuff and inspires you too to live the Crazy Sexy alkaline lifestyle!

Do you LIVE JUICY too? Tell me about it!

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StickyGrams for my Instagram Obsession

It feels like I'm constantly using Instagram for all the photos I take with my iPhone. I love how the filters make the simplest photos special.

I currently have an iPhone 3G so the quality of the photos is not so great, but Instagram manages to instantly improve the look of the photos from grainy to hip & grainy on purpose :)

I tried to print the photos before but they turned out bad, so I was always wondering how I could get tangible copies of my cool Instagram photos. 

Enter StickyGram!

I happened upon this website StickyGram that prints out a sheet of 14 1 x 1 magnets of your favourite Instagram images. I got two and gave them to Big A for Christmas! 

Aren't they cool? It's like our fave images from 2011 all in magnets :)

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Sounds of the Season

{It's Season for GIVING! Don't Forget to enter my SCENTSY GIVEAWAY!! Click here for details!}

Ok. I admit it. I've been listening to Christmas music since before Halloween. Seriously. Music is kind of a big deal in our house, so during the Holidays in non-stop Christmas music!

My *favourite* band introduced a new Christmas album this year and it was released in October. I've mentioned my adoration a few times on Facebook & Twitter, but She & Him deserve their own post on this here blog.

via

I absolutely ADORE their soulful vintage sound which echoes my imagination of what Christmas was and should be like {simple and lovely with a punch of retro}, but with a hip and modern twist. Don't get me wrong, we can all use a little Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas" now and again, but overall I find most new Christmas music is over-the-top and over-sung.

She & Him's rendition of "Baby It's Cold Outside" is one of my favourites - the male/female parts are reversed! But "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is equal in its awesomeness. Silver Bells is also pretty amazing. "Have Yourself an Merry Little Christmas" is one of my favourite songs ever, and their version is emotive and soulful.

I think I also love She & Him because "She" is Zooey Deschanel, a talented indie actress. She has a new TV show "New Girl" and it's pretty great. Big A likes to remind me that she was recently spoofed on SNL for being "the quirky girl", but that's what I love about her - she's unapologetic about who she is.

Here's a link from YouTube of She & Him's recent appearance on the Jay Leno Show!

Definitely pick up their album "A Very She & Him Christmas" this Holiday season, you won't be disappointed!

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Holiday Giveaway - Scentsy Style!

It's the Holiday Season and it's time for another GIVEAWAY! 

So...have you heard about Scentsy?  I have to admit that I'm kind of a big fan.  There are some amazing scents out there and some pretty cool warmers.  My favourite are ALL the holiday scents! I can't choose just one. I constantly have my warmer on when I'm home.  Who doesn't love when your home smells amazing?

What is Scentsy? Scentsy is based on candle warmers WITHOUT flames! Just plug in a glowing warmer and drop in a piece of the scented wax bar! No flames. No wicks. No problems. It's so easy and the fragrances are delightful!  

A good friend of mine - Sarah Gothe - sells Scentsy and has kindly sponsored a GIVEAWAY for Mummy Maggie Chronicles! How cool is that?

You will win the Jane Warmer {pictured below} and TWO scented bars of your choice!

Want to enter?  It's easy!

1. REQUIRED: Check out Sarah's Scentsy website and then leave a comment below telling me what scent you would like to try!

2. ADDITIONAL ENTRY: "Like" Mummy Maggie Chronicles on Facebook, and then leave a comment below!

3. Another ADDITIONAL ENTRY: "Like" Sarah Gothe Scentsy Page on Facebook, and then leave a comment below!

4. Another ADDITIONAL ENTRY: Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway, then leave a comment below!

The Scentsy Giveaway will close on Wednesday December 14th, 2011 at 11pm. Open to both Canadian & U.S. residents.

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It's POPPIN' - A Hip New Kid-Friendly App :)

As a Mummy, I'm always on the hunt for the coolest & latest App to keep my kidlets occupied engaged on the iPad and iPhone. EZ LOVES "his" iPad - he always corrects me that it is HIS iPad, donchyaknow.

Angry Birds is pretty awesome, but I'm not sure it's actually TEACHING my kiddos anything...except how to slingshot colourful birds into buildings, a very marketable social skill, I'm sure!

So when I learned that my childhood friend {and AMAZING blogger & a wildly talented graphic designer} has created a cool new educational app for your iPhone or iPad, I *HAD* to share it with MY lovely readers!

It's a super fun, kid-friendly app called:

"Make it Pop" by Tryangle Labs! 

First, who doesn't LOVE to *POP* things?

This amazing app is a great hybrid of good education & good design. It teaches kids numbers, colours & shapes but with a beautifully-pleaseing aesthetic with wonderful eye-catching and well-thought out visuals.  

It engages kids of all ages {and parents too!} with such fun & friendly graphics & audio in a variety of short games that they don't even realize that they are learning!

*POP* the bubbles which cluster together to form shapes!

*POP* the balloons to learn the Alphabet!

Mmmmm...*POP*  and COUNT the popcorn ...and pass the vegan butter!

Even the youngest of kids love to play on the iPad and iPhone. These app is easily accessible to kiddos of all ages :)

Okay. Full Disclosure...


I must admit that I downloaded this app during Church this past Sunday and then spent the next 20 minutes playing it on my iPad. In Church. Yep, that's how I roll. Clearly I liked playing it too - there's just something so satisfying about POPPING something :)


Anyhoo - I hope you check out this amazing new app. I know you won't be disappointed.
 

Download it here on iTunes.

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