Our Savannah Trip!

Hey y'all! Last week Hayden and I took a road trip to Savannah, Georgia for the European Experience car show! It was so much fun, and I loved the city. Here's the vlog and extra pictures of the trip below! ;)

Thanks for watching!

Xoxo,

Steph

VALENTINES DAY VLOG + GET READY WITH ME & MAKEUP DETAILS

Hey guys! Since I'll be traveling on Valentines Day, my boyfriend and I celebrated early- so I decided to do an early V-day blog + show you the makeup and outfit I wore! The romper I'm wearing is from Naked Zebra LA and my heart tipped nails were inspired by this picture. Enjoy the video!

  Here's my Paleo jam thumbprint cookie recipe, which I just made into heart shapes! Hayden specially asked that I made "those healthy cookies" so of course that's what I made! I'm happy my healthy habbits are rubbing off on him. ;)

And... here's the makeup from the video!

PRODUCT USED:

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard

Beauty Blender

Makeup Forever Ultra HD Stick Foundation in #127

NYX Set it Don't Fret It Matte Finishing Powder

On Eyes Already (Mac All that Glitters and Woodwinked Eyeshadows)

Becca Ombre Nudes Palette (for blending)

Mac Deeply Dashing Pressed Pigment

Loreal Black Gel Eyeliner

Kevyn Aucoin Precision Brow Pencil

Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette

Mac Margin Blush

Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop

Smashbox Always Sharp Lipliner in Crimson

Covergirl Lipstick in Hot 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a great Valentine's day whether it's with your bf or bff! Can't wait to take you along to LA with me! There's so many surprises in store! Ahhh I can barely keep my mouth shut. But I will for a few more days ;)
Xoxo,
Steph

Reasons Why You Should Be Eating Breakfast. And how to to make it balanced!

We've all heard it a million times... "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." I think every meal is just as important, because we need energy all day long, but it is very important to have that first meal for many reasons:

1. Starts Up Your Metabolism! Your metabolism (the rate your body burns energy) is like a fire. It's gotta get started to keep burning. Having breakfast starts that "fire." It doesn't have to be something big if you don't like a big breakfast. It's just important that you have something!
2. Keeps Cravings At Bay! Studies have shown that people that eat breakfast crave less junk food later in the day. I find this very true for myself. If I skip breakfast, I will end up crazing sweets and sugary foods for quick energy.
3. Brain Fuel to Start The Day! I don't know about you... but it's hard for me to concentrate without any fuel in my system. If  you're a student, how can your brain perform it's best with no fuel to give you energy? If you work early in the morning, how can you get through hours of work without some fuel to focus? Regardless of what you'll be doing, all activities require energy! We get energy from calories, aka food!

Now... I said it's important to just have something for breakfast, but that "something" shouldn't just be "anything." Having a Poptart for breakfast is not going to give you the same lasting energy as a bowl of oats and some eggs on the side. When preparing breakfast, it's important that it's balanced. Balanced means it has a good combo of protein, carbs, and fats. These three macros work together to keep your brain fueled and your energy lasting. Here's a few tips:

1. Always have a protein! Protein is the building blocks of our muscles! It does so much... from building and preserving muscle, keeps your hair strong, your heart beating, and it requires energy to break down- so it keeps your metabolism on fire. Here's some healthy breakfast protein options:
1. Egg whites or eggs 
2. Plain greek yogurt
3. Protein Powders
4. Turkey Bacon
2. Choose complex carbs! Complex carbs are different from simple carb, meaning they take longer for your body to break down, not spiking your blood sugar, and give you more lasting energy. Fruit is totally fine!! But it does have more sugar, so pair it with a complex carb:
1. Oatmeal
2. Bread (choose something like Ezekiel bread that is high in fiber)
3. Sweet Potatoes (these roasted go great with eggs! kind of like hash browns would!)
4. Granola (just make sure you choose one with low sugar and made from clean ingredients.)
3. Fats are your friend! Fat is the basis of our cells. We need fat to function! Healthy fats are important for your brain, skin, nails, and hair. They also keep you full! Here's some options:
1. Avocado (avocado toast anyone?? Pair with toast and eggs and bam! there's your 3 perfect components!)
2. Peanut Butter
3. Almond Butter
4. Coconut Oil
5. Whole Eggs

Now That you know my ways to make breakfast balanced, let me know if these tips help you make a more balanced healthy breakfast! Tag me on Instagram @beautyandbananas!

XoXo,

Stephanie

Fall Favorites Tag!

Fall is by far my favorite season, so I had to hop on the band wagon and do the Fall Favorites Tag! Hope you all enjoy the video!

TAG QUESTIONS

1. Favorite Candle? 
2. Favorite Lipstick?
3. Favorite Drink?
4. Favorite Blush?
5. Favorite Fall Movie?
6. Favorite Fall Show?
7. Favorite Thanksgiving food?
8. Favorite Halloween Costume?

Shop Products Mentioned: 

• NEST Pumpkin Chai Candle (click here to shop)
• Urban Decay Fiend Lipstick
• Smashbox Femme Fatale 
• Vincent Longo Giolle Berry

Let me know what your fall favorites are!

XoXo,

Stephanie

The Day Designer + My Planner Tips & Tricks

I don't know what I would do without my planner. It is my life. Lol jk. Actually not kidding.... because it literally contains my life in it!

This year I began using the Day Designer by Whitney English and I love it! I've never felt more organized and I have a few tips and tricks I use to balance a busy schedule. Watch the video to see how the Day Designer works, and all my tips are written below! Enjoy!

MY PLANNING TIPS:

1. Make It A Habit to Refer To Your Planner Every Day

When I wake up in the first thing I do is glance at my planner to make sure I know what the day ahead of me looks like and to make sure I'm not forgetting somewhere I need to be. I like to flip through my planner and read the daily quote as I'm having my breakfast or coffee. Also, I look at my planner every night before I go to bed and roughly plan out my schedule and "to do" list. for the next day.

2. Be Detailed But Not TOO Detailed

You want your schedule to be detailed enough to keep you on track, but not so detailed that you get overwhelmed!

3. Should I Use Pen or Pencil?

Well, I think it depends. I like how pen is more formal, so important things that I'm pretty certain won't change, I write in pen. For things that are less formal (i.e.- daily to do lists, reminders, un-confirmed appointments) I write in pencil.

4. Color Coding

Color coding can be a great way for you to quickly visualize and sort through your schedule. For example, on my "month at a glance" page, I highlight my work hours in pink and highlight golf tournaments in green. It helps keep those important times from getting lost in a page of black ink or pencil!

5.  Use Key Words and Abbreviations  

You already have a busy schedule, you don't want to waste more time writing our long names, formal sentences, and unnecessarily lengthy words. If you're close with a friend, write their nickname!

For example:

Don't write: Coffee with Katherine at Starbucks at 4:00 P.M.

Do Write: Coffee w/ Kat @ 4pm


6. Check/Cross Off Things as They Get Completed

This isn't necessary, but checking things off you're list does make you feel accomplished!

7. Leave Yourself Inspirational Quotes & Notes!

The Day Designer has a daily quote at the top of every page, but I even like to jot down any cool quote I see so I can have it in a place I'll see. On my note pages of my planner I like to write Bible verses, quotes, and sayings that inspire me.

And that's it! Those are my top planning tips and tricks using my Day Designer! I hope you all found this post helpful, and hopefully these tips can help you get more organized and feel less stressed!

SHOP THE DAY DESIGNER:

Belle And Blush

Day Designer

My Week At TPC San Antonio!

Hey guys! This past week I went to San Antonio, Texas for a golf tournament that was held at the TPC San Antonio JW Marriott Resort. It was, in one word, amazing. I feel so blessed that golf has given me opportunities to travel to beautiful places and play amazing golf courses. This tournament was a three day event, so including the practice round and traveling day, we were there for five days. 

TPC San Antonio is a private resort, accessible only to club members and guests of the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa. Additionally, TPC San Antonio is managed and operated by PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties as part of the TPC Network.

TPC San Antonio is only one of three properties in the United States to host two TOUR events each year. The AT&T Oaks Course hosts the Valero Texas Open and the AT&T Canyons Course is host to the San Antonio Championship on the Champions Tour. So... it's pretty cool (to put it shortly) that we got to a play a junior tournament here!

Not only was it a fun weekend of golf, we got to explore a bit of downtown San Antonio as well! So I thought I'd share the experience with you guys! You'll get to see a bit of what I ate, what I wore, what I did, and what I saw. :P

Saturday 6/27

We began our 9 hour drive early Saturday morning! 

I took breakfast to go in the car:

•  Chocolate Chip Perfect Fit Protein Pancakes topped with peanut butter, strawberries, and sugar free pancake syrup!
• Click here to check out Perfect Fit Protein!

Of course you have to have something to keep you entertained in the car! I picked up Paper Towns to start reading on the drive down and I'm in love. I couldn't put it down! Also snacked on a Mint Chocolate Quest Bar! These are so gooooood! 

Fast forward to later that night... we arrived about 6:30 pm, checked in and freshened up for dinner!
I wore this outfit (I posted the details on Instagram but here it is again haha):

• White Lace Tank- Target
• Striped Maxi- Target
• Pom Pom Scarf- LOFT
• Clutch- LOFT (old)

This was the perfect comfy but slightly dressy outfit for the resort!

The resort itself had several restaurants to choose from. The first night we went with a the sports bar and grill called High Velocity... 

To start, my dad ordered a chicken & cheese quesadilla and I had one too because 1. I was starving and 2. Cheese. Duh.

My entree came with a side salad that was actually huge, but I'm not complaining because I always think the salads at restaurants aren't big enough! haha #saladfreak

For my main course I ordered Honey Lime Chicken with asparagus. So healthy and so yummy!

It's amazing the healthy options you can find even at restaurants!

My dad took this picture later that night when we were walking around the resort. They had live music playing and had the fairway open to guests to hang out on the golf course at night. Pretty cool! It got chilly so I used my scarf as a wrap! I always do that in the summer! Double your scarf as your sweater! ;)

And after we walked around I was hardcore craving some ice cream. I went to the hotel convenience store and found Ben and Jerry's!!! (And Glamour Magazine) I was so excited. I got my dad and I each a mini Cookie Dough! Not as good as my favorite Half Baked, but it hit the spot! Ate my ice cream, did some reading, and went to bed after a long day!

Sunday 6/28
Today was the practice round! The practice round was a 1:00pm start, so we got to sleep in and order room service for breakfast! We knew we would not have the luxury to do that on the tournament mornings (we start super early!) so we wanted to treat ourselves! I ordered an egg white veggie omelette with turkey sausage and fruit!

Before the trip I got some new golf shoes, which I needed any way. Mine we're getting pretty beat up! These Nike ones that fit like sneakers are my favorite and I actually got them on sale at a local golf shop! I took advantage of the sale and got one white pair and one grey pair.  I must say they look pretty fresh..;P

Also I'm wearing a new LuLu Lemon skirt that I got as a gift and I love the fun print! Their skirts are my absolute favorite for golf!

I always take notes during the practice round so I can make sure to remember key parts to the course or certain tricky holes that I need to remember a particular hazard to avoid, slope in the green, or club I should hit. I love this cute little Sugar Paper LA note pad. I love all their stationary and I'm glad they make mini note pads so I can have something cute and girly for my golf bag!

Yes, that's a cupcake on my golf ball. I love to mark my balls with Golf Dotz. There's never an mistaking my golf ball because it's covered in cupcakes, ladybugs, kittens, hearts, flamingos, or smiley faces! LOL can you tell I like to take my style on to the golf course?

Here's some pics from warming up before the round! :)

This course was just beautiful!

Post-round/pre dinner selfie with dad. :P

We enjoyed dinner with one of the girls I played with and her dad. We ate a nice buffet in the resort, but the star of the show were these skillet biscuits topped with crystallized sugar and a jalapeño strawberry jam on the side. Wow. And sweet tea. Biscuits and sweet tea-- that's a southern meal in a nutshell. 

Monday 6/29

We teed off at 8am which means we needed to be at the course at 7 which meant we needed to be up by 5:45 to get ready and eat breakfast. Eek!But first, COFFEE! Hehe. There was a Starbucks in the hotel, which became our go to for quick breakfast during the trip!

I got a plain oatmeal, to which I added a travel packet of SLAP Nutrition chocolate protein powder. And definitely needed caffeine was a plain coffee with a splash of coconut milk and added two splendas! (I don't usually eat artificial sweeteners much, but when I'm traveling I think they are fine in moderation!)

Honestly I had a very bad day on the golf course Monday. It was my worst round all year. I shot 92. And I've been playing great going into this tournament. It was weird, but it happens. We all have off days, and sometimes (to put it honestly) the timing of those bad days suck. But you just have to accept that you're not always gonna do your best. And thats OKAY. I knew that was an off round and I could do better the next day.

After the round my dad and I split a burger and a chicken Caesar salad! Yum! The perfect balance! And the perfect comfort food after a tough day..

close up...

Honestly I was so tired after the round we just went back to the hotel room and relaxed! Later on we ordered room service for dinner an I got salmon and broccoli and split a piece of apple pie with my dad. :)

Tuesday 6/30

The next day went way better! I shot 78, a whopping 14 shots better than Monday. 78 is a good score for me on that course, not great but good. I was happy with the improvement and played with a great group of girls. We were laughing all day, and that's how it should be! 

I wore my new LuLu Lemon skirt again... with the a neon yellow shirt we got as a gift at check in!

After having some lunch, going back the room, showering and getting ready... my dad and I decided to drive to Downtown San Antonio to explore the River Walk and the see the Alamo!

I love all the colorful umbrellas on the river walk! It's just such a happy place! haha

It was cool to be able to see the Alamo and know that we were standing on such a historical ground. It was something I really appreciated that I got to see. :)

For dinner we went to a Mexican restaurant on the River walk and stared with some delicious guacamole!

For dinner I ordered their "house salad" with tilapia which was loaded with yumminess! It had romaine, corn, pico de gallo, deviled eggs, avocado, mango salsa, and black beans! I was pleasantly surprised with how amazing this salad was!

After dinner I spotted a Scoop Shop. Yes, a Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop. I was so excited, it's kind of ridiculous. Ice Cream has to be my all time favorite treat. This may sound overly dramatic, but it holds a speacial place in my heart. It was one of my favorite foods as a kid, but became one of my most feared foods during the depths of my eating disorder. It was one of the hardest foods for me to overcome, but now it's a regular treat for me. I also love that Ben and Jerry's uses quality Fair Trade ingredients and milk from cows not treated with growth hormones. They also support lots of charities, which I love! It feels good to have a treat that isn't full of yucky chemicals and is gives back. Anyways, that aside, I told my dad we had to stop before we left. So, right after dinner we headed over to B&J's and waited in the (well worth the wait) line.

I chose to get two scoops because I wanted to try some new flavors that were harder to find! For my first scoop I chose "The Tonight Dough" which is Jimmy Fallon's flavor which is described as:
"Caramel & Chocolate Ice Creams with Chocolate Cookie Swirls & Gobs of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough & Peanut Butter Cookie Dough." 

It was magical. The cookies were like crushed  oreos and perfectly crumbly yet crunchy.

The caramel balanced out the chocolate nicely and the gobs of chocolate chip cookie and peanut butter cookie dough were just out of this world. 

My second scoop (on the top) was Spectacular Speculoos™. It's described as: "Dark caramel & vanilla ice creams with speculoos cookies & a speculoos cookie butter swirl"

If you like Biscoff™ cookies or cookie butter, this is pure perfection. The cookie butter was gooey like caramel and went perfectly with the dark caramel and vanilla ice creams. And the speculoos cookie added the perfect amount of crunch!

AHHH Ice cream makes me so happy. Lol you could say I'm an ice cream enthusiast. Or aficionado. What ever floats your boat. ;)

I ate my ice cream as we walked around a bit more as the sun set!

My dad said we needed an "after" selfie (?) so here we go! haha shoutout to my dad for being awesome. 

This was our view from the parking garage! Can you believe that? The sky looked like cotton candy and I had to snap a pic to remember  how pretty it was!

 Wednesday 7/1
Wednesday was the last round! That morning I tried something new at Starbucks- the Reduced Fat Turkey Bacon and Eggwhite english muffin with an Iced Coffee with coconut milk and sugar free mocha. DELISH.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures from this day because we were just busy getting out of there to drive  home as quickly as possible. BUT! I did have a second Starbucks of the day LOL.
On the way home I grabbed a Pure Protein Bar, what proved to be not nearly as good as Quest Bars. But that's ok! Make me realize why Quest is so pricy! haha

And that's a wrap! I'm home now and back to normal(ish) schedule, and currently waiting for family to arrive! We have lot's of family coming to visit so this week should be lots of fun! I have several more local tournaments this month and some fun videos coming your way! I hope you all are enjoying your summer and enjoyed "coming along with me" to San Antonio!
XoXo,
Stephanie