Saying Goodbye

Friends, 

It is with great sadness (and also much excitement) to announce that I am retiring PassingDaisies.net. It will be kept active so you can still access posts from the past, but I will not be posting any new updates. 

This website has been a wonderful learning experience for me for the past six years. The years flew by, and I honestly can't believe it has already been that long! I've learned a lot about photo editing, writing content, graphic design, and met a lot of wonderful fellow bloggers. 

The unfortunate news is that writing posts for PD feels a bit forced, because the things I now want to write don't fit into the identity I've created for this place. So, as much as I love it, it is time to retire the blog. 

However, there is some really exciting news: I am launching a new blog, RaeHarris.net!

This will be the space where I can share all my thoughts, which might include a lot of things - faith, food, local, adventure, lifestyle, minimalism, and whatever else comes my way. You can also find links to my other projects on the main page, including RADIANT and Passing Daisies Creative.

So don't be sad. Instead, please join me over at the new site, and subscribe for all the latest updates! I look forward to seeing you there!

ACTIVE | Favorite Running Gear | Part 1

Well, happy almost Thanksgiving, ya'll! I thought I would write up some of my favorite things I use/wear when working out or running...perfect to help you burn off all that turkey and stuffing you'll be eating this week. :) I hope you'll love everything just as much as I do! This is part one of a few posts!

Old Navy Active 

I love Old Navy's activewear line. I own a lot of stuff from ON (virtually all my workout gear is either ON, Target, or Tone It Up), but recently, this vest is my favorite. Lightweight and perfect for outdoor running. I also really like their socks, and finding good athletic socks that let your feet breathe (and are inexpensive) are a necessity. 

Vest | Socks | Hoodie

Tights

Good tights are a NECESSITY for running. It is the most annoying thing to go for a run and have to turn around 2 minutes into it because your pants are literally falling off your butt (yes, it's happened to me before). I Really love my Under Armour tights. I couldn't find the exact pair I have (mine are old) but these look similar. These were how I survived playing competitive ultimate frisbee in 20 degree weather with ice and snow. Woof.

Under Armour | Jessica Simpson 

Protein Powder

It's important to refuel your body with protein after a run, and I've tried quite a few, but Shakeology and Perfect Fit are my two favorites. Shakeo comes in a bunch of flavors, but chocolate is my go-to. It has a TON of amino acids and superfoods in it, so you can actually stop taking a multivitamin if you start drink Shakeo which is AWESOME! Plus, it keeps me feeling full for hours after I drink it and helps prevent cravings. Perfect Fit is great too and is made with pumpkin seed and pea proteins.

Shakeology | Perfect Fit

Bandi Belt

I LOVE this thing. Running with an armband to old your phone while running is SO annoying, especially when you want to change the song that is playing on Spotify and basically have to tae off the entire arm band to do it. So. Do yourself a favor and get a Bandi. They come in a bunch of colors and are comfortable and stay up when you run!

Bandi

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Spice PB | GIVEAWAY

Friends. 

It's OFFICIALLY fall. And you know what that means. 

Pumpkin. Spice. EVERYTHING.

Including.... PEANUT BUTTER. That's right. You can now even get your peanut butter in pumpkin spice flavor. Be amazed.

As a member of the PB & Co. Yum Squad, I received a box of pumpkin spice goodies in the mail - a mug, a pumpkin candle, and their NEWEST limited edition flavor.. pumpkin spice peanut butter. And it's deeeelish. My jar is already over halfway gone.

So RUN to your nearest store (you can check what store near you carries it on their website, HERE) and buy some.

Or... you can enter my giveway and win some :) Keep reading for more details!

You could spread it on your toast and top with fresh figs and a drizzle of honey, like I did. Yum.

Or you can make a peanut butter pumpkin spice latte :)

No matter what you do with it, you're gonna love it. Tomorrow morning I'm running a 15k - and I'm planning to fuel my body for the run by eating some pumpkin spice peanut butter on toast. Or I might eat some of their Mighty Nut powdered peanut butter - which is much lower in calories but still has lot of protein!

So at this point, you're probably wondering how you can enter to win some of this amazing-ness (you would win the same gift basket I received!). Please leave a comment for each of the following things that you do below - the more you do, the more chances you get to enter! Entries are based off of COMMENTS so please be sure to complete for every entry or your entries will not be counted. There are two ways you can enter: 

1. Follow us & repost our picture on Instagram (@passingdaisiesblog), making sure to include #PSILoveYou

2. Like us on Facebook

That's it! A winner will be picked on October 4th. Good luck!

Unusual Uses for Coconut Oil & Lavender Essential Oil

Hello everyone!

It's been a while! I hope your summer was a blast - it was for me. I spent the summer traveling to South Africa, New Orleans, and Israel. I also got a new job and am now the Director of Children & Family Ministries at a church here in Cincinnati. I'm going to seminary (online) in the fall. I'm running my second half-marathon in October. I'm really excited about all these new changes!

I've recently discovered a new love for coconut oil and essential oils. A couple friends of mine were raving about essential oils one night, and it pretty much changed how I felt about essential oils. I used to think people were just saying how much they loved them because they smelled good - and they definitely do smell good. But they also have a lot of healing properties that I am just now learning about. So I picked up a bottle of lavender and orange essential oils from Whole Foods and am now experimenting with them.

First, I made toothpaste. I read about making your own toothpaste a while ago on Pinterest, and thought it sounded like a good idea. Store-bought toothpaste is filled with stuff that is terrible for you and at something like $5 a tube, you can make your own for much cheaper. I already had everything I needed on hand so it didn't take me long to make.

Homemade Tooth Paste

6 T. coconut oil

6 T. baking soda

20 drops essential oil of choice (I used orange)

A dash of stevia (to sweeten it a bit - I used a vanilla liquid stevia)

Just mix it all together and voila! Throw it in a class jar and starting using your toothpaste. This batch will last you a long time. Depending on where you store your toothpaste, it will be thicker or more liquidy (since coconut oil is liquid at room temp.). I just dip my toothbrush in the jar, put some water on top and brush away. It will take a bit to adjust to the taste, and your toothpaste won't foam. But it is much healthier for you!

I also read that lavender oil is good for acne, so I mixed some coconut oil and lavender essential oil together to create an acne face mix. Just stir together, dip your finger in and rub a small amount all over your face. I haven't been using it long enough to note my results, but I did notice a decrease in the redness on my face in the morning after using it.

Finally, I read that lavender oil can strengthen your eyelashes and promote thicker eyelashes, so I added a drop of essential oil to my mascara. It also extends the life of your mascara. Who knew!

How do you like to use essential oils?

Happy almost fall!

HIATUS & Green Tea

Friends. 

It's been a whirlwind of a year so far. Tons of exciting new things going on, and tons of new ways the Lord is stretching me and growing me. This is awesome, and it also means life is keeping me pretty busy. 

Unfortunately, that also means I don't have time to keep up with the blog right now.

So, PD will be taking a a hiatus. I'm not entirely sure how long it will last, but I don't plan on closing the blog at this point. We will simply be taking a break for an unknown amount of time. 

With that being said, I have a couple final things to wrap up before I leave. I recently partnered with PB&Co. for their Mystery Ingredient Challenge - and I was sent some matcha green tea powder and peanut butter to develop a recipe. 

My attempt is below (I tried multiple recipes and was unsuccessful...whoops)...enjoy.

My original idea was to make matcha green tea croissants. I made the dough and then left to go somewhere and didn't return until late, so the dough was dry and unusable. Bummer :( So next I tried to make a pound cake with a matcha green tea swirl. Unfortunately, the recipe I used turned out pretty bad and kinda like play dough.

It definitely looked pretty though, no matter how bad it tasted!  Regardless of how it turned out, I encourage you to grab some PB&Co. peanut butter and a bag of matcha green tea and experiment on your own. There were other bloggers who had success with this challenge, and their recipes turned out wonderfully!

Also, I recently had a guest blog typed up and haven't had a chance to post it yet! The post will be going live this SATURDAY and will also be my final blog post for a while.

Finally, thank you to Cocozia for agreeing to support me with half-marathon training. I actually haven't been keeping up with training (whoops) and am not entirely sure if I will still be running the Flying Pig Half in May. We will see what happens...maybe I'll walk it? :) But, if you are ever looking for some high quality, organic coconut water, I highly recommend trying Cocozia. Good stuff. 

I think that's all for now. Sad news, but I know it's for the best. Thanks for those of you who have stuck around over the past 4 years and supported PD through all of the changes we have undergone. I've learned a lot, created a lot of new relationships with companies and organizations, and have definitely enjoyed the ride. 

Here's to the future. See you later!