Weekend in the Smokies: Mt. Leconte

Last weekend, I did the first hiking... of my entire life.  Prior to this, the closest thing I had ever done to hiking was walking up a slight incline to a cute little mountain in Connecticut or a paved trail at Makapuu Point in Hawaii. 

When our friends asked if we wanted to hike over Memorial Day Weekend (what started when it was first described as a three-hour hike), I honestly asked Mike how bad it could possibly be.  Well, apparently I misheard or they were trying to bait us into it (which was it Jeff?? yes, I know you read this blog!!), but somehow it turned into five hours, then five miles, and finally ended up being 8.8 miles up and 5.2 miles down (different trails... I swear I didn't fall of the side and just miss 3 miles on the way down). 

 I can honestly say that I had the best time of my life.  We left Charleston on Thursday afternoon, carpooling with our friend, Brian.  It took us six hours (with almost all of the traffic we hit being within 5 miles of our house), and the time flew by.  Roadtrips with friends are seriously the best.  I sat in the back seat, wore my Burger King Queen crown, and played third wheel to all of their movie and tv show jokes.

We arrived in Gatlinburg on Thursday night and headed right to the distilleries.  We got a good night sleep, picked up sandwiches for the hike in the morning, and dropped cars at two different trailheads so that we could hike up and down different trails.

We planned on a rainy hike on the way up Thursday, so everything in our packs was in gallon zip-lock bags... clearly we had highly technological hiking equipment.  My sneakers and I stayed dry for about 3 of the hours of the Trillium Gap hike before it began torrentially down pouring.  Honestly, we didn't care.  We knew we'd get soaked through and powered through it, stopping at Grotto Falls for some beautiful photos (and saw the llamas that bring supplies up and down the mountain three times each week)!

We stayed at the top of the Leconte Lodge, a compound of cabins.  This was my kind of "roughing it."  We didn't have electricity in our cabin (though we did have gas lanterns and bunk beds!), we got water from a pump outside, and were fed tons of amazing food for dinner and breakfast.  We played cards, enjoyed the view, and drank whisky.

The next morning, after breakfast, we started down the Alum Cave Trail.  It took a few hours, and when we got back down, we drove to Pigeon Forge for the night. 

On the way back on Sunday, we stopped in Asheville to reward ourselves with doughnuts at Vortex and beer at Wicked Weed's Funkatorium - yum!

What I learned from camping: 1. Bears don't like to be surprised, so you should always hike loudly.  If we ever had a lull in conversation, we would yell "bears! hey bear!" every few minutes.  2. I can absolutely deal with no electricity as long as I have cards to play (and booze).  3. Hiking is really fun!

One-Pan Teriyaki Salmon

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Conagra Brands. All opinions are mine alone. #YouPAMDoIt #PAMInControl #CollectiveBias

New year, new recipes!  Who else is looking to rid their favorite meals from added fat and calories?  Not only am I in search of new meals for dinner, but I've also attempted meal prepping for the first time.  Sheet pan dinners are absolutely perfect for this.  My goal is to bring my lunch to work four days each week, and one of my favorite one-pan meal ingredients is salmon.  It's so easy to bake and cooks so quickly.  My little secret in the kitchen for creating these delicious sheet pan meals in minutes is NEW PAM® Spray Pump Olive Oil.  It's the best for non-stick cooking and has no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

The first step in creating this delicious meal is the homemade teriyaki sauce.  Like with the PAM® Spray Pump Olive Oil, I love knowing exactly what is going into my meal, and this sauce is so delicious!

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon honey (or corn syrup for babies under 1 year)
- 2 teaspoons sriracha
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water

Directions:
1. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, honey, and sriracha in a small pan.
2. Heat the ingredients over medium heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture starts to boil.
3. Combine cornstarch and water together in a separate small dish, and once the sauce is bubbling, whisk the cornstarch slurry into the sauce.
4. Continue to whisk for 2-3 more minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken.
5. Take the sauce off the heat, and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once you have made the sauce, the rest of the recipe is so easy, and only requires a few ingredients.  For these sheet pan dinners, you can really use any protein and vegetables you like - so versatile!

Ingredients:
- PAM® Spray Pump Olive Oil
- 1 lb salmon
- 12 oz green beans
- 10 oz baby carrots (sliced in half)
- salt and pepper
- homemade teriyaki sauce
- chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds (for garnishing)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spray a sheet pan with PAM® Spray Pump Olive Oil (about 5-6 pumps).
3. Arrange the salmon, green beans, and carrots on the tray.
4. Spray the vegetables a few more times with the PAM® Spray Pump Olive Oil.
5. Sprinkle the fish and vegetables with salt and pepper
6. Spoon teriyaki sauce onto the salmon.
7. Bake the sheet pan dinner in the oven for 15 minutes.
8. Garnish the salmon with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Seriously, how delicious does this look?  I love teriyaki salmon as a dinner right away or spread across 4 containers for a whole week of lunches.  Looking to make your own delicious one-pan meal?  Earn $1 when you buy one (1) PAM Spray Pump Olive Oil or Canola Oil, while supplies last by clicking here.  You can purchase all the ingredients above, including PAM Spray Pump Olive Oil at Walmart.

Do you have a favorite one-pan dinner?

Five Resolutions for a New Year

I swear, I had these written before New Year's, and hard to believe, but so-far-so-good for the first 3 weeks!  I love wiping the slate clean each January to reset and make the most of a new year.  A lot of these goals will look familiar from previous years (here was 2017), but after being mildly successful last year, I thought I'd take the reasons why the resolutions didn't work and try to be more specific to make it happen in 2018:

1. Eat Better: Year after year, I make a vague resolution for myself, but it's hard to follow through because I'm not specific.  So, obviously it fails.  Here are my thoughts for 2018 to eat better and improve my metabolism: drink hot water and lemon every morning, eat a protein-filled breakfast everyday (egg whites), drink a cup of tea (without sugar) each day, drink a glass of cold water a half hour before lunch and dinner, pack my lunch 4 days a week (aimlessly walking around Whole Foods everyday is my biggest problem), and don't eat after 9pm.

2. Use Untappd: Mike and a few of our friends have this beer app, and it looks like so much fun.  This one started out as a joke, but now I want to do it.  I'm megd_taylor if you use it and want to be friends!

3. 10 Miles Per Week: Here's another one (like #1) that's been rough in the past: working out.  Instead of saying I'll work out each day or every other day, how about I put a concrete number on it?  This way, I can get everything done in a couple days or spread it out throughout the week.  Let's see!

4. Answer texts when I get them: OMG my downfall.  I can't be the only one who elaborately thinks up replies in her head but never actually writes them?  I really want to do better at this in the new year!

5. Learn my new camera: Our Christmas present to each other this year was a new camera.  I can't wait to learn more about it, and simply reading the manual (who'd have thought?!) has taught me things I didn't even know my old camera could do.  I had fun with it over Christmas (a few photos here) but am still struggling with motion and dark shots (see examples below).  If anyone has a good online class or YouTube videos for a Canon 80D, I'd love to watch them!

What are your goals for 2018?

Linking up for Oh hey, Friday, Five on Friday, High Five for Friday, and two doses of Friday Favorites

Last Minute Fourth of July Treats

Has the Fourth of July holiday snuck up on anyone else?  I get so excited that summer is here every Memorial Day, but by the end of June, I'm running around doing a million things.  Today, I have four festive last minute snack ideas to bring to that picnic or firework-watching party this weekend.  The best part is that they're all made with fruit (so they're basically healthy).

Fruit and yogurt flag
What you'll need: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, yogurt-covered pretzels, yogurt-covered raisins, a small bowl, and a rectangular tray
What you'll do: Place blueberries in the small bowl on the top left of the tray.  Arrange rows of strawberries, yogurt pretzels/yogurt raisins, and raspberries on the tray to form the stripes of the American flag.

Watermelon Firecrackers
What you'll need: watermelon, sprinkles, star cookie cutter, and paper straws
What you'll do: Slice the watermelon into inch-thick slices.  Cut heart shapes out of the watermelon and stick onto straws.  Finish with a few sprinkles!

Fruit and granola kabobs
What you'll need: strawberries, blueberries, granola cereal, and wooden skewers
What you'll do: Create red, white, and blue treats by skewering the fruit and granola.

Fruit ice cubes
What you'll need: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and a muffin tin.
What you'll do: Arrange the berries in each cup and fill the cups with water.  Place the tray in the freezer for 3 hours until solid, and add the cubes to your favorite drink.

If you're looking for even more Independence Day fun, check out more favorite recipes, Strawberry Pretzel Salad and M&M cookie bars, as well as a round up of all things red, white, and blue. 

What are your weekend plans?

Warm Weather Workouts

Warm weather makes me so happy.  I love being outside, and in my opinion, this is the real time of year that my fitness-related new year's resolutions begin to flourish.  

This season, we joined three kickball teams and one flag football team, plus are playing tennis at least one night a week and still trying to get in at 18 or 27 holes of golf each weekend.  Unrelated anecdote: I got my first black eye on Monday at football!  I caught a pass and got a shoulder right into the eye... guess it hurts (literally) to be short.  At least I got the first down.

I've rounded up some of my favorites to stay on top of my game as the weather gets warmer.  Playing so many sports throughout the week, recovery is so important, and this vibrating foam roller is awesome.  Plus, who doesn't like cute water bottles and gear?

Free People yoga tank ||| waterproof ipod ||| kate spade glitter bottle ||| "I did my best" gym bag

Yeti yoga mat ||| seaside aqua breezy babe ||| PINK sports bra ||| foam roller

workout. brunch. repeat. sweatshirt ||| Nikes ||| compression lined shorts

What are you up to this spring?

Life Lately

Happy Friday, y'all!  Mike's family is headed into town this weekend, and we can't wait to do all of our favorite Charleston things with them.  Here's my five on Friday:

1. Running: Over the last few weeks, we participated in a few 5ks for great causes.  The first race was actually a walk, organized by Water Mission, to raise awareness for the global water crisis by carrying buckets of unfiltered water in solidarity with women and children across the world who make walks like this everyday.  We saw firsthand how water filtration systems work to help distribute clean water around the world.

The following weekend, we participated in the Doughnut Dash 5k for the Race 4 Achievement Scholarship Fund.  We ran a mile and a half down the greenway to Krispy Kreme where we ate a dozen donuts as a team, and ran back.  That's my kind of race! #caloriesburnedcaloriesearned

The final race, to benefit the Lowcountry Food Bank, was the Food Truck Rally 5k.  I really enjoyed this trail run through Middleton Place Woodlands, and afterwards, we were rewarded with a finisher's medal (that doubles as a bottle opener!) and tons of food truck food.  Mike met me at the finish line with delicious sandwiches from Cory's Grilled Cheese and Bac'n Me Crazy. I received complimentary entry into this race to publicize the event on my blog.

We don't have any other races on the horizon, but I'm really hoping Color Me Rad or one of those color-throwing races makes its way down here.  It's been forever since I did one of those in Connecticut!

2. Golf: I almost had a hole-in-one a couple of weeks ago, which was cool!  I heard it hit the flagstick, but it just popped out.  We also went down to Hilton Head earlier this month for the Heritage golf tournament.  It's one of the best Lowcountry parties of the year, and I love when the event overlaps with Easter, because they have the most fantastic sunrise service on the 18th green on Easter Sunday morning.

3. Charleston Blog Society: This month's event was at the Escapada Living Signature Store, and I am seriously obsessed with their summer line - give me all the OTS looks, bright colors, and tassels!  I got a couple of pieces while I was there (helloooo awesome discount) and can't wait to share them soon.

4. Unicorn Frappuccino: Of course, I tried it.  It was...fine.  I honestly had no idea it was supposed to be mango until I read a Buzzfeed article hating on it.  Mike and I split one (so much sugar), I thought it was some super sweet berry.  I'll stick with my unicorn toast!

5. Springtime: If you checked out my Wednesday post, you know I'm having a serious love affair with spring.  We've been spending all the time we can outside: lunch at Vintage Coffee, happy hour at Revelry, walks on Folly Beach, reading books (check out my Blogging for Books review below), and fire/outdoor movie night with friends!

This month, I read Our Man in Charleston with Blogging for Books - phew, it's been a while since my last review!  I was a history major in college and as y'all know, currently live in Charleston, so I thought this would be a perfect choice for my next read.  Now that spring is here and weather is perfect for reading outside, I finally got around to finishing it, and I'm so glad I did.  The book centers around a British consul before and during the Civil War named Robert Bunch.  Even taking an American history class focused on The South in college, I had never heard of Bunch, but his story is amazing.  It truly shows how instrumental slavery was to the Southern states' economy and how the Confederacy would go to any lengths to preserve this terrible institution.  The book is very informative and keeps you engaged with the story.  Here's a link if you'd like to check it out for yourself!

Linking up for Oh hey, Friday, Five on Friday, High Five for Friday, and two doses of Friday Favorites