SmartCakes: A Review

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SmartCakes and SmartBuns are the low-carb, low-calorie products from Smart-Baking Company, a company that strives to make traditional carby snacks accessible to dieters and anyone else looking for a lighter alternative.

It's great to offer a healthy cake alternative, but what good does it do anyone if it doesn't taste good? So many diet foods taste like cardboard, plastic, or just not the food that they're modeled after. I liked the variety of flavors offered by SmartCake - Chocolate, Coconut, and Cinnamon - and was excited to try them.

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My Top 10 Favorite Places to Eat in NYC

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NYC has so much good food and that seems to count doubly for plantbased food. From acai bowls to raw vegan lasagna and sushi that's all vegan and fish-free (Beyond Sushi, you're on my to-eat list!), there's anything and everything you could possibly want to eat!

...and some that you'd rather not. When there's so much good food, it's a pity to waste up precious stomach space on mediocre meals. Especially if you're only in NYC briefly, you should just eat the good stuff.

So here's my list of my top ten vegetarian- and vegan-friendly food places in NYC! Some are totally plantbased and others offer options for omnivores, but also plenty of vegetarian options.

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My Top 5 Beauty Necessities

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As an actress, looking my best is important when it comes to auditions and booking work.

As a woman, looking my best is part of feeling my best.

As a busy young professional, I don't have the time to spend hours on drawn-out beauty routines and, even if I did have that time, I'd rather spend it on something else. That's why my beauty routine is all about speed, simplicity, and efficiency!

Here are my top five beauty essentials for travel, home, and day-to-day looking well and feeling well in under five minutes.

My Top 5 Beauty Essentials

1) Olay SPF 15 Daily Moisturizer

As a healthy twenty-something, there's no need to spend $80 on a beautiful vial of whatever potion is supposed to give my skin magical powers of luminosity. Instead, a simple light daily moisturizer keeps my skin hydrated while the bit of SPF coverage is something your future self will thank you for.

I like Olay SPF 15 Daily Moisturizer because it has what I need, isn't heavy or greasy, and only costs $5-$10 per bottle!

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Last Minute Valentine's Day Ideas

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Happy Valentine's Day! I'm a fan of this cutesy holiday.

This year my work is my valentine (it's getting serious, guys - swoon) but here are some ideas for those of you who decided to celebrate at the last minute! Or - cough, cough - forgot about the holiday until your office exploded into a puff of pink and red confetti hearts this morning.

A long walk, ending at a cute dessert cafe or tea shop.

Long walks are perfect for just having time together to both enjoy each other's company in shared silence and to chat about everything and anything. They're wonderful! They also require extremely little planning and are doable on any budget.

There are more and less romantic places to take a walk, so no - I am not suggesting that you have a lovely stroll along the highway with your valentine. Pick a park (Central Park is perfect for New Yorkers!), walk along the river (Charles River on the Cambridge side is absolutely beautiful for Bostonians!), or find some other scenic route that isn't a part of either of your daily commutes.

When you've walked to your heart's content, end the night with a sweet treat or a warming cup of spiced chai!

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More Delicious Mornings with Erin Baker's: A Review

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I love getting mail. I also love breakfast foods and mornings. So getting this in the mail was wonderful!

Erin Baker's focuses on making delicious foods out of whole grains and without preservatives. Whether they're eaten as a standalone snack or part of your breakfast, they're food that nourishes you and fuels you for a great day ahead.

The two new products I got to try were The Original Breakfast Cookies Minis:

They taste just like the full size cookies - hearty, just the right amount of sweet, and always fresh (never stale) but they're a smaller size that's great for crumbling over yogurt or oatmeal or slipping into a lunchbox as a sweet, but nutritious, snack. 

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Fun Valentine's Day Date Ideas

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Valentine's Day is just a week away! It's one of those holidays that everyone either loves or hates. Right?

I'd be in the 'love it' group, but let's face it - Valentine's Day is no Christmas. So, instead, I'd say I thoroughly enjoy Valentine's Day but don't care quite enough to say I love it, nor do I obsess or remember to plan for it more than a week or two in advance.

...good thing I'm not trying to get restaurant reservations for Valentine's day. Those go so fast! Some really popular restaurants book up a solid month or two before the holiday - madness!

On the off-chance that you, similarly, don't have Valentine's Day reservations because you (a) don't want to spend the evening eating an overpriced, supposedly romantic meal in a packed restaurant with waiters buzzing around you, eager to get you in and out so the next couple can have your table or (b) forgot to make them, here are some fun alternative date night ideas for Valentine's Day!

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Recipe: Luscious Lemon Scones

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Sorry that it's been a while since I've posted - I'm moving temporarily to NYC (for two months) this upcoming Wednesday and it's been chaotic sorting out housing issues on both ends. 

But now it's sorted, I've stuffed impossibly much stuff into one straining-at-the-seams extra large suitcase, and there's time for a little procrastibaking before I finish packing up my room for my time away from Boston.

This brings us to:

Lemon scones! They're great with a lemony glaze, whipped cream and lemon curd, and/or served with tea. 

They're quick to whip up, ready within thirty minutes from the time that you step foot in the kitchen (assuming you don't take a power nap in there), and only use ingredients that are found in most kitchens, anyway. It's the perfect baking on a whim recipe!

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