Utah Finds: My Favorite Chocolate Treats

Pictures By: Bailey Winters

 Hi guys! I tell you what... this time of year I have the hardest time not stuffing my face with every chocolate heart I see. I like chocolate normally; but when it's EVERYWHERE I go and it's wrapped up so nice and cute and the chocolate itself looks so pretty it is hard to resist. And I although I'll eat pretty much any type of chocolate I do have my favorites. Here are some of my favorite chocolate treats here in Utah...I could probably do 3 more posts on my favorites; but these will do for now.

S'more Chocolates: Mrs. Cavanaugh's in Bountiful

Oh. My. Lands. These chocolates are my favorite! My mom gets them for me twice a year, Valentine's Day and Christmas. They taste like the perfect s'more! The marshmallow to chocolate to graham cracker ratio is perfect. Plus the chocolate just melts in your mouth... go try them ASAP!


Chocolate from The British Pantry 

I looooove European chocolate. I don't care what anyone says, it tastes different than American chocolate and it is so much better! (Don't get me wrong, I am proud to be American I just wish some of our chocolate was better.) Anyway, go to the British Pantry (There is one in Sandy and one in Salt Lake) and get yourself an Aero Bar, a Double Decker, Minstrels and a good old fashioned Kit Kat. You won't be dissapointed.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries from V Chocolates

If you are from around these here parts you probably have tried some sort of treat from V Chocolates.  You really can't go wrong with anything from this place... but I have two favorites, the chocolate covered strawberries and the milk chocolate pretzel caramels. The chocolate is so smooth and yummy... I am drooling just thinking about it. T.M.I? Sorry.

Hot Chocolate from Hatch Family Chocolates

So this next chocolate treat isn't straight chocolate... but it's so good I had to put it on my list. The Hot Chocolate from Hatch Family Chocolates is so rich, creamy and delicious it can change lifes. Obviously I am kidding but it is SUPER delicious.

Chocolate Cake from Porcupine Grill  

The bummer about the Chocolate Cake at the Porcupine Grill is that it's a Special... so you might have to call ahead and ask if they have it before you drive up. Or call and see if they have a schedule for when they make it. It is good man, it is just plain good. It has three layers of delicious cake and scrumptious frosting. I usually don't love chocolate cake (I know that's weird for chocolate lover but it's the truth) but this one is an exception.

So those are just some of my favorite chocolate treats! Tell me if you have tried/or are going to try them! And I love to hear your favorites!

My Favorite Chick Flicks

Pictures By: Bailey Winters

Hello readers! I hope your Super Bowl Sunday was full of food, family and friends! And if your team won, congrats! And if they didn't... you'll get 'em next time. Moving on!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner so you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be loads of V-Day posts on this here blog! It's not like I really love the actually day... I just like the fact that there is chocolate, pink and hearts everywhere. Woo, that make me sound super girly- but it is what it is!

Soooo for my first Valentine's themed post I thought I would share my favorite romantic movies. I am a sucker for a good lovey dovey film. I've always been a believer in dreams coming true, and for the most part, that's what happens in my favorite romantic films. I get they are just movies, but all my favorites are favorites for a reason. It's usually because they effected me in some way... Anyway, here are my favorites and why. It's about to get real honest up in here.

Funny Face
 In this movie there is an awkward, outspoken and quirky girl (Audrey Hepburn) who is chosen to model for a magazine and ends up falling in love with a handsome fashion photographer (Fred Astaire). Halfway through the movie the model and photographer do a wedding shoot... they end up saying they love each other and dance the day away. When I saw this scene I bawled... there was no reason to cry, but booooy did I. I thought it was so lovely that Audrey's character found love by just being herself. She was odd, quirky and a little stubborn but was loved for it. It made me realize that I could be loved for being who I was.

Pride and Prejudice 
I read Pride and Prejudice when I was in High School. It's my mom's favorite book so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I loved it, Elizabeth Bennett is one of my favorite literary heroines. But moving on to the movie, I adore Kiera Knightley's portrayal of Miss. Bennett. Her willingness to accept that she was wrong about Mr. Darcy shows great strength to me. And the fact that they love each other despite their differences is lovely to me.

Letters To Juliet
I love this movie because it showed me that sometimes love is all about timing; and no matter how long it takes it's worth it. (Cheeeeesy I know!) Also... I have a selfish reason for liking this movie. Vanessa Redgrave stars in the movie and I had the privilege of meeting her on the red carpet when I helped cover the 2012 Tony Awards. Miss. Redgrave came up to me before interviewing with our reporter and asked me who I was. I said, "Oh, I'm just Elora the intern." Then she said, "Oh darling. You are much more than that. You are Elora and you are lovely." Then she gave me a kiss on the cheek. It meant so much to me that this lady I didn't even know, a star, wanted to let me know how I special I was. Every time I watch the movie I think of what she said to me and it brings a smile to my face and I hope I can find a man who thinks I am so much more than "Elora the intern."

Sabrina (1957)
Those that know me super well know that  Sabrina is my favorite movie of all time. I can watch it over and over again and not get sick of it. I love all the characters and the movie is fullll of lovely quotes. And I looove the costumes in the movie. But, one of the reasons why it's one of my favorite romance films is because Sabrina is finally able to get over the guy she is pining after and is able to move on to someone better.

That was a lot of personal information, and it was kind of scary to write! And most of it was pretty cheesy... sorry about that! I have loads of other movies I love... but I feel like if I list every single one this post will take me hours to write and hours for you to read! Anyways, I'd love to hear what some of your favorite romantic movies are! Happy Valentine's month!

Super Bowl Treats!

Hey guys! Happy weekeeeeend! I hope your weekend is wonderful, fun and relaxing all at the same time.

Moving on, let's talk Super Bowl Sunday! More specifically lets talk about my favorite food on Super Bowl Sunday. Every year my mom makes this delllllicious popcorn. I know what your thinking... what is so special about popcorn? Well let me tell you, when it's mixed with peanuts, marshmallows and covered with white chocolate and then drizzled with dark chocolate it becomes pretty darn special. BUT this year my mom and I decided to have a little fun with the colors of the popcorn. Since it's the Patriots vs. Seahawks we decided instead of drizzling dark chocolate (you can still do that if you want) we'd cover the popcorn in each teams colors! It made the popcorn a little more festive and, obviously, more colorful. Another plus? This is the easiest recipe ever! Try it out and let me know what you think!

White Chocolate Popcorn:

Ingredients:
-2 bags of popcorn
-1 bag of white chocolate
-1 cup of peanuts (You can add more if you want.)
-1 cup of marshmallows (You can add more of these if you want as well!)
-1 Bag of red, blue and green chocolate (You can find the colored chips at a craft store.)

Making the Popcorn:
-Pop the popcorn
-Place it in a big bowl
-Mix peanuts and marshmallows in with the popcorn
-Melt the white chocolate (We put the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring every time the beeper went off until the chocolate was nice and smooth.)
-Mix the white chocolate in with the popcorn
-Place the popcorn on a baking sheet so it can dry
-Melt the red, blue and green chocolate the same way you did the white
-When its nice and smooth take a spoon and drizzle it over the popcorn
-Let the popcorn sit so the chocolate hardens theeeen eat up!

Running Back Workout

Pictures By: Bailey Winters

Happy Wednesday everyone! We have made it mid-week! I for one am super excited, I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I have made it through Monday and Tuesday.

Anyway, Monday I mentioned that this week I was going to do a couple of Super Bowl themed posts. I mean, in America, so many people consider it a holiday! I know the men in my family do. My dad, brother, uncle and my cousins husbands look forward to it every year! I honestly just go for the food and commercials. (Food post coming later this week!) My favorite commercial last year was when "The 80's" came and redid Radio Shack. I honestly don't know what I thought it was so funny but I was laughing so hard I started crying. Annnnd I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the David Beckham commercial.

Moving on, today I am giving you a workout called the "Running Back" workout. It's a treadmill workout that mixes running and incline intervals. So you run and work your backside. See what I did there? Oh man, my cheesiness amazes even me. I got the workout from Popsugar Fitness (I did a post on how much I love this website here). But I changed it up a bit. I did it yesterday and today my leg muscles are really singing. Give it a try and tell me if you like it! (Or hate it depended on how much you love/hate running!)

Running Back Workout

0:00- 5:00, Pace 4.0 mph, 1 incline

5:00-8:00, Pace 4.0 mph, 15 incline

8:00-10:00, Pace 7.0 mph, 15 incline

Switch off from the 3 and 2 minute time increments until you reach 40 minutes.

To finish off....

40:00-42:00 4 mph, 1 incline

42:00-45:00 5.5 mph

45:00-48:00 6.0 mph

48:00-50:00 7.0 mph

50:00-52:00 4.0 mph

If you are confused at all let me know and I will try to help you out!

P.S I am well aware my football pics are super cheesy, but it goes with the post right?!

Trend Sighting: Delicate Jewlery

Necklace: H&M. Rings: Nordstrom, Old Navy, Michael Kors Bracelets: H&M

Pictures By: Bailey Winters

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend! I spent mine hanging out with family and eating at yummy restaurants. Good food and people I love make for a pretty good weekend! And I spent most of my Sunday playing with Batman action figures and watching Super Hero cartoons with my cousins kids. The sad is, I think I enjoyed it as much as they did. Nerd alert!

Moving on! This week is all about Super Bowl fun! There will be a Super Bowl themed workout, party tips, a recipe and tons of nerdy football pictures of me. BUUUUT before we go deep into my Super Bowl themed week I decided to start the week of with a girly post. A post all about a new trend that I am looooooving, the dainty jewelry trend!

For awhile there it was all about huge statement pieces. HUGE necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings what have you. You would wear one piece and you were set. Now the jewelry trend has moved on to more simple, dainty pieces that are easily layered. There are few reasons I love this trend. One, I love the look of simple layered pieces. I find it elegant and classic. Two, I have a sentimental heart and I love the idea of being able to layer a lot of jewelry pieces that mean something to you.

ANYWAY, if you wanna jump on the dainty jewelry bandwagon there are a couple places you can start your collection without breaking the bank. The first place is H&M. I am dead serious. The necklace I am wearing in this pic is from there, so are my bracelets. Go check them out! (The stores have more options than their website.)

I got my rings from Nordstrom (under $50), Old Navy, and Michael Kors (From my momma for my birthday). Nordstrom has sooo many options and the prices for most of their pieces are totally reasonable! So, how do you feel about the new trends? Do you miss the statement pieces? I'd love to hear!

P.S. Can we talk about my fav looks of the Red Carpet over the weekend? Miss. Jennifer Lawrence and the dashing Eddie Redmayne! Her dress she wore this weekend on the Red Carpe was beyond stunning and Eddie in his suit? Wow. It's  how I picture every Englishman looks. Haha. Who were your favorites?

You, Me and My Blog

Picture by Christine Barlow

 Hey guys! I hope you're having a wonderful week. Anyway, this is kind of an odd post. I just wanted to give a little schpeel about a pattern on this here blog.

I am sure you all have noticed that I do a lot of contributor posts. In addition, I talk about great things I have found, annnnd wonderful things people have created/done. There is a reason for that.

I have told you in the about section that I was a Reporter/Producer/TV Host. I looooved every minute of it (That's why videos are coming up, woot woot!). One of my favorite parts of that job was meeting new people and helping them show off their talents. When I'd talk to someone about how to create, cook, or fix something I felt like I was helping them realize something they were great at.

Sometimes, it seems like talents get over looked, or people forget they have them. I love reminding them what they have and how great they are... and by reminding them they begin to share their talents. THEN by sharing those talents they can help others. It can be as small as helping someone cook something, or as big as helping someone create a healthy lifestyle. WHAT have you! A blogger out there, The Alison Show does a great job of making people realize how awesome they are; and I think there needs to be more of that in the social media world.

ANYWAY, by now I am sure you all want me to stop with the cheesiness and the blabbing. But I just wanted to explain why I so often present ideas to you; it's because its the journalist in me AND I think radness needs to be shared!
(But don't you worry, I have plenty of original content coming at ya too!) As always thanks for reading gang!

Contributor Post: 1 Braid 3 Ways (Part 2)

Oh hey there guys! This post is the second part of the "1 Braid 3 Ways" series. (You can find the first one here.) Anyways, like I said before the fabulous Kali helped beautify me for an outfit shoot awhile back. I mentioned that I wanted my hair different for three outfits, so she took one braid and changed it up 3 times. It was a brilliant idea really. ANYWAY here Kali is to explain the second braid look for ya!

Photography by Saans Photography

2 Braids
Add the chunk fishtail to one said of the head. You can find the fishtail tutorial here

Add another fishtail to the other side.

Combine them and braid them together using a reverse braid method.

 Secure and pucker the entire right fishtail, making it full and loose.