blog – Jaclyn Grace

Happy Saturday!

Today is an extra happy Saturday because my mom and my brother came down to visit me! Anthony is working on a paper right now though, so I figured I would hop on here for a few minutes and catch up with all of you.

I am so proud of myself after this week for a few reasons. The main reason being that I finished my first full week of working in and commuting to NYC, as well as living in my very own apartment. I had been so nervous for this week for so long, but now I realize that I had no reason to be. It was a piece of cake…. well kind of. I struggled a bit towards the end just because I was so darn exhausted.

screen-shot-2017-01-14-at-5-24-54-pm — Mandatory first day of work selfie!

The second reason is because I worked out this week every morning at 5:30 before work. If you know me, you know that I would be happy sleeping until 10:30 every single day. This was so hard, but I’m so happy that I forced myself to do it. I loved coming home each night knowing that I had already been active for the day.

Before moving to Hoboken, I did tons and tons of research regarding which gym would be the best for me to join. Unfortunately, fitness is super expensive in this area and as a new grad, I’m still trying to get on my feet. Eventually I hope to start taking classes here and there at local studios (they have barre, yoga, and spin classes that I can’t wait to try ) but for now, I figured a program that I could do for less money from my apartment would be best.

With this criteria, I decided to jump on the Beachbody bandwagon and sign up for a year of on demand workouts. This allows me to stream any workout that I want straight to my TV and includes a great variety. Some of the more popular ones included are Insanity, P90X, 21 Day Fix, and Core de Force. I’ve mixed it up a bit to see how I liked the different programs and I haven’t been disappointed yet.

Right now I’m fully committed to 21 Day Fix and have already finished Day 7/21! I’ve been sore every day and I LOVE that the workouts are only 30 minutes each. I’m not sure I could handle getting up much earlier than 5:30 everyday!

screen-shot-2017-01-14-at-5-36-17-pm — My favorite post-workout / pre-work protein shake 🙂

Now I’m off to the supermarket to get some snacks and games for us to enjoy during the Patriots game. Go Pats!!

xo,

Jaclyn

Flannel Love Affair

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I love love love being cozy when the temperatures get colder. There’s nothing better than being wrapped up on the couch in a warm blanket with a nice big cup of coffee. With the winter months just around the corner, my all-time favorite blanket to snuggle up under is my Vermont Flannel.

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Over the years, I have collected more blankets than I care to admit. However, since receiving this gem 2.5 years ago as a gift, I haven’t touched another one! All Vermont Flannel products are hand-made in the USA and are of extremely high quality. Mine has been heavily used and washed countless times over the years – yet it just seems to get softer and softer.

I also love these flannel pants. I have one pair and wear them too often to count during the colder months. Just like the blanket, they get softer with each wash.

I’m not usually one to promote a brand or product on here, but I feel so strongly about this company. To give you an idea, everyone in my family got a blanket from here last Christmas! We now have four of them in my house alone. On top of that, I am considering investing in another pair of pajama pants for myself :).

I guarantee you that if you find yourself investing in a Vermont Flannel blanket, you won’t ever want to leave your couch come December and January! (and yes- I am speaking from experience 😉 ).

xo,

Jaclyn

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Today was a very lazy day for me! I wrote an essay, read an entire book, baked cookies, took a nap, and watched the new Footloose movie with my college dance team.

I wanted to pop in quickly to share a delicious recipe that I tried out today for our movie night – Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies. I chose this recipe because it included all ingredients that I had on hand, and it took me less than 30 minutes to make 36 cookies! What more could you ask for? It took even less time than that for all of my teammates to devour them. 🙂

If you love peanut butter and you love easy recipes like I do – then this is definitely for you!

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F. Combine all of the listed ingredients in a large bowl and mix well until a dough forms. Roll into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Press down on each ball with a fork in order to create the criss-cross design – you could also just flatten the cookies with your hand if preferred. Bake for approximately 7 minutes before removing from the oven and allowing to cool. These take a bit longer than regular cookies to completely cool, so wait a few extra minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.

While these may not be the prettiest looking cookies, they are definitely delicious.

Enjoy!

xo,

Jaclyn

Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before I start on today’s post, I want to take a minute to mention an inspirational, beautiful, and kind woman who passed away earlier this week – my great grandmother. While we no longer have her here with us on earth, I know that my family has gained another guardian angel.

On another note – we got bombarded with THREE FEET of snow today! If you know me at all – you know that I will always prefer the warmth of summer to the cold and miserable New England Winter. There is something to be said, however, for the first snow day of the year! I love nothing more than cuddling up on the couch with a big cup of coffee and watching movies all day.

Cozy, cozy, cozy 🙂

Another thing I love to do when snowed in is bake. Today I attempted coconut oil based coconut and chocolate chip cookies. They came out alright, but I am going to continue perfecting the recipe before I share it. Instead, I am going to share one of my favorite cookies of all time – Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Every year at Christmas time my mom, brother, and I bake tons of cookies. We make enough to give to family members, bring to parties, and of course eat ourselves. We all choose one type of cookie that we want to make for that year and are in charge of that one. This year, these were the cookies I chose to make!

I love how festive these cookies are for Christmas, but they are still delicious year round! I hope you love them as much as I do.

Preparation:

1. Combine butter, brown sugar, and granular sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.

2. Stir the egg and vanilla extract.

3. Finally, stir in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt until a dough is formed.

4. Next, fold cranberries and white chocolate chips into the dough using your hands.

5. Wrap the dough in saran wrap and refrigerate for a MINIMUM of ONE HOUR. This will create the light and fluffy cookie texture that we all love.

6. After an hour, pre-heat the oven to 350 F and roll the dough into tablespoon sized balls. Place them approximately 1.5″ apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

7. Bake for 8-10 minutes before removing from the oven. The cookies might appear to be undercooked, but they are not! Let them sit on the cookie sheet for about ten minutes before moving them to a wire cooling rack.

8. Enjoy!

xo, Jaclyn