My Meals Monday | New Hair & Super Chatty

I know I have been really slacking on my blog, and youtube channel these past few months, but my main goal for June, (yes I make monthly goals lol), is better time management. Hopefully over the next month I will learn how to better handle a busier than usual work load, my youtube channel and blog, as well as my home life.

But jumping into My Meals Monday I want to start off by saying this was a crazy food day for me and I probably shouldn't have Vlogged it. Don was getting a massage and I wanted a mani/pedi, but we over slept so we had to rush out the door which meant no breakfast, so lets go to lunch....

I started off with California Pizza Kitchens Cucumber Reviver, it's nonalcoholic and so refreshing. If you get a chance to try it, do, it's amazing.

We then ordered the Chicken and Shrimp Lettuce Wraps. This is also really good and in the future I may order this as a main.

My main was the ribeye steak, with arugula and potatoes. I haven't eaten a lot of beef in quite some time, but the past few days I have been really craving it, which I'm told may be an iron deficiency. I didn't eat a lot of this as it was massive.

After coming home I had some house work I wanted to do, mostly reorganizing the bedroom, and grabbed a coffee from starbucks.

For dinner I had my leftover steak from lunch as well as a black tea. 

For dessert we had cheesecake that I made the other day for Don and I decided to have a little bit for myself.

That is everything I ate today. As I said it was a weird day for food and I probably shouldn't have vlogged it, but YOLO.....

Here is the video for this post, it's extra long, I think I thought I was daily vlogging lol.

                       

My Week In Pictures May 14-20, 2017

This week has been a bit of an exciting one for me, I am keeping with my New Years resolution of self-love, and making some changes that are positive and that I'm really happy about.

SUNDAY:

Sunday was a lazy day for me, I mostly hung out with the dogs on the Lanai and stared up at these three palm trees.

MONDAY:

Don had an appointment in Kailua and I tagged along so I could go to Target, whilst there I saw they finally had the Caroline Hirons Double Cleanse! It was such a happy moment for me as I have been trying to get this, and they won't ship it to Hawaii and my local Target was constantly out of stock.

TUESDAY:

This was my last night with clips on my teeth for my invisalign. This has been an 18 month journey for me, and it was so nice to have the clips taken off and be able to smile without feeling self conscious.

WEDNESDAY:

Included in my New Years resolutions was to get in shape, I'm currently working on that and so instead of a Mojito with chips and salsa I had water and an apple for my happy hour. Although Louis has suddenly taken a huge liking to apples and he ends up eating about half of every apple I get. I don't let him eat the skin because I'm afraid he will choke on it so I eat that, which means I'm getting all the good fiber!

THURSDAY:

I went and got my hair done!!! I found a picture on instagram that I fell in love with, sadly because my hair was so dark we have to do it in stages as to not damage my hair too much, but I love the middle stage that I'm in, it's such a nice change from the boring hair I had before. To see a really good before and after watch the vlog linked below.

SATURDAY:

I received my Hello Hair shipment today, which I am so happy about as I need to be doing weekly masks to keep my hair as healthy as possible, and this is my ride or die mask!

Thats everything I got up to this week, you can watch the new weekly vlog here. 

                   

Office Tour!

One of my most requested videos is an office tour, so I thought I would supply you with just that today. I spent a lot of last week clearing out a lot of clutter and moving a bit of furniture around, so It's the perfect time to let you all in and show exactly what my home office looks like.

This is the view of my office you are all very familiar with as this is where I film my videos. The bed is a queen, and the bedding is from Ross. On the right I have my spin bike and my bookcase. The bookcase is loaded down with the books I recently read and the books I would never give away. The bottom shelf is full of my college books, I can't seem to persuade myself to get rid of them, they were expensive, and seem to hold a bit of sentimental value. Did any of you hold onto your school books?

This is my desk, well it's actually a flatpack dining table, but I wanted a big desk that I can work at. The silver lamp is from Pier One and the bobble lights on it are from Ross, as are the pink lights on my cork board. I try not to keep too much on my desk so I keep 2 notebooks and my Erin Condren Life Planner in a puravida bag, a jar of pens, Beats Headphones, a coaster for coffee, and a jar that I toss SD Cards, USB Drives, etc.  I also have my boom mount Blue Yet Mic for recording voice overs.

We choose to use portable air conditioners, as our central ac is so old and costs a lot to run, and even more to replace.

To the left of the bed I have a nightstand from Ross, and 3 boxes in the nightstand, one has camera cleaning supplies, one has planner stickers, and the other is the empty Micheal Kors candle box for the 3 candles on the stand. I then used my Advent Calendar box to store all of my piano books next to that. I then have my Pilates Reformer with the Tower Of Power attached. Next to that I have a wire basket that I store wash cloths, gym towels,  bath bombs & bubble bars in. I have a smaller stand next to it that stores my camera lenses, bigger tripods, and any other camera equipment. I have my everyday tripod and ring light set up and ready to be plugged in for filming.

This is a table that I would rather not be in here, but Don has nowhere else to put it so it's here to stay. On the top is my record player from Urban Outfitters, and then the rest is his stuff, except for the Rode Mic, I took that off my camera so I could use the flash for these pictures:) I then have my dresser which I keep my jewelry tree and a misc. mirror, along with my sunglasses.

And that is pretty much everything in my office. You can see the video version below, it might help to see how exactly it all fits together. 

My Week In Pictures May 7-13, 2017

This week I didn't get up to a ton, as I have been working on a lot business things, as well as doing personal training 3 times a week. On top of the work and the training I have for some reason decided this is the perfect time to do a big declutter. I like to do these a couple of times a year as we live in a small place, but why this week, I have no clue.

SUNDAY:

This is my view when I take the dogs out for a little stroll, isn't it perfect? I love this view, it's one of those shady spots you can sit and think about life, or just watch the ducks swim by.

MONDAY:

I deal with body acne and it is certainly no joke, in fact it can be quite painful, but I've started using the Sunday Riley Martian Gel Toner, and it has really made a huge difference in the areas that I was desperate to cover up. 

TUESDAY:

This was me at the end of a very long day, and the realization that I had personal training in less than 12 hours was setting in lol.

WEDNESDAY:

This is honestly my favorite time of day, when I first wake up and have my coffee, but the house is still quiet, no one is talking or barking, the neighbors car alarm isn't going off yet (yes that happens every morning). I just sit in the peace and quiet drinking my coffee, waiting for the craziness to come lol. 

I had to post this picture, Wednesday evening we were having drinks on the lanai, and Charlie was ruining the moment by barking every time someone walked by. As soon as I picked up my camera he looked over at me like "I'm just standing here minding my own business", he is honestly the cutest most annoying thing in my life :)

THURSDAY:

#TBT to teaching @prejeangamer how to swim! I can't believe this was 2011, my hair was so long, and my arms were so toned lol.

A post shared by Katie Snyder (@katiesnyder157) on May 11, 2017 at 8:25pm PDT

I was in the process of cleaning out my office, and I came across some disks from 2006-20011, this was me teaching my little brother Matthew how to swim. How freakin cute was he? And to think now he's all attitude and video games lol.

FRIDAY:

✨✨✨INSTAGRAM GIVEAWAY✨✨✨ Two winners! First winner will get the @benefitcosmetics Sunday My Prince Will Come set. Second winner will get the Benefit Date Night With Mr. Right set. ✨Rules✨ 1️⃣ must follow me here on Instagram. 2️⃣ Tag 2 friends in the comments. 3️⃣ Comment your preferred prize 4️⃣ like this post This is international🌏 Ends on May 16, 2017 Winners will be DM'd here in Instagram so make sure you can receive messages. I will verify all steps have been completed ✅ (One account per person, must be 13 years of age. This is not sponsored by Instagram, benefit, or Sephora) #giveaway #instagiveaway #beauty #makeup #benefit #sephora

A post shared by Katie Snyder (@katiesnyder157) on May 12, 2017 at 2:16pm PDT

I am doing a bit of n instagram giveaway, I'm also doing one on twitter, all the info for entering is in the post, it ends on May 16, 2017 so get your entries in quick!

SATURDAY:

I went to get my nails done again, I did a much pinker shade this time, it makes it feel a bit more like summer. Although to be honest I love a deep plum or black shade on my nails.

And thats what my week looked like, what did you get up to this week?

Woman Who Inspire Me: Angelina Jolie

The first movie I saw of Angelina Jolie's was Gia, and I instantly fell in love with her. Her acting abilities still shocks me now, after all these years. Shortly after Gia came out Girl, Interrupted came out, and that solidified my never ending girl-crush on her, and if I'm being honest I still watch that movie regularly, whilst saying all the lines lol.

I saw her in the tabloids and on tv with her then husband Billy Bob Thornton, and she seemed so out there, so fun loving, and I really idealized her growing up. I felt like she looked like a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it. In 2002 that seemed to change, as she seemed different, calmer, not so outgoing. What I didn't realize then, but I can see now, is she was growing as a woman, she went from the wild partying to wanting to be someone's mother, and wanting to heal the world in any way she could.

It was in her movie Beyond Borders (which I also still watch), that it seemed to hit me that the world we lived in was not the same for everyone. I grew up in a big blended family with different ethnicities and cultures, and I assumed that everyone everywhere was having the same kind of upbringing as me, but in that movie it showed me that land mines, and war, and famine, and disease were not ended in WWII they were all still very much alive. It was in that movie that made me want to help in some way, which is why I always make time to volunteer in my community, as well as insure my charity contributions are always being sent to the best places possible. 

Seeing the change that Angelina Jolie has tried to make as a UN Ambassador, as well as using her platform for good, has inspired me to do the same, and while I know the odds of my becoming an ambassador, or radically changing the world are slim to none, I do know that by helping to make little changes in my own community can encourage bigger changes on a greater level.

Who inspired you this week?

My Week In Pictures April 30-May 6, 2017

It has been a few weeks since I have done a "My Week In Pictures" post, and I'm sorry for that, but I am currently trying to finish up a few work projects as well as I recently started Personal Training at my gym, and feel pretty much wrecked for most of the day lol.

SUNDAY:

It rained almost the entire weekend and on Sunday night the sky lit up like it was on fire. I am so lucky to live in Hawaii, we get so many amazing sunsets, but this one has to be my favorite. Not only do you have so much orange and pink but the grey, purples shades of the clouds are just incredible. Also did I mention this has NO FILTER added!!! 

TUESDAY:

As you guys know I like to do a bit of gardening, and I planted this Gardenia almost a year ago, and got about 2-3 blooms and then it didn't bloom after that. Well Tuesday morning I walked out to this little beauty!

WEDNESDAY:

Wednesday I announced the winners of the 9K giveaway as well as the items for the 10K giveaway. One of the items is this Kate Spade Bag.

This GHD Flight Copper Luxe Hairdryer.

5 Products from the Zoella Beauty range.

And these 8 products from Tanya Burr Cosmetics. You can see how to enter here.

FRIDAY:

After an insanely intense workout session with my PT I needed to go to the escrow company for work, which meant I was right next to California Pizza Kitchen. I had the Banh Mi bowl which was amazing. I also had the cucumber refresher which is indeed refreshing lol.

I also had the idea that I would ask my stylist any hair related questions you guys may have. My appointment is on the 18th, so if you have questions about how to grow your hair, when to cut it, how to color, anything you can think of leave them below.

SATURDAY:

Today is a super chill day for me. I'm cleaning my bathroom and writing this blog post :) So these are my essentials

Benefit Roller Lash in brown

Alterna Miracle Volume Mist

Bare Minerals Gen Nude Gloss in Sugar

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Soft Brown

And that is everything I got up to this week, well at least what I was able to document for instagram lol. What did you get up to?

Kate Spade, GHD, Zoella, Tanya Burr 10K Giveaway

Today I am announcing the 10K Giveaway!!! I so badly wish I could use emojis in these posts lol.

I firstly want to say thank you to each and every one of you for all the love, support, jokes, and stories. Talking with you guys via the comments and social media truly is what makes this part of the internet so amazing! I know you guys are eager so lets jump into the giveaway.

The first winner will receive this Tanya Burr Cosmetics set which includes:

Cosmetics Bag

Enchanted Dream Palette

Hollywood Palette

Birthday Suit Palette

Shimmer Pot "Chandelier"

Lip Gloss "Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend"

Lip Gloss "Carousel"

Matte Lip "Puppy Paws"

The second winner will receive this Zoella Beauty set which includes:

Cosmetics Bag

Soak Opera

Wonder Hand Cream

Soap Pop

Kissy Missy Lip Balm

The third winner will receive the GHD Copper Luxe Travel Hairdryer.

The fourth winner will receive the Kate Spade Cambria handbag in oyster-blue.

The giveaway ends on June 1, 2016. This is an international giveaway.

To be entered you must be a subscriber.

You must leave a comment on this video.

You must go through the app on this blog.

                      

Manoa Falls Hike

I recently went on a hike to Manoa Falls. It's not far from Waikiki and is such a magical place. It's one of those hikes you want to do alone or with one or two friends. The trail is narrow in some places, and is honestly one of the best places to have that "in touch with nature" experience. It's quiet, it's green, and you hear water trickling down the stream through the entire hike.

You want to remember your camera gear, good walking shoes, and bug spray. I cannot tell you how many mosquito bites I came home with. 

About 1/2 way through the hike you'll stumble across this amazing "doorway". It really felt like a doorway to me, as I was starting to feel like it was too wet, too narrow, and too far to go, and I should just give up, in reality it was only about an hour to the waterfall but I like to complain lol. 

Once we got to the waterfall it was so worth it. Not only did it have a small pool to swim in, though the sign said otherwise, always the rebel lol. It was incredibly high up as well I wish the picture of how tall the waterfall was would do it justice. 

If you're ever in Hawaii do this hike. Not only will it provide you with a moment to really think and take in the more jungle side of Hawaii, but its such a breath taking moment when you come around that last bend and see the waterfall.

My Meals Monday | How I Make Stew

It was quite chilly here in Hawaii today, a whopping 61 degrees lol. So i started my morning off with a nice cappuccino and my daily vitamins blended into my orange juice.

I then had another cup of coffee, two eggs with one avocado on a croissant. I also had a few grapes on the side, these were freshly bought this morning and omg they are so sweet.

I then had a few spare hours so I settled into episode 12 of Pretty Little Liars with a lemonade, popcorn, and a Starbucks brownie. If you haven't seen Pretty Little Liars get on it, its amazing and so addictive!

For lunch I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I am loving this Adams Crunchy PeanutButter and of course the St. Dalfour fig jam is literally the best.

Whilst cooking dinner and watching the White House Correspondents Dinner I had a glass of Moscato Rose, I love this it's a little sweet and bubbly!

For dinner I made stew and garlic parmesan bread.

My recipe for this stew is:

1 Parsnip

2 Carrots

1 Clove Elephant Garlic

1 Large Onion

4-5 Celery Stalks

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

2 Cups Vegetable Stock

1 Cup Lentils 

This stew is so tasty and nobody ever notices that it's completely vegan! Let me know if you try this out, and leave me a comment on what you ate today.