 Snapshots of Wellness is not a fashion blog however, fashion does factor into wellness, right? OK, not really but feeling confident in what you wear does. Once in awhile on the blog, I will share seasonable staples or any fab fashion that I come across.
OK, so I have a very small budget and as fall approached, I knew that I could afford one new outfit - head to toe - for the entire season and combine these purchases with what I already have. I lean towards classics because they are timeless, add in a bit of preppy infusion and wala, you have my style. With this budget of mine, I also lean towards major fashionable versatility. What can take me from day to night and what can be worn with multiple styles. My favorite purchase for the fall season is the chelsea boot above. I am in loveee. It's kind of scary amazing how happy a new pair of boots made me - ha! Ladies, you are right there with me. This boot makes any outfit look so chic. I am looking forward to wearing them with skirts, bare legs and a simple slouchy sweater. I am blown away how many outfits the chelsea boot can be worn with - pair with a blazer & jeans, any length skirt, knit tights and a sweater, floral dress, etc. It's by far my smartest purchase for the season and I purchased them from Akira on North Avenue in Bucktown.
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TO A DOG, NEGLECT is Just Another Form of Abuse By Doug and Elizabeth Simpson Owners of Tenderfoot Training When someone adopts a new dog with problems like separation anxiety, aggression, timidity, or fears, they frequently assume the dog was abused. Even people who adopt young puppies from the shelter often think their timid, fearful pup must have been abused, when in truth, the dog was most likely neglected and is simply responding to a lack of socialization, understanding, and experience. Check your Thesaurus for abuse, and neglect is right in there with cruelty and maltreatment. Too many people think that providing the basics of food, shelter, and water to a dog is enough, and yes, they are essential to the survival of the body; but what about the heart, mind, and soul? Take no notice of a fish and he couldn't care less, but dogs are intelligent, social, and emotional creatures who depend on us to provide them with love, play, socialization, grooming, stimulation, structure, and boundaries in addition to the basics. Being left in the yard all day, and the kitchen all night, is not good enough; it is merely a few steps up from abandonment. Dogs are incredibly forgiving animals who can recover from mistreatment and still become loving, trusting members of their family; just think of the success stories that came out of the Michael Vick tragedy. Rescuing any dog that has been mistreated takes patience and understanding, but rescuing a neglected dog can actually take far greater effort to help him overcome the lack of beneficial life-shaping experiences. Neglected dogs are likely to suffer from intense fears, insecurities, aggression, nuisance barking, running away, lunging at other animals and people, destroying things, and a gamut of neurotic disorders"”all because their people did not take the time to teach them that the world is a wonderful place and how to behave, or keep them from being bored. Neglect is as much about failing to engage your dog as it is about relegating him to the back yard. You might be in the same room together, but if you don't communicate with your dog he might as well be alone. He is free to do as he pleases and he becomes impatient, independent, and often insecure, like a child who has no teacher for years and does not learn to listen, respect his elders, or have manners. Your dog needs your leadership; caring, and patience so that he can learn to love, trust, and respect others; choose good behavior; and be thoughtful in his actions. A common mistake comes from the well-intentioned person who does not permit their young puppy to explore the world during the most formative time of his life"”the first four months. Everyone is appropriately cautioned to protect their pups from disease until they have received all of their shots, but people often overreact and treat their pups like shut-ins until they are fully vaccinated. It is the dog owner's job to create successful experiences for their pup from the start and never stop. They simply need to provide structured has time enough for themselves, let alone a dog; a dog might sound like a great idea until reality sets in and then the dog gets left behind. When you bring a dog home you need to rethink your life, your days, and your future together. Even if your dog spends the whole day with you in the house because you work from home, that does not replace being out in the world. It would be like saying your child is socially healthy because he watches people on TV. There is no substitute for real-life experiences. Dogs need leaders to show them the way in the world, just like kids need parents to guide them and teach them good manners. Confidence comes from understanding; manners come from training; and emotional well-being comes from positive experiences. Your dog does not have to schedule you into his day"”his day is already planned around you. What do you have planned for him? Dogs benefit from structure and engagement just like everyone else, so you must plan on taking the time to teach him a big vocabulary (20-30 words) and become someone he can count on for support, guidance, and leadership. It's really simple: the more you do with your dog, the better your dog will be. You aren't likely to go to the gym for an hour if you don't schedule it into your day, just as you aren't likely to take the time to train the dog, brush him, or walk him unless you schedule those activities too. The benefits are huge, not only for your dog but for you too. Walking your dog for an hour is better than going to the gym; brushing him gets the hair off of the couch; and training him reminds you how important it is to make a connection with your dog. All this might add up to less time on Twitter, but it means the world to your dog. He gets your special attention for a part of every day, while he learns manners, looks spectacular with a clean coat, and gets a great chance to learn the world is a wonderful place by going on outings. His smile says it all: "Thanks for loving me." Love Them and Lead Them!  Photo Credit: Happy.Healthy.Life. lunchboxbunch.com Are any of you starting to get that I just won't attempt a recipe with a lot of ingredients? All of the recipes I try for Snapshots of Wellness have less than 10 ingredients......it's just so much easier (0: I am a minimalist true and true, what can I say (smile)! Pumpkin everyyyyythingggggg!!!! It's Fall! Pumpkin....pie, muffins, cake, cookies, latte's, beer, carving, candy, caramels, cupcakes...it's pumpkin season!!!! Yip! I came across this FOUR Ingredient VEGAN Pumpkin Pie recipe over at Healthy. Happy. Life. LunchBoxBunch.com. And read Kathy's Bio (the curator of the site)!!!! How amazing is SHE?! She is this fabulous vegan food blogger that I am just now finding out about! The recipes on her site are seriously......just awesome. So yeah, Kathy creates this too-good-for-words pumpkin pie recipe and I am delighted!!! Why? Because it's FOUR ingredients which means 'easy - quick - affordable'. How does it taste? It tastes delish - like traditional pumpkin pie that you had no idea was vegan. I didn't add her coconut whip though which I will next time. Here is the recipe below! And please go here for all of the details, photos, etc. on her site! P.S. The following (below) was taken directly from Kathy's site so, it's Kathy speaking below and not me. Let's get to making pie..... Pie Crust. I was a bit annoyed at myself for not making my own crust for this pie. I used a vegan frozen crust from Whole Foods - easier since I was experimenting with recipes. I WILL for sure make a from scratch crust when I make this again for Thanksgiving. Flaky, vegan buttery, homemade vegan crust is oh-so-much-better than anything frozen. My how-to make pie crust instructions here will assist you. And watch my How-to Vegan Pie Crust Video too. I hope you serve up this easy Vegan Pumpkin Pie - get in and out of the kitchen in a flash so you can spend the holidays with your guests. Four Ingredient Pumpkin Pie vegan, makes one pie 1 1/4 cups raw soaked cashews 1 cup maple syrup 1 can organic pumpkin puree (16 ounces) (or use fresh puree) 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice optional: 1/2 tsp salt to taste (depends how much salt you soaked your cashews in) ingredients notes: using high quality spice is helpful. Also, I prefer grade B maple syrup for its rich amber tones and caramelized flavor - but grade A works too. One standard vegan pie crust - or make your own using my instructions in this post. Also reference my crust-making how-to video here. To Make: 1. Soak about one cup of raw cashews in about 2 1/2 cups of water in a large bowl. Add about 1/2 - 1 tsp of salt to the bowl - mix to dissolve. The salt allows the water to absorb more efficiently into the cashews and also adds some salt for your recipe. Note: you may want to soak more cashews than needed and make two pies - or use in other recipes like my vegan pumpkin spice cashew cheese! 2. Soak this cashew bowl overnight in the fridge. You want well-soaked cashews so that your pie mix blends up perfectly creamy. I soaked my cashews for about 18 hours. At least 8 is optimal. Don't soak for more than two days or the cashews can get grimy in my opinion. 3. The day of your actual pie making allow at least 3 hours from the time you start to the time you wish to serve the pie. I like a cool time of at least 2 hours. 4. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. 5. Drain the water from your cashews. They should be very soft to bite and a slight purplish dark hue. This is normal. Add 1 1/4 cups of cashews to your food processor - or even better, a Vitamix or high speed blender. Get your own Vitamix here with free shipping! 6. Add pumpkin to blender. Next, add in the maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice. Blend on low -> high for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture is completely creamy. If your mixture is a bit thick for some reason - you can add in a few teaspoons of either water, maple syrup or even non-dairy milk. After blending, do a taste test and add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt if needed. I added in about 1/3 tsp extra salt. But taste before adding. 7. Pour your mix into a par-baked vegan pie shell (I toast my raw pie shell in the 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes). You can buy a frozen crust or make your own per instructions linked in recipe above. 8. Bake pie at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes - or until the edges look fluffy and a darker caramel orange tone. Use a toothpick in center if unsure. The tooth-picked filling should come out slightly wet - but very thick and dark. It is important to remember that your pie will firm up significantly upon cooling and chilling in the fridge. 9. Remove pie from oven. Cool on counter for at least 30 minutes. Then place in fridge until ready to serve. At least 2 hours cooling and/or chilling time is my preference. A warm pie will be tasty, but still a bit "wet" to slice. 10. I serve chilled with a swirl of my vegan coconut whip on top!! Kathy, I don't even know what to say but a big ole thank you for this recipe!!!! And you have a new 'regular' reader via your site. I cannot wait to try your Blondie & Cacao Cookie Dough Bites (insane)!  I am going to have to do a series on Boundaries for my Snapshots of Wellness readers at some point because I tell you what, boundaries are essential to living a self respected life. And boundaries are essential for overall peace and wellness.
I am someone who has not had healthy boundaries...with anyone......ever (as far as what I communicate about and how I allow people to even speak to me). And now, I do. And the difference it is making in my life is...one word... monumental. This post isn't going to be a window into my personal journey though. I just wanted to share with you the book that is playing such a pivotal tool in this necessary - long overdue - growth spurt I am having. This book (along w/ my faith) is changing every aspect of what I discuss with others, how often, what I say 'no' and 'yes' to and what I will actually tolerate. Let's delay no more and get to this impactful page turner: Setting Boundaries with Difficult People: Six Steps to Sanity for Changing Relationships. You need to have boundaries around every aspect of your life: personal, professional, spiritual, emotional, mental and psychological. If you don't or even if you just need a reminder, this book will not disappoint. I haven't had a book impact me this much pretty much ever (outside of the Bible). Good luck! |
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Created and curated by Kelly, Snapshots of Wellness encourages all of you to cultivate your 'joie de vivre': Compassion for Animals via food, style & lifestyle. 
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Photos used under Creative Commons from goingslo, Mr.Thomas, NRCS_Oregon, Angelbattle bros, Puparrazi PhotographY, Rowley Taylor, Fibonacci Blue, Jinx!, victor408, apardavila, wuestenigel, Lorie Shaull, barnimages.com, infomatique, Tim Fenn, Allie_Caulfield, Mr.Sai, Gabriel Kronisch, Rosmarie Voegtli, Polska Zielona Sieć, PersonalCreations.com, Sébastien Launay, eliduke, Anne Worner, AGRONAUTI, Walakazoo, Emily Carlin, Rob.Bertholf, crabchick, @tc_goatwriter, lovelihood, barnimages.com, Free for Commercial Use, ENICOK
