theinbetweenismine

just a girl living the expat life

Archives for March 2016

March Favorites

filed under: monthly favorites

image1. My friend Kate recommended It’s a 10 miracle leave in product  in one of her “Things I am obsessed with”-posts recently and it made me want to try it immediately. I am equally happy with this product and will buy it again.

2. I had the ThredUp app for the longest time on my phone, but rarely opened it (because I didn’t want to get sucked into wanting all the things (for a good price!)… but I had a refereal credit and finally caved and ordered a dress and some pants for $40 (retail would have been more like $300) and I am pretty happy with that.

3. I found these 686 Authentic Gossip Softshell Pants online and I am so glad I ordered them. I just love them. They’re awesome and unique and fit like a glove. I loved wearing them in the snow last week.  Also, I got them on sale AND earned Ebates cash back on top of that. BAM. 

4. Juniors’ Mudd® V-Neck Tee Ivory Feathers – Love this shirt!  I was shopping for some shirts for my niece and nephew when I came across this shirt and it magically landed in my cart. Don’t know how that happened. And yup, I still shop in the junior’s department. Don’t you? 40 be damned.

5. Pilot Acroball This pen! It’s almost taking over the top position from my all-time favorite Pentel R.S.V.P. pen.

6. Hot chocolate (from my favorite place in Val Gardena). This looks pretty close to the real thing. I’ve had his every single day that I was in Italy (Well, I wish. I had it twice though and it was glorious). The bestest hot chocolate I’ve ever had. I am not exaggerating.

8 fun Instagram accounts I follow

filed under: photography, this and that

I don’t know about you, but I very rarely follow accounts on Instagram just to see “pretty pictures”. Instagram is a platform for me where I connect, so I usually follow people that I “know” (personally or through the Internet ;)) and where I have an invested interest in that person and or their art/business.

However, there are a couple of Instagram accounts that I randomly came across and which I solely follow because of their beautifully curated photo streams. Today I want to share a few of those with you. I have no personal connection to these Instagrammers (ok, except for the first one!), and yet, I love to see their photos pop up in my stream every day.

@wehandstand This is my (not-so)“little” cousin’s project. I participated too. Just not as graciously as the other people who submitted their awesome handstand photos. At least, I had location going for me (Horseshoe Bend, AZ – lower right).

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@dailyoverview The geography nerd in me likes the bird’s-eye views from above. I mean, isn’t this cool?!

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@Wrightkitchen Beautiful color schemes with food. So pretty to look at.

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@Cocolavine Because I secretly always wanted to be a ballerina, but I am not sure I would have had the discipline and I am glad I didn’t ruin my feet with these pointe shoes.

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@weareknitters If you’re a knitter, you want to check this one out. They have a website with knitting kits as well. Really awesome.

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@coffeenclothes Can you tell I have a thing for flat lay photography? Is this coincidence or ‘a thing’ right now?  

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@stumptowncoffee Duh! Coffee. What else?

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@valgardenadolomites You know that one already. Beautiful photography from the Southern Alps that make me nostalgic for my childhood. 

Recommend one of your favorite Instagram feeds in the comments!

Val Gardena

filed under: about me, excitement

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Ⓒ @Valgardenadolomites

Gorgeous mountain tops. Beautiful skies and lots of snow.

Val Gardena is where my parents took us skiing every single year since my sister and I were 3 years old and I have soft spot for this place in my heart.

I realize that it seems like I have some self-tormenting tendencies by subscribing to the Val Gardena Instagram account, but it also makes my heart skip a beat every time a familiar mountain top or ski slope shows up in my feed. And I’ve been waiting to post this blog post for about 8 weeks now, because when you read this, I will be THERE!

The Dolomites are part of the southern Alps in South Tyrol/Northern Italy. The coolest thing about the area is the enormous skiing area (including the Saslong, a World cup downhill race course and annual venue for the Men’s Super G (super giant slalom), which I’ve been on many, many times). Then there is the Sella group, a plateau-shaped massif, that you can ski around in the winter. The ski circuit around the Sella group is called the Sella Ronda. It’s an all-day trip and amounts to a sort of merry-go-round for skiers, the only one of its kind, a series of ski-lifts and downhill runs, all linked to one another around the whole plateau (possible both clockwise and counterclockwise). It’s awesome and I can’t wait to do that again.  

I am beyond thrilled that I was able to go home and celebrate my birthday with my sister (and the rest of my family) and almost even more thrilled to be spending 9 days with my whole family at this place that is near and dear to all our hearts.

For obvious reasons, I haven’t been back to our old stomping grounds in quite a few years and that’s why I am even more excited to spend a family vacation in a place where my sister and I shared so many precious childhood memories (and where we can make new ones with the munchkins). Plus, I am finally getting to ski again. It’s been a while and I can’t wait to get out there.

So, I am a little busy right now enjoying every second of this. In the meantime, please enjoy my (most likely) frequent Instagram updates.

Even though I hadn’t been to the Dolomites in years and don’t know when I will be able to come back, a little piece of my heart will always belong to Val Gardena.

March Link Love

filed under: link love

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Brilliant. Go read. We’re the shit givers.

This is what sitting too long does to your body. Good lord.

This is why we should do this every day: 10-minute yoga for stress relief.

What women find in friends that they may not get from love. Female friendships FTW.

Mental illness is a result of misery, yet we still stigmatize it. I thought this was a very thought-provoking read.

We all want this, right? The complete guide t0 breaking your smartphone habit.

Knitters, check it out: How to knit the triangle stitch pattern. Beautiful!

Lazy skillet lasagna. Yum!

 

Daily Life | 16 iPhone apps that I use (almost) every day

filed under: daily life

1) Instagram – I love Instagram with a passion. It’s without a doubt my favorite social media platform. I have two accounts – a private one (@san_in_ca) and a public one for my blog (@theinbetweenismine.blog). Do you follow me? Or, more importantly, do I follow you?

2) Pocket The Pocket app is such a life saver (it works as a browser add-on, too!). It’s the place where I can save all my recipes, blog posts, ideas and shopping websites on the go and easily find everything later. Thanks again for recommending this web service, Dominique.

3) Mailbox Outlook Mail I used to love the Mailbox app, but it got discontinued a couple of days ago, so I had to look for a replacement. My current favorite is the Outlook Mail app (who would have thought?). It has a neat design, separates ímportant email (focused) from everything else (other) and is generally pleasing to the eye and easy to use. I like.

4) Hootsuite – I prefer Hootsuite over the official Twitter app. Well, at least that was the case when they had my own tweets and @replies color-coded (which they’ve gone back and forth about between recent updates – note to Hootsuite: please bring it back!). I do like the way you can “quote” other tweets, but I am currently checking out the regular Twitter app again. Which app do you use?

5) Runtastic Pro  – I am paying for this app, because I wanted to be able to take advantage of all the training plans they offer (otherwise you pay for each plan individually). This has really helped me get back into regular exercise and even run a race!

6) Whatsapp – This app – who doesn’t know it? – has been such a game changer when it comes to messaging with people overseas (and I do that alot!). 

7) Facebook – I don’t spend a ton of time on Facebook, but of course, I am checking in regularly.

8) Fitbit I’ve been using the Fitbit app longer than I had a Fitbit and it’s a perfect tool to hold me accountable in regards to getting my steps in and tracking food and water intake. I don’t do this religiously, but it helps to keep an eye on what I am doing.

9) YNAB I’ve been using the budgeting software YNAB for almost a year now and I love it. The app simply integrates with the software and makes it really easy to track spending on the go.

10) Dashlane – If I ever lose my master password for this app (which I don’t think will happen, but…), I am screwed. This app holds ALL my passwords. I wish not every side demanded slightly different rules for password creations (some allow special characters, some don’t, some want capitalized letters and numbers, some don’t…), but this is the best way to keep track of all the passwords that you need in this digital age.

11) Evernote – I love this app: for jotting down some notes, for saving knitting patterns and recipes, for saving a quick picture to go along with a note. It’s perfect and so easy to use.

12. Podcasts – I’ve only recently gotten (somewhat) into Podcasts, but it’s nice to have them at your fingertips.

12) Feedly – I don’t do a ton of blog reading on my phone, but the Feedly app definitely is a nice extension to the desktop version and it comes in handy when I am on the go and I quickly want to check in with new blog posts.

4) NextDoor – I’ve only discovered this platform + app after we moved when we received an invitation to join NextDoor from our new neighborhood. It’s a little bit like Facebook, just for your neighborhood with tons of local news, heads-up and neighborly communication. I kinda like it.

15) MLB at Bat This is a must-have during baseball season. Just  sayin’.

16) WordPress – I don’t really blog from my phone, but I love the option if I really can’t get to a computer and want to jot down some draft ideas. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s also nice to have the app to quickly correct typos (ahem!) or respond to comments.

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Of course, there are a few more that I use (almost) daily (the Weather app,  Frametastic for mosaicking pictures, Phonto (for adding text to pictures), my Calendar app for reminders)  but the ones up there are my essentials.

Are there any that you use on a daily basis and would like to recommend?