Dare You To...

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgivingkah!  I had a very nice long weekend visiting with family and taking a short breather from work.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, a lovely group of paleo NYC ladies got together for a...

Paleo Friendsgiving! 

Rebecca invited us to a potluck Thanksgiving meal at her apartment, and I couldn't wait to meet, mingle, and munch!  All the food would be paleo (grain-free/gluten-free/dairy-free (mostly)/sugar-free/refined-seed-oil-free...basically just real food).   If you follow on Instagram, then you saw some of the festivities as they were happening, but I've finally gotten around to sharing it with you all here on the blog.

As it was a potluck, we each brought something of our own!  We had a spreadsheet to make sure that the meal would be complete.  My dish was brussels sprouts, and I couldn't be happier.


I found these massive beauties and got to work following the fried brussels sprouts recipe from the Against All Grain cookbook (read my b…

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all had a joyous holiday with your family and friends, and got some time to ENJOY the long weekend.  I'll give my reminder from last year toThank Your Bodyand all the wonderful, miraculous things it does for you on a daily basis. 

My Thanksgiving was lovely, thank you!  My mother hosted a delicious dinner, and I spent the evening surrounded by family--wouldn't have it any other way. The only thing missing was a dog, if anyone wants to send one my way. ;)  You're surely also wondering what we ate. One thing that there was plenty of: VEGETABLES.


And plenty of leftovers, which I put to good use.


On Thanksgiving morning after watching the parade, my mom and I took a walk around the neighborhood, and let me say: It was gorgeous! What a perfect fall day! The air was crisp and clean, leaves crunched under our feet, and I just barely needed the sweatshirt I'd put on.  Perfection!  I'd forgotten how much I enjoy just spending time outdoors in the…

Today is a monumental day in America, a day for the history books, a day for national pride, and a day for us in America and abroad to look back on the past year and see what's been accomplished.

I started a blog.

Sure, there's this election thing going on, and we cast our votes for the next American President, but what's REALLY exciting is that one year ago, I started a blog, and have since kept and grown it.  Dare You To... has been in existence for exactly one year. 

Happy "blogiversary" to me!

When I was somehow persuaded to finally create the blog and write my first post, I had no clue how much it would grow, take over my life, and take on a life of it's own.  I've met some amazing people--both online and in person--and learned so much about health, wellness, fitness, blogging, sharing, and the power of community encouragement and support.  Special thanks to my FitFluential family for helping me grow, and thank YOU, my readers, for sticking with my thr…

Happy Halloween, all!  In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, I want to send my thoughts and well wishes to all those affected by the rain, wind, and flooding.


I know it's the wrong holiday, but I want to take a moment to talk about thankfulness.  Disasters like this ought to make us stop and think about how lucky we are for what we have.  When we are at risk (or do) lose power, water, heat, or worse--food and shelter, we are reminded of how fortunate we are otherwise.

Gretchen Rubin explains it well in her blog post, On Awaiting the Arrival of Hurricane Sandy.  She writes what I've been feeling.  We are so lucky.  I was in danger, but I am fine, and so, too, are those I love. I am thankful for continued health and safety, power and shelter. The massive losses of such things make me feel so grateful.

So I'm daring you to remember, too: Be grateful for the everyday, for the normal, for the things we often take for granted.


Stay safe and dry, and have a happy Halloween!