You Blend Me Right Around Baby Right Round

Getting into shape/pursuing a healthy lifestyle usually goes hand in hand with adopting a serious affliction for smoothies, which also usually goes hand in hand with forking over a large sum of money for a blender. Rejoice, the Ninja Master Prep! Under $40, eligible for Amazon Prime shipping, what more could you possibly want?

The blender comes with two sizes of containers (the smaller one is great for individual portions) and offers plenty of bang for your buck. I've been able to blend all kinds of smoothie ingredients, from ice and frozen fruit to kale and other greens.

It's not the most quiet blender in the world, but it's not as deafening as many other models. Plus, at this price point, can you really complain? It's been up to the task for every recipe I've made and is still going strong a year later with almost daily use. 

It's designed upside down from how most blenders are, but I actually love it that way. It's much easier to clean and load up. That long grey plastic thing in the middle is what the blade is attached to, which makes the blade easy to grab, pull out, and rinse off without risking cutting yourself (always a bonus for the accident prone like myself). You can wash easily by hand or throw everything in the dishwasher. Plus, you don't have to worry about spilling anything once you've added all your ingredients. 

I'm very spill-prone and constantly worried about whether I screwed on the bottom of previous blenders tightly enough, but with this blender you just pop the lid on and then attach the motor and press down. There aren't multiple settings, but I never knew how to use all of those on other blenders anyways. Keep it simple, right?

You do have to hold down the top to keep it blending, but I've never made anything that has taken more than a minute-ish, so this hasn't been an issue for me. I truly love this blender and highly recommend it for anyone that wants to enjoy the wonderful world of smoothies on a budget. FYI I didn't get paid by anyone to say any of these things, I just wanted to share some blender love with you all. Happy blending!

Hydration Basics: How To Make Sure You Won't Be Hating Life On The Trail

I realized I may have jumped the gun by diving into finding the right reservoir before going over basic hydration tips. Staying hydrated (no matter how you actually take in the liquid) is one of the most important ways to make sure you enjoy yourself outdoors. 

You may be wondering, "It's 5 degrees in Denver right now, so I don't think I'll be breaking a sweat any time soon. Do I really need to worry about staying hydrated during a polar vortex?"

The answer is a resounding yes. Colorado is dry, and gets even drier in the winter. Even if you don't live in Colorado, your body uses up a lot of water to heat up the freezing cold air that you breathe in all winter long, making hydration a year round priority.

Adventures in Hydration: My Quest To Find The Right Bladder

By now, I've realized that most people actually refer to bladders as reservoirs, but why pass up the opportunity to use a completely ridiculous term for outdoors gear? Plus, it's funny to see people's reactions to sentences such as, "I need a new bladder, mine keeps leaking."

Immature humor aside, I've been on the hunt for a reservoir once I started wanting to go on longer hikes. Your first and most obvious option for hydration is a water bottle, but a reservoir lets you go hands-free and bring a lot more water with you, which is important if you're going to be out on the trail for several hours.

My Love Affair With Darn Tough Socks Continues

I thought it was impossible to improve on the perfection that is Darn Tough’s ¼ Hike/Trek Sock. Then I met the Light Hiker Micro Crew.

As the name implies, it’s a lighter sock, which is something I was in desperate need of this summer. My feet tend to sweat (yes this has already come up multiple times in this blog!) and my original Darn Toughs were still just a little too thick for hiking around in waterproof boots for hours. You give up some cushioning for the lighter fabric, but I didn’t notice any difference. My Merrell hiking boots are extremely comfy, though (cough cough you should get yourself a pair cough cough).

These socks felt stretchier than the regular weight socks, but again that’s probably just because they’re lighter. They are still just as durable as the regular weight - I put them to the smell test the morning after spending several hours hiking in 75-80 degree weather and they passed with flying colors. Yes, smelling my hiking socks is a thing I do now.

Your New BFF Flipbelt

Even for beginner runners, the issue of where to put your stuff while you run is an important one - especially for women. If you've shopped for any women’s pants/shorts/anything that goes on your bottom half recently, you've probably noticed that they are severely lacking in the pockets department. 

This is most true with women’s running clothes. They either have no pockets or a ludicrously small pocket that you can fit all of one house key in. Some brands are better about this, but then you've got your phone bouncing around in your pocket, which is equally useless.

Photo snipped from the Flipbelt website

Enter Flipbelt. 

From The Ground Up: Beginner's Guide to Hiking Boots

“I’m just starting out, I don’t need hiking boots.” This is the thought that crossed my mind when my boyfriend first suggested I look into a pair. I had hiked the Billy Goat Trail near my parents’ home in Maryland in just sneakers and had survived, despite the trail being less of a trail and more just rocks and boulders. So why would I need to buy hiking boots?

You may be thinking this as well – hiking boots can be expensive, and if you don’t see yourself doing a ton of hiking, you may wonder whether they’re worth it. Three (to four) words: Ankle support. Waterproof-ness. Grip. You want these things. Hiking boots give you these things. No matter how comfortable your current sneakers/walking shoes of choice are, they will be dead to you once you hike in a pair of good, sturdy, boots. They are so worth the investment.