Skip to Content

Starbucks discontinued its Cool Lime and Very Berry Refresher flavors. Here is the original Cool Lime Refresher Copycat Recipe. Starbucks introduced their über popular refresher beverages in 2012. It all started with the Cool Lime and the Very Berry Hibiscus flavor, both of which were retired several years ago and replaced with the Strawberry Acai …

Read More about Cool Lime Refresher copycat recipe

I was recently invited to attend a presentation by Florida Hospital which included a cooking demonstration by Paula Deen (she made healthy chicken fajitas) After, we were invited on the stage to ask questions and take pictures. I immediately went straight to the kitchen demo area and snapped these pictures-  everything was neatly lined up …

Read More about Behind the Scenes at Paula Deen

The Jacksonville Bank Marathon is a small race that is run just south of the downtown area in Jacksonville, Florida.  It is small but popular among locals.  This was going to be my first half marathon ever and Chad was going to be running his third full marathon.  I had tried to run the Savannah …

Read More about Jacksonville Marathon- Part III- My first half marathon EVER

Day two in Jacksonville and we were only a mere 24 hours away from the race- my first half marathon ever and Chad’s third full marathon.  We had the full day to spend and explore Jacksonville but we really didn’t want to do too much walking before our big day.As I had stated in Jacksonville …

Read More about Jacksonville Marathon- Part II- The Bridge

So- I recently entered a contest sponsored by Clairol Nice n’ Easy haircolor.  The contest was called “Conquer Your Fears” and basically you had to go onto the Nice n’ Easy Facebook page and just leave a comment of your biggest fear you want to conquer.  After 5000 entries- the powers that be would pick …

Read More about Conquering My Fears With Yoga

Back in the day I would down a Big Mac and not think twice what I was putting into my body.  Nowadays, as the pounds have become harder to shed and reports of cancer and other diseases have increased I have started thinking more about eating healthy.  However, trying to eat super healthy is not …

Read More about The Organic Dirty Dozen

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL??????           Chad and I went to the home opener at Raymond James stadium to watch our hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the Carolina Panthers and we wanted to find the perfect healthy meal while there.  (Right?  What is more American than football and veggie burgers?) I have to give …

Read More about Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Veggie Burgers

(edited: shortly after this post was published, Casa Maya moved into a larger location. All photos are from the original spot.) My last post we took a tour of the Whetstone Chocolates factory. Well, after all that sampling of sweets we wanted to eat something a little more substantial so Chad consulted Urbanspoon to find …

Read More about Lunch in St. Augustine

One word to describe the new Blue Man Group Orlando show……AWESOME! Blue Man Group Orlando has been at Universal Studios with the same show for several years now. Universal Orlando has now decided to change the show up in accordance with all the new changes happening at Universal Orlando- including a new parade and new attractions. I was …

Read More about Blue Man Group Universal

I found some interesting whatchamacallits in the local K-mart while visiting Indiana recently.  Apparently, since I live Florida, I did not understand the proper use of these doohickeys- for instance- the sled supposedly works better outside in snow than in the middle of K-mart.... but I had fun......until I was asked to please either buy …

Read More about Snow Whatchamacallits

As you can see, my staff and I have been working hard over this long Thanksgiving weekend trying to get the updated version of the "Beauty and the Beets" website up and running. This is a picture of a typical business meeting with me and three of my staff members- here we are designing and …

Read More about A rare look behind the scenes at the Beets corporate headquarters

Ah- the perks of living in Central Florida - we can spend a day at any of the area theme parks without needing plane tickets or hotel rooms - today we chose Disney and our adventures started at Epcot. The very first thing we did was go snag some fast passes to Test Track.  We …

Read More about Disney Part 1 - Epcot