I don’t know about you, but now that we’re nearing the halfway point of the year I’ve been feeling the need to re-commit myself to my “No Fat Talk” pledge for 2012. Over the past couple months, I’ve found myself mumbling unkind words about my body or myself under my breath. Or letting a “Do my thighs look huge in this?” to Joe here and there. It may not seem like a big deal, but I want to stop these … Read More

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the long weekend and taking some time to reflect on the sacrifices made by the amazing men and women who serve and have served our country. I wanted to take a little time to introduce you to the shiny new look of Espresso and Cream! If you typically read posts in Google Reader, take a minute to hop on over to the site and check it out. This re-design has been a … Read More

{Snapping a few photos while waiting for our table to be ready on date night last week.} {My first hole of golf for the season. Not a bad first shot, considering I don’t golf much!} {Work has been crazy, and my stack of magazines is piling up. Perhaps I’ll dig though some of them on my long weekend?} {Clean clothes, warm from the dryer + cuddly dog = fur-covered towels that need to be washed again. But she was too … Read More

This week the kind folks at Larabar sent me a package of their new Uber bars to sample. I’ve been a huge fan of Larabars for years, and I was excited to give the new variety a try. In college, I lived on all sorts of protein bars and nutrition bars, which was far from healthy or balanced. Today, they help with the 3:30 ‘crash’ and provide the nutrition to get me through my evening workouts before dinner. My favorite … Read More

A couple weeks ago at work, the almond board of California came to talk with us at work and give us some samples of their amazing products. Did you have any idea that 80% of the almonds produced worldwide come from California? They left us each with a little swag bag, and I found myself with a large bag of almonds. Instead of eating them straight out of the bag, I decided to get a little creative with the almonds … Read More

After taking last week off from “No Fat Talk Tuesday” because of server migration issues, I’m happy to return to the series with an amazing and moving post from Liza. The line that hit me most in Liza’s post was when she said, “I quit fighting so hard to measure up to an external idea of perfection and beauty…and I started fighting a battle against my internal insecurities.” Amen! What a beautiful perspective. Thanks for sharing, Liza! – Madison   Hello, friends!  My name is … Read More

Hey, everyone! How was your weekend? Joe and I spent our time up in NW Iowa with our families enjoying the Tulip Festival. But the real reason we made the trip back home was so that I could attend a bridal shower my mom hosted for my friend, Carrie. Carrie and I grew up together and our moms are friends, so being able to celebrate her upcoming wedding was especially meaningful. And being able to spend some time catching up … Read More

For all my male readers (and male family members), today might be a post you’ll want to skip. I’ll be back to posting about food, recipes and fat talk on Monday!  Now, that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s continue. When I girl-talk with my married friends, one of the topics that gets brought up most often is birth control. Talk about a controversial topic! I think it ranks up there with the ‘mommy wars’ and breast feeding … Read More

Last weekend’s bridal shower was fun and seriously delicious. Between my mom, my cousin, Angela, and myself, we put together a pretty great spread. The shower started at 2 p.m., so we didn’t serve a full meal. Though now that I look back at the photos, we had quite a bit of food. In addition to Ina Garten’s amazing chicken salad, we had a cheese assortment, crackers, fruit, strawberries and whipped cream, and bite-sized desserts, including homemade lemon bars. The … Read More