Last week the weather was all things fall and I was drinking hot lattes every day at work. This week not so much. Iced coffee was more my scene as every day felt like it was close to 90º and any minute I could melt into the atmosphere. Thankfully this week it’s supposed to get back into that sweater weather.

But aside from the heat, the week flew by yet again and surprisingly I survived. Since I enjoyed doing last week’s post so much on my summer recap, I figured I’d share with you again what I’ve been up to, some of my favorite recipes and this time, one of my favorite playlists I’ve recently made on Spotify. Random but necessary (at least I think).

This week I did a few fun collaborations with some rad brands: Vital Proteins, Sweaty Betty and KIND Snacks, on top of getting in another week of work at my beloved Simple Mills. Yay for exciting things happening with them now and for the future! I love seeing it all come together. You guys don’t even know how many times I’ll be at work and get excited over a product. It also helps I get to snack on their crackers all day 🙂

I had to get a shot of myself in my new Sweaty Betty Power leggings (so comfortable, especially with the high waist band) but am always so awkward when it comes to asking my yoga teachers to snag one of me. Therefore, I put my camera on self-timer, set it against a yoga block and took a video of myself getting into a headstand. And somehow got a decent photo out of it. This is what it’s like behind the scenes of an Instagram people, not ashamed to admit it!

I whipped up this Vital Proteins smoothie on Wednesday that was everything fall. Pumpkin, apple, sunflower seed butter. Make it. Now. It was a dream come true.

Since getting into their protein back in July, I’ve become HOOKED. I put a scoop of the vanilla whey (pictured above) into my coffee/coconut milk every morning and it makes it so creamy and dreamy. Probably since it has grass-fed whey protein in it (thank you dairy). I love how it’s packed with REAL ingredients.

You can find the recipe for it over on my Instagram here.

As for other entertaining things in my week, I didn’t have much until yesterday when I got to meet up with my friend Sam for lunch at Sweetgreen. Sam is a fellow food blogger I met through Instagram this summer and luckily we both live in Chicago. The ultimate dream come true.

I’ve really been trying to cut back on eating out (aka eating from Whole Foods’ hot bar) and saving money for other areas of my life but when it comes to meeting up with foodies, I can’t resist. I got the portobello pesto bowl from SG which has corn, quinoa, their mushroom medley (sent straight from heaven), arugula, chicken, broccoli, and spicy chickpeas. The best part about Sweetgreen is that even though their salads come at a hefty price ($9-14), they give you so much lettuce you can easily have it for two meals. I always end up taking mine home and adding more veggies to it later on.

Earlier this afternoon I went to one my favorite Chicago neighborhoods (the West Loop) to meet up with another Instagrammer/photographer, Alex Heidner. She reminded me of my best friend from home and was such a bright soul. It gives me the most joy when I not only can meet people who follow my blog and appreciate what I do but vibe so well with my personality. It’s like an instant best friend and who doesn’t love that?

We went to The Allis for brunch and I got the usual breakfast of hard boiled eggs, avocado slices and smoked salmon and Alex got their greek yogurt, granola and berries bowl. Of course I had to follow it up with a trip to La Colombe for my favorite almond milk latte. If you guys don’t know by now… now you know. I’m addicted.

I can’t wait to show you guys the photos we took because I’m in love with them all. She truly was a gem to work with!

Besides being a total dork with my coffee (thanks to Alex for the Snapchat above), I’ve got a ton of exciting stuff coming up this month that I can’t even hardly wait for including:

• An event with Whole Foods Lincoln Park I’ll be hosting that I’m announcing Monday. (9/12)

• I’m attending an event with SHAPE Magazine in two weeks with 100 other bloggers and it’s going to be 6 straight hours of networking and blogger magic.

• I’ll be collaborating with MindBodyGreen for a special write-up at the end of the week.

• There will be more Vital Proteins recipes I’m working on coming the rest of the month.

So you could say I’m fairly excited and to celebrate the excitement, I can’t stop listening to my high energy playlists on Spotify… which brings me back to what I mentioned in the beginning of this post! I’ve been dying to share my music with you guys since lately I feel like music consumes 99% of my day. I’m constantly commuting OR in a spin/yoga/high intensity interval class which means music, music, music.

Enjoy!

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This post was not sponsored, however, images within the post have been sponsored. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I only discuss brands I’m truly passionate about and believe in! Thank you for supporting Chickpea in The City.