POPSUGAR Clean Eating App. GIVEAWAY.

[i was given a free download to try out the app, all opinions and inches lost are 100% mine.]

if you're like me and enjoyed summer a little too much...ate well, drank well (who can blame us?)...you're probably feeling like it's time to get back on track with exercise and healthy eating. with POPSUGAR's Clean Eating App, it's easy! you get a two-week clean-eating plan - five recipes a day, complete with photos, ingredients, and directions.

i thought, ok, it's going to be complicated recipes of things i don't eat or don't have in my kitchen already. i was surprised to find some simple recipes including some of the foods i already eat. for example, these mini tuna cucumber sandwiches were right up my alley. i eat tuna anyways, all i had to do was swap out the bread for cucumber. it was such a refreshing lunch, and so simple.

do you have to do some prep work? yes. do you have to cut out everything? no. there's ice cream recipes, pudding, chocolate, and yummy smoothies! will you have to go out and find ingredients? maybe. you don't have to stick to the plan or recipes exactly. if it's less intimidating, ease into it by trying one of the recipes per day, then increase each week. revisit recipes you love. i came across a couple of recipes i knew i wouldn't make, so i just swapped them out for ones that i liked and were easy for me to make. i use the app as a guide to help me through the week. it not only provides recipes, but inspiration to want to eat healthier.

create a shopping list, see step-by-step directions, and view nutrient totals.

these were a hit in my house!

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GIVEAWAY

are you ready to clean up your act...er, eating?

i'm giving away a free iOS download for the POPSUGAR Clean Eating App to one reader who wants a jump start on eating clean and healthy. to enter, simply leave a comment with your email so that i can notify you if you win. winner selected at random end of my day tomorrow, 9/26.

let's do this!

Periscope. Scope Day.

hello friends...it's been a while. things have been hectic around here as our office is relocating, but i wanted to drop in and say, I MISS YOU ALL! how have you been...what's new? tell me in the comments!

a while back, kim, at a very sweet blog, introduced us to periscope. the app lets you broadcast live from your phone to the world enabling others to 'see the world through your eyes'.

Around the World in a Day

Saturday, November 7, 2015

6 continents | 62 broadcasters | 43 cities

on saturday, november 7th, i will be part of Scope Day, the brain child of Mike Lin. it is a collaboration of 62 broadcasters (including 12 musicians) around the globe who will be showing you attractions and landmarks from their cities in a pass-the-cast format. the event kicks off at 5:15 am PST in cairo, egypt and ends 16 hours later in new york. each broadcaster gets 15 minutes before passing their viewers on to the next broadcaster waiting in the wings.

i will be broadcasting live from hawaii at 3:45pm local time (5:45pm PST).

find me on periscope at oomph.

you can watch us live and interact via the periscope app.

or

watch live on your computer via twitter links (#scopeday).

or

if you miss the live broadcasts, you can watch the replays via

katch.me/events/scopeday

details:

follow Scope Day on periscope at @ScopeDay to get notifications of each live broadcast. the scope day account follows all of the featured broadcasters.

check out Scope Day on twitter | facebook | instagram for more information and to see the schedule of all the broadcasters and their locations.

the 12 musicians will be covering taylor swift songs in hopes of convincing her to broadcast live for the very first time on periscope (we have saved her a time slot).

ever wanted to see the pyramids in egypt? the french alps in france? the tallest building in hong kong? and more and more from africa, ireland, japan to name a few? best of all? this trip is free.

hope to see you there.

family movie night with Pop Secret.

[this post is sponsored by Pop Secret;

all buttery fingers and opinions are 100% mine.]

this summer is all about spending time with family and friends. like many of you, i'm sure, one of our favorite things to have is movie night. we bring out all the pillows and blankets and enjoy our favorite Pop Secret popcorn and snacks.

however, there is nothing worse than the lingering smell of burned popcorn! (well, what's worse is if that was your last bag!) no matter how many windows you open or how many fans you turn on, you won't get rid of the smell. say goodbye to burned popcorn with the Pop Secret Perfect Pop app. this easy-to-use app listens to the pops, waiting for the precise moment to let you know when your popcorn is perfect. no more relying on the popcorn button or guessing how many seconds in between pops. with the Perfect Pop app, you can spend more time enjoying your movie than worrying about your popcorn.

have you tried the Perfect Pop app?

how Perfect Pop app works:

with your iphone, ipad, or ipod touch, download Pop Secret Perfect Popcorn app from the app store.

(it's optimized for iphone 5, but it worked fine on my 4s)

put your favorite family movie night popcorn in the microwave and enter the suggested time on the packaging. turn up the volume, point speaker towards microwave, and keep within three (3) feet.

start the microwave, then start the app.

learn fun facts as well as see what's happening inside your bag of popcorn!

Perfect Pop app listens to the pops and lets you know when your bag of popcorn is just right.

what movies are you watching this summer?

these are my oldies but goodies picks:

- dirty dancing

- legally blonde (1 or 2)

- sweet home alabama

- charlie's angels: full throttle

the kids have been loving:

- cloudy with a chance of meatballs

- frogs & toads: max's magical journey (netflix)

- despicable me

- nim's island

download the Perfect Pop app here:

what's on my phone. photo editing apps.

are you an app-a-holic? (defined by the urban dictionary as someone who is obsessed with buying apps for their phone.) let's say facebook, twitter, and instagram are a given...how many other apps do you have on your phone?

as you can see from this screenshot of my phone, i don't have many. i usually only look for new apps when there is something in particular i need. as a blogger who documents what i wear, eat, and do, i take an obscene amount of photos, so naturally photography and photo editing apps rule my phone. then i have a sprinkling of random apps from fitness trackers to traffic apps to business apps for banking and square register.

i generally don't spend too much time editing photos for quick posts to instagram, but it's nice to have options when a need arises. here are my go-to photo editing apps:

PicFx - $1.99

PicFx is known for its infamous bokeh filters. it makes your photos fancy schmancy and sparkly. this is one of the first apps i got for my phone and i still use it. i don't use the bokeh as much but this app has a couple of filters that i use all the time. i like that you can rotate and play around with the opacity of the filters. this is my most used app.

above - original

below - layered and rotated five filters

After Photo - free

from time to time, i help manage social media accounts for individuals and small businesses. i needed a way to add my own text to photos for labeling, event announcements, and other marketing pieces. After Photo doesn't have the easiest interface, but it allows you to add layers of text, comes with approximately 30 filters (many similar to instagram's), 30 textures, and 52 fonts! that was the seller for me (wait, it's free!) as many other apps come with slim selections at the free level. more fonts and a pro upgrade are available for in-app purchase.

i haven't even scratched the creative surface of this app - check out the after photo description page to see screen shots of its capabilities.

above - original photo

below - crop, filter, layered text w/drop shadows

Pic Jointer - free

i'm sure we all have a collage app for combining multiple pictures. i came across Pic Jointer years ago and stuck with it for its easy interface. it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but it gets the job done.

Big Lens - $0.99

sometimes we can't choose who steps into our background. hello, guy on the phone! so i needed a way to separate my main objects from everything else. Big Lens allows you to adjust the depth of field just like you would with your dslr. for $0.99, you get a range of f1.8 - f3.5, 23 filters, and eight lens flares.

you can see the range offered here.

sometimes just a little separation makes the subject pop.

PicLab - $1.99

i learned about PicLab from misskait a while ago, but only recently purchased it. it is actually a free app, but your photos will have a piclab watermark. $1.99 gets rid of it plus unlocks a bunch of other fonts and effects, so i thought it was worth it. i got PicLab for the sole purpose of being able to post my entire photo to instagram without having to crop it. it's an added bonus that it comes with 80+ fonts, 90+ borders and shapes, 39 light fx, 15 textures, 24 patterns, 15 filters, plus a pencil to scribble with. you can create tons of fun layouts with this app.

above - original

below - filter, border, text

(i previously used A beautiful Mess to post full-length photos, but for $0.99 you get slim selections - 4 fonts, 16 borders, 6 filters, and a bunch of phrases and doodles that i found myself never using. if you like to decorate your photos with pre-made sayings and doodles, you'll like this app, but be prepared to dish out lots of $0.99s for each additional pack. easy to use and very fast.)

what are your favorite phone apps?