Roasted Squash with Savory Autumn Stuffing

Happy November!

I am so excited for Daylight Savings this year, and having more of that gorgeous golden autumn sunlight in the mornings...especially since I am renewing my commitment to early morning runs this week! It's glorious here in Chicago, with record warm temperatures in the 70's, although I'm actually ready for some cooler fall temps!

Did you do anything fun for Halloween? This was the first year in as long as I can remember that Ben and I had no plans, so we just had a super relaxed evening at home. 

We watched Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (ha), I baked some candy monster cookies for coffee hour at church (have leftover candy? MAKE THESE NOW), and also cooked up this delicious stuffed pumpkin recipe for a seasonally appropriate dinner!

I adapted this dish from my friend Katie's delicious stuffed squash recipe. Make sure to head over, check out her gorgeous food photography and healthy recipes, and send her some love!

I've made this two times now (once with acorn squash, this time with little pumpkins) and it is SO amazing. The stuffing makes lots of leftovers, perfect to mix with some rice or quinoa for lunches!

Fall comfort food is my fave.

Roasted Squash with Savory Autumn Stuffing

(Serves 4 with extra stuffing)

Ingredients

- 2 small squash (pumpkin, acorn) or 1 large squash (spaghetti, butternut)
- 1 package sweet Italian turkey sausage
- 1 large onion, red or yellow
- 1 apple
- 2 carrots
- 4 stalks celery
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp rosemary
- salt and pepper
- feta
- dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Carefully carve off squash stems.
Slice squashes in half, scoop out seeds (don't throw them away--roast the seeds too!), place in a baking dish coated with cooking spray.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 45-60 minutes, until you can pierce the squash with a fork and it feels soft.

In the meantime, chop up all your stuffing ingredients!

Heat a large skillet with a T of olive oil and saute the onion, carrots, celery, garlic for 5-10 minutes, or until softened. Season with rosemary, salt, and pepper to taste.

Remove the turkey sausage from its casings and add to the skillet with the veggie mix. Break up the sausage as it cooks.

When the squash is done baking, fill each half with a scoop of stuffing, top with feta and cranberries, and enjoy!

xo Anna

Each serving (1/2 small squash with about 1/5 of stuffing mixture) = 2 green, 1 red, 1 tsp on the 21 Day Fix.

Girls trip to Cabo (travel recap)!

Do you ever think "I wish I had a job that allowed me more time to travel?"

I used to have that thought in the back of my mind. Well, I'm learning that I have to be careful what I wish for because this year has been chock full of adventures and trips!

Last Friday I leapt out of bed at 4am to escape cold, dark, chilly Chicago for the sunshine and turquoise waters of Los Cabos, Mexico for a long weekend. It was an incredible trip and I'm excited to share some of my pictures and stories!

My friend Kathleen and I traveled to Cabo together to celebrate the destination wedding of our mutual friend Deidre at Dreams Los Cabos Resort and Spa. This was our first time to Cabo and we had no idea what we were in for.

Well, after two endlessly long flights, a bajillion hours processing through customs, and navigating the gauntlet of overly ambitious drivers waiting to pounce on us at the airport (shit, I made eye contact... "do you need a driver? a ride? boyfriend for the week?" just keep walking), we made it to the edge of the Baja Peninsula and were greeted by our friendly airport shuttle driver Alfredo, who entertained us with stories and beers while he zoomed us down the highway to the coast.

And soon we arrived at THIS magical place!

The resort literally just re-opened a few weeks ago after being devastated by a hurricane last year, and it took our breath away.

The tip of the Baja peninsula is covered with craggy mountains, vegetation and cacti in a blend that reminded me of a cross between Cancun and Arizona, and the land edges up to the most beautiful turquoise waves of the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez.

Kathleen and I quickly settled into our new routine.

It's not hard to love your life when you're living in the lap of all-inclusive luxury and great service! 

It was really fun to travel with a fellow Tone It Up girl because we have the exact same lifestyle quirks.

Our ideal vacation day begins by waking up early around 6am, ordering a "pre-breakfast" room service snack of toast, coffee and tea, and fresh fruit, and then wandering out to the beach for a HIIT workout.

Then we would get showered and dressed in our bikinis and cover ups before wandering down to the breakfast buffet for a mimosa-soaked feast. 

Then comes a couple of quiet hours under our shady cabana listening to the waves and relaxing before a light al fresco lunch, and then meeting up with the rest of the wedding party for cocktails and an afternoon at the pool!

The wedding itself was absolutely magical. I've never been to a destination wedding before, and being there to celebrate Deidre and Howard with a small group of their closest friends and family was extremely special.

After we all sobbed our way through the ceremony, we were treated to champagne, appetizers, and a three piece string Mexican band before our dinner on the terrace overlooking the beach!

Seriously. I can't even believe these pictures are real.

We all sat around one gorgeously arrayed communal table.

And spent the evening drinking, eating, laughing, and celebrating with the happy couple!

I absolutely love love love weddings, but this one was really something extra special.

Kathleen and I made the excellent decision to spend an extra day at the resort after the wedding. 

We loved trying out all the restaurants and making friends with the staff. I think they were amused by two young women traveling together :)

It's really hard for me to take a few days "off" to completely relax and unplug (and I admit I checked my email a couple times), but overall this trip was the first time I've ever taken an official vacation for myself.

It's surreal to be able to experience places like this.

Two years ago I would never have believed I'd be traveling all over the world multiple times a year, and I'd be feeling trapped by my 9-5, hoarding my limited vacation days to see my family for Christmas.

Now I'm in the middle of literally designing the lifestyle of my dreams, and I'm finally starting to believe that I am worth experiences like this. It's pretty crazy and a little overwhelming, and the process is long and hard, but I will never take it for granted.

Honestly, it's kind of hard for me to share this trip because I don't want to come off as bragging or "look at me, my life rocks!"

But quite frankly, my life does rock right now. I am literally happier than I've ever been. And I want to feel that happiness without dampening or second-guessing it.

Most of all, I want to SHARE this feeling because I want you to feel this way too.

For the first time in my life, hard work is paying off, I don't have to change to fit a mold or squeeze into someone else's expectations, and I am free to travel and design the life that I wouldn't even ALLOW myself to dream about even one year ago.

What are YOUR dreams?

And most of all, how do you want to feel about your life?

Giving myself permission to ask and answer both those questions has changed everything.

xo Anna

October Life Update!

Oh hello!

I started this post to share a life update on what's been going on over here in my corner of the world, and it turned into a heart-fuelled vent session! Such is life, haha. 

So I'll start with the updates, and then if you want to get a peek into the inner workings of my mind, you can read on ;)

First of all, October! It's October. One of my favorite months of the year!

Ben and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary!

We had an amazing dinner at a local restaurant, Gather. Highly recommend if you're ever in Lincoln Square!

I finally feel like we've reached adulthood. Being able to go out and completely enjoy a multi-course meal and cocktails at a nice restaurant (without worrying about the cost or calories) is bliss.

And yes, marriage rocks.

We road-tripped down to my hometown in central Illinois to celebrate my 10 year high school reunion. It. was. a. TRIP.

It was also the weekend of our high school homecoming, and I gave my little sister Nicole her first hair straightener as a combo birthday/freshman survival present :)

I've been spending a lot of time outside just soaking in the glorious fall weather and getting back into a running routine.

Running has been really therapeutic for me lately, just a chance to get outside, THINK, and clear my head.

I have gone on a FULL OUT creative bender.

Throwing my business books and hustle to the sidelines to re-connect with my inner feminine energy and creativity, after way too many months and years of ignoring her.

Starting to learn how to live from my values and how I want to FEEL, instead of trying to get shit done 24/7 and feeling inadequate if I don't measure up to random external markers of success.

Basically...breaking up with goals, pressure, expectations, and the idea of "productivity."

SO HARD but so worth it! 

Lots and lots of journaling, candles, and turning my home office/studio/gym into a cozy retreat.

OH! And I'm also working on phasing caffeine out of my daily life. Yeahhhh. It just gives me too much anxiety and makes me feel like shit! Seriously, I feel like as I start to accept my emotionally sensitive nature, I'm becoming more and more physically sensitive too. It's weird but I don't really miss my daily coffee habit! Chai tea, fun herbal blends from David's Tea, and decaf Americanos have been my new BFF's.

On the work front, I have been letting my energy and heart guide me. It feels amazing. I won't spill the beans because I'm in development stages, but stay tuned for more!

So that's the external update!

---

Here's my internal update...

It's been a couple weeks since I dramatically announced I was breaking up with my ego and over-riding my inner critic, fears, and doubts.

And since then, well, I've been going through a particularly INTENSE phase of growing, expanding, seeking, and reconnecting with my creativity.

I haven't been blogging but I HAVE been writing. Journaling and brain dumping and purging my heart onto Word documents and Google Docs and the pages of my notebook. It's like there's this spirit inside of me that's desperate to get out, and I can barely keep up with it. When I can't keep up with it, or when I ignore it because it's uncomfortable, or when I distract and numb myself with "busy work," it makes me feel physically sick and anxious.

I know the spirit is me, my soul connected to God, this inner wisdom, and it's REALLY weird and  freaky. I'm here to share a message, and I know deep down what that message is, but I"m still struggling to fully embody it myself.

You are enough. You are creative. You are meant to be happy and share love with other people. You are a leader. You are worthy of all your desires and dreams. Step up and rise.

It's like I am in the process of giving birth to something that's huge and beautiful and I don't really know what it is yet, but I'm learning to be ok with living in the uncertainty and the process.

I'd be more scared, except I've been inundated with signs and coincidences and teachers who seem to appear in my life out of nowhere and support my discoveries and breakthroughs.

One of these teachers is Elizabeth Gilbert. I've been reading her new book, Big Magic, and she's teaching me that it's ok to be creative. It's ok to live with fear. It's ok to feel like there's this restless, burning OBSESSION that wakes me up at 5:30 am, keeps me constantly feeling on edge, and drives me to be constantly seeking and exploring and experimenting. That obsession is simply inspiration.

I've been dealing with days of intense joy and calm and purpose, alternating with days of anxiety and fear. The closer I get to who I'm meant to be...the louder my fears and insecurities start screaming at me.

The more you feel like breaking down, the closer you are to a breakTHROUGH.

Anxiety, for me, is misplaced creative energy. When I finally buckle down to write, or create, or get into the flow, the anxiety goes away. I'm still trying to figure out if all this restless energy is a good thing... or if it's a clinical disorder... 

I don't know. This year has been intense in general. I was just telling Ben how I feel like I'm going through some massive awakening right now, and he was just like, "aren't you always?"

Yeahhh. It's been over a year and a half since I started feeling this nagging aching stirring deep in my heart and gut. I guess it had been there for even longer, but I had chosen to ignore it until finally it got so loud and uncomfortable I was forced to take action.

Question the path I was on, launch a coaching business, learn how to follow my heart, quit my job, learn and grow and expand and explore and ultimately it's just been a big, long, hard process of coming home to myself.

Self discovery.

I'm slowly getting used to the idea that I'm not who I thought I was. I am so much bigger than that.

I am here on earth to be creative and joyful and share that light with others.

The Anna I completely lost touch with as I spent age 14 to age 27 convinced I needed to pursue a career in science.

The thing about science is that it's so freaking linear and competitive, and it kind of squashes out any room for creativity.

But science = jobs, and creativity = struggling. Right? WRONG.

There was a point along the way when I realized that I would rather hike in the mountains simply for the sheer joy of immersing myself in nature, instead of trying to scientifically name each flower and collect data and turn it all into a rigorous and dry scientific publication. But I couldn't accept that.

My whole adult life I've been living under this idea that I need to BE someone, and DO something with my life. Get a job. Have an easily understandable job description.

When really, all I need to do is be myself.

But who is she? THAT my friend, is what I'm figuring out.

I am in the long, extended, lifelong process of breaking up with the old me, the scientist, the achiever, the perfectionist. And coming back home to the imaginative, creative, visionary leader.

Learning how to relax and trust the process, instead of striving towards goals and achievements.

Learning to accept that I am already enough.

And helping other women crack open their hearts to accept the possibility that THEY are already enough too.

Whew! Yup, so many ideas and feels swirling around. I'm sure they'll make their way onto the blog when the time is right. Thanks for reading and following along :)

xo Anna