Okay, here goes: My name is Jenn, and I’m an unhealthy snacker. There… I said it. That’s the first step towards recovery, right? We’re a few weeks into the new year now, and I’m realizing that my “healthier eating” resolution has been a tad (okay more like completely) non-existent. How about you? The problem on this end of the computer: it hasn’t been a priority because there’s so much going on and an endless to-do-list that I’m always distracted with… but does that ever really change?

When I say “healthier eating” is the goal – don’t get me wrong: I love enjoying food and have no intentions of becoming a walking calorie and sodium calculator deprived of all the culinary world has to offer. BUT, I could use some serious help in the “everyday” eating department and am thinking it’s time to actually kick things into gear… Here’s the situation:

My approach to snacking right now is almost 100% “convenience” based, paired with an insane sweet tooth which often threatens a sugar-induced coma. Looking back on the past week, for example, I realized that my between-meal snacks have consisted of what has added up to a box of See’s Candies Nuts & Chews, a bag of conversation hearts (yes… Valentine candy already…eek!), tons of Hershey’s Kisses leftover from the holidays (we wouldn’t want those to go to waste, right?), and a Fiber One bar thrown in for good measure now and then (oats-and-chocolate flavored of course in case the word “fiber” threw you off).

Ugh. After reading this back to myself, I think the only thing keeping me from massive sugar crashes is all the Diet Coke and Lo-Carb Monsters. Thanks, caffeine? (Question mark intended.)

The one thing I HAVE always been able to make a priority is this blog, so I’m thinking that if I address the issue here, I might be a tad more accountable or even get some great tips from you guys… and maybe we can inspire each other along the way. So if you have any suggestions for quick, easy & healthy snack ideas – emphasis on the easy (grab-n-go is important here) – I’d love to hear them!

Pictured below are 5 snack ideas I think I can swing, but I’d love to expand the list with your suggestions…

1. Hummus with Pre-Cut Veggies or Baked Pita Chips
I seriously envy those people that adore vegetables and reach for the naturally. I am so, so very far away from that place… but I do love a good roasted red pepper hummus dip, so maybe that will do the trick!

2. Campbell’s Soup at Hand

Only 80 – 150 calories, lots of different flavors to choose from, doesn’t require refrigeration, and you can just pop them in the microwave then sip as-is… perfect! Soup always fills me up too… added bonus.

3. Apples & Reduced-Fat Peanut Butter – I do love this simple duo… and we all know what they say about an apple a day… Are there any other easy, healthy dips that pair nicely with apples?

4. Fiber One Bars (sweet tooth satisfaction + fiber + convenience = good news)

5. Turkey & Cheese Roll-Ups – simple, quick, and protein=good

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So those are some ideas to kick things off – what are YOUR favorite healthy snacks?

Jen B. has 4 more tables (along with style steal tips) to share in her Dining by Design event recap, but this next one was so great that I couldn’t resist featuring it all on it’s own…with LOTS of pics!

Here are the details, as told by Jen:

This “Modern Tablescape” design by Jennifer Dyer of Design & Style is my absolute favorite from the event! I wish it was my dining room… everything from the “Hollywood Dazzle” wallpaper, suspended blown glass spheres chandelier, banquette sofa, white patent pillows with scorpion accents, and sparkly black, silver & white color palette, was pure perfection!

The skull accents on the plates and placecard holders added some edginess to the overall design. (These particular skull accents are fabulous but pricey… around Halloween you can usually find less expensive options – especially right now when most skull & Halloween merchandise is on clearance!)

Style-Steal Tips:
This design could be easily interpreted for a chic black & white holiday dinner party (sans the skull place card holders!), engagement party, or wedding. Use affordable silver chargers, black plates and wine goblets, silver chargers and several small glass vases lined with ti leaves and filled with pure white flowers like hydrangea and calla lilies.

Cheers,
Jenn

Check out these gorgeous signature dessert buffets by Amy Atlas Events. I’m swooning over every single image in her ultra-yummy portfolio! This is fabulous inspiration for re-creating your own dessert buffets at home. {Notice how the monochromatic serveware makes the treats really pop!)

Pictured above: chic pink & brown buffet…yes, I do believe those are lollipop leaves!

Also loving this striking black and yellow design, which would be a perfect fit for this particular party inspiration board…

This colorful & chic take on the traditional candy buffet would be perfect for a grown-up Candyland soirée…

Fun idea for cupcake presentation…

{via Oh Happy Day}

If you’ve been here before, you might notice that a few things have changed… (if it still looks the same, try refreshing the page). We’ve been hard working on the new template for a while now…and hope that you like what you see! Here’s a list of the 10 main changes:

1. in the spotlight – new section at top where favorite articles, blog posts, and other features from throughout the entire hwtm site will be highlighted and changed weekly.

2. popular posts – new sidebar section where the most visited posts from the past month are highlighted for quick reference

3. recent comments – new sidebar section where the most current chatter appears

4. archive/search results thumbnails – little pics on post listing pages to make your searches easier. See an example now. (this applies to recent posts & future ones…might be difficult to go back and upload thumbnails for all previous 876 posts though…!)

5. categories – new hide/expand functionality so you have more categories at your finger tips, but without taking up too much space. (expand function currently being updated – should be live soon)

6. archives – new hide/expand functionality for easy reference

7. hwtm around the web – quick links to other places you can regularly find hwtm content (flickr just now getting going – more to come soon).

8. entertaining ideas archives – we’ve had tips to great articles around the web & blogosphere before (formerly known as “fab reads”), but they’ve always disappeared as new ones rotate in. From here on out, the featured articles will go to an “archives” page so that you can always access them. We’ll try to get some of the old ones back up over the next week as well.

9. good stuff – a place to highlight miscellaneous fun stuff – news, real parties, cool products, etc.

10. updated blogroll/friends – with click to expand functionality to make it easier to focus on what you’re looking for (more currently being added)

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And special thanks to the sponsors that make it possible to keep the blog going: you now get both images and text links    (see left sidebar).

Here’s a little sneak peek at the new “HWTM Collection” of modern digital scrapbooking templates that’s coming very soon to HowFastTheyGrow.com. Our first official HWTM-branded product…yay!

There are 81 different template designs in the collection that fall into 3 different categories – Mod Squad (Boy), Metro Sorbet (Girl), and Mostess Days (holidays & everyday celebrations).  The examples pictured above and below are all from Mostess Days…hope you like them! More info come soon…

Laurie at Tip Junkie interviewed me for this week’s Talk to Me Tuesday segment on her creative, tip-driven blog. The interview is focused more on blogging than entertaining, but it was fun to discuss the business side of things this time…thanks for the feature, Laurie!

The Candyland party we helped create for Max Sutter this past Saturday will be featured on Extra tonight! {click here to view online} …and also in this week’s issue of Life&Style magazine. HWTM gets a little shoutout in both… we’re super excited! And thank you so much to everyone for all the nice comments and emails!

{click image to view larger}

P.S. The cute & colorful soft toys from the party were from IKEA and ranged from only $3.99 for the small ones to $9.99 for the giant ones. They are so adorable in person… I definitely recommended them for affordable kids party decorations – or even a fun baby shower!

Anyway, I plan to take lots of pictures of the candyland theme to share with you and will try to get a little preview up tonight or tomorrow if I have Internet access. Okay… I think I’ve reached my max of one-finger blogging now Be in touch soon!