Happy Monday, friends! It is a gorgeous day here…hope it is where you are, too!
I am giving myself full permission to not worry about work today and just relax, in honor of my 23rd birthday. Tonight, I plan on ordering in some Thai food, drinking some wine, opening my gifts, and gchatting/ video chatting with Dan and some of my friends. Lovely.
I’ll be recapping my weekend tomorrow, but in the meantime, enjoy this recipe, yoga, and giveaway winners list!
Smart Food
I know, the bride isn’t supposed to cook for the shower. But, I have had this recipe idea floating around in my head, and wanted to give it a try, so I made one dish for my bridal shower. I present to you…
POMmerific Scones
2 T baking powder
1/2 c brown sugar
1/3 c turbinado sugar
2 1/2 c flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
2/3 c. pomegranate arils
1/3 c. canola oil
1/2 c POM juice (thank you, POM, for the samples after Fitbloggin’!)
1/2 c milk, or milk substitute
Preheat oven to 400F.
In a large mixing bowl, stir the first five ingredients (through sea salt). Add the pomegranate arils (I used frozen, defrosted arils), and mix.
Stir in the oil until it is all absorbed by the dry ingredients. Repeat with the juice. Stir in the milk until there are no loose dry ingredients left in the bowl. Once all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the dough, stop mixing…you don’t want to overdo it!
Divide the dough into two parts. Put one part onto a greased pan, patting with your hands to create a circle about 1/2″-thick. Slice into 6 wedges, separating them slightly so that the edges will cook.
Bake for 15-18 minutes. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Allow to cool.
Frost, if desired. To make the icing, I beat 2 T of POM juice into powdered sugar until it got to the consistency I wanted. I poured it over the scones and allowed it to set into a pink, sugary layer of delicious-ness.
My first attempt at these scones failed, so I was a bit rushed when I made the batch for the shower. Unfortunately, in my rush to get to the party, I forgot to take a picture of the final product. But I promise they tasted good. 
Side note: These are definitely sweeter than my Chai Tea scones or Chocolate Cherry Sea Salt Scones. If you don’t like them sweet, decrease the brown sugar a bit!
Smart Fitness
When Tina and Kate sent out a call for bloggers to participate in the Yoga Pose May challenge, I immediately offered to join. As you know, I’ve been getting back into yoga lately, so it was perfect timing!
Funny enough, I was assigned to do my pose today. So naturally, I did some birthday yoga last night!
Warrior III (Virabhadrasana III)
[Source]
I love the warrior poses. So still, peaceful, and strong.
Some key tips I have picked up over the course of my yoga classes:
Keep your hips as parallel to the floor as possible. Oftentimes, the hip of the supporting leg is much lower than the other side.
Imagine that someone is pulling your hands forward, and that someone else is pulling your extended leg back with the same amount of force.
If it is too difficult to balance with your arms extended forward like this, there are a few variations you can try. Try extending your arms out to the side into a “T” shape, stretching them backwards along your torso, or use a chair to help you balance!
Stretching your arms backwards also works if you are like me, and have a tight space to work in…
Smart Life
And now, the winners of the birthday giveaways!
The winner of the Aurorae yoga giveaway is… Anna S!
The winner of the Thriv t-shirt is… Kristie from Cook Eat Burn!
The winner of the Golden Moon Coconut Pouchong tea is… Mary Z
Congratulations to all of the winners. Please e-mail me your shipping info, and we’ll get you your prizes!!
What is your favorite yoga pose?
I do love the warrior poses, but my absolute favorite is probably Pigeon. It is SUCH a good stretch!
Happy birthday!
Your scones look so yummy. Enjoy the day!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABYGIRL!!!!! You are an amazing, kind, beautiful person, and I’m so happy/proud to call you my friend
Happy Birthday!! I’ve only done yoga 2-3 times, but I love moves that stretch out my hips. Feels soooooo good!
Those scones look great! Happy birthday.
Happy birthday! Enjoy just the day
Happy Birthday! Warrior three is so difficult for me to do, I always end up toppling over before I can hold it long enough. Definitely need to work on my balance! Enjoy your day.
Hooray for bday yoga! I love Warrior III, it requires a lot of concentration from me. Hope you have a fabulous day & those scones look divine!
Happy Birthday!
I haven’t tried the warrior pose but it looks like a nice challenge!
Happy Birthday!
I love Crow now that I can finally do it without falling over
Nice! I haven’t quite gotten there yet….
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! May is the best month for birthdays
my fav yoga pose changes frequently but I think it is currently frog. i went thru a tree phase for a long time too.
Happy Birthday! Although I am sad I did not win that beautiful yoga mat, I must agree with you that pigeon pose is my absolute favorite. I love how it opens my hips and allows me to rest my head simultaneously. I find it centering and relaxing!
I hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Happy Birthday Julie!!!! Hope your day and night are wonderful!
Happy birthday! Those scones look really good — I love pomegranate! — but our stores stopped carrying pomegranates back in December, I think.
Anyway, I found you because today was my dad for yoga pose May, too
Yay Yoga Pose May!
We haven’t had pomegranates for awhile either, but I froze a bunch of arils back in November.
Happy Birthday to us!!!! Those scones look amazingggggggggg. I hope to get into yoga this summer, so I’ll def be reading your posts
I never would have thought of pomegranate scones. &&& HAPPY B.DAY!
Yeah yeah happy birthday!
Happy 23rd birthday Julie!! I can’t wait to see what you ended up order from the Thai place. I absolutely love Thai food so I think it’s the perfect b-day cuisine. Good minds think alike.
My favorite yoga poses are Tree and Eagle!
I settled on Masaman curry and Tom Kha soup…yum!!
Oh my, those scones look amazing! I can’t wait to try them
Great yoga tips for the warrior III– and I have to agree with you and say my fav pose is pigeon– I think it feels amazing!
OMFG! Those scones sound delish! I’m definitely going to have to make them.
Happy birthday and great job with the yoga. My day for the challenge is quickly coming up (so I guess I should start practicing).
Which pose /day do you have?
I love the warrior poses too. I have a hard time balancing in Warrior 3, but I continue to practice and will conquer!
That’s the right attitude!
Wow, that is a tight space for yoga!
Thanks for sharing, I like that you included variations for this pose.
It is! That’s not usually the space I use, but it was the only way I could set up the tripod to get a picture. Secret: after the picture, I moved my mat so I’d have more room.
Love the modification for limited space. I think it’s fantastic that you cooked something for your own bridal shower.