Last week, I went to the mall with my mother-in-law and was totally surprised to see holiday decorations everywhere and Christmas music playing in every store. In Uptown Charlotte, wreaths are adorning all the street lights and people are taking horse-drawn carriage rides everywhere. Ready or not, the holidays are on their way, and even in my own home, I have a stack of gorgeous cards from Minted to prove it.

I was super excited about our holiday cards this year for several reasons: wedding photos, a new last name, and last but certainly not least, dreamy rose gold foil. Once I had designed our cards, I decided to take advantage of The Minted Envelope, which prints your recipients' addresses in one of many gorgeous designs. It took a fraction of the time it would for me to hand-write them, and now my envelopes are ready and totally professional-looking. I think Regina Spektor is going to be really impressed when she gets hers.

I am such a fan of Minted and I love using them for everything--our wedding invitations, personalized stationary, art prints as gifts--but my favorite thing has to be their holiday cards. I look forward to seeing, choosing, and sending them every year.

This post is brought to you in partnership with Minted. This year, we're sending out the New Adventures Foil-Pressed Holiday Cards in Rose Gold. Save 10% on your order and get free shipping until November 17th with the code FRECKLED10FS.

On the morning of my wedding day, some of my best friends and I got up early and met our old cross country coach for the Market Run. It's a little three mile loop around downtown Roanoke that we always ran the last practice before a race, and it's the run that my friends and I do whenever we meet up at home to run during the holidays, so I couldn't imagine starting the day I got married any other way.

I'm so excited to be working with Mizuno again this year for their launch of the Wave Rider 18. Like I said last year, the Wave Rider was always a popular shoe among my high school cross country team. We were best friends (still are) and we did everything together--with matching shirts and hair ribbons and shoes for everything. I'm pretty good at turning everything into an overly-sentimental memory, but there's just nothing like a new pair of running shoes.

The Mizuno Wave Rider 18 is sleek and light with just enough support. It's a neutral shoe that's perfectly balanced, which makes it a great for daily running. And the black and turquoise color combination that I got is just super cool-looking.

November is going to be a big running month for me, so I'm really excited about starting it off on the right foot (and with the right shoes)!

This post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC. As always, I thank you for your support as I continue to work with brands like Mizuno.

I love sitting down to a big, hot breakfast of eggs and bacon, but on hectic mornings during the week, I much prefer a quick smoothie. I use a variety of frozen fruit and always include some spinach, a banana, and a spoonful of coconut oil.

The other day I read a brochure sent to me by Canada Maple Syrup that included a smoothie recipe similar to the one I use every day, but with a bit of pure maple syrup. Intriguing! As you may know, Canadian maple syrup is 100% natural and a great (Paleo-friendly!) alternative to sugar. I had never thought about it before, but since Canadian maple syrup is a pure and all natural source of carbohydrates, it would make a great addition to your next post-workout snack. I gave their recipe a try, subbing a few ingredients to make my recipe Paleo. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 large banana
• 1/4 cup Canadian maple syrup
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• several handfuls of fresh spinach

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender (I usually do the banana and spinach before anything frozen goes in).
2. Blend (I use the puree setting on my blender) until all ingredients are well-incorporated. Pour into glasses and enjoy!

This post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC.