New Fave Finds

I usually don't really change up my beauty routine.  I'm a Clean and Clear girl when it comes to my face wash and I've been using it for as long as I can remember.  I've never been a big face routine type of person but as I have rounded into my mid-to-late 20's (eek!) I thought maybe I would try to outrun mother nature and look at an anti-wrinkle type lotion.  There are a million and one different products out there of course but figured that I would give this one a try.

I have really liked the few Philosophy products that I have tried in the past and this one had rave reviews...and let me say they are well worth it!  It's a super easy to use system which consists of 3 parts.  Retinoid solution that is used at night, a moisturizing lotion to be used morning and night and eye cream to be used morning and night.  

Within the first week I will say that I have 100% seen my skin become smoother and more moisturized.  I haven't been using the moisturizer day and night mainly because I tend to get a little oily but the eye cream for sure is an AM/PM for me.  I would highly suggest this to anyone!

My next new find that I love is Baby Lips by Maybelline! 

It's a clinical strength moisturizing lip glass in clear or colored options.  Perfect for the winter weather and come on how cute is the packaging?!

How fun are these?

How fun are these? Rene read about them on a little Disney blog on Friday of last week, so clearly I needed to buy them!

The Steelers one is clearly the cuter of the two!  I can't wait for them to arrive.

Yoga does wonders!

I know that people say all of the time that yoga is good for your body and mind.  While I love yoga I've never actually done weeks at a time consecutively...I can honestly say now as I come to the end of the first week of the APY60 program that I really am a believer!!

I feel so much more relaxed after an awful day, I feel like I am getting stronger, breathing deeper and letting things go much easier than normal.  That's not to say that I don't get stressed--yesterday was a crazy day!  But doing the yoga when I got home last night really helped me reflex and clear my mind.

Add to that I feel like drinking 100oz of water or at least 75oz a day my skin looks brighter and I just feel healthier.  I can't wait to start week number 2 of the program!  I've become a true believer in just one week of what daily yoga practice can do!  Maybe I should add becoming a certified yoga instructor to my bucket list...just kidding!

APY60 Day 3

I'll admit this morning it was really hard to get out of bed.  I'm not sure why, even my Fitbit said that I slept better last night than the night before (98% efficiency only woke up 5 times).  So this morning I have to admit that I didn't do the full morning blend of stretches.  I know day 3 and already slacking!  I did about half of the stretches from memory to get the blood pumping...a small setback!

Breakfast this morning I had a healthy porridge from the little recipe book that came along with the DVDs...Yum!

The "porridge" is actually a whole apple and 4 strawberries just quickly blended to a porridge like consistency with a little almond milk (unsweetened) and a dash of cinnamon.  I threw it in the microwave for about 45 seconds (could have heated it up a little more) and then topped with raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, pecans and a little chia seeds for some protein.

It was quick and simple and got me moving and heading out the door for work.

Tonight more power yoga and a tasty smoothie since Rene is working late before I hit the gym for some cardio....Happy Tuesday!

Chinese New Year

Did you realize that yesterday was the Chinese New Year?

  I was wearing red for good luck, were you?

One of my colleagues families celebrate the Chinese New Year, so she and I checked out what my horoscope had in store.

I was born in the year of the rat..."Chinese horoscope 2012 predicts that people born in rat year will be energetic and demonstrate high endurance and withstand in the adverse circumstances. However, all the rats are prone to stress and full of stress sometimes due to illogical reasons"--I guess we will see what the new year brings!

FitBit Sleep Tracker-Day 2 APY60

So apparently even though I feel like I wake up a million and one times at night it's not that much!  Per the FitBit I actually only woke up 6 times last night, and had a 97% sleep efficiency...who knew! 

Now today will be the first day of tracking all of my steps--the goal that you should strive toward to 10,000 per day!  I'm going to go ahead and say with sitting at a desk for 9+ hours a day that's going to be hard but we shall see.

Day 2 of APY60 going well!  Rene even got up and did the morning blend of stretches with me.  Now it's off to start the day!

Challenges today...

• No sugar
• No judgment - try not to label things good or bad but just accept them as they are
• 100 oz of water
• Daily Yoga Class

APY60 Day1

Last week my APY60 finally arrived. Today I started the program...60 day to a healthier me! 

Each day starts out with about 10 minutes of stretching and warming up your muscles to get you started for the day.  After which I had a veggies & eggs for breakfast.  The program doesn't give you a full meal plan but does give you some ideas and changes out and challenges you to eliminate things from your diet. 

I am really looking forward to how it works!

Here are the key things that I was to do today!

• Eat breakfast 1 hour after waking up
• No eating 3 hours before bed
• Daily morning stretches
• Clean out the pantry (get rid of the processed stuff! ) - we didn't have any of the "no" foods! Yay for us!
• Today's elimination challenge: Refined sugar - super easy since we don't eat it really anyhow.
• The goal is to drink 100 oz of water- I'm at at 30 right now at 2pm...I've got a bit more to drink before the end of the day.
• Blue Dots
• Daily Yoga

The program also came with some little blue stickers that you are to put around your home and office.  These are to remind you to breathe deep, and soon the goal is to associate blue with breathing deep, simple enough right?

And of course this evening (after Rene finishes watching the Pats game) I have a 60 minute power yoga video to work through. 

I also plan on keeping up at least 30 minutes of additional cardio each day.

Let's see how things shape up over the next 30 days!

I also got a new little gaget today - called the Fitbit!

 It's about the size of a flash drive and it keeps track of how far you walk, time of inactivity, stairs climbed, and the main reason I got it - it tracks your sleep!  I feel like 9 out of 10 days I wake up a million and one times so I plan to use this to figure out when I sleep the best (ie no TV 1 hour before bed) and when I sleep worst (ie after we've been drinking). 

Here's to a healthy 2012! And knocking one of my goals off the new years list --1 day down 59 to go!

First week at 27

Well I've just about lived through the full first week of 27...yep I feel old!  Anyhow I figured I would give a quick recap of the birthday festivities...what can I say Rene and I are pretty boring...no big blow out parties for us...

The birthday weekend started out pretty good though, Thursday I got home and opened the mail and found a card from mom and dad waiting in the mailbox.  Plus a Seen It-Twilight for the Wii...yes Rene is super excited to play that, and a Starbucks gift card -- YUM!  You can bet I stopped for a Venti Latte on my way to work Friday morning!

Friday I also go these beauties delivered to my office!

 

The white arrangement was from my team of recruiters and the roses (though the picture cut them off) were from Rene of course!

Saturday we did a bit of errand running and stopped by Sprinkles to pick up some birthday treats!  I love the cupcakes from Sprinkles and have a new fave for the month of January--S'mores!

We even made some birthday cake cocktails while we watched some of our backlogged DVR TV shows....

You must try these yum!

2 parts whipped cream vodka

1/2 part amaretto

1/2 part cream(or milk)

1 part godiva white chocolate liqueur

While I would like to say the night was nice and quiet one of my recruiters decided that 27 wasn't too old to take shots for your birthday-- so arrived at my apartment with another recruiter from my office with a bottle of Goldschläger in hand and decided shots were needed.  It was all in all a pretty quiet night, though Rene was feeling a little "under the weather" Sunday morning.

But wait the celebration wasn't over just yet....

Monday morning (after having to move my cubical due to us expanding) I arrived to this....

Lots of decorations from my recruiters...they know me so well (notice the Disney theme?).

All in all it was a pretty good birthday this year, lets hope that 27 has some good things to come!

MIA.....Again

OK I feel like this post comes up at least once every couple of months, yes I've been MIA!

The semester started this week and I'm feeling a bit behind already (yes it's only 3 days in) but I swapped classes because the professor did not sound like she really wanted to be teaching...and let's face it my last 2 classes I don't want a professor who is awful!

I've been bogged down with work stuff and trying to get ready for the semester so sooner rather than later I will be back and posting on a regular basis.

This semester is actually broken up into 2 mini-mesters...I have 2 classes to finish but they will only run 8 weeks each...lots of reading and lots of writing coming my way!  Graduate is in sight!

I promise this weekend I'll post a little birthday celebration update and updates of life in general...the days just seem to be running together right now!

Having the hard conversations

No matter where you are in your life, there are certain conversations that are always harder than others.  The conversations that people steer away from...some of the conversations we have with ourselves, others are with friends or family, co-workers or our bosses.

Today was the day that I had to have one of those hard conversations with my boss.  Today was my annual review at work.  It's been a hard year for me (2011), I didn't hit the work related goals that I had set for myself and overall it was my third straight year of rebuilding my line of business.

After almost a 3 hour conversation I've gotten a lot off my chest and I'm hoping that now I can officially put 2011 behind me and hit 2012 full force.

My thought of the day is that no matter how hard that conversation is to have--have it sooner rather than later, you may not get the exact outcome that you want but at least you've put your thoughts, feelings and concerns out there...

Return of Green Juice

I switched things up a little bit today after having a bit of smoothie overload to a green juice mixture to start off the morning on the right foot!

Ginger

3 small handfuls of spinach

2 granny smith apples

fresh pineapple

This is I think my fave mix of the greens (lots of spinach but you can't taste it) and it was the perfect way to start off my Wednesday.  Rene of course has to be the over achiever and head to the gym in the early morning while I grabbed an extra 30 minutes of sleep or at least rolling around trying to sleep.  Here's hoping today shapes up to be better than that last 2 days--I'm staying positive!

Happy Wednesday!  

No good very bad day...

Here's hoping that yesterday was not a taste of what's to come this week! As you can tell from this post title yesterday was pretty much the worst!

Not only did I wake of a cold and rainy weather, but a stack of things on my desk that pretty much have nothing to do with me, a doctor who was irate all weekend was blowing up my desk phone the moment I got into the office, and add to that I have to come up with a buisness plan by Wednesday at 3pm which was dropped on me yesterday morning as well....not the best start to the week.

Add to that by the time I got out of the office I was mentally drained and had no desire to do anything, couldn't go to the gym and accepted the fact that I was going to end up breaking my rule (that I had been doing quite well with) of not eating after 7pm.

Rene on the other hand has been quite motivated jumping out of bed and running in the morning this week *he's a morning person to the fullest* I was going to try to get myself up and do yoga at the very least but that didn't happen yesterday or today because I was exhausted....

This birthday week clearly isn't shaping up as I would have liked it to-lets just hope that today turns around a bit.  Regardless of what time I get out of the office today I will be going to the gym and following it up with some yoga---we'll just call yesterday's no workout a small slip up in the routine.

Here's hoping you have a great Tuesday!

One week down!

We're officially into the 2nd week of January and I'm already onto book #3 of 52 for the year!  

It's a good thing I'm a tiny bit ahead of my 1 book per week this year goal too because with my first 8 weeks of the semester coming up soon it looks like lots of work--a 75 page case analysis does not sound fun at all!

Reading Now.....

Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel

 

Finished books thus far....

Alibi in High Heels

Undercover in High Heels

Break in the Detox

Friday & Saturday morning I allowed myself to take a small break from my detox of veggies and changed things up breakfast.  I skipped the hot detox tea (though I will more than likly drink it midday today) and had a fruit smoothie instead.  

I still kept with the detox salad for lunch on Friday but splurged and got a buffalo chicken wrap and sweet potato fries at the little cafe last night before we went grocery shopping (everything in moderation).

This morning I whipped up a nice blueberry, raspberry and peach smoothie to start the day but plan on getting back to my green juice and some detox tea a little later in the day and of course a healthy dinner.

Rene and I both noticed that we don't feel hungry or full really throughout the day and also that my stomach -- which occasionally gets upset very easily (sometimes because of dairy sometimes just randomly throughout the day) hasn't been acting up at all this week with the swap in what I've been eating...which is somewhat leading me to wonder if what a couple of friends have said before is true and I may have a bit of an allergy to gluten (it hasn't been in my diet really since the pizza bites).....nothing life or death related but I'm feeling good and healthy and that's what I was going for!

Of course it doesn't hurt that I may have gained between 5-6 pounds of holiday goodness which has since disappeared thanks to us getting back into our "normal routine"...

Next week I'll be alternating juices and smoothies for breakfast and also some fresh hummus and crudites with miso soup for lunches to start getting a bit more protein into my diet since this week it was pretty minimal.

Out with Old...

So remember a little less than a year ago when I added this little kitchen accessory to the apartment?

Well lets just say that Rene is yet again proving he is absolutely amazing!  And this will be donated to my office kitchen and has been replaced by a far superior version!

Rene saw my post about his "great present" he had for me and gave me a nicely wrapped big box a week early for my birthday! *he's a keeper for sure*

What was inside?

The best blender/mixer/puree machine out there!

He got me a Vitamix!

OK so yes "technically" it's a blender and maybe you think I am far to overly excited...however this thing does it all!  It can take whole fruit and make it into juice, make a nice salsa, puree a soup or sauce, and even knead dough quick and easy. 

I mean it's one of the quintessential tools for Iron Chef America, need say more? Rene did a WONDERFUL job on my gift it is way more than I would have ever expected!  Yes, we spurge on gifts for each other every now and then but we typically stick to pretty small birthday gifts.

He knew I was thinking of spending my bonus from work or whatever tax return I had left after paying bills to look into getting one but beat me to the punch.  

The downfall is now is that I want to go out and buy everything in the store I can imagine to make soups, sauces, and smoothies! I can't wait to break it in this weekend!

Happy early birthday to me and a big thank you to this guy! Love you!

Carb Loading

Don't get me wrong I know that eating healthy is a big part of staying healthy, and processed sugars and starches typically don't do much for my waistline but what can I say I have a weakness over carbs!  In particular pizza or anything pizza-like and pasta (hence Rene's purchase of the past maker for me).

As I go into Day 4 of my detox I figured it was time to reminise about my tasty treats from last weekend.  Mainly the carb loaded delights that we aren't eating right now...First up! Fresh pasta and homemade marinara.  Don't get me wrong I am no  Italian so I make the sauce the way Rene and I like it!

The necessary ingredients, oregano, basil, garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce...

 And then cook low all afternoon.

 Then the pasta dough-2 cups of flour 3 eggs-pretty simple!

 Refrigerate and then roll and cut and allow to dry!

I will say the first batch was pretty good but next time I will have to make the pasta bit thinner.  For those of you who have never worked with fresh pasta when cooked it expands to about 3 times it's natural thickness...so while it wasn't quite right I'll be working on it for the future.

Then we made pizza pull apart bread - Rene even helped out!

 It only takes 5 ingredients! 

Premade pizza crust

Mozzarella cheese cut into little cubes

Garlic (we bought the pre-minced)

Pepperoni 

*optional marinara or ranch for dipping

Roll out small balls of the crust and flatten into a disk

 Next place a pepperoni in the center (folded works best)

 Add cheese

 Roll and secure

 Repeat and then place in a bunt pan and brush with melted garlic butter.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.  

We learned a couple of lessons from our first try.  As you can see this isn't the ideal turn out.  First we need to press the little pizza bites together more so that they hold a firm shape when removed from the pan.  Second my pan was new and therefore super non-stick and the shape kind of flopped onto the plate and didn't look too pretty and third our oven here at the apartment is awful and it got a little extra crispy.

Nonetheless, it was amazing and we will be making this again for a non-healthy day for sure!

Are you hungry now?

What I'm Loving

It's Wednesday and better late than never....so without further adieu what am I loving today?

.... that the weather in Dallas looks like it's going to be in the 70's later this week!

....that there are only 10 more days til my Birthday and Rene say's he's got a great present for me.

....I'm almost done with my recruiter evaluations for the past year (5 is alot!)
...the gym wasn't crazy packed again today which was nice and stress free

Benefits of the Green Juice From Yesterday

I almost forgot to break down the benefits of yesterday's green juice mix!

Pretty much anything leafy and green = good for you so you can't really go wrong with any of the ingredents.

Aside from the applies which I mentioned in the red juice here's what was packed into yesterday's drink of choice!

Kale:

• Packed with Lutein which is said to be good for your skin, eyes, 
• May even help prevent damage caused by UV rays along with being packed with nutrients.
• Lots of Vitamin K, A and C

Spinach:

• Vitamin K and A
• Manganese = bone health which is always important especially for women
• Folate, Iron and Calcium in large quantities -- much more easily absorbed into your system this way than in a multivitamin

Cucumbers:

• Improves the look and feel of your skin
• Due to silicone and sulfur content it helps with hair growth - and who doesn't want nice long hair?
• High water level to help keep you hydrated

Celery:

• Another item which is packed with Vitamin C, A, and Calcium

Detox Day 2 Part II

Finished with day 2--not sure if I'm feeling "detoxified" but I am definatly not feeling stuffed after dinner or "blah" mid-way through the day (even without my 3 cups of coffee) so that's a start right?!

Lunch was a nice little mix of veggies (califlower, broccoli, shredded carrots) mixed with sunflower seeds, golden raisins, and currants topped off with just a squeeze of lemon juice--it's really good!

Whole Foods makes a salad similar to this called the Detox Salad and I've had it before and thought, why pay $7.99 a pound I'm sure someone has copied this and listed what all is in it....low and behold Google came through with my answer!

I found the "re-make" of this salad on Oh She Glows though I did take out the parsley (I'm not a huge fan) and also the kelp (because I couldn't find it) and added in some wheat germ and chia seeds for a little extra different texture. The salad is great and crunchy and a little sweet and perfect for mid-day!

And I followed it up with a second glass of my green juice from this morning -- you'd be surprised at the looks you get in the office drinking a green something.

For dinner we went with a simple little stirfry of veggies and quinoa instead of rice (added protein).  The only downfall today was that I know I didn't drink enough water, I only made it one large glass of the way into the cold detox tea (recipe here) and was just bogged down with work throughout the day and kept putting off drinking/refilling my glass.

And believe it or not I was actually able to go to the gym tonight and NOT have to wait in a huge line for a machine--this may be the first time ever that I've gone to the gym after the new year and not seen 500 people wanting to "start the year off right", but this made me think....what does that say for today's world?  Does the resolution of getting into better shape no longer top the list? And if not, what does that say about how our society has changed....something to ponder!

2012 Goals-one more!

Add it to the goals this year!  I want Rene and I to Volunteer more!  

I would really like Rene and I to find some additional events where we can volunteer this year.  In 2011 we volunteered at a district track meet to spread awareness about Breast Cancer with Susan G Komen, and then also with Hearts and Hammers for Dallas with Deloitte.  

I would like to see us double that next year!  Now where we are going to find the time to do this I am not yet sure but it's something to work forward to for sure!  

Detox Day 2

This morning I started off first thing with my hot detox tea (recipe found here).

I followed that up with a scrambled egg white and a nice green juice.

Green Juice Recipe:
1/2 cucumber
2 stalks of celery
small handful of spinach
small handful of kale
ginger
green apple
juice of 1 lemon

This juice is not as sweet as the red juice from yesterday but it has a nice fresh taste to it, and it was a rather refreshing way to start off the day.  The one downfall is that the kale does give a bit of a gritty feel to the juice, I may try just spinach in the future with this green mix.  

Detox Day 1 Part II

Finishing out the first day of my detox I sipped on a second (different) detox tea* mix of  60 Oz distilled water 1 TBS sugar free cranberry juice (not from concentrate)2 dandelion tea bag and 2 TBS lemon juice throughout the day.

 *it tastes like watered down ice tea

More or less it serves as a diuretic that helps detox the body and flush toxins out.  I plan to mix this each day and sip throughout the day.

 Lunch consisted of 2 stalks of celery and a handful of baby carrots and 2 Tablespoons of hummus.  I snacked on a small handful of nuts and raisins and then finished out the day with some steamed broccoli, left over sauerkraut and some banana soft serve from the YoNana.  My soft serve was actually the most satisfying thing I had today and it's only 1.5 bananas!

And of course no day is complete without a trip the the gym and quick 15 minutes worth of yoga to round out the day. 

All in all not a very exciting day of meals, but I know in the end it's worth it to be healthy--plus I for sure got in my full daily suggested servings of fruits and veggies!

Detox Day 1

Today starts the first day of my little detox into the New Year.  So here goes.  There was a lot of liquid to be consumed first thing this morning.  First up a spicy lemonade.

This gained attention a couple of years ago when you had starlets doing a lemonade detox where this is all they would drink to slim down for a big red carpet event.  But in all actuality it does have some good reasoning behind it and any of the juice detox/diets out there (Blueprint Diet and Fresh Juice Delivery) all have a lemonade in them as a piece of their detox.

The reasoning behind it according to The Washington Post is that lemons are rich in bioflavonoids (pigments that act as excellent detoxifying catalysts); cayenne pepper is an anti-inflammatory which work to help detox and purify your body.  Which is why each day I am starting off with a cup of this lemonade before anything else.

Spicy Lemonade
1 cup hot water
juice of one lemon
1/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup (high grade orangic is best)

*I may have added a bit too much of the cayenne (didn't measure just threw some in) but it wasn't completely awful.

Next up my "breakfast" consisted of what I am calling Red Juice #1 (green apple, 2 carrots, beet, small piece of ginger)

Keep in mind the ginger is something you can add as much or as little as you like, a little goes a very long way!

Beets are one of the best things to put in your juicer!  And they add a bit of a sweet kick to the juice.  Here are just a few of the benefits of beet juice:

• Lower cholesterol
• Improved brain health
• Lowers blood pressure
• Helps eliminate toxins from the body (small side effect is that you may feed dizzy because of this)
• Increased endurance for exercise (always a plus!)
• Anticancer vegetable-as with any dark red vegetable/fruit it is packed with antioxidents!

Carrots also add some sweetness and their own benefits:

• High levels of beta-carotene and vitamin A in carrots promote eye health by lubricating the eyes and preserving visual acuity.
• Healthy urinary and digestive tracts are linked to carrot consumption.
• The high mineral content in carrots aids in nourishing the hair, nails and skin. 
• Carrot juice cleanses the liver by ridding it of bile and fat. 
• Potassium content in carrots regulates blood pressure levels.

Green Apple benefits:

• Protect against diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer
• Only 47 calories per serving
• Drinking 100% green apple juice from a juicer allows you to still get all of the benefits of eating the apple.

Ginger benefits:

• Reduces inflamation
• Boosts immune system

Welcome 2012

Today is a bit of a lazy day here at our house.  We got to sleep in, and have been lounging our PJs all day!  Rene's been enjoying some down time playing with his new Nintendo DS games and I've been crafting away.  Here's hoping you are having a nice relaxing and enjoyable start to your 2012 as well!

 Here's Stitch in his very dapper new collar (made by me)...

He's starting off the year on the right foot looking cute as ever!  Though I may be a little biased!  More crafty pics to come later!

On a side note, I postponed the start to my detox one day to tomorrow.  My family always had pork and sauerkraut for New Years day.  And now I've actually gotten Rene to eat it too!  So we couldn't pass up tradition.  

I looked into the reasoning behind the pork and sauerkraut tradition since in Texas and Florida no one seemed to eat it, and I just figured it was a northern thing.  Down south everyone eats black eyed peas for good luck in the New Year.  So I decided to see where the pork and kraut tradition started and why.

In looking around online I found that the tradition goes back to the Pennsylvania Dutch and New Englanders and it is said that eating this on January 1st would bring luck and prosperity to you in the new year!  

It seems the reasoning for the New Years day foods are pretty much the same.  

So are you a black eyed peas person or pork and kraut person to start off your new year?