Thursday, April 26, 2012

fleurs

I saw big beautiful bunches of ranunculus for sale at the Whole Foods yesterday, and I think they are my new favorite. So beautiful. I was especially drawn to the solid peach bouquets.


I mentioned to Fred when I came in the door yesterday - "I go to the grocery store pretty much every day, don't I?" He said, "its quite European of us and I like it" =) Haha. I told him I liked it as well, but I do not like what Whole Foods does to the wallet.

Can we get a little more European around here, and maybe have a fresh market that I can go to daily? You know, for a nice piece of fish, some fresh veggies, and maybe a bunch of flowers? What's that? I live in the suburbs and that's what Whole Foods is for? Right, right.

Well, the local farmers markets should open up this weekend at least - yay!

Monday, April 23, 2012

wonderwoman

This morning when getting dressed, I picked out a red bra and royal blue underwear. I didn't mean to, but I sort of chose lace Underoos. I had to stand in the mirror and make the Wonder Woman pose. It was awesome.

Just in case you were curious...you see what I mean?





Wacoal Bra, Retro Chic Full Figure Underwire Bra

Hanky Panky in Sapphire

Thursday, April 19, 2012

it runs in the family



















This is my dad and my cousin Sylvia on the left (his brother Bill's daughter). Me on the right, of course. I really do look exactly like my dad, don't I? As they said when I was born, just slap a mustache on her, and you've got twins =)

Though men age so much more gracefully then women do (so unfair), I think this bodes well for me at 60+, no?


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

side by side























these pictures are taken about 11 months apart. 11 months that include P90X, P90X2, vegetarianism. beside the fact that those are the same pants. besides the fact that the lighting is different, my hair is different. I'm trying to decide if I look smaller! In reality, there is about a 5-7 lb difference in there. it looks like there could be some inches lost round there. I dunno. My view, it is skewed.

also, the bed looks super inviting. naptime?

outfit 04.18.2012

J Crew, you keep making paisley silk shirts, I'll keep buying them. Forever.


Cardigan: J Crew
Shirt: J Crew
Pants: Victorias Secret
Belt: Talbots
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik
Bracelets: Anthro & Ralph Lauren
Rings: Tiffany and Mall Kiosk

Monday, April 16, 2012

zzz...wow.

have you tried Zuzana's ZWOW workouts?

ZWOW Workouts

I came across workout #12 via Fitnessista, and I gave it a try this morning - ummm, WOW indeed.

Workout #12 is 10 minutes (so innocent! 10 minutes only!)

You do:
10 pistols
20 lowjacks
10 burbees
20 lowjacks.

Repeat as many times as you can in 10 minutes.

Ya'll, I did 2 rounds. TWO. blah. lame. And my pistols didn't exactly get that low.

But then I felt better, because Zuzana only did 3. And she is in ah-mazing shape.

So I'm going to work my way through the first 11 of these workouts - and then there will be more! Awesome.

From what I can tell / have heard, these are really CrossFit type workouts. And we've all heard how hard core CrossFit is. There was a CrossFit gym next to my old apartment in Arlington, and before I knew what it was, I would often remark on the people running in and out of the door and around the block toting kettle bells. What ARE they DOING! they are getting in crazy shape, that's what.

I now have a HUGE arsenal of workouts, so I have the variety I crave. It is good.

update

Hi! Happy Monday! It's HOT outside =) Yay.

So, I've been following a Paleo diet for 12 days now - thought it was time for an update.

I've gotten into the habit of  making myself lunch every day - well, breakfast lunch and snacks, actually. For breakfast, I make:

1 apple, with Justin's almond butter and raisins
1 big-ass decaf coffee
Coconut milk hazelnut creamer (love!)

I also take to work with me:
A bit of dark chocolate - chips or a square or two
Grapes
2 scrambled eggs - or - a bit of leftovers from the night before.

This is PLENTY to get me through work, but if I get hungry (alternatively meaning bored or stressed), I have a cup of tea from Aveda which is pretty much the most delicious ever, and I'm good.

I also drink a lot of ice water.

So, that - that is actually the easy part! The hard part is dinner.

Lately, I've been doing : Fish of some sort + veggies. This works, but fish every night? Nah. So, I've gotten a little creative, and a little bit lenient on the soy.

Some things I've made for dinner:
Crab cakes (made with coconut flour)
Stuffed Zucchini (this stuff is amazing, uses soy crumbles though)
Salmon with homemade onion rings
Ratatouille
Lazy man's dinner -veggie burgs without the bun

So - i feel good, I would love a piece of bread but it's not like I run into delicious fresh baked bread every day and that is the only kind that would break my resolve, and no weight loss yet but none gained either.

I think the biggest hurdle is - I want some texture! Some bread-like texture! I tried to make coconut bread, and it was disgusting. Coconut flour, it is gritty. It is no bueno, except in small amounts. Coconut bread = not good. I could see coconut muffins working, perhaps.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

dream come true?

So I was just reading Kaelah's Things I Love Thursday post where she links to this idea of a Dream Mall, here. The basic premise is to invent a mall that has 100% stores you like.

So, I got to thinking. This dream mall is going to need:

Anthropologie
J Crew
Apple Store
Sephora
Lush
Nordstrom
Mary Green
Lululemon

Yeah, that'll do.

So, then I got to thinking..this pretty much already exists.

I work next door to a mall, Fair Oaks. They have a J Crew, Apple, and Sephora.

A couple miles down the road (I mean, less than 10) there is an Anthropologie, a J Crew, Apple, Sephora, Lush, Nordstrom, and Lulu. Actually, its two malls, Tysons 1 and 2, and the Anthro and J Crew are in one, while the rest is in the other.

They are building a new shopping area town center thing less than 1 mile from my house, and it has an Anthropologie, and a Target.

In fact, I will soon have 4 Anthropologies (Anthropologi?) within 15 miles of my home. And the market demands this? I guess?

Mary Green is in San Francisco. But I have the internet.

And, after all, isn't the internet everybody's dream mall?

I can no longer be impressed by shopping, sorry. Even you, New York, although I'll take your Top Shop and your that one Canadian store that I forget the name of.  Joe Fresh, that's the ticket.

Maybe I'll start a business where I video tape shopping for folks that live too far away from these stores, and then I'll ship them stuff and they can send back what they don't want - pretty much personal shopper with video on demand. Genius, I tell ya.

P.S. - also Barnes & Noble.
also Whole Foods
also Starbucks
also bagels.
and maybe Club Monaco.

p.p.s - also Zara.

P.P.P.S - distances to these from current location:

<1 mile
<1 mile
<1 mile
I'm sure there are closer but the best are <5 miles
about 13 miles
same same.

an embarrassment of riches, I tell ya.

Thursday, April 05, 2012

food food food for thought..

Last night for dinner, I made salmon stuffed with feta and spinach, and a yummy salad to go with. Unfortunately, I burned the ever-lovin crap out of myself while taking the pan out of the oven, so spent the majority of last night with an ice-packed paper towel taped around my hand. And later, for sleeping time, I rested my hand on a package of frozen broccoli. Maybe I should get some of those there ice pack things.

Anyway - while I was in major pain, the salmon was still frakin delicious.  And..paleo friendly (well, the feta was not. meh).

So, emboldened, today, I packed myself a super paleo work lunch bag. I packed:

an apple sliced up, with Justin's natural almond butter + raisins
grapes
2 eggs, scrambled
a handful of dark choc chips
a salad, with cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes.
some sweet potato and beet chips.

I've eaten the apples, grapes, and eggs. Dudes, I'm still full, its almost 3.

Sweet.

I did not go to Starbucks this morning, either. The barristas may send out a search party for me, as they are very used to seeing me on the daily.

Wednesday, April 04, 2012

paleo for veggies?

I'm toying with the idea of going on a Paleo diet for a month - it seems to make sense, but here's the rub..

1) I don't eat meat (i eat fish)
2) I don't like nuts (they give me tummy issues)
3) Soy is not a part of the Paleo diet.

So ummm, yeahhh..
Here's what I could eat: Fish, eggs, veggies, fruit, sweet potatos. I mean, that's keeping it REAL simple, but you get the idea.

Is it worth cutting out unhealthy carbs  and sugars? Yes, yes it probably is.

Are a lot of the meals I cook already Paleo?  Yes, yes they are.

I think I will give it a go. Here's what I see as my main obstacles:

1) Coffee. I put soy and sugar in my coffee.
2) Work food. I get my food for the day when I get my coffee - A protein plate from Starbucks, sometimes a little piece of dark chocolate. The protein plate, contrary to its name, has a piece of muesli bread.
3) Fred. Fred likes carbs with dinner.
4) Bread. I effing love a piece of sourdough dipped in olive oil/pepper/rosemary.

So, here's how I'll tackle these:
1) Coffee. Sigh. Umm, I'll switch to tea for a week and see if I hate life.
2) Work food. Some mornings I make an egg and bring that to work with some fruit. I'll just do that everyday for breakfast. Lunch? Ummm. hmmm. tuna salad? what else, what else. Leftovers from dinner. Shrimp salad. Salad of many kinds. Lots of salad. Veggies, fruit.
3) Fred. I'll make Fred some carbs, I just won't eat any unhealthy type carbs myself. Also, sweet potato fries!
4) Bread. I just won't eat the damn bread.

It's so easy to get an idea like this in your head and then say, meh, screw it. I so don't want to do that! Wish me luck!

Tuesday, April 03, 2012