Jasmine & his dumbbells

Saturday Morning Day 6 and Summary

Week 1 of my Lake House Fit Challenge is almost finished, and what a pretty amazing week it's been.  My mind is set on wearing my 2-pc to the lake house so it's been worth all the prepping for my juices and smoothie lunches and even making some "real" foods instead of grabbing a Chobani and an apple when I'm in a hurry.  

I've been feeling pretty good about the foods I'm been eating.  I'm also very happy to say that my cravings have pretty much not existed and my only day of struggle was Tuesday, Day 2.  I think it was because I skipped my M4 and I was hungry and my sugar balance was off so I wanted something sweet like cookies or such, but instead I chose to make a TIU healthy banana split.  Not craving sweets is seriously the best feeling ever! and it feels great knowing that I can live a day even a week without wanting to sit on the couch and binge.  My body is loving me more as I #RestartResetRefresh my bodies normalities and become a lean mean eating machine and I'm looking forward to continue success in my #fitlife journey.

  

 Healthy Banana Split

I've also been making a habit of choosing foods that TIU followers, like MadisonCary_TIU, and MegNolan_TIU, are eating as I know they are eating the right foods, exercising with TIU and they look fantastic.  At some point I would like to sign up for the TIU Nutirtion Plan so I can have my own copy of the recipes, including the META-D.  However, for now my budget doesn't allow so for now I simply follow and hope that they link the recipe or note the ingredients.

I was happily surprised that the #bombshellspell recipe from @TIU was public, because I can definitely use the benefits offered from drinking apple cider vinegar.  I did, however this week, annoyingly and regrettably forget to drink my #bombshellspell 3 times  I was in a hurry for work and didn't see them in the fridge, because I had moved them to the bottom shelf.  I did finally remedy this Thursday night when I made 2 more batches and made sure to put them on the top shelf.  Friday and Saturday I happily drank my spell. 

Daily Check Ins
AUG 5:   Day 1:  Eats &  Workout
AUG 6:   Day 2:  Eats &  Workout
AUG 7:   Day 3:  Eats &  Workout
AUG 8:   Day 4:  Eats &  Workout & Eats
AUG 9:   Day 5:  Eats &  Workout
AUG 10: Day 6:  Eats &  Workout
AUG 11: Day 7:  Eats &  Workout

Recipes
M1: TIU BombshellSpell
M1: Blueberry Greek Parfait 
M2: Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls 
M3: Beet Juice
M3: TIU Green Glow Smoothie
M5: Pineapple Chicken / Turkey Meatloaf Muffins & Roasted Brussels Sprouts
M5: Spinach Quinoa Peach Salad

Monday Night Day 1
During my workout Jasmine decided to keep me company and found safety on my hand weights.  For the first part of my workout he was trying to play with me feet, which wasn't his best choice with me jumping around during my HIIT workout. 

After my workout I headed over to my mirror for some snap shots and Jasmine followed me over.  He's pretty cute when he wants attention. 

If you want to join along the challenge I'm using #RestartResetRefresh and #LakeHouseFit or feel free to follow me on instagram to view my daily check in's.

The Lake House Fit Prep

On August 3rd a friend of mine invited me & a few others to spend the weekend at his families lake house at Wallenpaupack in the Poconos. When I looked at my planner it just so happens that I had nothing scheduled for that weekend.  Let's just say I was pretty excited, because there is going to be boating, wake boarding, kayaking, jet skiing, water skiing, barbequing, campfires, swimming, sunbathing and general hanging out and so it's going to be a pretty fantastic weekend.  I messaged him back with "I'm totally free.  Would love to come."  

However, it wasn't until after I replied that the thoughts came into my head...what am I going to wear. Ahh.  I don't even know where my bathing suit is and this past week my diet has been way off healthy so I made sure to put together a sure fire plan that would help me be lake ready by the end of August.  

I found a small Mead 5x7 Five Star Notebook that I hadn't been using and used the computer to print out my cover page and some of my headers so I could trace them.  This assured that they would be more decorative then sketched. 

For some reason I typed Beach House instead of Lake House, but I didn't realize that what I did until after the page was done, so I figured it was close enough.  Either way there's a bathing suit involved.   

I

I also created a goal sheet.  This one I glued to the page, because it simply was more esthetically pleasing.   I know I have quite a few goals on there, but there pretty basic.   

Mainly, I want to make sure that I'm:
* exercising daily, even if it's just a short walk, juicing one meal a day.
* one TIU bombshell spells /  Vegan spell daily o jump start my metabolism.
* order the TIU Protein Powder
* eating lean, clean and green food.  No cheat meals or compromises. 
* prepping my meals the night prior so that everything is ready.
* getting my rest so my body can heal itself after each day's workout.

As long as I follow my guidelines the rest of my goals should follow.  There's no reason why I should drop a pant size in the next 2 weeks, as long as I'm staying true to my diet and exercise plan.

I even created a time frame page where I can list what type of exercise I'll need to have ready for that day.  I want to keep it simple, so I'll have 1 walk day, 3 run days and 3 HIIT days for strength training.  I also printed out this weeks Summer Sizzle workout schedule from TIU so I would have a few more HIIT and cardio ideas.   

 grocery cart run week 1

Meals: Week 1
M1: Omelet or Yogurt Bowl with peaches, blueberries, chia seeds and walnuts.
M2: Coconut Water an Cashews
M3: Juice It
M4: Veggies with Protein or Fruit
M5: Chicken Meatloaf Muffins with roasted brussel sprouts with Lemon
        or Spinach Quinoa Peach Salad.

Measure: Week 1
Weight 152 before

Total Inches: It's 3 days in and I've yet to get to this part. Can't find my fabric measuring tape.

What am I going to Wear??

Me, trying on the poke-a-dot at TJ MAXX

haha, while running errands on Sunday I came across 2, yes I said two bathing suits that I just loved at TJ MAXX and I came home with both of them.  I don't' plan on keeping both of them, but it was just to hard to decide so I checked the return policy and as long as the liner and tags are in tacked I can return them.  This way it gives me the next two weeks to determine if I've reached my goal enough to pull off the two piece or if I should really wear with the dress bathing suit.  

I do actually love how both of them fit and look on me, but obviously the dress bathing suit is going to be more practical for wake boarding, kayaking, or jet skiing, but I don't feel as cute and girly as the black and white poke-a-dot suit makes me feel, which would be fine for boating, socially gatherings, and sunning.  We'll see what happens once it gets closer to the weekend. 

Style Cure Day 3: Picking the Room

Style Cure Day 2's challenge is all about going on a style treasure hunt and sharing your findings via a Pinterest Style Cure Board. Since my outings this past weekend only consisted of TJ MAXX and Home Goods I didn't find much in my furnishings or decor that matched my style so most of my inspiration for the room was found online.

Row One:
1) Faux Wood "make your mark" 24x36 sign - $24.99

2) Blue and tan chevron Rug by Raj - $29.99

3) Oasis - Ash Grey - Grommet Panels - 40" x 84" - $24.99

Row Two:
4) Lovely Dog Food Bin.  I so want to swap out our black and white one for this. 

5) Plastic Letters "A" and "J"  I really loved the grey of the "A" but don't have a meaning behind the letter, so I simply took a photo.  The J works for my first name, but I would rather have a G for my last name. - $5.99

6) "Dream" 10x10 fabric art - $9.99

7) Blue Treasure Fabric Box - $19.99

Style Cure Day 3's challenge was to pick the room.  In the beginning I had a few rooms in mind, but in the end i really want to complete my living room as it's the first room you see when you enter and I would really like it to look more put together.

It's been a challenge keeping my living room just a living room; tv watching, gatherings with friends, and a place to store my shoes, keys and a few essentials for living in the space, but inevitably other items seem to creep in taking away from the openness and airy feel that I've been desiring. 

My main goal for this room is to have a place to keep my blankets for tv watching, the mail, pens and keys that isn't an eye sore.  I would also like to hang my art on the wall.

Currently, this is my entry way.  It's mainly being used to store various items that are making their way out the door.  The items to the left of the entry dresser are heading leaving with me this weekend.  I was holding them for a friend and I'll be making my way this weekend and I'll be happy to see the pile gone after sitting there for a few weeks.  the radio is going to be taken to work for me to use, but I either don't have enough time to grab it, or I forget that I wanted to take it with me.  

I like the division of the IKEA base cabinet that I've been temporally using as my entry table as we can each have a drawer for our mail, a large drawer for bags, and the bottom one for blankets so I hope to find something just as functional to replace this once it's sold, but not so large and modern.  I also moved my wicker lamp from my bedroom that I wasn't using to add more ambient lighting for movie watching.  

To the right of the floor lamp sits a large box that houses our goodwill items a.k.a. our outbox.  It's been helpful to have the box there, even though it's a huge eyesore, but it's much easier to toss items in whether big or small and they remain in the box.  Then once it's ready to overflow will right the items up for tax time deductions and then make a trip to the goodwill to part with them.

I love my $4 mcm imitation table lamp that I scored at a local thrift store a few months back when I found my couch, but it has been moved a few times and now resides next to the door as my drop zone.  The lotion is for my mom, the chicken is more decor then functional, but I really like it, an the milk glass vase houses my keys. 

Under the table are my store returns.  Yes, I know I have a few, and by the look of my pile you would never know that I mull over these items for a few days before even buying them.  Just imagine if I bought everything I thought would work.  Sadly, some of the items have been sitting there for a while as I have yet to locate the receipt, but I'm glad to say that the shoes and litter pellets will be heading out in the next week. 

My goal for this area is to keep it open.  I also hope to find another place for the lamp as I thought we would use the lamp more when entering, but we don't.  It also blocks my art, which I'm not a fan of.

This little corner has actually not been a problem area and I love my round table there.  It's the perfect height to match my loveseat and holds my owl and miscellaneous change.  I also love the wicker basket, another thrifty find, that works great for doggy toys.

My goal for this area is to simply hang the art piece that is lying in my magazine rack and to hang the curtain draw back so I can pull the curtain back and let some light in during the day.

Our house is void of any real closet space, except for in the bedrooms so we have to be creative on how we store things.  I purchased this IKEA rack on Craigslist for half the retail price and it seems to be doing a decent job, but the corner just feels overcrowded and it's hard to access since the chairs sometimes block it.

My goal for this space is to relocate the coat closet and hopefully find a good home for my mcm end tables (the other one is being used in my bedroom), as I had hoped to use them as end tables in this room, but they are just to short.

Here we have two miscellaneous side chairs that tend to move on the hardwood floor, and it's pretty annoying, but I do love my vintage phone stand that's in between them.  the pillow cover is from IKEA, along with the green planter and faux plant.  The green recliner has been listed on Craigslist for a few weeks, but so far no takers.

My goal for this area is to figure out how to get the chairs to stop moving so much and sell the green recliner.

My dining room is pretty small, really just enough room for my 5' x  4' table to allow sufficient room to walk around, but currently we have items that we've posted on Craigslist and the local fb yard sale page residing on the back wall, and they're a bit of a eyesore.  i did recently purchase the area rug from Ross for under $40, which I'm love. 

My goals for the dining room is to sell the items on the other side of the table, find a mcm table cloth and napkins to better fit my mcm table, hang the retro pendant, and find some art to hang around the mirror.  also, thinking about paining the space a shade of white or grey.

Here's a nice open view from the kitchen, well open if you ignore the clutter like the Formica table, one of the chairs, and the IKEA computer table.  although, I must admit I'm loving how much light is coming through since it's mostly dark in here being that we are a middle townhouse downtown so we don't keep the blinds open often.

My goals for this area is to find someone who wants the Formica table, hang the bike in the kitchen, figure out what to do with the bar stool, and maybe sell the IKEA computer table as it seems more in the way then actually used.  

The Start of Style Cure 2013

Whosh!  that's pretty much how this last month can be described.  It seems as if this last month was like a blur, and I'm looking forward to taking August slowly and really start to tackle clearing out our cluttered basement.

Oh, but the main reason for this post is to talk about a new series by Apartment Therapy called The Style Cure 2013.  I just love their home organizing series.  In January I participated in the January Cure 2013 and I really enjoyed  getting some help with focusing my thoughts & completing some much needed projects.

Day 1 is all about completing the Style Cure Interview, which takes about 30 minutes to review and then analyze your answers. Below is a photo of my interview. 

The Chosen Space:
The Living Room

This is the space everyone sees when they first walk into my home, and it's a bit everywhere considering I have 2 wall colors, pictures leaning against the sofa waiting to be mounted and some miscellaneous furniture pieces that have been posted for sale.

The Conclusion:
Questions: 1 & 2 Form a picture of your style
My style is definitely relaxed classic style that is simple with a touch of vintage. 

Questions: 3 & 5 What you find pleasing, comfortable & beautiful

I find something that says "me" in the space and that I find brings people together.  I loved having dinner parties in my 1-bedroom apartment in South Denver where I had a table that seated 8-10 people where we could celebrate each other and share a space together that was simple and put together.  This was also my most well designed apartment, because I only had what I needed with a simple decor items on the wall and nothing more.

Questions: 4 & 6 Aspirations, form direction and goals

I don't really have one person that i admire, but I tend to look up to people who are strong-independent, who think outside of themselves , and are well-traveled, because it really helps to grow them and they're not afraid to explore and find out that there may be some place better then what they are used to.  My main admiration are those who simply enjoy what they have and are content owning very little and don't overspend.  It's a place that I've been working towards these last few years.  It's been harder since my mom moved in with me, because she owns enough for 3 families. 

I know I want my home to be full of light, but it's difficulty living downtown so we keep the curtains closed most of the time, and there are few windows being that I'm the middle town home.  Natural light is a commodity that I hope to figure out how to utilize what I have to create this feel.  I also want to eliminate the access clutter of items that are not being used or really don't work well for it's given purpose.    Mainly, I hope to determine a wall color so I can eliminate the bland pb color I've had on the walls since moving in. 

My living room is a bit different currently, but this is the overall feel and pieces that I have in the space. 

Cycle Me Happy

The more I traveled to D.C. the more I started to think about commuting via bicycle to work as a lot of my friends down south use their bikes or the metro more than they drive.  Considering my work is only 1.5 miles from my home and very few hills it only made scene to keep from adding mileage to my vehicle.  

I had been keeping an eye out on Craigslist the last few weeks, but the only prospect I found was a $300 10-yr old 40-lb black cruiser bike with a front basket in Frederick, MD and I'm sure if I keep looking I'll find something better.  

For some reason on May 30 had FINALLY decided to stop by Pedal Pushers, a local bike shop, to see what options they had available.  Who know's maybe I could find a new bike in a price range I was willing to pay.  However, my heart was only teased by this lovely mint Raleigh Route 3.0 that I fell in love, but the sticker price was still $435, then tack on the rail, basket, and paniers, your looking at closer to $600.  Maybe next year of when I make prove my bike riding skills worthy of such a nice bike or move to a nicer neighborhood where theft is not such an issue.

 RALEIGH ROUTE 3.0

I did deicde to say a short prayer on my way home {how nice it would be if we could finally sell our elliptical & I could use my half toward buying this bike}.   The funny awesome timing was about this time a person had send an email inquiring about my elliptical, but I didn't notice the email until the next afternoon.   When I contacted them later that day the husband met me the next morning around 10am the next morning to test it.    He had to go back and talk to his wife.  He called the next day and said he and his wife would be there on Saturday to pick it up. I tell you what I was jumping out of my skin with excitement.    On Saturday they did so, and we had the cash in hand and an empty space where the elliptical had been.

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My heart is happy knowing that the elliptical is going to a good home as well. The gentleman was trying the it for his wife who was specifically searching for a quality Precor. He was very impressed with the quality and smoothness of ours, especially for the price. He is receiving a quality machine for about half the price refurbished & I'm glad to bless such a lovely couple, especially one who is very grateful to have it. He will be stopping by later this evening to take it home.

 I'm in such aw & happiness that God has blessed me in such a wonderful and delightful way - as if it were fate that it should be sold at this moment in time. Now I can replace it with something worthy of it's location that I can use both indoors with a stationary attachment and outdoors when the sun is shining bright. OMG, it's finally happening I'm going to be buying a bicycle!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh happy day! 

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Saturday morning, June 1, at 9am I went to a bike swap at a local ski and bike shop that a coworker had informed me of on Wednesday and it was a good thing, because I found this beauty for only $75.  It had everything I wanted, water bottle holder, bike rail, cruiser styl, and comfy.  The only thing I need now are paniers, which are over $100 for decent ones so they will have to wait.  

Breezer Freedom 2009 model

I had only been on my bike twice before my tire went flat, once on Monday I took it for 7 miles along the river park and the 2nd to work.  On day 3 I had taken it along the route I usually drive to work, instead of the park walking path and a 2" rusty nail had punctured my rear tire.  I was at the halfway point so I walked back home and swapped out the bike for my car.  It took a few days before I decided to go and DIY the tire, but I found a few videos that they really helpful, on how to change a flat tire and change a road bike tire and after I changed the tire and found out the the gear shifting problem was due to installing the rear shifter wrong I found this really helpful video on how to change a cruiser Shimano Internal 3 Speed Shifter & Rear Wheel.  Before this video I thought it was for the breaks.  I know pretty sad, but now I know better.   

update June 2013: 
As you can see my dining room is also being weeded out and the large objects are finding new homes.   We've had an commercial elliptical for a few years and it really wasn't something we were using so I'm pretty excited that it's now gone. 

October 2013:
Sadly, I haven't taken my bike out much since the flat tire incident, and for the last month it's been hanging next to the fridge in the kitchen on a new bike rack I found at Home Goods for $8.

I'd love to hear any of your bike riding experiences when your out and about.

{Weekend Organizer}: A White Picket Fence

instagram sneak peak 06/16/13

It's been very hard being in the middle townhouse and keeping our dog from wondering into our neighbors yard for which some reason he likes to poo.  Typically right behind our stair rail, not really in their walking path, so it's not really been a huge deal since we do keep it cleaned up as much as we can.  We have shortened his lead several times, but it leaves him leaves him a very restricted space even in our own yard to wonder around.  Our neighbors on the left have a double-sided privacy fence so that's been a benefit for us as well since we don't have to worry about that 8' stretch.    

I had initially been hoping to find a home with a fence, but with this house we had so many of my wish list items that not having a fence didn't seem like a deal breaker so we figured we would install one shortly after moving in.  However, after doing a bit of research on the cost of vinyl and wrought iron fences that idea became more of a distant future happening when the materials list had been calculated at over $200 even for my tiny 10'x8' yard.  Plus, I had hoped to find a wrought iron design that had a 20s feel to it, but that has proven to be more difficult then anticipated. 

We had actually forgotten about the fence for a while, until recently we had a one of our lighter vintage push mowers was stolen off the back deck and my mom took charge and began the search without telling me.  Though, being the item it was we have an inclination of who it was, especially since none of the more valuable items were taken.  It's just really irks me that some people feel that they have the right to take something off of someone's property that they neither own or paid for and feel that that's acceptable behavior. 

Within a day or two of our incident my mom had found a someone nearby who was selling a white vinyl fence they had been using as a dog run, and for only $40.  Although, I was a bit hesitant until I saw the fence (really after my mom called the guy and he delivered it) that it was going to be a size appropriate fence for my miniature backyard. 

The fencing was left on our deck for a few days until a friend of my moms could come over and install it for us, which ended up giving us a few surprises and costing us more to have the fence installed then the actual cost of the fence.

On day 1, we talked about the layout of the fence and then began the initial install of the largest 8' run, but that took several hours since there ended up being concrete and all kinds of debris under the ground to help support the walkway to the parking lot steps. This then directed us to purchasing another pole hole digger since the initial one was a very cheap model, and also a large piece of rebar to help break down some of the concrete.

My mom's friend kept working trying to break down the concrete, but I really wished he would have stopped, because we were one paying him by the hour and two he was working harder then he needed to and it would have made more sense to wait for the proper equipment so the job could have been done efficiently.

Saturday evening we made sure to head to home depot to pick up the appropirate supplies, like an Ames 48" post hole digger (an upgrade from the basic warped model my mom purchased from Lowes), and a Ludell 70 in. 17 lb. Tamper Head Digging Bar that was used to break up the concrete mess under the pavers.

On day 2, now that we had a better post hole digger, and the digging bar the process took half the time.  It took some time to settle in, but once things got started I had been called out to discuss the gate.  What I didn't understand was why we were discussing this again, since we had already talked about this yesterday and agreed that the gate would not open into the neighbors yard, but stay on the stone pavers.  I really don't want to be walking on the neighbors property, especially with it being a rental and we will have new neighbors soon who may not like us walking in their yard.  Once that was settled, again, the digging bar and post hole was used to make the way for the gate posts to be installed and then had to be leveled again so that they gate would be level.

It took a few hours, but what pieces we had for the fence was finally installed and only being 30" shy of finishing the entire project I think we did a great job at scoring a vinyl fence for only $40, which is the price of either an 8' section or the gate kit.  By the time everything was done we paid with installation and the fence what we would have for the entire fence so overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I am filled with jubilation that yes, I finally have a fence!  

Once everything was installed we realized that we were just shy of finishing the area by only 30" so for now we put up a doggy gate and used a brick to keep it from falling over.  So far it is doing the trick, but at some point I plan to use some garden post and shims to make a trellis and then rotate the rose bush so that way it can grow up the trellis and look as if we planned to leave that amount of space. 

Total Cost:

$32 Post Hole Digger (a friend is buying this off of me for $25)

$32 Digger

$40 Fence + gate kit (estimated cost of new $120-280)

$160 Installation

$239 Total 

{10 minute} Fabric Letter DIY

There is nothing like a little color to put a smile on your face and that's just what this little project did.  Yep, I'm smiling one because I completed a DIY project and two I have color on my walls!  It all started with in April when I finally installed my Run Strong gallery wall.  It included a few inspiration quotes and images that revolved around running.  I was was over joyed at how it turned out, but a few weeks ago I was trying to think of a way to add some color since mostly everything is white.  

Well, as I was sorting through a few things in my spare room I came across a few pieces of vintage fabric given to me earlier this year.  I wasn't sure what to do with them so I had them in my spare room and just this last week I knew exactly what I wanted to use one of the fabrics for as soon as I read this fabric wrapped letter DIY.   So the other night I gathered all of my supplied and while watching a movie I began wrapping my R. 

Supplies:

* batting

* fabric 

* scissors 

*staple gun
* cardboard or wood letter

I also came across this Fabric Letter DIY Fabric Art that makes using the cardboard letters a bit more interesting. I will definitely have to try this when I find a coordinating fabric to wrap around the sides.

I first started by wrapping the batting around and stapled it to the letter, though I think using spray adhesive would have worked nicely to.

As you can see it doesn't look very pretty from the backside, but the good thing is that no one will ever notice unless you take it down and show them.  I had already had a command strip Velcro attached to the letter so I made sure not to cover it so I can hang it back on the wall.

 

You can still see where the fabric was to short to go around the thick side of the letter, which is why at some point I will do some coordinating fabric to adhere around the edges so it doesn't look so rough.

 Ah, now isn't that better.