etsy ecstasy: ready for spring

tomorrow will be february 1st and the weather forcast is showing 70 degrees here in north carolina.  i am so excited to get a little taste of spring.  here are a few dresses from etsy ill be dreaming of. 

{click on the pic to shop}

vintage lace blue heron blue print sundress
from firegypsyvintage

african dashiki print sundress by dorisanddoris

fever for the floral sundress from FabulousDresses

floral boatneck babydoll dress by noslowjams

vintage 1970s back and white sundress from coldfish



cosleeping

my thoughts on cosleeping is that we need a bigger bed :)

what the what

i saw this video on a cup of jo and couldn't resist sharing. 





i sometimes feel as though liz lemon and i are kindred spirits.

~ happy friday ~

daddy mac will make you

remember kris kross? 

if you were even mildly cool in the early 90s then your answer is "yes."

they were pretty much only known for 2 things: 

1. their 1992 hit "jump" and
2. their fashion style which included wearing their clothes backwards. 

photo via

and now this trend has come full circle. 

   

photo from this time tomorrow.

i follow the delightful ladies over at delightful dozen where they gave several examples of the backwards cardigan.  of course some examples seem very stylish (like the one above) but some are just too awkward for me to enjoy.  given a certain body type, the back (or front turned back) usually looks amazing and interesting but the front around the neck looks uncomfortable.  not only does it seem to be choking the individual, but i can only imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have the tag rubbing against my neck all day long. 

with all that being said, i cant knock until i try it.  so, i will be going through my cardigans soon to see which one is least likely to try and choke me to death.  awkward or not, i will take a photo of the ridiculousness and post it here on my blog for all the judgemental world to see.  :)

i guess it cant be that bad though, even michelle obama seems to be getting her kris kross on.

photo via

what about you?  are you rebellious enough to wear your cardigan the wrong way?  we should have a national {meaning all the awesome peeps that follow my blog} kris kross awareness day.  everyone can look silly ... and empowering all at once.



table for one

via

i forgot to share my least favorite thing about juicing:  "eating" alone

husband was eating on healthy salads and such all weekend long.  he was very courtious and mostly ate in the other room so i would not be too tempted.  and oh how i missed him ...

also, in reply to the comments from this post:

leanna - i used a jack lalanne's power juicer express and really liked it, though i cant complain because it was free and have nothing to compare it to because i have never used a juicer before.  i have read that the quality (price tag) of your juicer can make a difference on how much actual juice it produces.  i do not know how acurate that information is.  there is a post on i rock so what about the juicer she bought from target. 

tiff - i did read a few sites saying that you could use a blender.  i have no idea how much of a difference it makes.

pin it

if you haven't ever heard of pinterest, then you need to get with it.  its a great was to share ideas and get inspired.  as i mentioned at the beginning of this month, i want to get back to a place where i am challenging myself to be creative.  its really easy to get caught up in the world of pinterest and just appreciate it all from afar.  well, i refuse!  i will share my pinterest inspired adventures with you on this blog. 

to start out, i have included pictures below, of all the pins that i have attempted {with links to the original source}.  i didnt really document anything, so you'll just have to take my word for it :)  but i promise, as i move forward, ill take some pics and let you know what i think of the pins i try.
 

carrot ginger soup



baked parmesan tomatoes - aka "fancy tomatoes"



no-bake energy balls

 

this workout plan



messy bun



coasters - made these for christmas gifts

 

paper pine cone-ish christmas ornament



the animal ornaments and the clear balls



follow my pinterest account here.

thoughts about juicing

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 here are my final thoughts about my 3 day juice detox.

• it wasnt nearly as hard as i thought it would be.  i think it really helped that i cut back so much the week before and became familiar some of the recipes. 
• although it wasnt extremely difficult, its not like i didnt regret making the commitment to juice at some time during the weekend.  on sunday, i thought for a brief moment "why the heck am i even doing this?  i want chinese food right now!"  and monday i had a little breakdown because i was bored ... which means i usually would be all "lets go get a late lunch and a beer."  im glad i stuck it out!
• i read that several people have super awesome skin after completing a similar detox.  personally, i cant tell a difference.  BUT this might have something to do with the fact that i didnt follow a certain plan.  if they had a certain type of juice to drink at certain types of the day, then i can see how that could make a difference. 
• at one point i thought this detox would "clean me out" like in a fierce pooping type way.  that did not happen at all.  in fact, i really didnt go much at all. 
• i did loose a total of 4.4 lbs.  however, if i had gone right back to my old ways on tuesday, it would be really easy to gain it back.  my first day, i had a banana for breakfast, simple chicken salad for lunch and salmon with asparagus for dinner.  it was a very easy transition, and 3 days later, i have kept it off.  
• yes, i did this to help with the holiday weight gain, but that is not the main reason.  my number one reason was to get a new outlook on my diet.  to get out all the crap i have consumed and start from scratch with a cleaner and healthier outlook on food.  because this was my goal, i consider the 3 day juice detox to be a success.
• i would do this again!  i read that its good to do about 4 times a year.  i plan on adding juicing to my weekly diet.  maybe next time i will challenge myself to do a 9 day cleanse? 

if you are planning on doing a juice detox, here is my advice:

1. prepare your body - again, my portion size for every meal in all of november and december were through the roof.  if i had not cut back significantly the week before, i would have starved. 
2. do your research - i read a lot about juicing online.  i found a lot of bad juicing stories where people set themselves up for failure before putting one veggie in the juicer.  i also found a lot of recipes online that i was able to adjust to my liking. 
3. drink lots of water - this was helpful to wash everything down and keep my belly happy.
4. plan out your meals afterwards - if i had not taken the time to cook on monday night and get my meals ready for tuesday, i would have eaten anything put in front of me.  i had my meals planned out for the whole day ... and they were all very healthy. 

these thoughts were put together randomly.  if you have any questions, please dont hesitate to ask. 

see part one here

3 day juice detox

between thanksgiving and new years, i consumed way too much coffee, food and alcohol ... like an obscene amount!  i was looking into a 3 day juice detoxes online and remembered that my aunt had a juicer i might could borrow {yay for saving 250 bones for an item i may only use once}.  anywho, i decided on this past weekend because we were out on monday and i really didnt have any big plans that would keep me out of the house for too long.   

now, you can order your juices online and they will be delivered to your house pre-made.  this seemed pretty easy and it only cost $75,402 per day {yes, i am exaggerating ... a lot}.  i bought all my ingredients on friday night and maybe spent a total of $50 or $60 on veggies.  i did not follow any specific plan like a certain color juice for a specific time of the day.  i just looked up some juicing recipes and made adjustments according to what i liked.

to prepare my body for a 3 day juice feast, i started substituting one meal a day for juice starting monday.  after wednesday, i didnt allow myself any caffeine so i wouldnt get headaches over the weekend.  the juice a day shrunk my stomach just enough so i wouldnt be starving.  i have zero desire to starve my body into submission.  this is one reason why the juice detox seemed like such a good idea.  i was able to "hit a reset button" for my body and what i eat while pumping myself full of fresh vegetables and fruit. 

the plan:  for three days only consume juice, water and herbal tea.

day one

my juices on day one were very colorful.  i really liked the breakfast and dinner juice.  lunch was a little dry and i could have killed for a mountain dew to wash it down.  i quickly decided not to skip the apple(s) for the rest of the weekend because it makes a lot of difference.

breakfast

lunch

dinner

overall thoughts from day one:  it wasnt really that hard.  i was super motivated to stick to the plan at this point, so not much fazed me. 

  day two

some websites say that on day two, people wake up full of energy.  i was expecting this so i was a bit disappointed that didnt feel like hopping out of bed at 6 am to run 10 miles.  the juices were really good and since my lunch produced less liquid, i tried a fruit concoction for an afternoon snack :)

breakfast

lunch



snack

dinner

thoughts from day two:  church was hard only because we serve really yummy coffee.  next time i will take my own tea bag to be able to have something warm and cozy.  also, i never noticed how much food was on tv.  husband and i were watching bones on hulu and i couldnt stop noticing the food they were eating ... or worse, just lying there untouched.  i really wanted to chew something. 

day three

stick a fork in me, cause a was done ... and missing forks really badly.  but no, i was also still determined to see this thing through.  to get myself excited, i made added strawberries to my breakfast juice but it was a little too tart.  it was good but not great.  lunch and dinner were kind of thrown together.  both were a lot yummier than they look {carrots + greens = muddy greenish brown}

breakfast

lunch

dinner

thoughts on day two:  i freakin made it.  i was so ready to go to bed on monday night knowing that tuesday was gonna be awesome. 

but blast it all if i didnt have to plan out tuesdays meals.  i cant just jump back into a mcgriddle for breakfast.  my body needed fresh veggies and fruit {that i get to chew} and lean meat.  before i went to bed on monday, i cooked up some chicken and boiled an egg to create a satisfying lunch to take to work. 

tomorrow, i will share my overall thoughts on the 3 day juice detox. 

stay tuned ...

see part 2 here

pun fun

ha!

via

prayer works

husband has been feeling a little under the weather off and on, for a couple of weeks now.  you know, stuffy head, achey, feeling a bit congested and tired, but he hasn't actually gotten sick.  

the other night, i was at small group while husband was at school.  we did prayer request right before it was time to leave.  mine was "i hope husband will feel better OR get sick already so he can then get better."  we prayed together and started leaving one by one.  before i left (about 15 minutes after saying amen), i got a call from husband letting me know that he was leaving school early because he officially felt like crap and he has been sick ever since.  

heres hoping you feel better soon, babe!!!

... careful what you pray for :) 

pic via

etsy ectstasy: garland

after reading a DIY post over at delightfully tacky, i was inspired.  i love how useful garland can be to decorate for an special occasion or everyday use in your home (see here and here for examples). 

if you are interested in buying some, click on the pics below to take you to the etsy shop.  if you are interested in making your own, click here or here for DIY information.

Vintage Inspired Copper Cool 27 Sparkle & ShineTissue Tassel Garland from EverlyLane Papergoods

Fabric Garland from The Little Peanut Collection from LuLu's

 Custom Order:  SCRAPPY Fabric Garland Banner - Fall Colors from Petite Peanut Boutique

{im hosting a tea party soon

and this would be so cute hanging up in my dinning room!}



Tassel Garland-18 tassels- Dandelion Cakes from Pom Flair



Sneak Peek

Here is a little sneak peek into what my weekend will look like ...

date your man!

i am a firm believer that you need to purposely date your spouse.  most people believe this, but not all make it a priority.  i know when we have kids it will be a lot harder to make time for this, but it is sooooo important.  lately, our date nights consist of some form of dinner and a movie ... out for dinner, in for a movie or vice versa.  i wanted to spice it up and little and do something fun but we had just bought a house so any extra funds were spoken for.  so, i decided we would "go camping" ... in our spare bedroom. 

one of the best parts of our new digs is the space we have.  there are two rooms that are pretty much empty.  but before we load the spare room up with my craft supplies, sewing machine and guest bed, i decided to have a little fun in the space and use it for a date night.

the rules are:  no tv (the computer was for the camp fire video) and that we must stay in the room all night as if we were out in the wilderness (with the exception of letting the pups out to do their business). 

obviously, i did not have to wash my hair for this date :)

 see, fun and romantical!!!

any other great (and inexpensive) date night ideas that you guys have successfully pulled off? 

new digs

as mentioned in my first post of the year, i neglected to tell you that husband and i bought our very first home in august.  here are a few shots from moving week.

new front light, check.

new stove top installed, check.

nap in the living room, check.

 the english ivy in that back corner was taking over our yard.  i sprayed, mowed and raked the heck out of it.  i guess ill have to wait until spring to see if it did any good.