Christmas Upcycle

Today the hubs and I got our CHRISTMAS SHOP ON and POPPIN'. We are alllllllllllllllmost finished.  That's right, we got it done in ONE day folks!  We still haven't bought anything for each other, but whatevs, neither of us NEED anything. 

So last year after I spent grueling hours meticulously wrapping a ton of presents I thought of a pretty cool idea.  I figured I would save ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL my shopping bags throughout the year to use as gift bags for xmas.  Actually, I was GOING to cut them up and use them for paper and be REALLY crafty, but lets face it, I'm lazy. Plus that seems like yet another idea that ISN'T quite as easy as it sounds.  So anyway, not only am I pretty much done shopping, but wrapping was a breeze as well, so I'm almost done with that! BOOYAAH!  I'm actually going to make some wrapping paper bows to go on each gift as well, but I must say...so far I think the gifts look pretty cute!   Plain, mayyybe, but shopping bags make me SMILE!

Pajams

I just realized that I'm wearing Jake's my gray PJ pants in like every photo I've posted in all my most recent posts.  So YES, I admit that I do wear these things daily, but don't judge!  And sure, maybe I wear them to the grocery store and out to eat and basically every second of the day that I'm not at work.  But, hey, I wash 'em every now and then so they're good. :) 

That is all.

Don't walk & eat.



The side of my hip/butt/upper thigh..Ouch.



So yesterday was quite eventful. I found 90 calorie snickers ice cream bars and was particularly excited!  I've been counting my calories every day for ALMOST a whole month now, and have been really sticking to my 1200 cal limit! *high-fives self*  I am a junk-food-aholic so when I find sweets that are low in calories it's definitely a big score.  When I tore into my snickers box last night though, I was left with disappointment.  The snickers bars were FUN SIZED.  So thatssss why they're only 90 calories.  I'm still unsure why they're even called 'fun' size because I find that it's more tease-sized or sad-sized.  But whatevs, ice cream is ice cream amiright??  So I was laughing to myself and was clearly in a snickers zone because as I opened the package I slipped while walking and BUSTED MY AZZZZ.  My ice cream went a flyin' and I slammed my head, hip, knee and somehow my ring finger.  Luckily my husband and dogs were at my side in .06 seconds to make sure I wasn't paralyzed or anything.  Falling in adulthood is similar to getting into a life threatening car accident.  It's pretty serious.  I blame this whole thing on my stupid snickers ice cream bar, and after my fall I decided to go on strike.  No ice cream for me.  But today is a new day, and I plan on eating one very soon; although this time I will sit down and not walk while opening the package. 

Clearly, yesterday was not my day... apparently everything went downhill fast starting with my solo trip to the grocery store. Let's hope my week improves!

DIY does not equal EZ

What I was ATTEMPTING to make..

So if you're remotely cool at all you've at least HEARD of pinterest.  And if you're super-cool like myself, you're mega obsessed w/ pinterest, pinning like a mad woman.  Pinterest has like 6 billion DIY crafty projects that all look oh-so-easy.  I'm all like YEAHHH what a great idea, and MAN so simple???!  But, uh, no.  I've been thinking I may try something crafty-craft as xmas gifts for people I don't know what to get. (i.e. Jake's family.)  I'm really into those cute little mason jars with foodie type goodies inside.  So tonight I decided I would scour pinterest for a little late night 5 minute project.  I decided I would make jars of peppermint stick cocoa, mocha chip cocoa and chocolate chip bread.  I headed to the grocery store around 10 p.m. and that's where the nightmare began.  As I've said before, JAKE does ALL of our grocery shopping.  So not only do I not know what a lot of the ingredients even ARE, but I sure as hell have no idea where to find them.  After carefully scanning each isle for my mile long list of groceries AND calling/texting a few people in my phonebook for help, I decided I could only find all the ingredients for ONE recipe, not all three.  I went with the peppermint stick cocoa ONLY.  Even with only one recipe, I still had to just guess on ingredient substitutions since I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, and was getting quite bored already.  My phone died, and my shopping cart was shocking me about ever 2 steps.  Plus, there was a man with one of those floor buffers chasing me down every isle and the loud hum was extremely annoying.  So, $36 and and 90 minutes later, I was back home and ready to get to work.  So, did you know measuring dry ingredients is quite messy??  Annnnd, did you know trying to pour them INTO mason jar is even messier??  Uh, yeah. It is.  They also fail to mention on pinterest that it is REALLY FREAKING HARD to get everything to stack up evenly.  Maybe even impossible.  The last layer of crunched up peppermint was a b!tch and a half too.  I figured I'd put them in a ziplock baggy and hammer them.  Peppermint EVERYWHERE because it can puncture the bag very, very easily.  Awesome.  So, all in all I made 3 jars of questionable cocoa and a mess from hell. 

This will be fun to clean up

For realsies, I feel bad for whomever ends up with these "gifts!"  I've also decided that I would MUCH rather just purchase Christmas gifts from here on out.  No more DIY stuff for me, I want people to DIT (Do It Themselves).

Finished Product

Christmas Countdown

Hello All!

17 more days until Christmas!  EEEEK!  I literally have not done an OUNCE of Christmas shopping.  Well, except for our FAVE server at our fave restaurant, but his gift was easy:  {Christmas card + $50, yeehhawww}!  Although the holidays totally put me in the GIVING mood, I soooooooooo don't enjoy Christmas shopping.  Jake doesn't really like shopping bc he thinks I overdo it and want to buy something for everyone, which is DUH! True.  Anyway though, I refuse to shop on the weekends because I despise crowdsssssssss.  Blech. So, maybe next week.  Jake will be off, so I can drag him with me. :) I'm sure I'll regret it though.  Well, adios amigos, I gotta finish cleaning house before my handsome little hubby gets home!  ahhh.... I love that man. <3

Wrappin' ~ and I ain't talking xmas presents!

WHOO! Adios FAT!

Wraps... WORK!  No lie, I've always been a skeptic, but since my cousin is some kind of wrap distributor I decided to try this body contouring wrap that she swears by.  Typically, in your first wrap you're not going to see a HUGE difference; Most people will see a difference in pics after their first wrap, but may not see any inch loss.  Now --- If you do 4 treatments in one area you should experience pretty MAJOR inch loss!  You can do it on your tummy, gut, love handles, thighs, arms, ANY problem area apparently.  I figured I'd give one a try, and if my skin seemed smoother, flatter and less fatty then I'd order a 4 pack. Welllllllllllll, I'm happy to report that I lost a little over an inch!  I'm stoked!  The temporary smell of bengay and the constant shift from ice cold to burning hot was welllllllllllll worth it!  My tummy 'pooch' is definitely smaller, and its a visible difference in clothing as well!  I am for sure ordering more!  BTW, in case your wondering -- inch loss from wraps (at least the one I used) is not causing you to lose water weight, its actually breaking down the toxins in the fatty areas where you've lost weight, but have NOT lost enough inches.  The results are permanent as long as you're taking care of yourself.   I figured I better include some photos so yall can SEE the results. (and yes. I'm mortified that I am about to post photos of my midsection.)  Enjoy! ;)  Also, when you take the wrap off it continues to work for 72 hours breaking down fat.  These photos are taken directly before application, and then the next morning following.  I should probably do one more set of photos so you can see the FINAL result.. I'm VERY VERY VERY happy with it!!!!!! I still have a long way to go, but I think I may just see a light at the end of the tunnel!

Front: Belly has less roundness and waist is more contoured. Maybe Jake's PJ pants weren't the most flattering ideas for bottoms.....

Side: This is where I've noticed the biggest difference. My tummy is nearly 100% flat! (excuse the preggo look of my before belly!)

I don't know how to say this but. .

I had an epiphany today.  I just realized that I have officially crossed over the high maintenance line.  {A line I always rode pretttty darn close}.  It dawned on me as I was winding down my day and doing some beauty-ish stuff.  I saran-wrapped on my body contouring wrap (goodbye gut!)... applied my latisse (hello long lashes!)... put on my 3D white strips (these teeth WILL glow in the dark)....rolled my hair in a sock bun for curls tomorrow (thanks, pinterest!)....and gave myself a mini-facial.  Since when did I need so much upkeep??!  Maybe it's because I'm getting older??!  Desperate times...??  Eeeek, I may need an intervention.  Or maybe it's alllllll just part of a little plan known as Operation: Get Hot for New Years. 

Well, If I don't look good by then, then I'll just give up on it...

.....until summer........