Pintercrack Addict

Over the weekend I had the grand opportunity to try a few things that I’ve stumbled across on Pinterest.  See!? Pinterest isn’t all evil.  (Let me know if you still need to join the dark side and I’ll send you an invitation.) What IS Pinterest you ask?  Ha!  Like there’s anyone that still doesn’t know. I kid. I kid.  I dragged my feet because I thought it was like another Facebook or a place where you had to visit frequently or you would be left out.  But it’s not.  Though you DO want to visit frequently cuz it’s awesome and why not?  But it really can suck the life out of you and help you waste hours of your day.  I’m really good at making things sound irresistible, n’est pas?

Ok, so Pinterest, to me, is like flipping through an online magazine that changes and updates every second.  And instead of ripping out the pages of a magazine and storing them in a pile, or if you’re really ambitious like me, you punch holes in them and put them in a binder, you create boards of collections of your different pins.  For example, all the clothing ensembles (yes, I said ensembles) go onto my board that I call, “Cuz my mom didn’t teach me how to dress.”  She actually DID teach me how to dress, sorry mom, but I didn’t learn a lot of style.  Not that my mom isn’t stylish, but how much style does a country bumpkin really need?  Now that I’m an older country bumpkin though, I’d like to dress myself in a manner other that what you can find at your local Walmart.

Ok back to why I’m blogging about Pinterest, not only did I come across the recipes for my recent truffle escapades, I came across some recipes for some natural eye makeup remover and a whole slew of DIY natural, home cleaning products.

I present to you…..my eye makeup remover. 

I copied the recipe from Frugally Sustainable and it's almost more awesome than the mini mason jar I found in a four-pack at Ross.

Then I cleaned my mirrors with this stuff. 

This picture is awesome in that you can see how clean the mirror is with the mirror cleaner front and center.  I tell you, my photog skills keep getting better and better!

PS Those are the sleeves of my very first ever 5k finishers t-shirt.  Spiffy, eh?
The mirror cleaner smells a little like you’re getting ready to dye Easter eggs (the vinegar) but it feels and smells so much better than spraying Windex all over and getting the nasty ammonia and chemical fumes in the air.

Today's workout, by the way, was running race pace intervals and some strength training.  When I was exhausted and on my way home from work, I've never been so glad that my workouts were done and that I wouldn't feel guilty about once again, not working out in the evening.

What time of day is your favorite to get your workout on?

What time of day do you ACTUALLY have to work out at?

Would you find this creepy?

Saturday morning as I was driving my youngest daughter to volleyball practice, we drove past three women that were running together.  My first thought was jealousy.  They were running.  I was not. They were running in a group.  Jealous times a whole lotta bunch!  My next thought was, “Would it be creepy to stop, roll my window down and shout to them, “I wanna run with you.  Here’s my number.  CALL MEEEEEE.” I ask you that.  Creepy?  I thought so. Dang it!

The birthday cake truffles were a hit, but even a bigger hit?!  The Oreo Truffles!!!! If I was married to bacon, I would divorce bacon in a second and marry Oreo truffles. They were THAT good!!! Now I must stop obsessing about them so I can detox myself of sugar and talk myself off the sugar ledge.

So TOTALLY the world's best food photographer!

This is the recipe I used and seriously...I should only make these never again, but I will cave. Probably many times this year. Amazing!

Teenagers...one of the reasons I run.  I'll wrap this blog up while trying to think non child harming thoughts as go play taxi cab driver to a rather sassy offspring.

The one where you take a whole week and stuff it into one blog

Well, I’ve been avoiding my blog.  For a couple of different reasons. 

1.       I’m lazy.

2.       I always seem to forget to take pictures.  (I LOVE pictures in blogs!)

3.       I’ve been busy is one of my best excuses.

4.       I avoid blogging when I get off track.

I told myself I would get back on track this morning. Then I promptly ate a bunch of chocolate.  All before lunch time.  Nice huh? (This post is brought to you at a later date.  I'm not sure what day of the week this was but it is safe to say that I've eaten too much chocolate, in the morning, every day this week.) 

 “Getting off track” for me can mean a variety of things.  Right now it means, I’m not tracking all my food and I’m not strength training.  See, I’m not horribly off track, I’m just not being perfect.  I can be very hard on myself.  I have very high expectations.  Not a bad thing all together.

In order to get my blog back on track, we will now buckle down and conclude this blog with a speedy catch-up post and see if you can follow my insanity.  Or at the very least, pick out tiny tid bits that don’t put you to sleep.

I ran in honor of Sherry Arnold last Saturday.  That was awesome.  Another runner passed by me and gave me a high five.  I cried. The running community = awesome.

It's hard to take pictures when you're alone.

I went on a mini overnight trip with my hubs.  No kids.  It was awesome. (I think everything is awesome?)

We ate lots of good food. I had the most amazing mushroom ravioli.  To die.  Then we drove over the mountain pass to get my girls from their dad's house....and we didn't get stuck on the highway for eight hours due to a freak windstorm like last year. That was nice.  That we didn't get stuck.  When we were stuck, that was not nice.  Huge line of cars, no trees to sneak off into, not prepared to be stuck in a vehicle for 8 hours, limited cell coverage on just one of the two cell phones with us.  Big time suck.

My firstborn babes turned 15!!  I can’t believe it.

She didn’t pass her permit test on her first try.  My heart broke for her little pouty lip and devastated soul. (She tries again on Friday! Which is today…which shows you how bad I am at getting around to blogging!)

Valentines Day – oodles of chocolate.  A love/hate but mostly love relationship.

Umm…so what is today? Ha!

Gearing up for the weekend.  Maybe you'd like a little preview since I probably will be lame and not blog at all.  And I know you all live vicariously through my blog.  Ha!  Excuse me now while I die laughing hysterically.

K I'm back.

Slumber party for the birthday girl tonight.  Please Lord, I would like to survive this one. 

Two birthday parties over the weekend.

Two volleyball shin digs...one practice and one tournament.

One day off on Monday which hopefully my body will let me sleep in. 

Oh and I'm hoping that the b-day girl will let me make these tomorrow night in lieu of a cake!!



Stolen from Chef in Training's blog



And um, I should probably stop eating chocolate, start back with my strength training, and uh..run?

Wrap-up of Oxygen's January 2012 Issue

In case you forgot, it’s FEBRUARY!  That means a new issue of Oxygen needs my attention.  I had some great fun with January’s issue.  The bestest was when I worked out with my daughter and tried to make her wet her pants.

So to wrap up the January issue, I must say, I’m a little sad to see it end.  The month that is.  It didn’t go according to plan.  On the other hand, February is a fresh new start and I learned a lot in January.

These were my favorite articles, workouts, recipes, and other tips that jumped out at me.  (I may or may not have ripped them out to save for later.  You never want any of my old magazines.)

PG 88 Your Best Body Plan – loved this workout.  It was easy to do at home and easy to modify to the equipment I had on hand.  Best thing was that I could fit two rounds in in right around 30 minutes.

Jump start your day-PG 84…I yanked this out to put in my workout binder .  It’s a whole body workout with just body weight, dumbbells, and a bench/chair.  You could easily pack a resistance band and do this workout on the road.  No big dealio.

The Form Journal PG 69 which is a clip it out feature…I clipped it out for my binder.  I always love this section at it focuses on a muscle/group and shows you the proper form and technique.

Oh let’s see…I guess I’m going to give chia seeds Pg 59 another chance.  This article was on whisking them with water and combining with mashed strawberries to create a jam.  I’m wondering if it would work on other fruits?  If I like it, this would be a great alternative to my love affair with jam.  Mainly blackberry.

I never did try the no-butter chicken PG 51 , so I yanked it to try.  Let’s try for this month, k Amee?

I DID try the tuna tacos Pg 97  and I just didn’t care for them.  That’s because I just really don’t like tuna.  I can eat it, but it’s not fave.  I could easily tweak this though and make it better.  I’d do that my mashing the avocado in with the tuna and adding some hot sauce.  I forgot to use the lime with their recipe too.  It’s still sitting in my basket in the fridge.

I pulled these two pages as it talks about finishers PG 104-105 .  Not really sure what they are but I think it’s a move you do after another move and there’s some sort of benefit.  I’m very helpful huh?

87 WAYS to a Healthier, Fitter, and More Vivacious You Pg 78-82. Usually in any magazine that has numbered ways to do things, I get overwhelmed and ignore. I mean, with all these magazines there is rarely anything new...a lunge is a lunge is a lunge, right?  But I keep coming back for the pretty pictures and the inspiration and motivation from seeing women that obviously do the lunges successfully.  Ok so back to the article.  I was surprised at myself that this one caught my attention.  Maybe because the 87 ways were divided into sections.  The two that caught my eye the most was Small tweaks at the gym, and master the slow cooker.  There's an intriguing recipe for Chicken, Sweet potato and white bean chili.  I HEART my slow cooker!

That concludes my fancy pants review of Oxygen's January 2012 issue.  You probably should subscribe if you're not already.  I don't get anything out of your subscribing other than now we can flip through the pages together and pick out which workout clothes we like best, and if we like the models hair or not.  And yeah, the models are super ripped.  Fave.

Oh one more thing...their website has a section called the Covergirl Insider...where you get a little bit more information, specific to that cover girl.  Well you know I didn't care for Tosca's pink swimsuit, but check this feature out.  She shares a recipe, one of her favorite playlists, a video...and more cool stuff.  The playlists are great as I always get some new ideas.

As ever, helping you to be a better stalker, 
Amee

PS There is a single serving recipe in the February issue for a chocolate something-or-other.  It's healthy.  It's chocolate.  I die.

Do you have a subscription?  Anything you want to add?  Did something jump out at you that you really ought to share with me?  This girl doesn't care for the magazine, so don't pay attention to her.  She is still awesome though. Mwah Jen!

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams

I’m pre-apologizing.  You’ve been warned.  The randomness that is about to happen is brought to you by a head cold, my daughter’s volleyball schedule, shark week, numerous migraines/headaches, and oh yeah…sometimes I’m lazy.

Robin Leach - Does anyone remember him?  The only reason I posted this picture was because of his show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" which I totally forgot about until I typed the word caviar below.  Yes. I am old. But I'm diggin his vest.

 Looking back at the month of January, I can say with certainty that I was not successful in reaching my goals.  HOWEVER, it was great of me to write them down, they did motivate me to push forward, and while I did fail in all a lot of areas, the failing is a good thing.  It means I tried.

Baby steps. 

The funny thing about the head cold I caught?  My husband said his allergies were acting up.  So the next morning when I woke up with his cat allergies? I stuck my freezing feet between his warm legs.  To thank him.  I’m kidding.  I just gave him the silent treatment because my throat hurt so much.  Come to think of it, he probably enjoyed the silent treatment for a change?

The migraines?  It’s a long story.  I’ve been getting them all my life.  They have, within the last 4-6 months, gotten much worse.  I thought I grew out of that phase? So I’m making a tweak  and getting off my birth control pills, I mean…five kids between the two of us is four too many.  Kidding.  The kid part…not kidding about getting off the pills.  I used them to make life easier, or so I thought, and I thought I could live with the health risks of messing with my hormones because the benefits of being on the pill would outweigh that.  Not so much.  I’m certain the pills were creating more of a problem so I’m going to give my body a chance to readjust and hopefully I’ll be able to get back to the days of being miserable from cramps for a day and  buying stock in Tampax.  I’ll take that any month over being greeted with a migraine and/or headache for  five days in a row.

So looking back at January and what didn’t happen:

• Finish Unlimited by Jillian Michaels. (I made it to Chapter 7!  That's halfway done.)
• Take my multivitamin, daily. (Well, nope.  They sometimes upset my tummy and when I'm feeling all yuck and nauseous, I just don't want to rock the boat.)
• Go to a yoga class at the gym. (Nope, this did not happen.  I did quite a bit of yoga at home though.)
• Move it for 31 minutes...31 days in a row. (Haha nope)

So now for February:

• Track allllll of my food.  (I use Sparkpeople! And by tracking I mean, count my calories and keep it within my range.  Which we can talk about in a separate blog.)
• Exercise 30 minutes for 29 days straight.
• Finish Unlimited - only seven more chapters to go.

My reward? A pair of TOMS ballet flats.  Drool. 

Oh yeah, and I want to lose 8 pounds.  I'm not putting that as part of the "must do" to earn my reward since I figure that if I count my calories and get my exercise streak on, that that right there will help me lose the weight. 

Awkward jump to another random topic.  Begin now. 

Here’s a quick glimpse of my breakfast, Monday through Friday for the last four years.  Ok, maybe I exaggerate.  But I always come back to my oatmeal.  I make it last minute at home and manage to eat it on my way to work.  Doing so is always harder in the winter months when snow and ice is on the road, but then, I’m a rockstar.

Not stirred.  And as gross as this looks, it really is Scrumptious. Mhmm with a capital S.

What’s in the bowl:

40 grams of Old Fashioned oats

.5 oz walnuts

1 T of ground flax seed

1 Packet of Stevia

Couple of dashes of cinnamon

I make up the baggies of oatmeal on Sunday evening so my morning prep is even faster.  I’ve given up on styling my hair now so that gives me another 15 minutes in my morning.  You think I’m kidding.

Recently, I have added chia seeds to my oatmeal.  Detest.  I do not like it when the chia seeds gang up and clump together in a gelatinous wad of (yeah, I said wad) of crunchy goo.  Too many times I caught myself wanting to hurl.  Doing that while driving just wouldn’t be cool.  Plus, I would be late to work.

I have added bee pollen to my oatmeal before as well.  Egg whites.  Fruit, of course. And different kinds of nuts.  Bee pollen, mheh.  Egg whites are fine, but remember, I’m not even brushing my hair these days.  Fruit is good, but I’d have to give up putting on jewelry to manage the time for that.  So the above works for me and keeps me full until snack time at 10am.

PS I wish my work had a mandatory nap time in addition to our lunch our.  Greatest idea EVER!

PPS So when you get sick, do you just dislike talking to everyone?  I do.

PPPS I struggle with little balls of things.  Do you?  Like the chia seeds...not a big fan of poppy seeds. (Someone once told me they were ant heads.  I know now they are not. Still yuck.)  I'm ok with sesame seeds though.  Quinoa can sometimes rub me the wrong way, and you want to know what's grosser than gross?  The little orange ball thingies in some sushi rolls.  They are ok with the whole sushi bite but if you get one stuck in your teeth and then discover it an hour later?  Oh man, clear the deck!  I would not do well with caviar.

What is that orange stuff called?


Hurl.  How much would someone have to pay you to eat that.  I would do it for $20 bucks if you included free mouth wash and floss.