Oxygen Magazine - January 2012 Issue - Review Part 1

My workout this morning was fueled only because I made it a goal to exercise for 31 minutes, 31 days in a row. My other two workouts, and yeah, I think I only worked out twice on my vacation, well, they were fueled with Reeses PB cups. I said WITH, not by. Meaning, I didn’t work out because I ate them, I worked out WHILE eating them. Kind of a mute point? Wait...moot point? Mhmm.

So today, I tried out the “Living Room Fat Blaster” workout in Oxygen’s January 2012. To get more out of my subscription, I thought I might actually review each issue right here, on my BLOG! What normally happens is that my issue arrives, I go through it quickly looking at all the pictures, a few articles jump out at me and I think, “Ooh! I must try that.” And then life happens and another issue arrives. Vicious cycle I tell ya!

Aren't my slippers cute? They are Reefs and hubby bought them for me just because...because my feet are so vein-y and he wants them covered up.


Oh so the workout…I liked. I made a small tweak though and worked out in my bedroom instead of my living room. Call me crazy! Really, the only equipment required was two resistance bands and a bench. I have a step that I used for the step ups since the bench at the foot of my bed…well I’d hit my head on the ceiling if I used it for the step ups. The actual workout was a circuit that you go through twice with minimal rest in between each exercise alternating between a burst of cardio and a strength move. Because you move so quickly through the exercises, you really have no chance to get bored.

Turn yur head sideways cuz Amee is too lazy to edit her pics before she posts them. ha!

I’m going to stick with this workout three times a week as the first two weeks are to ease you into it, and then you add on another circuit with a couple of different variations for weeks 3 & 4.

Some of the recipes I’d like to try are:

No-Butter Chicken
Tuna Tacos (which I bought the stuff to make those)
PB Strawberry Chia Jam Sandwich (Buts I needs the seeds first…where to get local peeps? Freddies? Or Sherms…which would be better?

On the cover…Tosca in a pink one piece? She can rock a two piece and I wish that they had used a different shot. But what do I know? All I know is that the cover isn’t too appealing to me. I love pink, but the suit is a snoozer.

Loved the article about green tea and I’m excited to get back to my huge stash of it at work.

Lastly, I always ALWAYS flip to the “Are you next” section first. And the first thing I do is look at how tall the featured readers are. The tallest one is 5’6”, boo. I like to compare the heights and weights and always find it amazing, even though I know the science behind it, to see women that weigh more but look better and smaller than a woman with less muscle. Very fun! It’s inspiring, even though my results will be individual and unique, but inspiring still to find a woman close to my height that is in great shape and to cut her head off and place my head with her body. One day, I will be in that section of the magazine!
If you don’t have the January issue yet, you should probably go get it and subscribe because we are going to have fun with this. Unless you’re a dude. You probably wouldn’t dig this magazine.

Do you have this issue?
What recipes are you going to try?
Which workout?
More importantly, what did you think of the cover and the suiiitsnooooorrre???

Happy New Year - I know, original right?

Funny!

I did lots of super productive things today. Namely, I watched 2.25 episodes of Dexter that had racked up on my DVR. The .25 came from an episode that I fell asleep during an evening of chilling out with the hubs. I think it’s important to mention here that he was watching the episodes with me…so there were more than two lazy bums in the house today. We also have the finale to watch later this evening. I know, wild and crazy kids. I think it’s also important to mention that during our regular “scheduled” lives, aka, the kids are in school and I’m not on vacation and I’m also getting up at 4:25am to go run, that it takes me over three evenings to watch just one half hour episode of a syndicated Big Bang Theory. This is even sadder because when you DVR a half hour show and skip all of the commercials, you only end up with about 12 minutes of real show. Breaking it down into three segments you have:

Evening #1 Begin the episode for the first time. Fall asleep during the first commercial break while your husband is fast forwarding.
Evening #2 Spend precious time fast forwarding to the spot you last remember before you started drooling on your pillow on evening #1 and fall asleep during the second commercial break, exhausted from just trying to find your spot again. And lastly,
Evening #3 fast forward almost to the end and watch the last 2 minutes you missed on Evening #2.

The moral of the story is, watching tv rots your brain but watching Dexter makes you an expert in Miami homicide.

PS I’m now officially caught up on Dexter and will have disturbed sleep patterns for roughly the next two weeks due to the gory images and disturbing thematic material. AKA my mom knew what she was doing when she didn't let me watch scary movies until I was 34.

So to sum up my very first day of the new year? Let’s just hope that my activity level for the day isn’t going to set the tone for the remaining 365. It’s a leap year! I still have 365 days left to kick butt!

Speaking of kicking butt…my goals for January!! (I guess I should add that my one resolution for the year is to make monthly goals. Although, I do have a few goals for the year so far. I’ll add more to it as I go. Maybe. Since I’m chill like that.

Yearly, it looks like this:
Run my third marathon.
Run maybe my fourth, or perhaps my first half marathon!
Develop an overall positive and thankful attitude.
Oh and to lose 25 or so pounds.
Oh AND to blog regularly. Blogging helps hold me accountable. By regularly, let's go with at least one post per week.

So specifically, for January. This new month of 2012...Yay! My goals are to:

Finish Unlimited by Jillian Michaels. I'm really great at starting a book and not finishing it. This one wasn't started too long ago though so I'm not in that, "Ughh...finish the book!" mode quite yet.

Go to a yoga class at the gym. This one scares me!

Take my multivitamin, daily.

Oh and lastly, move it for 31 minutes...31 days in a row. Whether it's running, strength training, yoga, or what have you. I'm going to create myself some consistency.

Lose 8 pounds

Run 65 Miles

Include one session of yoga each week

Focus on breakfasts and cleaning it up. (I currently have a bowl of oatmeal each morning with walnuts, cinnamon, and stevia. Clean, yep, but I was thinking of adding some protein…more than just what’s in the walnuts.)

Hey, guess what? The benefits of me blogging more regularly? My posts won’t be so long winded and jumbled. Bwaahhaaahaa!! Who am I kidding?!

Road Trip!

Ten hour car trip? Teach yourself how to knit, I always say!

Going through Gig Harbor, WA, to get to our final destination of Port Angeles.

Random bridge picture for the year!

I'm sure there has to be a fro-yo place around here somewhere but SOMEONE will barely bring the car to a stop to let me out to pee. I've gotten pretty good at rolling the landings, taking most of the force in my left shoulder. Kidding, I am.

Don't feel too bad for me. Soon I will have access to all the free Dairy Queen a girl could want.

Hi mom! We're home!!

What is your favorite blizzard? And I don't want to hear that you don't like them or any of that crap. Mine is pb cup (shocking!) Made with chocolate ice cream.

PS First blizzard down the hatch.

If you're chubby and you know it clap your hands

Yesterday’s workout: Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred with a side of Reese’s PB Cup Trees. Two to be exact. Cuz I hear that candy is the perfect way to make sure you’re fueled properly for lifting weights.



The rest of the week is a vacation week for me. I remembered one of the reasons I like leaving the house each day to go to work. Two reasons actually. The first is that I remember to eat on a schedule. I like me some schedules. I try and put myself on one over the weekends but it’s rare for me to be successful. The other reason is that I’m pretty good at finding where my husband stashes the chocolate. Relax. It’s my chocolate that I’ve asked him to hide for me. I wouldn’t eat his. Unless he left it out in the open. Or shoved it to the back of his sock drawer. Fair game. That’s what I say.

Speaking of vacation, I seem to have taken one from running again. I know I’ll be back at it and I do have a cut off date for being a slacker. Wanna take a guess as to what date that is? I know I will be working on my goals for the New Year. Anyone want to tell me their’s so I can just copy them? If getting pregnant is one of them, you can shove it though.

I’m sure you’ve been on the edge of your seats and dying to know what other perfumes I’ve tried? Ms. Pucci by Emilio Pucci practically jumped out of the basket. The picture of the bottle looked interesting and I thought it might be sophisticated and classy for Christmas festivities...but it lasted only two days. The little pump was whacky and didn’t work well but even so, there just didn’t seem to be much of a sample in it. And I couldn’t see how much was in there since the little vial was white. Poochy…that’s what goes through my mind. You are what you spray, don’t they say? SO a big poochy no to Miss Pucci.


They say:

Youthful, fresh, and seductive, miss Pucci is undeniably modern while opening a window to the retro Pucci lifestyle of vibrant color, perpetual motion, and sun-soaked destinations. This sparkling musky floral comes alive with the elegance of magnolia and the lightness of Sicilian winter lemon, playfully blossoming to heart notes of Turkish rose and seductive Comoros ylang-ylang. Its base lingers on woody Texas cedar, powdered iris from Florence, and the delicate sensuality of white musk.

The bottle, created by Parisian designer Ora Ito, uses kaleidoscopic ribbons of color to playfully tie together feelings of freedom, sophistication, and beautiful style that belong to the quintessential "Pucci girl."

All I picked up on from that description was Poochy Girl. ha! It was rather strong and flowery, but decent. I would have like to have tried more of it for a longer time frame. Especially by Escada still gets my vote out of what I’ve sampled so far.


Boyfriend by Kate Walsh was next up. I dressed up all sporty spice today and wanted something kind of clean and sporty. I thought Boyfriend would be right up my alley. The blurb said something about “You love your boyfriend, so why don’t you wear him?” Yeah, something like that.



They say:

You don't need a boyfriend to have Boyfriend, the new fragrance created by "Private Practice" star Kate Walsh. Inspired by the longing felt for her boyfriend's warm scent, Boyfriend combines muguet, dark plum, myrrh, and night blooming jasmine to create a seductive floral fragrance. Topped off with amber and woody musk, this intoxicating scent includes all the notes that make your eyes roll—just like him.

Umm…a little strong and not something I would want my boyfriend to smell like. And that got me thinking…why would I want to smell like a boy? Isn’t that kind of creepy then if my husband were to really dig that scent on me? And I said dig cuz he would say dig. “I’m digging that you smell like a dude.“ Creepy. If I wanted to smell like my boyfriend then I would wear his cologne and start growing a beard? Ok not. Just stick with the pajama shirt or steal his favorite hoodie. That’s what I do.

Ok, so back to New Years. What do you have in the works?

Are you going to be lame with me and set some resolutions?!!

This is your brain on Pinterest

In an effort to give a little more emphasis on the “do stuff” part of this blog, I thought I might bless you with my offerings of craftiness. But first, lemme tell you that I survived some last minute, Christmas shopping! (And I guess I should fess up now that I intended to post this on Christmas Eve BUT, wrapping presents and showing up on my parent’s doorstep for a surprise, “Hey do you have any leftovers for dinner?”…well it all got the best of me. PS Mom, the lasagna was amazing!)

The survival must all be in part to my super Ghost Protocol spy skills I picked up. Great movie! For however long the movie was, I forgot that I think Tom Cruise is a whack-job. He is THAT good of an actor, I guess. This guy is the one that I was curious about and almost forgot that I needed to google him when I got home. Google not ogle. He’s no Will Smith. For sure. He’s ok. The end.


Oh! Guess how my morning started?! I was reading a favorite running blog of mine called Shut Up and Run. Beth, my new BFF (Cuz I asked her if it meant that we were and she said yes. The proof is in the email!) was announcing the giveaway for a sports endurance drink called Zipfizz. So I was reading who the winner was, and I was all like, “Hey the winner spells her name just like me. Weird.” Oh and “Hey, her blog has the same name!” And then I read, “and she’s lost 100 pounds.” And I was all like, “HOLY CRAP that ISSSS me!” Completely excited and mortified at the same time!! Cuz it’s not everyday that someone announces for you to the internet, “This chick used to be fat!” So yeah, that’s me. All lucky and crap. With a new BFF that has encouraged me through her blog that it is fine and dandy to share TMI issues when it relates to running. And even when it doesn’t. Lucky for you that only consists of tinkle triumphs. Like this one. I’ll be sure to tell you all about the Zipfizz when it makes it’s way to my doorstep.

Wrapping up a storm here in the Sandhu house. I always say I won’t wait until the last minute. Haha!! I wet my pants laughing. (See, I told you it doesn't always relate to running.)Maybe next year?

The "Do Stuff" part:

Behold, the snazziest and easiest Christmas decoration I have made in…well, years. I put the crafty side of my multiple personalities away for a long time. It’s BREAKIN’ FREE I tell ya!

I also discovered after making a few of these puppies that olive oil does in-deedy remove spray adhesive and will unstick your thumb from your pointer finger. That or you could wear gloves. I LURV me some glitter. I’d say the shiny stuff and not the movie, but I haven’t seen the movie. And I will never.


Next up on the agenda is a little money/gift card holder that I made for our secret santa exchange at work. Plastered all over the “About me” sheet I received from my coworker was the word Farmville. Hey, whatever floats her farmyard. I couldn’t NOT get her a gift card yet I wanted something to snazz it up a bit. I followed this tutorial that I found on Pinterest. Yes, Pinterest is my new black tar heroine. And don’t be silly, I’ve never touched the stuff. This was rather easy to make…next one will be easier. She got the guinea pig you could say. But very cute, no? Ooooh the ideas to make more!


Laps make the perfect backdrop for small homemade gift items.



After I purchased my first no slip headband, I was all like, “Hey, I could make these.” And so I did. Everyone around me has been getting them for gifts. Girls mainly. With hair…to keep out of their face. And ones that like to work up a sweat. Although, I have worn different versions to work. I even sold my first three headbands. Rather I was coerced into selling them. Basically she said, “I want three and I WILL PAY YOU!” I was way too scared to shout back “NO YOU WILL NOT GIVE ME MONEY!!!” And besides, I’m really not that much of an idiot.

Because laptops might be a better backdrop than laps. I just keep getting better and better!

It’s obvious that the day we call Christmas has come and gone. I’m sincerely hoping that all my friends don’t hate me because I didn’t send out “Merry Christmas” texts nor did I post a thing on Facebook. I moped around a bit because it was my first Christmas without my girls. You should feel sorry for me. HOWEVER THEY DOOOOO COME HOME TODAY!! And we will pretend it’s Christmas day all over again. Complete with monkey bread! And probably less tears on my part.

And now, I need to quit wasting my time with this blog and go shoot up some Pinterest!

Especially Stupid

I knew that you would all be highly entertained or just mildly interested in knowing that I have a slight obsession with perfumes. I am definitely NOT one of those that wears perfume to the gym so don't get your spandex in a bunch!

A recent order to Sephora online scored me a deluxe sample of perfumes for free. Freeeeeeee! There were 12 samples but 4 of them were for men. Boo to that but yay on the cheap yet maybe tacky stocking stuffers for the hubs?

(Sephora is awesome for peeps like me that only have access to fine establishments like Walmart when you run out of your favorite eye shadow. Shipping is free when you purchase over $50 and the samples and specials are always fun little extras! I have been known to go in to a Sephora to try stuff out but then purchase the items online cuz you get way more freebies.)

Ummkay, long winded squeal about Sephora over. Here's my somewhat opinionated but not too in depth blabbering:

The first one I tried a couple of weeks ago was Jennifer Anniston's new fragrance. Guess what it is called?!?! JENNIFER ANNISTON! (All caps and the exclamation point are all my own emphasis. I know, I'm cool.) I'll have to save that one for later, but I'll leave you with this. Sadly Sadly. Unimpressed. But I'm not saying I've given up hope on it yet! The next sample I reached for after breaking up with Jen was Escada's "Especially".


Not my picture. And much bigger than the little vial I have.

Oh no! I forgot to tell you that I'm not good at describing things well. Certainly not in a way that might make sense...scents HA!...to a real perfume expert. This one smells a little sharp and soapy. Still feminine but not all flowery. I think it smells grown up but not old lady-ish too...classy I guess? But then I am turning into an old lady, so what do I know.

Basically, I like it and have received two compliments from coworkers that it smells nice. Bonus! Just for hoots, I went and read what the "experts" really say about this perfume. Guess I won't ever be working in marketing for Escada.Go buy some and tell them you like my description better!

Would I buy the perfume? Yep
Would I pick it over Jennifer Anniston's perfume? In a heartbeat! Unless you made me say it to her face. In that case, I would give her a dozen cake pops and ask if we could French braid each other's hair.


THEIR Description:

Especially Escada
A luxurious and feminine scent, Especially Escada carries a joyful, spontaneous, and glamorous spirit. Inspired by the glistening scent of morning dew on a sparkling rose, Especially Escada says luxury, but in a modern and light-hearted way.

The fragrance opens with a sparkling top note of pear and combines with the exotic notes of ambrette seeds. A luxurious combination of rose and ylang ylang radiates a fresh and natural aura of floral joy and happiness. Light musky notes complete the scent, adding a subtle touch of femininity.

Notes:
Pear, Rose, Ambrette Seeds, Ylang Ylang, Musky Notes.
Style:
Bright. Delicate. Sparkling.

Oh look! Bar wears this stuff. Maybe my hair, and body, and face will look like her's if I start wearing this stuff?!

My description versus theirs? Leaves room for imagination?

What perfume is your current fave?I've tried a lot but not a ton and now, I can't remember any names of them. If you show me the bottles I could tell you if I've tried it a lot.

PS That reminds me-as a kid, my mom always wore Toujours Moi by Coty I think it was? I would save up and buy her a bottle from Payless...back when it was not a shoe store...and before it was bought out by Rite-Aid. It's wear the cool kids shopped. Shut up.

The Paloooooza of all things that are Weddings/Thanksgiving and Fro-yo!

Paraphrasing to me is like the unedited version of “War and Peace.” But the good thing about me is that I never give up. So let’s try this puppy!

The Sunday before Thanksgiving (too lazy to see what the date was) we had our Thanksgiving dinner. Just our family…all seven of us. And then my parent’s and bro came over for dessert. I was pleasantly surprised that we pulled off the dinner so well and no one got strangled or murdered.

Then there was this whole blur of a week in which the hubs left with a few of the kids and then I joined him with the rest of the kids for a little shindig that we will call, “A small, quiet, uneventful wedding.” SQUW for short. And secretly I’m dying laughing inside at my private joke. It was Shamu’s sister’s wedding. Younger and the only sister. ANYTHING with his side is never small, never quiet, and never uneventful. So combine the younger and only sister part with his family and let your imagination go. The end.

I kid. That’s not the end. But remember…I’m trying to keep this short.

So we drove 5 hours on T-Day to the land that some people like to call California. We ate at Del Taco. Gross! Got a tattoo. Cool!

 

Not impressed with The Taco that is Del, but was thankful that they were open and that I was able to get back to the hotel without getting lost.

 

Here's the mehndi aka henna before. Interesting little note: I slept with my bangles on so it wouldn't scrape the henna off. In the morning, it looked like I had slept with a bunch of rats that had pooped the bed.

 

In the morning after I had picked and scraped off the henna. That's my one daughter's hand. (I don't have two left hands. And that's my hubs in the background. Not wearing pajamas. That's actually part of what he wore to the wedding.)


SQUW Black Friday….wedding. Lots of waiting around. Lots of not understanding what was going on because everyone speaks Punjabi but me. Lots of just observing and staying out of the way…which is easy because we weren’t important, we don’t speak Punjabi, and everyone else was caught up in what they were doing so we got forgotten about. Occasionally I would hear a, “Where’s Amee.” Uh…you’ll find that flower…over on a wall. Hiding somewhere. Wall flower…get it?!

 

Here I am though standing next to my sister in law. She's rather gorgeous, right?


SQUW Saturday…the reception. This day was totally more fun because alcohol was involved!

 

I just adore this fool.

 

My oldest daughter and I. She is wearing her first sari. She has only worn suits and lenghas before.


SQUW Sunday…drove home. Uneventful...exhausted.

I only squeezed in one run on Saturday. However I DID squeeze in two trips to two different fro-yo shops!

 

Running with mehndhi at Maidu Park in Roseville, CA.

 

Guess which one was mine? Hint: the one that is smothered with Almond Roca pieces! Yotopia was our fave fave but the Big Spoon that we had the night before was good...just not fave. Neither place beats Yogurtland but put's Klamath's Frosty Spoon to a pitiful shame.


And then from Monday to today…it’s been a blur of life, trying to recover from exhaustion, and trying not to murder anyone cuz it’s shark week. I have progressed from having the urge to punch people to just, hey let’s just get it over and call it homicide.

Oh yeah, and there was a little addiction I got invited to called Pinterest.

THE END! Woot to the keep-one-eye-open- or- you- might- wake- up-dead hoo!