Taking care of YOU!

Taking care of you. Hmmm...let's take a moment and think on that one. 

Whether you are a man or a woman taking care of you is probably the single most important thing. Life gets super busy whether you are a teen in school, a young adult in college, a recent grad single and looking for a job, someone settled in a career, newlyweds, families, I could keep listing but it seems that in today's society taking care of ourselves goes by the wayside. But, it shouldn't. As if we don't, we can't possibly give 100% to those we love and the things we love.

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At some point we begin to feel empty. We need to recharge. Right now I'm not going to harp on eating healthy and exercising, although those are one way to recharge. But, I'm talking about recharging and focusing on your body for the minute and getting some time alone. You may say but I don't have time for that! There is a lot we don't have time for, but we make time for it because we want to. So, you is something you should take time out to recharge.

Even when I worked full time each and every evening I'd take 15 minutes (honestly it was usually after the kiddo went to sleep) and take a nice hot bubble bath. I'd close the door, turn on some relaxing music, read a book. Just get away from everyone and have some me time. That's just one small way I'd re-energize each day. Each week though I do try and take some time out by getting a mani and a pedi. I know not every one can afford this luxury. Heck, honestly, I don't afford the luxury...I do my own mani and pedi. It's easy and I lock myself in my bathroom and just take the time out.

Here are other ways to take time for yourself:

• walk
• massage
• hair cut/dye
• eye brow waxing/threading
• reading
• get a coffee alone
• have lunch with a friend

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These are just some ways that I take a time out. There are of course several others, just do what makes you happy! These things don't have to cost money as you can see many are free, you just have to know when to tell those around you I need a 15 minute break...you'd be amazed at what it can do for you!

Now, next week I am going to have a post on how to do an at home mani. To get ready check out these homemade beauty products and make a few so you are ready:

• Cuticle Oil
• Cuticle Exfoliator
• Lavender Coconut Moisturizer

These are some easy to put together products that will make your mani glorious!

What is your favorite way to relax and take a time out? Also, do you have a date with yourself?

What I Ate Wednesday/WOD's #12

Last week I was so discombobulated! We had just gotten back from a month long vacation in FL, dd had a good friend come in from FL, so we were just moovin’ and groovin’ all week so I did not get around to doing a WIAW and my WODs! I was disappointed, but I am back in full swing now!

Workouts! 

Since the 31^st of July I’ve been back at my T25. You can read about my first week of it here. Well, while on vacation I feel off the wagon because my brother and sister in law were with me and we wanted to do stuff together like run, make up our own boot camps, and kayak.  So, that being said, this is what my schedule has looked like over the last two weeks:

Alpha:

July 31^st-August 6^th

31^st-Cardio

1^st-Rest; took the teen & friend hiking up to a waterfall

2^nd-Speed 1.0

3^rd-Total Body Circuit

4^th-Ab Intervals

5^th-Cardio & Lower focus (I do cardio first so I can get a good sweat going, lower focus gives you a great sweat don’t get me wrong, but something about the cardio is just more intense and I like to get that over with)

6^th-Rest

• After this week I wasn't too terribly sore. I felt like I had good workouts, but I wasn't complaining every time I moved….

August 7^th-August 13^th

7^th-Cardio

8^th-Total Body Circuit

***After TBC I woke up on the 9^th and was sooooo sore all over!!!! I was exhausted! But, I still got on it….

9^th-Speed 1.0

10^th-Lover Focus and Ab Intervals (This was our date night and I didn’t want to do a doubles the day after a long night, so I switched them ;))

****So glad I switched doubles and cardio…I was so tired after our evening out I almost didn’t do cardio on the 11^th, but since I have an awesomely supportive hubby he encouraged me to get it done and I did! It did impress upon me how important it is for me to not stuff my body with crap because it was a hard workout after eating an apple fritter the size of my head for breakfast and lunch :-/

11^th-Cardio

12^th-Rest day; just stretching

13^th-Rest day; just stretching

Coming up this week is Week 3 of Alpha Phase of Focus T25. It starts with Total Body Circuit and ends with a double of Total Body Circuit and Ab intervals.

My goals for this week: Complete week 3 of T25, run a total of 4 miles; stretch every morning and every night focusing on the splits.

Now here is a sampling of what I've eaten the last couple of weeks!

This is what I had for lunch prior to getting on the plane:

Cracker Barrel Pecan Pancakes. They were scrumptious!

This is our dinner on the plane that my sweet Mom made us:

It was a GIANT sandwich for us to split, purple grapes and green onions (my daughter loves raw onions lol), freeze dried apple slices, and freeze dried peach and peach slices. We snacked on this all throughout the day. Hubby brought us snacks when we got home but we were so full we didn’t need them!

This was my lunch when we went to Seattle, WA to pick up the teen’s friend from the airport. 

We stopped at Panera and I had this awesome corn soup, apple, and some Mediterranean sandwich. I’d never had Feta before this sandwich and I’m a fan!

This series of pictures is from the day we drove up to Squamish. We took the kids to see a cove (great beach area for some hiking and walking, beautiful scenery) and then we hiked through the mountains a bit to see a waterfall. After all that we were hungry so we hunted down this amazing little BBQ place in Squamish. We just got a big meal for everyone to split:

BBQ Chicken

Ribs, Brisket, and Pulled Pork

Macaroni and Cheese (this was strange as I think the noodles were covered in Turmeric then it just had a bunch of fresh cheddar on top), Hash (shoes string fries, like hash browns almost), and creamed corn with what I think is Siracha on top (I’ve never had that but it was ketchup like but spicy), the salad our vegetarian got, and a few of the sauces.

Last is the BEST lemonade EVER! It’s a special for the summer from Boylan’s. All real ingredients and super delish!

This was my farmer’s market haul from the 3^rd. I got 3 different types of garlic…how many of you knew there were different types of garlic???? I certainly did not! I love going and learning new things about my food!

This isn’t something I ate but it’s hilarious:

$36 at Costco will get you  this GIANT tub of Nutella! I think I may go back upon the suggestion of a friend as a gag gift for the teen for Christmas or Birthday. This picture doesn’t do it justice but it was HUGE!!!!

These are some free latte’s we got when at Pike’s Place Market/The Waterfront when in Seattle last week. Can’t beat free coffee! ;)

This was breakfast one day. The egg was a bit over cooked, but I’ll get the timing right soon. It was tasty!

My farmer’s market haul from the 10^th. So much delicious cheese! The crème frais is amazing! It’s super fresh and doesn’t have all the fatty filler like regular cream cheese. Plus it has a touch of raspberry in it…can’t beat it!! I have an amazing recipe using that and the strawberries coming up Friday!

The next few pictures are of our New Restaurant Friday Saturday. We went to Eighteen Twenty Seven in Langley. We were out that way for a party and it had amazing Yelp reviews. You can read mine here.

This is the Belinitini I had. Love the colouring of it and it was totally delicious!

My meal was seared halibut, a risotto cake, and fresh veggies. I am working on recreating that risotto cake. Amazing!

This is the apple fritter that made my workout Sunday less than stellar! As you can see it was GIANT. I wasn’t kidding! It’s from this great new bakery we found by our house called La Breka. Local and fresh, can’t resist a pastry like that!

Well, that’s it for this week’s edition! What was your favourite food from this last week??????????

Meal Plan Monday #18

Linking up at: OrgJunkie!

Happy Monday, Everyone!! I haven't been blogging too much the past couple of weeks. With summer upon us it sadly went a bit by the wayside. Up here in Vancouver we have to take advantage of the beautiful weather when we have it otherwise we risk regretting it around mid-November! ;) We've been doing a ton of hiking, saw a real, very large waterfall, and some other beautiful scenery. But, we are on the countdown for back to school. The kiddo is in the last three weeks of summer filled with camps and other various back to school activities. So, that being said things should get back to normal so I can really get back into this blogging thing. I have tons of great posts coming up! But, that's not what we are here for without further ado....here is my meal plan for the week!

These are the items I got from the farmer's market...they are going the be the stars of my meals this week....

First, don't forget to clean out your kitchen and toss any expired or questionable food, leftovers make sure to make them the star of a meal Monday or Tuesday!!!

Snacks
Mostly consisting of fresh strawberries, cherries, and bananas, popcorn, almonds and creme frais (fresh cream cheese from the farmer's market), and ham

Breakfast
Monday: Egg and avocado sandwich with cucumber slices and strawberries
Tuesday: oatmeal raisin "cookie" overnight oats
Wednesday: cereal with bananas/cream cheese toast with pb and bananas
Thursday: Egg sandwiches with cucumbers and avocado
Friday: Creamy overnight oats
Saturday: Cereal
Sunday: Omelettes with bacon and muffins

Lunch
Monday: 
Me: veggie sandwich with avocado and homemade vegan ranch dressing, hard boiled egg, and cucumber slices
Kiddo: Ham sandwich, hardboiled egg, cucmbers
Tuesday: Leftover squash spaghetti, almonds
Wednesday: 
Me: Chicken salad served on zucchini "crackers" with vegan ranch for dipping, toasted almonds
Kiddo: Chicken salad with zucchini "chips" and cucumber "chips"; granola
Thursday: 
Me: Leftovers
Kiddo: Grilled ham & cheese (served cold), fruit salad, cucumbers
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Plate of: ham slices, cheese slices, fruit, cucumber slices, mixed nuts
Sunday: Just a basic plate of popcorn, fruit, cheese, nuts

Dinner
Monday: Grilled cheese, chicken & rice soup with carrots, chips/salad
Tuesday: BBQ Chicken Breasts with yellow squash boats, rice, and quinoa
Wednesday: Teriyaki beef with fried rice/fried quinoa (this will be made using the leftovers from Tuesday)
Thursday: Quinoa with roasted beets salad (using leftover quinoa from Tuesday...can you tell I'm the only one that really eats it ;))/breakfast for dinner for everyone else
Friday: New Restaurant Friday...somewhere teen friendly since she leaves for camp the next day we'll treat her ;)
***These next two recipes are from the Williams-Sonoma Steak & Chops Recipe book. It's a seriously amazing cookbook! A definite fave!

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Saturday: Pork chops with sherry gravy, farmer's market veggies (tbd), and roasted potatoes
Sunday: Pineapple-hoisin glazed pork ribs, broccolini, corn on the cob

Dessert
Soft batch coconut oil cookies

So, that's it for us for the week! I'm trying two new recipes, the soft batch coconut cookies and the pineapple-hoisin glazed pork ribs! Are you trying anything new this week?

P.S. Happy Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday Social #3

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1. When you were little what did you want to be when you grew up?

A teacher or an actress. I am a teacher.

2. What was your favorite way to kill time as a kid?

Taking walks or riding my bike.

3. When did you get your first cell phone?

When I was 17, same time as when I started driving. My parents did it for pure convenience in the event I was in an accident I could lock all my doors and call 911.

4. What is your favorite magazine to read?

Self.

5. What is the one random object people would be surprised to find in your purse?

 Two plastic bags. I always keep them in there and am constantly getting asked as to why I have them. I have two because one is a ziploc gallon size bag, the other is a thick Forever 21 bag. I have them because we do a lot of traveling and my kiddo gets seriously car sick...especially on the train in the summer. The ziploc is for the train just incase she gets sick I can close it up after so the smell doesn't get to anyone, the forever 21 bag is for when we are traveling in the car, it is super thick so if she gets sick it all stays in one place!

Well, happy Sunday, everyone! Hope you are all having a GREAT day!!!

Menu Plan Monday #17

From Org Junkie

Well, happy Monday!!! So, we've been back from our vacation for over a week now and I have successfully cooked twice. Yup, you read correctly I didn't stick to my meal plan almost at all last week. With getting in at one in the morning last Monday, then leaving for Seattle to pick up the kiddo's friend at seven am Tuesday Morning, getting stuck in a four hour traffic jam coming back from Seattle, and then tons of hiking, various other activities, and making use of restaurant leftovers we have not cooked too much. But, here we are at a new week and I am so ready to get back into our routine!!

Breakfast

Monday: Eggs, fruit, toast

Tuesday: Cereal and Bananas

Wednesday: Egg sandwich, fruit salad

Thursday: Over night oats

Friday: French toast kebabs with coffee/cocoa

Saturday: Grab a light pastry at the farmer's market

Sunday: Homemade cocoa puffs and/or cinnamon-sugar pastry pockets

Lunch

Monday: Veggie/ham and cheese sandwiches with a caprese salad

Tuesday: Tuna salad/chicken salad with hard boiled eggs

Wednesday: Leftover smorgasbord picnic in the park

Thursday: I am going to surprise my kiddo by spending a little extra time in Seattle and go to Pike's Place Market and see what we can get to eat there! It's a solid 20 minutes out of our way but I figure it will be a great time!

Friday: Vegan Spaghetti-o's

Saturday: Omelets with bacon and toast 

Sunday: See what we have leftover and use it up!

Dinner

Monday: Pork chops with corn on the cob, crispy smashed potatoes, and zucchini boats (we have a vegetarian staying with us so have to make a little extra ;))

Tuesday: Hamburgers/veggie burgers with summer squash (Since we have cheer practice this night we will probably eat this for lunch then have our leftovers for dinner)

Wednesday: Chicken breast/veggie burger with corn on the cob and squash

Thursday: Crockpot BBQ Beer Chicken with carrots and any other leftover squash (we will have been traveling all day and this is a delicious recipe everyone in my family loves) 

Friday: Chicken alfredo/veggie not so 'fredo with side salad 

Saturday: Date night/New Restaurant Saturday (usually we do this on Friday's, but changed it for this week because there is an event we want to go to tonight)

Sunday: Steak taco's/veggie taco's with salad and corn

This winds up being quite a busy week for us, but that is what the summer is for, right?! Long summer nights..... What are you all having for dinner this week?

Sunday Social: Random Questions

1. What are 3 items you can't live without on a daily basis (water, food, shelter, and clothes don't count)?

If we are just talking tangible items here I'd have to say my iPhone (I've done it, but boy is it difficult when you're used to having a map at your finger tips ;)), mascara (can perk your eyes up in an instant!), and my workout DVDs!

2. What is your all time favorite book? Why?

My all time favourite book(s) is/are probably the Beauty Series written by Anne Rice under a pen name. I've never read books quite like those. My second fave of all time would be Flower's in the Attic.

3. What is something you'd like to accomplish before the end of 2013?

Get all of my photo's organized and have at least half of them in scrapbooks. We'll see if it's successful...

4. If you could go back and relive any year of your life which year would it be?

Probably 1999 it was the year I got married and the year I had my kiddo...it was a year of change!!!

5. What do you wish people knew about you without you having to tell them?

That I tend to be shy at first but if you talk to me I warm up quickly and you'd probably wish you'd never started talking to me!!! :P

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday!!!

DIY Cuticle Exfoliator

Good Morning, Beauties!!! I am back again with another fantastic homemade beauty product using the awesome stuff in your pantry!

I got the inspiration for this after being in the mall one day and being drawn to my favorite make-up store in the place. I am obsessed with nail coloring so I of course made my way to that section and was checking out some pretty awesome products. I was very intrigued by the cuticle exfoliator because my nail beds always seem dried out with dead skin. I've sort of solved this problem with my daily cuticle oil, but I've noticed a couple of times a month my nail beds still just need a good scrubbing. So, I decided I was going to buy it. I picked it up, checked the price......................and immediately put it back. There was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks was I paying $20 for this item. Then, I thought some more and picked it up again really struggling with the impulse to pay the $20 for this exfoliator! After about a minute of batting sales people away the light bulb finally came on! I flipped the container over and check that ingredient label. It was a fairly simple label except for the unpronounceable preservatives. I made a quick note in my phone and high tailed it home (like I said, this product spoke to me lol) and came up with this.....

Cuticle Exfoliator

I use this when I am giving myself a full on mani, about twice a month.

1 Tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil*

½ Tablespoon sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar

5 drops tea tree essential oil

5 drops lavender essential oil

Combine all in a nice jar. During manicure, after soaking nails apply scrub to cuticles. Gently rub in circular motions to area you want to exfoliate. Don’t be shy, exfoliate the whole finger if you want, it will give you soft skin! Rinse off under warm water.

A note about the oil: I prefer to use coconut oil here as it solidifies just a little bit and makes it easier to grab and massage into your fingers!

A second note about the sugar: I actually prefer the coconut sugar here, it is a little courser than regular sugar or brown sugar and gives a bit more of an intense scrub. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the this series here.