Back to MAC!

I'm not a HUGE MAC make-up fan. I don't wear much make-up to begin with. My roommate in college taught me that MAC is used alot of television and stage make-up and I find it to be a little heavy, especially in Florida.

All this said, I still do you some of it (love their eye shadow and lipglass products), and I have now accumulated enough "throw aways" (6 to be exact) to get myself a free lipglass through their "Back to MAC" program. I love freebies! Off to the mall I go!


From their website:

Back to MAC
Because we share your commitment to the environment, M·A·C accepts returns of its primary packaging through the Back to M·A·C Program. By returning six [6] M·A·C primary packaging containers to a M·A·C counter or M·A·C Cosmetics online, you’ll receive a free M·A·C lipstick of your choice as our thanks to you.

Counting Cals!

Alright...our Biggest Loser Diet Challenge at work fizzled. It was fun while it lasted, but alot of work to prepare food for 3 others, and vacations and life got in the way of some of the others.

So alas, I'm back on my own... But I have a new gimmick! :)

I was referred to a website- http://www.sparkpeople.com/. It is a free site that gives you a free profile with a very extensive food diary and fitness diary. I've tried to do the food diary thing before, carrying around a little notebook, and lost interest after 2 or 3 days...forgetting it basically.

The site analyzes your day, your protein/carbs/fat/calories in. It tells you where you are deficient, gives you graphs...it's pretty much amazing. Oh and it already has the nutritional facts for most products in it's database! So for example, this morning I had Kashi GoLEAN Crunch Cereal with 1 cup of non fat milk and it tells me I had 286 total calories, 48 carbs, 4 grams of fat, 18 g of protein...pretty cool! It evens has a tracker that for every 8 oz of water you drink, it fills a virtual jug. I'm a sucker for progress shown through cool visuals!

I plan to test out the fitness tracker tonight after Pilates!

Happy Counting!

Puppy Pampering

I made some REALLY EASY homemade dog biscuits on my lazy Sunday (the weather was blah to say the least). They were fun not only to make, but also to take to work and share with some of my other dog loving co-workers! It's amazing how people respond when you bring them a little ziploc baggie of homemade dog treats :) !

DOG BISCUITS BAKED WITH LOVE:

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached wheat flour

1 cup cornmeal

Pinch of salt

1 egg

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

3/4 cup chicken broth

Steps:

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

2) Mix the flour, salt, and cornmeal in one bowl

3) In a separate, but larger bowl, whip the egg with the oil, parsley, and chicken broth. Add the

flour mixture and mix until a soft dough forms.

4) Knead the dough and roll it into 1/2 inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut out cute shapes!

5) Bake for 15 minutes and let cool before serving to the pups!

See? Easy!!! And of course, Walker and Manny loved them!

(Walker- And yes, he is in a little letterman sweater with a W on it...)

(This is Me with Walker the bulldog and Manny our Greyhound + friend Kelly and her golden Marley at the Jingle Bell Run 5k last December!)

It's All About Me!

Random Questions that Noone Ever Asks Me!

What is your salad dressing of choice? It's this organic honey mustard vinegarette by Annie's or something like that. Or the Brianna's Chipotle Cheddar or Poppyseed...

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Probably Armani's on the top of the Hyatt here in Tampa where my husband proposed for the memory and Lobster bisque, Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa for the food and history, and favorite out of town restaurant would be maybe The Big Pink on South Beach for the spirit.

What food could you eat for 2 weeks straight and not get sick of it? maybe Kashi GoLean cereal...or some yummy raviolis.

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Currently it's odd- buffalo chicken pizza toppings

What do you like to put on your toast? Some flavor of cream cheese or regular American cheese if it's cuban toast here in Tampa :) .

How many televisions are in your house? 5. That's pretty sad!

What color cell phone do you have? Red Blackberry World Phone

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right

Have you ever had anything removed from your body? Nope!

What is the last heavy item you lifted? An old cabinet of my grandparents.

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? I've passed out, but never by being knocked out...I'm hypoglycemic.

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? HECK NO!

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Hmmm maybe something cute like Lily or Payton?

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? No way.

Last run-in with a cop? 6/17/09. I was pulled over on the way to the library drop box!

Last person you talked to? My co-worker Sara

Last person you hugged? My hubby

Favorite Season? Fall – cool front porch weather and college football parties!

Holiday? Thanksgiving.

Day of the week? Saturday. Duh.

Month? December...so cozy and usually some time off built in!

First place you went this morning? The kitchen? I haven't left the house :)

What's the last movie you saw? The Hangover – sooooooooo funny!

Do you smile often? ALL THE TIME...maybe to a fault!

Do you always answer your phone? Ha! Never! I get in trouble for it all the time!

If you could change your eye color what would it be? I'd keep mine. They change from blue to green.

What flavor drink do you get at Sonic? some flavored unsweet tea I think. I'm not a big Sonic fan.

Do you own a digital camera? Oh yes.

Have you ever had a pet fish? State fair fish

Favorite Christmas song? "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey or "Ave Maria"

What's on your wish list for your birthday? ummm I'm pretty good at spoiling myself. I'd probably say a watch and I'm going to go out on a limb because I know he's been considering getting me one and say...ROLEX. :) ...Either that or a really big Yurman bracelet, though the last Yurman ring my hubby bought me, I managed to lose in the gym locker room :( .

Can you do push ups? I did 9 the other day at Pilates...on a Bosu ball.

Can you do a chin up? Nope!

Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Excited

Do you have any saved texts? Yes – I’m too lazy to delete

Ever been in a car wreck? Fender bender only.

Do you have an accent? I lost my southern accent when I moved from Atlanta to Florida 13 years ago...my parents still have them.

What is the last song to make you cry? Hmmm I was just at that wedding...Probably "Baby You Saved Me" by Kenny Chesney, which is coincidentally my sister's first dance song for her wedding in December.

Plans tonight? It's Thursday night. Probably the gym and dinner at home.

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? YES! And my mantra: “Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"- Thanks Bob Marley!

Name 3 things you bought yesterday? Bottle of water at the gym and $5 of Powerball tickets to go in with my co-workers

Have you ever been given roses? Yup, though my husband knows I hate roses. After teaching Floral Arranging lab class at UF for 3 years, I'm a flower snob.

Current worry? That a hurricane will come during our anniversary trip to the Atlantis in the Bahamas over Labor Day weekend.

Current hate right now? That it is so freaking hot out these days!

Met someone who changed your life? My husband!

How did you bring in the New Year? OMG! I haven't the foggiest idea! I know we went to a party our friend's were holding at their condo clubhouse...oh and then we went to this restaurant/club downtown! Wheww!

What were you doing 12 AM last night? Snoring.

What was the first thing you thought when you woke up? Yay- It's Thursday! Work from home day!

Now you know a few more things about me, so post this on your blog and I will know more about you!

Easy Breezy!

Finally the traveling is done for the immediate time being.
I do have to report, the wedding that I was at in Miami turned out FABULOUS. The centerpieces were these giant tree structures laced with orchids and dangling crystals. The tables were lit from underneath with pinkish purple lights (the colors were pink and brown). As seen above and below. Cake was really cute and good too...so I've included an additional pic of that. (Not doing so hot with my layout though here :) ... )

The wedding was at the Mayfair Hotel and Spa in Coconut Grove (Miami area).

Additionally, my final post about the wedding, I would like to retract my original opinion of dancing down the aisle would be terrible. They danced back to the Michael Frank "I Love You" song and it was after the wedding was over, so it was joyous and very appropriate. It was filmed by the videography crew and was released as a trailer... and ended with a clip from above of everyone attending the wedding blowing a kiss to the video crew, and then finally a drunk groomsmen singing "Let's Get It On" to the camera. Cute, hysterical, and makes a great memory!

Sister's pottery painting bridal shower is this Saturday! Hope all goes well...

Not So Cruel Summer

I'm back from Chi-town!

I'm proud of myself. I still have the swagger to navigate a large city, as well as entertain myself and HAVE FUN by myself. I would love to return- my work is already talking about next trip- either back to Chicago or a new one for me- Detroit. Eh. But I would love the hubby to join in the fun in Chicago!



We're off to Miami this weekend. We have a wedding and my husband is a groomsman. It's going to be at the Mayfair Hotel in Cocoanut Grove, which is the hotel that the chic Cabana One is. That's the rooftop pool lounge/club. I'll be very excited to report back on the nuptials next week. The colors are chocolate and pink with the guys in white Miami Vice suits, the wedding party has a choreographed dance they are performing, the bride will have a wardrobe change...it's very MIAMI. It's either going to be terribly awesome or go terribly tacky. Either way, I hope to post some great pics. The bride, Holly, is a head promoter for Barnum and Bailey Circus, Disney on Ice, and many other crazy events, so I'm sure it will be quite the show! Apparently her centerpieces are trees...For attire- I'm wearing another Ruelala purchase- a 12th Street by Cynthia Vincent dress in Popsicle (see pic, though the color is brighter in person) for the rehearsal dinner, and a magenta Elie Tahari number to the wedding. Still searching for the kicks to pair up...trip to the mall tomorrow! Muy bueno!
















Last Musing- Ran a 5k today with the Four Green Fields Running Club. Genius idea. Start a running club out of your Irish pub, get people to run a 5k and return there for post-run brews. Do it on a Tuesday night at 6pm and you are sure to draw a crowd. Each week the crowd has grown by at least 30 people and last week's count was 187. That's alot of people running in the 93 degree sun here in Florida. Today it was BRUTALLY HOT. The ultimate goal is after you log 10 runs with the club, you earn your FGFRC t-shirt. And as always- it's all about the t-shirt!

This happened to me once on my run today, as well as once on my run last Thursday along Lake Michigan in Chicago. I'm bopping along on my Ipod to my running mix and this song that I have liked, not loved comes on. It's by Seal and it's called "If It's In My Mind, It's On My Face". Lame name, I know. I'm not even a big Seal fan, more so of the Us Weekly I know with his uber cute family with my fave Heidi Klum. It's kind of pop/techno-ish. There is this point that comes in the song...it kind of climaxes to this chorus of "The Time is Now!" and it goes into this driving beat. It's nuts. I get sooo unbelievably pumped and this has now happened twice. The second wind kicks in and you just start cruising to the new beat. I even find myself smiling at other joggers. I changed it to my new power song. Sooo good, please download it!

AMF! :)