A Puppy Shower

The Guest of Honor, Lewis

Menu:

Chicken Salad Sandwiches,

Fruit Shush kabobs

Sweet + Dill Pickles

Lemonade

Yellow Cupcakes filled with Banana Cream Pudding+Whipped Cream

Favors:

                Dog Bone shaped Sugar Cookies dipped in Chocolate Almond Bark

 

The cute favors melting in the sun:(

6 WEEK INCH-LOSS CHALLENGE

 

With my anniversary trip fast approaching and a few cute outfits and sexy nightgowns I bought for the occasion waiting to be worn- I am wanting to see some extra progress so I decided to embark on my very own 6-Week-Challenge for inch-loss. I will NOT be tracking my pounds lost for this challenge because I am working on building lean muscle and, because muscle weighs more than fat and I am hoping to replace fat with muscle, tracking the lbs would not be an effective measurement of my body composition or transformation. Therefore, I will be tracking based on inches.

I have purchased some of my favorite items at Victoria's Secret and love their sizing and fit, it is only fitting that I will be using their Size Chart as a basis for my own sizes as I, hopefully, lose inches.

As I have shared on Instagram, I have been doing CrossFit for the last 3-4 weeks and have seen SIGNIFICANT results. In the last 5 weeks I have lost TWENTY-THREE inches off of my body., the majority once I started CF.

I have set two goals for myself going forward; I have a 6-Week Goal (6WG) that is a reasonable, yet still ambitious goal, that will get me looking good and feeling confident for my trip. That goal includes a total of 12.5 inches to lose, the majority of which will be coming off my waist area (fitting as I just had a baby 3 months ago!). This puts me at a size  4-6 on bottom (based on hips and thigh measurements) and a 8-10 on top (bust and waist measurements). My eventual goal being a size 4-6 on top and 2-4 on bottom.

My ULTIMATE Goal is a total of 19.5" inches lost, in addition to what I have already lost for a grand total of FOURTY-TWO+ inches!!! Yikes that sounds like A LOT and completely unrealistic when you think of it all at once but that is why I have broken it down and right now am just focusing on the next 6 weeks.

Here is my protocol for the 6WG Challenge:

• Crossfit/Strength training 3-4 times a week
• Cardio 4-5 times a week (running, yoga)
• 5 small, clean and unprocessed meals per day
• 1 cheat night per week (starting at 4pm)
• Drink lots of water min of 64oz
• Clean, smart carbs- carbs retricted to within 60 minutes of exercise
• Limit sodium intake
• Small portion sizes
• Green Tea daily
• Skinny Starbucks drink- to keep my sanity
• 1200-1600 calories/day

Example Daily Menu:

• Pre-workout: 1 Cup Oatmeal w/ walnuts, 1/2 banana sliced and 1/4 C Milk
• Post-workout Carbs for Recovery: Tall Peppermint Mocha Breve
• Lunch: 1 slice Dave's Killer Bread w/ Butter, Cottage Cheese
• Snack: Vanilla Protein Shake w/ Half and Half, 3-4 Strawberries
• Dinner: Salmon, Broccoli w/ cheese
• Snack: Mixed Nuts, no salt added
• 64 oz water, green tea

I hope you'll tag along on this journey with me!

photo cred:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/collette-debenedetto/from-the-couch-to-crossfi_b_3460332.html

A Vintage Men's Closet Party

My husband B the clothes horse

I love my husband dearly- not least because he has an obsession with clothes that rivals my own. From the moment I saw him, dressed head-to-toe in Banana Republic with perfectly shined dress shoes and flawlessly styled hair I knew.... we'd have a blast shopping together.

After nearly 6 years his 29th birthday loomed and I wanted to throw a special party, one tailored to B's tastes. The result: an intimate soiree in my back yard with drinks, family and fine food.

Menu:

Philly Steak Sandwiches

Au Ju Sauce

Watermelon

"Champagne"

 

"Shaving" Station

4 Top Tips for Navigating Starbucks on a Diet

As a former barista ( I worked there for about a year after I had Beckham ), I learned all the hundreds of ways you can customize your drinks, so many of which are NOT even listed anywhere on the menu! You would only know to order it if you knew everything they have in the fridge!

Tips to a Low Carb drink at Starbucks:

Cut out the Milk: The main bit of advice I can give you to keep your carbs low at The Bux is to avoid using milk in your drinks- that translates to, generally, using either Half and Half or Heavy Cream. I find Heavy Cream to be too thick and rich but my hubby, and plenty of other people, love it so to each their own. Half and Half on the other hand is DELICIOUS! It makes the drink creamy and wonderful- I love it hot and cold!

Go Sugar-Free: In general all Starbucks stores carry at least Sugar-Free (Skinny) versions of Vanilla, Cinnamon Dolce, and Caramel as well as Peppermint during the Holidays. When you are looking to not add a flavor but do want the sweetness they carry a wide variety of non-sugar sweeteners, my favorite is Splenda.

Branch out: You may not generally like tea but Starbucks has some really yummy options. One of my favorites is the Iced Green Tea (NOT LATTE!) with Splenda. Also, the Passion Tea is super popular and can be mixed with Green or Black Tee and sweetened any way you like.

Downsize: Simply sizing down on your drink or asking for less syrup will reduce carbs and calories, sometimes drastically. As a general rule a Tall hot drink gets 2 pumps of syrup, Grande 3 and Venti 4. The iced drinks get T:3, G:4 V:6! And did you know that Starbucks have hot drinks in a Short size that isn't on the menu? Not only is it less calories but the cup is so cute!

Here are a few of my favorite low carb drinks from Starbucks:

Coffee Frap Breve with Splenda

Sugar-Free Iced Vanilla Latte Breve

Sugar-Free Cinnamon Dolce Latte Breve

Iced Green Tea w/ Splenda

Being on a diet doesn't mean missing out on the finer things in life, Enjoy!!!

xoxo

photo cred:http://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Happy-Place-Photo-for-Starbucks.png

Witch Makeup Tips and Tricks

I had a blast last night at Witches' Night and thought I'd share a few things I learned when applying my green witch makeup..

• Use a palette to mix your colors, I just used the lid of the costume makeup container I bought but it was super helpful to have somewhere, other than my arm, to mix and remix the colors when I needed more.
• I mixed the green paint with foundation; at first, I simply applied the green paint, thinking it would be heavy enough, but it didn't look very thick or even so I went back and mixed it with my normal foundation, heavy on the green. I've been using NYX matte foundation and I'm really liking it.
• Mix for contouring with concealer so it will be nice and thick.
• Use a transparent powder to set-I applied E.L.F. High Definition Finishing Powder to set the green and keep it from being too sticky.
• Over dramatize your colors: A normal peachy blush isn't really going to show up over the green. I used a purplish blush, and plenty of it. Also, I normally use MAC's BBQ for my eyebrows but that wasn't dark enough so I used Kohl instead.

I had a BLAST with this totally authentic look and, other than it being a bit sticky towards the end of the night with all the dancing, couldn't even feel it on my face which I partially attribute to using my normal foundation.

Happy Halloween and good luck!!

xoxo

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A Very Camping Birthday + FREE PRINTABLES!!

Beckham, my little mischievous and adorable man, turned two this last week! I can't believe it! We celebrated him and his birthday with a camping/outdoor themed party in our home last night.

FOOD

1. Croissant-wrapped hot dogs and chips (easy, cheap, kid friendly food- all 48 hot dogs were gone within 20 minutes so I'd say its a crowd pleaser!)
2. Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
3. S'Mores made in the oven
4. Double Fudge Chocolate Cake, 2-layer, with Vanilla frosting and Chocolate fir trees

DECOR:

• Small hand-made teepee, smaller version of what I made here.
• Picnic tablecloth found @ the Dollar Store
• Pinecones, acorns and leaves
• Kraft wrapping paper from the Dollar Store
• Handmade fir trees made from posterboard found @ the Dollar Store
• My printables
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   For favors I had shirts and sweaters made (even a onesie for Baby Girl!) that said Camp Beckham. The kiddos watched A Goofy Movie (hubby's suggestion and a great one!). The party was fairly cheap, pretty easy and super fun! My kind of party! Beckham had a blast with all his cousins and, of course, loved all his gifts! Its official, he's two!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

DIY Rag Rug- A 2 year project and what I learned

This rug has been years in the making; I first started it when I was pregnant with Becks and it was originally going to be three times this big... wellll that would have been QUITE the project and I eventually got bored and gave up. Oops! Luckily though, when I decided I wanted one of these in Baby Girl's nursery I was halfway there already!

First thing you need is a rug base, these come in a few different sizes, I got a 3'X4'- can you believe I originally thought I would make 3 of those? Ha! Crazy girl.

It is a mesh and I started going every other hole and neatly tying it with thin, perfectly cut pieces of material about 1/2"X4"... that quickly turned into me cutting much larger pieces of fabric(not worrying about being precise, it is supposed to look messy after all ), about 2"X6" and just looping it through randomly. When you use a thicker piece of fabric it sits in there tightly and there is no need to tie it in place. Plus it makes it easier to replace if something spills and a few strips of fabric need to be replace. Trust me, it is tough to untie or cut those tiny little knots.

I used a few different colors and types of fabric. Mainly I used fleece because it is super soft and thick- that really helped the project go faster. I shudder to think how long it would've taken me if I had used only the thin cotton I used to add color.

I think its important to make sure that you get really well around the edges and, periodically, lay the rug down and see if you are making one area thicker than the others. I had to take quite a few pieces out to be relocated during the process (again, a good thing I didn't keep tying the little buggers) when I realized that its was a little too fluffy here or there.

I am really pleased with the final product. Not only is the rug sort of messy-chic but it is so soft and comfortable and I envision Baby Girl sitting up or learning to crawl on that Three-Foot-By-Five-Foot-Piece of Heaven.

So here is a recap of what I learned...

1. You do not need to be particular about the exact measurements of fabric, as long as the cuts are clean it will look fabulous.
2. Do not tie the fabric onto the mat, it over complicates the process and takes about a bazillion times longer.
3. Use a thick fabric for your base fabric, you will need less of the other fabrics and it will be a ton thicker and more comfy once you're complete.
4. Evaluate your rug often, don't waste your time overfilling one area just to have to compensate later one.

I hope this post was helpful to you! Overall I think it was worth the effort, the cost was less than $40 ($15 for the mat and about $20-25 for the fabric), it for sure would have been had I not wasted so much time in the beginning worrying about things that I later realized were a mistake to begin with.

Good luck DIYing!
xoxo