Weekly Weigh-In: Week 6

Another week down in the books and I'm finally starting to see progress! I didn't have a perfect week but I'm continuing with smart choices and working out a few days a week (need to step it up and try for 4 days this week). I am definitely on target with my birthday goal, so as long as I can keep this up, I'll be happy!

This week's weigh-in brought me down .8lbs for the week for a total weigh loss of 9.6lbs! I was really hoping to make it in the 140s this week, but there's always next week!

In other news, I reached 100 followers! And you know what that means?! It's giveaway time! Tomorrow I will host a giveaway for a custom made pom pom necklace as a way to say thank you for all the love and support I receive here.

I hope you had a successful week if you too are trying to shed those lbs! Keep up the good work!

H54F

Sorry for my lack of posts this week. I'm not sure what it is, but I have not felt like doing ANYTHING! It's really bad. Not only have I not blogged, but I haven't cleaned or done crafts like I normally love to do. Nothing is wrong, just having a "blah" week. I'm sure things will pick up again. Soemtimes you just have to have those weeks, right?

Enough of the Debbie Downer nonsense. Despite what the previous paragraph mentioned, I did manage to capture some high fives!

1. My little neice came over to say hi last night. She has the sweetest disposition, I adore her! I think she wanted me to paint her nails in this picture.
2. I redid my sewing nook a bit. Basically I put the bookcase upright and bought the desk attachemnt from Ikea for only $50! I LOVE this new setup. Thinking about actually using it this weekend.
3. Of course this week was the NFL draft, so on Thursday I deemed it "Wear Your Jersey to Work Day". So excited that I now have my gold TOMS to go with my football ensemble!
4. No week is ever complete without a sweet Milo picture. Here he is displaying his love an affection of my shoes!
5. My mother-in-law came to visit us last Sunday and took us to breakfast! I of course indulged in a little sparkling wine flight!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoys the weather. Let me know what fun activites you have planned!

Oh, and don't forget, once I reach 100 followers (only have 2 more to go!), I will do a givewaway for a custom made pom pom necklace like I made a few weeks ago! Just a way to say thank you for reading and holding me accountable.

Linking up Lauren for H54F!

Weekly Wigh-In: Week 5

This was by no means a perfect week, but am happy to report I am down again! I only exercised last Monday and majorly slacked off the rest of the week. But the good news is my dad and are going to start running outside Monday and Wednesdays after work and then one day on the weekend. I'm thinking this will really hold me accountable.

Even though I didn't run, I managed to keep my eating in check. I haven't been depriving myself of food, but just eating half of what I normally would eat. I used to go to my favorite local Mexican restaurant a few times a week and bath in their cheese dip on the regular. When my friend tempted me to go on Friday, I turned her down! It might not seem like that big of a deal, but it was one of the hardest things I've done. Say no to a 36oz beer and cheese dip on a Friday?!

Instead, it got late and we still hadn't had dinner so we drove through McDonald's (I know what you're thinking....how is that any better than Mexican food?!). I'll tell you how, I got a kids meal that consisted of a small cheeseburger, the babiest of fries and apple slices. It was delicious AND guilt free. So here's the lesson: Allow yourself cheat foods in moderation and you will still be successful!

Enough of my preaching. Let's see what the scale said!

Woohooo! I'm down 2.8lbs from last week which brings me to a total weight loss of 8.8lbs in 5 weeks!

My goal for next week is to say goodbye to the 150s FOREVER! Think I can do it?! I KNOW I can! I am finally starting to see consistent numbers on the scale and for the first time, I feel like my goal is reachable. If you're on a similar journey, how did your week go? I'd love to hear about it!

High Five for Friday!

I always love a good Friday! I can't believe we are nearing the end of April. Before we know it, it's going to be summer (although it already feels like it)! Nothing extremely exciting happened this week, but sometimes those are the best. It's all about the little things in life, right?

1. I stole my little niece, Hadleigh, to go on a walk with my friend and her son. A little play date, if you will. We walked 4.5 miles around a lake and she loved every minute of it. This was her riding home after her walk. Perfect Sunday activity.
2. One of my favorite things about where we live is having cute little restaurants right out our front door. We decided to eat on the patio of our favorite pizza place for a mid-week treat.
3. After my 10K on Saturday, my mother-in-law and I got pedicures.
4. My friend knows me all too well. She found this adorable little Minnie Mouse "Flashdance" shirt at Target for 70% off. THANK YOU!
5. Lastly, as I mentioned before, I ran a 10K on Saturday with my sister-in-law. It was the longest I've run since October and it felt great!

This weekend is a busy one, but should be another nice one. Too bad the weather won't be as warm as it has been. Oh well, can't have it all I suppose!

As always, linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F!

Guilt Free Jello Puddin' Pops

By now you have probably figured out that I'm not much of a cook. Why you ask? Simple, I'm not adventurous in trying new things (picky) plus I don't get any enjoyment from cooking at all whatsoever. Maybe one day that will change, but right now it's really not a priority.

Of course with being on a diet, I find myself wanting dessert after dinner but usually don't cave for fear of undoing all the good from the day. When my friend pinned this Jello Pudding Pop recipe, I knew it would be perfect for me! It's only 1 weight watchers point AND doesn't require advanced cooking skills. WIN WIN!

So for this week's "Saw it. Pinned it. Did it." I made Jello Pudding Pops to take to work for a guilt-free afternoon snack.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of milk

1/2 cup of light vanilla yogurt

1 package of sugar free, fat free chocolate or vanilla Jello pudding mix

Simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until it's smooth and creamy. I had a little trouble with this step and decided to whip out my mixer to get rid of all the "powdery magma" (aka lumps). Then all that's left is to pour into popsicle molds and pop in the freezer!

I didn't have popsicle molds so I used little Dixie cups instead.

Update: I just had one for dessert with my lunch, and it was DELICIOUS! Because it was frozen, I had to work for it so I felt like it was so much more than just 3 ounces! I recomend these to anyone who needs a little chocolate fix without the guilt that comes after!

What to Wear - Monochromatic

Mint isn't the only hot trend this season. Monochromatic styles seem to be popping up everywhere. I've seen a lot of different looks incorporating various shades of one color, so why not give it a try myself?!

So into my closet I went searching for enough of one color that I could turn into an outfit. It wasn't long before I came up with this outfit:

Dress: Me (more about it here)

Cardigan: Old Navy (old)

Shoes: Target (here) 

Necklace: Caroline G (here)*

Belt: Target (came off a dress) 



Getting into the monochromatic mindset was a bit more difficult then I thought it would be because I'm the queen of contrasting. I'm so bad that I can't stand to wear blue with denim! Usually with this dress I wear a wide white belt and a white cardigan, so I was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone by pairing it with a teal sweater and necklace. I had to throw the yellow belt in there to add a contrasting color (and because I didn't have a blue belt of any kind), but I think it all worked. What do you think? Was this a hit or a miss?

I hope this outfit inspires you to get creative with your closet. I felt like I had on a brand new outfit because I had never worn these pieces together before.

*To get my bubble necklace, enter code "Melissa" at checkout for 15% off your purchase!

Linking up with Lindsay @ The Pleated Poppy for WIWW

 

Weekly Weigh In - Week 4

Staying motivated is the key. I just completed my 4th week of making an effort to get back to where I was just a few years ago. It is challenging to say the least. Everyday, I pass up temptations but still feel guilty that I could've done better. I just have to keep telling myself that I am cutting a lot of bad food out and getting into better habits in general.

Even if it's only a few ounces, a loss is a loss. I know I say that a lot, but hopefully I start believing it. I keep wanting bigger numbers every week, but then quickly tell myself to just be happy for not gaining.

So here are the numbers:

This week I lost .4lbs which brings my total weight loss to 6lbs in 4 weeks.

I'm satisfied with the progress I've made so far, but I think I'll actually be happy once I get out of the 150s, then I'll really feel like I've done something!

Here's what I did in the way of running this week:

Thursday - 4 miles
Saturday - 6.2 miles (Monument 10K)
Sunday - 4.5 mile walk
Monday - 3 miles

Here's to another week! Tell me know how you are doing with your goals!

Monument 10K - Recap

I haven't run since October when I did a Half Marathon one weekend followed by a 10 miler the next. I was on track for my Disney Marathon in January, and I let life get in the way. I no longer had the desire to do long runs or even run short distances during the week. I was burnt out (you can read all about my excuses here).

I've taken time off and have decided that a part (very small) of me misses running, even though I complain every step of the way. I miss the accomplishment and the way I felt after a run. Not to mention, I could tell how quickly out of shape my body was becoming.

I decided to sign up for a race to get me motivated again. I chose a 10K because I knew I wouldn't train if it was a 5K, I would just show up race day and run. My sister-in-law and I signed up for Richmond's Monument 10K and I knew that if I wanted to keep up with her, I would have to put some effort into this. Getting back into it, has been one of the harder things I've done, but after 3 weeks, I finally feel like I'm getting my groove back.

I've heard so much about the Monument 10K and was really looking forward to seeing what the hype was all about. After all, 40,000 people run this thing!

We picked up our race packets on Friday night and had a nice low key dinner while mapping out all the logistics for the morning. This was my sister-in-law's biggest and longest race she'd ever done, so we wanted to be sure we had everything ready to go.

Check out my Minnie headband I found at packet pick-up! You know I couldn't resist! It was like an omen of good luck! Also, I'm obsessed with my new running "Skapri". Target sells them and it is perfect if your shorts under your skirt ride up when you run.

 

We knew parking would be awful downtown, so we left with plenty of time. We stopped by Sheetz for granola bars and water and then made our way to the race. Thank goodness Jessica, knows the city so well, because in no time she had found us parking that was far enough away from everything but not too far to walk.

Here we are all ready to race!

One aspect that makes this race stand out is how they manage the start. There were about 30 different waves each separated by 2 minutes. This helped space everyone out so it never felt like the 40,000 runners it was. In the Disney races, where there are similar numbers of runners, they only divide you into about 10 corals.

The course was my favorite part. Not being a native of Richmond, I had never experienced Monument Avenue. It is one of the prettiest streets I've ever seen. The houses, the monuments and the scenery is all stunning! Not to mention, the whole city really gets into the race and there are more spectators lined up and down that street than there are runners. The course itself was very easy to follow. Have you ever done a race where you just felt like you made 10,000 turns and never knew what would be around the next corner? Not this race. It was a straight 3.1 miles down, turnaround and 3.1 miles back. Simple!

Being that this was the longest I have run (not even a training run longer than 4 miles) since October, I was very happy with my results. With the help of Jessica, we didn't walk and maintained a steady pace for both halves. We finished in 1:10:20 which equates to an 11:19 mile. Sure that's not a time to write home about, but just getting out there AND being able to run the whole thing is something to be proud of!

Let me know of any upcoming races you have or better yet, if you too did the Monument 10K!

High Five for Friday! - Family Edition

It has been a beautiful week for many different reasons. For starters, the weather has been gorgeous! It feels like summer and it's only April! Now if only the pools were open....

I'll let the pictures below illustrate the other reasons why this week was a beautiful one!

1. My third niece, Sadie, arrived on Monday afternoon. Meet Sadie Victoria Alexis, a perfect 8lbs 1oz bundle of joy.
2. My embroidery machine was in the shop last week getting a little TLC. I was so excited to get it back and really test it out for the first time. Of course, this Minnie silhouette koozie was my first embroidery project. LOVE!
3. Sadie's sister, Hadleigh just turned one and she was so excited to get to see her mom in the hospital. Her face just lit up when she saw my sister. It was precious. Look how content she is!
4. Since the weather was glorious, what better way to soak it all up than by hitting our local vineyard?!
5. We had a little family golf outing with my parents, Raelynn, our oldest niece, and of course my husband. We had a blast practicing at the driving range. Who knows, maybe this will be the year we actually play a few rounds!

This weekend I am heading south to run a 10K with my sister-in-law. Should be interesting considering I haven't run more than 4 miles in months! Here goes nothing!

Linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk for H54F!

Newborn Bow Hats - SPD

For this week's "Saw it. Pinned it. Did it." I decided to keep with the ongoing theme of newborn babies! I was so excited awaiting the arrival of my new niece, that I needed something to keep me busy. So what better way to occupy myself than by crafting?!

Being an Aunt of two other nieces, it has always bothered me that both boys and girls get the same hat in the hospital. Yes, these are the things I worry about. Anyway, I decided that my niece needed a hat that would differentiate herself from the newborn boys. I had seen it done before, but needed to find out how to make one of those adorable bow hats!

A quick google search brought me to this tutorial and while I was waiting for Sadie to make her grand entrance, I decided to make her a few (with my own twist, of course).

All you need is 3 of those little knit hats the hospital provides and a pair of scissors.

1. Cut the bands off two of the three hats and set aside.
2. Take the hat you haven't cut yet and fold it up to make a thicker band than the ones you  just cut off.
3. Make slits about an inch apart for the bands to go through. I stretched one of the cut bands to be a little longer than the other and stacked the smaller one on top of the larger one.
4. Thread it through the two slits you just made and Voila! You have a perfect double bow newborn hat! It's that simple!

I hope this comes in handy if  you know any sweet baby girls being born anytime soon.

Linking up with Stephanie @ Beautiful Mess and Katie @Keep Calm & Carry On for Saw it. Pinned it. Did it!

Weekly Weigh-In AND What to Wear!

So first things first, since yesterday's post was dedicated to little miss Sadie, we are doing two in one today!

Weekly Weigh-In - Week 3

I FINALLY worked out!!! It was a struggle at the beginning of the week, but now that I'm in the groove, I'm on fire! (que Alicia keys "That Girl is on FIIIRRREEE") Yep, that just happened. Anywho, I'm getting pretty confident that I won't die on Saturday's 10K, so that's good. Here are my workout deets:

Monday - 3 miles
Friday - 3 miles
Sunday - 2.5 miles
Tuesday - 4 miles

And the most anticpiated question....did I lose weight during all that? Let's see what the scale has to say!

That's right, even though I still have quite a ways to go, I'm feeling good with my progress. Especially after last week's stagnant weigh in. I am at a total of 5.6lbs since I got serious and I want to thank each and every one of you for keeping me focused!

Now on to the fun stuff: What to Wear Wednesday!

I wore my Lilly all day on Monday to honor the late Lilly Pulitzer, but due to being in the hospital all day awaiting the birth of my neice, I didn't get a picture. Don't worry though, there will be plenty of Lilly featured on What to Wear Wednesdays!

Sorry for the creepy model picture...but you get the point.

I decided to embrace the spring summer weather and wear one of my favorite dresses! I got this dress from Target's Jason Wu collection and have been in love ever since. It is the perfect work dress. Not only is it comfortable, but it's sophisticated and classy. Wear it with heels and you are ready for whatever the day brings. Not to mention, the pearl neckline makes accessorizing a breeze...you don't have to! (I'm the worst at accessorizing so this dress is made for me!)

And what completes this day better than walking in the office only to find your boss wearing the exact same thing?! We couldn't resist snapping a picture. :) At least they were different colors. Funny thing, not a single person noticed and we work next to each other!

Linking up with Lindsay @ The Pleated Poppy for WIWW

Sadie's Here!

I am a little behind on posts this week, but I promise I have a good reason. I became an aunt to my 3rd precious baby niece! Sadie Victoria Alexis was born yesterday at 4:32 PM. She was 8lbs 1oz and absolutely perfect. Here are a few shots I got of her right after she was born.

 I'll be posting how to make these bow hats on Thursday.

Oh, and don't worry, I didn't forget to do my weekly weigh-in. It will be in tomorrow's post with What I Wore Wednesdays.

High Five for Friday

Another week down and I think the cold is finally behind us and I can't wait for it to finally feel like spring! Hope everyone had a good week whether you were on spring break or back to work. As usual, I would like to share with you my high fives from the week. Enjoy!

1. I discovered this new Disney app that lets you "Disney-fy" your pictures. You can add mouse ears and take pictures with your favorite characters! I'm in love. You can get it here.
2. We hosted Easter at our house this past weekend and I really enjoyed getting to bust out our fine china for the first time!
3. I ordered a whole bunch of stuff from Discount Embroidery Blanks for some really fun embroidery projects that I will be posting to my Etsy page.
4. Look at this sweet face! Jax, my friend's dog is the absolute sweetest. He is not supposed to be on the couch so he fell asleep with his paws on my lap and his feet on the ground. Basically the most precious thing EVER!
5. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that this week was the start of the MLB season! The Nationals kicked off their start with a 3 game series sweep!

Plans this weekend: Enjoying the weather as much as possible! What about you?!

Linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk for H54F!

SPD - Brush Cleaning Tutorial

Being a red head is not all rainbows and butterflies. I am not one of those girls who can pinch her cheeks, throw on some mascara and be out the door with a natural look. Oh no sir, I have to go through the whole nine yards of applying makeup every single day.

Because of that, my makeup brushes get GROSS! If you don't think they look bad here, wait to you see what they look like when they are clean!

 

I am way beyond delinquent in cleaning my brushes but after reading blog post after blog post on the importance of cleaning your brushes, I finally decided to jump on that bandwagon and see if it makes a difference.

 

I know there are a ton of brush cleaner sprays and products out there, but I figured there had to be a cheaper way to get this chore done. So, for this week's edition of "Saw it. Pinned it. Did it.", I am going to show you how to clean your brushes using 3 simple ingredients you are bound to have in your home (original tutorial)

What you'll need:

1tbs of white vinegar

1tbs of dish washing detergent

1 cup of water

 

Mix all three ingredients into a clear bowl

Simply wet each brush you are about to clean and then dip and swish around in the cleaning solution until no more makeup comes off. For my super dirty brushes, I freshened the solution to make sure they were getting clean. Then I rinsed them in water to make sure no more makeup was coming off.

Simply lay them out to dry overnight and you will be amazed as to not only how clean they are but how soft they become! You should clean your brushes once a month to help with breakouts and the life of your brushes. Just be sure to not clean them too often or the life of the brush will shorten. (It's a fine line).

 

Hope this helps and motivates you to clean those nasty brushes. Trust me, it will feel sooooo good! Consider it your first spring cleaning project!

Linking up with Stephanie @ Beautiful Mess and Katie @Keep Calm & Carry On for SPD!

WIWW - Red, White and Stripes

I would like to preface this post with this: Taking outfit pictures outside with an automatic timer is AWFUL! To get these three shots it took me an hour (how do you ladies do this everyday?!). Mad respect.

For this week's outfit I chose to pair a few up and coming trends, stripes and colored ankle pants.

I fell in love with these two pieces last week when I was in LOFT. Who says a red-head can't wear red?! I hate when people put color restraints on themselves or one another. I will wear pink, red and orange to my little heart's content. No dumb rule will keep me from wearing fun colors!

Shirt: LOFT

Necklace: Homemade (make your own here!)

Pants: LOFT

 

Not only are basic straight across stripes in this season, but the ever growing popular chevron is another huge trend. I am just waiting for the perfect chevron piece to come into my life. Have you found one yet?

 

Linking up with Lindsay at The Pleated Poppy for WIWW

Week 2 Weigh In

This week brought on a lot of challenges. I'm not going to say I failed, but I definitely didn't do as good as I had hoped. More on that later, but first I need to tell you a story.

You always hear about how people hit rock bottom on weight loss shows like Biggest Loser. You know, that one moment when they knew they had a problem and needed to turn their lives around. I hit that moment yesterday. The end of last week didn't go over too well. We had food brought into the office (including these amazing giant donuts) and I drank 4 nights last week. Oh yeah, I didn't start working out last week like I said. I wasn't committed. Don't get me wrong, I've made better choices than before, but not enough to make a lifestyle change.

So yesterday morning, I got into work a little early and went to make my Weight Watchers breakfast sandwich and put my lunch in the fridge when I see a box of donuts. Where these donuts fresh? Oh no, these were the same donuts from Friday! Knowing full well the status of the donuts, I put my breakfast away and grabbed one, proudly strutted back to my desk, took a bite when all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks a stale donut. Sure it was still edible in my fat girl opinion, but it wasn't worth starting my day off wrong for a stale donut.

I spent yesterday focusing on drinking my water, which I failed to do over the weekend (beer and wine counts as water, right?) and not mindless eating. I also ran for the first time in a long time. It was hard, but I felt AMAZING afterward. I want to run everyday this week just to have that feeling of accomplishment.

Now on to the stats....

I mentioned before I didn't do as well as I wanted to (target is 2lbs per week) but as long as I didn't gain, I need to be happy. I think this week is really going to be the jump start I need now that I'm mixing eating right portion control with exercise. Week 3 here I come!