shopping spree (spring edition)

It's that time of year again..time for the warm weather wardrobe to get some new editions.

First and foremost, it was all about the patterns.

zig zag dress, belt- urbanog.com // feather dress, sailboat top- old navy // parasol tank, dot & bird top- charlotte russe // floral dress, floral skirt- delias (no actual photo due to both being backordered until late April…boo!

I’m not too sure why I became obsessed with patterns this season but I couldn’t be more excited about it. And I didn’t want just any old patterns..I wanted ones that were bright, bold, and somewhat odd. It all started with a parasol print dress at Forever 21. Of course, with Forever’s sizes running as small as they do and this dress having no give whatsoever, it did not fit. At that point, I went on a mission. I came across feathers, sailboats, and zig zags all before I found another parasol print to curb my craving and I couldn’t say no to all that cuteness I discovered.

There's also always room for some more basics

ruffle sweater- anthropologie via ebay // blue sweater, black tee- ebay // neutral tank & tee- Forever21 // blank tank- charlotte russe

I love my basic pieces. They can be mixed and matched with anything and everything. I always seem to need more, too. I wear out the stuff I have in to time since there all easy grab-n-go sweaters, tee’s, and tanks. My favorite has to be the ruffle sweater..it manages to be fabulous and casual at the same time. Plus, you can’t beat an anthro sweater for $30.

And some shorts too (ps- I also joined the colored denim club)

L to R- shorts- aeropostale via ebay // Aqua jeans- jcpenney’s // shorts- old navy

One thing’s for sure..I needed shorts. I only had 2 pairs, neither of which were denim. I was being conservative and only bought 2 more..that should get me through the season especially when I’m known for still rockin my skinny jeans in mid-july. Speaking of jeans..these aqua jeans are amazeballs. I’ve always been afraid of colored denim..thinking I’d wear them twice then never again. I stumbled upon these purely by accident and kind of sort of fell in love..the $25 price tag helped out a bit though. I think they’ll be easier to wear since they’re still in the blue family..I’m not ready to venture out much further than that.

It also wouldn’t be a shopping spree without some shoes…

black flats, leopard loafers- charlotte russe // sequined floral flats- Forever21 // red oxford wedges- ebay

I really needed to step it up in regards to my flats game. I’ve been concentrating on heels for way to long so my flats have become worn out since I’ve been working with the same 7 or so pairs for almost a year. But, I also came across the wedges and had to own them. I did start looking for lace up, bootie, oxfordish type shoe but everything was just too high of a heel…and there’s no better way for me not to wear a pair of shoes than a 5 inch heel, especially when I can’t wear them to work. These were perfect and the fact that they were red sealed the deal.

So, that is all. No more shopping till September. Or at least that’s what I say now…

weekly wednesday weigh in

Ahh…finally some good news to report.

I did well this week. I wrote down every morsel of food I put in my mouth, I managed to end the week with 10 or so flex points remaining, and shockingly enough I made it through the weekend without doing any major damage to my diet efforts. The results- 2 lbs. lost. And no, not a maybe I lost weight, I can’t tell, the scale’s broken type 2 lbs. It’s a definite 2 lb. loss.

Hooray!

Where has this mysterious motivation come from? Who really knows but I’m embracing it and milking it for as long as possible. I tried on all of my summer clothes I’m taking to St. Thomas last night and I’m pretty satisfied with the way it’s all fitting. I have 5 more days to keep up with this good behavior to ensure a happy, somewhat svelte Jessica on vacay. I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t go on a daiquiri binge next week and regain everything I lost and then some.

I’d love it if I could come back from this trip weighing the same or even less because yea, the gauntlet has been thrown. The lovely Kristi, who we’re going to see in San Fran at the end of May, has made me aware that she’s has gone on a diet so she can lose weight before we come to town. Ummm, I love that girl dearly but we can’t have her looking all amazing while I’m still a big fat mess.

Yea, I’m a wee bit competitive when it comes to friends and weight loss but seriously, who isn’t?

My goal when I’m back from St. Thomas- lose as much weight as possible before Memorial Day weekend but not too much so all my new clothes still fit. Sounds do-able.

still feeling okay

I must say, I’m extremely proud of myself that I haven’t had a little freak out episode so far this week. But if I had, believe me, it would have been completely warranted.

As far as work goes, I anticipated this last week before vacation to be laid back, to say the least. I had every intention of leaving my desk empty on Friday afternoon when I walked out. Needless to say, that’s not what’s going to happen. Due to some unforeseen circumstances 2 of the 3 people I work with in my department have been out since yesterday, leaving me with the one person who can’t help me do my job. Oh, and did I mention we have a new business deadline coming up tomorrow?

Tonight, even though my heads still spinning from the insanity of the office I still managed to start my pre-packing process

(putting outfits together, trying things on-I’m a planner, I can’t help myself) and make a dinner that actually required some prep work & cooking.

Let’s talk about this dinner for a minute, shall we..

I wanted to make something tonight that had no carbs (ok, maybe very little carbs), something that was warm (no salads here), something quick (or at least semi-quick), and something that was (most importantly) appetizing. Do you know how long it took to come up with something?? Almost an entire day!! I finally found this awesome chicken recipe on Skinnytaste and went for it. It's a great concept, it really is, and the flavors are definitely there but there were some hang ups. I'm not sure why but there was not enough stuffing AT ALL. I know it's supposed to be healthy and low-fat but really? How bad could a little more low-fat cheese and zucchini be? The temperature and cooktime were also too high and too long. They were just a wee bit overdone but that could be because my chicken pieces were a little smaller.

Oh well, thankfully I was too tired to be hungry.

I hope this week can make a come back and turn into something a little more awesome than what it's been.

productivity is the name of the game

This weekend was all about being productive and getting things done.

Saturday, we went out and started the dreaded process of air conditioner shopping.


I'm not to thrilled with spending almost a grand on 2 air conditioners but unfortunately, we need them. We slummed it a bit and went to a "clearance center" as a strategy to save some moolah but they're still so friggin expensive. Boo, wah! To ease the pain of that experience we drove out of the way to Starbucks for a skinny latte and panera for my favorite lunch.


Yumyumyum. I know, weird combo. Don't judge..

Another little accomplishment yesterday- we took our first trip of the season to Ralph's. My choice?Chocolate covered pretzel in a peanut butter cream ice. I wasn't disappointed.

It was all about getting things done on the home front today.
I put away all the clothes that had come in the mail and had accumulated on my floor..


..and once the floor was cleaned, I vacuumed. I randomly made a ring with some wire I picked up on a run to the craft store


and I finally got around to making the greatly anticipated buffalo shrimp.


I put them on top of a Cesar salad and was in heaven! Last but not least, I took all of my nail polish that had been thrown in a bag and organized them in this awesome bin.


Made use of the bin and got some organization in my life. Killed two birds with one stone.

So, the weekend wasn't the MOST interesting and there was nothing fabulous involved but I feel accomplished and well rested. I'll take that.

t minus 10 days

10 more days until I'll be...

heading here

with this cute husband

and these fabulous friends

wearing this adorable dress

arriving at this fantastic hotel

settling into this room

with this view

swimming on this beach

and this pool

that has this amazing view of the beach

We can sip on these drinks

at this restaurant

and go out for a fancy dinner at this restaurant

we'll be shopping here

and taking a day trip here

OH MY GOD.... I CAN'T EVEN WAIT!

If you can't already tell..I'm beyond excited, and this yearning for vacation is hitting me hard on this early Friday afternoon when all I want to do is crash into a bed and sleep.

from blah to ooh la la

After 7 months of living in our apartment I FINALLY got around to organizing and arranging my dresser. This project got put on the back burner for so long because there always seemed to be something that was taking precedence and I was also waiting on a piece as a finishing touch. Well, I put my foot down (and gave up on that missing piece I needed wanted) and finally did it. The outcome- I like it...quite a bit.

before-

7 months of that can get depressing.

after-

Aahhh...much better. Decorating this space was so much more pleasant than decorating the rest of the apartment because there was no compromising involved. It's my space so I got to make it exactly the way I wanted it to look. That felt good.

weekly wednesday weigh in

So, Wednesday…we meet again.

Today just seemed to sneak up out of nowhere. My first thought this morning was “Wednesday? Already? But I’m not ready for the scaleeeeee. “ Unfortunately, I’m not letting myself have much of a choice in the matter. I had to get on that damn thing.

I have a confession…I cheated and did a quick lil mid-(weight loss)week weigh in on Saturday. I was glad I did though when the scale said I lost 3 lbs!! I was shocked and beyond excited- jumping up and down, yelling for hubby to come in the bathroom and experience this joy with me..the whole 9 yards. That weigh in put me in the most amazing mood for the rest of the day. A 3 lb. weight loss (when you’ve been struggling to lose anything for 3 months) will do that to you.

Fast forward to this morning. I was pretty sure I had kept the 3 lbs. (or at least most, ok, half of it) off so I was fairly confident when I stepped on. On the food front, I had stayed pretty much in line. I used most of my flex points but that was mostly due to the dinner we had Saturday night…yummy, evil steak. Ok, so..lets recap. Down 3 lbs Saturday, stayed within my flex points..a recipe for success! Tell me why that scale said I was back up 3 lbs? I had a big giant WTF moment…at 6:10 a.m immediately after waking up. The last thing I needed.. so, I did the only thing that would make me feel better. Retreated to the couch, wrapped myself in my fleece blanket, and watched last week’s DVRed episode of Mob Wives that’s been waiting ever so patiently for me. All the while cursing that damn scale.

I’ve always known the weekends were the cause of my diet demise but I didn’t realize that I could lose 3 lbs from Wednesday to Saturday and then gain it all back from Saturday to Wednesday. That’s horrible! And depressing… The weekends are a rough time for me, I don’t know what else to do besides stay home and cook. That also turns me into a hermit because unfortunately, most of my socializing is done over dinner and/or drinks..and it’s kind of awkward to go out to dinner with friends when you’ve already ate. That leads to 1 of 2 things…you sitting there foodless and gazing off aimlessly while everyone’s stuffing their faces OR you give into temptation and end up eating dinner # 2 (or the caloric equivalent to dinner in the form of an appetizer or dessert). I am not a Hobbit, 2nd dinner is unacceptable no matter which way you slice it.

I’m starting to get into vacation mode so food wise I plan on doing a little detox during the week and a half before it’s time to leave. Cutting back tremendously on carbs, cheese, and non-diet approved sweets/snacks. I need to give it my best shot to look as good as I possibly can before I appear in public in a bathing suit. Lucky for me, the pre-planned dinners for the rest of the week coincide with my detox idea that I thought up this morning. I’ll figure out a plan for my weekend problem when I’m back from St. Thomas. I think a tan will help me think more clearly anyway…