tuesday tumblr

click me

life has been super busy as of late, so i thought i would simply post a link to my tumblr page and call it a day... consider this my 'get-out-of-blog-free card' :)

i am the luckiest...

i spent this past weekend attending a lovely 2 day ceremony in plattsburgh ny. my college roommate, monica, married her college sweetheart, rob. we lucked out with lots of sunshine and very little rain (which actually resulted in a post-reception rainbow! what a sweet ending to their big day...)

their first dance was to ben folds "the luckiest"

handmade colorful signs, paper cranes & flowers, and painted rocks were the decor.

sarah, myself, and sully- roommates of fontbonne '08

we ended the day with a rainbow over the lake

i just wanna be ok today

after a rough last week and a crazy/busy weekend, i came into work today to find a gift from a friend that made me smile.

beautiful oops by barney saltzberg

the sweetest little book ever, that teaches us to turn an 'oops' into something beautiful... not a bad idea, huh?

thank you for thinking of me, paige.
xo

let's get rich and give everybody nice sweaters

hi all- i have a special little announcement for today... my dad and i have just finished publishing our very first children's book and we would like to share it.

it's a collection of poems that my dad has been working on for the last 20 years or so, mostly about family, friends, and his experiences with parenting. a few years ago, he asked me to illustrate the book, and now it is finally printed and ready to be sold! if you're interested, please take a minute and check out our blog and shoppe. if you like what you see, please share it with others...

thanks all! hope you enjoy...

xo

happiness is...

....cheez-its. lots and lots of cheez-its. more specifically, a large amount of cheez-its in a variety of flavors.

i am finally done with my 14-day, 'no gluten, wheat, dairy, sugar, caffeine, or alcohol' cleanse, and i have missed cheez-its more than anything else, so my dear friend melissa has agreed to partake in a cheezy smörgåsbord this evening.

i know, i know- why even do a cleanse if i'm just going to celebrate with a buttload of processed garbage? because it was a challenge and i feel better than i have in a long time. because it was crazy hard and i deserve it. but mostly because one night of cheez-it debauchery aint all that bad...

*update*
cheez-it night was a success! the proof is in the pudding. aka, the picture below:

i am happy to report that 'four cheese' held up against our favorite 'cheddar jack',
however, 'parmesan garlic' was a waste of $. we are serious about our addiction.

...day 11

today marks the 11th day of my adventure on the be well cleanse and it's about to get a whole lot harder, with a wedding tomorrow and a bachelorette party on sunday. oy.

but... here are a few things i've learned over the last eleven days:

1. when fro yo, cupcakes and chips are no where to be found, watermelon bubblegum can almost serve as dessert.
2. grilled chicken can be made anywhere at any time of the day/night at any restaurant in any city.
3. im starting to hate grilled chicken.
4. after 11 days without it, i dont miss/need caffeine.
5. the variety of gluten free products at the local grocery stores is amazing
6. it's really hard for me to follow rules, exactly...

so yes, i've had to tweak the cleanse to fit my lifestyle and what's best for me, but that's sorta recommended. they have health coaches if you need to ask questions and i've been in touch with them all aong, making sure that i am still benefitting from the cleanse. the first couple days were really difficult and i was frustrated because i didn't have a good understanding of what i could do with the 'allowed' foods, but after pushing through day 5, i felt a lot better. i've tried to be more open minded and eat things i never would have ate before (hellooooo, garlic and oil quinoa!) and i feel like i have more energy than i have in a long time. plus, i'm not relying on a mid-day coffee to make it past 3 pm, so i'm excited for my afternoon workout.

i know it's not over yet, but i had to remind myself of all of the positive benefits of this cleanse before the weekend comes and i'm tempted at every turn... so close!

that's not my name

side note- have you seen 'horrible bosses' yet? if not, it's a must. my favorite scene was this one with charlie day from it's always sunny.

loves it.

i need some distraction

i am taking a break from the cleanse (not literally, but blog-ally), so i thought i'd write about something else that's been on my mind lately.

tattoos!

(it took so much restraint not to put a smiley face emoticon after that. go me! although, i think i'm becoming a little too dependant on exclamation points...sigh. one step forward, two steps back.)

i've been considering getting another tattoo for awhile, but can't quite make up my mind. I have a few that i'm considering, all special to me for one reason or another. there's the 'command z' i want on the inside of my left pointer finger, as a nod to my graphic design/MAC roots; the lyrics "i believe, that my lifes' gonna see, the love i give return to me" because, well? i do.; and the quote from adam duritz, "whenever music plays, i smile and i cant feel anything..." that i would like to join the music notes on my left rib cage. i've designed my last three tattoos and a bunch for family and friends, but i haven't been able to make up my mind about these next three. i even googled rihanna's tattoos because she is up to twelve at this point (yup, twelve. where does she hide them all?) and she is so clever about where she places them (helloooo?! she wrote the one on her clavicle backwards so she could read it in the mirror. smart cookie.) anyways, i'm on the hunt for a tattoo artist that specializes in script, which is so hard to do without the letters bleeding together... any suggestions?

i know i dont have that many followers, but if you've stumbled on my page and want to help a sister out, holler at me. thanks!

...day 4

question.

is it ok to eat an avacado every day?

i just found out that they are included in the 'allowed food options' during this cleanse, and in my current state of hunger and restlessness, i am now craving them all day long.

jumpstart my kaleidoscope heart, day 2

this cleanse is f-ing hard. just sayin'.

jumpstart my kaleidoscope heart

tomorrow i begin a 14 day cleanse and i can't figure out if i'm more nervous or excited about my upcoming challenge... i took all of the necessary steps to guarantee my success, which went something like this:

1. researched the crap outta this cleanse
2. threw out any and all snack-tastic distractions
3. ordered the cleanse
4. made one ridiculously long, organically-focused, grocery shopping trip
5. dragged my lovely friend, melissa, along, and asked her (often) 'can i really do this?' to which she replied, everytime, 'yup, definately.' (love her).

and so, i am determined to make it all 14 days, following the directions exactly, while not cheating at all. not once. not even at the bachelorette party i am throwing for my friend next weekend, when everyone else will be eating sushi and i will be drinking a yummy protein shake, pretending to be super happy with the choices i've made and not at all pissy about my horrible overlapping of cleanse vs. bachelorette festivities. not even then.

the cleanse is called "Be Well" and it was created by Dr. Frank Lipman, who works with regular folk and celebrities alike. i may or may not have been influenced by gwyneth paltrows testimony-but if i was, can you blame me? have you seen her lately, on-board steven spielbergs yacht, all "i'm 40-something, i have two kids and i stillllll look better than you could ever hope to" and what not... so yea, don't judge. i'm only human.

but- the main reason i'm attempting this great feat is because i was recently diagnosed with hypothyroidism and it's scary and overwhelming and i don't really know what else to do with my nervous energy right now. annnnd, again, it wouldn't hurt to look like good ol' gwynny.

so now the plan is, balls to the wall, i'm going to get as ridiculously healthy as i possibly can, and i'm hoping this cleanse will be the jumpstart i need. i'll keep you posted on my progress this week!