Minted

Part of my new sewing station - I put my thread on push pins into a cork board. Works great and looks pretty cool too.

My new bag, also available in my shop

I purchased Washi tape from here and I'm having so much fun with it! It works just like tape and whatever you put it on looks freakin cute people.

Revlon anticipated my new color obsession with their new color "Minted".  I then proceeded to dump the whole bottle all over my phone.  Don't try to clean up your phone with nail polish remover - it just doesn't work okay?  But I love it enough to go buy another bottle. 

There is a definite trend with my favorite color of the season. Minty.  I. Can't. Get. Enough.  Pastels and little bits of neon in general are in my current love list but minty green beats them all.  You'll be seeing more of it from me.  That's a promise I intend to keep.    

I've got a four day weekend ahead of me thank you Mr. Presidents.  I've been working hard on a makeover with my Etsy shop, not only photos but coming out with a new product line. And I gotta say I'm kinda crazy about it. So my goal is to get a big chunk of the items on my to do list for that done by Tuesday.  The makeup bag seen above is one of the products I've been working on.  And I've decided that I need to make that one mine.  

I'm going to see The Vow tonight and I can't wait!  I think I should sneak in a hike this weekend too.  And of course yoga is on my daily agenda.  I hope you doing something wonderful for yourself :)

Good Things

What a GOOD day. Seriously.  It has taken me a month and 15 days before I really started feeling that rejuvenation of a new year and getting through the winter and feeling spring coming....but I feel it coming.  Because of my 30 day self love/yoga challenge in my previous post, I woke up this morning with the goal today of focusing on positive things.  Something about the phrase "self love" really stuck in my head.  It was pretty evident how hard I am on myself as each time I had a negative thought I consciously kicked it right out with the excuse that today I don't have to worry about that. Only good things. And I must say, it was very freeing.  I believe we do need some of those negative thoughts as they can be a reminder to always be improving and striving to become better than we were.  That being said, I know I don't allow enough self love to balance out the knowledge that I have so far to go.  


Some awesome things today:


---Leftover chocolate from Valentine's Day :)  Yes I'll probably be shaking from a sugar coma tonight but I feel like this still belongs in the awesome category.
---The Valentine that I got pictured above.  Pretty great eh?  My creative and awesome sister found the idea on Pinterest.   It makes me laugh.
---I finally found enough reasons to get an iphone. Awesome!  So that means that the first thing I did was signed up for Instagram.  I'm signed up as jenniferann1 if you like to follow.  Naturally I'm going to be instagraming fool so be prepared for plenty of pictures.  
---My goal of taking more pictures this year is going to be fulfilled.  Here's to crossing those resolutions off my list.  
----Did I mention I had a lot of chocolate today? And that there's still more for tomorrow?
---2nd day of yoga completed.  Check!
---Discovering the band Imagine Dragons and the following song, America, which will most definitely be added to my running/motivation playlist.

One of the girls from our great little yoga support group mentioned how self love ultimately results in being able to outwardly love. So true.  Negative thoughts consume your spirit and there's really no energy left to give to anyone else.  I love that those two go hand in hand, that as you spend energy on your own well-being, you'll have added energy to loves others.

30 Days of Yoga

I heard about a challenge of doing yoga for 30 days and recommitting to self and outward love.   Yes please!  There was a period of time that i was consistent with yoga and it did amazing things for me.  When I first started the practice I felt awkward, weak, and felt like I belonged at the back row of the class.  After about 2 weeks I started noticing changes and being able to do certain poses that I couldn't do before.  After a month or two I felt strong, beautiful, and so proud of the person I was being.  I connected with yoga and let it do amazing things for my mind and body.  Lately I've been focused on weight loss and doing other forms of exercise. While any kind of exercise is great, I'm feeling a lack of motivation.  I'm totally in a rut.  This 30 day challenge came at the perfect time for to regroup and focus on self love while I'm gaining strength.  So excited to recommit to yoga.  

A group of beautiful ladies are motivating each other through this challenge and anyone is invited to join.  Check out this blog for the source of the goal and to find other's who are committed and writing about their experiences.  You can also follow along on facebook if you want to join in the goal.  

I'm going to have a hard time doing it every single day, especially on the days when I don't feel like doing anything.  I'm committed though. 30 days. This is happening! 

Changes

Hey! So motivation kicked in suddenly and finally.  I did a little spring cleaning and finally changed the look of this here blog.  Notice anything different?  I've been struggling to make it look just how I want it while trying to learn the html language but I think I'll settle on how it is now.  I also renewed my goals of weight loss.  Current goals for me are working out 4-6 times a week and keeping my calories to a certain number.  As past trends have shown though, I'm motivated for a day or two with those goals until I ultimately talk myself into a treat, a pat on my back for doing so well the past day (or the past half a day).  Mac and cheese for lunch?  Yep I must deserve it since I worked out yesterday. That thinking happens all too often unfortunately which has the result of maintaining weight...not losing.    So since I'm more of a visual girl I made a calendar to have on my wall and account every day how I'm doing.  The new goal is to be able to check off the boxes for goals completed most days of the week.   I figure if I'm struggling to be able to check off the boxes then it'll be pretty obvious why I'm stuck at the same weight for the past 6 weeks.


Bonus.....if you have similar goals and want to have the calendars as well you sure can!  They're clickable and printable.  

I'll be adding the following months later on so check back in April if you want May and June and......

Cream of Broccoli - The Good For You Edition

I love cream of .....anything.... soup!  Especially cream of broccoli.  Probably because it makes me feel like its really good for me since it has the word broccoli in it.  You know?  I was browsing  through recipes in the book The Everything Anti Inflammation Diet and found an actually good for you version of the soup.  They took out the cream and substituted with Silken Tofu.   I'm NOT a lover of tofu but thought I'd try it anyways since its blended up into the soup and I can pretty much pretend its not there.  

Silken (soft) Tofu looks like this in case you've never heard of it (I hadn't) and you can find it at a natural foods type of grocery store.  I found it in the beans/specialty foods isle, not in the refrigerated section like I thought.   And..........to talk yourself into giving tofu a try you should know that tofu is really good for you.  It has iron and copper which will help with energy, calcium which of course will keep your bones strong, omega 3 fatty acids which is good for your heart and preventing clots and clogged arteries, selenium which helps regulate your thyroid and is cancer-fighting, and it can help with menopause if youre into that kinda thing currently.  Pretty good stuff to add to your diet every once in awhile! 

Cream of Broccoli

2 heads of broccoli, cut off the stem and chopped

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced

6 cups low sodium vegetable stock

3 Tbs white or yellow miso (also found in health food stores)

12 oz package Silken Tofu

salt and pepper to taste

toasted pine nuts to top it off

1. In a large saucepan, saute onions and garlic in oil til tender. 

2. Add parsley (save a little for garnish).  Add stock and broccoli. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until broccoli is tender, about 15 mins.

3. Remove small amount of broth and dissolve miso into it. Stir back into pot. 

4. Crumble tofu into broth, use hand mixer to puree until smooth (or add mix to a blender).

5. Add salt!  It needed it :)

112 calories/serves 8

Its all mental

I'm cozy in bed trying to think up good reasons to not do my work out today....and I was feeling pretty good about skipping out until I saw a photo that I have on my wall for motivation.  A photo of a very chizzled lookin chica.  So that got the guilt going but I still needed more motivation. 

Pinterest!

I joined the masses with the addiction to Pinterest but today it wasn't such a time waster.  After a few minutes of scrolling through the endless motivating pictures I was set to go.  Work out done today. Check.  Feeling better. Check.  All those photos I have pinned on my Motivation Board.  My best trick for getting my butt going lately is jumping on Pinterest and scrolling through the Fitness Category.  Something about seeing all the strong women makes me feel a bit stronger too. All in my head? Yeah but that's the point.  

Slow Cooker Homemade Chili

I've been on the lookout for new healthy recipes (actually coming through on one of my new years resolutions woo!) and I came across this one that sounded super yummy.  I can't remember where I saw it so I recreated it as best as I could remember and depending on what I had in my kitchen.  It came out as yummy as I hoped and I counted 160 calories per 1 cup servings.  And its slow cooker so its cooking all day and ready when you come home.  None of the attempting to make a healthy meal after work while I fill up on chips and salsa because my starving stomach just can't possibly wait any longer.

3 frozen chicken breasts

1 packet taco seasoning

1 can black beans (no salt added)

1 can kidney beans (no salt added)

1 can chopped tomatoes

1 can corn

1 small can green chilies

1 cup mango salsa

chopped onions

chopped red bell pepper

1 cup water

In that order, add all ingredients into a crock pot.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Mix and shred the chicken before serving.  Mmm mmmm.

Canvas Art DIY

I made these fun pieces of art by transferring photographs of both of my grandmothers (aren't they beauties?) onto canvas and gave them as Christmas presents this year.  So easy to do and inexpensive and totally unique.  Sounds like a perfect do-it-yourself to me.  I've seen it before but Elsie from A Beautiful Mess gave a great tutorial that got me started.


You need:
--canvas board (like the kind that you'd image an artist painting on) - purchase at any craft store.  Tip: they range from cheap to spendy and for this project you can get cheap ones. They go on sale all the time.  I got these two 8X10 boards for $4 at Hobby Lobby.
--gel medium - also purchase at craft stores like Michaels or Amazon.
--paint brush
--photo copy of your image in the same size as your canvas (it will reverse during transfer so if you pick an image with writing you'll want to get a reversed image when you copy it).  I chose old family photographs and its such a beautiful way to display those.  Old photos are almost ALWAYS gorgeous.  Also it won't work if you just try to print it at your home printer. Just get your butt over to Kinkos okay?

1. Paint the gel medium over your canvas.  This is what does the transferring so make sure its thick and covering the entire board.  It'll clog your sink a little as well so its best to wash it off as much as possible elsewhere or let water run for awhile when you clean your brush. 

2. Place your image face down onto the canvas and just push down with your fingertips all over.  You gotta let it dry over night (or at least a few hours).  I know that sucks when you're excited to see it but......wait til its DRY.

3.  Once its DRY....wet the paper with your paint brush.  You might want to start in one area to get the feel of how wet it needs to be.  Not soaked, but enough that the paper begins to peel as you rub it. 

4. With your fingertip gently start rubbing the paper and it will start to come off.  Be careful so that you don't rub too far that the image comes off as well.  It gives it a cool look though to have some places come up.  Just work with it.  Each piece is different and love whatever you get.  I purposely scrubbed a little harder along the edges and corners for that uneven look.

Keep at it.  The rubbing off process takes time and you don't want to rush it.  Get off as much as you think is right. Let it dry.  If it looks grayish still and you're not getting black blacks - then there's still paper on there. Get it wet and rub it off again until you get what you want.  

5. Once it is done and ready, cover with one more coat of gel medium to protect the image from peeling more. 

Elsie's piece 

I love how they turn out!  Such a fun alternative to simply framing and hanging.   

Juice Fast Day 3

Day 3 and I was feeling MUCH better than day 2. Yay!  Even though it'd only been a couple days I couldn't fight the urge to just check the scale.....2 lbs lost.  Maybe its water weight as they say or what not but thats okay - long as the numbers on the scale are going down I'm not gonna question it.  The real success was when I tried on a pair of jeans that were too tight to wear last week.  If you think I wore them  comfortably today then you would be correct.  


9:30 AM - fruit smoothie


11:30 AM - apple


1 PM - vegetable smoothie


Midday I still had a headache and tummy ache like yesterday, but overall I was feeling better.


3 PM - sauteed vegetables again


6 PM - fruit smoothie


I'm cutting my fruit/veggie fast a day early because life happens and I'm going out to lunch with friends tomorrow. But I'm feeling pretty successful about 3 days so its a wonderful thing.  I'm planning on doing 1 or 2 of my meals only fruits and veggies for awhile til I drop a few more lbs.  At least dinner is fine being 90% veggies.  Easier said than done I'm sure...wish me luck!


Since I'm a healthy smoothie pro now I added some of the drinks below for ya.  You can make endless types of smoothies depending on what you like.  Its way fun to put like colored foods together to make a really pretty drink.  If you're gonna put say blueberries and kale and strawberries together you might get something a lil brown/poopy/greenish.   Still healthy - just doesn't make you feel as gorgeous as a bright red smoothie might ya know? 

Smoothies a la Jen

1.  Banana, kale, apple, 1/4 cup non fat milk, water

2. Banana, strawberries, cutie orange, water and 1/4 cup non fat milk

3. Kale, spinach, broccoli, celery, water (this is as disgusting as it sounds...drink it fast ladies!)

4. Banana, orange, 1/2 apple, carrot, 1/4 cup non fat milk, water, flax seed

5. Blueberries, strawberries, red bell pepper, kale, water

6. Spinach, celery, banana, kale, water

Juice Fast Day 2

Day 2.....that means I made it through day 1.  Awesome.  Only the not awesome thing is that I woke up with a headache, I'm feeling really blahh, tummy aching and I'm super hungry.  


10 AM - Banana, strawberries, blueberries, cutie orange, 1/4 cup non fat milk and water smoothie


Tip >>  bananas make smoothies soooo creamy and thick, especially when they're not frozen, which leaves me feeling fuller.  I like that. 


12:30 PM - 1/2 banana, spinach, red bell pepper, 1/4 cup non fat milk and water smoothie. 
By lunch time I'm wanting some real food. Real food. Not blended up antioxidant goodness. I want a cheeseburger pronto people! (However.....I did notice that I haven't been craving any sweets at all, even though I come from a long line of chocolate - a - holics.....so it seems that eating lots of fruits helps out with those sugar cravings.  Interesting.) 


Maybe this is TMI - but I figure you're reading cause you're interested in this process.  I've got the runs - not fun....and this endless headache is still hanging out.  I considered hiding out in bed all day (which is making me really happy that I tried this out over the weekend) but I feel like I gotta get out of the house and relax my mind.  So this is what I did....

Lucky for me it was the most beautiful, perfect weather outside even though its January in Utah.  I picked a new hiking spot and went exploring.  I did an hour up and an hour down and I noticed my lack of food intake immediately.  About 1 minute into the incline I was breathing heavy and sweating and so exhausted.  I passed by a family and tried to awkwardly hide my glistening face and say "hi (breath) yeah (breath) its beautiful (breath breath)." But I wasn't about to quit, just take more breaks.  I had a pocket full of almonds and cranberries and went for it.  The push to the top was totally worth it.  Good choice.

4:30 PM  - 1/2 banana, blueberries, cara cara orange, water smoothie

I'm still craving some "real" food tonight. Something warm.  Cheeseburger.  Yeah....no!  I decided to cook up some vegetables rather than eating them raw and blended.  So my juice fast has turned into a fruits and vegetables and almonds and a little milk fast.  And I feel just fine about that.  

7 PM - sauteed in olive oil yellow squash, onions, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans, red bell pepper, carrot

I added lots of butternut squash because I love love love it and I need some food love in my life right now.   I'm going to bed with a headache still and feeling sick, tired, and a tummy ache.  Same as when I woke up this morning.  

But I'm still alive.