Finally!

I lost 4 pounds! It was after a strict 3 day diet, so hopefully it doesn't come back, but it's nice to finally see the scale move a significant amount.

Hopelessly Healthy

This title may seem a bit 'off' and it is, but it is how I am feeling lately.  I have been trying to lose weight for more than a year with no results.  I've tried everything to nothing and see no change up or down, hence the title of this post.  Losing weight isn't the only reason to make life changes.  I am healthy, but hopelessly fat (apparently).

Recently I started doing 21 day fix.  Today marks day 21 and here is what I have learned:

EVERYTHING is a Carb (thanks Mean Girls)

My left side is significantly stronger than my right

I wasn't eating as many vegetables as I thought I was

Protein makes you poop (A LOT)

You don't really need condiments on most foods

Working out can make you feel good

The things you think are good for you are not always

I love the way Autumn (the creator of 21 day fix) says booty

Balance is hard

I hate that little blue container!  It houses all my favorite foods (cheese, avocado and hummus) and you only get ONE allotted per day

I am way more conscious of eating CHEESE because of THAT DAMN blue container


I am going in for round 2 beginning June 1, why this day?  Because I need a break from bowls and colors and I just want to enjoy my food the way I used to.  Did I mention EVERYTHING is a Carb?!!!  I will measure myself tonight, so that might change my mind and I'll start a new cycle tomorrow.  Stay tuned...

Short And Sweet

Just like me is the title of this post. Today was a good day. It started off uncertain, but finished sure. I got lunch from my boss, a beautiful card and gift certificate from coworkers and had dinner with some old friends who seem to have not changed a bit. Today I am thankful for good fellowship, good food and a roof over my head on this chilly night.

Toe Jam

Why am I writing this? A feeling, a thought, a wish that it would just go away... Jam is something good that usually evokes a sense of tastiness, strawberry being my favorite. Toes, even though mine are pretty cute, do not make you think of tasty things, so we should change toe jam to toe slime or some other unappealing word more appropriate of its repulsive nature.

The Day after Resurrection

Happy (day after) Easter!

I'm posting this a couple days late, but I started writing it at the right time lol.  I spent the day doing my usual Sunday things...cleaning, cooking and prepping meals for the week. This process usually takes at least half the day, but for some reason I was in the kitchen significantly longer this time.  For this marathon session, I had two packs of chicken breast, 1 whole chicken, 1 pack of ground turkey, 1 pack of ground beef, beans, 2 red peppers, 2 green peppers, mushrooms, some broccoli slaw, a bunch of onions, a cucumber and some tomatoes.  I used every slow cooker at my disposal, including the small red one I had but away in the cabinet.  I made Salisbury steak (for yesterday's dinner), Slow Cooker Baked Beans, which I will use to top some baked potatoes later in the week.

Chicken strips of the Greek and cilantro lime variety grilled, sliced and individually frozen for future sandwiches and salads, Crepes, Greek Pasta Salad and Veggie Quiche with a hash brown crust.

BEWARE of the "cheap" bags of bulk onions that seem like a good deal at a time.  $1.29 for 3 lbs. of yellow onions, but only half of those were unusable.  I forgot to get a red pepper from this store, which was on sale for $1.  I was upset as I really needed it and had to pay $1.99 per pound for one at another store, but it turned out that one pepper weighed half a lb. so it came out to be the same price and the per lb. pepper was actually a larger, greater quality.  I will be buying all my produce by the pound from now on.

I broke down the whole chicken, slow cooked then shredded the breasts for chicken salad and Bbq pulled chicken, which also topped those baked potatoes mentioned earlier. Cooked the legs and thighs, along with a sweet potato for Charlie and make stock with the back.

The two packs of chicken breasts were used to make these three bagged meals:

Chicken Cheese steak Melts

Lemon Chicken and Chicken Hash

Chicken Hash (cooked)

My lunches this week consist of Asian Salad, Chicken Salad with grapes, cranberries and apples, Greek Chicken Pita and the Veggie Quiche.

My full weeks menu including what I planned for snacks is available here:  Menu Plan - Week of 04/06/15.  And with this post I am reinstating:  Today I am thankful for... Having food to plan and prep these meals for this week and weeks to come.

The hustle continues...

I am on a mission to get my life back in order.  The catering company will help me do that.  So far, I haven't received a great response, but I'm trying not to let that discourage me.

Both Louis Vuitton scarves are still for sale on Ebay in Blue and Pink.

I really hate to sell them as they are so beautiful.  I truly am not a scarf person but probably would have worn them at some point.  I don't want to hurt the feelings of the agent who gave them to me either, but I could really use the money in other ways.








I had no luck selling the phone cases as I'm sure most people have moved on to bigger and better phones than the S4, but they're still in my possession...









The AVON products are still listed on craigslist as well.

Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. 

Evolution Of My Smart Phone

NOKIA, probably the first manufacturer of the cell phone and still around today, provided me with my first phones, the last four in the picture above.  Notice how the sizes got smaller over the years?

I loved this phone, especially being able to change the colors/patterns with interchangeable cases and keypads.  I did hate that ugly antenna though.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

These are my actual Nokias which I must have in my possession somewhere as this picture was taken just four years ago.









When a sleeker, smaller version that could do the same thing came out, I was all over it.  I think I kept this Nokia the longest.

It was the Iphone of its time.  I'm not sure, but I think this is the one that created a new customization obsession for me... CHARMS!

Enter Sidekick II, made famous by various celebrities including Paris Hilton, and was my very first "smart phone".  As any side-kicker knows, this was more than a phone. It was a community. In fact the love of this device brought together a whole circle of friends aptly called sidekick geezers; a group of "older" people with a device marketed to teenagers, whom I still communicate with today.  I took joy in customizing this phone with skins, rhinestones and my beloved charms.

Once it was outgrown, came the Sidekick 3 (which I still have), followed by the Sidekick 4G (LX original), my all time favorite, which survived numerous drops and a swim in dishwater (pic below is after I took it apart to fix it)...

bit the bullet after being thrown into a wall by my sister's then husband who was mad she wouldn't let him see who she was texting, really?!!!!

Yes I am still bitter about it, even though I ended up getting a tattoo of the next installment, the Sidekick LX, 2009 edition.  While this one wasn't necessarily better, I knew it was the last one I would ever have, so the tattoo was done in its memory.  I am planning to add R.I.P. to it as well.

Note:  The only sidekick I did not have during this time, which wasn't really a sidekick anyway was the slide, because lets face it, its not a sidekick without the "kick".  The slide was just wrong.

I do miss whipping out that device though and having anyone who didn't know ask "What's that?" then being so smug in telling them all about my cool phone.  But, Microsoft ruined this phenomenon as they do with everything else and our beloved data plan diminished until it was no more.

So, I was forced, after much consideration to get the G1, the most sidekick-like phone on the market at that time.  The android operating system turned out to have a coolness all its own.











Next came the My touch 4G Slide - the one with the best keyboard and also a pretty good camera.

But, I left it for the Samsung series.  Starting with the Galaxy S III, my first non-exclusive to T-mobile, full touch device.  I actually looked for keyboard cases for this one just in case I needed it.

It was followed by the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5, which I currently have.  I plan to keep this one for a while as the progression of phones from large to small has been reversed as evident by the evolutionary pic above.  The S5 provides a large enough display and more than enough integrated features to keep me satisfied.