Favorite Outfits of the Week

This last week I stumbled upon several different outfits I want to try out. Here are my top favorites.

When life gives you lemons you make cupcakes!

Today I’ve had a lazy Sunday. I worked a little on planning out more cupcake ideas for future baking days while I watched the finale episodes of SYTYCD. I’m baking Lemon Cupcakes for a birthday at work tomorrow. I call them my Pucker Up Cupcakes. I haven’t made cupcakes in months, but tonight this is what inspired me to pull out my past ideas and add to them. I came up with some fun flavor ideas; playing with Coconut, German Chocolate Cake, Raspberries, Apple Pie filling and Carrot Cake. Not all together just in case you were wondering. I’m going to have to start making more of my cupcakes but I just can’t eat them, so I’ll have to find reasons to make them and give them away. I’m sure others won’t complain. I got way off track with my eating habits this last week with the family beach trip. And last night was just as bad with a hearty dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse, but it was yummy!

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Cupcakes are done. Still finishing up the Finale SYTYCD. If you watch the show you already know who won. I’m a little behind on my DVR watching. I’m just glad no one spoiled it like my old boss did with the American Idol finale. I’m about to find out who won…..and the WINNER is……

MELANIE MOORE!!!!!

She was my top pick since the first episode, so I’m glad she won tonight. Now that SYTYCD is over that is it for me until fall TV starts. Good thing for Netflix Instant Play.

Hello Cupcake!!!

My niece’s 1st birthday is coming up on 8/31 and I’ve decided to make the cupcakes for the family festivities. The theme of the party is undecided at this point but I’m getting excited about all the cute cupcake ideas I’m finding. Which ones do you like best?

Panda Cupcakes:

Sheep Cupcakes:

Monkey Cupcakes:

Little Piggy Cupcakes:

Owl Cupcakes:

Cookie Monster Cupcakes:

Blog-cation

I went on a little vacation from blogging. Sorry about that. It was a combination of being really tired and not up to typing and being on vacation with my family. I’m waiting on the pictures from my sister before I start sharing about my trip. So for tonight we will talk about my favorite subject of Clothes. Yes yes I’m obsessed with talking about clothes. Tonight I was updating my shopping budget and I think I have to cut myself off for August. I started keeping track of all my purchases on a spreadsheet at the beginning of the year when I felt I was spending too much money on redoing my winter wardrobe. Since then I have realized I have an addiction of constant shopping. The spreadsheet helps me determine my boundaries which seem to stretch with my mood and also determining do I really need this shirt I just bought, maybe I should return it. This time of year is even more dangerous for me because of all the great sales on the summer clothes that are being transitioned out. The Loft has really been sucking me in lately. And it doesn’t help when they email out that all sale stuff went from 30% off the marked down price to 75% marked down. I can’t help but zip over to the Loft website and check out what they got not to mention the end result will be spending my lunch break driving to Loft to see what they have left in the sales racks. I just can’t help myself!!! But I don’t want to talk about the summer clothes. I want to share the fall goodies that are showing up that I’m keeping my eye on. I’ve perused all the usual suspects tonight and did a little online window shopping. I just have to fight my natural urges to purchase any of this till next month.

GAP

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OLD NAVY

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LOFT

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Thursday Night

Tonight was a typical Thursday.  Went to the gym and did some running and my yoga class.  My left quad has been hurting since I got off the treadmill so I hope it feels better tomorrow.  Whenever we had to balance on our left legs in yoga tonight, I was very wobbly.  Got home and made my typical after workout dinner – a scrambled egg & canadian bacon wrap with a side of cauliflower – then turned on my dinner entertainment, the DVR.  SYTYCD announced tonight who is in the finale and I’m so happy my picks are there.  Next week will be a good show. Sorry I haven’t posted my favorite routines or music from this week’s episodes, so if you liked that stuff I’ll post it next week when I let you know who wins. 
Tomorrow is Friday and after work my vacation begins!!!  I’m going on a family beach trip from Sunday thru Wednesday.  It will be chaotic but fun.  I asked my sister about if there is wi-fi in the beach house and she isn’t sure.  A little nervous about that.  It’s funny to think how just 10 years ago we could go places without worrying about if we could connect to facebook and getting in our cars without cell phones didn’t cause anxiety or an immediate u-turn home. Funny how times have changed. 
This is even funnier or is it more funny.  Who knows.  I’m all about retro and vintage but this is just ridiculous.  This is Lenny Kravitz walking the streets talking on his cell phone with a hand held adapter made to look like a retro phone.  Why would you do this, why????  It really looks stupid and whatever company came up with it is even worse than the person who bought it.  But it does make me laugh!

Fall Shoe Sneak Peek

Payless is not a shoe store I go to often, but every once in awhile I check out what they’ve got. Especially more often now since some of my favorite bloggers are spotted sportin’ some Payless shoes. I did a little peeking last night online and found what I searched for all last winter…lace up oxford style heels!!! I’m so excited. I went up to my Payless at lunch today and they were on sale which makes me even happier!

Can’t wait to wear them this fall!

End of Summer Shopping

Never thought I would say this, but I’ll be kinda sad to see summer go. Your response to that would be, WHAT??? That’s right, I hate summer, I hate the humidity, the heat, the bugs, etc… I’m a winter girl. I love everything about the cold. But this summer I fell in love with my wardrobe and that’s a first for the summertime part of my closet. I usually wear my summer clothes begrudgingly and dream of a colder day ahead. But not this year. I love all my bright colors and snub my usual uniform of black and grays. What I do love about the end of summer approaching is all the great sales. My bank account doesn’t love it but I do! I’ve also developed a love hate relationship with Loft, it’s played with my emotions these last few weeks with great sales without my size available but then I find that one little gem that makes me love them all over again.
It’s funny to think that even though its still 90+ degrees outside that the fall collections in most stores are slowly creeping in to the summer leftovers. I still have a few more items on my summer wish list before I can switch gears and start looking at boots, jeans, sweaters, etc…

Yellow Shirt – feel like I’ll never find this. Whenever I do happen to find a Yellow shirt in any store my experience has been one of these three obstacles. 1. only yellow top left is an XL 2. it’s completely see through 3. I’m in the checkout line and notice a big black mark on the back of it and it’s the only yellow shirt in the whole store!
Coral Cardigan – don’t know why I became obsessed with a coral colored cardigan but I must have one.
Bright Summer color bathing suit – turquoise, pink, orange, red, any shade that isn’t black or olive, which are the two colors I currently own.
Summer Hat – just looking for a simple straw hat to wear to the beach or pool that doesn’t make me look like a farmer, is that too much to ask?
Pleated skirt – red or a light pink is preferred. I haven’t come across any pleated skirts in my normal shopping routes. I’m going to have to branch out and try other stores.
Colored Pencil Skirts – still coveting the J.Crew pencil skirts, love them!!!

As I slowly switch gears into planning what to buy for the fall and winter, I am excited about shoe shopping again!!! I had so many shoes on my winter wish list left over that I can’t wait to pick up where I left off.

Science is Fun!!!

I’m so happy that all my good examples of eating healthy is finally rubbing off on others, well mainly one other person. Boyfriend calls today and asks “Is Beef Jerky ok to eat?” To my surprise he took the time to think about what he ate and to my surprise Beef Jerky is an ok snack to have if you are trying to lose weight. According to Men’s Health magazine that is. My quick Google search led me to find out that not only is Beef Jerky and ok snack but it’s often misunderstood. It’s high in protein and will not raise your insulin levels. And not only should you consume .36g of protein per 1lb of body weight, but 1 ounce of Beef Jerky contains 11g protein, 70 calories and only 1g fat. However I did read that you should try and find a lower sodium Jerky or a lean meat Jerky, which usually means don’t buy it at the 7-11 but go to your nearest whole foods market. I also found out that increased insulin levels will tell your body to store fat!!!

So here is your Biology Lesson for the day:
Fat does not make you fat. Carbs make you fat. So what happens when we eat too much carbs? Our body takes in carbs and converts it to glucose through the liver. The liver stores the carbs as glycogen but has a limited capacity in how much it can store. Which is approximately 60 to 90 grams in other words 2 cups of cooked pasta. Once your Liver reaches their limits the excess carbs end up as excess fat. As you eat high carb foods the rapid rise in blood glucose will tell the pancreas to secrete insulin. Insulin is a storage hormone, which saves away your excess carbs in the form of fat for that future famine you may encounter. So a high carb diet tells the body to STORE FAT!!! You think that sounds bad, I then read this: Not only do the increased levels of insulin tell the body to store carbs as fat, they also tell it not to release any stored fat, making it impossible to use your own stored body fat for energy. EXCESS CARBS NOT ONLY MAKE YOU FAT THEY MAKE YOU STAY FAT!!! I’m really going to think twice before I stuff my face with pasta and bread.

Back to why protein – Beef Jerky – doesn’t raise insulin levels: Protein is an amino acid which provides cells with the building material they need to grow and maintain their structure and Carbs provide cells with energy. Ingesting protein also causes the release of insulin but also the release of glucagon. Glucagon stimulates the release of glucose from the liver to the blood stream which pretty much means it moves the fat out of its storage unit. Glucagon also suppresses insulin.

Bottom line: glucagon and insulin do opposite things and therefore proteins and carbs do opposite things to your body. High levels of insulin/carbs can lead to obesity.

When you are about to consume your excess amount of pasta, bread, your favorite baked good, remember this line from my favorite TV show Friends: “A moment on the lips, forever on the hips” and now we know why!

This Week’s Sales

Ann Taylor & Ann Taylor Loft - 30% off Friends & Family starts 8/2 thru Sunday - let me know if you need a coupon, I’ll forward it to you.

Target – Spend $75 on Clothing, Shoes & Accessories get 20% off online only! (don’t forget AAA members get an extra 10% off when you log on through their site)

Banana Republic – 25% off your entire purchase now thru 8/3 – use code BRAUG25

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!

Blue.

I’ve been obsessed with the color blue this summer. I’ve bought several different blue striped shirts in the last few months. You may ask how does one own several different blue striped shirts aren’t they all the same? Well each shirt has a different shade of blue and width of stripe and it makes the world of difference when pairing together outfits. Not to mention the purchase of different shades of blue of solid color tees too that entered my closet this summer. So one may say this is my blue period. Still deeply immersed in the arms of blue, it’s no surprise I fell in love with this this top from Loft. I first laid eyes on this beauty in February when Kendi wore it in an outfit post here. Unfortunately it was no where to be found at that time. But last week I saw Loft brought it back and I knew I had to have it. I ran to my loft the next day on my lunch break and they didn’t have it, not a one. I checked online and to my delight there was my size. I added it to my shopping cart and went to see how much I had to put in my cart to get free shipping. WHAT no free shipping? Loft always has free shipping if you spend $100 or $125. But of course the one time I want to order something I have to spend $9.95. I hesitated and now my size is no more. Now that there is free shipping I have nothing to order. The troubles I have in life. Yes I know there are way more important things to worry myself about and I will gain some perspective tomorrow. But right now I’m blue over this top.