FIVE COOL FINDS

1) Online Clothing Company: PLUM PRETTY SUGAR

-Bohemian-inspired tunics, dresses, tanks, robes, lounge wear, etc. Super soft cotton & silk- most were purchased from trips to India.
-I love how they advertise sets that are perfect for wedding parties & wedding events- great gift ideas!! (MOB set, bridesmaid set, honeymoon set, getting ready set, etc.)
-Take a peek at Plum Pretty Sugar’s feedback on their Etsy site- 100% positive!

* BELOW PICS: Plum Pretty Sugar tank (pattern/color: "darling jardin bleu")

This tank is very versatile. The fabric is beautiful, but very sheer. It can be worn as a pajama top (they sell matching lounge pants) or as a regular tank with jeans/shorts/capris.




2) Website: www.ETSY.com

-An online community where you can buy (or sell) everything from vintage jewelry to “Geekery” (like cassette vinyl decals).
-You can browse items via Category (like weddings, holidays, furniture, pets), Color, Editors’ Picks, Featured Sellers, Locally (just type in the name of your city to shop locally), or post a request for an item you’d like someone to hand make for you under “Alchemy”, etc.


3) Funny Website: www.YouParkLikeAnAsshole.com

-You can probably guess the premise of this website. Choose either “Got a Notice?” or “Give a Notice.” & let the fun begin! (Well unless of course you actually did get a notice…) You can print parking notices to inform someone of their a*hole status & how to improve upon their a*hole parking job. Just slap the notice right on the car’s windshield! Common notices include: a little too close, too close to my driveway, over the painted lines, diagonal parking (cool car or not so cool car). HA!


4) Local Va Bch coffee shop (& more): PERKED UP!

-Homemade muffins. Home of the best muffin I’ve ever had. Ever. Freshly baked muffins vary in flavor daily, but here are some of my favorites: Blueberry, apple oatmeal cinnamon, chocolate chip, & cinnamon streusel.
-Best cupcakes in town. Have you noticed that our local cupcakeries are not worth the calories? Perked Up! Features The Precious Cupcake & these mini babies are DELICIOUS!
- OK so it’s not all about the food (I guess). Perked Up! Also serves coffee, espresso, lattes/cappuccinos, frozen coffee drinks, hot & iced tea, chai lattes, & smoothies (Not real fruit though. The only bummer about this place.)
-Links for more info on Perked Up!/The Precious Cupcake:
*Perked Up! On Yelp:
*The Precious Cupcake:
(Within a 20 miles radius & for a $5 charge, they’ll deliver the cupcakes to your front door!)


5) Food: ARNOLD'S SANDWICH THINS

-100-calorie flatbread for sandwiches, burgers, mini pizzas, etc. A sandwich just isn’t a sandwich without bread. Arnold’s Sandwich Thins have less calories, less sugar, & less fat than regular slices of bread. They taste great too!
-Honey Wheat, Whole Grain White, Multi-Grain, & Seedless Rye
*check out the Arnold Bread website for nutritional info, product locator, & tasty ideas.

-e

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO LOSE THOSE LAST 10 LBS?

I need to lose 7-8 lbs to get back to where I was last summer; but I want to lose 10 lbs. I completed a 4 month long yoga teacher training program & during that time I was doing at least 5 hot yoga classes a week, but I completely abandoned my regular weight training sessions at the gym. A lot of my yogi friends are vegetarians & have ridiculously healthy eating habits, so yoga is all they need to stay in shape. I am NOT one of those people & I’ve gained 7-8 lbs to prove it (not on purpose, of course).

I've been working out at a local gym since I was fifteen. I’ve never been over weight, I’ve just worked out to maintain & tone up. I typically eat what I want with a few very simple limitations:

1)Drink water. (No more than 1-2 glasses a week of soda, sweet tea, etc.)
2)No Fast Food! (I’ll eat Chick-fil-A no more than 1-2 times a month)
3)Pack lunches during the work week. (This helps me maintain rule #2)
4)No condiments. (This works in my favor, but isn’t really a rule because I just happen to hate the taste of condiments. So “rule” #4 just comes naturally.)
5)Limit junk food. (I never snack on Ho Hos, chips, etc. I will eat a handful of chips w/ a sandwich for lunch, but I never just snack on a bag of chips.)
6)Limit chai tea/coffee. (I do occasionally reward myself in the morning with a chai tea from Bad Ass or Perked Up. BUT: I only order a small or medium size & I limit myself to 2 chais a week. Ok maybe 3 if I’m desperate.)

So, you’re probably noticing that I’m good about not eating fast food & not snacking on junk food, but you’ve probably also noticed that I didn’t mention what I do eat. And that’s where the problem lies. I eat A LOT of carbs & I have dessert following lunch &/or dinner almost every single day.

I’ve decided that eating the way I normally do & exercising the way I normally do is great to maintain, but not so good for losing weight. I’m not “hard core” or dedicated enough to commit to a major lifestyle change though. So, I plan on starting with a couple adjustments & will reevaluate if within a month I’m not seeing any results.

1)Add 2 morning runs to my normal workout schedule. (My normal weekly workout consists of at least 2 days of weight training with a 3rd day of either a 1 hr Total Body class or an extra weight training session.)
2)Eliminate dessert after lunch & limit dessert after dinner. (Instead of eating ice cream, brownies, etc. I’ll have Yoplait whipped chocolate mousse style yogurt or fresh fruit w/ a small scoop of vanilla flavored Cool Whip. These desserts may seem like cheating but I have a MAJOR sweet tooth, so this is a big deal me. And I won’t eat these desserts every night. If I can restrain myself I may even skip a few nights of dessert so I can go to my all time fave once every other week- Skinny Dip!! )

I’ll keep you guys posted! If this works then I will have figured out how to lose those last 10 lbs that just love to hang around…

-e

HEY YOU! YOU’RE ANNOYING!

1) PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO SAY HI
This happens to me most frequently in the building where I work. If I pass you in the hallway I’m gonna say hi, or smile at the very least. Every now & then I’ll pass by someone (usually a woman) who refuses to return the greeting. It’s not that big of a deal, I just find it to be so bizarre that someone could just look at me & stare like they didn’t hear me say hello. I’m not looking for a long exchange of pleasantries, just a simple “hi” will do! If it happens more than once with the same person I get this urge to turn around after I’ve walked by them & scream, “I SAID HELLO!!!!!” But so far I’ve managed to resist the urge to do just that. So far…

2) TAILGATING IN THE RIGHT LANE
Ummm… hello? I’m driving the speed limit in the right (slow) lane. The left lane is as open as can be… So, change lanes a*hole! There’s no need to tailgate in the slow lane when the left lane is wide open. (And the opposite is true as well- get out of the passing lane if you’re driving like a grandma.)

3) MEAN GIRLS
I just don’t understand mean girls. In high school & sometimes in college it’s common for girls to be mean because they’re insecure. But later in life that just doesn’t fly as an excuse anymore. Grow up & be nice already! We’re all in this together ladies, so join forces instead of tearing each other down. Hear me mean girls!?

4) MOMMIES
Ok I’m not knocking you for loving little Johnny, but living with & loving a 3 month old doesn’t give you an excuse to set manners aside around grownups. I do not have children, & I may feel differently when that day comes, but for my childless life right now- the following things drive me CRAZY:
a. “THE TMI MOMMY” ON FACEBOOK-
it’s totally cool to post a status update that you had a great time at baby & me yoga, or that you think you have the cutest kid on the block… HOWEVER it is NOT ok to post a status update that has anything to do with: projectile vomit, diarrhea, gas, etc!! I’ mean, come on!! Gross.
b. HELLO, I’M MOMMY!
Why is it that some moms seem to “misplace” their first names when they start having children? Suddenly they start referring to themselves only as “mommy” when they’re not even talking to their children. (i.e., Mommy needs to get a massage! Mommy wants a new car!)
c. JOHHNY’S MOM
I can only imagine how great it is to be a mother… (are you sensing a “but” coming on??)… BUT why do some moms lose their identity when they have children? Not only have you misplaced your first name (see above), but now you’ve taken on a new persona as “Johnny’s Mom”. So you can’t be Sarah anymore? You can only be Johnny’s Mom? Why can’t you be Sarah who happens to have a sweet baby boy by the name of Johnny? You are a hard working wonderful mom, but you’re also an individual with your own thoughts, opinions, dreams, etc. So, change you license plate to “Sarah Rocks!” & trash the “Johhny’s Mom” plates! Your child does NOT define who you are!!

Ok, I’m done venting (for now).

-e

Married Gals vs. Single Gals

My husband, Ben, & I will be married 2 years this September. It has become glaringly obvious that I don’t party as much with my single gals. There seems to be this married vs. single tension among girl friends that I wasn’t aware of until I tied the knot. Maybe you’ve noticed this as well among you & your girl friends. I know you single girls think that we (the married gals) have turned into old hags who don’t know how to have a good time anymore, but that just isn’t so. The truth is this: you’re right, we don’t want to party as much as we did when we were single & we don’t want to stay out until the bar closes every time we go out. HOWEVER, we do still want to go out & we can stay out late (when we want to, not every single weekend)! The key here is everything in moderation. Us married gals still know how to party & we still love to party, But let's be honest here-

When you're married there's really no reason to regularly force yourself to:
“single gal night”

-party hard until 2 AM
(& regret it the next morning)
-in a crowded bar
(what?? I can’t hear you!)
-full of obnoxious drunk people
(ya know, the drunk girl or rude guy who bumps into you every 5 seconds causing you to spill your drink)

When you could be:
“married gal night”

-partying until midnight or so
(& still have the energy to work out the next morning)
-in a more intimate environment
(where you can actually carry on a conversation)
-where your company is limited to the people you actually want to spend time with
-oh & one more bonus here: you can still dress sexy, of course, but there’s no reason to wear 5 inch feels, a mini skirt, & “boob top” to fit in with all the other girls in the bars.

Ok now before you single girls think I’m majorly hating on you, let me say this: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the single gal night described above! The problem is when the single girls don’t understand why the married girls don’t always want to join in. Instead of planning a night to go out around 10 PM until 2 AM, plan a night to go out for dinner @ 7:30 followed by drinks. That way the girls who want to party hard can keep on drinking while the other girls can choose to go home whenever they please. This way the girls get to have a girl’s night & spend time together, & everyone is included.

I want to conclude by saying that us married girls do still like to party late (& party hard); we just don’t want to do it all the time. Well, maybe some married women do, but this married gal doesn’t. When I was single I spent a ton of money on “going out” clothes & drinks at the bars. But once I got married the bar seemed less important (after all, I’ve got my man!) & the people I spend my time with became a lot more important. So if you single gals want to spend a late night out bar hopping in search of the best “crowd” (aka hotties), that’s totally cool; just don’t hate on us married gals if we’d rather be doing something else!

-e

I Disliked You from Our Very 1st “Hello”

So the title of this blog entry sounds pretty awful, but I’m willing to bet that it’s happened to all of us; I just don’t know what “it’s” actually called. Have you ever met someone & instantly decided that you’d never be friends? I know I have! It’s always kind of confusing & somewhat disappointing. Let me be more specific… There’s a woman who works in my office building who always used to rub me the wrong way; I just wasn’t getting a warm fuzzy vibe from her. She never did or said anything mean… I just didn’t have a good feeling about her & I never really knew why. At that point in time we had never said more than “hi” to each other. Then more recently we had an actual discussion. I figured that I was going to see her around the office building a lot so I might as well make an effort to get to know her. So, I started chatting to her & she tried to “one up” me the whole conversation! It was so awkward! I kept trying to find things in common with her & when I did, she’d say something to one up me! So that just confirmed my initial gut reaction right from the start. Then after that first conversation we ran into each other at a local restaurant that turns into a bar later in the evening. My group of friends & I were sitting at a large table just finishing up a late dinner, around 9:30 PM or so. She & her girl friends were out for drinks & had obviously had a lot more to drink than my group of friends. Well, to make a long story short, she sat down at our table & while I wasn’t even paying attention to her (actually, I was playing on my phone), she looked right at me & said, “You think I’m a B*&%$ don’t you? Well, you don’t have to be jealous of me, I’m married; I’m not trying to steal your man.” It was absolutely ridiculous! I gave her this WTF look & asked if she was confused & didn’t remember that she knows me from where we both work. (I thought that maybe she was so drunk she just didn’t remember that we had met before…) She just kept repeating that she was married & has kids and that I don’t need to be jealous of her. I was absolutely dumbfounded. I took the high road & just laughed & said “trust me, I have absolutely nothing to be jealous of” & I jokingly said, “Girl you’re crazy, I think you’ve just had too much to drink”. But secretly I was thinking: see! I knew right from the start that I was never going to like this girl!

So, what exactly was that initial feeling/reaction I had to that woman? How did I know right from the start that we would never be buddies? I’m just going to chalk it up to women’s’ intuition!

Some People Come Into Our Lives & Stay... Others Come & Go...

Over the years I’ve had a bunch of girl friends. Just recently it’s come to my attention that within the past couple of years I have become more selective with my friendships. As a teenager I had a couple close friends & a ton of acquaintances. In college I had a handful of close girl friends, but I also still had a bunch of “acquaintance friends”. A few years after college I unknowingly started weeding out the “acquaintance friends”. Come to think of it, it started not long after I got engaged... Hmm, maybe there’s a correlation between a) finding a new best friend in the form of a significant other & b) other relationships in my life. Single gals may argue that their married friends stopped hanging out as much once they tied the knot (& I’ll address that in a separate blog), but I really think it has more to do with finding yourself & less to do with being married. So, this brings me to my point that over the years people come & go… And from talking with my girl friends, it seems that we’ve all met & possibly become friends with similar “types” of people. Below are the ones that really stood out from my conversations with my girl friends.


1) The True Friend- Do you have a True Friend? I am very grateful that I have at least 7. The True Friend is almost always mentally stable. That seems awkward to say- but hey, nowadays it seems harder & harder to find “normal” girl friends. Am I getting too picky, or too set in my ways? I’m not sure, but I do know that every woman needs, at the very least, one True Friend. She’s reliable, level-headed, loving, & always there when you need her. Distance cannot separate you from your True Friends- you always seem to pick right up where you left off.

2) Negative Energy- You know this girl. She’s the one who is always complaining about her life but doesn’t do a darn thing to fix any of her problems; she’s completely content with being miserable. Crazy, right? She’s unhappy with the cards life has dealt her, but absolutely refuses (or maybe doesn’t know how) to get to the root of her problems; so you know what that means? She’s going to complain & complain & complain until you feel sorry for her. But ya know what?? You can’t fix someone who doesn’t know they’re broken. You can’t help someone until they’re ready to make a change. The main problem with this friend is that you find yourself being sucked into the black hole of her negativity. Can you escape without some of that negativity rubbing off on you??

3) Soul Searcher- This type of friend is possibly the most confusing. She’s usually in her mid-twenties to early thirties & is in the process of some major soul searching. Is she stuck up? Is that why the world seems to need to revolve around her? Or is she just completely self-conscious & that’s why she’s always talking about herself? Either way, it’s always hit or miss with this girl; she’s either on a high & therefore able to be a great friend, or at rock bottom & so stuck in her own world that no one else exists. Everyone has been in this stage before, the soul searching stage, so my personal goal is to TRY (although sometimes it’s damn near impossible) to just bite my tongue & remember that I’ve been in her shoes at least a time or two before. Give her time; she’ll come around & remind you why ya love her!

4) The “Old” Friend- The “Old” Friend was probably a True Friend at some point in time, but for whatever reason you’ve lost touch over the years. Maybe you still run into her from time to time, or maybe she just crosses your thoughts from time to time. But either way, you still think about her. The only problem is that you have both changed, your lives have gone in different directions & the friendship no longer “fits” the parameters that were set back when you were True Friends. Maybe people come into our lives at a time when you both need each other, then fade out over the years as you’ve grown apart. Do you try to rekindle this friendship, or just let it be?

5) The Acquaintance- This “type” of friend doesn’t really need much of an explanation. We all have acquaintances. Sometimes an acquaintance is a “Work Friend” whom you never really see outside of the job. Sometimes an acquaintance is a True Friend with whom you’ve lost touch. Sometimes an acquaintance is a New Friend. The best thing about an acquaintance is that you get to decide if they’ll stay an acquaintance or become a True Friend.

I hope I haven’t offended anyone by lumping large groups of people into groups. My goal isn’t to judge, just to think through my friendships. Sometimes it’s easier to respond favorably in a tricky situation if you’ve taken the time beforehand to figure out where someone is coming from & how they fit into your life. And I certainly haven’t described everyone in the 5 categories above; I’ve just listed some that stood out right away from my own life & also from conversations w/ girl friends about their friendships (past & present).

Oh & to my personal friends who are reading this: if you care enough to read my thoughts, you most likely fall into the True Friend category- even if you think you’re just a New Friend, Work Friend, etc!

-e

Great Find: Banana Republic Heritage Lightweight Hidden-Pocket Sweater

I bought this sweater (in white) from the local BR store in Va Bch last week. Since then (& keep in mind I just bought it last week) I’ve already worn it 5 times! Just today I bought another color online (construction gray) so that I might fool my friends into thinking I’m not wearing the same sweater every day! But I guess I am willing to blog about it & give my secret away… :) This sweater is so great b/c of its versatility. It’s a must have item for the Spring & Summer. It’s super light weight, but still warm enough when the AC is on full blast at the office, or when you’re riding your bike & it’s a bit chilly.

Here’s how I’ve worn mine so far:

1)To work. It’s a great layering piece to throw over a thin top or a dress.

2)To the bowling alley. I wore it over a bright pink short-sleeve burnout t-shirt.

3)To a restaurant/bar on Fri night. I wore it over a bright purple tank top w/ jeans & flip flops. On a different night I brought my sweater along to throw on over a bright blue sundress after the Beerfest, once the sun went down. We went to dinner, then to a bar after Beerfest & it had gotten chilly later in the evening & my BR sweater was perfect.

4)At home. I lounged around the house in my bikini (& later in my PJs) with this sweater over top.

I didn’t realize it came in Petite, so I got a Regular XS. I’m 5’2 & 122 lbs. Hope that helps w/ sizing! I’m guessing the S Petite would fit as well & maybe be a tad shorter. The Regular length hits just below my bum.

Today the Heritage collection is 25% off (on the BR website).

-e