My New Motivation...on my way to a skinnier me!!

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Happy Tuesday

So, the past weekend was super crazy for me.  I had a bad baking Friday and a disastrous baking episode on Saturday but 8 dozen graduation Cupcakes and a two tiered birthday cake later, it ended on a positive note. 

On Sunday, we spent the afternoon at some friends of ours who had a "Mortgage Burning" get together!! That was fun just finally sitting and relaxing and eating some light appetizers!  I'd never been to a "Mortgage Burning" party so I had no idea what to expect - so it was a very welcomed relaxing day!! Can't wait for the day we get to have one of these!!  :D

This weekend should be another crazy one for us as well! Brian's Beer Tasting Themed party is on Saturday.  :)   What I envisioned months ago to be a big tadoo, has now been scaled down to a smaller, less work event for me.  :)  I'll be serving light appetizers and finger foods and just keeping it simple! 

Sunday, of course, is Father's Day!!  Again, we'll be keeping it low key and simple.  Since Brian's birthday is next Wednesday, we'll be celebrating Father's Day along with his Birthday on Thursday in San Francisco at a Giants game.  :)  We'll be driving into Dublin and taking BART into San Francisco ~ gonna be fun!!!!!! 

Needless to say, the rest of this week will be dedicated to doing things around the house....preparing for the party on Saturday....finishing some DIY projects....and spending time with my baby girl!!

Well okay, she may be 14 and she may be going into her Sophomore year of High School, and she may be taller than me, but she's still my baby girl!!!!  (And always will be).

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Blogging from My Phone

Technology these days amaze me.  I'm learning almost every day something new whether its on my handy dandy Droid HTC or something new that I can do on any one of my blogs. 

Also, I'm amazed at all these different websites that's out there in cyber space!!  I'm loving all the neat "stores" I've recently found or websites like My Fitness Pal, or Pinterest, or PaperbackSwap....simply amazing! 

So, I'm giving it a whirl tonite by posting this from my phone.  Let's see if it worked.  **Fingers Crossed**

Scotty McCreery

I LOVE YOU THIS BIG

Pinterest!!!!

This is the latest craze!!! I love Pinterest!!!

For those of you who aren't familiar with what Pinterest is, here's a blurb from their website describing what it is in their words:

What is Pinterest?


Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and "follow" collections created by people with great taste.


People use Pinterest to collect and share all sorts of things -- wedding inspiration, favorite T-shirts, DJ equipment. You name it, people are pinning it.


We know you have great taste in something. Our mission is to make Pinterest the best place for you to share your taste with the world.


Here's a link to one of my 'Boards'.  This one happens to be titled "All Things Apothecary"  <----- Thank link will show you what I've 'pinned' on that specific board.  


In fact, here's the link to my entire Pinterest where you can view all of my Boards! You'll see I even have one dedicated to my Steelers!!!  Woot woot!!!  Just click ---------> Here!

If you don't already have an Pinterest 'account' (which, by the way, is FREE), just leave me your email address in the comment section of this post, and I'll send you an invite!!  Trust me...it's addicting!!  Not just looking at everyone else's boards, but pinning photos on your OWN boards!!!


I mean you can make one for 'Home Decor Inspiration' if you're thinking of redecorating; you can make one for and upcoming event or party you're having.....just pin photos you've seen while surfing the web so you can picture everything in one place.  It's awesome!!  Especially for brides who are planning their wedding!!!

Enjoy!!!!

Fun DIY'ing it Myself

So, my latest DIY projects are as follows:

Cupcake Toppers

Gift Tags

 Happy Birthday Banner

More cute Gift Tags

Cupcake Push Pops and Display

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So, today wasn't a very good day in my weight loss journey.  Well, it wasn't a bad day either.  I'm on pace to stay under my maintenance calories, however, I didn't eat breakfast, nor did I eat lunch either.  Which I know is not good.

We had friends come over for dinner and I knew it would be a TON of calories that I would be consuming...or at least I thought I would!

I made homemade Lasagna, Tossed Green Salad, and Garlic Bread.  For dessert, we had Strawberry shortcake, Angel Food style.  Yummy!  I think I did pretty well because I ate an extremely small portion of Lasagna, and stuck to one slice of Garlic Bread...well, once slice cut in half.  :)

So, before my after dinner snack......which usually consists of popcorn, here's what my food journal for the day looks like:

I have 353 calories remaining.  That is mostly a result of not eating breakfast and lunch, and splurging during dinner!! I mean the one slice of Lasagna alone was over 300 calories!!  Yikes!!

Tomorrow is a new day...(I seem to be saying that a lot lately).  I'm going to step up my daily exercise routine and commit to sticking with whatever plan of action I some up with tonight.

While I'm not going to go into detail of my weight loss journey here on this blog, just snippets here and there on my progress (or lack thereof), however, if you're interested in tagging along with me, please feel free to check out my Weight Loss Journey blog..... just click here -------->  Shelli's Ramblings 

Enjoy!

Time for Change!!!

So, I finally decided to get my hair cut! It's been giving me nothing but hassle lately because it's soooo long. Not only that...but I had major split ends!!!

Here's a before picture:

{I don't know if you can really tell by the photo, but the ends were really dry and brittle.  Lots of split ends!!}

Here's about 6 inches off the length:

And here's an after picture:

Big difference let me tell you!!!  

It feels so much lighter and hopefully I'll remember to get about 1/4 of an inch trimmed every 6 weeks or so.

  

June 30 Day Photo Challenge {a few days late}

Well, I stumbled upon a fun little blog late last night and decided to join in on their June 30 Day Photo Challenge.  I know I'm 4 days late in starting, but I'm jumping on the bandwagon and joining in on their fun!!

And here's their 'rules' for participating in this fun Challenge:

COME JOIN US!!!  You DON'T have to take amazing photos, you don't have to be a photographer, and you don't need a high-end camera.  Use your crap phone, smart phone, point & shoot, SLR, whatever you have - this is not a competition - just an 'art' thing.  It's your own personal interpretation of the subject matter.

Get creative!  Your self portrait could consist of you wearing a spandex leotard and a feather boa - who cares?!  {well...maye I would care...spandex is just gross...} But you get the point, right?!  

AND...these photos have to be taken ON THE DAY SPECIFIED - or one day before and posted on the day specified.  No old photos are allowed.  No cheaties.  So since the challenge starts June 1st, you can take your self portrait on May 30th, edit it that night, and post it on June 1st.  Make sense? Otherwise, take pictures & post them on the specific day.

So, excuse me if I post my first FOUR photos here in this post!  :)

Day 1 - Self Portrait

{dislclaimer....it was very early this morning when I took this photo so please excuse the ultimate Asian, just woke up look.}

Day 2 - Your Favorite Shoes

Now, these shoes are currently my all time favorite of those that I own.  I have tons of shoes and they're all my favorite, but for now, these happen to tickle my fancy!!


Day 3 - Hands

Hands, paws...they're all the same!  Here's Duke trying to get a toy that I have hidden underneath my hands.  He's pretty smart....I couldn't fool him!

Day 4 - Clouds


Well, heck....since we're supposed to take a photo "on the day specified", and it's pouring down rain at the moment, not to mention the fact that the entire sky (from where I'm viewing it) is nothing but clouds......this is what I got from my patio...I'm not stepping out in that downpour....sorry!!

Yes....that's nothing but total cloud cover.  Not the best picture in the world, but I refuse to go out there!!

So...now that I'm all caught up with this, let's see if I can keep up with it!

Hope you all join in the fun!!!  If you do, please be sure to leave me a comment here and I'll follow your blog and check out your photos!!!!

Being Creative is Fun!

So I tried my hand at several things over the past couple of weeks.  With being so wrapped up in Finals and a Wedding in which I coordinated, officiated, did all the flowers for the 16 member Bridal Party (including the Bride & Groom) created the wedding programs and MC'd at the Reception, I actually found time to 'relax'.  My way of relaxing that is.  By experimenting.

Here's the first thing I played around with:

 Earrings.

Cute Dangling Earrings.

The ones above are solid black and the ones below are crystal looking.

While I'm no master at Jewelry Making by any means, I am quite proud of these two pairs of earrings.

Here's another one of my DIY projects I made:

A Birthday Banner for the Hub's upcoming Beer Tasting Themed Party!  

Not bad for my very first banner ever!  Needless to say, I have had a few requests for these!!!  So, to my Etsy Store this went!!

And here's a yummy treat I experimented with:

Cake Push Pops!

Adorable huh???  These happened to be French Vanilla with Strawberry Filling.  Yummy!!!

I have a few tweaks to work out before I add these to my Etsy Store, however, I have already received an order for these!!!  So exciting!!!

And the wedding...well, the wedding was what it was.  Here's a few photos.
(Disclaimer:  I didn't realize how fat I actually looked until I saw these photos!!)

(Notice the big pooch in my belly)

I have to mention, not only did the Groom wear his this Baseball Cap on backwards the entire ceremony, one of his Groomsmen had on an Oakland Raiders Cap on.  Yes, seriously.

Anyway..... check this out:

I finished today ~ my first day ~ back on my weight loss journey, with 316 calories to spare!

GO ME!!! 

I would have had more, but I didn't do a complete work out today.  But tomorrow's another day!!!