I am the first to admit it… I have fallen off the healthy diet wagon. I’ve fallen off hard. Sweets have been a major part of my diet lately, and yes, I am slightly embarassed.

Even with the holidays, there is no good excuse. Pie, icecream, cookies, cinnamon rolls, candy and the never a good idea, soda.

It’s BAD!!!

So with the end of the year coming, it is time to get back on track. No I am not considering it a “New Years Resolution” because let’s be honest, people don’t stick to them, and more importantly, it is something that never should have started again.

So here is my decision. No more fast food or soda after the first. I am going to watch my portion control since I feel like I eat too much (even the good stuff). I am also going to try to eat the Zone Diet again since it is the most condusive to my active lifestyle.

More important to the decision of eating better, I am going to share my failures and triumphs with all of you. It will be a learning process for sure. But to help I am going to start a new blog (yet to be named) that will focus on my Zone and CrossFit aspects of life. It will include some of the workouts I do during the week, Zone meals that I have prepared (including the recipe obviously), and general information about staying fit and/or healthy. Topics could include stretching, shoes, apparel, equipment and current news stories.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions, questions or comments about the new site. I will try to have it up by the first of the year so we can start out fresh!!

Well hopefully you are a little creative… or have access to someone who is.

These aren’t too difficult, but they will take some patience.

I am REALLY REALLY REALLY sorry for the lack of quality and quantity of the pictures included in this post. I failed miserably and that just plain sucks!!
(I will try to follow up with better/more of them so you can at least think about it for next year!)

I really got into the painting mood this year!

The easiest of the hand painted stuff was the peppermint candies. I actually made three different ones, but I am guessing you could come up with tons of combinations!!

For the perfectly round shape I used a bowl to trace on the poster board. Before cutting, I free-handed the “wrapper” shape. Cut it out. Combine white paint with a little silver (just enough to pearlize it and give it a shade other than bright white). Paint the “wrapper” part. Use a pencil to outline the candy shape, this could mean straight wedges, swirls, etc. Use the same pearl white to paint the white sections. When the white is dry (I actually did several at a time so I always had something to work on between drying), you can start on the red! Put one coat of red on, and while applying the second coat, sprinkle on red glitter. You might have to work really quick to get the glitter on before the paint dries. After all of that dries, use the silver paint to accent the sides to give the real wrapper effect.

I hope that wasn’t too confusing!!! I’m guessing Gingy from Shrek would be too difficult to describe, so good luck! Just make sure everything dries before the next coat, and lots of sparkles on all of the “frosting” and “candy!”

My greatest accomplishment (and ironically the easiest) was the igloo.

If you have an old “Dogloo” lying around, or have a friend who does, this can become a GREAT outdoor decoration.

Take the Dogloo (any size) scrub it down with bleach. If you have a “quarter car wash” in your neighborhood, I recommend taking it there.

Take black paint and a thinner brush. Follow the raised lines on the Dogloo, and once you have hit all of them, it will look like an ice block igloo!!

So easy!! Great next to a blow-up polar bear!

Let me know if you have any questions!!!

Sooo yeah. The holiday season has caught up to me yet again. It has been a week since I have been on here, which we all know is a lifetime in the blogosphere (that’s what they call it right?).

So once again I’ll give a short update on my busyness and then hopefully share some of the decorations I created over the past couple weeks.

Well you all know I spent Friday-Monday of last week to help my friends decorate. Then I took Tuesday off to update all of you lovely people and get some of my life back in order.

The plan (as of the first Friday we decorated) was to wear costumes, so I had to find a “snowwoman” costume, aka make it. So I went out and bought the fabric and found a cute little sideways mini snowman top hat on eBay. Slowly my friends, “the party planning committee” dropped like flies on the costume plan, but two of them and myself stuck with our plan.

Wednesday I helped decorate.
Thursday I helped decorate. BTW, was it seriously not Friday by that point?
Longest week ever.
But I guess that happens when you are looking forward to something exciting!

Friday was the longest of the days at work, but the day got better! I actually realized that I wasn’t going to have enough time to make the costume, so that meant shopping the next day.

My friend’s parents were in town for the party, so my parents and a few of our friends took them out to our favorite restaurant for dinner.

Saturday morning was filled with cleaning up since my friends were coming to stay, but we got that done quickly. My mother and I went out and found party outfits for all three of us.

Finally the party!!! It was a lot of fun, but unfortunately I didn’t get any sleep.

Anyway, I will update with the decorations tomorrow!

Night night ya’ll!!!

Alrighty, here comes the last part of the store bought Christmas decorations.

The first decorations are from CVS (I didn’t actually by any of these because, well I already bought more than I actually needed this year).

Oh and sadly no one has volunteered to by me my Mrs. Clause apron yet…. just saying…

Small Christmas Tree Figurine – $2.99

Blow-Up Santa – $19.99 (Walmart also has blow-up polar bears for $20)

Martini and Flamingo Sworavski Ornaments – $5.99

Fave of the bunch!
You guessed it!!! Light up snowmen and women!!
Giant version of my 99 Cent Store find! – $9.99

AND!!!! From Costco:

GIANT Stocking!! Unfortunately I do not know how much this one costs… but I am guessing not too much since my boss was nice enough to buy it for our office.

The picture below shows how big it is (see the hand in the bottom right corner!

Up next I’ll show you my handmade decorating skillz.

Off to make a painted gingerbread man, specifically Gingy from Shrek.

Ok so I went MIA again this weekend, and for that I am sorry!

It was another whirlwind weekend filled with cleaning, but this time I got to decorate… A LOT!

See I had to decorate my own house… no big deal.

The BIG deal was decorating my friends’ house where we are throwing a major Christmas party next weekend. It has been quite a process! They basically hired me as their “creative director” which means I got pulled in about a million directions every house since they all needed my approval.

Friday

Immediately after CrossFit, I ran home and showered, and headed over to their house where they had dinner waiting for me (major bonus! I will do anything for food!). I’m not sure what we accomplished that night, but we worked from 7:30-12:30.

Saturday

Woke up and started cleaning/organizing. Didn’t go to my normal Saturday morning CrossFit session because I knew there was too much to get done. From 7:30-4 I cleaned/organized/decorated my house. Lunch? Nope. Tree done? Yes, and it is B-E-A-UTIFUL!

Headed over to their house at 5 to decorate again. Painted an old Dogloo (I will share pictures in a later post when I show you all of my creative ideas), and completed SEVERAL other random projects. Finally got fed! Two free meals. Was there from 5-12.

Sunday

Woke up at 7:30 after “sleeping in” half an hour. Cleaned/Organized/Decorated from 7:45-3.

Showered and went to their house again. Decorated 4:30-10:30

And I went back tonight after working all day and going to CrossFit. My week will literally be a Groundhog-Like Week. Work, CrossFit, Decorate, Sleep. Repeat.

It will all be worth it when everyone sees how cool the house looks!!

I will get the last “shopped for” part of the Christmas Decoration Series up tomorrow, and then we will end with homemade decoration ideas. I think it is a good time to end the series since, well, let’s be honest…. you really should be CLOSE to being done decorating by now right….?

Night peeps!

Ok so if anyone out there who reads this loves me at all (in a non-creepy, appreciative kind of way of course) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE buy me this apron!!!

I think this is the cutest thing EVER and it is the thing I want most at the moment but I know that NO ONE around me will buy it… that whole, not practical item = no spending on it. LAME

Anyway. I will love you forever and ever and ever and I’ll give you a huge shout out.

Ok that is my lame desperate plea. Here are some more finds from Pier 1 Imports.

Ginger Bread Candles – $8 and $12

Large Lighted Ornaments – $49 (very classy looking for a patio)

Favorite Find (well, besides the apron!)
Peppermint and Polka Dot Taper Candles – $6 (set of 3!)

Wooden HO HO HO – $12.95

All pictures in this post are from www.Pier1.com

So I stubbled upon the greatest combination last night. You will love this dessert!

For a small bowl, combine two Trader Joe’s Peppermint Jojo’s (like peppermint Oreos), and a large (or two small) scoops of vanilla icecream. Put the Jojo’s in the bowl first and smash them into small pieces, then add the ice cream and mix the two together with your spoon.

It is an amazing combination on Cookies N’ Cream and Peppermint.

If you want to make it a little healthier, you can also choose to use vanilla frozen yogurt.

So kill me, the only store I have shopped at for decorations so far is the 99 Cent Only Store. I got some great deals what can I say??

So here are the finds….

a. 12 little silver glitter ball ornaments (come in different colors) about one inch wide
b. 2 blue star ornaments
c. 2 large silver glitter bows – look like metal but are a thick ribbon

MY FAVORITE FIND!!
“Light Bulb” ornaments in silver, gold, red and blue (I believe these are the only colors they come in as I visited two stores) – about 3 inches tall

LOVE THEM!!!

a. “Noel” and “Believe” hand towels
b. 5 Plastic (but look like glass) twisted red, white and green candy canes
c. Holograph stickers – we use them on our Christmas card envelopes
d. “Glitter” green curly ribbon – 200 feet
e. Snowman ornament – but I’m just going to use him as a little figuring… and yes you would be right, he does change colors!!

Obviously none of these items are the highest quality money can find, but let’s face it, times are tough and we still want cute things. Some of these items may last through the season, but some may make it a couple of years. If they die, hey, I get to go shopping again next year!!

Unfortunately they only have these stores in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas so far, but I am sure there are some great .99/$1 stores near you!

So on Twitter yesterday I shared my wonderful little find.

My Mini Christmas Tree!!

I also mentioned that I had gone decoration shopping at the 99 Cent Only Store to get some new CHEAP decorations.

So I decided to do a little mini series on Christmas decorations (and maybe other holidays if I find some cute things… I don’t want to leave anyone out!). I’ve had some cute finds already and will have to go shopping again. Plus, I have to make some for my friends’ “Uber Winter Wonderland” themed party in a couple of weeks.

So I hope you enjoy, feel free to add some of your best finds!!

Hey everyone!

I wanted to let everyone know about this crazy check scam that is (and has been) going around. A friend of mine at CrossFit came in tonight with a letter “from Allstate Insurance” stating she had won some kind of Consumer Lottery that is available for residents of the US and Canada who shop at Target, Walmart, McDonalds, etc.

The letter stated that she had won $250,000 and that this amount sent to her was to help pay for the taxes of the total winnings. She was supposed to call some number that was to lead to an “Allstate agent” and would later be sent the rest of the money.

Let me just explain how creepy this really was. They sent her a check!! Her name and address were on it as well as the Allstate logo. The check was for $4,900+. The envelope had no return address.

The amounts seem to change from person to person. You can find some stories of other people on the internet. It is a scam and please please forward this information on to your friends.

Here is one such story.