Why Monday, why?

Again, I must apologize.  I've been out of blogging and blog reading.  Last week ended up being a week from hell.  I ended up falling into a week of debauchery to attempt to cope with the stress.  Before I give you some snippets of my week, I promise to be back this week to update on my overnight oats, post a kick ass tomato soup recipe for Claire, and add in a surprise for two.  Well, and don't hold me to it if this week is anything like the last...but I promise I'm working on it!

Without further ado, how about a few (I mean literally a few) weekend snippets?

 [Juice cleanse.  Guys...it's expensive to buy that many fruits and veggies]

 [Jeffrey Campbell suede heels out for a week night.  This is huge.  Ps. Send me your tips for wearing heels without killing my feet after a half hour]

[My only Friday night request was wine and a movie.  Much needed]

For the record, no meat January is almost over and this girl can not wait for sushi on Wednesday!

Love lately.

Seriously guys, it's been boring around here.  I've been going to work and the gym and crashing (add a little drinking in there too).  School has been bombarding me with meetings and new students amongst everything else.  I've been obsessing about next month's budget (which is depressingly slim with my new loan payments kicking in).  This is all boring though.  To bring my spirits up, here are a few things I've been loving lately.

Source: maintain-internal-heights.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Yoga - My goal was to go to the 7:30 beginner yoga class at the gym every Monday.  Since I had MLK day off, I switched to the daytime gentle yoga class.  I'm loving going to yoga regularly.  I tried out a "regular" yoga class on Saturday, and it was crazy tough for me.  I'm going to stick to beginner and gentle yogas for a bit until I increase my skills.  It has been really relaxing, and I love that I feel sore the next day!

Lipstick - I mentioned earlier this month that I was interested in trying lipstick.  You all gave me some great recommendations and encouragement, so I decided to go for it.  I ultimately got an orangey-coral color (which I think will be more suited for spring or summer when I am not quite so pale) and took Stephanie's recommendation for Covergirl's Spellbound (which is a fushia).  I was pretty nervous about it, but lipstick definitely makes me feel more grown up and pretty.

Source: theveganstoner.blogspot.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Vegetarianism + other related ventures - While I still don't love cooking (nor have I been doing a great deal of it), I love finding new and awesome vegetarian recipes.  I've discovered the awesomeness of overnight oats and plan to post on that soon.  My Pinterest boards are bombarded with vegetarian/pescatarian recipes that I'm vying to use.  D has me trying a juice cleanse this week, so I'll let you know how that goes (or doesn't go...I'm scared to death of three days without coffee + tackling a new student and meeting at school).  Overall, I feel much better with myself when I'm not eating meat.

I have been thinking its Wednesday.

I seriously waited to weigh myself until today because I thought it was Wednesday (lost 1.2 lbs though)! I'm thrilled tomorrow is Friday though. I'm not looking forward to leaving school for a meeting at another school though. Sorry I've been out of touch this week. I've taken a bit of time away from the computer to spend time with D. Not to mention, it's been a relaxing week of not doing anything. Here's a few snippets of my boring week


Loving curls and a beanie for a late Christmas party with our fav bar peeps.


First try at overnight oats. On the second round I added Greek yogurt and more almond milk which I enjoyed more. I'll post the full recipe later!


Delicious vegetarian lasagna D made us. Seriously, it's been all eating and working out around these parts. I'll meet ya with lots of new posts and ideas next week!

(Long) weekend snippets.

The weekends are my favorite ever.


Beer+cheese and crackers. I could literally live on this for the rest of my life.


Denim on denim for the first time. #inlove











Amazing beer brunch consisting of WAY too much beer and food (including, yes, a full pint of bacon and other delicious wonders).


Glasses yesterday and beanie today. Cold weather please stay.

Oh January, the healthiest month for us all.

I've been all kinds of crazy pinning away on Pinterest (ok, I admit I got a little bored during my three week vacay...doesn't mean I was anywhere near ready to start back to school this week).  Why?  Because like the rest of America, I'm on a healthy kick.  We're doing No-Meat January, and I mentioned I am going pescatarian starting in February.  D and I started off the first week all healthy!

 [Mid-day gym time.  I'm going to miss it being deserted]

 [Wtf Garmin footpod?!  First time trying it on the treadmill.  I swear it told me I was doing 11min/miles!]

[Making veggie curry in the crockpot]

That was a final glorious week.  I'm going to miss that week.  Nonetheless, I took time to make myself a new training schedule since I've found I do better when I have some tangible to mark off and see my progress.

[On my fridge, mirror, and by my desk at work.]

No excuses friends (until the work stress catches up with me).  I started off this week right by getting my head in the game with yoga.  

Back to Pinterest!  I've been scouring for all types of vegetarian recipes to try (in an effort to cook more in January this year).  One thing I'm really not good at is eating processed foods.  I'm typically in a hurry and pretty lazy in the mornings (that's what a 6am wake-up call will do to you).  I pick up the easiest breakfast I can throw in the toaster/microwave and the same goes for my lunches.  While I'm not the best at planning ahead, I am dying to try overnight oats in a jar!

Source: katheats.com via Kristin on Pinterest

There is obviously tons of ways you can do them.  I pinned a few different recipes to try, but they all use variations on oats, milk, yogurt, flax or chia, and a nut butter.  I'm planning to pick up the ingredients on our next grocery store run.  I'm thinking almond milk, peanut butter (we do have a used container here, but I'll rotate some leftover empty jars I have too), and dried cranberries.  Yay vegan!?

Have you ever tried OOIAJ?  What are your healthy fads resolutions for the year?

Pennies & pondering.

After a little depression related to my student loans, I have been debating ways of making additional money.  I really don't think my sanity could handle actually working two jobs.  I did that when we were saving money to go to Europe.  It was stressful and really no fun.  I'm not super crafty or creative.  I don't have an eye for designing printables.  What skill do I have that I could use to make money from home (because this blog certainly isn't making me any money)?

Well I can crochet.  Albeit, I'm not wonderful at it.  Practice makes perfect though, right?  I've been pondering the idea of starting a little Etsy shop.

Now currently there are almost 200,000 items (although compare that to the 1,057,000 listed under art) listed under the crochet category on Etsy.  I don't think that out of that many items I would have a spotlight.  I do have this little blog though.  If I am able to put the word out with my blog, I'm hoping that people would help support me (especially as people are turning more to "small businesses" for their purchases).  If I decided to make the Etsy plunge, all money would go to help pay off my student loan debt.

So my questions are:

Would it be worth the extra pennies?

Do you have an Etsy shop?  If so, what do you think makes it (or does not make it) successful?

Would you support me?

Bucket list update.

I haven't updated my bucket list in a bit.  I've been focused on my 101 in 1001 list instead.  As I have grown and matured, I wanted to add some new items to the bucket list for life.  This is a re-post with a couple new additions to the bucket list.

BUCKET LIST UPDATED 01/2012

• Return to Cambodia with MPK:   My sister, MPK, is adopted from Cambodia.  My entire family ventured there the summer before my senior year in high school.  It was a life changing experience and I can't wait for the day that I get to take MPK back there and share that experience with her. 

 This is an older pic of MPK, she's now 9 years old!

• Visit Columbia with MGK:  My other sister, MGK is adopted from Columbia.  She was adopted while I was in college and I didn't get to venture down for that two month trip.  I want to do the same for MGK and see where she was born.

 MGK in 2008; she is now about to be 7.

• Visit California wine country:  I have never been to California at all; it's a bit of a feat when you live on the east coast.  D and I have heard wonderful things about wine country and are dying to go.  I mean what could be better than drinking wine all day?

[California wine country] 

• Eat in one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants:  That's right.  D and I are big fans of Kicthen Nightmares, Hell's Kitchen, and other mildly entertaining Ramsay shows.  I have to eat at one of his restaurants before I die.
• Travel to New Zealand
• Travel to NYC (DONE! April 2011)
• Meet Lady Gaga:  I'm trying to put things on my list that are mostly attainable.  This may never happen, but I at least have to try.  I think about the influence Gaga has had on me over the past year, and I know she is someone I want to meet in person.  Hmm...how to make this happen?

 One of my favorite Gaga pictures; Elle January 2010 photo spread

• Own a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes: Just so I can sort of feel like I was once a character from Sex and the City.  Yes, they cost probably more than half of my wonderfully small teachers salary.  One day I will have a fabulous pair of heels that I will have nowhere to wear them to...

• Buy a house (DONE! February 2011)
• See a Broadway show (DONE!  April 2011)
• Travel to every continent:  Well...I've marked off Europe, South America, and Asia.  I'd love to go back to South America and Asia with D.  So maybe I should amend this bullet to include "with D."
• Run a half marathon (DONE!  November 2011)
• Become a teacher:  (DONE!  Got my official cleared teaching license in August 2011)
• Be in the audience for a taping of Ellen:  I love Ellen and her show.  I need to make this on a priority since you never know when shows will be pulled off the air.

• Ride in a hot air balloon:  I am pretty afraid of heights.  I think I'd be totally scared doing this, but I think it would be  so special.  Hot air ballooning over Cali wine country?

• Eat another Belgian waffle in Bruges, Belgium:  This was one of my favorite memories from our Europe trip.  I HAVE to go back and do it again.

 [My actual Belgian waffle...most amazing snack EVER.]

• Volunteer in an orphanage:  I think that people can never really understand the extreme poverty and situations people live in in other countries unless they see it.  I want to see and experience this again.

• Run a race in another country
• See the World Cup
• Backpack Europe: Check.  June/July 2009.  And got engaged :)
• Move out of Georgia: Check. March 2010.  ABOUT TIME.

Apparently 2011 was the year of the Bucket List.  I need to be more diligent about checking this list out more often!

Fushia is probably too bold for my pale skin.

I'm going to be honest; I'm super jealous of all the blogger women and pinterest posts rocking lipstick.

Source: thedaybookblog.com via Emily on Pinterest

Source: souvenirsofagirl.blogspot.com via Avalon on Pinterest

I have never, ever been a lipstick girl.  I really don't even use lip gloss.  I stick to the standard, boring chapstick.  Seriously.  It's kind of lame.  As a teacher, I don't really get to rock the coolest, trendiest fashions.  It's the standard flats and comfort clothing for me.  I rock (and I'm using that word extremely loosely) the same make-up style every single day.  Oftentimes, I rush home from work to meet D to head to a beer event and/or bar.  On days like that, I look especially teacher-ish in my cardigan and flats.  I've been trying to amp up my going out style a bit more by curling my normally flat, straight hair.  Since a curled do takes me a minimum of 30 minutes to complete, I need a quick fix.  All of this to say, I'm thinking about trying out the lipstick look.

Source: theglitterguide.com via Amy Beth on Pinterest

Sarah over at Wearing It on My Sleeves had a great post the other day on her lipsticks.  She looks especially stunning in Sephora's 0194 B, which is a fushia.  She's also a stunning brunette with darker skin tone.  I doubt this would work for me.

Bring on this advice!  Look at that pale skin (don't be deceived by the bathroom lighting) and light colored hair.  What lipstick would be best for me on a semi-casual night?  I'm just trying to graduate from little girl to "woman" (say what?!  I still don't feel right calling myself a woman).

Tell me your fav lipstick colors and tips for applying!

Taking it easy breezy.

You know as it's getting colder here in NC, and I'm actually wishing for a snow day (before school has even started back).  I'm only wishing for that snow day so I can have a break and a[nother] reason to be lazy.  It really has me reminiscing on our vacation to the Bahamas from last month.

[View from our balcony]

While I wouldn't mind decompressing from the holidays with a post-Christmas trip, it was nice to start off our holidays in the most relaxing way.  We headed out of Atlanta on December 20 and returned late on Christmas Eve.  We stayed at an all-inclusive in Nassau and only left our resort once to check out the casino.  It was a fabulous trip with lots of drinking, laughs, relaxing, reading, eating, and people watching.  I didn't take a ton of pictures (because they would really be most of the same seeing as we spent our days mainly in the same way), but I wanted to share some snippets of our trip.

 [Early airport reading]

 [We seriously had an empty seat beside us on every single flight except our last.  Three outta four ain't bad]

[Bahama mamas upon arrival at the resort]

 [Where we spent most of our days]

 [What a beauty]

 [We spent a lot of our nights playing cards, drinking, and listening to the nighttime entertainment]

 [Lots of blue going on in this picture]

 [Working out on vacation...who am I?]

 [Finally rocking the new sunhat]

 [Spotted a rainbow on our last day!]

 [Casino.  Seriously my first time gambling]

 [Just the two of us.]

 [The nighttime entertainment was definitely interesting and kept us laughing]

 [And you know they were trying to sell us something on the beach]

 [The water was mostly freezing, but expected with the perfect 80 degree temps]

[Definitely didn't mind spending my days with this book]