To Resolute or Not to Resolute?

I’ve mentioned before how much I dislike New Years resolutions. It feels fake. Everyone makes all these grand resolutions, but I see very few people who actually make any changes. It takes a lot of will power to change your life, especially when it comes to physical changes and losing weight. The changing of the number of the years since Jesus was born does not really create a catalyst for a life style change.

I imagine that more people make healthy life style changes after a heart attack than after the year changes.

Now that’s a catalyst.

Regardless, I like the principle behind it. I try to live that principle every day, and to be the best version of myself. I’m trying TODAY to change the things I don’t like about myself, because as the saying goes “Tomorrow never comes”.

I truly do not think that New Years is a time for making declarations about how you’re going to drastically change your life and from now on it’s all spinach and 5 gym sessions per week. I do really enjoy bucket lists and parodies though. So in lieu of life changing alterations about losing 100 pounds and actually sticking to that budget you make every couple of months, here is my list of things I will do in 2013.

1)      Catch up on all the seasons of Game of Thrones and Dexter
I waste so much time watching reruns of Big Bang Theory and Friends, when I could spend my mindless TV time watching newer, trendier programing. This would also give me something in common with all the co-workers I don’t talk to.
2)   Continue not catching up with old friends
I think that maybe people fall out of your life for a reason. Let them stay there, with happy memories of who they used to be. If you start talking to them again, you may find out they got worse, or maybe they got better and they you’ll feel like crap for losing touch with someone awesome, and maybe even doubt your own awesome! Best to leave them be.

3)      Play more games on my cell phone
My angry birds score is not going to improve itself
4)      Get/Make more outfits for the dog
He looks so cute in clothes, plus it really irritates him. It’s a double win. Maybe he’ll think about his new sweater next time he wakes me up at 6am on a Saturday to let him out to chase a bird…….

 On a more serious note I have to say I’m so proud of my Mom. She started the Advocare 24 day Challenge on the 26^th of December! She did not wait until after New Year’s festivities, she didn’t even wait until all the delicious Christmas leftovers were gone. I’m so proud of her and I know she is going to do amazing!

I think it’s especially great that she started, given that I just finished. She knows that I lost 10lbs, so that’s a contributing factor to her decision, I’m sure. But she was also my sounding board for all my frustrations. Advocare is hard. And I did not sugar coat anything about it when talking to her. I wanted her to know exactly what she was signing up for. She doesn’t even have a buddy! I’m so proud of her and I know she’s going to see great results!

Updates still to come about Red Velvet cinnamon rolls I made over Christmas (they weren’t perfect, I want to tweak the recipe before posting), and all the fun stuff that’s happening this week while Baby Brother is visiting!

Red Velvet Cinnamon Rolls ----- Round 1

 

Lessons From Advocare

Tomorrow is day 24 of Advocare. I say GOOD RIDDANCE. This time I have really struggled with sticking with the plan for the last 10 or so days. I think it’s for a multitude of reasons but here are the two main ones.

Firstly I’m much happier with my body than I was the first go round. I’m still working on it, but for the most part, I think I look great. I now have a much better understanding of why Roommate can’t be on a diet for even an hour. Now that I like how I look for the most part, it’s really tough to deprive myself. Yes, skinny tastes better than chocolate, but if I can have skinny and chocolate, you better bet I will.

Secondly, after the first 12 days, my weight loss stopped completely. I lost 10 quick pounds, and I’ve camped out there. I tried increasing my work outs, to no avail. Not eating the foods you want, working out consistently, and being dizzy every time you move with any speed is only okay if you’re losing pounds. When you’re plateaued, it sucks and does not feel worth it.

Not that I’m in anyway sorry I did Advocare. I lost 10lbs, which is not something I want to discount, I also feel good, I feel clean and more energized. Advocare reinforces some really important habits, and I will probably do it again. Below are some of the most important things I learned (or was reminded of) from doing Advocare.

Will Power

I know it’s cliché to say, but it’s so true. When you practice will power you have more of it. Walking past the candy dishes and pretty much everything that roommate eats is hard at first, but it does get easier. I know that on Thursday, when I can eat anything I choose, I will still be making healthy choices. Those healthy choices will involve more cheese, but they will still be healthy. It is no longer hard for me to walk by store bought treats and little silly candies that I don’t love. All those little calories add up, and they aren’t worth it. I’d rather save those calories for something I really enjoy.

 Mindfulness

This is a Buddhist principle that I think should be applied in all aspects of life, but Advocare really brings it to the front in terms of nutrition. It makes you mindful of your body, and how different foods make you feel. It also makes you mindful of what you’re eating and when. On Advocare you only eat fruit (sugar) and carbs in the earlier part of the day. When you’ll have the rest of the day to turn those sugars into energy and propel your body. Then your body won’t turn that sugar into fat. Apply that to life off of Advocare – the bowl of ice cream before bed doesn’t sound so worth it any more

Portions

This was one I definitely needed a reminder about, and I’m so glad that I did Advocare again if only for this one lesson. Advocare is very strict in terms of weighing and measuring everything. By doing this for 3 weeks, I now am able to eyeball a serving portion, and cut out excess unnecessary calories. One of the days last week, I was making my lunch in our café. I was having chicken and brown rice and spinach. A serving of a starchy carb like rice is 4oz. It’s about a half of a cup, a little smaller than the size of my fist. It just so happened that a co-worker was having rice and meatballs. Because of advocare, I know that she could have a lot of meatballs, since her body can’t store that protein as fat, and she should cut down on the rice, since any of those carbs not used quickly as energy will be stored for use as energy later, as fat. She easily had 4 servings of rice on her plate and maybe 5 meatballs. And probably didn’t even realize how incorrect her portions were. Again, mindfulness, Advocare taught me what a serving size is, and also to be aware of it.

 Side bar – next time I have Thai food, I will ignore all of the above. Curry requires that I eat copious amounts of rice. But at least I will know!

 

 Purpose

This one should be obvious, but I think our foodie culture often pushes this out of our head. The point of eating is to give your body fuel. If it tastes great and you love it, bonus! But that’s not the point of eating. I am often guilty of making food choices not based on my physical needs, but on my emotional ones. I’m having a rough day, I’m allowed a cupcake to cheer myself up. I worked out extra hard, I’ve earned that pasta dish.

 That is not the point of food. So I make new rewards, and they don’t have to be expensive. I’m having a rough day, I call my mom and pout about whatever is making me unhappy. I worked out extra hard, well, for me that sometimes reward within itself. Being able to actually complete an unassisted pull up makes me feel like a bad ass. And that is quite the reward. If I want a tangible reward, I go shopping, a lot of times at the goodwill. I get to dig the racks, cure my shopping itch, find something great and rarely spend more than $20.

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I’m nervous about going off Advoare again, but not for the same reasons I was last time. Last time I was worried that maybe all the weight loss was just water weight, and that it might all bounce back. That didn’t happen, and this time I’m confident that I weight loss I saw was fat loss, and that if I go back to my before Advocare habits, I will go back to my before Advocare weight loss, which was just maintaining.

My concern is that I dropped 10 pounds so quickly and have stayed camped out right there. I’m worried that I’ve hit some sort of a wall and I’m not going to lose any more weight at all. And I definitely want to lose about 10 more pounds, and tighten up my stomach and my triceps.

I’ve wanted my whole life to have a flat stomach and now that I’m so close, I’m paranoid that it will forever be just out of my reach. Rationally I know this isn’t true. We can shape our bodies into anything that we want. But irrationally I worry that I just don’t have that shape, and genetically I will never be able to achieve this. Because of genetics’ roommate eats only sugar and carbs and has a flat stomach.

Are my genetics going to prevent me from doing this? The real question is, am I going to let them?

I know that only time is going to answer this questions. I also know that it’s only going to get harder from here. I’m the smallest I’ve been as an adult. That means that fat that’s left has been there a very long time. So I shouldn’t expect it to fall off as easy as the rest did.

I know about healthy eating habits, I know how to go to the gym consistently, and I know how to stay positive. So now I just need to apply everything I know, as well as some serious core exercising, and look forward to that flat stomach I’ve always wanted.

 

Silver Linings as I see them

 “There will always be a part of me that is dirty and sloppy, but I like that, just like all the other parts of myself.”

 That is a quote from Silver Linings Playbook. I went to see it with roommate a few weeks ago, and it’s one of the best movies I have ever seen. It feels real and raw, and *spoiler alert* it shows that life doesn’t have to be a fairy tale to have a happy ending. It’s definitely one of my top movies, and I think everyone should see it. Be warned that it is shouty, and there is a lot of profanity. But isn’t that how real life is?

 I loved Jennifer Lawrence’s character Tiffany for how flawed she was, and how she embraces those flaws that she can’t change and changes the ones that she can. I think the quote above really sums it up. She is flawed, and loves herself, all of herself. It’s that love her flaws that makes her perfect. Not that she perpetuates the flaws, or embellishes them. Just that they are there, and she loves them, along with all of herself.

 I think that I can learn a lot from this attitude, especially with all the changes that I’ve made in my life in the past year. I’ve devoted a lot of time to changing all the things about myself that I didn’t like, and along the way, I think I may have tried to change some things about myself that I did like, because I thought that I should. This movie reminded me that everyone is flawed, and it’s those flaws that make you unique, and it’s your uniqueness that makes you who you are.

So be the best version of you, but never stop being you.

   Now to change pace entirely; a quick update on the Advocare front. I think this time has been harder than the first time I did it. Firstly because before I was doing it with 2 incredible women that I worked with at the time. Their support, and ideas and presence made it so much easier. When I saw both of them in the kitchen, making the same food and the same faces as me, it was reassuring, like a team! I really look up to these strong women, and I didn’t realize how heavily I had leaned on them. I have a partner in crime again, but the physical distance made it surprisingly harder. She’s not here, I don’t’ see her in the kitchen; the people that I do see in the kitchen do not understand why I am eating plain brown rice and chicken. Plus it was her first time, so I’ve felt that I’ve had to be stronger and not waiver, so that I could support her.

I’ve also had a lot more food cravings than I did before. The last time, I remember having cravings at first, then settling into a routine and not having much trouble. This time it’s been the opposite. At first I felt good, and watching roommate eat fast food in front of me was no big deal. But in this last week I’ve really struggled. It has taken all of the will power I have not to cheat the diet. I actually had to ask Roommate that if she went and got Taco Time on Sunday, to not eat it in our house. Which is terrible, roommate is not on a diet and I never intend to push my eating habits on other people. This was my decision, and roommate shouldn’t be punished for it.

This was almost a picture of taco time beef tacos. Yum!

Luckily, we are in the home stretch now, less than a week to go. I’ve lost 11lbs, but I’m surprisingly unhappy with that. I dropped the majority of the weight in the first week and a half and haven’t dropped anymore, despite increases in my workouts. Regardless I’m sticking with it, through the end, and hoping that the stall is a short plateau and that when I do my final weigh in, I’ll be pleased with the results.

Or maybe at the end, I'll just have to find the silver lining

Long Time Gone

Life has been crazy busy and I have not been making this blog a priority. I do not intend to make that a habit! The whole point of the blog is that life is crazy busy and I need a record of it!

Thanksgiving was exactly as wonderful as I hoped. Actually it was better, for 2 reasons. The first reason is that usually we have lunch with my Dad’s family around 12pm, which means setting an alarm and getting going in the morning, so that all 4 members of my family and also all of the food, are ready and at my Grandparents by lunchtime. This year we didn’t have to be there until 5pm, which meant a leisurely morning of watching my cousins and brother play football, letting the dog run to his hearts content and then watching the parade and sappy movies with my mom. It was a perfect day.

The second best thing about Thanksgiving was that my besties, Roommate and the Third Amigo, came down to OR to see me on Friday! We had such a fun girl’s weekend! Friday we sat around and watched tacky Hallmark movies, then had leftovers at my grandparents, then went and saw twilight, then went to a super classy Salem bar. All bars in Salem are equally classy and amazing, so I don’t think a name is required.

Saturday we went shopping, then had all my mom’s family over for a game night and a ton of delicious food. Third Amigo and I ate as much carbs as possible, because Monday after Thanksgiving, we started Advocare; more about that later though.

In the spirit of piles of carbs, we went to my favorite Salem breakfast spot, Word of Mouth. It is the best place ever. I know this is hypocrisy, but it may be better than Luna Park. Maybe. I had a breakfast burrito, roommate had cinnamon roll pancakes and Third Amigo had a sandwich. The restaurant also comp’d us a Red Velvet Pancake. Yes, that’s correct, Red. Velvet. Pancake. We left on a sugar high, and it was GLORIOUS.

Sunday night Roommate and I had Ezell’s chicken, as is my tradition before starting Advocare. Then Monday morning, it was back to work, and back to thinking about what I eat. All the time.

Third Amigo and I are doing the Advocare 24 day challenge. This means 24 days or no flour based carbs, no refined sugars, no alcohol, pretty much nothing delicious. It also entails eating 5 meals a day (mostly protein and veggies, with fruit and healthy fats here and there), eating this much protein for me is hard, since I’m not big on protein most of the time. Also, this diet keeps you full. All the time. It is one thousand times harder to eat food you don’t like, when you’re also not hungry.

Today is day 12, so we are halfway done. The first 10 days are the hardest for me, after day 10 you can start eating greek yogurt as a protein. I take full advantage of that fact. Also, starting on day 11, you get to have a really yummy protein shake in the morning. It tastes like a chocolate milkshake and makes me very happy.

Three facts are getting me through this diet and keeping me on track.

Fact 1: When this diet is over, I have a super-secret fun surprise planned for Roommate and Third Amigo. It will be epic.

Fact 2: I leave to go home for Christmas the day after we finish

Fact 3: This diet works. When I did the diet before I lost almost 12lbs. This go round, as of day 12, I am down 10.8lbs. This is not water weight; this is not a yo-yo effect. I’m down two belt notches and I fully intend to stay there after we are finished. At the start of this diet I was between an 8 and a 10. I hope to finish as a size 6. As of today, my size 10 jeans are downright baggy and my size 8 skirts are fitting a little loose.

I’m planning on posting again before Christmas, with the final results of Advocare and also an account of the super awesome amazing time I will be having with Roommate and Third Amigo on the 19^th. I also have a recipe for Red Velvet Cinnamon rolls that I plan on creating as soon as Advocare is finished! They are the only thing I can think of that could possibly be better than a red velvet cupcake or pancake. I’ll make sure to post on if they live up to the hype!

Bienvenidos al Paraíso

Mexico was absolutely incredible. It was by far the most beautiful place I have ever been. As I said in my previous post, I would not change one single thing about that trip. From the hotel to the excursions to my travel partner, everything was perfect. I have never been so happy and relaxed in my life.

The flight there was rough; I’m not going to lie. We took an 11:30 flight to Houston, and had a 5 hour layover and then flew from Houston in to Cabo, landing around 12pm local time. Neither roommate nor I slept on the flight from Seattle to Houston. I couldn’t get comfortable in my seat, I was over tired, over excited, and flying isn’t the easiest experience for me in the best of circumstances. We finally landed in Houston and went and found a diner to have breakfast. I can’t tell you the time, I’m thinking it was around 5am local time, so 3am our time? Regardless, after a rough flight we had some surprisingly good airport food before going to our gate to wait for our flight.

Once we were at our gate roommate promptly feel asleep. I can’t sleep in public, and I didn’t really think both of us asleep in the airport was the best idea ever, so I read a book. Thank goodness for my Nook. Best Christmas present ever. I read 5 books on vacation, something that would have been difficult and expensive with paperbacks. Thanks to the Seattle Public library for having such a good digital selection! Once on the plane, roommate again promptly fell asleep. I again did not.

Once we landed in Mexico we found our shuttle and made it to our hotel with very little incident. We rode on the shuttle with a couple that has been married for 3 years longer than my mother has been alive. I aspire to be them someday. We checked into our hotel and were upgraded from a studio, to a large one-bedroom. The place we stayed is a timeshare, but we were able to stay there through a deal on Living Social Escapes. Our hotel room was as big as our apartment. It had 2 full size bathrooms. The patio was bigger than some studios I’ve seen in Seattle. It faced out at the pool with amazing floor to ceiling doors we could open to hear the ocean and let in the tropical air. We never used the full kitchen, but the washer and dryer came in handy for wet towels and swim suits.

We arrived at the hotel mid-day and spent the day at the pool. We went into Cabo that night with a group of people we met the first day at the resort. It was crazy fun. We danced at this bar called CaboWabo all night and I probably had about 10 Pacifico’s. Okay not 10. But a lot.

We left the club at who knows what time and went and found street taco’s for roommate. When we got back to the hotel we went sat in a secret hot tub we found away from the main pool area. It was a most excellent way to start off vacation.

The next day we got up and went to breakfast, and booked our excursions for the days we would be there. The First day (Friday) we decided to go horseback riding on the beach at Sunset.

 

So we spent the day by the pool drinking Supermans (new favorite drink: Half strawberry daiquiri, half mango daiquiri, with Blue Curacao on top) and then were picked up around 3pm to go to the pacific side of the peninsula and ride horses.

 

 

It was stunningly beautiful. The horses were as docile as expected so I just let the reigns hang and took a thousand pictures of the giant cactuses and then the giant waves breaking on the sand. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

I don't think life gets more beautiful than this

Biggest Cactus Ever

Saturday we got up and got breakfast then took a cab into the Marina to go out on a Catamaran and go snorkeling. This was my ABSOLUTE favorite thing that we did. Well, the boat part, not the snorkeling part. Roommate really wanted to go snorkeling, but I told her that I am afraid of fish. Well not afraid. Disgusted to the point of fear? Regardless, I do not like fish. I try to pretend they do not exist for the most part. I had one ill-fated attempted at owning a goldfish. It turned into a zombie. But that’s another story.

 

So back to the catamaran. We were able to ride on the front, on the netting and watch the water run under the boat, while we went out to where we were going to be snorkeling. It was about an hour ride and so much fun. The boats only safety recommendation was to have 4 or less drinks before snorkeling. I guess I don’t really need to say it was an open bar, because it was Mexico, so that’s probably understood. Once we got to the bay where we were supposed to snorkel, we jumped off the boat which was also one of my favorite things we did. I love jumping off high places, I love free fall, I love the water. Win’s, all the way around. As expected I put on my snorkel, saw one fish, and freaked out. In my defense, it was a giant black scary fish. And the water was murky, so you didn’t see the fish until they were less than 2 feet away.

The funny part of this experience was Roommate. Snorkeling was roommate’s idea. Roommate made fun of me when I saw a fish and yelped while she was still putting on her gear. Then roommate tried to snorkel, saw a fish and was practically in my lap. She did the water equivalent of jumping into my arms. It was hilarious. Luckily I had on flippers so I could hold her and me up.

After that we just splashed around in the water with our fins on and took pictures with our waterproof camera. The bartender from the boat brought cervezas out to us on a paddle board. No complaints. After about an hour and half of snorkeling the boat headed back into the marina. On the way back there were much bigger waves so we got spashed while sitting up on the netting. The water was warm, the air was hot, and watching roommate get tossed in the air and drenched from a dead sleep was pretty hilarious.

I think I could happily spend my life on a catamaran. It was the happiest and most relaxed I have ever been in my life. I think I should get a job as a bartender on a catamaran. If I knew that was an actual job, I can’t say I would have actually gone to college.

Sunday we spent all day laying by the pool and then went to the Spa in the evening and got 90 minute massages and enjoyed all of the spa amenities. Monday was spent by the pool all morning then flying back to the states. I had my first “run across the airport at full speed so you don’t miss your flight” experience. We had a 1 hour and 45 minute lay over. Customs took 1 hour and 30 minutes. We then had to sprint from the international terminal to our gate. But we made our plane, with about 5 minutes to spare. When we turned our phones on there was the most adoreable picture of Mr. B welcoming us home.

That's his "Please Give me the CHEESE" face

I’m so glad that he was able to go to Oregon and have a fun time with my parent’s, but I had no idea how much I would miss that dog. I miss him every day. The house is quiet and empty. And it’s not just that I miss having a dog around. I miss Bentley. I miss his funny expressions and his silly old man noises. It made me realize exactly how hard it is going to be when Alison and I don’t live together anymore. To some extent I’ll be losing two best friends, and two roommates all at once. Luckily I don’t see that happening for a very very long time.

Tonight I’m heading down to Oregon to see my family, and Mr. B. and to celebrate my very favorite holiday. Then Friday Roommate and our third amigo are both coming down to have a ladies weekend. Then on Monday, I start the Advocare 24 Day Challenge again. I’m not sure if it will be easier or harder. Easier maybe since I know how well it works (last time I dropped 11.5lbs) and I know exactly what I’m getting myself into. But harder as well, since I know exactly what I’m getting myself into!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

P.S. – In Mexico we met a handsome stud named Jacob. Here’s a picture of us with him.

 

Sun, Sand, Mexico, and Body Image

So this post may be short and sweet, as I just got back from vacation and am so swamped with work and life, after taking 5 days off from being a grown up. Mexico was incredible. It was warm and so beautiful. Everyone we met was so nice. I literally would not change 1 thing about our vacation. That was how great it was. I’m planning a post all about all the things we did, and all the fun we had, complete with pictures, but today there is something else that is on my mind.

Roommate posted all the pictures from the trip today on Facebook. I knew this was happening. Roommate does this with every trip we go on. Really with everything that we do: BBQ’s, parties, nights on the town, all make their way into albums for 300-500 of our closest acquaintances to look at. 2 years ago, I liked pretty much none of the photos. 1 year ago I thought some of them were okay. But lately I’ve actually enjoyed that roommate documents every little thing we do. I like most of the pictures and I’m so glad we have such a great record of all of the stuff we do; for the same reason I’m writing this blog, I want a tangible record of life as it flies past me.

But this vacation was all swimsuits, all the time. And I hadn’t stuck to my old tankini stand by. This was a bikini vacation. I knew roommate would post the pictures and today I got that notification that she had posted pictures. I knew they were vacation photos. Vacation photos that I hadn’t looked at since I took them. I felt good while we were there and wasn’t ashamed to walk across the pool deck without a cover up, or lay next to roommate on a lounger. But that isn’t a photo on the internet. I went and clicked through all 70 photos that she posted.  And I was SO proud.

I am not perfect. I know I still have parts of myself that I’m working on, both inside and out. But I have come SO far and worked so hard and in the moment when I saw those photos, I actually saw the person that other people see, and not that chubby girl that I used to be. So please excuse the tiny bit of self-congratulations, but I just wanted to take a minute to recognize that there are pictures of me, on the internet, in a bikini, and I do not want to die. I do not want to un-tag, I do not mind that they are on my news feed. I have worked hard, I continue to work hard. I’m proud I was able to send myself on a tropical vacation and I am proud of the beautiful women I see in our photos.

People can tell you that you are beautiful all day, but until you believe it for yourself, it has little worth. For me, those words have never been truer than they are today.

Lasagna and Leavenworth (but mostly just Leavenworth this time)

I leave for Mexico today.

I wish I had clever things to say, or a super good post all about Leavenworth, since it was a month ago and since then Halloween happened and when I come back, I’m pretty sure I will only want to talk about Mexico. Because it’s going to be SO awesome. I have big plans for napping, reading, drinking margaritas, napping, and laying by the pool/beach. I have 5 awesomely terrible books queued up on the Nook, ready to be read on a lounger. But I don’t so here’s this post instead.

I also have been thinking all the time about how my life relates to Boy Meets World and Saved by the Bell and Friends. I really want to post about that too. Because I love the 90’s and the 2000’s. And for real, it relates. Also, side bar, I was thinking about this BEFORE they announced a Boy Meets World reboot. I’m not sure how I feel about said reboot. I don’t even know if I can watch it. You don’t mess with perfection. Seriously. They are going to mess it up. I’m sure. Corey and Topanga forever!

Leavenworth was SO amazing! So I will try and do it justice; pretty much the most fun weekend ever.

Upon arrival we had celebratory shots ( of course). We then proceed to eat, drink, play some dance game on the Kinect, and then hot tub.

As a side note, this house was huge and awesome. The room that roommate and I stayed in actually had a loft, that was 10 feet up, so we had to climb a latter to get into our bed. A 10 foot latter. Not sober. I’m very proud of roommate and I for not falling off, either night when we climbed up.  It was actually pretty awesome. I felt like I was 10. Only just the awesome part, not the awkward part.

Just the Ladies!

 

We also had a hot tub dance party, per usual. Pretty much dance party’s happen anytime roommate and I go to a regular party. Fact.

Pirates?...Maybe. Awesome?....Definitly.

 

Saturday we went into Leavenworth during the day and checked out the town, we went to a couple little shops and got corn dogs. Not a bad afternoon if you ask me. Probably just because corn dogs are my drug of choice.

 

 

 Saturday night I cooked the lasagnas, and roommate and I got into our super awesome beer wench outfits, complete with mary jane’s and curled hair. I think we were rather authentic. We then went to the festival itself which was really great. But cold. All the beer lines were outside, and true beer wenches do not need coats. Obviously. Oh yeah, also, it was 40 degrees.

Please ignore the Photo Bombing Cougar. Or don't. Up to you.

There was some good people watching and some really excellent dancing at Oktoberfest. I am SO stoked to go again next year. We also got some pretty funny questions while wondering around in our outfits. We had a TON of people ask to take pictures with us. We had quite a few braniac’s ask if we were cold (really? REALLY?). We also had quite a few boys stop us and tell us how pretty we were and that they didn’t know what to say, followed by awkward mumbling. Hint to the boys of the world: a better opening line is “Hi I’m _____. You’re pretty. What’s your name?”.  Just as an FYI. They were cute though ;)

Sunday we did some exploring around the house we stayed out. The beauty of this state never ceases to amaze me. I feel so blessed to be born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. I really can't think of any better place.

 

Then it was back to Seattle and back to real life for the week, before we celebrated Halloween the next weekend. We were the Ninja turtles. It was awesome. Here are our costumes. Commence being jealous J

Leonardo, Raphael, Master Splinter, Michelangelo, and Donatello

Pretty Turtles

Turtle Power! I think we were all chaneling our characters
Serious (Donny), Goofy (Mikey), and Trouble (Raph)!

Favorites! (Alternate title Best Things Ever in the World)

This week I was asked what my favorite number was, and then the inquirer was completely perplexed that I did not have a favorite number. Is this a thing? Should I have a favorite number? Numbers are numerical (okay, that’s funny), so the favoritism is relevant. My favorite number to weigh – low, my favorite number of cookies – high. My favorite number for money in the bank – uncalculateable.

 Regardless, I do have a favorite Holiday, and it is Thanksgiving. I love being with my family, I love eating yummy food, I love reflecting and giving thanks for everything that we have. I also love that there is no stress of buying presents or trying to open them before you have to leave for the next celebration (thus Thanksgiving over Christmas). I also have a favorite season: fall (completely coincidental that they are at the same time, promise).

 So today I made a list of some of my other favorite things with no real regard to order or ranking or theme or pattern (this is more of an exercise in being less OCD than a blog post I suppose)

 Anyway, here are some things I think are super great!

 Giraffe’s

This one is obvious and needs no explaining. Giraffe’s are awesome. If you don’t get that, then we probably can’t be friends. In fact if this is in anyway surprising to you, I doubt that we ever were friends.

  

 

 

 

Any and all things things that are pink

Take any object, make it pink, it is now 10 times better. Fact.

  

 

 

Super high heels

I don’t know what it is about heels, but I love them. I love them on the shelf. I love them in my closet. I love them on my feet. I love them on other people’s feet. I would totally buy a Dr. Seuss book about them. I could probably write a Dr. Seuss book about them. I like all colors, all fabrics, so long as the heel isn’t gross and clunky. The heel should be slender, much like how legs look when you wear them. There is something powerful about a great pair of heels.

 

Things that sparkle

See pink above and Neon below. Things that sparkle are awesome. Every two year old on the planet agrees with me. If you don’t agree, you should probably go argue with all of them. I for sure think you’ll win J

 

 

Neon

Seriously. Neon anything. If something is neon green or pink I will want it. It could be something I don’t need, it could be something I hate. I will still want it. Double points if it sort of hurts your eyes when you look at it.

Giant fluffy blankets

I don’t really think that this needs to be explained.
So I won’t.

 

  

Pushing my limits

There is nothing I love more than doing something I never thought I could do. I love the exhaustion that comes from pushing your physical limits, I love the mental clarity that comes from overcoming an insurmountable obstacle.

I even love limping and bruises, and wear them as badges of awesomeness. To me a good limp tells everyone “I did something epic this weekend. How was that Real Housewives marathon you watched?”

  My dad’s laugh

 

What can I say. I’m a daddy’s girl and his laugh is one of my favorite things. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

 

 

 

 

Scarves/Boots/Sweaters

 I think I just really like being warm AND fashionable. Not always an easy feat; here's an example of Mr. B rocking a classic fall scarf with a herringbone pattern. He's very photogenic.

Lasagna and Leavenworth (but mostly just lasagna)

I made my first lasagna. I actually made my first 2 lasagna’s (or my first and my second? Hard to say….). At the same time. Using recipes I adapted (based on my years of lasagna cooking, obviously). I just like to make life complicated like that.

Kitchen Helper! (help meaning begging and getting in the way)

Luckily for me, I have an excellent cook for a father that does not mind me calling to ask him silly questions about cooking lasagna noodles. Also, lucky for me the lasagna’s turned out. Oh, I did mention that I was making these lasagnas because I was responsible for feeding 20 people I didn’t know right? Like I said, I like to add an extra challenge to life.

So I made one meat and one veggie lasagna, entirely from scratch. Apparently they were super delicious. Roommate has been asking for another every day. I did not eat any of either of them. I’m not sure why. Actually, that’s a lie. I know exactly why. When they came out of the oven I was busy curling hair and getting into my costume. Also, I wasn’t really that hungry. Then when we got home at 1am and everyone else was drunkenly eating round 2, I still wasn’t really that hungry. Then the next day, when everyone was eating them for breakfast, I decided lasagna for breakfast was weird. I also decided they had been on the counter too long for consumption. By the time we drove home from Leavenworth with them in the backseat, they had really been out too long for consumption. Except for by roommate. I’m pretty sure she ate half of a pan of lasagna by herself over the next four days. Roommate has a stomach of steel and the immune system of a nurse.

 I was told by everyone it was the best lasagna they had ever had. Specifically the meat one. I wish I could take more credit for the recipe, but I got it from one of my favorite blogs, the Pioneer Woman.

When I grow up, I want to be her. But that’s another post entirely.

So here is a link to her blog, because I in no way to want to take credit for her amazing work.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/

Below is the recipe as I adapted it, from her.

• 1-1/2 pound Ground Beef
• 1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
• 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1/2 cup Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
• (add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

The only change I made from her recipe for the meat lasagna was to use fresh parmesan, not Kraft. Cheese that doesn’t need refrigeration bothers me. I refuse to consume it; same with meat for that matter.

For the veggie lasagna, I adapted the recipe by leaving out the meat (obviously) and adding mushrooms, zucchini, onion and bell pepper. I would like to tell you how much I added, but I mostly just added it until I thought that it looked right. I think half an onion, 2 large zucchini, 1 bell pepper and 1 package of mushrooms

For the meat lasagna I browned the sausage and the beef together, and added the garlic at the same time. I drained off as much of the fat as I could, I’m sure there was still plenty hiding in the pan where I couldn’t see. While the meat was browning I set a large pot of water to boil for the lasagna noodles.

Once the meat was well cooked, I added the paste, whole tomatoes, parsley, basil and salt. In another pan I mixed the same ingredients, less the meat, as the base for the veggie lasagna. I let both sauces simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I added all of the cut up and prepped veggies to the veggie lasagna sauce  after about 40 minutes, so as not to over-cook them, since they would be baked as well.

 

 

 

 

While those were simmering, I put the lasagna noodles into the boiling water that I had salted and added oil to. This part was surprisingly stressful to me. I read all these horror stories of noodles making a clump, or cooking unevenly, or falling apart. I was also concerned about over cooking the noodles, since they were going to be baked for an hour after being cooked. All of that stress is why I should stay away from the internet and just call my Dad instead. The noodles came out perfectly. I put them in one at time, pushing them down as soon as the bottom was softened by the boiling water. I only cooked them for about 5 minutes, instead of 7-9, since they would be baked. None broke, there was no problem. They did start to stick together once I drained them, but I separated them, then kept them in a pan of cold water until I was ready for them.

 

No problem. Morale of the story: stay away from the internet. Except this blog of course J

Once the sauces were done I mixed up the cottage cheese sauce and starting layering: thin meat sauce layer (just so the pan is coated), noodles, cottage cheese mix, mozzarella, meat sauce, repeat once!

 

Bentley really wanted to help taste test

Bam, two lasagna’s just like that. I was able to refrigerate them for 48 hours until they were ready to be cooked Saturday night. Then I added a layer of cheese on top, baked for 1 hour and presto!

Done! Minus the final cheese topping....

 

Dinner for 20 people has never been so easy. I served them with Roasted Garlic loaves from Costco that I coated in butter and an Italian cheese blend. Not the most healthy dinner ever, so we danced the night away working off all the calories.

We had such a fun weekend and made so many great new friends, it really deserves its own post. So for now, here’s a picture of all the ladies before we headed out, more to come soon!