Fancy Seeing You Here

Happy Friday y'all! I feel like I blinked and POOF February and March just disappeared. They certainly didn't show up here on this blog.


Where have we been? Living life I guess!


Like I mentioned in our New Years post, last year was rough. But 2013 has been a surprisingly happy and joyous time. I've been M.I.A. from blogging about it because I did work tax season (thank Bob that's over!) and when I wasn't working we were busy with our California bucket list! But I will have a little more time to spend around here now.


Here's what you probably didn't miss...
January

We went to my first NBA game and instantly became Clippers fans. (I know everyone is a Lakers fan but we have too much purple and gold in our lives!) I know nothing about basketball except that it was created by James Naismith and I only know that because I went to a middle school that believed in grading you in P.E. including the history of sports. Despite my lack of knowledge we had a BLAST!!!

We hiked to the top of the Hollywood sign. Man does that make you feel small! It was such a great, moderate hike and only took 1.5 hours up and back. Plus it was dog friendly... we can't leave our darling Juju at home!

February

We celebrated Valentines day even though we aren't big fans since we act lovey dovey all year long much to the chagrin of those around us. Husband never sends flowers, mostly because I'm not a big flower fan since they die so fast and cost so much. But he sent TULIPS! They are my absolute favorite and remind me of my Grandma. Don't worry there weren't any chocolates. just a heart shaped veggie pizza ;)

We FINALLY got our California licenses. Thankfully we both passed the tests the first time because it was rough! 

I turned 28! We spend the day in Pasadena. It was delightful and perfect. Such a great birthday.

March

We went on a "whale" watching cruise. It was three hours of cold, windy sailing and not one whale. But we did see dolphins and I am now obsessed with sea lions which I lovingly call seals with puppy faces.

On St. Patty's we finally tried Sprinkles Cupcakes and yes, it is everything you dream for a cupcake to be. (My favorite is the black and white!)


For Easter we went to San Diego and spent the day at the beautiful San Diego Zoo. I am a huge animal lover and could not have had a better time. I'd never been to a zoo that took an entire day to truly experience.

April

In April we worked almost every day until my cousins, Jennifer and Emily, came to visit. We basically crammed all the Los Angeles highlights into one 5 day trip. I am still exhausted just thinking about everything we did. 

Word to the wise: if you ever need to find a needle in a haystack you can call my cousin because she spotted celebrities EVERYWHERE! 








WHAT CAN YOU LOOK FORWARD TO?
I've got some posts in the works and I'll give you a little low-cal taste of what is to come:

• Sharing our challenges and surprising thoughts on going "Pescatarian" for 40 days. I would say vegetarian, but to be truthful we did eat seafood.
• Los Angeles hits and misses (you know in case you want to come visit us: hint hint!)
• Workout reviews for arms and an at-home barre circuit (both legit!)
• Recipes & reviews for a homemade frappuchinos & jack-o-lantern muffins

So I guess I'll have a little more time to spend around here and I'm really excited. I missed blogging about being healthy and working out. It certainly kept me on the straight and narrow. I hope you're excited too!

Weekend Weigh In 6

Halloween was a big success for our little family. In true "Cajun in California" form we all dressed like food. 

Husband went as a "deviled egg." I looked on pinterest for last minute ideas and found this one. I used a 99 cent bandana from Michael's and cut it into a circle and safety pinned it to his shirt so it wouldn't ruin it. We bought a $5 kids devil costume set at walmart and some $3 facial hair at a party store and voila! 

Once he agreed to it, I decided to be his opposite. I looked to my sisters for angel ideas (blue angel, angel in the outfield, etc.) but angel food cake was the winner. I used a small box and put cotton balls on top for the whipped topping and made a paper strawberry. You can search online for paper strawberry template. There are tons of printables.

That just left Julia. I really wanted her to wear the jockey costume we found at Target, but since we had a food theme going we didn't want her to be left out on her VERY FIRST Halloween with our family. So she became the only food costume they had left for dogs on Halloween morning: a hot dog. I have to say I was a proud mama. Julia's #2 fear is little kids (#1 is a bathtub) and she didn't bark ONCE! Such a little angel. Maybe she should have worn my costume! 

So let's get on to evaluating this week's progress of goals


LIVE AN ACTIVE LIFE 
I started something new this week when it comes to tracking my workouts. Once I see if it's a long term feasible goal I'll share it here. This week was week 2 of Ease into 5K and it went swimmingly! Husband has even been joining me. He runs with Julia so he can't go as fast, but the jogging and focusing on moving forward as opposed to speed has really been helpful! Add to that a couple bike rides and a two hour Halloween walk and I'd say we did pretty good!

EAT DELICIOUSLY
I have to say I'm pretty proud of us. We didn't eat ANY Halloween candy. Not even one little piece. I kept joking with our nieces that there would be a "candy tax" for us walking everywhere with them but we didn't even cash in. It's kind of a Halloween miracle! But with all the work I've been doing to be and stay healthy a piece of candy just doesn't seem worth it. <--- I can't believe I wrote that sentence.

READ FOOD LABELS  
We ate at home every night this week and usually had leftovers for lunch. We did splurge yesterday at the mall and had my favorite PINKBERRY CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT but as I mentioned before the calories in the mini are not going to break anyone's bank...

NOT BLOW OUR RENT AT THE GROCERY STORE
It's week 2 and I buy all our groceries two weeks at a time, so we are good and golden!
Week 6 of Cajun in California...DEFINITELY a great week! Much needed...

Weekend Weigh In 5

A little late but here is the weekend weigh in. Here's what you might have missed this week...

Jogging Again

Sushi Shoutout

Workouts for the Terrified

Low Cal Classic

So on to the goals...


LIVE AN ACTIVE LIFE 
This week in addition to starting Ease into 5K all over again, we also picked up some bikes. I'll blog about it at a later date but I'm sure somewhere there was an important note about bike seats that I missed...ouch!

EAT DELICIOUSLY
Oh we ate deliciously. We could have made much better choices this week. I'm not sure how badly this will effect my weekly goals since the battery on our scale went out this week and has yet to be replaced.

READ FOOD LABELS  
Yeah...about that....

NOT BLOW OUR RENT AT THE GROCERY STORE
We stayed under our two week at a time budget and even grabbed some extra treats. I bought the ingredients for that red velvet poke cake that's all over pinterest. I'll let you know how that goes.

Week 5 of Cajun in California...a giant leap for active living! Yay!

Weekend Weigh In 4

So we are currently in Vegas and heading home later today. I wasn't joking about the one night only. But I still have a recap from this week:

First, what you may have missed:

Bethenny's Booze & Butts

Building Plans for a Rainbow Masterpiece

The Horror of Treadmill Runners

Adorable Picture of Husband Eating a Burger

Star Wars Neighbors and Religious Experiences




The last one is my favorite. Onto the goals I set when I began this blog:

LIVE AN ACTIVE LIFE  
One thing I've started doing is tricking myself into thinking I'm living an active life. How am I doing this? By wearing workout clothes every second of the day. Seriously, on Wednesday I looked down and thought, "have I taken these tennis shoes off?" Maybe I'm on to something...

EAT DELICIOUSLY
Done and done. Had some great low calorie dinners this week but we also splurged and went to one of our favorites: a revolving sushi restaurant. I guess I'll get into Vegas food at a later date...


READ FOOD LABELS   
Did I mention I had icing for "brunch" this week? Oy...Some things should not be brought into the house. I question how I continue to meet my fitness goals with these grenades hidden everywhere. 'Tis a miracle!


NOT BLOW OUR RENT AT THE GROCERY STORE 
Jokes on you grocery store...we didn't have to go this week! Shout out to expert meal planning. :)

Week 4 of Cajun in California...let's hope what happens here stays here!

Weekend Weigh In 2 & 3

Well I anticipated having a busy weekend life and it has finally happened...kind of. My mother-in-law was in town visiting on a stop between the Philippines and Louisiana. As husband said, "we are eating like it's Thanksgiving!" Which is half true. I didn't want to waste any precious time we had with her here hanging out in our gym, BUT I did make an effort to not overindulge which was moderately successful. In any event, I'm back in the game!


LIVE AN ACTIVE LIFE
I didn't feel great two weeks ago and this past week was a mad dash to get back on schedule so I did a lot of working out at home. We are still doing our nightly walks with the pup. This week will be so busy I definitely need to plan ahead to get my workouts in. Priorities! I've already put in my planner some time with ye olde elliptical! 


EAT DELICIOUSLY
I feel like this was a hit. Obviously we ate out a great deal these past few weeks so we were eating amazing food. My brother-in-law actually marinated the BEST MUSHROOMS I've ever had. I say this hoping that I can accurately convey how much I used to hate mushrooms. I'm also pleased to report that we had dinner with friends on Monday and it took moving all the way to California for me to eat Louisiana boiled crabs! How I missed this all these years we may never know. Why didn't anyone tell me how much work it was to eat one of those things?



READ FOOD LABELS  
Once again I rely heavily on my good friend MyFitnessPal and this week I kind of ignored her. It's so hard to log what you're eating when you are at not chain restaurants. I tried to make good choices and go for veggies and whatnot, but I made a cake (which I'll be detailing Monday) with my niece and the food labels were...well, shocking to say the least. I wouldn't suggest making it and eating it alone. Oy.



NOT BLOW OUR RENT AT THE GROCERY STORE 
Since we have been so good saving our pennies for a BIG BIG BIG trip next Spring, we decided we'd indulge juuuuust a little bit and spend $20 at Trader Joe's on things not on our shopping list. I make a grocery list every two weeks and we hardly ever veer off that path so it was nice to just play, "Omg doesn't that look delicious!" And I have to tell you...it was! The soy creamy bars in my freezer are lucky they haven't been inhaled. So, so good.


So onto recipes, workouts, and another week of living amongst the beautiful people!

Weeks 2 & 3 of Cajun in California...I declare you a hit and miss!!

Weekend Weigh In

Since I anticipate being busy on the weekends (in this magical fantasy life I lead that as of yet does not exist) I figured the weekends would be a good time to recap where I am in my efforts.


LIVE AN ACTIVE LIFE
I must say I didn't spend as much time in the gym this week as I normally do. Instead I started doing nightly walks with our dog. I am going to consider this a win because normally we go to the dog park every now and then and Juju enjoys naps the rest of the day. She has inherited her mother's gene when it comes to not wanting to exercise! I did meet the weekly weight loss goal I set for myself but overall I wish I had been more active. I could have done more.

EAT DELICIOUSLY
I feel like this was a hit and miss this week. We did have the delicious Low Cal Bacon, Egg & Cheese Ring for breakfast this week but the Frozen Banana Failure is still lingering in my mind. We did eat one of our favorite dishes last night- the easiest tilapia recipe in the world. I'll be sharing that next week because it is so low on the calories I was able to enjoy some wine after dinner. That my friends is a dream come true!

READ FOOD LABELS
I feel like I do this pretty often since I am a faithful MyFitnessPal user, but this week I really tried to pay attention to the amount of sodium. To be honest, I know a lot of it is bad and I don't know why. Blame it on my upbringing but salt is like air in most of the dishes I enjoy, I don't necessarily have to acknowledge its presence but I can feel the effects. So I think in the upcoming week I will be learning about why everyone here hates salt so much.

NOT BLOW OUR RENT AT THE GROCERY STORE
I made my first trip to Walmart in two months. Despite it being my least favorite of my least favorite stores you can get some really sweet deals. (How does rotel get cheaper than ROTEL? It does at the W.) Because I saved so much at the W by sticking to my list and not turning my nose up to Great Value I went a head and splurged JUST a little and bought some tasty things at a fancier grocery store. So win-win.


Week 1 of Cajun in California...I declare you a success!