Yuletide Dresses!

It's time to start thinking about New Years plans, and while I think I have our night planned, I still need to find a dress. Here are some that I am totally in love with. All via Pinterest!

Giveaway at StressCase

Last Friday my dearest friend, Jesus Jugs was kind enough to host a give away for one of my State prints. I would have given you a heads up but my GM diet had me loopy and I got my days a little mix-matched! Silly me. 
What is a State Print? I'm so glad you asked. 
Here are some examples. I can do the state in any color of your choice, (according to the color chart on my Etsy Shop that is) With a heart in your preferred city.

OR

I can do a the state, again in any color with all of its bordering counties on the side and the heart in your county.

These are perfect for Home Decor as Christmas gifts for that someone who just seems to have everything, or for yourself! The photo below is of the print I gave Jesus Jugs for her Birthday last year, lovingly hung up on prime wall real estate in her living room!

Anyways, it's still not too late to enter and win! Just click the button and you'll be there!

As for my diet. It finished up on Sunday and I lost 8 lbs in total! Yay me. My Jeans now fit again and I can finally go shopping confidently for that tiny little New Years Dress!

Tis the season.... To diet!

I'm Back!....... Again. Finally. You poor souls. What on earth did you do without me?

The last couple months have been a complete whirlwind. Wes and I found a place and as of 15 days ago we are Roomies! It's been really fun, but moving in together has been taking ALOT longer than I thought it would. We both have so much stuff, combining it and getting rid of some of it and figuring out where it all goes has become a pain in the ass. So even though we are 15 day roomies, our new home is only have unpacked. The downstairs is looking really nice. The upstairs....MMmm, not so much. It's a work in progress and to be honest, I don't really care if it takes another month, living together is fun!

With all of the moving and living without a fridge for a week we were forced to eat only quick greasy fast food 3 times a day. And lets not forget, Thanksgiving just passed and even though it was only the two of us and my kitchen was not completely unpacked, you better believe that I made a whole thanksgiving spread. And together we ate almost all of it. Except for the stuff that I put in the freezer for a rainy day. I literally watched Wes eat a whole apple pie to himself in 3 days. While I find that disturbing, I practically did the same thing with the pumpkin. And lets not forget all the eating and drinking that we took part in for dear Andy and Alana's wedding in October. After the last couple months, my jeans were starting to get tight and shirts weren't looking how they used to. Infact, although its been building up for the last 9 months, Wes and I realized on Thanksgiving day that we had built relationship guts. Gasp!

It happened. We turned into Robin and Barney!

So that night we did some research on a couple diet plans and found one that we thought we could handle. The GM diet. I had actually heard about this diet before from Jesus Jugs. So Wes and I agreed that the Monday after the holiday weekend we would defeat the diet together!

The GM diet is a strict 7 day meal plan that is set to help you lose 10-17lbs. Here is what you do:

They give you a cabbage soup recipe that you can eat as much as you want throughout the week. If you would like to see it, it can be found here. The rest of the diet is as listed.

Day 1. 

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All fruits except bananas. You can have as many fruits as you like. The most recommended ones are melon and cantaloupe. This day prepares your body for the rest of the days. You can also eat the soup, although I didn't make this until day 2.

Day 2.

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Vegetable day. You can eat as many raw or cooked vegetables as you like. It is best to avoid dressing entirely or stick to lemon juice. For breakfast, you need to eat a large baked potato which may be flavored with one pat of butter.

Day 3.

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Any fruit and veggies that you like except bananas.

Day 4.

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Bananas and milk day. You can eat as many as 8 bananas and have up to 3 tall glasses of milk. You may also have the GM soup. By this day, your sugar cravings should be dramatically reduced.

Day 5.

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Is all about beef and tomatoes. Eat two 10 oz. portions of lean beef in the form of steak or burger. You must eat 6 whole tomatoes and drink one more quart of water. The water will help you purify your body from within.

Day 6.

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Eat as much beef and vegetables as you like. According to the diet, by day 6 you should have lost a considerable amount of weight.

Day 7.

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On this day you can eat brown rice and vegetables, and drink juice fruits.

I started the diet at 116 lbs. Currently, we are on day 5. Beef and tomatoes. Day 4, the bananas and milk day was the one I dreaded most but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm not a milk person and before this day I could not imagine drinking 3 whole glasses of milk. But being deprived of any dairy for 4 days it was actually really nice to have the milk. for dinner I combined milk, ice and bananas and made a smoothie which was very easy to drink. I also had some of the soup. This morning I weighed myself at the scale came in at 111 lbs! 5 lbs lighter than I was on Monday! Wes is down 10 lbs. 

We have followed the diet very strictly, doing everything exactly as the diet states. It has not been easy, however it has gotten easier as the days go on. I actually think that today, beef and tomatoes will be the hardest. Plain hamburger isnt really my thing and 20 oz. is alot for me to eat. We got steaks for dinner so that should be good. After today, the rest should be a walk in the park!

I'll let you know how it goes!

Halloween Time

I'm loving the Halloween photos coming up on Pinterest. I just wish that this Southern California weather would let up a bit so it would actually feel like Fall and I would be in the mood to decorate! Until then, I've posted some inspiration pics! Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Month, to Everybody!

September is a big month for Birthdays in my family. My Mom turns 48 on the 25th. Wes turns 31 on the 16th, while I will only be turning 27! (yep, we have the same Birthdays!) And my sweet little puppy turned 4 yesterday! 

Because I didn't get labor day off we celebrated on Saturday instead. When I say celebrated I'm not kidding. Roxie had presents and we feasted on hot dogs and German beer in her honor. Rox even had a Happy Birthday Doggie Cupcake that I made at home! 

Before, I'd always gone to 3 Dog Bakery to get her little somethin' somethin's every year but this time I looked up recipes online and was surprised to see that they were not only easy but really inexpensive too! For those of you who think I'm crazy for making my dog cupcakes and having a party, I get it. But I'll take any excuse to bake and drink, and to me, turning four is a pretty big deal. 

For those of you who like to throw parties for your dogs birthday, I have a step by step recipe for yummy pup-cakes.

Here is what you need:

Cake:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 

• 1 cup shredded carrots 

• 1 tsp vanilla 
1/3 cup honey 

• 1 egg
• 1 cup white or whole wheat flour 

• 1 tsp baking soda 

• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• Dog biscuits for decoration
• Optional: Banana, more peanut butter

Frosting:

• 18oz low fat cream cheese such as Philadelphia
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• Dog Biscuits for decoration

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)

Mix together flour and baking soda

add remaining ingredients 

and mix well. 

Place into muffin cups. Or if your dog is big, a small cake pan.

Bake 20 minutes if cupcakes and 40, if cake.

voila!

While cake is cooling, combine the cream cheese (at room temperature), honey and yogurt until smooth. I started in a regular bowl but decided it would be easier in my mixer. 

I also added a little bit of food coloring to my mix for fun.

I checked online to see if sprinkles were safe for dogs. They seemed to be, so I added those too.

You can't even tell those are't regular cupcakes! I tried a little bit here and there while making them, and while they weren't bad. They weren't real good either.

For dinner, we made hot dogs. I saw this cool tutorial on Pinterest for spiraling your hotdog and tried it. I like them way better spiral cooked than regular now! When you put condiments on them like ketchup and relish, they get in the spiral crevices creating extra yummy goodness. No more dog sliding out of the bun this way!

(Photo Cred: Wes.) He insisted he get credit for taking this picture. 

After dinner and presents, we got out the cake. We didn't sing 'Happy Birthday'- I'm not that big of  a freak, but I did light a candle for the camera.

As you can see. Roxie really enjoyed her birthday cake.

Once it got cooler outside, we went to the park to play some ball.

This pic is my favorite!

It was a good day. Hard to believe another birthday has come and gone! Hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend as well!