Today I'm Reading

Today I've started reading Cleaning, Plain & Simple by Donna Smallin. This is definitely reading-to-learn and more domesticated than I'd like to admit, but I can no longer stand the filth and I simply must learn how to clean our home.

I can arrange, organize and decorate like no one you've ever seen, but I haven't a clue how to actually clean or what materials work best. (Other than vacuuming, I really love that for some odd reason).

So I'm on Page 6 of this book that my friend recommended to me, and I've already learned something. Yippee! Turns out I'm "The Speed Cleaner":

• "You enjoy a clean home, but its not one of your top priorities.
• Cleaning frequently gets postponed for one reason or another.
• When you have free time, you don't want to spend it cleaning toilets.
• You seek quick and easy solutions to your cleaning challenges.
• You may have a tendency to purchase the latest and greatest cleaning products and tools.
• You may have a whole cupboard or closet full of products you've tried that may or may not have lived up to their promises.
• If you could afford it, you would hire a professional cleaning service. If you have a cleaning service, you wish you could afford to have them come more often.

Plain and simple advice: If you want to spend less time cleaning overall, clean more often. Start with a thorough cleaning, and then get into the habit of doing a little cleaning each day. Keep cleaning supplies handy to where you use them or put them in a bucket or caddy that makes it easy to tote them to the job...Give away or discard cleaning supplies that did not work as well as you had expected or that you dislike for any other reason."

I have a feeling I'd better buy my own copy of this book and break out the highlighters and colored sticky tabs!

A Gift To Myself

For my birthday I like to reward myself with a gift. Typically its a girly ALL-ME treat like a facial, mani/pedi, or massage. This year it was an amazing 90 minute massage from my friend Angee who I can no longer live without (I book her every month now!).

As a special gift, I have purchased myself something for Christmas this year. Mind you, I have been waiting and planning this gift for 2 years, so I feel I was definitely patient. I bought my first pair of snowboard boots! Along with all the helpful tips and info from the chatty guy at Sport Chalet in La Jolla, they're adorable to boot (no pun intended there). They fit really well, white and silver, and they're called "Donna" which I think is so cute because it reminds me of the bad-ass chick group, The Donnas and one of their songs, Girl Talk.

Has anyone else bought themselves a present this year?

October 17, 2010: Hot 4 Halloween Countdown: TWO Weeks Left

I found my thigh high boots and I made my black tulle bustle. I'm so excited because both are uber cute and I'm happy to say my costume is FINISHED!!

 Photo by ChuChulainn - my new thigh high boots from Guess

And, as an early birthday present to myself, I met my goal weight. I'm beyond excited right now for next weekend. Let the Birthday Celebrations begin!!!

Photo from Google images

October 11, 2010: Mission: FitBitch: Weeks 7 through 9

So I'm a little behind on posting my progress from the last few weeks.  If I had kept up with it, here's what I would have posted.


Week 7 Progress (September 12 - September 18):
Only one more week until our Nags Head, VA vacation! I ran 3 miles this week and then laid on the couch for 4 days after having 2 of my wisdom teeth pulled. It was awful and wonderful at the same time.

Week 8 Progress (September 19 - September 25):
Sunday I was still on the couch; Monday I flew to Oakland to work up there for the day; Tuesday and Wednesday I was absolutely exhausted and started to get a cold; Thursday I did jack shit; Friday I finally forced myself to pack an hour before we left for the airport; Saturday we were in Nags Head, NC on vacation.

Week 9 Progress (September 26 - October 2):
After 3 or 4 nights of cold medicine not working and getting not much sleep, I finally realized it wasn't a cold but severe allergies. So I started taking benedryl every two hours around the clock. Which meant no alcohol for me, which I was okay with. Once I started feeling better it started raining so hard we couldn't go outside. For days. Needless to say my running clothes went untouched the entire 5 days in NC and 3 days in VA visiting my loverface's family.

BUT guess what...I didn't gain an ounce on this vacation!

Photos by ChuChulainn

October 11, 2010: Hot 4 Halloween Countdown: THREE Weeks Left

I'm keeping up with my food plan and log, and still running as much as possible. What I'm most excited about this week is that my costume is coming together! My corset was delivered and I love it. I've tried it on a couple times and it's going to work out famously. I also purchased my black fishnets and my black opera length gloves. My blue hair and blue eyelashes were also purchased, so now I just need to find me some thigh length boots. 

I LOVE Halloween! 

 my new corset from eBay - electric blue & lavender

October 5, 2010: Hot 4 Halloween Countdown: FOUR Weeks Left

Last year me and my girls jumped on the "Hot 4 Halloween" or "H4H" bandwagon to get super fit for our sexy Halloween costumes. It was so much fun working out together, changing up our happy hour routine, and keeping each other accountable for our own personal goals.  This year half my crew has moved away and the other half is going to a different Halloween party then myself, soooo I'm kinda on my own. Actually, I guess not so much on my own, but more with a whole new set of girls.

It's a little strange, but I'm still excited.  This week is officially Week 4 on the countdown to Halloween.  That means I've got 4 weeks to do whatever I need to my body to make sure I'm okay with millions of pictures being taken. Oh, have I mentioned my costume?? MOULIN ROUGE!!!!! If you haven't seen the movie, it's a MUST.  We're doing a group costume theme, so the girls will be in corsets and huge hair, a la the movie and the music video for Lady Marmalade.  The boys will be wearing tuxes, top hats, canes, and the like from the movie. Soooo much fun.

My new corset was delivered so I'll have to post pix on my costume progress as I have them. Anyone else getting Hot 4 Halloween?

 Photo from Google images

September 15, 2010: Mission: FitBitch: Weeks 5 & 6

Week 5 Progress (August 29 - September 4):

I LOST ONE POUND!!! I've got 2 more lbs to go to my ultimate goal weight and I can't believe I've come this far. I'm so so so excited. I also ran a little over 5 and a half miles this week.

Week 6 Progress (September 5 - September 11):

So this week I unexpectedly had to travel for work. I flew from the west coast to the east coast for 4 days in the DC area. It was absolutely exhausting, but besides working my ass off and getting up at 3am my Cali time, I was able to have some fun while there. 

Tuesday night I was able to meet boyfriend's new nephew (only 6 weeks old!) who is absolutely adorable. I call him "Bean" because he's about that big. We had dinner in DC, not far from the White House I'm told, at a place called Birch and Barley.  It was great to catch up with boyfriend's brother and his wife; they're on our Top Besties list for sure, and we started planning our vacation to Turkey next year.

The Bean

On Wednesday the future-in-laws had dance class, so my co-worker and I had a drink at the rooftop bar in the W Hotel, DC. It has views of the White House, the Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial all from one spot, which was seriously amazing. The pix didn't come out well since I was staring into the sun, but maybe you get the idea. These very drunk but very polite older men bought us our drinks as we chatted about lobbying in DC and health care reform. Very sexy. So we hurried with our drinks and popped over to Georgetown for dinner. Of course, before dinner, we had dessert at Georgetown Cupcakes (which is apparently famous and has tv show or something? I'm so under a rock).

Thursday night after work the future-in-laws, the Bean, and my girlfriend who lives in Georgetown all met up for a drink at Lima. I loved that she had "a baby in a bar" and couldn't resist the Sweet Home Alabama line. Then we had dinner reservations at Georgia Brown's down the street from Lima (and my hotel) which was super yummy, except for the part where my crawdad thingy still had its eyeballs in. Yuck! After dinner they took the Bean home and us girls went to play in Georgetown. It was so fun meeting all her "DC friends" at the college bar and watching the Saints/Vikings game. Love, love, love those girls; we definitely became fast friends and I can't wait to go back.

Saturday was back home with my loverface and off to celebrate the 7th wedding anniversary of our friends with a huge party on the bay. I also took a moment to pray for the families who lost someone on September 11th; my heart definitely hurts for the friends and family affected by that terrible day. 
 

September 2, 2010: HOW TO: Be Happy On A Random Night Alone

In bed, with fresh coats of OPI's Melon of Troy on my fingers, catching up on my Vanity Fair reading, whilst being bathed in the honey drips that is Zooey Deschanel's voice from She&Him on Pandora radio.

I've got my peppermint foot lotion from The Body Shop on underneath my argyle knee high socks from JCrew.

Now if some invisible fairy could just bring me a crispy glass of Pinot Grigio...

 Cover of the September 2010 Issue

MAJOR shoe lust! (Photo from September 2010 Issue) 

I've a newly found girl crush on Zoe Saldana (should have got on the bandwagon a while ago, I know), but am especially loving this outfit. The pic is a bit blurry, but she absolutely rocks this ensemble. (Photo from September 2010 Issue)

August 31, 2010: Today's iPod Playlist for The Gym

Here's what I listened to today on the treadmill (on shuffle from my "FitBitch" playlist which means we may start to see/hear some repeats down the line).

Lada Gaga, Poker Face

Hurricane Chris, Halle Berry

This is where I paused the music because I was sidetracked with the Barefoot Contessa making a super yummy BLT sandwich (I'm a sucker for avocados)

Katy Perry, I Kissed A Girl

Total of 25 minutes / 2 miles

Here's her California BLT recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/california-blts-recipe/index.html

Since I'm watching my food intake, I would leave out the bacon or substitute with turkey bacon or something like that,  I would have whole wheat bread instead of white and I would use my light lemonnaise instead of mayonnaise.

I wish the nutrition information was included in her recipe, but when I make one for myself, I'll be adding it into the MyFitnessPal app to figure it out for myself.

Photo from WeHeartIt

August 31, 2010: Mission: FitBitch: Week 4

Week 4 Progress (August 22 - August 28):

This week I traveled for work 3 days, which makes it quite difficult to stick to my food plan. There isn't a lot of fresh food available in downtown Oakland, but I tried my best.  For the most part I was actually able to keep to my calorie and water goals, and I even ran 2 miles in the hotel gym.

Part of the reason this trip was better for me was that we had dinner at this restaurant called Bocanova, in Jack London Square in Oakland. Pan-American Kitchen, great vibe and seriously professional staff. It's actually just now having it's one year anniversary and I would definitely recommend it if you're in the area.

http://bocanova.com/

Overall I ran just under 4 miles this week, so that's a little more than last week, but not quite up to my goal of 8 miles. I dropped some pounds by the end of the week, but my week's average is still the same as last week, so technically I didn't lose any this week.  Next week I'll be able to get back to my regular food ingredients and will run more than 4 miles.

photo from SFGate.com

August 31, 2010: Today's iPod Playlist for The Gym

Just about the only thing that keeps me focused while running is music.  If I don't have music blasting in my ears, I start thinking about other things I need to do and get bored or antsy to start something else. 

So here's what I listened to today on the treadmill (on shuffle from my "FitBitch" playlist).

The Rolling Stones, Paint It Black

Metallica, For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Pussycat Dolls, When I Grow Up

50 Cent, In da Club

Fat Joe, Ha Ha Slow Down

Pitbull, Go Girl

Jimi Hendrix, Purple Haze

Kelis, Bossy

Total of 36 minutes / 4.1 kilometers

Now to just find out how to convert km into miles...I do know that One Mile = 1.609 kilometers. ...2.55 miles!

from Google images

August 29, 2010: Mission: FitBitch: Week 3

I'm seriously slacking on my running goal, but I am keeping to my food and water goals, so that's something. I only ran 3 miles this week, out of my planned 8 miles, but work has been busy so I'm glad I at least got that in.

And it turns out that sticking to my food goals is the most important, because I still LOST 2 POUNDS this week! Which actually means that I'm at the top of my goal weight variance. To be at the bottom of my goal weight variance, I just need to lose 3 more pounds. Pretty sure I can make that happen if I keep disciplined. It's hard, but totally worth it. 

Now to find the motivation to actually run 8 miles per week...

photo from Google images

August 25, 2010: Mission: FitBitch: Week 2

Week 2 Progress (August 8 - August 14):

This week I am absolutely exhausted, but I think that's normal for week 2.

I'm still eating 1200 calories a day, but I was only able to run 5 miles this week. My actual goal is to run 8 miles per week, so I'm a little short, but I'm okay with that considering I ran 10 miles last week. And did I mention how tired I am? All I want is sleep.

The good news is that I LOST ONE POUND this week!

photo from Google images

August 23, 2010: Dream a little dream

There are a million things on my To Do list. I should be doing chores. I should be packing for my work trip. I should be showering off the sweat from my run. Shoulda, shoulda, shoulda...

Instead, I'm staring at this and dreaming of next year's vacations:

 

 

from Google images

August 23, 2010: Mission: FitBitch: Week 1

Week 1 Progress (July 27 - August 7):

In the new regime for the next 8 weeks there is no eating of the cheese (I'm addicted), no drinking of the wine or beer (I quit mixed cocktails already a couple years ago), and no eating out. I'm also monitoring my water intake to make sure I drink at least 8 cups of water per day. I should mention that I don't drink soda or juices either, I've always just stuck to water. 

Not only will these changes help with my fitness goals, it will also help prevent my chronic kidney stone episodes. There isn't a lot of research on what causes kidney stones and how to prevent them, but one recommendation is a fresh balanced diet, so I started making those changes a couple years ago and I've been stone free for at least a year! So I figure it can't hurt.

Each day my calorie intake goal is 1100-1200. This is based on my age, gender, current weight, height, and my desk job - with the intent to lose weight (I used a few calorie calculators online to make sure they each told me the same thing). Now since I plan to incorporate cardio into my routine, I can of course add an extra 100-200 calories a day depending on how much I run. Let's not kid ourselves here, I just wasn't made to starve myself.

So in my first week (plus 3 days from the previous week, since I started in the middle and want to track Sunday through Saturday) I LOST FIVE POUNDS!!!  I ate my 1200 calories a day and drank all my water.  I also ran 10 miles this week (which is insane considering how long its been!)

I feel amazing, I'm beyond motivated for next week. I know I won't be losing that much again next week since I'm not on the Biggest Loser show or anything, but I know I'm already making progress so I'm quite pleased.

from Google images

August 23, 2010: Skinny Little Bitch

I am by no means a "Skinny Little Bitch", but I love this song by Hole.

"Skinny Little Bitch
Starin' at the mirror
In your desperation to disappear...

Skinny Little Bitch
Prayin' to the lord
Praying for some salvation
Cause she's just so bored..."

Listening to these lyrics got me thinking...no matter our height, weight, gender, body shape, etc, we all have things about ourselves we'd like to improved, physically speaking.  Everyone's definition of improvement is different, depending on the individual. For me, I just want to be fit. Like, double take, super fit. Mostly because I know I can do it. I really know I can.

So here's my plan:
Month 1 & 2: Lose the extra weight I don't need by changing my diet and running
Month 3 & 4: Then begin to build muscle tone head to toe with yoga and pilates
Month 5 & after: Maintain my weight, cardio, and long lean muscles forever and ever amen

If I'm working my ass off in the beginning to obtain my goals, I don't want to ever have to work that hard again. So my plan is to only have this be a one time thing.

Cheers to Mission: FitBitch!

from Google images

The Chu is back

Life had gotten to be quite hectic around our home in San Diego and so one thing I gave up was blogging. After a few months I have decided that I want my blog back. I am the Chu and its healthy for me to keep it up. Simply put, I love it, so why deprive myself.

About ChuChulainn: Over time boyfriend gave me the nickname "Chu" and after a while he decided to google it. Turns out that there's an old folklore tale about an Irish Warrior they called Chulainn. Boyfriend also says I must have Viking blood running through my veins, and so the fact that Chulainn was a warrior made the nickname stick even more. That, and I'm a little part Irish. 
Its true though, there's no getting around it, I am a perfect match for my loving nickname bestowed by the love of my life. I am The Chu, ChuChu, ChuChulainn and I have taken back my blog.

Mission: FitBitch Progress from Last Week

My exercise from last week: I finished sweating it out while painting the guest room, which is now complete. At school I parked on the 4th floor of the parking structure and used the stairs to get down and up on Monday. Then on Wednesday I parked at the bottom of the stairs on the far end of campus and walked up the super steep 4 flights. My quads were on fire, so that counts as something.

Not a large portion of exercise (at all) but the GOOD news is that I have maintained the exact same amount of weight over the last 2 1/2 weeks, simply by making good food choices. So I haven't lost any lately, but I haven't gained any either.

This week's fitspiration photo(s):

 

A montage of Miss Katy Perry that I swiped from Google images.

xoxo

Haul - MAC! MAC! MAC!

Why is it that every time I go into a MAC store I drop around $200?? I have an addiction. I am addicted to MAC makeup (which I haven't quite figured out since I don't even wear that much makeup on a day to day basis) and to spending money apparently. Oh well, I still love it. Here's what I bought on my last trip:

 

• Select Cover-Up in NW20
• Studio Fix Fluid in NC20 (with SPF 15)
• Studio Fix Pressed Powder in NW25
• Paint Pot in Painterly
• Lipstick in Fabby
• Dazzleglass Creme in My Favorite Pink
• Lip Pencil in Stripdown
• Eye Brow Pencil in Lingering

I am beyond happy with ALL of these purchases. Clearly I need to get on the same track with all my skin colorings haha, but I will definitely be repurchasing all of these items when they run low. 

What have you gotten at MAC lately?

xoxo

OPI: Blue My Mind

Choosing a not 'normal' color for your nails is fun I think. At least for me. This last trip I picked out this electric blue from OPI called 'Blue My Mind'. Cute name right? And man have I gotten a bazzillion compliments.

 

Next I think I'm doing my matte white again...

My brother's first song is out!!

My younger brother (one and only) like to make music as a hobby, and long story short he produced (meaning he created all the music parts) a song for this rapper named Doey Rock aka Mean Doe Green (who wrote and raps all the lyrics). The song is called My House and its on his Mind Candy cd.

SO COOL!!!

My bro's producer name is INFINITY SLUMP, which are the very first words you hear - he gets the first shout out!!

I am beyond proud of him for this accomplishment (which he did all by himself!) and beyond excited for him.  Take a listen, spread the word.

Love his very stoked sister.

Eggs Benedict Addiction

Over the last couple years I've discovered eggs benedict. How I didn't find them until now I'll never know, but there's no turning back! I've two favorite places in San Diego so far for these yummy eggs.

My best is Cafe Chloe, downtown, on the corner of 9th and G. If I could move here I would, the decor is fabulous. Instead I think I'll plan a brunch here for my nearest and dearest...perhaps for birthday weekend in October. I order the poached eggs w/wild mushrooms and sage-truffle beurre blanc for $11 and the orange mimosa for $8. Yes, a bit pricey, but worth it here and there.

My second favorite, and a bit cheaper, is also downtown - the newest Broken Yolk on 6th Ave. Typically I order the Western Benedict but sometimes I get wild and order the regular Eggs Benedict lol. This place gives you tons of food, so my recommendation is to order one plate to split with two people. Its just too much by your lonesome.  We just went here for breakfast Sunday morning with our friend Jess from DC and had a great time...miss that place!

Have you been to these places? Other good egg places in San Diego? (Besides my own kitchen I mean)

Mission: FitBitch Progress from Last Week

Wow, this is a really good idea for me to post progress weekly. Mostly because it reminds me, yet again, that I didn't do shit last week!! And I'm never going to get to my goal this way.

My exercise from last week: I ran 20 minutes on the treadmill, one day. Does sweating while painting your guest bedroom count as exercise??

This week's fitspiration photo:

Gretchen Bleiler

Rough Day

Some days I hate my job situation. But on those days, I remember how much I am loved and a hug from my boyfriend washes the bad day away.

Portland, Oregon

I've never been to Portland, but have the opportunity to spend 3 days here working. Unfortunately it's all scheduled out for work, but I will have the chance to snatch a dinner at the waterfront...or so I hope. Today is my first day here and BossLady and I were so tired that we ate across the street from the hotel (instead of our planned waterfront restaurant) and went straight to our rooms.
We had a fabulous dinner at the Oswego Grill in Lake Oswego, OR. I had the roasted chicken, grilled asparagus, and a glass of Pinot Noir. Can you believe it, I stuck to my meal plan?! I'm so proud of myself! I even had a turkey club sandwich from Applebee's for lunch and squeezed in my Americano with breakfast. I was spot on for my planned calorie intake for today, I'm so excited.
Now I'm laying in bed watching Episode 3 of The Biggest Loser (LOVE this show) and in 15 minutes when its over I'm going down to the treadmill for a run. Super stoked on a good healthy day.

I'ma be a SnowBunny!

This past Saturday I put together a girls trip to Big Bear Lake to go snowboarding. On the way we picked up our personal guide/instructor Jimmy (yes, he's a boy, but it wouldn't have been as good without him). Last season I finally learned how to board and only went 2 1/2 days.

So this is my 2nd season and I want more! My next challenge is to be able to go straight/vertical down the hill, whilst being in control, and then J curve (b/c I'm goofy foot) back out of it to a standing stop. Jimmy says once I can master that I'll be able to learn a C curve to ride toeside. YAY me I can't wait!! Here are some pix from the day:

Julie and I

Me and Jen - we forgot to wear our Charger jerseys :^( But we still wore blue haha

Me and Cara on the lift for Summit Run

Julie shreddin da gnar on her very first day to the snow!

Mission: FitBitch Progress from Last Week

I'm on my last leg of my Mission: FitBitch goal. Five more pounds to go!!! Once I get there my goal is to maintain weight and stay fit. But I really need to get re-motivated to finish this out. I plan on posting my progress on Mondays so that you can keep me accountable when I didn't do shit.

My exercise from last week: I went snowboarding on Saturday at Big Bear. Super fun, but I need to do more than just that.

This week's fitspiration photo:

Baby, Baby, Baby

Ayden over at Little Blog of Horrors made a post with her baby pix and I thought I'd do the same. Such a cute idea because I know for me, and apparently for her, things haven't changed much in the last 20 years. Just dont tell my parents haha because they'd kill me if they knew peeps saw these pix of them back in the 80s.

 

My cousin Tiffany and I, too cool for school with our sunglasses lol

Me and my little bro - LOVE him! Look at that cute face

Looks like a windy camping weekend in Yosemite, CA

Who else has baby pix to post?

Update: 2009 Goals in Review

I believe I was fairly successful in completing my personal goals in 2009. Just to be sure, let's take a look. Here they are with today's comments in red:

MUST Goals:

• Pay off all credit card debt by 05/31/2009 - Yes, I did actually pay it off early, but it didn't last long before I added more debt on, whoops.
• Lose 8 lbs by 05/31/2009 - This did not happen, I lost more like 6 by year end, but it was close.
• Have $5k in savings by 12/31/2009 - I did meet this one, and then promptly spent all my money on a home with boyfriend. But that was the plan for saving.

HOPE Goals:
• Lose an additional 5 lbs by 12/31/2009 - No I didn't make it to my goal weight even though I worked on it for a year. Or pseudo worked on it. Still have the last 5 lbs!
• Have a visible six pack (this one makes me giggle, but I AM serious!) - aHAahahah yeah, not so much
• Plan and have money allocated for a 2010 Europe trip by 12/31/2009 - this one is done! Dublin, Paris, and Prague LOOK OUT!
• Be kidney stone free this year - I do have a stone, and have had it for quite some time now, but technically this one is still met b/c I haven't passed any stones this year. Or I might have passed one actually. But still, I was close to none all year, one isn't bad.
• Have $20k liquid available for a house down payment - Umm $20k liquid didn't happen, but I did have enough money for a down payment, so that worked out well.

Overall I think I did okay. Love this pic from weheartit.com