Fun Things To Read On A Friday

I have been in this crazy stress vortex all week; however, the good news is I have escaped! And it is Friday! And my life is now full of overuse of exclamation points!!!  So since I am feeling so damn chipper I thought I would tell you about some things that have been putting a smile on my face lately. None of these things that have anything to do with each other, but WHO CARES…They’re still fun!

For example:


1. This Sea Salt Spray Tutorial – I have incredibly slippery hair. It is super fine and thin and if I don’t wash it every morning it starts to look like I fried bacon in it right around the time I have my second cup of coffee. My hair needs some serious texture intervention but most products weigh it down and we can’t have that now, can we? Enter: Sea Salt Spray. Part of me thinks the idea of “beachy hair” is a myth for folks like me, and I’m not completely convinced I will ever be able to obtain that perfect tousled look, but for about $5, this sea salt spray is giving my hair brilliant texture, and keeping it from looking like breakfast leftovers the next morning.  And — BONUS — it is helping me use up my old crappy hair gel that just sits under my bathroom sink with never an excuse to get used. This is exactly what I looked like yesterday morning after using it:

BAHAHAHAHAHA….Moving on…

2. Melissa’s Stove Top Carnitas Recipe – I have linked to this recipe before, but I don’t think I have done it with enough fanfare. YOU GUYS, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MAKE THIS. There, now I feel better.

I make at least one pot of this weekly (Yes, I have started buying 16 lbs of pork shoulder at Costco at any given time. What?) and we box it up in containers, put it on salads, eat it straight out of the pot, you name it.  This is, no exaggeration, my absolute favorite thing to eat lately. Totally worth a couple of hours of boiling on the weekend with very little supervision.

3. So I took my weight and measurements this month (like I do every month) and sadly, this is the first month since July of 2010 that I have gained weight. 4 lbs, actually. BOO.  The good news that you already know if you follow me on Twitter is that with that 4 lb weight gain came a loss of 4 inches. I mean, Holy Mindf*ck, Batman! Right?

I found this post as well as this post (from Everyday Paleo) especially timely in the wake of that news. In my mind I know it is not only about the numbers on the scale, but boy can one sure get focused. These were two hilarious and awe-inspiring reminders that the scale is mostly a useless tool.  Definitely worth a read, Check out this blog to read more about why escape rooms are great for team building.

4. So since we are talking about scales, I think that works right into bathing suit shopping.  Can we talk about bathing suits for a minute without everyone getting traumatized? Let’s give it a try.  I am going to be totally honest with you when I say that even when I was 80 + lbs heavier, I never really HATED shopping for bathing suits.  Look, I didn’t love it either but I think if you just accept the awfulness of it, it makes it much easier to “enjoy”. No bathing suit was going to make my thighs look less flabby (still isn’t!) so it was pretty easy for me to surrender the fantasy and put my efforts towards finding one highlighted something I liked on my body. Fat thighs?  Check.  But how about this lycra swathed rack, eh?  Focus on the positive, you know?

Anyway, I walked into Old Navy this week and tried on a few suits and found one that was pretty cute. (Pictured up there on the right, yet mysteriously available nowhere on the website.) At $27, I thought it was a steal, and headed straight to the register! But when they actually rung me up? $9.97! Woo hoo!

That was my long winded way of saying: Item off my Summer Bucket List – CHECK!  Cute bathing suit has been found. 

5. Oh, and speaking of arbitrary items on my Summer Bucket List – I have given up vanity and started wearing a tank top to work out on the regular – CHECK and CHECK! It is just way too hot in the box to NOT wear a tank top and so comfort trumps vanity. I think that means I am officially getting old, but I still maintain if you see me buy a pair of Crocs take me out back and shoot me. 

So – SCORE! –  for getting over the fear of my own arm flab! Now if I could just get over my fear of being a sweaty monster, all would be well.  (In my defense, it was well over 90 degrees that day and the warmup *haha THE WARMUP* involved running a mile outside, among like 10 other things)  But who cares — because I was sporting a damn tank top in public for the first time in perhaps, over a decade.  WIN! 

6.  And lastly — my favorite world rocking thing lately is this video.  Mostly because it is true.
I’m sure you have already seen it because I imagine you are much hipper than I am, but on the off chance that you have not, I am willing to look like the last person to the party to make sure you experience its hilarity.
Happy Friday, y’all!
What’s been rocking your world lately?  Recipes, videos, links…Do tell!
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5 Responses to Fun Things To Read On A Friday

  1. Erica says:

    Holy cow I love it when things ring up for less than you think they are. Best thing ever. Very cute suit and way to go on 4 inches. And hey – that's my ACTUAL Whole Foods yo. (Well, one of mine. We have like 5 in a 3 mile radius.) I don't know why it's so hard to park at ALL of them when we have so many. I guess everyone's lining up for some quinoa and shit.

  2. Kristin says:

    Thanks for the links! My hair is EXACTLY the way you described yours so I will be making that salt spray this weekend. My biggest wish when I had my children (besides that they were healthy, obviously) was that I would not pass my horrible hair on to them. My son seems to have escaped it, but I'm not sure about my daughter. Also thanks for the carnitas recipe. I make one from the I Made That blog all of the time that is delicious, but I'm always happy to try another. And you look great in that picture!

  3. Sizzle says:

    I hate my arms too but since taking up dance, I wear tank tops to class. It feels safe there. I hope someday to wear a sleeveless dress/top in public and not feel ashamed.

  4. Jessica says:

    You look amazing! *I'm* flabby, you're muscular. (it's ok, though, I can use the "I just had a baby" excuse ffor awhile.)

  5. Maureen says:

    Um…what arm flab? You are rocking the tank top! That is great you lost 4 inches, you are such an inspiration. I started a Paleo eating plan in May thanks to you, and I am down 9 lbs. I haven't done measurements but will be sure to now.