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Hey there! I'm Holly. A 40+ year old insurance-nerd wife, mom, beauty lover, and about a million other things in between.
This is the place where I share about our lives, what I'm currently loving, books I'm reading, plus-size style, beauty recommendations, health + fitness endeavors and anything else I'm finding interesting at the moment.
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Monthly Archives: June 2012
100 Hours: How Do You Spend Yours?
Did you know there are 168 hours in a week? For some reason when I hear that, I already feel behind the 8-ball. That’s…not that many hours especially if, like me, you are aiming to get 8-9 hours of sleep per night.
(You mean I’m going to WASTE 56-63 HOURS of that time sleeping?)
Don’t worry, I don’t really think it’s a waste of time — I actually completely buy Robb Wolf’s famous words that “Lack of sleep cock-blocks your fat loss” but the reality is, after you subtract time for sleeping you really only have about 100 hours leftover. Try use these very high end hospital beds here to gain enough sleep! Better make them count, eh? Get the kingsdown adjustable bed today | best kingsdown adjustable beds are the best.
Because I always like to see how other people live, here is how I’ve been spending some of those 100 hours during the first half of this week.
12:30am — Woke up to the sounds of a helicopter and the police saying there was an armed man running through people’s yards. Turns out it was a fake gun, but that didn’t make it any less freaky in the moment. That has never happened before on our quiet little street, and I hope it never happens again because that FREAKED MY SHIT OUT for a good hour.
4:00 — Up for real this time 4:00-4:45 — drink coffee (obviously), check email, read blogs, think what I need to get done this week.
4:45-5:45 — Work on blog posts for the week, organize some photos, make some lists.
5:45-6:15 — Listen to the news for a minute, straighten up stuff around the house + kitchen, put away laundry, pack gym bag.
6:15 — Get ready for work, close up the house, grab lunch and head to work.
7:15 — Make another cup of coffee at work IMMEDIATELY. Then get my delta 8 vape pens from Exhale Wellness to help me get ready for the day.
11:45 — Head home for lunch. Today it’s grilled chicken salads. So glad the chicken is already grilled! Watch some of Mad Men with Garrett.
1:00 — Back at work. Time to kick this afternoon’s ass!
4:30 — Close up shop at work. Head over to the gym.
5:00 — Glad to see all my American River CrossFit peeps after the weekend off. Spend the hour working on Power Cleans, Deadlifts, and in lieu of weighted pull ups I work on negatives with the band. I would really like to be able to do a pull up, man.
6:15 — Post Wod protein shakes with Garrett while I prep stuff for dinner. Garrett and I do a cooking/shower relay on most nights after the gym. It goes like this: he showers first, I get everything for dinner in the pan. I shower second, he monitors, stirs and serves.
7:00 — Sit down to eat. SITTING FEELS FRIGGIN AMAZING! Finish watching Mad Men, discuss whether or not the show is jumping the shark or just being extra subtle and smart this season.
8:00-8:30 — Work on blog stuff while Garrett watches some form of vehicle racing. Motorcycles maybe? I’m not sure.
8:45 — In bed to read. Currently enjoying this on the kindle app for my phone.
9:00 — Lights out. Well, at least inside. It is still light outside. Lament that I’m getting old! 🙂
5:15 — Wake up! Since it was hot and I was still kinda tired from the helicopter fiasco the night before I opted to skip my usual Tuesday 5am workout. I’ll hit up the gym tonight instead!
5:30 — Make myself a giant glass of citrus water and chug it before I let myself have coffee. Obviously I chug fast. Read emails, read blogs.
6:00 — Get ready for work, pack gym bag, scavenge for breakfast which ends up being delicious!
7:00 — Back to work! Eat breakfast. MOAR COFFEE!
12:00 — Impromptu lunch at Panera with old co-worker. Tried and loved their Avocado Cobb Salad. YUM!
1:30 — Back at work, harnessing my inner productivity goddess.
4:30 — Close up shop and head to the gym.
5:00 — Meet Garrett at the gym. Work on shoulder press, push press and push jerks. Then complete “Running Annie” (50-40-30-20-10 Double Unders and Sit-Ups, running 200 m after each round.) This is usually one of my favorites except my jump rope broke in the middle this time. ARGH!
6:00 — Stayed after the workout to bullshit and coordinate with some of the gals we are going to Tahoe with this weekend. YAY!
6:45 — Home. Protein Shake. No shower relay since I lagged a bit at the gym, dinner needs to just GET ON THE TABLE. Grill up some chicken thighs, nuke some sweet potatoes and make a quick avocado-broccoli slaw, which is my new FAVORITE THING TO EAT EVER.
7:30 — Eat while watching Real Housewives of New Jersey. I kind of sob through it actually since it’s a wedding episode. I don’t know what it is about weddings, even the Reality TV weddings of strangers make me cry!
8:30 — Shower. Because I AM DISGUSTING MYSELF.
9:00 — Work on a blog post.
9:45 — Get in bed and realize that I won’t be able to hit up the 5am WOD tomorrow morning either!!! I’m disappointed at that but I have a strict (and I mean STRICT) 6 hours of sleep rule for early morning workouts. If I’m not going to get 6 hours of sleep, I don’t get to work out. Period. Booooooooooooo.
10 — Lights out after some reading.
6:00 — Sleep in. Get a full EIGHT HOURS! Awesome! I really think these comfortable bed jackets from www.flowerbagslingerie.co.uk/nightwear/bed-jackets/ helps a lot.
6:00-6:30 — drink coffee, read blogs, check email
6:30 — Wash hair. Yep, that’s my dirty little secret. Dude, I JUST SHOWERED 8 HOURS AGO, I’m not squeegeing that thing again! But I also don’t have the kind of hair that can go more than about 12 hours without looking like I fried bacon in it, so hair washing it is!
7:30 — Finally get to work. Running late!
8:00 — More coffee dude. This is my morning ritual and I do not want to let it go. Time to get productive!
12:30 — Late lunch. Scarf on some Taco Salad with Garrett. Back in the office an hour later.
4:30 — Close up shop, time to head to the gym and stop being a Fraidy-cat about my back squat.
5:00 — Meet Garrett at the gym. Allow my gym buddy Linh to push me a little bit harder than usual during bench presses, front squats and back squats.
6:00 — Head home. Think about what you are supposed to be cooking on the way home. Try a new protein shake with coconut milk, water and powder. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT AT ALL. GAG.
6:30 — Realize it’s going to be grilled sausages, shrimp and veggies because that is quick and easy.
Listen to the newest M.I.A album while doing so. Not sure I like it.
7:00 — Eat dinner and watch Real Housewives of New York with Garrett. I guess I’ve totally outed his Housewives Habit, now haven’t I?
8:00 — Shower time and winding down the evening. Garrett is quick to get in bed. His wod was pretty brutal tonight!
9:30 — Realize that if you don’t wrap up this blog post and fall asleep in 26 minutes, you’ll have to skip your 5am workout tomorrow again.
GOOD NIGHT!
******
How do you spend YOUR 100+ hours?
On Fear and Action
Thanks for all of your supportive comments on my last two posts. One of the trends through the comments was the suggestion that I was being “brave” by putting it all out there. While I appreciate the recognition, I don’t feel like I am a particularly brave person. Generally, I just go about my business (loudly, to the dismay of some) and try and learn while I’m doing it.
(Coincidentally the motto of the college that I dropped out of was “Learn By Doing,” so hey — those two years weren’t a total waste. :))
Anyway, the point is I’m not patting myself of the back for how brave I am on a daily basis. But it did remind me of this great quote I came across c/o Cassie Boorn on Monday that made me realize that this is exactly how I operate:
“I am afraid too. I am frightened all the time, but I do not let the fears determine my behavior. How I act and whether or not I am afraid are two separate things in my process. I think questions such as, is this doable, reasonable, and morally sound? What are the consequences going to be when I do this? I know I will make some people mad but can I actually achieve something positive? If I think I can be effective, I allow myself to feel afraid.
The problem is when people act because they are afraid. These two things need to be separated. It is okay to feel uncomfortable. If you are going to create anything worthy, you are going to feel uncomfortable and other people are going to make you feel uncomfortable, and that has to be accepted as part of life. If you want to feel safe all the time, you will never be able to do anything.”
-Sarah Schulman interviewed by Carlos Motto for We Who Feel Differently.
I find, that for me, one of the only things that actually help alleviate my fears is taking self-directed action. Yes, it’s sometimes hard to get started on something when you are scared, but often times getting started actually makes the fear go away. When you take no self-directed action you are just standing there, stroking fear’s ego.
So I sat down and thought: what do I do about that fear when I am trying to separate it from action? And as Schulman suggests above, I think asking questions helps. When I’m feeling particularly vulnerable I find these questions tend to clarify where my energy is being tied up:
Has someone before me done this?
Will someone after me do this?
What is the worst thing that could happen?
If the worst case scenario happened, what would I do?
And usually by then I have talked myself out of using my fear as a crutch to avoid action. Of course it’s always nice to hear the encouraging words of others, but I think that should be the icing on the cake, not the filling.
******
So let me ask you…is fear holding you back from anything fabulous?
Is there anything you can do about it today?
Body Composition Testing and Losing the Goal Weight Mentality (Part Two)
So where did we leave off — ah yes, Weight Watchers thinks I should weigh between 135 and 169 lbs.
I made what I thought to be a realistic compromise and said 175 sounded better. Actually it still sounded cringe-worthy to me, but cringe-worthy enough that I could get over it because I’d have reached my goal weight.
Goal weight, goal weight, goal weight!
God I’m sick of hearing that phrase.
I consider myself a reasonably informed person. I seek out many sources before I make decisions. I’m open to new things, and of course like a good little member of Corporate America I try to make my goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable BLAH BLAH BLAH. (Can we all agree that I don’t need help in the Setting Goals Department? Thank you!)
But this Friday lunch-break experiment sort of blew the “Attainable” nature of this particular goal out of the water.
Let’s Talk About Goal Weight vs. Reality
Let’s take a look at these numbers for a second and make a few assumptions, shall we? Within that goal weight (175 lbs) I’m looking to have the bulk of my body be lean body mass (bones, water, muscle) and of course some body fat. This is normal and necessary to live and also I don’t fancy myself to have Sarah Connor aspirations.
Whoa, it just got 1990s up in here! I fear that reference may make me sound 80 years old. But dude, she’s still kind of an OG badass, right? (Also though, much thinner than I remember. Hmmmm.)
ANYWAY.
So there are healthy recommendations everywhere for body fat, but generally you will find 19-26% is acceptable depending on your athletic goals. Let’s split the difference and say I’d like to be 175 lbs with 23% body fat.
Sounds average, right? (God, just to be average! Yes!) Now let’s do math!
(Jesus, first a Terminator reference and now LOLcatz. My credibility is dropping FAST. :))
A quick bit of multiplication on this goal of 23% body fat at a weight of 175 lbs would put me at 41 lbs of fat on my body, along with 134 of lean body mass.
Sounds reasonable, right? I know they make supermodels that weigh less than 41 lbs, but I have finally (GOD, FINALLY!) given up my supermodel aspirations. So I think we’re good.
134 lbs of lean mass. 41 lbs of fat.
This has been the goal I have seen as attainable. Let’s talk about reality for a second, shall we?
Friday’s test informed me that I CURRENTLY, as in right this very second, am sitting on 147 lbs of Lean Body Mass. I’m probably sitting in a cubicle in an uncomfortable desk chair, but still — sitting on 147 lbs of lean mass.
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN POUNDS OF MY BODY IS MUSCLE, BONES AND WATER.
Fist bump, please.
The idea of that is major. That’s 147 lbs that I don’t want to get rid of! So first of all, WEIGHT WATCHERS, how the hell am I supposed to reach for that range that starts at 135 lbs? (Again, Weight Watchers: SUCK IT.) I couldn’t weigh 135 lbs if I had 0% body fat. It’s physically impossible.
Now let’s look at the high end of that range. To weigh 169 lbs I would be rocking about 13% body fat. Wanna see what that looks like? I hear Annie Thorisdottr only has 13% body fat.
Granted she only weighs 150 lbs, but the thing is, I’m pretty sure she eats barbells for breakfast. I am more interested in a life where I get to eat bacon for breakfast, and lift barbells when I feel like it. And this, I think, is where the turning point for me lies.
What are my goals for my LIFE? And how can those intersect with my goals for my BODY?
New Approach // New Goals
- I would like to be healthy in the most basic sense (ie: lacking ailments)
- I would like to have most of my health indicators not raise egregious red flags with the medical community. I mean listen, I’m not that invested in the majority of the medical community’s opinion anyway, but let’s just say I don’t want to be lectured about obesity every time I have a cold, you know?
- I would like to complete athletic endeavors comfortably and for fun
- I would like my clothes fit well (because I LOVE clothes)
- I would like a closet that stays relatively the same size over time (Barring things like pregnancy, of course. I’m not crazy)
- I would like to maintain a lifestyle that prioritizes treating my body well
- I would like my body fat to be in the 20-25% range
Holy shit you guys, do you know how freeing that is? I’m already making tons of progress in many of these areas! I prioritize treating my body well! My clothes fit well! I complete athletic endeavors all week long without batting an eyelash. I’m halfway there! And you know what…the others will come over time.
Letting Go
Aside from measuring my body fat and lean mass last Friday, this test did give me a new “goal weight” based on my lean body mass. That new goal:
189-198 lbs.
Yeesh! That still sounds heavy to me! But you know what else? It also sounds FUCKING REALISTIC. And very, very close I might add. It is a far more reasonable goal to “get over how heavy it sounds to be a fit bad ass who weighs 200 lbs” than it is to try and mold myself into a Weight Watchers/Dr’s Office/BMI “Healthy Weight Bracket.” So screw it. I’m not even going to worry about it anymore. In fact, I am pledging in this very moment to LET GO OF THE GOAL WEIGHT MENTALITY. I have other things to focus on, and this idea of a goal weight is only a distraction.
Yes, my body fat percentage is still in the 30s and I want that to go down. Lean Body Mass is great, but I am still concerned about body fat. But, honestly, can you imagine what it was 100 lbs ago? I’m trending in the right direction, so I’m just going to trust that it will go down. I’m going to concentrate on making more performance based goals, tweaking my diet based on how I feel and not what the scale says, and working hard on getting more hydrated. That was the other aspect of the test that was informative. I’m pretty darn dehydrated. I’m not particularly surprised, but it was a confirmation for me that will lead to action.
Wanna Test Yourself?
I can’t recommend this test highly enough. If you are making strides to be healthier, you just can’t go wrong with getting an overall picture of your physical make up. The scale can only tell you a certain amount, and even those fancy scales that say they are measuring your body fat and hydration levels in your own bathroom are not usually calibrated correctly. Do yourself a favor and find a place that does some kind of Bioelectrical impedance testing. Calipers can have a 5-7% rate of error because they don’t measure hidden body fat. Dunk tanks are more accurate but are inconvenient. I stepped on a scale (no problem doing that! ha!) and held on to some crazy electric devices for about 3 minutes, and voila! PAGES AND PAGES OF INFORMATION.
It’s changed the game, you all. And I’m kind of excited about it. When was the last time you said THAT when you stepped off the scale? Get some information that will actually help you instead of messing with your mind. It’s totally worth it!
*******
Did I leave any questions unanswered? Let me know what you think!
Body Composition Testing and Losing the Goal Weight Mentality (Part One)
Do you know why I make lists? Because the second I write something down it immediately becomes something that nags at me. Of course sometimes I am good at ignoring the nagging (ahem, home improvement projects) but other times just the act of listing will light a fire under my ass to complete something I have been meaning to “get around to” for a while.
Moments after I published my Summer Bucket List on Friday I thought to myself “I wonder if I could test my body composition today?” Sure there are better ways to spend a lunch break on a Friday afternoon, but I had written it down, it had already begun to nag at me, and most importantly (since I was hoping it would improver over summer) I figured it would stack the odds in my favor to get the initial measuring over sooner rather than later.
And so the googling began.
Moments later I found Spring Medical Clinic where for $25 and with no appointment I could have my body composition analyzed without taking off my clothes, getting dunked in a tank, or pinched with calipers. Totally lunch break friendly! Of course, I had to listen to the Weight management specialists discuss “My Obesity” and my high-risk BMI and how they could offer me services that would help me lose 8-10 lbs per month if I wanted to “get the ball rolling.” But I held my tongue, smiled and nodded, and then went on my merry way. It only took about 20 minutes and even despite all the “You are undermining your life expectancy” scare tactics, it has given me a completely new appreciation for my body. More importantly, though, it has given me a whole new perspective on this weight loss journey and the valuable insights that weight management specialists can provide. Some individuals will choose to undergo weight loss surgery in London to have a perfect outcome in their body.
Let me just back up for a second though.
The Catalyst
You see I have hit another seemingly never-ending plateau with the scale. These are always shitty, but what’s worse is that it started back when I was being super strict and eating everything within super calculated Zone portions. By the way, that was…oh, all the way back in February/March. Is there anything more irritating than really working hard at something and not seeing the results you are looking for? As you know, I had to ditch the scale finally to get some perspective. I know that the number on the scale doesn’t define success but in the back of my mind I still felt like I was far away from my “healthy weight range.”
Here’s a recent picture. And I’m super happy with my progress, but it’s easy to see that I have some excess body fat still, so obviously I still have some weight to lose.
I had tried to change how I was eating back in March with no luck (well, at least no luck on the scale) so my next thought was to change how I was working out. We have two different workout tracks at my gym – an A and a B program. “A” involves more days of programmed lifting than “B” so I thought that I would switch to the A Programming in hopes that more strength training would improve my lean mass which would make my body more efficient which would YIELD SOME GOD DAMN RESULTS ON THE SCALE.
So for the last two months that’s been awesome. I’ve seen some great improvements in my lifting technique and also gotten stronger. I crossed my fingers that my body was doing it’s best to get a little leaner. Of course because I’m a numbers person and a list person and obsessed with comparisons I decided it was time to get back to taking some regular measurements and perhaps see some progress on the scale.
I busted out my measuring tape and found that since March I had lost 6 1/2 inches! I was so freaking happy to see that. I had an idea since I was wearing a new pants size, but it was nice to see it confirmed. Hard work, paying off! Then, of course, I happily jumped right on the scale to finish my own personal standing ovation for myself. Only to find that I had GAINED SEVEN POUNDS.
SEVEN, you guys. FUCKING SEVEN POUNDS.
I am smart enough to understand that I am trending in the right direction when it comes to the big picture, but you guys a 7 pound gain at the scale was super hard to swallow, even if it came with a smaller pair of pants and a loss of 6 inches. I knew it was time to change the way I was measuring and get the facts to help me understand my body’s composition. I wanted the good, the bad and the ugly: the lean body mass as well as the fat.
Ghosts of Weight Loss Past and The Goal Weight Mentality
Finding out that exact information helped me realize that the problem is not with my diet or my exercise routine or my obsession with the scale or whatever. The actual problem, I have realized, is that I haven’t quite let go of the “Goal Weight” Mentality. Let me see if I can explain this without sounding crazy.
My trials and tribulations with the scale are pretty well documented on this website, but for the sake of context let me just remind you that I hit up my first Weight Watchers meeting when I was 9 and joined on and off until I was about 30 with varying degrees of success. I have a good 20 years of history with Weight Watchers and even though I some people swear by it, I think Weight Watchers can suck a fat one. (Mel does a great job of summing up my major objections with WW here.) Within Weight Watchers the only way you can become a lifetime member is if you reach a pre-determined “Goal Weight.” I still know what my Weight Watchers goal weight range is for my height:
But listen, I’m not a nut job. I actually have a pretty large frame (hello, daughter of an NFL Lineman, remember?) and I do have a lot of muscle so I made a compromise in my mind a while ago that I would be okay if I never made it into that goal weight range. Instead I made a new (shockingly heavy sounding to most!) Goal Weight of 175lbs. I have purchased top weight loss pills to reach my goal weight. Remember how I told you about the night I made Garrett wear women’s clothes? Ah yes, that was a good night.
You should go back and re-read that story if you haven’t. Then come back tomorrow because I’m going to tell you how ridiculous my goal weight actually is, and how enlightening having my body fat measured was. Plus I’ll give you the dirty details in case you want to do it yourself!
(Psssssst: Here’s Part Two)
What’s For Dinner?
This is a short work week for me and we are taking a long weekend in Tahoe for Fittest of the Sierras. This means I’m mostly trying to just get stuff on the table this week in anticipation of getting out of town. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s way more fun to plan vacation menus than it is to plan everyday menus!
That said, here’s what we’re chowing on:
Monday
Lunch:Grilled Chicken Salads — we have a lot of prepped grilled chicken and I don’t feel like eating it for dinner tonight. 🙂
Dinner: Grilled Herb Shrimp + A Basket of Grilled Veggies I want to have this side dish basically every night this summer, I swear. So pretty!
Tuesday
Lunch: Taco Salad because it’s easy and because we just got in a new shipment of Carmen’s Habitual Habanero Dressing, so it’s all Garrett wants to eat.
Dinner: Chicken Thighs. Preparation as yet to be determined. + Cauliflower Rice + Steamed Broccoli
Wednesday
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Sausage + Salad
Dinner: Burgers + Avocado Broccoli Slaw + Salad
Thursday
Leftovers. Eat whatever would just sit in the house all weekend!
*****
This weekend isn’t even over and I’m already ready for next weekend! What’s cookin’ in your neck of the woods, folks? Any links to new fun recipes you’ve been loving? Leave ’em in the comments.
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner
Where did that phrase even come from anyway? Ah well, not important. What is important…we have a winner in the Summer Reading Giveaway.
Katie from LiveLoveLyke — you have summer reading material coming your way. YAY! Maybe now you can buy The Paris Wife. 🙂
I’ll be contacting you via email shortly to get your address. In the meantime…CONGRATULATIONS! And thanks to all of you who played along!
2012 // Summer Bucket List
Travel + Social
‘Tis the season to get the eff outta dodge! That’s like, a famous quote, right?
*Day Trip/Hike in Marin County + SF
*Weekend trip to Lake Tahoe
*Weekend trip to Sonoma
*Drink a Glarifee
*Weekend trip to Bodega Bay
*Long weekend in Iowa
*Host Book Club Dinner at our house
*Make some friggin’ s’mores already (spring carryover!)
Relax
I honestly see these as the most challenging. Clearly I am doing this wrong.
*Visit a pool that has cabanas, fancy lounge chairs, cocktail service OR All of the Above
*Get a pedicure. (Note to self: This is not that hard. Quit failing at it!)
*Watch Game of Thrones, Season One
*Read 15 books (That’s…aggressive, but let’s just leave it)
*Read a lot of those outside: in the yard, on a beach, on a balcony, on a bench. It doesn’t matter.
*Get 8-9 hours of sleep at least 4 nights per week
At W888, you’ll discover a vast array of casino games, from classic favorites to cutting-edge modern options.
Food
Summer is for eating and drinking. That is one of the 10 commandments.
*Make lemonade that tastes good without sugar
*Turn that lemonade into an adult beverage
*Cook from the garden as much as possible
*Get more creative with the fresh herbs you are growing (Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Cilantro)
*Blog about it
*Write a recipe that involves sauerkraut that people will want to eat
*Post recipes for the homemade condiments you make (so. much. better. than. store bought.)
*Grill some stone fruit
*Try your hand at smoking meat without actually having a smoker
*Maybe I should just buy a smoker?
*Make pickles and also pickle some green beans
*Get better at grilling seafood
*Make jam (carryover from spring!)
Health + Fitness
This summer I want to have fun outside (and eat and drink) but also reeeeeeeeeeeally be mindful of my health progress.
*Go on a hike or trail run
*Climb a rope (So close, I’m getting there!)
*Go kayaking, damnit! (You knew that was gonna show up)
*Do legit body composition testing that you pay for at the beginning of summer
*Do it again at the end
*And don’t use your wonk ass “Body Fat Scale” that changes if you drink a big glass of water
*Asshole.
*Re-visit the Naturopath to check your progress.
*Also Talk about hormones and babies and all that good stuff.
*Take your fish oil, silly. And your Vitamin D.
*Or maybe just look into Fermented Cod Liver Oil and figure all that out
*While you’re at it, learn enough about the importance of the Omega 6:3 ratio that you can speak about it intelligently
*Keep working on an unassisted pull up and toes to bar. Maybe by the end of summer?????
*Decide if you’re going to run in that October Half Marathon
*If you decide YES (eep!) use the CrossFit Endurance method to train
Home Improvement
Quit laughing when I write these goals. One of these seasons I WILL ACTUALLY FINISH ONE OF THESE! Then who’s gonna be laughing?
*Paint kitchen cabinets
*Peel off that annoying chunk of wallpaper in the kitchen
*Hang art in kitchen
*Hang art in office
*Get a new duvet cover for the guest bedroom
*Finish the Master Bedroom
*Buy patio furniture
*****
What are YOU hoping to do this summer?
The 5 Best Decisions I’ve Made In My Adult Life
1. Dropping Out Of College
Yep, when I was 19 I did that. And my parents were not pleased. I wish I could have stayed in my beautiful little beach town and graduated Magna Cum Laude, but dropping out was just something I had to do. I honestly was not mature enough to go to college when I was 19. Sounds stupid, but that doesn’t make it any less true. I was making bad decisions, not focusing on my studies and I had no idea how to turn it around. I knew I would go back eventually, but I didn’t want to be on the path that I was on.
3 months later my dad died. As lame as it was moving back in with my parents, I’m so glad I did. Also, I’m so glad I delayed going back to college until I really really wanted to be there. I had such a great appreciation for it and as such performed WAY better.
Lessons Learned: If your gut is telling you something, listen. If you don’t like where you’re going, there’s no shame in stopping and turning around. If you don’t *want* to be doing something, you aren’t going to do it very well.
2. Fighting for Garrett
(Our relationship is so new in this pic that we hadn’t even said THE BIG L WORD yet — hehe — I remember because I fretted about it the entire trip!)
Oh doesn’t that just sound dramatic? As if there was hair pulling and cat-fighting involved. Ooooh, excitement! Well, sorry to disappoint, but there totally wasn’t. What I mean to say is, I’m so glad that I didn’t give up early on when the beginning wasn’t rose petals and romance. You see, in my younger days I spent a lot of time Looking For The One. Well, more like Waiting For The One to cross my path. Romantic comedies have just screwed this all up, am I right? Good relationships take work — whether it is at the beginning or in the middle, you are going to have to work at making a relationship successful. I absolutely love love love this Dan Savage video about The Price of Admission. Best relationship advice I’ve ever heard…and seeing as I didn’t meet my “Soul Mate” (barf) until I was 27, I have heard a loooooooot of relationship advice.
Lessons Learned: It is less about finding The One and more about Becoming The One. You really need to figure out who the hell you are if you are ever going be able to communicate what you need in someone else. Not who society thinks you should be, not who your mom thinks you should be, not who your friends tell you should be — WHO YOU REALLY ARE. Then, find someone who thinks that all of those things are the bee’s knees. But if you don’t know what you’re working with, you’ll never know what you want. You can win the love of your life back with 5 simple yet effective tips.
3. Giving Up Diet Drama and Learning To Cook
A while ago I wrote a weight loss series and it was sort of a turning point for this blog. So many of you responded and related and it really helped me come out of my little blogging shell and talk about my health and fitness journey. To this day my absolute favorite part of that series was Part Three, which was the story of my Year of Not Giving A Fuck.
I decided I would rather be fat and happy, than miserable all the time worrying about it — and it was the best decision I ever made.
I still stand behind that. Sure it wasn’t the year I lost the most weight ever, but it was a turning point in how much I valued the enjoyment of my life over being thin. Allowing myself to do that let me explore cooking for really the first time ever and I’m just SO DAMN HAPPY I did that. Cooking is now a major passion and developing recipes and sharing them on this blog has introduced me to amazing people. I can’t imagine if I still lived a Life of Lean Cuisines. Oh god, I shudder to think, really…
Lessons Learned: Sometimes when you feel like you aren’t making progress with your goals, you are making progress with your life.
4. Chucking Traditional Wisdom and Exploring Ancestral Eating
This isn’t my advertisement for The Paleo Diet. This is my advertisement for marching to the beat of your own drum. I think that a major life skill that is worth learning is how to deal with nay-sayers. They are always going to be there no matter what you are doing. My advice if you are experiencing a lot of people around you drinking the haterade: Look Inward.
There were many when I decided I would eschew grains, legumes and sugar. GIRL, ARE YOU CRAZY? Hell, maybe I am. But what I realized is that I have every right to pursue what is best for me. I deserve that, and I am not responsible for figuring out what is best for everyone. Oddly enough, having that realization has brought with it some success. Most of the time if I am come from a place of self-care and confidence, people find that easy to respect even if what I’m doing is “crazy.”
Lessons Learned: If you march to the beat of your own drum, at least you are guaranteed to enjoy the music. Try new things, explore many ways to do things — if they don’t work, at least you will have learned something or had an adventure or made a memory. It’s not the years in your life but the life in your years, right? If you are getting a lot of negative feedback, look inside to see if maybe that is just a reflection of your own doubts and then KICK THOSE DOUBTS TO THE CURB, YO!
5. Starting This Blog
(These are my old/new editorial calendars for this blog. I take them with me just about everywhere!)
I started this blog in 2006 and holy hell was it a hot mess. But at the time it met a need: I needed a place to write. As the years went by I met some other people who enjoyed my silly hobby, and it met another need: I needed a place to connect. In the past few years it has fulfilled my need to share and to create community. As I get older and turn into more of a homebody it is so great to have this little space to talk about things I would like feedback on, and to meet and tell stories with people I would never run across in my day-to-day life. In the future I would like to see this space intersect more with my career goals and my entrepreneurial passions. It has had and will have so many different roles in my life! This has been the best vanity project/time-waster/procrastination-enabler I have ever participated in. I don’t know what I’d do with it. Or without you all. Best decision, for sure.
Lessons Learned: Pursuing and committing to things that make you smile will always bear fruit, even if they seem silly. Allowing evolution in your goals and pursuits is such a major key to your long term happiness.
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Want to play along? Ever thought about what your 5 Best Decision You’ve Made As An Adult. I’d love to hear about them. Write a post and link back or leave a comment.
*Inspired by this post
2012 // Spring Bucket List — How’d I Do?
It’s time to revisit the goals I made at the beginning of the season and I’m feeling pretty confident about accomplishing quite a bit. Spring was rad. End of story. And it makes me feel even more excited for summer!
Social
Wine Country Picnic at least once — So that happened! And it was just what the doctor ordered.
Host Brunch + Make a Fun Cocktail — I didn’t host a brunch, but I did make a fun cocktail. Does that count? 🙂
Plan + Execute something fun for Garrett’s Birthday — It was actually a pretty mellow weekend, but that was only after much prodding from Garrett. So I would say Overall Birthday Success! I mean, there was ice cream for lunch — come on!
Go to the theater – My mom and I hit up Legally Blonde: The Musical. And it ruled!
Win March Madness Pool — FAIL. Boo.
Invite friends over to make S’mores in the fire pit — Didn’t do this, but you can bet it will move on over to the summer list
Social Goals: Success!
Beauty + Style
Get my fake tan on — not only did I do it, but I told you all about it.
Wear a dress everyday for a week — Check. And I documented most of it on Instagram (hollywouldifshecould if you aren’t already following along)
Buy a new bathing suit – I didn’t actually because I’m still loving the one I purchased last year and hardly wore. I did recommend that you get out there and buy YOURSELF a fabulous one. So Did you?
Buy some freaking colorful pants — Done. And I LOVE them.
Get a pedicure — nope. God, I’m such a failure at this. And it’s PAMPERING! You’d think I would be more…diligent?
Dye my hair (eep! haven’t done this in TEN YEARS) — didn’t dye it, but chopped it all off…that totally counts for something!
Spring Beauty + Style: Total Win!
Travel
Spend a long weekend in Portland — Yep. And I can’t shut up about it.
Day Trip to Tahoe — we didn’t do this, but we are headed up there to cheer on our friends competing in The Fittest of the Sierras next weekend for a couple of days. Weekend Trips to Tahoe > Day Trips. Really looking forward to it.
Day Trip to Sonoma — Done. And there was reuniting with Pork Belly. F*CK Yeah!
Day Trip to SF — Didn’t do it. Need to work that out for summer when it is sweltering in Sac. I want to get into the city and take some pictures. Who’s up for a photo date?
Travel: Worked out pretty well.
Home
Read 10 Books — I read exactly 10, even though I picked up 12. Not bad. Don’t forget to enter my Summer Reading Giveway!
Plant Garden — The garden is in the ground and looking pretty good. I keep meaning to post an update but it’s sort of anti-climatic. Maybe I’ll take some pictures this weekend. For now, trust me — this stuff did get into the ground!
Buy a Hydrangea — I did. And it was cute! And now dead. #brownthumbforever
Hang Art in the kitchen — Nope. But I did buy this print and I don’t care if it is going to be the next Keep Calm and Carry On, I love it. And will hang it somewhere. Someday. Maybe?
Paint the office (or one GD room!) — BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I’m starting to think I am doomed to a white house forever. I mean, there could be worse things. But god, Holly, grow a pair and buy some paint already!
Buy fresh flowers for the house more than once – Yep. Worth It. Every Time.
Home Goals: Pretty Good. Still though, grow a pair woman. PAINT YOUR FRIGGEN HOUSE.
Food
Hit up the Carmichael Farmer’s Market — I did! And Y’all it rocks so hard! I’m so glad I finally made it over that way.
Make a Home Cured Corned Beef — Nope. Too lazy. Maybe next year.
Make Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes (and find someone to eat them) — Nope. But you know, that’s probably good in the end.
Make 5 New Salads — Probably didn’t do that many but I made quite a few from this list. I’ll keep this going for summer. Plus hey — 4 new Salad Dressings!
Make Eggs Benedict for Easter — Tooooooootally. Oh god, who wants to cook me that right now?
Hit up a You-Pick Berry Farm — Didn’t do it. Still might.
Make Jam — These two kind of go together. So basically, double fail. 🙂
Drink a Key Lime Martini at Centro — Ooooh, no but I will TOTALLY do this for summer! Damn those are good.
Food: Fared So-So
Fitness
Explore Trail Running — If by explore you mean “thought about it a lot but did nothing about it” then yes. Success!
Run outside more — totally nailed this. I’ve become pretty comfortable running in 85+ degrees.
Conquer Toes to Bar — So close, yet so far away.
Get 1 Unassisted Pull Up — Don’t even talk to me about this.
Run a 5K — Nope.
Go Kayaking — Summer Bucket List, you’ve been warned.
Fitness: So Hey, this seems like a fail. But more likely, my actions just didn’t really reflect my written goals. I’ll be more thoughtful when I make my Summer List.
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I feel pretty happy with those results, and I really feel like we enjoyed the hell out of spring. Sure I wish I would have read more and made more precise fitness goals. But instead we traveled, I cooked, we drank wine…and if you notice I didn’t mention anything about fretting about the scale. I just enjoyed life. It was good. I would like a second helping of that, please!
So. I think we can all agree it’s on to summer, yes? Are you making a bucket list this summer? It seems everywhere I turn people are making them! I love that…so much inspiration! Anything on your must tackle list: Fitness? Style? Home? Food?
Talk to me!
May 2012 // Books + A Summer Reading Giveaway
Well according to Goodreads, I am 14 books behind pace on my annual reading goal. I guess I need to start reading comic books to catch up, eh? 🙂 Actually though, is there any better time to play reading catch-up than during summer? I think not! I love summer reading and have such fond memories of the library summer reading challenges of my youth. So much fun. It might be completely worth it to have kids just to get to participate in that again!
This summer I want to help YOU get into the swing of summer reading too with a fun little giveaway. I’ve never done a giveaway here but why the heck not start now? Well, why not start in a minute…first we are going to talk about the books I read in May.
There were three:
The Likeness by Tana French
First of all, this was a book from The Bookshelf Project, and I’m excited to say I’m making steady progress here despite being behind on my annual reading goal. I’m averaging about a book a month from my own shelf and I’m happy with that. This book has been sitting on my shelf for years as I bought it right after I finished In The Woods. It’s become a joke in our house that it took me so long to read The Likeness considering how much I raved about French’s first book. Both books I HIGHLY recommend.
The thing about French’s books is that they are so much more than just thrillers//detective novels//mysteries. First, she writes beautifully — her way with words is just so engaging. But also she really has a gift for getting inside the heads of her characters — her books are equal parts character study and crime to solve. It’s just a great combination. The characters feel like real people that you miss when the books are over. I will definitely read anything she writes (even if it takes me YEARS to do it!)
Bared To You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day
I just typed “A CrossFit Novel” twice. Um…this is NOT a CrossFit novel. If you spend any amount of time on twitter you already know this is a super trash-tastic romance novel that you will hate yourself a little bit for reading.
Recommended by Smart Bitches, Trashy Books to those who liked 50 Shades of Grey I picked it up at the recommendation of a friend (BUSTED Liz!)– who I can now no longer look in the eye when we see each other since reading this book. 🙂 Because dude, this books was FILTHY. I mean, almost hilariously filthy but I’ll tell you what the story kept the pages turning for me.
Quit laughing, I’m being serious.
It was a good story, but man I just don’t know if romance novels are my cup of tea, and it’s not because I’m highbrow in my lit choice. It’s mostly because there is so much suspension of disbelief. Like I am just not the type of person who goes to the grocery store and sees the checkout clerk and then has a five page aside about his forearms and what they may indicate or whatever. I usually just smile and buy my groceries. There is a lot of this in romance novels. Who knows, maybe I’m missing out. That said it was a fun departure. And honestly, I’ll probably read the next one. If for nothing else just to read hysterical phrases out loud to Garrett and watch him squirm with embarrassment. Now THAT was a good time!
After the Fog by Kathleen Shoop
So with a name like After the FOG, this doesn’t come across at first like a summer reading book, but there are elements of it that just make it the perfect juicy read to sink your teeth into this month. It’s historical fiction set in a steel mill town during the 1948 “killing smog.”
It is full of moody secrets and twisted family dynamics and I just love stuff like that! It’s a book you can sit down with and get caught up in. The characters are complex, and I actually learned a lot while staying entertained. I always like when that happens. A bit slow to start, but man in the end it was a totally worthwhile read.
And I mean, hello — the kindle edition is $2.99. Get after it! But you know what is even better than a $2.99 kindle book? A FREE BOOK!
Heeeeeeey-O, we should talk about that.
Summer Reading Giveaway
So I’ve never done a giveaway here on the blog and it’s mostly because I hardly ever enter giveaways myself. I don’t know why, but most of the time there are a million steps involved and so I just don’t. I’m lazy. Now you know my secrets.
When I decided I wanted to try my hand at it, I wanted to make sure it was simple and that it was something worth giving away, you know? What I’m saying is, something I would want. And FREE BOOKS are always something I want 🙂
So here’s the scoop — I’m giving away a copy of Kathleen Shoop’s book After the Fog (full disclosure, a giveaway copy of this was provided to me by BookSparks) as well as a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble (which was provided by my own bank account just because I’m so dang appreciative of all of the book suggestions you all give me each month!)
A new book to read plus a gift card to buy more? I LIKE IT. I would enter, so obvs I think you should too!
Here’s what you do:
* Leave a comment on this blog post (not on FB or Twitter) telling me about the one book you are dying to buy this summer (You didn’t think I was going to let you off the hook for leaving suggestions did you? haha)
* You have until Friday, June 8 at midnight EST.
* I’ll choose a winner using random.org and post the winner here.
* Open to the US only.
* Only one entry per person.
That’s it! No jumping through hoops, no Facebooking or Tweeting anything crazy (although if you want to share the giveaway with your friends, by all means please do so!)
All you have to do is leave a comment and you are entered. And then maybe a fun package full of BOOK and BOOK MONEY will show up in your mailbox. Groovy, right? I thought so too!
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So tell me…what book are you dying to get your hands on for summer, friends?
