Success Along the Weigh

I am SOOO late writing this. Damn you VRBO!  Damn you unscrupulous realty companies!  Damn you Parenthood finale!  Damn you icy roads I'm going to have to drive on today since the chiro called in sick yesterday!  Damn you face crud not clearing up to my liking!  Damn, now I have to think of something happy to write about today for my one happy year! While I'm damning it all to hell, why don't you guys check out... 11 Things Top Trainers Wish They'd Known Before Their First Workout 11 Budget-Friendly Valentine's Day Crafts   (It'll be here before ya know it!) 12 Foods Nutritionists Say You Should Splurge On   (I think I splurge on many of these) 9 Ways Your Hair Is Aging You    (But I don't wanna change mah hair.  It was enough I stopped using Aqua Net) 41 Guilt-Free Super Bowl Snacks   (I'll be honest, I didn't know this was on this weekend) Obama "Sings" Uptown Funk  (I love these especially when they do ...

Remember the old 'this is your brain on drugs' PSA's from the 80's? Well, that is my brain on VRBO.  I have scoured it for the past two days day and night and I swear if I look at one more listing, my brain will slide out of my nose like a runny egg.  I used to like looking at vacation listings.  Then I was forced to book a vacation not fully planned on the fly with only 25% availability.  Try telling a control freak she can't have the rental she would've chosen had all of her options been available to her.   *twitch* You know, I don't get how I walk almost 40 miles one week and then come back, do yoga, Walk Away the Pounds, a free weight session and a Gilad (low impact) workout and feel like I've been dragged behind a truck.  I go see the chiro today so he can ward off whatever way I screwed my legs on this trip in addition to the way I screwed them from the trip before.  Ahh, the mysteries of the body.  But I can take him the...

A few people asked where we stayed when we went to Chicago so I thought I'd give ya a little tour of our room.  We stayed at the Omni Hotel on Michigan Avenue.  We are Select Members (totally free program, sign up for it for free internet and free drinks delivered to you every morning!) so I think because of that they stuck us in one of the newly remodeled rooms. We got a corner suite that overlooked Michigan Avenue. Those pillows were SOOOO fluffy.  I was so tired from lack of sleep the night before that after dinner, I totally dove into a pile of pillows and we napped for three hours. They have blackout blinds which come in handy.  They are on chains on the side windows and the ones behind the bed are push button so you feel fancy pants. The living area had a nice work desk if you're into that sort of thing. They had a sleeper sofa with some cool local art on the wall and new light.  I can attest while the couch is a little hard, it doubles ...

Happy Monday all! Last week the Mr and I finally made our escape to Chicago.  We had plans to go January 4th to unwind from the holidays but my creepin' crud infested body had other plans.  Honestly, it wouldn't have been a good week to go anyway because it was like zero to 10 degrees for the high that week with 20-30 mph winds.  We would've been miserable and trapped in the hotel.  The next week was slightly better weather wise but health wise, I was not.  It kept getting pushed back and the Mr would have to change his vacation either on Friday or show up on Monday when he was not supposed to be there to say "nope, push it back another week."  I could tell he was getting frustrated and we had a small window of time left so I gave the go ahead even though I still wasn't well. Despite having no taste for the first 3 days and minimal smell and taste for the remaining time, it was still a great trip.  The first full day we walked 12 miles from Streete...

Sorry I've been a little less chatty this week on responses.  I took my declaration of a jail break seriously last Friday and got the hell outta Dodge to keep some spark of sanity.  The neighbors saw fit to let their a-hole demon dogs out every 20 minutes to bark for 10 minutes at a time and then the other neighbors dog would bark for 6 hours at the first time the other dogs barked.  These mongrels are turning me into a dog hater.  No actually a bad owner hater.  I want to well...do not nice things.  Between that and another visit from the Christmas vandal who this time was messing with the snow on our lawn, I'm ready to pick up and move. But enough of my trip to Twitchville, let's get to... The Type-A Guide to Taking a Spontaneous Vacation   (Gave it a go this week.  I must say I prefer a bit of structure even if a rough outline) Why Apple Cider Vinegar Needs to Be a Mainstay in Your Life   (I've been drinking it 3x day to h...

It's time to find out what I'm currently crushin' on y'all!  Some of them were Christmas gifts and others are beauty products I've recently tried. So let's get to it! Caldrea Rosewater Driftwood Hand Lotion I picked some of this up at a specialty shop but it sells for the same price on Amazon.  It smells so good!  It's a very light scent and it's only got a hint of rose but has a nice, clean scent.  I could roll in a tub full of it. The Wonder Years Complete Series I bought this as a surprise gift for the Mr and I.  We've been waiting for this series to come out on DVD forever with all of the original music.  We binge watched the entire series from Christmas night through New Years Day.  Time Life Star Vista really did a great job packaging the series.  TONS of extras on the discs that any WY's fan would love as well as a reunion of all of the stars, a yearbook and they secured the rights to 96% of the music on this version. ...

When a case of the creepin' crud ruined my holidays, I knew that the length of my misery and symptoms probably meant I had a bacterial sinus infection.  Nothing was working to kick it to the curb.  Last year we found out when we received a pretty hefty bill that our primary care physician dropped our insurance company without letting her patients know.  We tried looking for new in-network providers and the ones with really great ratings were booking out six months!  Uh, hello!  My bacteria laden sinus infections won't wait 6 months and honestly, I'm not a fan of picking one doctor and being passed off to anyone else in the practice.  Call me old fashioned.  (Not shocking for those who have been following a while) The thought of paying my $10 co-pay *hoping* she gives me a script for meds and then getting some stupid bill for anywhere from $50-100 more between the insurance company and the doctor billing me for her time in her germ ridden office was n...

I'm always so hesitant to do this because I've done it in the past and don't know if I've stuck to it the way it was intended.  But since I've seen many people trying to kick off the new year with a 'word of the year', I will give it a go and see if it sticks this year. My word is... Last year seemed to fly by at lightning speed and at times I just wished away parts of it for one reason or another.  Something was too hard or annoying me or emotionally draining and I just wanted it to be over with.  When I did my 100 Happy Days project last year, it forced me to put the concept of "savor" into practice.  There were glorious days like Day 38 12 MILE WALK OF SAN FRANCISCO!  (Pac Heights to Ferry Bldg to Ghirardelli Sq to Pac Heights) and then there were days like Day 85 where "woke up which means I'm alive, so...there's that" was the best I could do.  And in the end that's a pretty great thing because many people won'...

It's Friday, y'all!  Word has it there's gonna be a heat wave of 40 today! Yeeeeee-hoooooo! Last night we watched The Witness from the Balcony of Room 306 ,  (affiliate link)  a documentary we bought after seeing it at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.  (I bawled like an idiot through the entire thing and people were looking at me like a dork.)  We make it a point to watch it on MLK's birthday every year.  It should be mandatory viewing for students, no...everyone.  If you have Amazon Prime, you can stream it for free. I am so ready to do a jail break.  I've been cooped up in this house for weeks.  Then the one day I went out, I think I got a new disease so I'm cautious.  Even deep cleaning, I'm sure the air quality in the house is much less than walking around in the germ ridden world right now.  Maybe I'll go out and bring a purse full of cold and germ fighting arsenal including my travel air purifier   (affiliate lin...

Anyone else start singing like Christine McVie while reading the title?  Anyone know who Christine McVie is or the song Oh Daddy?  Here... educate yerself . Okay, so yesterday I was talking about those family movies and in one scene in the Jason Bateman movie the family was sharing memories about their dad.  When they asked Jason to share one, he couldn't think of one. So I asked the Mr what memory he would share in that situation.  He recalled when he went on a trip alone with his dad and they went to Traverse City, MI and they rolled down Sleeping Bear Dunes.  It was one of the rare times that he had his dad all to himself and it meant a lot to him. It was such a special memory that I planned a trip back for the first time since then for his 40th birthday. I happened to fall in love with the city when we were there and it's a favorite fall vacation spot for us now. When he asked about my dad, I had to think a bit.  My parents divorced when I ...

Twas Redbox Tuesday!  The rental choice of cheapskates like mah-self. So I made some homemade microwave popcorn.  Salty for the Mr and a hit of cinnamon sugar for myself. We did a killer workout  then had dinner.  Spicy orange BBQ chicken, half a sweet potato and carrots.  I needed to fuel up on my vitamin A. Two movies came out that looked decent to us so the Mr picked up This is Where I Leave You and Men, Women and Children.  Apparently dysfunction and books that were made into movies was on the menu. This is Where I Leave You    (affiliate link)  I tend to get a little nervous when I see all star casts like Jane Fonda, Tina Fey, Dax Shepard, Rose Byrne but then you throw in Jason Bateman and I'm sold.  This is one of those movies where the family is so dysfunctional, all you can do is thank God they're not yours.  The patriarch of the family dies and despite him being a not so religious man, they are told his dying ...

Well we're into the first few weeks of the new year.  Have your holiday and college football food comas subsided yet?  Your feeds have probably been inundated with posts about New Years Resolutions, offers from gyms and all that jazz.  I don't know about you guys but I'm not much for resolutions because it ends up being "here are a list of things I will not do this year."  Offers from gyms aren't appealing because I don't need to pay when there are plenty of at home DVD's and even websites and YouTube channels that provide free workouts.  Fitness doesn't have to cost a thing or require a declaration...just a commitment to yourself. I like to shake things up from time to time to get the bod out of its usual habits.  I'm always on the lookout for online workouts to ChromeCast to the dungeon workout space.  Some of you may remember the interview I did with celebrity trainer Mike Donavanik.  We love his DVD's because they're a good ...

Hey all! Well, I'm still attacking this 'thing' living in my sinuses.  I'm on my second doctor since I was not comfortable with the 2nd antibiotic prescription.  I popped the first dose of Moxifloxican (sp?) and THEN decided to read the side effects.  It was literally enough to give me a panic attack in the middle of the night after taking it.  I was never asked if I had any kind of tendon issues (obviously I do with all the leg issues and tendinitis I had when I first went to the chiro) and the first warning is about getting tendinitis or having your tendon randomly blow out and potentially need surgery.  SAY WHAT!?!?!  Yes, I'm sure that's probably rare however this was the FIRST warning issued!  I'm talking it made the side effects of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness and such look downright wussy.  Not to mention, oh, you know not being able to sense touch, temperature changes, neuropathy, psychotic episodes including but not limited to ...