I wish all weekends...

...were 3-day weekends. I feel so productive and I still have half of my weekend left.

Thanks to my new-found motivator, I am finally making some necessary changes. I'm calling it my "partial person make-over"--since this is really covering just two, albeit big, areas. I'll probably blog about the first some time in the future, because the second is a lot more fun to talk about.

In an attempt to spur myself into changing area 1 (financial responsibility), I canceled my too-rarely used gym membership. I don't even want to think about how much money I donated to 24 hr fitness due to this mental block. I have been searching for the motivation to start exercising again (after long hours as a working grad student left me too tired). Now I really have no excuse. It's almost been a year since graduation, and though I've gone on some mini-fitness kicks, nothing has stuck around longer than a couple days. I've been tempted to try a different gym, but I decided today that this is one area that I can save some $$ and still do what I need to do.

For a while now, I have dreamed of having a yoga/meditation room. When the upstairs den was vacated this dream started to become a reality. This morning I spent some time putting some vital elements in place (after I went for a long--for me--walk/jog/run in the rain--it was a perfect way to start my Saturday).

Let me introduce you to one of my new best friends...my yoga room.
The vital elements:


and some much needed inspiration:


I have some big goals for myself to accomplish by the end of the year, now I have a place to work on a few of them, without undermining others.

amen and amen.

Okay, so I am a photo thief. That's just what I do. But when the photo looks like this and captures such an iconic image of my family, I just can't resist. Keep in mind that orange bundle is a 3-year-old in a bright yellow life jacket burying her face in my stomach. Either she was cold or scared or both, but she wanted to 'cuddle' I wasn't about to tell her no.

photo take by liz.
emily told the story well here.

Garden Party

I love my girlies... all of you! There is nothing quite like dressing up and hanging out with a group of amazing and beautiful ladies. (don't be jealous, dudes. you just weren't invited this time.)


ps, I picked this number up at the J.Crew sample sale...what would you say if I told you it's a wedding dress? I wish you could see the detailing on it. Have you seen their wedding line? It's fantastic!

Bijou

Bonnie from Blue Moon Photography just dropped off a CD full of photos she took at Bijou. What a perfect way to say thank you to Emily & Co. for pulling off another fabulous event!!! I thought I would post some of hers and some of my own to tell a little bit about how great it all went.

One happy shopper...Quey had a great time pouring Gigi's water all over her. I think a lot of us wished we could do the same.

This pic may look like a green screen, but I assure you, the back ground was 100% real.

This was my booth...Bonnie is a quite a bit better than me at taking pictures :).

Outfit #2. I changed after a customer wanted to buy what I was wearing. I told her I'd sell it off my body (a little different than off the rack) if the price was right...she wanted to try it on. In the end, I got to keep it and she purchased the cute gray, pleated dress that was a little less expensive (another favorite of mine). I loved so many of the dresses I made that I decided I'd rather keep them for myself instead of sell them for next to nothing. So, I priced them high...which paid off, because all of the higher ticket items sold!

The busy check-out. ---------------

I thought I'd post a photo of one of my dresses on.

I love the way the detailing turned out (that you can't see) with the raw edge and pleated ruffles. I'll be making ankle length dresses and some cute tops in autumn prints for Bijou's re-creation this fall.

Moments of Weakness

I'm feeling very weak and vulnerable and craving one of these in all their salt & sweet goodness. I'm not sure I can resist.

Already did not resist this...
Mac @ Nordstrom anniversary presale--I'm picking mine up today after work.

Happy Cheeks

dedicated to you. you know who you are.

Tonight

I was introduced to this guy who kind of looks like and girl and kind of sounds like one too...nevershoutnever...I'm a huge fan of the singer-songwriters/acoustic guitar players and think quite a few of his lyrics are adorable and since I'm just a little sappy and L-O-V-E sappy lyrics...I was a fan at first listen. They are touring with boys like girls and are in my city tonight and there is NO ONE in this town that I want to go with. I might just go by myself or drag my little bro. CJ!!! Let's go to a show!

Drive Me Bananas

I have been wanting to bake for days and tonight I finally did...after a run to Good Earth for some gluten-free products. Yes, not only am I off sugar--nothing new--I am also committed to going off wheat. Wish me luck. That's what I get for working at a holistic doctor's office (for those who didn't know, I finally gave in and got a j-o-b a couple months ago).

I took the banana date recipe from my "baking with agave" cookbook and altered it a bit, mostly due to missing ingredients. I must have done something right, because it turned out really good if I'm allowed to say so.

Here you go (this is doubled).

16 oz silken tofu
1 c. plain yogurt
1 c. agave nectar
4 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. applesauce
4 t. vanilla
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
1/2 c. coconut oil
3 1/4 c. buckwheat flour
1/4 c. almond meal
2 T. baking powder
1/2 c. pitted dates, minced (I only used 5-6 dates)
1/2 chopped walnuts
blueberries
xocia chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 325 F. This recipe made two 4x8 bread loaf pans and three mini loaf pans. grease them. Combine tofu, yogurt, agave, bananas, water, applesauce, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut oil. Blend until smooth and creamy (about 3 minutes). Sift together flour, almond meal and baking powder. Combine dry ingredients and the liquid mixture, stir until blended. Fold in dates, nuts, berries (I sprinkled nuts and berries on top). Turn batter into prepared pans and bake for 45 minutes (high altitude--adjust accordingly). For chocolate banana bread, I added 1/4 c. organic cacao powder to about 1/3 of the batter and added the chocolate chunks. SO yummy!