Resolution End of Month

I have completed the 2nd month of my resolution and have just one month left. Unfortunately I did not apply myself as much this month as I did the first. So in the end I have nothing to show for it. I went up and down with the same 2 pounds the entire month and ended exactly the same weight as I did at the end of January. I have several excuses, but of course that is all they are excuses. The one thing that did come out of February is that I started doing some exercises. I am currently at 20 girl push-ups a day. I am already noticing a difference in my arms. Which is fantastic and gives me incentive to keep it up. I guess the good thing is I did not gain any weight. So my goal is to get back on track for March.

Chocolate Milk
My Parenting the early year’s magazine mentioned a new study from Spain suggests that chocolate milk may have similar heart health benefits to red wine. It says that men and women who drank the stuff regularly were found to have higher levels of the good HDL cholesterol and less artery inflammation than those who didn’t. Well that is all I need to know to not feel guilty drinking chocolate milk or giving it to my child when she is old enough to have milk. I have always been a chocolate milk drinker and feel it is a good way to get your calcium.There is a great website on chocolate milk with lots of information HERE.

Ice Cream
I am keeping my eye out for the Laloos ice cream. It is made from goat’s milk and packs about half the fat of ice cream made from cow’s milk. Goat’s milk is lower in lactose, lower in fat and easier to digest than cow’s milk. The goats on the Laloos farm have 350 acres of rolling hills to romp and play and graze on. The ice cream comes in several flavors and they also have several flavors of frozen yogurt. To check out their product and see where you can find it go to their website HERE.

Change is in the Air
This month has been draining on me. I am longing for the sunnier days of Spring. I feel as though this Winter has taken a toll on my optimism. The good news is we are setting in motion some plans we decided on last year after Chloe was born. We have decided to put our house up for sale this Spring and move closer to town. Living out in the country with our pack of alpacas was a wonderful adventure but now that we have Chloe, the farm and being out in the middle of nothing just seems like too hard of a life. It is time for change and new adventures. We have big plans for many changes this year. Now if Winter would just go away so we could get started on them.

Wordless Wednesday

Post it Note Tuesday

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Dreaming of a Dress

Have you ever looked at something in passing and just had to take a second glance? Well that is exactly how it was for me when I got the March issue of InStyle magazine in the mail.

Purple Perfection. On the cover is Anne Hathaway and a beautiful Bottega Veneta dress. I am not sure what exactly it is about this dress but I have found my self starring at it for a week now. Some people have a love affair with shoes. I am a dress girl. Give me a girly dress and I am pleased as punch. When I look at this dress I imagine myself wearing it dancing & leaping in a field of red tulips and I am smiling from ear to ear as my laughter echoes across the field.

I think the true reason why I am drawn to this dress is because lets face it I have been busy with a baby and I have not worn a dress in over a year. At the moment wearing a girly dress is just not practical. Some times in life we loose ourselves because of the responsibilities and the day to day necessities. If we are lucky we might get a glimpse of who we are in an object that helps us find our way back to the person we have always been but were not able to see.

Well the dress has lit a new fire in my resolution of getting fit. After seeing the dress the first day I actually dropped and did 15 girl push-ups. I will say it hurt, but is well worth the pain. If a girl wants to wear a sleeve-less dress she has work to do on those flabby arms. Of course I would never shell out the money for this designer dress. I will say that there will be a dress in my future. In the mean time I am happy just dreaming of the possibilities of a dress.

Macro Monday - Winter's Kiss

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Chinese Valentines

Wow two big holidays on the same day this year, Valentines Day & the Chinese New Year. This year we are keeping it low key. For Valentines we will just be staying home enjoying the weekend. I plan to make a special breakfast & dinner for the hubby. I got him a card and a small bag of Reese’s Peanut butter cups. We tend not to buy gifts for one another on holidays and will buy things thru out the year mostly when we are on vacation for one another.

Here is a cute little Valentines dress I found over at Etsy in aprilscott’s shop. I love the vintage type images.

The Year of the Golden Tiger
I love Chinese astrology. This year starts the golden Tiger cycle. It is tradition to clean your house before the New Year and pay off any debts. On the day of the New Year you must not sweep or clean because you might possibly sweep out the new good luck or fortune. Mostly the celebration is about family and friends and having a feast. Tonight I plan to light some candles and place them on my front porch as kind of our own Chinese Lantern Festival.

One traditional food for the New Years is Nian Goa or Chinese New Year Cake. I found a recipe at Disney Family Fun site. If you would like to make one for your family go HERE.

I wish all of you a healthy prosperous year.

Super Bowl Weekend

It seems like we did not get hammered with as many commercials this year to go out and buy a new large flat screen TV to watch the game on. I hardly remembered it was time for the Super Bowl. Usually when 2 teams that I am not that familiar with are in the game I tend to think more about the party food and the commercials. This football cake certainly looks yummy. You can find the recipe HERE.

Of course the real game is over at Animal Planet where they are airing the Puppy Bowl. I love watching this show. Plus the kitten half time show can not be beat. Kick off is Sunday at 3pm. To get all the details like the starting line up & behind the scenes info go HERE.

I have been waiting weeks for Sunday to arrive not for the football but for the movie Doctor Zhivago. They are airing the 1965 version starring Omar Sharif & Julie Christie. It will be on the HD Net Movies channel 552 with DirecTV Sunday at 4pm & also at 9:15pm. If you are not familiar with the movie you can read about the story line HERE.

This will be Chloe’s first Super Bowl weekend. When she gets a little older I am sure we will do some fun themed foods & crafts, but for now I think she will enjoy watching the puppy bowl. Have a great weekend and I hope your team wins.

Wordless Wednesday