Cleaning Out My Closet

I recently cleaned out my closet with the help of my sister-in-law. She loves fashion as much as me so we spent around 2-3 hours trying on clothes and deciding what to toss or keep. I ended up with 2 bags full of crap clothes to be tossed.

 

I had no idea I accumulated so much stuff.  Now that I got rid of a bunch of things I have been shopping like crazy. Since it is Memorial Day weekend I have been taking full advantage of sales. First on my list was a bic band and a sports bra. 

I have been hearing a lot of great things about Bic Bands. They are supposed to really stay in place and that is just what I need for all of the hair I have. I bought the skinny sparkle silver. They are currently offering a 10% discount on purchases over $24.

The sports bra I got was from Moving Comfort. I hear that these sports bras are amazing for us girls with a little extra. I'm a 36D so I need all of the help I can get when working out. I got the same size in the sports bra that I wear in a regular bra. This particular bra is currently on sale. It is called the Fiona. I hope it all works out. 

JCrew Factory and Banana Republic Factory were having 50% off of their entire store. I bought a really cute dress from BR and some colored toothpick pants from JCrew. 

JCrew

• These companies are not paying me for this. I am just letting everyone know what I like.

New Food Finds

 

This was an instagram pic that I did the other day. The Yoplait is mine and the Haagen Daz is for the hubby.

I really like this new Yoplait Greek Frozen Yogurt. It has little swirls of honey in it that are a special little treat.

These Popchips are amazing! I really love kettle corn popcorn and these Popchips really hit the spot. I especially like the packaging!! Great job Katy Perry and Popchips!!

I am trying a new BBQ sauce this weekend for Memorial Day. It is a local vendor that offered it to my husband and I to try. Look for the post!

Plateaus

I feel like I have hit a plateau in my weight loss journey. I have tried to incorporate more carbs in my diet and switch things up but that is not working. I stopped drinking coffee and tea but that's not working either.

Now I have to admit with all of the weddings, birthday parties, get togethers, and such lately I've been lazy and eating whatever I want. I like to go by how my clothes fit rather than the actual number on the scale. Don't get me wrong the scale gets put to use but it depresses me so I try not to weigh myself that much.

I've been doing 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels but unfortunately my DVD has a huge imperfection in it so I can only do the first workout. I've been reading a lot of blogs lately that suggest Taebo by Billy Blanks for loosing that extra puff around the arms and tummy. I'm thinking about incorporating that plus the 30 Day Shred....once I get it fixed or traded out.
I've also gone back to straight Paleo in the hope that all of this combined will help me lose a few extra pounds and tone up.

This may seem vain to some but this is how I feel about my body and lifestyle. I want to be healthy and not have jiggle.....nobodies trying to get a Beyonce bod here! Although that would be great....

Making A Birthday Cake Tiff Style

I decided to make a cake!!

I have no idea where my sister-in-law found this cake...I think she found it on pinterest???

My sister-in-law Brenda wanted a cake for my niece Kylie's "2" birthday party. Kylie loves Dora and since I love cooking I decided to make one for her. My first impression was to just pay someone to make it so I decided to ask a good friend at my work that makes cakes part time. She knows that I have been wanting to learn to make cakes like this so she invited me to come to her house on our off day, which happened to be the day before the birthday, and make the cake for the party.  I had no prep time and did not practice. This was the first time I ever made a cake to this extreme. It took us 6 hours total....and the cakes were already baked and ready to get icing. Yes it took us 6 hours to icing and decorate a cake. It was soooo worth it!

First you have to trim the sides of the rough edges and cut off the top to make it flat.

Next you prep your icing. We used gels to color the buttercream icing. You can buy buttercream by the gallons from Sam's Club.

Next  you pipe the colored icing onto the sides of the cake.

Icing the top as well

Then center it out with a scraper.

Use a roller to smooth the edges and sides while getting all the bubbles out. It gives it a much more smooth and polished look. Once this is done you have to let the cake and icing set for a few minutes. I started coloring the second icing, green. I also started prepping my fondant for the cut outs on the cake. My battery started going dead on my camera and I forgot my charger so the pics get a little scarce after this.

Place the layers and icing them the same way with the blush pink.

Here is yours truly trying to icing the top layers.

Once the cake is all rolled, icinged??,  and ready you have to let it set. This is when we got busy with the fondant.

Each of these fondants had to be mixed to get the exact pastel colors. I bought premade fondant from Michael's in neon colors and then added white fondant and color gels to get the colors we needed. I bought the Dora figurine from Target bakery. They sell them for $7. 

Here is the final product before I left to put it in my trunk. I was a nervous wreck. I kept thinking that it would fall apart or fall over but it traveled well. It did shift a little on the top but I was able to smooth it out.

Here is the final product. I added some stars in the background using fondant, icing, and some wires.

More TV stuff

I love Reality TV but lately I have been into a lot of cooking shows. Now don't get me wrong.....I will always watch every episode of any RHOAnything buuuuuttttttt I have noticed that a lot of the cooking shows are up to date and currently filmed, which I like. I mean who wants to watch an old episode on how to make meatloaf sandwich...gross! Some of my favorite cooking shows are:

 

Martha Stewart Cooking School
 This is on PBS and I usually have to DVR it since it comes on Saturday afternoons around 12? central standard time. You can actually watch some of her shows online. Just click on the link above.

Martha Bakes
This is another episode that come on right before the cooking school show. It just started coming on and it is all about baking. Last Saturday she made 3 different types of cheesecakes......YES!  Click on the link above to see some of the videos.
 

Pioneer Woman
I am in love with this woman. I own one of her cookbooks and read her personal book about how she and her husband got together. She is super sweet and I give her super credit for being a city girl and living on a farm. Oh the things us girls do for love! Her food is not very hip and thigh friendly but I love it none the less.  She also has a personal blog that I am addicted to reading. Click on the link above to see her Food Network stuff. Click here: "Pioneer Woman" for her personal blog.



Giada at Home
Giada is my second all time favorite Italian chef. Sorry but Mario Batali....he is definitely numero UNO. He makes me want to quit my teaching job, become a chef, and wear orange crocs everyday! Except mine would be pink of course.

Please set your DVR up to record these shows. They are amazing and worth the break from Reality TV.

Roasted Cauliflower

I have been trying to eat a lot of vegetables since implementing the Paleo lifestyle. Tonight I made roasted chicken and cauliflower. I am not a big fan of cauliflower but I am trying to open my mind, and taste buds, to trying new veggies.

Here is the recipe: 

1 Bushel of Cauliflower

2 tbsp. Kosher Salt

1 Yellow Onion

1 tbsp. Herbs de Provence

3 tbsp. Olive Oil

1/3 c. Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cut up the cauliflower and onions and place on a rimmed baking sheet.

Sprinkle salt, herbs de provence, and olive oil over the cauliflower and mix together. 

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, Take out and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, place back in the oven for 10 more minutes.

Take out and "Presto" easy and healthy cauliflower!

ENJOY!
(I know these pics suck but they were taken with my phone. I got a new camera for my birthday so the new pictures I take should be pretty fabulous) 

Fabric Wreaths

I am on Spring Break this week so what better way to spend it than making a fabric wreath. There are a lot of different wreaths to make on Pinterest but my friend Porscha and I had one in particular that seemed pretty easy and inexpensive.  We took a little trip to Wal-Mart and were on our way to purchasing ribbon and fabric from the clearance section. Total price for my wreath $8.00. It was pretty easy and we watched a bunch of cooking shows and reality TV while making them.

Here is what you will need:

* 1 wire hanger (yes mommy dearest)
* fabric in your favorite colors
* ribbon in your favorite colors
* scissors
* Kourtney and Kim Take Miami

Once you get all of the pieces together cut the fabric and ribbon into 6 inch strips. Make the strips as thin or thick as you want but remember that you have to tie them around a hanger. The thicker they are the more space they will take up.

I laid all of my pieces out first.

Bend the hanger into a circle. It is ok if the circle is not perfect. You won't be able to tell once you put the fabric on. 

Once you have them in strips start tying them one by one in a single tight knot around the hanger. It is best to put the main colors in 3's or 4's and then add accent pieces.

I crossed my legs and put the hanger in between to stabilize it. 

Keep pushing the fabric over to make it tight. Once you finish you can add any extra pieces that you think you might need to fill in. 

Here are the finished products. You can add bows to the top of the hanger to fill it in or wrap ribbon around it tightly and secure with a knot.