From the Archive: 18th Casino Themed Birthday

John and I.  John designed the banner that was also used on the cake. 

My parents and I plus BALLOONS! 

Happy Birthday Gryska! (Her birthday is March 17)

Today on the eve of my birthday, I share with you one of the decorated, festive, interactive parties I've had.  These parties would not have been made possible without my parents, who have always worked very hard to give my brother and I everything we've ever wanted.  My parents, who I love and appreciate very much, always went along and supported all of my crazy ideas.   When I turned 18, the theme was glitz and glam with a vegas casino themed party.   My favorite party decor item, you might guess are balloons.  The ceiling was covered with balloons and tied to chairs and the wall were vegas themed mylar balloons, of course, that we inflated ourselves with a rented helium tank.  

The casino tables my parents rented with the dealers, who I remember were all very friendly and taught us all how to play the games, like craps, which I had never played before.

Can't wait to share more "from the archive".  I have so, so many photos on my hard drive.

xx,

p.s. All photos are unedited.  

Overnight Oats and Fitness Goals

I enjoyed this mango jar on the ride to work and at work! 

With cucumber, lemon and Herbalife Aloe concentrate. 

Three weeks ago I embarked on a journey.  I made a conscious decision that I wanted to eat better and exercise.  I started Herbalife with the guidance of a friend of mine, Karla, that now acts as my "wellness coach".   I don't want to go into too much detail about Herbalife, I'm not here to sell it or anything.  But I will explain a bit about what my day to day looks like.  I drink 2 of their Formula 1 shakes as meal replacers and enjoy one meal of my choosing per day.   I'm far from starving myself, because one- that's incredibly unhealthy for your body and two- I like snacks.  In between meals I have a high protein snack.  

This week, I chose to eat breakfast. Drinking a shake is easy in the AM because there's little prep.   Last night though, I prepped my breakfast for the week.  Karla had told me about them when I started, overnight oats, she said were a great breakfast.  I used a post on Yoga Eat Run as a base, but mostly winged it.  These jars are so incredibly easy.  If you are one to skip breakfast, which you should never do, these jars are for you, grab-and-go!   No cooking necessary!  Add oats, milk (of your choosing, I used almond milk), greek yogurt, and the rest is up to you: chia seeds, mango, strawberries, bananas, nuts, etc.  The possibilities are endless.  Mix 'em up, fridge them and THAT'S IT!  

I also prepped in small 8 oz jars, greek yogurt and fruit for my in between meals snack. I'm really excited for this lifestyle change.  I am already feeling the benefits of having more energy, slimming down and overall being happier!

Follow me on Pinterest where I'm pinning clean eating and physique ideas. 

xx, 

p.s. If this has piqued your interest at all about Herbalife or you want to talk to me more about how I feel about it, please feel free to email me.  I am definitely a beginner but can give you my early testimonial.  You can also contact Karla, my wellness coach.  If you wonder how expensive it is, she can work with any budget as little as $25.  Her email is viionehkb[at]gmail.com.  

p.p.s.  Need some tunes?  On my way to work today these two songs came on and they lifted my spirits higher.

Wedding Cake x Dough Exchange

John, the sharer. 

 I've been staring at wedding photos all week because I'm ordering a photo book, hopefully soon, but it's a time consuming process arranging the pages, photos and text!   It's also a reminder that I have so much to share about the wedding still.   Today, a look at the cake!  I think I've said before, I used to work at a restaurant in downtown Santa Ana, DTSA, called Playground.  I was a part of the opening team, and under the leadership of chef Jason Quinn, learned so much about the restaurant business and it changed forever how I dine and my expectations.  Talking about Playground, and my time there, could go on for-e-ver, on to my point...

Playground took DTSA by storm, and because of their success have carried on to open Dough Exchange, and more recently Lunchbox and Honor Roll in the new 4th Street Market. 

In the planning of the wedding, I no longer worked at Playground, but I knew Dough Exchange would be opening just before the wedding.  And Fawn, the pastry chef  magician, was in for making the cake!  We went with classic flavors: lemon for the top and bottom tier and strawberry for the middle slathered with cream cheese frosting.  I provided the flowers for it and I could not have been happier with it.   

My wish came true the morning after the wedding when I had cake in bed.  I am forever grateful to Fawn and my Playground familia.  

xx,

p.s. If you have never been to Playground and are in the Orange County or even SoCal area.... it's a must.  Read blog reviews here, here and here. 

Photos by the ever talented Ashley Lynn Richards.

Monthly Reflection: February

Thanks to Kickstarter, the world now has Angela Trinidad's lovely creation of a monthly/weekly planner, the Passion Planner.  Anyone that knows me, knows all about it, because I rave about to everyone.  Read all about it here, here and here and you'll understand why it's so amazing.  Every year buying my new agenda/planner is something I looked forward to doing.  I always had decisions to make when purchasing one: what size to get it, monthly only, monthly and weekly, do the weeks immediately follow the month or all the months then all the weeks, is there ample space to write, is it cute...... the list can go on... and I know I'm not alone with this obsession with planners/journals/agendas.  Anyway, when I found the Passion Planner on Facebook via a repost, I was sold and immediately pre-ordered it.   I can really appreciate writing things down, versus our smart phone's calendar, (which I use too).  Color coding, having doodle space,  quotes, etc  This planner, I know, will really make a difference in achieving my goals this year because I plan to use it to it's full potential.   

My favorite part of the planner is there is a seven question monthly reflection.  I love the page so much, I'm going to make this a regular post, to reflect on the month prior.     

FEBRUARY

1. Overall my month was an 8. 

2. The most memorable part of the month was buying my first brand new car!!

3. My 3 biggest lessons this month were: moving is hard (own less stuff and rent a truck), learning to choose my battles, and learn to better care for my body (eating better + Herbalife!). 

4. I am happy with how I spent my time, I took steps in the right direction.  Now I need to prioritize and get to work, on DIT&O and other things. 

5. I am different from January to February because I am feeling better about myself and my surroundings. 

6. I am so so so grateful for John this past month.  He was off of his regular job, but found extra work so we can save funds and on his off days he prepped for the move.  We also got to spend a lot of time together. 

7.  I've already kind of spoke to what I need to do from here on, but I want to: be more physically active (biking, jogging, walking, etc), blog more (this needs to happen, even if I'm talking about nothing and no one is reading), and get diy-ing! 

February for me was a social month.  My husband was home the entire month, (he has been traveling back and forth since last July) went to Rosarito with girlfriends (still need to post about this), bon fires at the beach, moving out of our first apartment, buying a car (this technically happened in January on the 31st), spent an entire week on field trips teaching ESL, 4th Street Market opened and so many other good things I could mention.    Using my Passion Planner, setting goals and creating better routines and habits is the name of the game now.   And it's my birthday month!

Happy Friday,