Gracie's Big Girl Room ~ Wall Gallery

August 19, 2012

Getting ready to reveal Gracie's new "Big Girl" room. Here is the wall gallery that inspired the decor of the entire room..... The room is almost complete, just waiting on window treatments and final touches. Everything you see her I created myself, except for the "G" which came from Ballard Designs.... And the LOVE painting which I found on Etsy. The mirrors and small oval frame are from IKEA and I just added my own touch by painting the mirrors to match the decor of the room. I got the idea for the letter N (for Nicolina, my daughters first name) and the smaller G (for Grace, her middle name) here. Finally the two pictures of Gracie I made very easily by using Mod Podge and a canvas, I used this tutorial. Now it time to go to my WALL ENVY board on Pintrest to figure out how to actual get all these things on her wall! Wish me luck!!

Kitchen Shelf Makeover

August 18, 2012



Happy Saturday!! I decided it was time to give my kitchen shelves a makeover. My daughter likes to color (a lot). Some how her crayons and markers always ended up lying on our kitchen island all day, all the time. So I decided to put them is cute glass containers and place them on the bookcase shelf under our kitchen island. I was a bit hesitant to put the crayons and markers in large glass containers, but Gracie knows to always ask mommy or daddy for help getting her crayons or markers.....

The WORKOUT!!

August 16, 2012

It's almost the end of week number 3 of my new "eating habits". So I've been on Pintrest (shocker!!) and while searching for some good motivation I found this workout. I think I'm go give it a go!! I found this workout here.

For each week, each bullet point corresponds to one day. It is best to do these in order (first bullet point = Monday, second bullet point = Tuesday, etc.) as the routine has been carefully designed to allow your muscles to rest effectively.
Week 1
  • Monday – 60 minutes HIIT cycling (30 seconds 100% intensity, 1:30 60% intensity, repeat for an hour)
  • Tuesday – 5 sets of 8: squats, barbell deadlifts, sumo squats, walking lunges, reverse lunges. 100 box jumps.
  • Wednesday – 30 minutes HIIT jump rope (45 seconds jump, 30 seconds rest. repeat for half-hour)/15 minutes row machine
  • Thursday – 5 sets of 8: bench press, military press, barbell curls, skull crushers, snatch, lat pulldowns. 250 ab reps ( you pick the type of exercises)
  • Friday – 60 minute jog
Tips: Try to complete this Mon-Fri, allowing yourself a full two days off on the weekend. On weight days, make sure the weight is heavy enough that the 7th and 8th rep are VERY tough to complete. Training heavy at the beginning of this program is key for establishing your base.
Week 2:
  • Monday – 5 sets of 8: deadlifts, bulgarian squats, lunges. 5 sets of 50: squat jumps, calve raises. Plank for 3 minutes, 60 reverse crunches, 60 hanging knee raises.
  • Tuesday – 60 minutes HIIT cycling (:30/1:30 format)
  • Wednesday – 5 sets of 8: incline bench press, clean and press, overhead tricep extension, bent over barbell row, concentration curls, upright row.
  • Thursday – 60 minutes HIIT running (sprint for 30 seconds/jog for 1:30 minutes)
  • Friday – 5 sets of 8: deadlifts, bulgarian squats, lunges. 50 squat jumps, 50 calve raises. Plank for 3 minutes, 60 reverse crunches, 60 hanging knee raises
Tips: When there aren’t any sets listed for squat jumps, calve raises, planks, and any ab exercises, complete the number of reps/time in as few sets as possible. i.e. 50 squats as fast as possible, before moving on to the 50 calve raises. Continue to go heavy on the weight during resistance training.
Week 3:
  • Monday – Super Sets: jump rope 45 seconds/12 box jumps/rest 1 minute. Repeat 20 times.
  • Tuesday – 5 sets of 8: close grip lat pulldowns, single arm dumbbell rows, dumbbell bench press, dumbbell flys, incline dumbbell curls, standing barbell curls, lat pulldown burnout (100 reps on light weight).
  • Wednesday – Super Sets: jump rope 45 seconds/12 box jumps/rest 1 minute. Repeat 20 times.
  • Thursday – 100 body weight squats, 60 crunches, 100 alternating lunges, 60 bicycle crunches, 100 knee tucks, 100 flutter kicks, 3 minutes plank.
  • Friday – 30 minutes HIIT cycling (:20/1:00 format), 30 minutes HIIT running (sprint every other .2 miles, i.e. 0-.2 jog, .2-.4 sprint, .4-.6 jog, .6-.8 sprint, .8-1 mile sprint)
Tips: Super sets involve no rest between exercises; only rest when indicated. Last week of heavy resistance, go hard and heavy. Make sure you’ve increased the weight on each exercise from Week 1, if only slightly.
Week 4
  • Monday – 3 sets of 20: leg press machine, squats, deadlifts, calve raises, hamstring curl machine, box jumps
  • Tuesday – 20 minutes HIIT cycling (:20/1 min), 20 minutes HIIT rowing (:20/1 min), 20 minutes HIIT jump rope (:30 jump/:30 rest)
  • Wednesday – 3 sets of 20: lat pulldowns, bench press, incline bench press, tricep pushdown, concentration curls, upright rows, bicycle crunches, decline sit ups, hanging leg raises
  • Thursday – 60 minutes casual jog
  • Friday – 3 sets of 20: leg press machine, squats, deadlifts, calve raises, hamstring curl machine, box jumps
Tips: Use light weight on resistance training days. Do these exercises slow. Count to a full 4 seconds on the lift, and a full 2 seconds on the lower.
The above routine is part one, of a 12-week total body makeover. You should already be seeing results after only 4 weeks of training. As we previewed in week 4, part 2 focuses on increasing total time under tension (TUT) resistance training, which is a departure from the high sets/low rep heavy training that made up weeks 1-3. Cardio training begins to include more cross-training principles and explosive movements to really develop your lower body while maximizing fat loss at the same time. Part 3 will introduce complex lift formats such as step sets, drop sets, etc. while combining short, intense bouts of cardio to give you a couple more extreme workouts each week.
Part II of this workout found here.

Rainbow Party Inspiration

August 15, 2012

It's crazy how time flies by.... Our little girl is turning FOUR next month.. (CRAZY!!)
Gracie is really into drawing and crafts right now so I thought it would be fun to throw her a fun Rainbow Art Party!! This was my inspiration that gave me the idea.... You can find these here. So cute right?
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Photo Book

August 14, 2012

Click here to view this photo book larger

Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

Two Weeks Down..... 6 to Go!!!

August 13, 2012

It's been two weeks since I started my new "eating regimen". NO CARBS for eight weeks, step one of the Metabolism Miracle diet I am following. It's been going great. I feel lighter and I really do have more energy and the icing on the cake (no pun intended) I lost 5 pounds!! Now I just need to jump start my workouts and I will be at my "pre-babies" weight in no time.....  In the mean time I am trying to figure out the perfect gray colors for my dining and living rooms....... Here are a few inspirations I found






 These are all found here. My favorite catalog EVER Ballard Designs
Now all I need to do is pick up the samples and get going!!!

DAY ONE....

August 1, 2012

Once again I have promised myself that I would loose weight and get back to my "pre baby" weight of 126 for the 100th time..... Well this time I'm not just 20 or 30 pounds away.... I am a whopping 55 POUNDS AWAY (I leave you to do the math) and I am more frightened and anxious as ever to get it off and back to my old self. Right now I look at pictures of myself and feel trapped and if that isn't motivation I don't know what is!
So, that being said I started being very careful about my food in take and here is what my day looked like yesterday.... I'm not to concerned with exact amounts right now. I'm just trying to focus on changing my eating habits....

7/31/12
Day One

Breakfast:
1 cup coffee w/ equal
3 egg whites
1 cup green beans

Activity: 10min walk to my dads house

Snack:
1 cheese stick
1 bag 100cal cinnamon sugar almonds
1 cup coffee

Activity: 10 min walk to pick up my car

Lunch:
No-carb Protein shake
2tbs natural peanut butter

Dinner:
Tuna with cucumbers, pickles and balsamic dressing

Snack:
1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese with cinnamon and sugar free jelly

That's about it.... Not bad for my first day.... And I have to admit my cravings for carbs are much less now that I'm not eating them at all! I don't recommend this way of eating for EVERYONE!! This is simply just what works for me. I am following this plan. If you plan on doing the same always contact your physician first and always listen to you body!!

Time to up my water in take and get my cardio on!!

Wish me luck!!