Sequins and Sea Breezes: April 2014

Wednesday Rant

4/30/2014

So, you know that moment when you think you have your entire blog post planned out and all you need to do is sit down and write it then your computer crashes and you lose everything? Yeah, well if you don't consider yourself lucky! That totally happened to me last night so here I am at 6 am making up something as I go for my post today. Oh and did I mention I haven't had any coffee yet? So if this makes absolutely no sense... I plead temporary lack of caffeine insanity.

So between my frustration with technology and the fact it's only Wednesday I'm going to take this time to complain about a few things and hope you guys still come back tomorrow. First off, I was planning on painting my nails last night but instead I got to spend the time trying to figure out what in the world my crazy computer was doing. So here I am.... with bare nails feeling completely naked. Yeah, this isn't going to work for me.

Oh and we had the biggest torrential downpour we've had in... well, I can't remember the last time... but a really long time! Not a big deal, right? Wrong. I have a love/hate relationship with DirecTV. I love getting all the channels (including NFL Sunday Ticket) but I HATE how every time it rains I lose signal. It really doesn't seem to have any rhyme or reason to it either. It can be lightly raining and I will get that stupid "Searching For Signal..." message. Really? Super frustrating! I'm trying to watch or record one of my shows and I miss more than half the show because it's raining. Living in Florida this becomes a BIG problem in the summer. So now I'm computer-less and my tv is spotty so I turn to my trusty phone, because it never fails you, right? This seems like a great chance to catch up on my blog reading/commenting so I start getting into it and I write this super long comment on this post and dun dun dunnnhhhhhh.

Captcha hell. Yeah. There is nothing more annoying than trying to read those tiny little letters or numbers that don't have any rhyme or reason and are squished together in the most ridiculous way possible on a tiny cell phone screen. Especially not when you're already annoyed. I'm not even going to lie; I've actually given myself a rule, if I get the captcha wrong twice I give up. So I am extremely sorry if I didn't comment back on any one's blogs yesterday it just turned into one of those days! That ended much like this

But hey, it's a new day and it's hump day so it's all downhill from here, right? If not, there's always more wine! :) Happy Hump Day dolls! Oh and I'm trying to respond to comments via e-mail now so if you don't get a reply on here check your Inbox! :)

baby doll

Hey Baby Doll!

4/29/2014

forever 21

Pastel Watercolors

4/28/2014

bikini

Friday Five

4/25/2014

Yay! It's Friday dolls! We made it through yet another week, that's definitely something to celebrate! Four times a year we do this thing at work called Loco where we all go out and do something fun as a company and today is that day! This time happens to be my favorite Loco where we all go to this little place on a river here that has a bar, adirondack chairs, a sand volleyball court, little cabanas, kayaking/canoeing and more! I love getting to spend time outside in the sun just relaxing. We used to get to leave early for the day to do this but unfortunately this time we don't get to leave until 4 pm so I won't get as much sun but it still should be enjoyable. Hopefully the mosquitos won't be out in full force!

It's time for my Friday Favorites with one of my favorite people, Amanda from Meet at the Barre!

1. Hello meatless Monday! I found this amazing recipe on Pinterest when I was looking for ideas for meatless Monday and I'm in love. Pasta, lemon and parmesan? What's not to love? I actually made this before with goat cheese (because I'm obsessed with goat cheese) which made it creamier but the parmesan gives it a but of a nutty flavor and I actually really liked it!

2. It's almost bikini season! I'm absolutely loving the colors in this L*Space bikini and the tie front bandeau top. I don't usually wear bandeaus since I usually require a little more support *sad face* but this one is just too cute! I'm also obsessed with her layered necklaces!

3. Yeah, Mila is my total girl crush. I can't believe she's preggers! Although her and Ashton are way too cute together so I shouldn't be surprised. I mean I didn't watch That 70's Show but everyone knew Jackie and Kelso were going to be together forever. ;) I actually pinned this though because I think I'm ready to get rid of the blonde in my hair and go back to being a 100% brunette!

4. Obsessed with this color right now! It's called Cab-ana by Essie (obviously) and it's my new favorite summer color! It reminds me of the Caribbean and I feel like it will look amazing with a nice tan!

5. Ahh Siesta Key. How I miss you. I am in desperate need of some beach therapy soon. Yesterday was a bit stressful and kinda sad/disappointing but salt water cures all. If your toes in the sand and a drink in hand doesn't make you smile I don't know what will. Besides puppies.
On that note, I hope everyone has an amazing and fabulous weekend!

black and white

East vs West Coast: Black + White

4/24/2014

exercise

Workin on my fitness

4/23/2014

It's no secret that I absolutely HATE cardio and I definitely don't "diet" but I do love hitting the gym and I try to be careful about what I eat. Truth be told, I'm not much of a veggie person. I'm definitely more of a meat and cheese kinda girl and if it's fried... well the chances of me liking it are more than good. If you follow me on Instagram you saw a week ago my fried "fat ass platter" (the Triple Dipper from Chili's) which consisted of potato skins, honey chipotle wings and sliders so it's obvious I'm not much of a "healthy" eater. When it comes to food I have a hard time saying no and that's exactly why I work out, so I don't have to. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean I indulge in every fried, cheesy amazingly delicious thing out there but when my body is craving it I eat it but in moderation instead of depriving myself of it (see below... if you want to call that moderation...)

I've had a few people ask me what I do at the gym so I decided to share my weekly workout routine with you guys. Obviously everyone is different so just because this works for me, doesn't mean it will work for you but part of the challenge is finding what works for you! I took advice from other people's workouts and made them my own to come up with something that works for me. I go to the gym 4 days a week and only do one day of full cardio. Since I hate cardio so much it's hard for me to get motivated so I usually take a spinning class for an hour once a week to get my cardio in. I start out every weightlifting workout with a quick 3 minute warm up. Usually I do the rowing machine but sometimes I switch it up and do the stair climber and other times I do the elliptical. It's rare to see me on a treadmill. Each day I work on a different part of my body and the only part I work out more than once a week is my abs. Unfortunately I'm not genetically predisposition-ed to have abs so no matter how hard I try I probably won't ever have them. Or maybe that's where that whole diet thing comes in to play, I'm not a nutrition and fitness expert so I couldn't tell you! I try to do mainly free weights (flys, shoulder presses, dead lifts, squats, lat raises, upright row, etc) because free weights also work your core by stabilizing you while you're focusing on whatever muscle group you're working. When toning I do more reps with a lower weight and when trying to build muscle I do less reps with a higher weight. I'm not a fan of leg day but I will say I love doing calf extensions on the LifeFitness machine. Now that I totally feel like Karena from Tone It Up I'm going to go ahead and end this post!

Maybe I'll do individual posts soon on what I do on a day to day basis but I don't want to make this post any longer... let's be real, I'm falling asleep while writing this so I give you a round of applause if you made it to the end ;) It's almost bikini season dolls... so if you're like me it's time to: