Sunday Funday!

Happy Sunday everyone!  We are having such a nice day here today, upper 70s and sunny.  Oh and before I forget, I am doing a giveaway next week so be sure to check back!!  Very exciting stuff in the works.  =)

I am proud to say that I've successfully completed stage 4 of my New Rules of Lifting for Women program, and moved onto 5 this week.  Only 2 more stages to go!  I'm already worried, what will I do after I'm done??  Although like stage 4, stage 5 is pretty much exactly the same as one of the previous stages (3? I can't remember).  But only 4 reps and 3-4 sets of each workout, which means you should be using even heavier weight.  I am so amazed at how much stronger I've gotten from doing this program.  I distinctly remember doing chest press at about 40-45 lbs before I started and it felt heavy, and this week I was doing it at 90 lbs!  That's double what I used to do in just a few months.  I can see definitions in my arms more and when I flex it's a lot more solid than before.  My push-ups and planks are a breeze now.  My legs are much stronger as well, and I can run so much faster and longer because of it too.  Heavy weight lifting is awesome!!

Here's stage 5's workouts:

Oh oh, another thing.  I have to congratulate my hubby who did a 8k gladiator mud run in Irvine yesterday with like 20 obstacles!  He did it with his brother.  I didn't do it, because I don't have any clothes or shoes that I'm willing to get muddy for it... lol.  Just kidding...  Sort've...  I might do the Spartan race in Malibu in December this year and go get a cheap t-shirt from Target.  Anyway, here he is afterwards!  This tank used to be white:

Ok, now back to myself lol.  Here are my workouts this week!

Monday 4/23 

What I did:  Mondays are usually my rest days but since I didn't workout last Sunday, I went on Monday instead.  I went to the gym to lift and finished off stage 4!

What I wore:  Lululemon Stuff Your Bra tank which has quickly become my favorite tank!  And my older Empower crop in coal/passion, with my Adidas Adizero Adios 2 shoes.

I didn't realize but the tank and crops are a near perfect match!  Check out the stripe parts of the tank and the crops, they look exactly the same:

Although passion and flash are different, they are similar enough in small doses that another person would not really be able to tell the difference especially when one item is on top and one is on the legs. Here passion is on the inside of the crops:

On the outside, the only part with visible passion is the stitching on the bottom of the leg.  In such a small area, you really can't tell it's any different from flash, especially when the stripes match exactly:

Pretty cool!  I like it when new Lulu matches with old Lulu.  I spot Whiskey hair on the leg of the crop.  He's shedding like a crazy mofo these days.

Tuesday 4/24

What I did:  Weight lifting.  This is when I started workout A of stage 5.

What I wore:  Lululemon Cross My Heart tank and Power Vinyasa crop and my Adidas shoes again.  I actually really liked these crops for the gym because of the big pockets!  I usually bring my phone with me when I lift so I can pretend to be busy between sets and avoid people talking to me.  It's very anti-social of me, but weird dudes always try to strike up a conversation with me and I just don't want to deal with it when I'm trying to get stuff done and get out of there.

Wednesday 4/25 - rest day but I have a work outfit though.  I wore my Express Shirred v-neck shirt in midnight plum and Express Wide Waistband Editor pants in spring tweed.

Thursday 4/26

What I did:  Went to lift again and did workout B of stage 5.

What I wore:  Lululemon short sleeve swiftly in white/ultra violet, with Astro Wunder Under crop in heathered black/dewberry.  Another example of 2 different colors going with each other.  And I wore my New Balance Minimums Road shoes.

It was raining on Thursday.  Crazy right?  One day 60 and raining, and 2 days later 80 degrees and sunny.  So I wore my senorita pink Inspire jacket.  I seriously heart this jacket.

I think Whiskey was yawning here lol

Friday 4/27 - rest day

Saturday 4/28

What I did:  I actually got up at like 7:30 and went to do hot yoga.  

What I wore:  Lululemon Hot Class tank in chirp, with black Ebb & Flow crops.  I think these crops are my favorite for doing hot yoga in.  They are so stretchy and comfortable.  And they absorb all the sweat up evenly so you don't get the butt or crotch sweat look.

After my yoga, I got cleaned up and went shopping.  I finally got to wear my Ravon Transformer dress that I got 6 months ago.  It's a seriously awesome dress!  If you don't own a transformer / multi-way wear dress, you need to get one.  Look how many different ways there are to wear it!

This is how I wore it yesterday:

But when I was playing around with it, I figured out all these other ways to wear it, and I'm sure there are lots of other ways that I haven't thought of!

Way cool!  I can't believe I never owned one of these versatile dresses before!

Sunday 4/29

What I did:  I warmed up with a 3 mile run, then did heavy weight sets mixed with 1 minute sprints on flat and different incline levels for about another 2 miles.

What I wore:  Lululemon Push Ur Limit tank in wish blue/ multi poncho stripe, and CW-X Pro Tight with Nike Frees.  These crops are seriously amazing.  Whenever I wear them I can run for so much longer and faster without feeling it in my legs/knees.  I felt like I could go on running forever today, and kind of did!  After my run I came home and we took Whiskey out and ran with him around the neighborhood too.

I wore my white swiftly LS as to/from but turns out didn't really need it since it got so hot today.

And that wraps up this week's outfits!  I have to go study now since I've been messing around all day (bleh), but don't forget about the giveaway next week!!

Lululemon and H&M Shopping Trip Today

I went to visit the Lululemon store today and decided to yet again, exchange my flash tank from the Tame Me tank to the No Limit!  I do like the Tame Me tank, but I really wish it had a built in bra.  All my sports bras show on the back of that tank and I don't feel like buying a new bra to just fit one tank.  So I decided to spend like 10 bucks more for a No Limit that comes with a bra.  Pretty good deal lol.

I actually really love this flash No Limit tank.  I really like how the bra portion is the bright flash color and the body is more tuned down.  It looks almost like a pink.  I couldn't get the color right on the photo I took.  In person I think it looks more muted than my photo.  Here are the web shots but I think the color is brighter than these.  Something in between mine and the web photo lol.  But the contrast is really obvious like these photos though:

So I am pretty sure that I will be keeping this one.  It will be my one flash tank.  I don't feel that bad about having another No Limit tank, because I recently sold my coal/lavender one on ebay and it went for over $70!  I did not think it would go that high at all, but that covers the cost of this tank for sure.  I should just stop buying coal and black tanks (as main color) because I never end up wearing them enough.

I was going to go home after visiting Lulu, but then I decided to take a detour at H&M which I hadn't been to in a long time.  I actually ended up picking up a couple cute things!  I guess they did something with the show Design Star (which I don't watch), where I'm guessing the winners designs got picked up by H&M for mass sale.  I tried one on and it's actually really cute!  Also only $34 so I bought it.

This dress is super flattering and cute.  I love the color.  And I like how it fits loosely on top but tighter on the bottom.  I had to size up in this dress though, and it is a little tricky putting on, but I just love it.  The most interesting part about this dress is actually the back, which I couldn't really get a photo of it while wearing it.  So this will have to do:

So the back is a racer style, with a gold zipper that goes all the way up to the neck.  And you can adjust the bottom to stop at wherever you like, and then there is this little triangle area left that shows your skin.  Very interesting.  I love that I can totally wear this dress to work with a jacket over, and then go out to dinner or happy hour or whatever afterwards.

I found this dress from H&M's website with 3D rendering:

I actually bought a white blazer at H&M too, it goes over this dress well.

I can totally rock this outfit to work now that summer is coming.  I love white blazers and have been wanting to get one for a while that would work for both work environment and out.  This one fits the bill since it's cotton/linen blend material, which is a bit on the casual side.  I actually love wearing blazers out when I go out with friends since they totally dress up any outfit no matter you are wearing jeans or skirt/dress.  And this one was only $45.

Here's the super cute blazer photo from H&M:

Lastly I picked up this little beach cover-up dress thingy for only $12.

I am already shopping for my Turkey/Greece trip of course.  We are planning to do a 5 day cruise in Greece, and I will be spending a lot of time by the pool while we are cruising from island to island.  So I need bright and colorful cover ups like this one!

And this is the photo from H&M:

There were actually lots of cute things at H&M that I could have bought and brought on the trip with me, but I had to restrain myself.  I still have 2 more months to shop!  No need to break my wallet now.  Hehe.

Lululemon Define Jacket - Currant!

Woohoo!  I got the currant Define jacket!!!  I've been kicking myself for not getting this one for a long time now.  When it first came out, I thought it was so pretty but didn't want to shell out $108+tax for it (it's brushed).  But I got it on ebay for like $80 so that's cool.  I'm so happy!  This is my second Define jacket.  The only one I had before this was angel blue.  I do like this jacket style, but I feel like I don't need that many of it.  And I don't like it when they put different colors in the logo area, or use different stitching colors.  I just prefer it completely solid, like this one.

Plus, it matches my Adidas shoes perfectly!  I love the brushed luon feel, it is so soft.  Of course, the Define jacket is really one of the iconic Lululemon styles that defines the brand!  I see this jacket on people the most here in SoCal anyway.  It just looks very tailored and structured.  Currant is such a nice color (I love my cool racerback in it), and Lulu doesn't make true reds often so it's like a collector's item that needs to go into my Lulu museum lol.

Lululemon Swiftly LS in Fruity Tootie!

My latest ebay score arrived - the swiftly LS top in fruity tootie!  This color is one of my favorites from Lululemon, I wish they would make it again.  I have the same color in a short sleeve swiftly, which I love.  So I am stoked to have it in long sleeve too!  It's funny, I went from having one swiftly long sleeve in haze to having 4 more in the past few weeks!  It all started with the white one!  And the latest 3 are kind of in the same color family though still different enough - ultra violet, paris pink, and now this fruity tootie one.  But at least 2 of them are 1/2 zips lol...

Here's a photo of it!

On a side note, do you think the above copyright message on the bottom of the photo is better or is this water mark one better?

I couldn't decide if I like the water mark or not.  Is it distracting at all?  Tacky?  I'm indecisive lol.

Sunday Funday!

Posting late today!  I've been studying all weekend.  Well, trying to anyway.  I had a friend staying with me on Friday night and my mom came in town and stayed last night.  Whiskey has been so weird lately, he's so bad with strange people inside of our place!  He got so scared seeing my friend that he tried to jump out the window when being approached... LOL!  It was really funny, I wish I had a video camera ready at that moment.  Poor thing, jumped really hard into the glass...  I had never seen him behave that way before!  And then he started peeing but realized that he was not allowed to do that inside so he ran all the way to the door and peed right next to it.  Probably couldn't hold it.  I had to yell at him anyway just to make sure he knew it wasn't allowed.  So then he sat on his pee.  =(  I'm just glad it wasn't on the carpet.  But how strange!  I wonder if something happened when he was little before we got him that makes him so scared of strangers, especially male strangers.  He's not as bad with people outside, and he usually loves girls.  I think it's only when they are inside of his safe territory that he doesn't know how to react.  Or maybe he thinks he's protecting us... except for the parts where he hid and peed himself.  Hahaha.

Anyway!  Back on track now.  Other than my weekend, the week has been pretty low key.  Same routine as usual!

So we will be starting with Tuesday again since Monday was my rest day.

Tuesday 4/17
What I did:  Weight lifting, continuing to do my New Rules of Lifting for Women workouts.

What I wore:  Lululemon Run: Energy SL in angel blue that I just received, and Astro Crop in coal/aruba with New Balance Minimus road shoes.

By the way, do you like my copyright on the bottom of my pictures?  Hehe.  I've decided to do this since lots of my photos have been found on ebay lately, which many of you have kindly written in to let me know.  I figure I probably can't stop it or keep track of all the listings, so I might as well take credit for the photos... LOL!  But seriously though, if you contact me to let me know, or give credit where it's due (kinda free advertising for me!), then I don't mind you using my photos.

Wednesday 4/18

What I did:  Weight lifting again.

What I wore:  Lululemon swiftly shirt in lavender with coal Team Spirit crops.  I wore the same New Balance shoes again.  I think I wore these a lot this week.

I also have a work outfit from Wednesday.  We were doing business dress, I decided that instead of my usual suits, I would wear my Calvin Klein Scoop Neck dress with a Calvin Klein suit jacket (click on this link and check out the angry facebook person's comment... lol).

I love this dress, it's very comfortable but it wrinkles so easily!  That's the only thing.  Though my Sharper Image steamer does wonders getting rid of them.  This is what it looks like after wearing it and sitting all day in it.

But it's not so bad with the jacket over it:

Thursday 4/19:  Rest day

Friday 4/20

What I did:  Weight lifting again.

What I wore:  Lululemon Power Y tank in discovery stripe, with Passion crop in bright blue.  I wore my Nike Frees to match.

Saturday 4/21

What I did:  Interval training with sprints and weights.

What I wore:  It was soooo freaking hot!  I wore my Practice Freely tank in lavender dusk, with my Hot Move short.

I was going to workout today, but since my mom was here and all, we went to eat brunch instead so that she could get on the road afterwards.  Oh well!  I did take a picture of my brunch outfit though lol. We were going somewhere very casual, and I wore my Lululemon Studio Crop in concord grape.  Love these for casual wear!  I remember how cute it looked with green shoes on the Lululemon banner photo, so I wore this old t-shirt with a green panda on it (the back says "Going Green"), and my DVF green sandals!  Though I must've forgotten my sandals when I took this pictures, so it's not pictured.  =/  

And that wraps it up!  I must go to bed now so I can wake up in like 5 hours for work... haha.  Ugh, Monday!

Lululemon Tame Me Tank Flash & Flow Y Bra in Flash

Continuing my Lululemon shopping streak, I went to the store today and got 2 more things - the Run: Tame Me Tank in flash, and Flow Y bra also in flash.  I actually decided to exchange my heathered flash cool racerback which I hadn't taken the tags off yet, for the Tame Me tank.  Because I don't need 2 tanks in flash.  I really like the fit of the Tame Me.  It doesn't have a built in bra so you have to wear your own.  Though based on the way the chest portion is designed, they totally could have put one in and I wish they did.  I don't have any sports bras that have regular bra straps so all my sports bras will show on the back under this tank which is a scoop back.  It's doesn't look bad, with a Flow Y under, especially with the flash Flow Y in the same color.  But I would have preferred a built in bra.

But anyway, this tank has a very cute and flattering fit though.  The chest is made of luxtreme and the body is silverescent, which makes the color look more desaturated.  Although it still looks brighter in person than the web photos.  Flash in silverescent actually looks similar to the color of heathered flash cool racerback.  I don't really like solid flash on me in an entire tank (I tried on the Power Y in it), I think it's just a little too bright on.  But in small doses like the chest portion only, it's fine.

The body of this tank drapes very well.  It's a loose fit without making you look shapeless or preggers.  I really like the back pleat detail.  It actually brings in the extra material to give you more of a waistline. The bottom hem also has a cinchable cord that you can tighten.  I like it the way it is though.

As I was taking pictures of myself in this tank tonight, Whiskey wouldn't leave me alone with his big stuffed animal dog.  He always whips it around and wants to play tug with it.  He's so cute with him though!  So I was playing with him a little, and taking photos at the same time!  LOL!  As a result, I kinda got an action shot series going on... action more so on his part though.  I was just trying to stand still so that my pictures wouldn't be blurry! I thought these were kinda funny, so here they are!  Oh, and I wore my white Flow Y bra under because I still had the tags on the flash one.  I think the color of this tank in my photos look closer to real life than the web photos.

And don't mind my gigantic Lulu box (haven't gotten around to throwing it away yet) and hubby's dirty running shoes in the background!  Hehe.

On a side note, I saw and tried on the Power Vinyasa crop in concord grape.  But I'm keeping my black ones.  I was with my very fashion conscious gay friend, and he said the jacquard lace on concord looks a bit tacky.  So that helped making up my mind very easily lol.