Sunday Funday!

I woke up this morning with a brilliant idea of making myself some sushi... for breakfast!  Now I've never made sushi before, but when I was grocery shopping yesterday I actually picked up a bamboo sushi roller and nori (seaweed sheets) in the hopes of making sushi some time soonish.  So I figured today was as good of a day as any to give this sushi rolling thing a try, but test it out with eggs before venturing onto fish or other type of meat.  My egg sushi actually turned out really tasty!  And rolling sushi wasn't nearly as hard and intimidating as I thought it would be, I just watched a video tutorial and it was pretty simple!

I made 3 rolls, here they are in order from left to right.  As you can see, my rolling skill dramatically improved!  Not bad for a first timer if I do say so myself!  LOL!

So to make 3 rolls, you need about 1 cup of rice.  They say to use japanese short grain rice for sushi, and I happened to have some.  After the rice was done, I mixed it with about 2.5 tbsp of rice vinegar mixed with a few drops of liquid stevia and pinch of salt.  That was it!  For the eggs, I scrambled 3 eggs and about 1/2 cup of liquid egg whites together, added some chives, salt and pepper.  And I also cut up some avocado to put in the rolls too.  That's it!  It didn't take all that long, and practice makes perfect!  It tasted very good as well.  I am now thinking I might try making sushi with quinoa some time and see how that turns out!

Here are some other pictures:

From 2nd roll

From 3rd roll

So much fun!  If you've never made sushi before, I really encourage you to do it.  It's a lot easier than it looks, and it can be a fun family activity with kids!  The best part is that you can put just about anything in them... veggies, fruits, meat, seeds, etc.  The possibilities are endless!  Just google how to make sushi and find a video tutorial.  I used this one from allrecipes.com.

On a different note, I am pretty happy with my workouts this week.  I managed to go workout 5 times, and finally went to a yoga class again!  Been a few weeks since the last time I went.  I keep saying this, but it's crazy how stiff I feel if I skip yoga for even one week.  So that was good relief to stretch out!

Monday 4/8

What I did:  I lifted weights, then took a spin class.  Good times!

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in little boy blue, with my new faded zap Free To Be bra under it.  Bright blue Run: Passion crop and Skora Phase shoes (for the lifting part, always wear spin shoes for spin!).

Tuesday 4/9

What I did:  I did weights again, followed by intervals on the treadmill.  For the weight part, I alternated 4 sets of side lunge + flies (10 lb dumbbells) & single leg deadlifts (20 lb dumbbells).  Then alternating 4 sets of medicine ball pushups (16 each time) and hanging leg lifts (25 each set).  Ended with 6 one-minute sprints at 9 mph, 1.5 incline.  You like how detailed I am?  Lol.  I started recording my workouts diligently after each one, that's why I remember!  Sometimes I get really OCD like this...

What I wore:  So I did not wear any Lululemon at all!  This must be a first in a LOOOONNNGGG time!!!  Ok actually that's kind of a lie because I wore my grape seed Energy bra, but you can't really see it.  I wore Splits59 Sabrina tank over it, with Zobha Racer capri and Nike Frees.  I like the tone on tone look sometimes.  But of course threw in some blue shoes lol.

On the same day, I wore the Love...Ady Cap Sleeve Colorblock Dress for the first time to work, and paired it with some very dark blue tights, but they just look black in the photo.  And some patent black pumps I got a while ago.  It was a very sunny day!  You can see the shadow that the blinds create on my outfits!

Then I realized that the Esley sheer sleeve blazer in black is almost the perfect match to the black part of the dress!  That pretty much never happens.  I hate that blacks can be so vastly different and look awful together.  

Wednesday 4/10

What I did:  I warmed up by running a mile, then I did one of my older workouts from New Rules of Lifting for Abs, and then took the tabata class!  

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in slope stripe polar cream clarity yellow, with Not So Deep V bra in caribe, Splits59 Nova capri tights in black, and Adidas adizero adios 2 shoes!  Of course I must have yellow, green and red together!  It makes me happy.  Hahaha.

And by the way, I keep saying this but Splits59 tights are awesome!!!  I LOVE these Nova tights!  I am so in love with that metallic mesh stripe detail, but aside from the look, they also feel, fit and perform amazing!  When I ordered these I got the black ones in size XS and gray ones in size S.  I thought I would be fine with the size S but I tried them on a few more times and decided that the size S was just a bit too loose to wear, and had some excess material around the butt/crotch making them look a little weird.  So I sent them back.  Return shipping is free, so that makes it very easy.  Just a note.

Ok so as to and from, I throw on the Lululemon swiftly LS shirt in fresh teal/very green.  Love this combo so much!  I think this is one of the prettiest swiftly shirts Lululemon has ever made.  And it feels softer than the others!

Thursday 4/11

What I did:  Yoga class!  I went to happy hour before that, and even with the CEO of my company offering to buy me drinks, I passed!  Got to stay strong, nothing wrong with being sober when everyone else is not lol.

What I wore:  Lululemon Move Tank in paradise/kiss chipper, with Power Vinyasa crops.  I wore the Zigi Kickin wedge sneakers as to and from.

I also wore the Alo Sport hoodie as to and from too, I unbuttoned the collar!  I think it looks cute this way too.

And another work outfit!  I wore Express convertible long sleeve shirt in ivory/black with Tahari ASL gray ombre skirt, and Sam Edelman Mallory slingback wedge.

I keep forgetting that the lighting in my office bathroom is so dim!  The gray ombre is not showing up in this picture at all.  =(  

Friday 4/11 - Rest day!

Saturday 4/12

What I did:  I had a long and hard workout!  I started by running a mile.  Then I did 4 sets of alternating rear foot elevated lunge and tricep dips.  Went back to the treadmill to do five one-minute sprints on 2% incline and 9 mph.  Then 4 sets of rotational push-ups and one-arm rows.  Treadmill again to do 5 more sprints starting on 15% incline, each time decreasing by 3 but increasing the speed.  And ended the workout with 4 sets of offset squats and machine lateral pull-downs.  =D  I love doing sprints in between weight sets, it keeps my heart rate up the whole time!

What I wore: I wore a perfectly matching Lululemon outfit!  The Push Ur Limits tank in passion wee stripe, and Run: Empower crops in coal/passion/wee stripe!  And my adidas shoes.

I wore my fruity tootie swiftly LS for a minute when I thought I would be cold at the gym while lifting weights (wtf?!).  I don't know what I was thinking, I was sweating like a pig and ended up carrying it along with my towel the whole time.

And I wore my new Splits59 Cameron jacket as to and from.  It's a more muted color than passion, but similar.

Sunday 4/14 - I didn't workout today.  But I found another great thing about my Zigi Kickin wedge sneakers!  All my Lululemon Dance Studio pants are too long on me, so I always cinch them up when I wear them.  But if I wear them with my wedge sneakers, I can let them out completely!  Nobody can tell that I'm wearing wedges, so I look taller with longer legs too!!!  I wore the concord grape ones today with them while running out to get coffee and such.  And Splits59 Cameron jacket again. 

Side view:

Ahhh... I love this.  =)  Who else thinks the Dance Studio pants are one of the best designs ever made by Lululemon??  And purple is just great!  But I am such a shortie!  They are still touching the floor a little bit even with my 3 inch wedges on!

I am watching the Masters and it just ended with a win by the first Aussie ever... Adam Scott.  I am now itching to get out there and play golf again!  Only if I could play like these people... hahaha.

Splits59 Cameron Jacket & Another Pair of Ginger 3/4 Length Tight!

I got a Splits59 jacket!  I have been so impressed with their Ginger and Nova tights, that I wanted to try out a jacket!  I got the Cameron jacket, which is an older style that is no longer sold on their website, in heat/nude color.  It's basically a less saturated looking coral color.  The underside of the sleeves are nude colored mesh on the bottom half (and somewhat shiny), and there is a reflective silver band around the right arm.

I really like the big collar of this jacket.  You can kind of make it stand up like the model has it, but it isn't that stiff so it falls down a bit.  There are 2 side pockets but they are completely hidden when the zipper is closed which is really cool.  The material is 90% supplex and 10% lycra, same as the tights.  And I got it in a size small, which is a loose fit like how it fits the model.  I think a size down would fit, but I would prefer this looser style.  

And I couldn't help but get the mariana blue Ginger tights!  I almost got them when I got the black pair but decided to try out the black ones first.  Now that I know how awesome they are, I had to get them too!  The blue is a very rich color, and I think the mesh overlay on the metallic part on the waistband makes them look super chic!

I think the color on these photos look very true to how they look in real life.  I love them!  I had to get these in size XS though, because the size S was sold out, which is what the black ones I have are.  So the XS is definitely tighter fitting around the waistband, but I can wear them still.  The legs seem pretty similar to me.

I really like the Splits59 line.  Aside from the outstanding fabric, fit, and quality, they just look very cool!  I think this brand is definitely more edgy than most other athletic brands out there, but still wearable.  I read an article last week that compares a bunch of brands, and it said that Splits59 is the one that you go to when you are bored with all the other ones.  I'd have to agree with that!  I'm excited to try out more items from this brand.  The fact that they are locally based in LA and everything is made locally is a plus too!

Lululemon Cool Racerback Ocean Stripe Mellow Lemon & Free To Be Bra Laceoflage Polar Cream Black

Wow that was a very long post title I just typed!  I got 2 new items from Lululemon, not from the latest release though, mind you.  I have actually been eying the cool racerback in ocean stripe mellow lemon for a few weeks now.  I liked it a lot when it first came out, but I thought I already had a yellowish stripe tank (slope stripe polar cream clarity yellow), so I didn't need it.  But then I saw it in the store a week after that and it's definitely different enough.  The ocean stripe mellow lemon is a darker, more saturated yellow.  And obviously the stripes are wider and different widths.

I really try not to buy too many tanks of the same color family.  Honestly, who the hell can tell the difference between like paris pink, pow pink, senorita pink, etc. etc. when worn alone and not next to each other???  I think it's funny when people own so many cool racerbacks in almost identical colors.  To any other person, they are probably just wearing the same tank over and over again lol.  I mean, most of my guy friends think blues and greens and purples are all the same!  So when I see someone's picture of 5 tanks in almost the same color, I think it's funny because it's true addict style!!  Hahaha!  So I try not to do that.  But then again, many times I can't help but to buy the same style tank in many colors.  I counted my Dance Strap tanks the other day - I have 7!  I don't even wear any of them very often at all but still can't let them go.  Sigh... 

And I digress... so next up, I got the Free To Be bra in laceoflage polar cream black when it was on sale for $29, but now it's sold out.  

Same as the Free To Be bra in faded zap that I just got, this one came with bra cups too - yay!  I also got it in size 6, since I like the looser fit in this bra.  I was never too crazy about this print, but I think it will be cute if it is worn under a cool racerback of pretty much any color (for some reason I'm thinking little boy blue).  I just don't want this print on an entire tank.  But happy to have this bra!

More Dresses!

I bought a bunch of stuff from ideeli a while ago and I actually really like this Frenzii belted dress:

This dress was on sale for only $29 but it was final sale and they only had size XS.  I took a gamble because I figured it probably would fit ok.  And it does!  The neckline is very very low cut though, so I definitely need to wear a tank under it.  But otherwise I love the fit.  It's loose and the length is great at a couple inches above the knee.  I love having pockets on dresses too!  You can wear it with or without the belt but I think it's better with.  It's a very long piece of fabric so you can adjust it however you want.  It's made of 96% rayon and 4% spandex.  Very comfy, and made in the USA.  Love it!

The next dress I got is LA Class ruched mini dress:

I like this dress but it fits a little bigger than I'd like.  However, it's only $19 and would not be even worth it to return it.  I like the color, and I can work with it.  The thing I like about this dress though is that it can be dressed up or down, so we'll see!

Next one is a fail, the A-New York pocket dress:

I think it looks nice on the model, but unfortunately it looks frumpy on me!  I got it in size S, but it seriously fits like an XL or something.  Way too loose!  This was non-returnable, but I chatted with an ideeli rep online and told her about the fit issue and they let me return it right away.  I actually love this online chatting feature, and ideeli has always had good customer service when I've had to deal with them a couple times.

Lastly, I got this Blvd sequin vest:

I do like this tuxedo style vest, but I don't really know what to wear it with.  I like how they styled the model, but I don't know where I'd go with this outfit lol.  But I'll figure it out!  I think it'd be cute with shorts too for a more casual look.  I love trying on different things from my closet and making unforeseen matches, it's almost like getting new stuff!

Zobha Racer Capri in Perfect Purple

I bought the Zobha Racer Capri (currently sold out online) when I got an email from them last week regarding the spring sale.  It went on sale for only $30!  I know when I tried on Zobha crops before (different style), I liked them but didn't feel like spending close to $100 for them.  For $30, I definitely was in!  They ship super fast too so I got them the next day.  I read that Zobha runs slightly large so I decided to try for a size 2.  There wasn't a ton of color choices with size 2 available, so I got these dark purple ones called perfect purple. I would have preferred a dark blue color, but I do love purple as well!

So when I first tried them on, I thought they fit really well.  They fit like my Lululemon size 4 luon bottoms, with the wide waistband that I love and all.  And they make your butt look cute!  The rise and feel of the fabric are very similar to Lululemon as well.  But I think it fits better than recent Lululemon crops around the crotch.  Maybe better gusset design, but I don't feel like they are being eaten by my crotch... hahahaha.

The knee is actually slightly looser fitting so they are not "tights", but "capris".  Though for all intents and purposes, they look and feel pretty much just like tights.  The hit me right below the knee, which is a length that I love.  I actually wore them tonight during my workout.  I thought they felt slightly lighter and more breathable than Lululemon's luon.  But the waistband did ride down on me a little bit, which happens with my Lulu wunder unders and luxtreme bottoms as well.  But usually with Lulu bottoms, after I start sweating a little, the fabric would sort of stick to my skin and they wouldn't move down anymore.  However, with these Zobha crops, they kept riding down a little.  Not very noticeable, but enough for me to pull them up from 2-3 times.  After maybe an hour (...?!?), they finally stopped moving.  I guess these need more sweat to stick to the body than luon!

Overall though I did like them a lot.  But I think I would like them more for yoga than running.  They are very comfortable, and the color is very nice.  I think dark purple will go with a lot of stuff I have.  Especially for $30 I think they are a steal.  I checked for darker sweat stains after I worked out and didn't see any.  Though to be fair, I don't really sweat on my bottom that much.  So the verdict is that they probably get an A- from me, whereas my Splits59 Ginger crops still get A+++ lol.  

Sunday Funday!

I just got back from San Diego where I went to celebrate a friend's birthday yesterday.  I stayed a night at the Omni, which is in the middle of everything at the Gas Lamp.  I had the best brunch today!  It was at a place called Cafe 21, and I had this short rib omelet cooked Turkish style in a cast iron skillet, with a potato pancake side and toast.  It was super delicious!  I also had a raspberry mimosa to go with it.  Here's my food!  I loved the menu at this place, I could have ordered like 5 dishes.

Afterwards, I went to the Ghirardelli store (didn't know there was one in San Diego!) and accidentally got this huge ice cream cone!  LOL!  I say accidentally, because I had no idea it was going to be this huge!  It was very good though, I got coffee and cookies n' cream, in a homemade waffle cone dipped in chocolate.  But I wondered how many burpees it would take to burn it off... But hey, you can't expect to be healthy all the time!  =P

For a healthier alternative, I have been making chia pudding!  I blend plain Greek yogurt with some fruits, like strawberries or raspberries, and then put chia seeds into the mixture and let it stand for 10-15 minutes until it thickens.  It's yummy!  

Before chia seeds turned the mixture into pudding

After

Anyway, I worked out pretty hard this week, so maybe a little weekend indulgence is ok.  I've been trying out different classes at Equinox, and running intervals a lot.  I love that my new gym is motivating me to workout harder!

Monday 4/1

What I did:  I planned to take this cardio sculpt class but got to the gym pretty early.  So I warmed up by doing 5 minute warm up run, followed by 8 one-minute sprints on 2% incline and 9 mph with one minute rests in between.  Then did 3 one-minute side and backwards run at 6% incline and 3.5 mph.  Finished up with jogging at 6.5 mph for about 5 minutes.  Then I went to take the class!  It's basically a lot of heavy weights sets with cardio intervals in between.  It was pretty good!  

What I wore:  Lululemon No Limit tank in aruba with black Ebb & Flow crops and Brooks Pure Drift shoes.

As to and from, I wore my comfy Cotton On hoodie.

Tuesday 4/2

What I did:  Took a spin class, though it wasn't very good because the teacher was like 30 minutes late?!?  They had someone else come in and "warm us up" but it wasn't the same.

What I wore:  Lululemon Stuff Your Bra tank in fossil/flash, with Run A Marathon Crop.  I meant to run before class so I wore my Adidas adizero adios 2 shoes, but I didn't have time to since I got to the gym late.  Oh well, I ran a lot the day before.

Wednesday 4/3

What I did:  I ran 5 one-minute intervals first, then took a Tabata class.  I loved this class!  I think it will be my regular class on Wednesdays from now on.  So basically you do 20 seconds of one exercise, rest for 10 seconds.  Repeat 8 times (4 minutes).  We actually did alternating exercises in class, so we did 4 of each.  Then you move onto the next "tabata".  The whole class was 50 minutes and we did 8 tabatas total!  We used the kettlebell a lot too.  I thought it was excellent.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in raspberry, with bright blue Flow Y bra under.  My new Splits59 Ginger 3/4 crop, and Brooks Pure Drift shoes.  I loved these crops so much!  They are my new favorite.  They stayed in place perfectly the whole time, I didn't feel any discomfort whatsoever.  And I didn't have to worry about everybody seeing my underwear when I bent over to stretch!

Thursday 4/4

What I did:  I didn't realize this before, but I guess the 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off sprints I've been doing are actually tabatas!  So I decided to do this.  But I did 2 sets, for total of 16 sprints.  Pure death, when you are doing all out sprint for those 20 seconds.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in petit dot dune, with bordeaux drama wunder under crops.  I wore New Balance Minimus Road shoes to run in, but I wore my new Zigi Kickin wedge sneakers as to/from, so I had them on when I took this picture.  

I wore the Hardtail Forever T-back sweatshirt as to/from as well.  I actually wore this outfit to grab food right after working out.  I'm really liking these wedge sneakers lol.

Oh, I also took a work outfit picture from Thursday because I wore the same color as my workout outfit!  Hehe.  I wore this Calvin Klein shirt, with a wide belt from one of the dresses I own.  And Express zip back studio stretch pencil skirt with Aldo Leanora pumps and plum colored tights that match the shirt.  =)

Friday 4/5 - Rest day.  I was actually very tired and fell asleep from like 10 pm - 8 am!  Could have kept going too, but I got myself up to go to the gym and then headed down to San Diego.

Saturday 4/6

What I did:  I took a barre class at Equinox, and then ran 2 tabata sets again like the day before.  But this time I ran at 9.5 mph on 1.5 incline for both sets.

What I wore:  Lululemon Hot Class tank in senorita pink, and black Ebb & Flow crops.  And of course I wore Zigi Kickin wedge sneakers again as to and from!

Ok, I am totally obsessed with these shoes.  So I have been wearing them casually outside of the gym as well.  I think they have totally replaced Uggs for me.  They are super comfy like Uggs, but a bit more dressed up looking while still maintaining the casual look.  And I really really appreciate the added 3 inches!  They are so comfortable though it's like wearing flats.  But I always want to be taller.  So after the gym on Saturday, I wore these shoes with my Abercrombie white jeggings and layered a red and yellow ribbed tank.  I love this brand of ribbed tanks btw, it's called Zenana Outfitters.  I used to buy them at different stores for about $20 five years ago.  But the other day I found a little store near me that has them on sale for $5 each!  So I bought a bunch of colors and now I own like 10 of them.  They are very nice fitting and they are 96% cotton and 4% elastine so they don't stretch out at all.   Apparently Amazon also sells them for $5.99.

And today I spent the day in San Diego, so I didn't workout, but I did wear my Zigi sneakers again... surprise!  Lol.  I wore them with Blank NYC metallic pink skinny jeans and Alo Sport hoodie.

Ok, and this is all for now.  Very tired and should get to bed now.  Not looking forward to having to go to work tomorrow!  I'm totally having Sunday night blues!

Lululemon Free To Be Bra & New Maxi Skirt!

I received my Lululemon Free To Be bra in faded zap.  This is my second Free To Be bra.  I love this bra!  I have it in pow pink.  But I don't wear it much because it freaking bleeds so much!  Every time I finish a workout, if I lay on a white towel while I'm stretching or something, this bra turns the towel pink.  So needless to say, I can only wear it with dark tanks, and that really limits its usefulness!  Anyway, I have a lot of bras so I try not to buy too many more bras of similar colors.   The closest color I have to faded zap is my chirp Flow Y bra.   I find yellowish bras very easy to go with other colors.  And I love bright colored bras.  So faded zap was a no brainer.  Besides, it matches my Splits59 gray Nova tights!

So my regular Lululemon size is 4, but I got a size 6 in this bra, same as my pow pink one.  I can wear a size 4 in this, but I like how the 6 fits.  I feel like this is a low impact bra anyways, so size 4 wouldn't provide much more support than 6 and I might as well be comfortable!  Oh and this bra came with bra pads inside, which hasn't happened in a long time with my online orders.  Very happy about this!  I like to have one set of bra pads with each bra/tank that I own so I don't have to switch out and I can wash them together.

I also picked up a new maxi skirt today from this little store close to my home.  It was only $16 lol.  It's made of super soft and comfy cotton material with ruched waistband.  It's like wearing a yoga pant skirt!  Though it is thin and kind of sheer, so I'll have to wear it as a beach skirt, or wear some kind of slip under.  I actually think it fits pretty well for a cheap little thing, and it goes with more colors than I originally thought!  Like... it goes with my faded zap Flow To Be bra lol:

And it goes with my Express purple tank:

And of course it will go with the neutrals like white, black, gray, etc.  So I'm pretty happy with it!  I don't own many long skirts or dresses, but I do find them pretty convenient for spring weather in SoCal.  Plus I get to wear it with my new comfy Zigi Kickin wedge sneakers since nobody would be able to tell lol.  I love it!