My Latest Ideeli Order

I've been ordering a lot from ideeli lately for some reason.  I never used to order from them that much, but I have made quite a few purchases from them lately!  I like that you pay shipping once and get it free for the next 30 days.  That's quite a big incentive actually.  Also they upgraded me to their first row membership for free so I get to shop earlier than others.  Lol.  Anyways... so I got more Tahari ASL skirts.  I really love this brand for work attire!  I love all their dresses that I have, as well as the Sara skirt.  So I got two more skirts!  One in this gray ombre print, and another in black with button details.

 

So both of these skirts I got in size 2.  I buy my Tahari ASL dresses in size 4, but since my Sara skirt fits well in size 2, I decided to get these in size 2 as well.  They fit perfectly!  So happy!  I love both of them, and they both are good stables for my work wardrobe.  So it says that the black one retailed for $69, and the gray ombre one retailed for $129.  But I got both for $39 each.

I also got another Esley sheer sleeve jacket!  I love the black and gray ones I got so much that when I saw the white one, I got it too!  These jackets are only $29, down from $82.  So all 3 together cost less than $100 for me lol.  I love it.  They fit really well, and I love the sheer sleeve idea.  I also really like the fact that they are shorter at the back but longer in the front.  The white one is perfect for spring and summer.

Lastly, I got this Unique Spectrum button down shirt in a bright blue color.  It was only $16!  The material of the shirt is pretty cool looking.  It looks almost like linen, but shinier.  But it's actually made of rayon and polyester.  I like having a shirt like this that I can wear to work as well as on weekends.  

So the sleeves actually can be rolled up and buttoned up, but they are way too tight when rolled up so I think the only way to wear it is to leave it down like the photos.  

Oh yeah, I also got this Kamenstein 16-jar revolving spice rack lol.  It's pretty cute actually, and it was only $22 with 5 years of free spice refills!

Finally Some Cute Lululemon Stuff Again!

Oh my gosh it's been so long since I bought stuff from Lululemon!  I do look at the emails every week still, but just rarely see stuff that I like now.  So sad.  I used to buy so much!  But anyway, this week I bought 4 items, but I think I'm only keeping 3.  That is still pretty decent though!

So my favorite thing that I bought this week is the Swiftly Tech Long Sleeve in Fresh Teal/Very Green.  I love the baseball style, and the two colors are so fresh together for spring!  Although I must say, this model doesn't do it justice.  She's cute but very very thin and fragile, and the shirt looks too big on her.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I like it better on me... LOL!  But seriously, I think this shirt is supposed to be worn more fitted.  I bought it in size 4, same as my other ones.  I can't wait to rip the tags off of this one and wear it to the gym!  Sorry for the obviously unmatching style here, but I was too lazy to change bottoms.  =P

So that swiftly was the reason I decided to make a purchase.  Then I decided that I might as well get another one too!  I have been loving yellow lately, so I got another Swiftly Tech Long Sleeve in mellow lemon.  I actually was deciding between this one and the one in clarity yellow.  I eventually went with this one because it looks brighter, and I figured that the swiftly material tones the color down anyways and I don't want it too desaturated.

I like that in person it is a bright sunny lemon yellow!  Perfect for Easter lol.

And then I got this petit dot dune cool racerback.  The dots actually look more obvious in person than on my computer screen.  I like it!  I don't have any other tops with dots on so I'm definitely keeping this one.  The material of this one feels more polyester-y though, and it's not reversible like the others.  It also fits on the tight side, I got it in the same size as usual - 4.

On me:

And lastly, the top that I'm going to return is the Practice Freely tank in fresh teal/petit dot fresh teal.  First of all, I didn't realize that the bra had dots on it.  I thought it was all solid.  My bad.  For some reason I don't like the dots on this tank.  Also, I got it in the same size as my other Practice Freely tanks, which is one size up from my usual 4.  But this one seems big in the front and the part that overlaps the bra has a weird fold that hangs down weird.  Like it's been stretched.  So I'm just not crazy about it, and I'm going to save my money for better things to come along!

On me:  meh...

Well, I'm happy to have 3 new items that I like!  Hopefully more cute stuff will come out later so I can add more to my ginormous Lululemon collection!

Sunday Funday!

This has been an interesting week for me.  I've been super super busy, and not getting enough sleep.  I'm talking like 4-5 hours a night which does NOT work for me at all.  I need minimum 7 to function lol.  This lack of sleep really messes up my workouts too because after work I'm just so done for and don't feel like going to the gym at all.  It's a bad downward spiral.  Luckily it's only temporary so next week should be A LOT better.  With that said, I've really gotten into cooking healthy food this week.  I've been cooking healthy for a while, but always the same old stuff.. like fish on a bed of veggies.  It's good but sometimes you just need something different.  I have decided that I would like to substitute the "bad" foods that I like with healthy ingredients and make them "good".  Here are some of the stuff I made that I think achieved the objective, AND they were very very tasty as well!

Tuna and Oatmeal Cake:

Ingredients:

1 can of tuna in water

1/4 cup oatmeal

1 egg

1/4 onion

1 clove garlic shopped

1/2 apple

1 tsp chopped dill

Seasoning: I used a dash of turmeric, cumin, oregano, cinnamon and black pepper (canned tuna is already salty enough for me)

So I mushed all these ingredients together, and formed these patty things, and cooked them all in a pan with a little bit of olive oil.  The above ingredients made 4 of these cakes!  I loved it because I love crab cakes and these are a healthy twist.  All the ingredients are healthy, and it's got the right combination of protein, carb, and fat.  Not to mention 2 of these filled me up!  I'll be making these quite a lot more, and the best part is that a lot of different types of ingredients can be added, subtracted or substituted.  

Avocado Deviled Eggs:

Ingredients:

Eggs - I used 3

1/4 Avocado

Sea salt

Pepper

Paprika

These were super easy.  I just hard boiled these eggs, cut them in half, scooped out the egg yolks and mixed them with avocado and seasoning.  I love deviled eggs, but they are usually made with tons of mayo.  I love that avocado has the same consistency and achieves the same purpose, and yet tastes a lot better and is much healthier!  These were SO good.  I think if I had chives I would have added them as well.  Next time!

Kale Chips:

This was the first time I tried making kale chips.  Omg, so good!  And simple.  I just cut up a bunch of kale, tossed them in a little bit of olive oil, sea salt and pepper, and put them into the oven for 30 minutes at 275 degrees.  They came out perfectly crunchy!  I love potato chips and sometimes get cravings for them.  But kale chips are so much better for you and just as satisfying!

Super Green Smoothie:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup spinach

1/2 cup kale

1/4 avocado

1/2 banana

1/2 apple

1/4 lemon

1 tsp minced ginger (I use cheese grater) - sounds weird but this ingredient is essential IMO

1/2 packet of Emergency-C

dash of turmeric

dash of oregano

I've been making one of these everyday and taking them to work in the morning.  Sometimes I add some dill to it too.  Sometimes I add some almonds.  Sometimes I use a whole banana instead of 1/2 banana and 1/2 apple.  And of course many other fruits can be added!  I'm thinking of kiwi, orange, and berries.  I just don't want too much carb at once.  I also added my protein powder to it a couple times, but it didn't taste as refreshing because my powder is chocolate flavor.  I was very skeptical of this green smoothie trend before, but after trying it I must say I will be drinking these consistently from now on!  They are full of vitamins and minerals.  It's hard for me to eat a lot of veggies and fruits sometimes, but it is much easier to drink them!

Anyways, I feel like I'm turning into a food blogger lol.  But I am just so excited about my yummy healthy food!  Hahaha!

Ok ok, now onto the workouts and outfits.  Like I said, only went 3 times this week, but I did work hard each time!  =)

Tuesday 3/5

What I did:  Spin class

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in lavender, with grape seed Energy bra under.  And power purple Run: Passion crops.

I got purpled out and wore my power purple 1/2 zip swiftly top as to/from.

Wednesday 3/6

What I did:  Yoga class

What I wore:  Lululemon Hot Class tank in bold blue, with indigo Ebb & Flow crops.

I wore my angel blue flashback jacket as to and from.

And here is a work outfit picture from the same day.  I wore my Mango pleated sheer shirt with Express wide waistband editor pants in white and Ivanka Trump pinkish pumps.

Thursday 3/7 - I did not workout, but I did take a picture of my work outfit.  I wore my new Express red pencil skirt!  

Friday 3/8

What I did:  HIIT mixed with weights.  I did a lot of legs and they are still so sore right now!

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in currant, with flow Y bra in heathered coal mini check, and astro wunder under crops in black slub denim, and Adidas adizero adios 2 shoes.

Also wore my fruity tootie swiftly long sleeve top as to/from.

And that's all for this week!  I think I *might* go workout later tonight, but we'll see about that.  I like minimum 4 times a week though.  But I did workout pretty hard the last two weeks and it is good to take a break sometimes.  I'll figure it out!  Hope you all had a great week and weekend!

Safe Inside Large Book Safe

I know this is kind of silly, but I just bought this safe in the form of an English dictionary made by Safe Inside from Gilt.  And I think it's really cool!  Lol.  It looks just like a dictionary, and can blend into any book shelf.  But there is a safe inside with a lock, and you can store some important documents there.  I don't really have anything that important to store, but the idea is fun!

The one I got is actually red.  This came in 3 different sizes too - small, medium and large.  I got the large which is 8x10, so it looks just like a dictionary size.  It's also 3 inches wide.  The side is made to look like pages of the book closed.  It's very well made and pretty nefty!

Sunday Funday!

Well well, this week has been super hectic!  I literally haven't had a moment of rest until right about now.  I kept up my promise to myself from last week that I'd eat as healthy as I could, and workout as much as possible.  I actually did a cleanse diet for the past 4 days or so!  I actually saw this article on livestrong about it and thought I'd give it a try.  I don't think I could do the liquid cleanse, nor do I have the desire to at the moment.  But this one is all solid food!  So basically it's just a really low calorie and low carb diet for 4 days.  I'm not an advocate of eating less normally - I actually think most girls, myself included, who want to add muscle actually need to eat MORE!  And not be afraid of carbs.  But a cleanse like this for 4 days I was willing to give it a try.  Today was actually my 4th day, so for the past 4 days I took it a little easier exercise wise.  I only worked out 2 out of the 4 days, and I didn't lift any weights.

If you don't feel like clicking on the link, here's the cleanse diet:

Breakfast:
1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites (scrambled)
½ teaspoon dried oregano

Snack:1 medium Granny Smith apple
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Lunch:Lentil Spinach Salad (spinach, ½ cup cooked lentils, 1 hard-boiled egg, and 2 teaspoons olive oil)

Snack:½ cup artichoke hearts
or 1 small steamed artichoke with a squeeze of lemon

Dinner:Salmon Spinach Salad (1 cup spinach, 4 oz. grilled salmon and ¼ avocado)
You can add flavored vinegar to your salads to bring out their deliciousness!

So, it's pretty simple, does not require a long shopping list.  All solid food, just a lot of fiber, and totally doable.  On day one of this cleanse though, I felt pretty miserable by the end of the day because of how low the calorie count is.  I felt very low energy and hungry!  But from what I hear, that is what most people feel on the first few days of any cleanse.  Days 2.5-4 have been much much better though.  I do think the cleanse did its job, because I feel pretty good right now, and I didn't even have any cravings really.  So the food was satiable.  I also lost about 3 lbs as of this morning, though that is probably all water weight.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I took this whole cleansing thing seriously because I also went and got a colonic!  I know people don't really talk about this, but I do try to get a colonic every change of the season.  I feel it's important to clean out the body's "trash can" once in a while, and it will take away the built up and gas.  I always feel great afterwards and definitely have a flatter stomach.  And the procedure really isn't as horrible as people think!  In fact, it's only uncomfortable when they insert the thing, afterwards you don't even feel it!

Ok anyways, enough about that lol.  So since 2 weeks ago when I decided to clean up my act and stop eating crap, I've lost 8 lbs!  That's crazy, because it was all the food... I did workout a lot, but I always worked out before so food still plays a huge huge part.  Oh yes, as mentioned last week, I also spoke with my friend's trainer for this bikini bodybuilding training program.  It all sounds good and I think I will start in a couple weeks!  I'm excited!

So now onto the most important part of the post - the outfits!  :D

Monday 2/25

What I did:  I did weights, since I knew I was going to be doing the cleanse later on in the week, I planned my workouts so I would get weight training out of the way earlier in the week and was eating enough calories to support my muscles.  I continued doing my own weight training and taking a break from the New Rules of Lifting for Abs.  Just because I'm bored with it.  I did a lot of cardio with my workout as well, mostly HIIT on the treadmill.

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in embossed manifesto, with flash Centered Energy Bra under, and Run: Empower crops in coal/passion.  Also wore my Brooks Pure Drift shoes. 

As to and from, I wore my Journey Jacket.

Tuesday 2/26

What I did:  Weights again, with cardio being treadmill sprints and burpees.  I did the kind of burpees that when you jump out, you jump into a side plank, and then switch sides.  I read it in an article somewhere so I tried it out!  A little uncomfortable at first, but definitely works your obliques.

What I wore:  Lululemon No Limit tank in white, and Power Vinyasa crops with Adidas adizero adios 2 shoes.

I also have my work outfit to share from Tuesday.  I was excited because I got to wear 2 of my newest purchases together!  The Express Wide Waistband Editor pants in aquamarine, and Esley black sheer sleeve blazer.  I wore the Aldo Leanora shoes with it.  I like that these shoes go with pretty much everything.

Wednesday 2/27

What I did:  Weights again!  It's tough to do weights 3 days in a row, and I felt a little drained going into the gym.  But then once I started working out, I kept pushing and actually worked very hard!  I just hate wasting time at the gym!

What I wore:  Old tank - Lululemon Tri Y tank in blue gingham, with coal Team Spirit crops and New Balance Minimus Road shoes.

Also took a picture of my work outfit from Wednesday.  I wore my new Express Portofino shirt in purple, with Express tweed corset pencil skirt, and my new Adrienne Vittadini Diamond tights!  And Aldo Leanora pumps again.

You can't see the shape of the tights very well in my photo, but they are actually pretty cool.  These tights actually fit pretty tightly and really hold you in place so there's no jiggle whatsoever lol.  Here are some better photos:

I actually bought another pair of Adrienne Vittadini diamond fishnet tights (these were on sale on Hautelook for like $7), but haven't worn them yet.  They may be a little too frisky for work though.

Ok back on track now!

Thursday 2/28

What I did:  This was day 1 of my cleanse, so I went to spin class instead.  Although I worked pretty hard too and was ravenous afterwards.  So maybe I should have taken it easier... it was a little hard to go to sleep that night starving!

What I wore:  Lululemon cool racerback in pow pink with bright blue Flow Y bra under, and bright blue Run: Passion crops.  I seriously love my Passion crops!

Weather has been weird again last week, fluctuating to 80s!  I didn't really need this, but I wore my haze swiftly long sleeve as to/from.  And J Crew floral flip flops.  =)

Friday 3/1 - I took it off as a rest day, but I do have my work outfit to share!  I wore Calvin Klein two-tone surplus knit dress, with my new Sam Edelman Mallory slingbacks!  I seriously took these shoes out of the box and never took them off... hahaha.. oh and of course Friday was the day it was like 85 degrees!  So no more tights and jackets!

Saturday 3/2

What I did:  Pilates, and it was so freaking hard!  I was sweating bullets 5 minutes into the class.  I think the teacher had it in for us and focused a lot on abs and obliques.  I'm unbelievably sore right now.

What I wore:  Lululemon No Limit tank in flash, and black Ebb & Flow crops.

I actually wore my Lift Your Spirits jacket to the studio, but it was completely unnecessary as it was soooo hot!  I also wore my DvF Lana Thong sandals, until I got there and put on toezies.  =)

Sunday 3/3 - I had every good intention of getting up early and going to hot yoga today to stretch and sweat out the last of my toxins lol.  But I was just too sore and tired!  My body was hurting so I thought it was best to let it rest.  Plus I had a full day planned, so I could have used a more relaxing morning.  I don't feel guilty though, since I went 5 times this week already.  I'm kind of excited to be able to eat more stuff tomorrow!  But for some reason I can't even imagine gorging on lots of high carb or oily type of food.  I just want fruits or something.  This is so unlike me!  Lol!