4th of July Crayon Canvas

Hey, hey!  I just posted about perfect posture on The Loss Cause so read it here.

If you are here for and actual DIY project, you are in luck!!!!!!!  That's right, I finally did something to possibly link up... but probably not because I'm not sure if I love it enough.

I like the idea of this project but now, having "finished" it, I don't feel like it's completely finished.

I took crayons and stuffed them in my hot glue gun.  Then I pushed them in with a glue stick and made little melted crayon dots on the canvas.  I think I should make the entire stripe dense like the part around the star, then it might feel complete.  What do you think?



Oh, and this does make your hot glue colored for a while so be prepared for that.

And I think that possibly it might work just as well if you have a candle and just melt the crayon over it little by little and put the drops of crayon on the canvas.  That would save a glue gun.  I haven't tried it though, but theoretically...

Feature Post: Momegranate

I'm excited to tell you about this fun website I recently found.  Momegranate.


Momegranate is a website that helps moms find great products that will make their lives better and easier as a woman, as a spouse, and as a mother. They feature 5 products each day. Each month on their blog they also feature Mom-owned businesses that create great products for moms and those they love. Check out the five featured products each day and visit their blog for product reviews and to learn more about the Moms behind Momegranate.


Another thing that makes them awesome is that they are sponsoring me, which makes me happy. And I really like being happy.  :)

Check out Momegranate!

The Secret of Keeping Fit while on a Business Trip

One of the things that really messes up diet and exercise is travel.  Vacations.  Work trips.  Travel.  So today I have a guest blogger, Mike from Manning's Musings, who travels a lot.  He has a few tips that I've found are spot on with traveling.

My name is Michael and I am a Fitness and healthy living enthusiast who tries to see the best in all situations. I love to hike, run, weight lift, travel, camp, cook, and be outside. Traveling the world and seeing nature's beauty is my hobby and staying healthy through that is essential to me.

Patronize Restaurants that Serve Foods on Your Personal Menu

Unless you are staying in a hotel with a kitchenette, you are going to have to eat out at restaurants more often than you do at home. However, you can find restaurants that have foods that comply with your diet. It’s also a good idea to take snack food that you can eat when it’s not possible to go to an appropriate restaurant. Don’t forget to have plenty of water with you so that you aren’t forced to purchase sugary or caffeinated drinks.

Take Your Running Shoes with You

Traveling doesn’t have to mean that you miss out on exercising. One of the simplest things you can do is pack your running shoes and take an occasional jog when you arrive at your destination. It’s a great way to stretch out your muscles after being cramped in uncomfortable airplane seats for several hours at a time.

Running around an unfamiliar town or country gives you an opportunity to see what you wouldn’t be able to see if you were riding in a taxi. You also have the chance to meet people who live in the city, and this doesn’t ordinarily happen when you remain in the lobby of your hotel.

Exercise to Reduce Stress

If you are traveling for business, you may find that your travels are causing you to experience a little stress. When this occurs, it’s critical that you exercise, but it’s equally important that you spend a sufficient amount of time breathing the country’s fresh air and enjoying the sun’s natural light. A business trip is antithetical to this plan because you are indoors a large portion of the day where you are under unnatural light and are forced to sit for long periods of time. This doesn’t help to decrease stress.

Although you may be going to an exotic location, the fact that you are going there to work means that you will have little time to take a swim in the pool. However, you must make the time to exercise in order to reduce your elevated levels of the stress chemical cortisol.

Seek a Hotel with a Fitness Center

Obviously, eating right and exercising is not just about how you look. It is what will prevent you from getting sick on your business trip and keep you in shape. The fact is that several hotels have well-equipped fitness centers that can help you continue your workout routines. In order to find these hotels you need to do a little research before booking. On a recent trip to Maui I used a site called Gogobot in order to find out which hotels had fitness centers open at all times. I was able to find a list of Maui hotels and could scan through in order to see which ones had these amenities. Due to this I was able to workout bright and early in order to save time to hit the beach all day.

Meeting with the Trainer

I posted about my meeting with the personal trainer on my new blog, The Loss Cause.  Check it out!

I'll be doing the fitness posts there from now on so follow me there if you'd like.

Vacation: Over

Oh hey, it's been a while.  I was on vacation last week (pictures to come) and the week before... well, I was so mad I couldn't blog.

It all began when my husband started getting cold feet about buying the house -- the one we were supposed to close 10 days ago.  Well, long story short, we didn't buy the house.  And I say "we" lightly.  Because I still wanted it.  But it's kind of a thing where we both have to be in on it.  Especially since the one with the job was the one who wanted out.

We are out $2,000.

Me = Angry for days.

There's a lot I could have done with $2,000.

I'm okay now.  I still have my moments but I get it.  I'm sure there will be a time where we'll both be like, "remember when we were going to buy that house?  So glad we didn't."  Someday.

On a happy note, our vacation was awesome!  If you follow me on Instagram (@theturquoisepiano) you already know that we went to Disneyland.  We drove and decided where to stay and for how long as we went.  I can be a planner, but we had no plans when we left except for the dates of Disneyland and Sea World.  It was really relaxing.

I did't watch what I ate the whole time and I don't think I even ate a vegetable, unfortunately.  The crappy thing is that no matter how I look, if I don't eat well I feel fat.  But sometimes (like on vacation) the hassle isn't worth it.  And a big part of traveling for me is experiencing the food.

I have a meeting with my trainer tomorrow and I'm pretty sure I'll be eating egg whites and oatmeal for the next 4 months (until the figure show I'm planning on doing in October).

My Life Likened to a Children's Book

You know the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar?

  

In case it has been a while or you haven't read it yet, this caterpillar starts out as an egg, then hatches to a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.  Monday through Friday he eats healthy fruits, but then on Saturday he has a junk food binge and gets a stomachache.  Then on Sunday he eats a leaf and feels much better.

Hey, that's my life.  

Actually I hadn't had a treat (besides one bowl of ice cream for my birthday) for two months.  Then last Friday I mentioned that we should go out for sushi.  

So we did.

Then I thought that chocolate chip cookies sounded fantastic.  We made a batch and I ate a ton of cookie dough. Then like a dozen cookies.

Hey, when I make a commitment I go all the way.

That night I had a stomachache.  

And the next morning I had an even bigger stomachache, as well as nausea.  

For some reason I thought that I should try to run off the ickiness -- because running always makes you feel better -- so I strapped Sophie in the jogger and took off.  

You know that for me, what happens in the bushes stays in the bushes... and on the blog.  Let's just say that poor Sophie had to park it at the edge of the road while I was sick in the bushes.  

Right next to an auto expo and a million people.  

Awesome.

I'm not sure if it was the raw eggs or the raw fish but I was pretty much out that day.  

The moral of the story is either to not eat raw food, don't go running when you are about to throw up, control your binges, or all of the above.

But I am going to start my figure show training in June and wanted a little binge treat before then.

National $5 Off of The Color Run

Yesterday I was cleaning our house and I came across something that told me Tom is cheating.

Remember how we tried eating solely vegan for a month and decided to make it a general lifestyle with meat a couple of times a month?  Well, let me tell you that this was Tom's idea.  I was thinking of having meat like once or twice a week and he was the one to suggest it be per month, not week.

Then I saw room service receipts from his business trip last week.  On that list (and these were the only things on it), rack of lamb, crab cakes, and hamburger.

Well duh!  He doesn't need to eat meat more than a couple of times a month!  He's already doing it while he's away!

So I called him and told him I knew of his cheating ways.

And for the record, I don't really care if he eats meat or if we eat it more than a couple of times a month.  I eat eggs almost every day though.  I'm not vegan.  I'm not vegetarian, but I try to eat mostly like that.

Onto a great thing for all of you (who have The Color Run in your states/cities).  I just got a $5 off code for all The Color Runs in the US.  So now you can all get $5 off!

Just go to TheColorRun.com and put in this code:

COLOR5OFF