Monday, August 31, 2015

A Fresh Start

I officially went back to work last Thursday, but it was just prep work and staff meetings. Today marks the first day the kids are in school, and my first real day of work for this school year. I'm a little anxious, but I'm also excited! I enjoyed having my Summer off, but I'm looking forward to being in a routine again, and obviously the paychecks ;)
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I totally had no idea what to do with myself yesterday. I wanted to be productive, but I also wanted to just sleep in and relax. Sleeping in didn't really go as planned and I tried to force myself to go back to sleep, so I was just even more tired. I cleaned the house just the other day, so I only had 2 loads of laundry to get through. Usually cleaning the house makes me feel productive and accomplished, but not yesterday. Both dogs and Koshka laid around all day. It was hard to get Gunner up, but Spencer was his usual energetic, puppy self, haha!
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Today and tomorrow, September 1st, will be the beginning of a fresh start for me. I'm on day 22 of my 4th round of Whole30, but I plan to continue clean eating until at least Rob's birthday in October. I find it a lot harder to say no to certain foods (and wine) when I'm on day 31 or above because technically Whole30 was "over". I could do a Whole45 or Whole60, but I find it doesn't help with finding that balance. We also have a few events coming up that I won't have meals prepared for, like Thanksgiving in October.
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My fresh start will include me actually going to 30 Minute Hit and having a generally more positive attitude towards work and other things in general. It was exhausting to have a negative attitude waking up for work, so that is definitely going to change. 
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I've also been getting very bored with the regular foods I've eaten on Whole30, so I decided to stir things up a bit and actually try some of the recipes in their new book. Above is a breakfast, egg-free hash and it is SO good! My cousin and her boyfriend are starting their first round on September 10th and I am so excited! I really wish everyone would do a full round to feel how amazing they can actually feel. I made them dinner on Saturday night and made the sausage patties from the Whole30 book - they were actually really good! I didn't mix the ingredients well enough so we'd get mouthfuls of sage and garlic powder, but you live and learn, hahaha! 
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I've put so many tabs in the book, and I'm determined to make each recipe in there. I'm looking forward to Fall and when the weather cools down for those yummy crock pot dinners. It's just not the same in the Summer, for me. My first crockpot meal is going to be those pulled pork carnitas *heart eyes for days*. I've heard such good things about them, they can only be delicious.

My new favourite thing is to infuse water. Pictured above is the water I've been addicted to for the past 4 days. It has frozen raspberries and torn, fresh mint leaves. So, so good!

Do you have any big plans for Fall? 

xo. Nicole

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Ipsy - August Glam Bag

You guys, I don't know why I waited so long to sign up for Ipsy. It's seriously amazing. I love that it's relatively cheap too, for the amount of product you receive. Since starting and actually following through with my fitness journey, my self confidence has grown. It went from being basically non-existent to wearing tank tops and not thinking about my jiggle the entire time.
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With my self confidence growing, so has my love of make up. I'm usually just a mascara and white-eyeliner-in-the-corner-of-my-eyes kind of girl, but that's changed. I really don't know how to do my make up actually, and I refuse to wear concealer or "contour" (whatever that is). I'm good with how my skin looks, thanks. I just really like that I'm comfortable wearing lip stain or lip stick now!
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How convenient was it that Ipsy sent me a lipstick sample?! I love the colour and I'm happy that I got to try another shade, but I'm not really a huge fan of this one. It didn't last long and felt like I was wearing play lipstick. Do all lipsticks also taste like plastic or...lipstick, or do some actually feel weightless and are tasteless? I'm not sure I can really judge on that right now because I just don't know. I'll wear it again though because I really do love the colour on me!
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I'm glad that they added a nail polish in my bag! Purple is my favourite colour and it went on really nice. It's been about a week and it just started chipping a day or so ago. It's definitely time to redo my nails, but that's a pretty good time frame for polish!
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I haven't looked up this polish, so I'm not sure what colours there are and what their prices are like, but I plan to take a gander!

After everything, I'm looking forward to my next bag! Did you receive an Ipsy bag? Tell me what you think/thought!

xo. Nicole