improve yo self

april is just around the corner -literally- and i have a bit of self spring cleaning on my to-do list. instead of rattling off a million goals, i have narrowed it down to these three . . .

1. channel my inner bookworm.
i challenged myself to read 4 books, simultaneously a couple of months ago. something i haven't done since high school! it had me in a bit of a twist, but my noggin switched over to multitask mode and saved the day. that got me thinking, why don't i make more time for a little book lovin'? and it doesn't even have to be a tug-of-war between multiple titles. why not aspire to read a minimum of 1 book per month? so april, here we go.

2. drinking in that sweet cardio.
my pain has been fairly low this past month, so i plan to begin incorporating more heart-pumping, sweat-inducing routines :)

3. limiting the libations.
a glass of wine here. a refreshing spirit there. in reality, i do not drink all too often. typically socially, to be honest. more than anything, i'd like to become more aware of when i do feel like having a glass of wine, vs the autopilot, "sure," reply when offered. i don't know how that became habit, but it is embarrassing to admit. and with all the tum tum woes, limiting consumption is for the best. not to mention, overall healthier. so, for april i will be libations free. 

these goals may seem super simple.easy as cake to some. this is where i am at though. and that is okay.

do you have any monthly ambitions? or just something you are consciously trying to work on?

peace. love. :)
yay

my california adventure

i had such a fun day at california adventure yesterday!

we drove out thursday afternoon. our workday was shortened, since we left at 4:00 pm, but holy moly did the day feel eternal! it's sort of funny that we live in a "destination city" and could not wait to leave town, even if just for a day. anyone else feel the same?

the drive was pretty darn smooth. we stopped twice; once for a close encounter of the jerky kind (at alien fresh jerky), and again for dinner. thank goodness for chipotle. they offer enough of a variety that allows for a reasonably healthy bite on the fly. boy were we all beat by the time we arrived at our hotel. it was pretty much a shower-and-hit-the-sack kind of night.

thursday afternoon: t-minus 2 minutes
to take-off! seatbelt buckled. sunglasses in
place. road trip face on. ready to roll!

no cali road trip is complete without
stopping for some out-of-this-world
alien jerky ;)

friday morning we were up before the sun, showered, dressed, checked out of our hotel, and ready to get our disney on :)

all smiles as we boarded the tram.

i spy a roller coaster!!

and plenty of sun & fun were had

one snapshot before our wild ride.
these are our roller coaster faces lol

mr. potato head was quite the jokester

walked in searching for a mickey
baseball cap. walked out with
this! it even has floppy ears
just like goofy!

my favorite cartoon pup in the flesh :)

le tower de terror. oh, so many
screams to be had ;0

i'm pretty sure mrs. incredible squats
because boy does that girl got booty! lol

this was the first out-of-town trip (besides camping) i have made since fully integrating the low FODMAP diet, and boy did i get a taste of how difficult it is to eat allergy-free on the road. good thing i thought ahead and brought home baked "peanut butter" banana protein muffins, a gf bun, 3 justin's vanilla almond butter pouches, 3 kind bars, a banana, and buffalo jerky. the team agreed to lunch at pacific wharf cafe. the lady taking my order looked at me like i was absolutely insane when i ordered the turkey sandwich sans bread and cheese. yes, i am completely aware that the final product will include turkey, lettuce, and tomato. that my dear, is exactly what i am asking for. seriously though,  how can allergy-free (or at least allergy-consious) dining not be more popular these days? but, i digress . . .

the day flew by, to be honest. before we knew it, the clock read 4:00 pm, and it was about time to begin the slow shuffle back to the cars. my one rant is that returning traffic was terrible! it took us 6.5 slow, nearly unbearable hours to make it home. generally, it takes 4 hours. and end rant. lol . . .

super fun day overall! i wish the dude could have met me in anaheim, like he has done the past 2 years, so that we could have continue on to the coast for the weekend. le sigh. oh well, there is always next year :)

any plans for this weekend? is anyone on spring break vaca? i nearly forgot about spring break, since i have been out of college for a while lol. oh, the things the mind leaves behind . . . 

peace. love. :)
yay

five friday favorites #2

happy friday! sending smiles all the way from california adventures! eeek, can't wait to tell you all about my trip :)

but first . . . my top faves of the week . . . 

1. favorite skin care product:

now that the sun has come out to play, sunscreen is a girl's best friend. don't get me wrong, i am in no way close to begin an old lady, but 30 is just around the corner (next year, yikes!), so skin care is high on my healthy-self priority list! 

2. favorite treat:

the mercury is beginning its yearly rise, which means . . . it's sno cone season! so happy i found this little local gem. they have about a bazillion (yes, i said bazillion) different flavors. and 12 or so sugar-free (stevia based) flavors too! this one is sugar-free birthday cake! my faaaaavorite!!

3. favorite OOD:

long live Heisenberg! lol but seriously, pairing this tank with an uber girly cardigan tickled me pink ;) not too sure my legs are short-season ready, but what the heck. i was having a confident body moment at the time. truth is, i am human, a women, and not perfect. deal with it haha.

4. favorite movie quote:

source

this movie will never get old! the airplane scene gets me every time. stove! and kristen wigg rocks my socks! she is so freaking funny, and talented. it's been a while since she left SNL, but gosh do i still miss her!

5. favorite happy place:

source

well duh haha! how can one be at the happiest place on earth and not say that it's his or her favorite place?!


i hope you are all having a great week so far. 

do you have a travel destination tradition? or maybe someplace you would go if you had a travel tradition?

peace. love. :)
yay

mickey on the brain

what could be better than a short workday on my friday? . . . well, a short workday on my friday and a trip to the magical kingdom, of course!!

sounds so unlike work life (because it is ha), but my work team began the tradition of taking an annual disneyland trip three years ago. this go 'round we all voted to take on california adventures! is it just me, or does it feel like that park just opened?! maybe it's because i was no longer a cali resident the day its doors first opened (13 years ago!!). crazy how life just flies by when you are busy growing up, going to college, making a life for yourself, etc . . . lol

source

i don't really know what to expect, but i will say that i am most excited to ride this ride . . .

source

the tower of terror!! (cue spooky howling) this girl is a roller coaster, thrill-ride lover!!

i will try to take as many pictures as my iphone will allow. since it's just a day trip, i packed as light as possible (like one tee and a hoody light haha), so i left the 'ol DSLR camera at home. it was just not worth the extra weight.

i will have a "five friday favorites" for you all tomorrow!

peace. love. :)
yay

five friday favorites #1

happy friday!

for the first time in a while, i sidestepped the looming pressure to go into the office on an off-day for over time. extra hours are undoubtedly a glittering allure. sometimes though, it is absolutely necessary to put yourself before the job, in order to retain a morsel of sanity. truth be told, i am exceptionally drained. taking a me day is precisely what the doctor ordered!

this brain of mine has been pondering ways in which to post more frequently, without the snooze of life's day-to-day details. one, mine isn't all too exciting. two, it is likely more of a boring read than not. after a mini quest for inspiration, two post types continued to rattle around in my noodle and make themselves heard. the first involves a "weekly check-in" of sorts. the second is more or less an ode to the author's daily, weekly, or monthly favorite event, workouts, songs, videos, etc . . . i liked both so much and thought, why not combine the two?

so, please join me in an experiment of sorts. ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to read is an attempt to incorporate tidbits of my week, along with silly, happy, fun stuff that caught my senses. and since i absolutely adore alliterations -can't even keep from making one just now!- i give you "five friday favorites."

it may not be a pioneer post. someone, is sure to have already done it. no sweat. if it is simply a new-to-HHF post, i am A-okay with that. :)

so without further adieu . . .


1.
favorite sound: "your love" by the outfield. take a listen here.

can't really explain my obsession with this song as of late. especially when you really stop and listen to the lyrics. it is not at all the "love song" the title makes it out to be. to be fair, it has a highly infectious sound that provokes toe-tapping, head-bobbing, and whole-body-swaying reactions. '80s songs always resonate so deeply with me. probably because the stereo was rarely silent in my house, growing up.

2.
favorite giggle:



tanya and the hardings!! dj cornmeal!! how can they not know?! forever rofl!

this week was pretty terrible. allover, it wasn't the absolute worst, but there were several times i nearly had a lock-myself-in-a-bathroom-stall-and-ugly-cry kind of moment. a work friend sent this video to me. she must have known i needed a good laugh. i was literally lol'ing so hard. for 4 minutes and 57 seconds, the weight of the world cascaded off my back . . .

3.
favorite inspiration:

source

this caught my little eye whilst glancing through spring quotes yesterday. it makes me want to paint, dance, and spin around carelessly. it's absolutely darling!

4.
favorite read:

source

after a riveting start, a few lulls, being put on the back burner in order to prioritize work-reaquired reads, followed by a greedy binge-read to the end -my eyes just couldn't read the last 3rd fast enough- i have finished the 1st of JP's Alex Cross series. my initial introduction to James Patterson was his novel Mary Mary. i read Cross and Double Cross, before deciding that i had to start the series from the very beginning.

i purchased the first 3 novels in the series used, on amazon. intrigued? you can pick up your copy here.

5.
favorite IG:

Source

this precious little face never ceases to bring an upward curl to my lips. she is just so precious! anyone have a guilty safe for work website you like to indulge in? her IG is one of mine. i mean, what is there not to love!? check lil bub out for yourself here.


well, i hope you lovelies have a fabulous weekend. enjoy the sun and warm weather if you, like myself, live in a place of near perpetual sunlight. for those of you that are still under x-feet of snow, i send sunny, warm vibes!

peace. love. :)
yay

sweet spring has sprung!

truth be told, it has felt like spring in my neck of the woods for well over a month . . . still, i am tickled to officially welcome warmer days, blooming buds, sunny skies, fresh frocks, sandal season, and the many other delights this season brings!

no post today, but i will be back with a new post concept tomorrow!

peace, love :)

let's get serious - an up-close-and-personal account (part two)

if you missed part one, no worries. you can find it here. :)

let's talk about life.

a sizable part of current life is . . . (drum roll) wedding planning! to be honest, things have gone very smoothly so far. at times i have even been so bold as to think, "this is it? this is what women spend hours, days, weeks, months, years obsessing about?!" not to downplay the big day, as it is soon to be my most monumental life event thus far. needless to say, i don't want anything bad to happen, but expecting perfection is off the table. if the caterer is delayed, or the centerpieces aren't just so, or if crazy grandpa joe doesn't show up in the most wedding-appropriate attire, etc . . . guess what? life will still go on. perhaps this girl didn't inherit the "wedding gene," like most girls. it's not for a lack of caring for the fine details, but rather a preferential focus on the big picture. my guy. me. our love for one another. two families becoming one. what could be more important?

truthfully, this has been a fun, eye-opening experience. who knew so many things had to come together for one day. thankfully, we have a fabulous wedding coordinating team that we absolutely adore! and jared's mom has been more than helpful along the way. the burr that keeps jabbing at once deeply buried, tender spots has been the emphasis wedding planning puts on all the mother-daughter traditions that a girl without a typical mother figure is forced to miss out on. don't mistake this for a boo-hoo, poor me moment please. it is genuinely tough feeling out of place, being left to do all of the normal mother-daughter wedding stuff solo. and admittedly, it can be sort of embarrassing too. maybe if i weren't so dreadfully honest things would be different, but that all too familiar burning reaches my cheeks with each confession to having done x, y, and z alone. inquiring minds always seem to gravitate towards those oh, so awkward questions . . . sigh.

one not so happy experience (that culminated in a series of events, ongoing for the past 7 years) was the secession of my once most treasured friendship. sometimes life presents events that bring people closer together. on the flip side, sometimes the exact opposite happens as a result of that same event. sadly, this girl has been fighting a losing battle that climaxed and fizzled out last month. a struggle to hold fast to something and someone so important. a tug-of-war in which i was the only participant, because it turns out the other end of the rope was abandoned along the way. it's sad. call it naive even, but this memory will certainly leave a lingering bitterness . . .    

on a lighter note, the day-to-day has been mostly work. we've hit our spring peak, so it has been a non-stop, crazy, insanely nuts hustle!! i am usually a 4-10er, monday through thursday. the past few weeks have lead to more of a 5-10er lifestyle. consequently leading to constant crazy, stupid exhaustion. the payout though? mad overtime! more money in the bank. definitely not a bad thing considering we have a wedding to pay for, which won't pay for itself haha.

also work related . . . i received a promotion! this girl is a lead copywriter! officially, it happened the last week of january. just another thing waiting to be shared. :)

and that about wraps up life today. my "big picture" goal is to keep trekking towards the light, towards mental, emotional, and physical happiness.

peace. love.
yay

let's get serious - an up-close-and-personal account (part one)

the past two and a half months have been insane. longer than that actually. not having posted in a while is tough to swallow. feeling the original vision for this blog has escaped me, is as well. at the same time, so much has happened from post numero uno up until now. in the blink of an eye, nearly everything has changed. within less than a year. . . for that reason, taking a step back was very much needed. time to regroup. re-prioritize. rethink goals to better fit life as it is now. rediscover this girl's groove . . .

this project has been ongoing since the middle of january. new year's resolutions don't appeal to me, so the timing is sort of ironic. in reality, the day-to-day was becoming a bit too much, and this wavy-haired head of mine was beginning to dip below the water's surface . . .  now that the reins are more steady in these little hands, i'd like to share . . . 

health. workouts. diet. what's the deal?

before we dive in, on a health-related note, being snotty-sick for the majority of this year was less than bueno. the flu has not lassoed me in years! back-to-back ensnarement was its trap this time. so glad my immune system finally decided to intervene!

truth be told, i have been dealing with several non-emergent health issues for the past 10 years. it has lead to seeing a number of doctors. several specialists. undergoing a plethora of tests. numerous hours spent in doctor's offices. years of being sick of being sick. this girl is thrilled to report that since the fall, a few key findings have been made. there is still a long road ahead, but i am making strides towards understanding this body, and beginning to feel better.

a huge win was finally uncovering my stomach's love-hate relationship with food. learning definitively that i suffer from ibs was no surprise. discovering sugar malabsorption is a real condition, and the true root to every stomach woe, was nearly mind blowing. banishing all one hundred million food triggers has impacted day-to-day life immensely. it is still a trial-by-error process (because the list of "potential" triggers is incessantly long), but it has lead to having a better grasp on which foods to avoid at all costs, which can be indulged on every now and then (because many happen to be favorite foods and let's face it, one can't simply banish all things good!), and which can be feasted on to this picky stomach's content . . .

you may have wondered why it has been a while since an emphasis on workouts has been a post focus. or maybe you haven't. who knows ;) it is most certainly not due to having abandoned my training goals. with the health stuffs mentioned earlier (that include pain issues that have yet to be understood), tailoring workouts to what feels best on my body on that given day has been a must. something that makes planning workouts in advance rather difficult. yoga has been a big part of life again. sweaty gym seshs are not just a thing of the past, but this body of mine requires patience and needs to be weaned back into tough, demanding workouts . . .