Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Stepping Into Fall - Booties

I am so not ready for summer to be over, but I'm also starting to think about what I need to purchase for fall. One of the things that I know that I definitely need is a pair of booties - or 2 or 3 :)  I'll more than likely get a pair of black ones in case I only get one.

Below are some that I'm contemplating.  The top row is DSW, the middle row is Famous Footwear and the bottom row is Zappos.com




Top Row: Aerosoles Sawcurity Bootie; Indigo RD. Veraly Chelsea Boot; Dolce Vita Karsen Bootie
Middle Row: Rocket Dog Sam Lace Up Ankle Boot; Circus Vikki Bootie; indigo rd. Chanted Embroidered Bootie
Bottom Row: Guess Visen; STATE Taila; Pikolinos Rotterdam









Monday, August 28, 2017

What I'm Eating This Week - Meal Prep Taco Bowls with Roasted Veg and Chicken

This week's lunch is a great, veggie heavy meal prep bowl with a Mexican twist.

First the veggies.  These are ones that I picked up recently at the farmer's market.


There's a pepper, a zucchini, a yellow squash, two banana peppers and some carrots - including two purple ones.







Have you ever had purple carrots before?  They taste like regular carrots, they just look really cool.  Here's one cut in half.






I chopped all of the veg and then tossed with a tablespoon of olive oil and some taco seasoning.  I get my taco seasoning at Whole Foods.  And then I roasted them at 350 for 30 minutes.




The bowls come together with some cauliflower rice, the veg, some leftover chicken and some peach mango salsa.



Really easy, really quick, really yummy :)

Friday, August 25, 2017

"Come And Eat" - a review


"Come and Eat" by Bri McKoy

"What if there is more power in the simple invitation than we can even begin to fathom?"

"It's about discovering that perhaps before we invite people to meet Jesus at church or at Christian events, we should invite them to meet Him at our table."

These two quotes from the book "Come & Eat," by Bri McKoy, really sum up the book  The idea is that when we take the time to break bread with someone, we have the opportunity to not just feed their body, but to feed their soul.


Now I want to add the caveat, that we're not talking about tacking a salvation message to the end of every meal that we invite people to, or that we use a shared meal as a place to beat people with the Gospel message.  No, what Bri is encouraging and I am longing for is a place where we can share a meal and share ourselves with no pretense or expectations.  


I work in medical research, and I work on a floor with a large number of Chinese, and I have had the honor and the privilege to share meals with them, both at work and outside of work.  I consider it an honor when they include me in their meals - even when we're all just eating what we packed for the day.  We often talk about American and Chinese culture or food  and sometimes the conversations around me are in Chinese, but I am still honored to be there.

Getting to know these people, and getting to eat with them, reminds me of my childhood.  So many of my favorite childhood memories center around food.  I started making cornbread at my grandparents' house when I was still short enough that I had to stand on a stool.  I think back fondly on sitting at the "kids" table at holidays with my sister and our two cousins.



Food draws us together, to some extent it defines who we are, and when we invite people to dine with us, we have the opportunity to get to know them better than if we were doing something else.  And it is in this getting to know people that the Lord may reveal how we can minister to them.

This book has really made me think.  And it has made me so thankful for the tables that the Lord has brought me to over the years.  This book will make you laugh, and it will make you cry.  And you will never look at a simple invitation to dine the same way again.



"We sit at these tables because these are the tables Jesus sat at.  The tables holding wounded peopel with raw, breaking hearts.  God seats us at these tables to be used by Him as a healing balm, but he also seats us there to bring us into contact with our own brokenness."  ~Bri McKoy


#ComeandEatMovement

Monday, August 21, 2017

My Current Workout Routine

The two main things that I have done to get in shape are walk and workout videos.  Right now I try and get about 12,000 steps in each day and then 5 to 6 days a week I do some sort of a workout, usually in the evenings. 

The biggest problem that I’ve had with workout videos has been boredom.  I tried finding different workouts on the web, but I stink at ones where they just give you a list of exercises and maybe a video showing one or two reps.

Fitness Blender
A few months ago while reading blogs, I came across a mention of a website called Fitness Blender.  Basically they have free workout videos that you can watch either on their website or on YouTube. 
They also have workout programs that you can purchase, that tell you which workouts to do on what day to focus on a specific area.  Some of their programs include:
  •         2 Week FB Blend to Burn Fat & Build Muscle
  •         FB Abs: 4 Week Core Program for Abs, Oblique, and Lower Back
  •         FB Reach: 4 Week Stretching, Yoga and Pilates Program for Flexibility & Total Body Toning
  •         4 Week Workout Program for People Who Get Bored Easily
  •         FB Flex: 4 Week Upper Body Program for Arms, Shoulder, Chest and Upper Back


I’ve done the Abs one twice and am doing the FB Reach one currently.  Right now I’m planning on doing FB Flex next.


What I really like about the programs is that they provide full videos.  That was important to me, as I said before, I do not like when all you get is a list of exercises and maybe a quick video of one or two repetitions.  I also like that they give you modifications if you need to make it easier.  The only thing that I don’t like is that you can’t move things around on the calendar.  Once you pick your start day it populates it and you can’t move it.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Conference in DC - What I Wore

The beginning part of last week was spent in DC for a conference for work.  During the day, the attire was business, but at night, the attire was casual.  In planning my outfits, I wanted to make sure that everything that I packed was comfortable, and that for Monday and Tuesday's outfits, could easily change from business to casual.

Sunday:
Unfortunately, I didn't think to get a picture of what I wore for the drive down, it was  tank top dress, that is extremely comfortable.  For the opening reception, the theme was Hawaiian Luau, and was a more casual event.  I opted for a green, strapless dress that I got at Banana Republic Outlet and a black shrug.  To keep it from feeling too dressy, I wore a pair of flip flops with some faux jewel detailing to the strap.

Monday:
Monday's business outfit was a pencil skirt that has a blue under-layer and then a purple lace layer on top.  I paired with a purple-ish tank and blue cardigan.  For the evening I just swapped out the skirt for a pair of distressed cropped jeans.  For shoes, I did a black wedge sandal during the day, but, since it was raining in the evening, I opted for a pair of black flats.



Tuesday:
Tuesday's outfits were my favorites.  I work an orange short sleeve sweater and brown skirt with brown wedge sandals during the day, and then switched into a pair of distressed cropped jeans for the evening, and I was able to stay with the same shoes.


Wednesday:
I knew that I would be tired by Wednesday, so I went with a pair of wide legged trousers, a white and black shell and a black cardigan and black wedge sandals.  For the drive back home, I actually just wore a t-shirt, yoga pants and flip flops (no picture though).


The thing that I liked about all of my outfits were that they were comfortable and for Monday and Tuesday, there wasn't much needed to switch from business to casual.





Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Loving Lately

Recently I ordered the new Naked Heat Palette from Urban Decay, along with two eyeliners to go along with it.   Let me just tell you that I am loving all three.  And with names like En Fuego and He Devil, they are fun to use as well.





Not the best picture, I really need to figure out the whole selfy thing :)
The eye shadow palette has some gorgeous, warm-toned hues.  What's really great is that you can do a subtle look or a bold one all with the same palette.  Which one I do depends on my mood.  Today I used more of the darker, purple hues, and the other day I did almost a neutral eye.  I'm wearing He Devil in my crease and then on my lid, starting in the corner and going out, I'm wearing Ember, En Fuego and then Ashes.  Finally, I used Ounce for along the brow.

The eyeliners that I picked up are the shades Torch, which is an orangy color, and Alkaline, which is purple.  I'm still using Oil Slick on my upper lid, but have been enjoying using these two on my lower ones, sometimes both at the same time.







Monday, August 14, 2017

Quick Update

The past three weeks have been extremely hectic for us.  We did our annual trip to Northwestern PA, we were home for a week in which we had appointments just about every night, and then we were at a conference.  While I had hoped to get some posts written and prepped before we traveled last week, I'm not quite that organized.  I would love to be one of those bloggers who have all of their posts written and just about perfect a month out, but I'm not.  Heck, I'm impressed that I can manage to menu plan for the week.
Fish at the Spillway at Pymatuning Lake

At any rate, we're home for awhile, and I am going to try and get organized with blogging.  We'll see how it goes.
View from our hotel in DC

I do have some upcoming posts swirling in my head right now at least.  I have a book that I just finished that I want to review for you, some new makeup that I'm loving and a recap of what I wore at the conference.


Only on a college campus

Friday, August 4, 2017

A Green and White Salad

I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I bought the veg for this week's salad.  I'm not quite sure that I was thinking at all :)  Maybe it was the fact that I was trying to hurry.  Or maybe it was that I was exhausted since we had just gotten back from a trip and had no groceries in the house.  Regardless of the why or the how, I ended up with a green and white salad.





Usually when I make salads, I like to keep it somewhat colorful, even if it's just adding in some orange carrots.  But this week, everything is green and white - zucchini, cucumber, mushrooms, green pepper.


Maybe it was the salad dressing choice that inspired me, but I decided to do the zucchini as zoodles.  The dressing that I'm using this week is an Asian one, and I do like to eat my salads with chopsticks, so the noodles kind of make sense. At least in my mind they do :)


This salad also goes to show you that you don't need lettuce in a salad to have a fun and yummy one.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Pink and Grey

I love playing with different color combinations, and lately I've been thinking about pink and grey.  The pink dress and heels gives the look a flirty, girly appeal, and the grey cardigan keeps it from looking too much like an ode to Legally Blonde.



Dress: Cutout Pocket Sheath Dress
Cardigan: Shimmer Signature 3/4 Sleeve Cardigan
Shoes: Strappy Cutout Block Heels

This post isn't sponsored, just items that I found while shopping online.