Happy Almost Halloween!

Here are a few fun pics of our big Halloween Bash - The Mad Hatter's Ball. Will and I went as rockers, Amy Winehouse and Nikki Sixx.

Basically my outfit consist of:

Frankie Girls Wig - Halloween Express

Hanes men's tank - stole from Will

2 different colors of bras

jeans

ballet slippers - Payless Shoes

fake tattoos

Lots of eyeliner!

Sharpie pens

So they have a "Rehab" wig out there, but it was sold out! I really had to work the wig I found and put a beehive on there myself. I decided to leave the bangs as it, but I cut the other strands of white hair and colored in the white stitching with a black sharpie. I don't think it turned out too bad. Now that I see the pics, I realize I need more eyeliner. Of course there was another Amy Winehouse at the party, but I think I rocked it better :-)

If you don't have costume yet, here are a few pics of some great ones we saw that night plus a few of our fab decorations. Enjoy!

They Say That Cathing Up Is Hard To Do

Wow, I have been slacking on the blogs. Ever since the move and marriage, I feel like Will and I are constantly on the go. Between friends, family, the gym, and chores we never seem to have time to just sit. I miss those TV days... So of course my blogging has suffered too. Hopefully I can make up with a double post. I still managed to take pics for Tuesday and Wednesday outfits so here they are...

Tuesday's Outfit:

Metro champange cowl-neck pullover - Walmart

Bronze and silver dotted tank - Target

Nine West belt - Macy's

Bitter sailor pants - Steve & Barry's

Rounded toe heels - JCP

Wednesday's Outfit:

Cashmere bow-tie sweater - H&M (Nice)
Brown frill skirt - Anthropologie
Dollhouse brown peep-toes - Ross

Short and sweet post... Hope everyone is doing well!

Honest to God it was Cold This Morning!

So when I posted earlier, I had on a cute skirt and heels, but then I realized it was so cold and changed to pants at the last minute. Here's the details...

Same shirt and belt as my previous post

Black pants - Express

Nine West low boots - DSW

Argyle scarf - Banana Republic

So it looks like I wasn't the only one who had to adjust to the cold weather. Leslie had a last minute add-on too. I'm glad I'm not the only one :-)

So The Penny Pinching Princess has tagged me for the Honest Weblog so here are my 10 Honest Things...

1) I like to count my steps when I walk (esp on stairs).

2) I'm a speed limit driver.

3) I don't like to drink anything during my meals.

4) I think people with big noses are attractive ( I love Adrian Brody)

5) Spice Girls will always rule!

6) I love party favors! If I throw a party, most likely you'll walk out with a party favor.

7) I hate milk! I won't even eat it with cereal.

8) I hesitate when going down escalators. I fell once and never fully recovered from the trauma.

9) I took cake decorating classes because I wanted to make cakes like Ace of Cakes on Food Network.

10) I love to paint my nails right before I go to bed.

So now I am tagging:

KT's Sassy Blog

Cute On The Cheap

My Journey of Weight Loss and Polishing My Look

Fab Finds Under $50

My Life As A Cat Nanny

What Can I Say, This Is Me...

Slice of Life

Beccaboo

Party on, it's Friday!

Woo-hoo it's Friday! Yay!!! Here is my outfit:

IDRA white button-up - Anthropologie

Elevenses A line skirt - Anthropologie

Nine West Belt - Macy's

Hype lacey shoes - DSW

I am so glad it's Friday. Our Mad Hatter's Halloween Bash is tomorrow night and I can't wait! Tonight we are all getting together to finish decorating. The place should look like a Alice's Halloween Wonderland by the time we're done with it. This year we splurged on a dj and it looks like we have 80+ people coming. It's going to be insane and I can't wait! I still need to work on my costume. I am going as Amy Winehouse and Will is going as Nikki Sixx. Hopefully my hair will turn out okay. Of course I'll post pics later this weekend.

Sorry to keep this short, but I have to run. I hope everyone has a fantastic Friday!

Happy Birthday Will!

Happy Birthday to my sweetie! I snuck out of the office today and ran to Dessert Gallery to get him some cupcakes (because there is no need for a full cake in the house). So I thought I'd do my daily outfit pic in front of their jazzy sign. Here are my details...





Scarf - can't remember
Black 3/4 sleeve top - Ann Taylor Loft
Maroon pencil skirt - Old Navy
Nine West green purse - Ross
Rounded toe heels - JCP
Red velvet cupcakes - Dessert Gallery

Don't these cupcake look so good??? Don't worry Monica, thy are all Will's. I didn't have any :-)

Thank you to The Penny Pinching Princess for the I Love You Blog Award and she has also tagged me for the Honest Weblog. I am going to post the honesty list later tonight. For now, I have to keep this short and sweet since I am taking Will out for sushi (yummers!).

Classic Casual Wednesday

Even though I prefer to wear skirts and dresses, I felt the need to wear jeans today. Mostly because Will wanted to take the scooter to work. I haven't had the nerve to wear a skirt on the scooter yet. They always make it seen so romantic easy and carefree in the movies, but let's be realistic. I am not sitting side saddle on the streets of Houston. One good pothole and I'd hit the pavement. Yeah I'll sick to classic casual for the ride. Here are the details...

White button up with blue trimmed ruffles - Gap

Mossimo black pullover vest - Target

Jean - J Crew (from Holley)

So last night was a bit of a stressful night. I didn't get my cardio in like I wanted to. I was tooo busy working on my Halloween costume. V, Melissa, myself, and a few other friends are throwing our annual Halloween Bash this weekend. With all the moving and stuff going on, my costume got put on the back burner. So here I was running from store to store to pull my look together. It took forever with traffic. It was late and I was exhausted by the time I was done. I just made sure Will and I took a long walk after dinner. So should I tell you what my costume is? Anyone else dressing up???

OTG asked for some pointers on interval running. Well I guess I should explain how I got to doing this. I was an elliptical girl, but even though I worked up a good sweat, I could never get a good calorie burn. I have always hated running, but I knew it was the best cardio to burn calories. So I just hopped on and started to tackle it on my own and I'd have awful shin splints and would quit within minutes. When I told my trainer about my pain, she showed me some stretches (especially the calves) and I was good to go. She worked with me on the treadmill and pushed me where I was scared to go. I was so surprised how much I could really do. My endurance is so much better and I always try to push myself hard. The calorie burn is kind of an addiction. I haven't been on an elliptical machine since. So after all that, here's one of my basic 30 minute workouts on the treadmill... Of course, I am not a trainer and this is just what I like to do. If you have never really done much with a treadmill before, I suggest asking a staff member of your local gym to help you get started.

First of all, I make sure I stretch those muscles to help warm them up, then I hop on the treadmill.

I always start with a walk at 3.0 speed and will increase to 3.5 within 3 minutes.

Sprint intervals. Sprint at 6.0 speed for 30 seconds, then walk fast at 4.0 for 30 seconds. Repeat 6 times. I remember when my trainer 1st had me do this. I thought she was insane to have me run at 6.0 speed. My highest speed before was 4.0. To my amazement, I was able to actually do it. Now I try to sprint for 1 minute.

Small recovery - After my last 4.0 fast paced walk, I slow down to 3.6 or 3.7. Recover for 2 minutes.

Mild jog - Kick the speed back up anywhere from 4.5 - 4.8. Jog for 3 minutes (or the length of a standard song), recover at 3.5 for a minute if needed. Kick speed back up for mild jog for another 3 minutes. (I repeat this a 3rd or 4th time if I do cardio for an hour).

Incline walk - I put the incline at 3.0 and put my speed at 3.7. I gradually increase the speed after a minute to 3.8, then 3.9.

Incline run - Keeping the incline at 3.0, I kick up the speed to 5.0 and run for 30 seconds, decrease the speed to 3.6 and walk the incline. I try to repeat 4-5 times.

Recover - Decrease the incline back to 0 and I decrease the speed to 3.0. I gradually take the speed down to 2.5 in a couple of minutes, hop off, and then I stretch.

I really like the intervals b/c they are small goals throughout the workout. If I get through 1 section, I know I can recover and move on to the next one. Next thing you know, 30 minutes is up and you will feel great that you accomplished it.

Is it only Tuesday???

Well, I'm still trying to figure out the best places to take pics in the new place. Taking my outfit pics makes me realize how bare the walls are. Once I get the furniture situated where I want them, I'll start putting the pictures up. In the meantime, here is my daily outfit against my naked wall...

Adielle black cowl-neck - Anthropologie

French Connection red/grey skirt - Lot 8 (PR winner Chole Dao's store)

Maripe black peep-toe - Rack Room

So like I said before, the last 2 weeks have been insane and my workouts and diet have been lacking. I still managed to workout with my trainer, but cardio got put off completely. I kept thinking "I'm moving, and that's workout enough." Yeah, it might have been if I layed off the fast food. It's just so tough though when your cookware and food is packed up. I'm finally cooking healthy meals again, but now my worst enemy is cake. Don't get me wrong, I love a good cake when I see one, but it has been non stop cake for the past 5 days. Of course you'd think it would be easy to politely say no, but when the cake is in your honor, you have a slice...or two...maybe three. Yikes! No wonder I felt yuck!

Now it's time for damage control. Yesterday, I picked up my friend Melissa and we did 30 minute interval running on the treadmill. It was her first time to do my interval workout, but she did great! I am so proud of her! We burned a lot of calories in just 30 minutes and time flew by. We went on to strength training for the next 30 minutes and after all was said and done, we were on an endorphin high. I'll be back on the treadmill tonight right after I throw out the cake!

So You Tink You Can Dance Hot Momma?

Here is a little catch up on the lat 2 weeks that didn't involve moving or wedding...


My youngest brother works for a ticket agency and he scored us some sweet tickets to the So You Think You Can Dance Tour. We were huge fans of the show and I was so excited when he told me he got us front row, center seats. So the show starts and here I am snapping away with my camera, when boom, camera dies on me. My battery wasn't charged! Here are just a few pics I got before my camera went ka-put!










I also had a bunch of co-workers/friends have babies this past few weeks. My usually standard gift to new mommies are chic and fab diaper bags that look like oversize purses, but my friend Rebecca introduced me to her Hot Momma Wraps. Love them! I know a lot of new mommies have a hard time juggling everything under the sun while holding the baby. I've been to enough baby showers where Baby Bjorn were always appreciated gifts, but they were all so blah looking. My friend started making these wraps for herself and now she makes them for anyone and everyone. Since I had a baby shower to go to, I had her whip one up for me. It turned out so fab and so stylish. Here is the final product and my friend modeling her gift. Thanks Rebecca!

I'm Back and A New Woman!

Wow, what a whirlwind couple of weeks I've had since my absence here. I packed up the old place, moved in with Will, went to the So You Think You Can Dance Tour, and got MARRIED!

So I happen to have this white dress in the closet. I bought it this past summer and never wore it. I thought it would be perfect for the special occasion. Here are the details...

Isaac Mizrahi white dress - Target
Nine West heels - DSW
Necklace - Pei-San

Will and I have been planning a destination wedding for May 2009, but we didn't feel right moving in together without being married (call us old fashioned). So we headed to the JP and got hitched. We had our parents there and a small family dinner afterwards. We still plan on having the Mexcian wedding in May, we just did the legal stuff ahead of time.

Gone For A Bit

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've had a pretty hectic week and no Internet. I'm about to move in with my fiance (this weekend) and my old roommate took his wireless router with him when he moved out of the apartment. I can't seem to figure out how to access the Internet from the cable line. At work I can see people's blogs, but I can't post any or comment on any. Darn firewalls! Oh well... So this is just a quickie post explaining my absence. I will be back up and running in another week or so. Till then, I hope everyone is doing well. I'll still be reading the blogs at work. Keep looking fab!

Oh and by the way, dinner with the parents went really well. Thanks for all the well wishes!

Red-E for Friday!

Today is one of those days wear you build the outfit around the shoe. I really wanted to wear my red/black slingbacks. I got them back from the shoe hospital and they fit great again. Here's the look...

Mossimo short sleeve jacket - Target

Dark red top - Old Navy

Bitten boyfriend jeans - Steve & Barry's

Wild Rose red/black slingbacks - Shoe Cents

Purple beaded necklace - gift from Chau

Tonight is a big night for Will and me. Our parents are meeting for the first time. We have dinner planned at Canyon Cafe and it should be a good night. Will's mom is so sweet and I am so lucky to have an awesome future mother-in-law. Not sure if I'm going to change outfits for the occasion, but I'll let you know if I do.

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you're Red-E for the weekend!

Jumping For Joy This Thursday

So I thought I'd have a Pretty In Pink Thursday, but now I'm not too sure how pretty this outfit really is. Oh well, still wearing it anyways. At least the shoes rock. Thanks again Estella! Let me know what you think. Here are the details...

Xhiliration top - Target

White tank - Old Navy

Light pink skirt - Express

BCBGirls peep-toes - Gift from Estella

Jumping rope... Have you done this lately? I used to love it as a kid. I knew double dutch, criss-cross, double under, and the skier. I even did "Jump Rope For Heart" My BFF and I ruled the rope on the playground! So when I started working out again, I asked for a jump rope for my birthday. I had such fond memories as a child with my trusty red plastic rope. I figured I'd rekindle my love for it and get a good workout. Boy was I wrong! I guess I should explain how hot it is in Houston and I just don't care to be outside in extreme heat. So, I had this bright idea to jump rope in my apartment. Okay my whole apartment has carpet except the bathroom and kitchen, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. Like Tim Gunn says, "Make it work." I started on the living room carpet. It was so slow and I was tripping all over the place. My average was a good 3-5 jumps before tripping. So, I decide to move into my bathroom. It's a little narrow, but if I move my laundry hamper, I thought it might just work. I just needed some tile to jump on right? Yeah...the rope kept hitting the ceiling, hitting the toilet, bathtub, and anything else that could mess me up. My personal best was 10 jumps at the bathroom. I was still bound and determined to do this inside so I moved to the kitchen. In the kitchen, the wall, the counter, and the fridge weren't my friends, but the space was bigger. At least I once got 20 jumps in. After that whole fiasco, I hung my new jump rope back in the closet and haven't really taken it out since. So yesterday when my trainer told me I was going to jump rope during my session, I have to admit, I was a little nervous. I really didn't want to do 5 jumps or so and then trip in front of everyone. Well, let's just say, jumping was a breeze when you have nothing in the way. I got 68 jumps in in 30 seconds (yes, I was counting, Monica). Yay! I don't suck at jumping rope, I'm just a dork for trying to do it in the apartment (duh!). Since it's getting a little cooler outside, I may just take my jump rope back out and do a little criss-cross, double under, skier action. Hahaha... kinda makes me laugh at just the thought of it.

Maybe one of these days I'll tell you about my embarrassing hula hoop disaster at Target. Yes, I said Target :-) Till then, jump for joy... it's Thursday! The weekend is right around the corner.

Ramp It Up, It's A Purple-icious Hump Day!

Happy Wednesday! Here's today's look...

Purple Tee - Old Navy

Black pants - Express

Purple snakeskin peep-toes - Target

Black scarf - can't remember

Floral pin - gift from my cousin

Grey pearl necklace - gift from another cousin

I was cleaning out my closet in anticipation of my big move coming up and I came across these black pants from Express. I've had them forever and they still seem to have their magic. I swear no matter what size I am, these pants seem to miraculously fit. It's like those traveling pants except I am the only girl wearing them. I am happy to see they still fit!

And speaking of fit, of course I watched The Biggest Loser last night. The contestants were taken on a road trip where most didn't exercise because they didn't know what to do without the gym or their trainer. Here are some of my shortcut tips that give me that extra burn on any given day...

* Jumping Jacks - I sometimes do 30 jumping jacks as soon as I roll out of bed. Gets my heart going and it wakes me up, plus you'll be done in 30 seconds.

* Walking/marching in place while watching tv - I don't have a treadmill or any other cardio machine at home. Shows like Biggest loser are 2 hours long. You can still watch tv without being a couch potato.

*Household chores - Vacuuming, doing laundry, dusting, sweeping, mopping. You'd be surprised how many calories these burn, plus you can have a clean house. Ok so this really isn't my fav, but I'm always surprised I can bust a sweat when cleaning.

*Stroll around the office - My co-worker and I keep walking shoes at our desk and try to take strolls 2-3 times a day. If it's hot outside we just walk mini laps around the lobby for 10-15 minutes. It's our "smoke break"

*Ramp it up! On cool days, my fiancé or co-worker and I will walk out to the parking garage. We start at the bottom and walk up the ramps to the top level. When we get to the top, we sometimes do our Rocky moves :-) I always wonder if the people in the next building can see us. If so, I'm sure we give them a good chuckle.

All of these exercises require no equipment and aren't strenuous. They are just small things you can add to your day especially if you sit at a desk all day (like me). Hope this helps you to keep moving!