Gimme Pretty

Do you ever feel gross and ugly? I've been needing a haircut and some good hair products. Truth? I've been using Pantene, Vo5, Aussie, and other shampoos and conditioners that were either really cheap or free (for real free after coupon). I'm also sick of my lipsticks.

I took the day off from work and decided to take care of myself today. I found a stylist close to home at Carlton Hair and she was SO COOL. I got some hair products, a black cocktail dress, and some makeup. YAY for pampering days!

MAC Lipglass in PRRR


MAC Lipstick in Dubonnet (she's so gorgeous)


Back of hair. I LOVE how she took off so much of the weight. She cut about 6 inches off.


Front:


The rest of my stash: Joico shampoo and conditioner with some bonus reconstructors (the store I went to didn't carry Kerastase!), Bumble and Bumble thickening hairspray, and Morrocan hydrating mask. Thanks to the Fashion and Beauty Nesties for all your great recs and review!

Come To Jose

I had a Come to Jose moment tonight at the gym. Yes people, I know it's Jesus but I have a hard time using His name like that. Flame away. Just like some of you might think I'm off for saying holey moley and holey crap. I know it's "Holy" but for the same reasons I can't bring myself to spell it out in that context.

Anyway, I had a Personal Trainer (PT) tonight. He asked for my food and exercise logs for the past few weeks. I try to be super honest to myself on these logs just so I can see my food intake reality.

He said that my 2000 calorie meals consisting of chips, salsa, 20oz margaritas, and buffalo wings with ranch sauce will not be conducive to reaching my goals. Well DUH! In a month of exercising and trying to watch my food MOST of the time, I haven't lost a single pound. No significant change in how my clothes fit either. So disappointing. Onward.

So, my November goals are:

- no chips and salsa
- margaritas in moderation, no more than 2 drinks at a time
- no buffalo wings
- bye bye ranch sauce
- less red meat
- less processed and packaged crap, more fresh fruits and vegetables
- white rice, potatoes, and white pasta in serious moderation
- 20% fat, 50% carbs, and 30% protein as a guideline
- aim for 1500 calories a day, more or less depending on activity
- lift weights 2 to 3x a week, cardio 5x a week
- track my food intake every day

Bye bye:


Thanksgiving is right around the corner. God help me.

For my own record, tonight's workout:

15min precor warmup
Strength:
- circuit set of side skating with cones, then high step up lunges, then squats with 9 pound kettle ball shoulder lifts; repeat 3 times
- standing position lateral pull downs on machine with heels up, butt tight, and core engaged
- circuit set of 1-bent-legged stand with bicep curls while core engaged, then 1-bent-legged stand with shoulder press; repeat 3x
- circuit set of shoulder rows, then tricep extensions; repeat 2x
- ab work on bosu ball
Cardio: 30min on stationary bike.

Total time: 1:30
Calories burned: 700

Go D!

Roommates everlasting

Sophie and Caleb have been feeling a little neglected lately. They are my two little dogs, and they make the best roommates ever. I heart them so. Here are some recent goodies from my phone.

Caleb doing yoga. Child's pose. Namaste. And yes, that's my bra in the background.


Happy to be on their way to the dog park. Caleb is happy even though he looks terrified. He generally looks like that. Some friends have nicknamed him "Worried". Thanks Auntie MBOC for the sponsorship to our favorite park!


Dog park = happy and tired dogs. Must be nice. Hey! You can see my missing up, down, and left arrow keys.


Practicing for Halloween. Sophie's dress is so snug.

Cheers to good drinks and food, and to even better friends

It's no secret that Mr.10yt is gone for work a lot. That leaves me with no cable, 2 overgrown rats, a lot of gym time, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, good times with friends. Well last week I got lucky!

I imposed on a dinner event with Claire, weezermonkey, Mel, Ashley, StarL, and Nanners. Luckily, Claire offered to drive to Yucaipa, CA for the dinner. We were surprisingly early so we stopped for a few bites and more than a few drinks at Border Grill.





Mango mojito? Don't know. I think this was drink #4 for me in a 1.25 hour span. Yikes.


I'm the loser on the right who wore work clothes. I want Claire's legs and dress.


Then we made it over to Josie's for the rest of the clan! DineLA was extended by a week, lucky us. Luckier me because I had never been to a DineLA dinner before. I was so excited. These are Weezermonkey's pictures but she said I could use them.



How lucky we were to be able to celebrate Mel's birthday eve with her! She looks no older than 19, no? She don't crack, so she says. She's apparently right.



I won't share all the food pictures because I don't want to steal the Monkey's thunder, but I had a cocktail, soup, and steak, along with some other goodies. They were phenomenal.

The amoos boosh


I had the butternut squash soup to start


My entree


It's always a kickass time filled with juicy stories and tons of laughs when we get together. I just wish we could do it more often. Thanks for having me ladies. xoxo

My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades

I love my friends and clients sometimes. Some of them can read me like a book. Honestly? I cried like a moted F-bombing baby when I got these in the mail from a certain someone. That was after my heart started racing. I couldn't say thank you enough. I don't remember the last time I got myself a luxury item, I kind of stopped doing that a few years ago even though I splurge every now and then for certain gadgets.

Truth? I got some Tom Ford Whitney knockoffs from QT Sunglasses for like $11. I wanted the real ones but I was too cheap to buy them. I left them in my car when it was really hot, and the paint/plastic melted a little bit, so I pushed it back into place but a piece peeled off. I wore them anyway, and one day I took them off and they scratched my face right below my eye. Knockoff FAIL.

So imagine how I felt when I got these in the mail. I'm going to wear these indefinitely.


Obligatory EMO-let's-pretend-this-isn't-a-self-portrait picture:

Book Club Coolness in Texas

A lot of people may think book clubs are lame and boring. Excuse you! Not when they are done OC nestie style! Thanks to Marshy who offered to drive me and Yahpee to Texas for the occasion!

Amber hosted this month's book club "meeting" and chose the book Handmaid's Tale. I enjoyed it. I love that I'm reading books that I would have never chosen for myself.

Best part about book club is that we get a chance to see our friends and enjoy each other's company as well as good food! Wahoo!



Our eats!


Amber made these apple treats - how cute!

Plastic surgery

Earlier, I blogged here about having unrealistic physical goals. My good friend weezermonkey pointed out that most celebs have plastic surgery, and pointed me to www.goodplasticsurgery.com to see how a LOT of celebs have gone under the knife to look oh-so-perfect. I assumed that a lot of magazine photos are photoshopped, but oh brother I never thought some celebs had work done. I was secretly pleased to know that most people aren't perfect, even the ones that I thought were naturally born looking that way.

These are some doozies. Do you believe it or not?

Most people get their lips plumped, not reduced, right?


Laura Ingalls, huh?


I personally think that aside from the breasts, everything else is real. Agree or not?





Gorgeous either way, IMO.


Color me shocked. "Real" Housewives, indeed.


Is it really possible to get a gum reduction?


Nooooooo!

Field trip to the Santiago Art District

I love supporting small and local businesses. I may be a "chain" girl, but I try to branch out when I can. A night out to visit local artists and to see their work was an attempt at branching out for me. Fun!

My coworker told me about the Santiago Art District where she would be showing her work for the first time. For 2 years now, she has talked about her love of drawing and painting, so I was excited for her. My coworkers decided to make a night out of it. It was fun! There are lofts in this newly-built district, and the downstairs has an open gallery space that artists feature their work in. Celene's friend was kind enough to donate his space to her. Most artists have wine, drinks, and treats out for visits - nice touch. Most of the artwork is available for sale. I was also a happy girl that there was a Kogi bbq truck available.

The Santiago Art District is free to visitors, as is parking. There are also bands. It was a fun and relaxed night, and I was able to enjoy some quality time with my coworkers and Mr.10yt.

The proud artist, Celene:






Wine, treats, and handmade cards:


My cw Erica feeling thoughtful. OA!


Johnny and his wife Susie. I don't think these two ever fight. Very surreal. J-dubb love!


Kogi truck. Not bad. Lots of flavors in one burrito. More interesting than it was good, actually. For $5, what do you expect? It did the job.




Finally, my purchase from Celene's show. I'm not really an abstract art type of person, but the name of this piece spoke to me. And I love the colors as well as knowing that my little remembrance was made with love. Thanks Celene!

Unrealistic goals

Sometimes I really do think that somewhere along the way, I developed a super screwed up body image. Was it growing up in southern California? Playing with Barbies? Working at a certain place? Reading fashion, teen, and pop magazines? I don't know.

My poor trainer. He asked me what my goals were. I told him that if he could make me look like these women (Nicole from Pussycat dolls, Leanne Tweeden, Jessica Biel, and/or Beyonce), I'd be happy. He laughed. He laughed! Ok so maybe I was being unrealistic. But I still think they look phenomenal. Gotta have something to shoot for, I guess.

What I'd give to be a kid again

I was always rushing to grow up. Now that I'm grown up, I wish I could start over again. Ever feel that way? I'm so happy that I have such great childhood memories to look back on.

Some things just don't change. =)

Things I want, things I need

Things I'm jonesing for right now:
- To lose 15 pounds. I've hired a personal trainer. Yes, I got that desperate.
- A netbook. Sadly, as much as I love my 2003 Dell, it's in its golden years, and I want it to die with dignity. I don't require much from a computer, a netbook should do just fine.
- To sew a cute pillow. Shut it, yous.
- To set a personal record at Las Vegas Rock and Roll on 12/6/09. I'm shooting for 13.1 miles in under 2 hours. I'm probably nuts.
- A haircut. I could do a mean sweep of your floor with my locks right now.
- Leggings and a tunic to wear with my new boots. Yeehaw.
- Green nail polish.

Cute or not?




I've always loved her hair.


Zoom!


Things I'm currently obsessed with:
John Grisham books
Running
McDonald's soft serve cones
chips, salsa, margaritas, all at same time
Kraft Easy Mac cups
Mariah's remake of "I Want To Know What Love Is"

My biggest roadblock to achieving my ideal physique.


Probably another significant roadblock.


Annnnd because we're on the topic of roadblocks.


So addicting. This one is particularly good. I've never worked in BigLaw, but I wonder if parts of this book are true. 100 hour workweeks? The false deadline? The Harvard Law Gunner who fails the bar? $2400 lunches billed to the Fortune 20 client?


So you can see, my brain is a cluster right now. And I'm ok with that. I've set some goals for myself, physically, mentally, and financially. I'm hoping that within the next 3 months, I will make some true progress. Wish me luck.