Taste of what I've been working on ...

Working Hard ...

The past month has been divided between yo-yo dieting, yo-yo fitness, and trying to get the face of my Etsy shop, Minerva Knits, out there. I had the fortune of being selected to join the Etsy NY Street Team, which has already resulted in us being mentioned once on the team blog. YEAY FOR LOBSTER PRINT BOW TIES!

I'm currently debating on whether to start a new blog for the Etsy shop, or updating everyone on here of my progress.

In case anyone is interested, here are the following ways you can keep in touch with Minerva Knits:

ETSY: minervaknits.etsy.com
PINTEREST: pinterest.com/MinervaKnits
TWITTER: twitter.com/MinervaKnits
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/Minerva_Knits
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/minervaknits
GOOGLE: Minerva Knits

Ciao for now!

Exercise in How to improve My Quality of Life

Inspired by Greg McKeown's LinkedIn post The Most Important Hour of Your Life

Step 1: If possible get out into nature where you can feel the natural pace of the earth and not the hyperactive and inhumane pace of modern life.

Step 2: Write down the question “What would I do if I only had a week left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

If I only had one week, I would want to spend that time with my siblings, because they have been the most important people in my life.

Step 3: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a month left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

If I had one month, I would eat everything I have always wanted to eat with my siblings in tow :-)

Step 4: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a year left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

If I had only a year, I would travel the world with my sister.

Step 5: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had five years left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

If I had 5 years, I would live abroad with the bare essentials strapped to my back.

Step 6: Write down the question, “What would I do if I only had a life left to live?” and take 10 minutes to write down your answer.

I would leave behind the things that make me unhappy, travel freely, eat freely, dance freely, create freely :-)

Step 7: Finally, take 10 minutes to reread all of your answers while asking yourself, “How can I design my routine this week to more closely align with these answers?”

I have no clue where to start, but I recognize that there needs to be a change.

Hopping on and off the wagon

It was brought to my attention recently that I gained 15 pounds over the past year ... and 10 of those pounds in the past 3 months.

TEN FREAKING POUNDS IN THREE MONTHS!

If you've ever seen me in person, you'd understand why this is a shocker. I'm of petite built. I have no muscle definition what so ever. Weight gain for me manifests as a very exaggerated pear-shaped body.

I'm a pear with two stick legs.

And after seeing myself in recent pictures, I've decided that the buck stops here. Something has to change.

So the past 2 weeks I've been working out everyday. Whether its' Physique 57 or Archery ... I am out doing something physical every day. I'm also trying to get back on the Primal wagon because I'm tired of being "Faileo" instead of Paleo.

I also got myself a Fitbit Flex ... which I absolutely LOVE! I hardly ever notice it's there, and it alerts me when I've reached certain step goals. I've been able to increase my goal from 5,000 steps to 9,000 steps in less than a month! It's really motivating. My only complaint is that I set a silent alarm to wake me in the morning ... and when this thing buzzes I pretty much feel like I'm being electrocuted. But other than that it's been a great investment.

I've also been trying out Fitocracy to further motivate myself to get active. I'm leveling up fairly well. I got E to start logging activities on there too, like his pull-ups. It's kinda fun keeping track of all the little things I've done over the course of the week to try to stay active.

I'll try to keep this blog updated periodically with my progress and how I'm feeling. As of now the only changes I've noticed are:

• my calves look bigger ... normally they are 12 inches, but last measurement says they are 13.5" now!
• I don't get as tired walking up subway stairs. I used to want to sit down and give up climbing when I had to go up any stairs in the subway.
• my stomach is not protruding as much as before, but it might be water weight and nothing else.

[hopefully] more updates to come!

Can we say COMPLETELY OFF THE WAGON

I haven't blogged in almost a year. In fact, five posts ago was my post from a year ago about how I was going to be a better blogger. So yea ... EPIC FAIL.

But here I am ... ready to ramble once again about my goals this year.

I'm binging on Oreos ... probably because Saturday is the 1st of February, and I like to start my diet attempts on the first of the month.

Might start Bachata classes again next week ... YEAY!

Got some new patterns to try out for my Etsy shop. Hopefully will be better about posting my Works in Progress [WIP].

I still hate my day job ... no news there.

I've been better about using stuff from my stash. Wish me luck.

The only resolution I've really made is to resolve my eczema issue. It's out of control and is greatly hindering my quality of life.

I wish I could keep you this small FOREVER!

It's completely unreal to me that 18 years has passed since I carried you around like a favorite doll. You have and always will be my most precious baby doll. I didn't think that there could have been any gift as awesome as becoming a big sister to Shadman ... but when you were born you proved me wrong. I loved you from first sight, and you have always been mine.

And you have always been loved. No one could deny you. No one could resist you. You were the happiest baby, and you could make just about the toughest person become a softy from the start.

When I look at what you were, and the person you have become now ... I can't find words to capture just how proud I am of you. I could never have expected the distance you would go from where you started. All I could think about was how small and precious you were. How much I wanted to protect you from everything bad in the world. How I never wanted you to know pain the way that I did growing up.

Because how could I ever let anything happen to someone so precious.

You have always been my best friend, my confidant, my strength, my hope. Age could never and will never change that.

So now that you are an adult, I leave you with this:

Stay safe.

Be happy.

Follow your dreams.

Never give up.

You are beautiful, don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise.

Be the trailblazer.

Listen to your gut.

And now that you have a permit, please don't crash any cars.

Work In Progress (WIP) Wednesday

Just showing off some of the things I'm working on, both for Etsy and myself/Tazy.

Infinity Scarf with bright purple yarn for Tazy.

Currently working on

The weather has opened a can of whoop-ass on me, and so I'm not feeling particularly photogenic. I will, however, share a picture of what I'm currently working on for my Etsy shop.

Already I've failed

So remember how I said I was going to post a pic every day?

Yea ... clearly fell off the planet after I said that.

But probably also because I looked like this all weekend:

Can we say dry skin and eczema?

Btw, I took this pic while watching Once Upon A Time :-) 

Starting Over

The first month of the year has already passed, and I've done poorly on my New Year's Resolution of being Primal again. I have been sick, and cranky, and unable to sleep all this first month. I really let myself go, and I'm starting to look like a mess:

Those dark circles are not bags from not sleeping though ... no, that would be the heinous eczema I've developed around my eyes. My face has not looked this bad since I came back from Europe and looked like a raccoon [once again, because of severe eczema]. I'm kinda ashamed I let this happen. NO amount of Vaseline has helped. I'm hoping that getting back to my diet will help relieve this really painful eczema ... because I can't blink without cringing from the skin cracking.

The one thing I have been doing is lots of reading. I just finished Finding Ultra by Rich Roll. Though I am not vegan, and have no plans to become vegan, I did really enjoy reading the portion of the book about his life and how he went about changing it. I just wish he had gone the extra step and explained how eating any animal products completely wrecked his training ... not because I'm a Primal toting jerk, but because it would legitimize his arguments even more. The book definitely got me thinking about health and questioning the information out there about what is healthy or not. That's not to say that I wasn't thinking about these issues before, but this may be the first vegan point-of-view I've read.

I've also been reading Quiet by Susan Cain. I am really enjoying this book. Some people might call it Introvert Propaganda Against Extroverts, but I feel like it's an astute study of how personalities can clash in an overly Extrovert society. I mean, you can't deny that we're a country of "natural" cheerleaders and go-getters. From what I've read so far, it has definitely made me think about taking a vow to treat people much more differently at work based on my personality and the personalities around me.

I've also been listening/watching a lot of Ted Talks. The one about blogging was really interesting, and I was thinking that Mena Trott's idea to take a picture a day to chronicle her life is a great idea. I can't promise that I'll succeed, but I will try to take a picture a day. 

Over the next couple of months I hope to be able to share some of the projects I am working on for my Etsy shop. As of now I only have baby bro and sis as my models. :-P Hopefully I learn to knit and crochet faster so I can show more items.

This has probably been my longest entry, and the day has only started! Here's to trying to be a better blogger :-)

Every Body, Every Wear: BOOTS!

It's a well known fact that I love my Hunter boots, rain or shine.

Luckily, today it rained. :-)

Hunter Boot Hunter Original Boots (Navy) - Women's Rain Boots- 7.0 M (Google Affiliate Ad)

Spirit Week 2012!

Today was Class Color Day and the Pep Rally at my high school, which finishes off my final spirit week. It's crazy to think that around this time next year I'll probably be waking up in a dorm room early to rush to class, not to meet with my friends so we can all spray our hair green and gold, or paint our faces with "SENIORS 2013". It's sad to think about, but I'm happy because I had a great last Spirit Week.

DAY ONE: PAJAMA DAY

The first day of Spirit Week is always Pajama Day, which is nice because Monday is a lazy day, lol. I just wore a purple long sleeved shirt and the comfiest, softest pajamas in the world. Whenever it's Christmas time, go to Costco and look for pajamas, these are so comfy!

DAY TWO: BLAST FROM THE PAST

I love Blast from the Past because I really admire the change in fashion throughout history. My favorite time of fashion was the 1940's though. My friend had the same thoughts, as she was also from the 40's as Rosie the Riveter. I was going for a more upper class 1940's look, but the hair was a fail, lol.

Dress: Reed Shirt Dress from Anthropologie
Necklace: Fake pears from a long long time ago (not sure from where, maybe Forever 21)
Tights: Kohls
Shoes: White Mountain Icon (seen here)

DAY THREE: MIX AND MATCH DAY

Mix and match is usually fun because I can throw together items of clothing I rarely ever wear. Unfortunately I don't have a picture but the outfit wasn't that great anyway. I was saving all of my energy for...

DAY FOUR: CHARACTER DAY

This is by far my favorite day out of the whole week. I love getting creative and finding different things I already have to emulate a favorite character, like the "Sherlock Holmes" look I attempted here, lol. While this year's costume isn't quite as awesome as last year's, I was still psyched to put this look together. Still, pretty much every part of this outfit was provided by Shar, lol.

Short sleeved Jacket- Forever 21

Restoration Sweater Dress- Anthropologie

Tights- Kohls

Shoes: White Mountain Icon (seen here)

DAY FIVE: CLASS COLOR DAY/PEP RALLY

Cardigan and Green Pants: H&M

I love Class Color day cause I get to go all out, like painting my face and spraying my hair crazy colors. I didn't get to go completely crazy because I ran out of time in the morning but it was fun sneaking into the bathroom with my friend and us spraying each other's hair different colors. It was a good Spirit Week overall, I don't think there's much that could've made it better. :) 

Day 8

I'm not seeing as much change as I thought I would :-(
I don't know if it's because I'm exhausted from running around, or if I haven't been eating right lately, or that I haven't been strength training as regularly as I'm supposed to. Something has to change if I'm going to get that beach bod I've been dreaming of.

Day 3

Breakfast: cheese omelette with bacon
Lunch: shredded chicken, tomato salsa, and guacamole
Dinner: leftover mussels, cheese plate, and salami

Workout: finally did some Primal Essential Movements [PEM] and played 25 minutes of Dance Central with hubby ...

My body is killing me!

Day 2

Breakfast - one Scotch egg [cold]

Lunch - Sashimi

Dinner - Mussels in mustard cream sauce & Blue Fish

Observations: my eczema looks a lot better:

And my allergist says I look thinner :-D

Reboot - Day 1

Breakfast: Cheese and Fruit
Lunch: Taco salad with chicken
Dinner: Yook Gae Jung soup

Decided to start another 21-Day Transformation ... but this time with Hubby! He's responsible for following through on all the 21-days of activity that needs to be done. My job is to follow through on the exercise. Bikini season is nearing fast ... must reach Beach Bunny mode!

Sorry

I haven't been in much of a blogging mood ... I'm still in mourning over my cat, who passed away on Monday while I was away at work. It has been a shock for me, and I'm still dealing with the hole she left behind in my life.

I miss you :'(

So lively a month ago ... I can't believe you're gone :'(

Day 13 - Macaroni Grill

Definitely not Primal ... I had a small steak and Bibb salad ... which according to the menu was not gluten-free.

Day 12

Ate at Legal Seafood for the first time. Ordering from the gluten free menu was kinda entertaining.
I didn't know gluten free could look so good.