Tackling Twenty Pounds

As you may or may not know, I recently lost thirty pounds. Yay me! The fact remains, however, that I still have quite a bit to lose before I reach a healthy weight. And I'm certainly not going to accomplish this sitting on my butt playing on the computer. Fear not, my lovely fans, I will not abandon you or this blog. I may have to cut back on Facebook time, but hey, don't we all need to cut back on our Facebook time?

Since the scale hasn't dipped past the original thirty pounds lost marker in about forty five days I know it's time to go back to the basics: easting less, and healthier, and moving more.

Because the scale also hasn't gone up (again, yay me!) I took a vacation from the low-carb diet I'd been on and allowed myself to indulge, occasionally, in some not so low carb choices. The indulgence was infrequent, and I tried to balance it with workouts, but this only allowed me to maintain the new weight I'd achieved. Now I must get back on the losing plan.

I'm using the start of the new month as a launching pad; new month, new plan for weight loss. I'm especially motivated to lose twenty pounds over the next four weeks, as I will be leaving for my highly anticipated New York spring fling in just twenty eight days, and I hope to put a slimmer me on that plane the day of departure.

Twenty pounds is a lot for this timeframe, I know. But with some dedication to daily exercise, a new commitment to omitting starchy carbs from my meals, and a ton of determination, I know I can do it. After all, I've already proven that it can be done once.

This time, I also have the added bonus of having a friend join me on this crazy adventure. I consider this a bonus because having someone to partner with makes me accountable to someone other than myself, and that helps keep me on track. Hopefully, it will do the same for her.

The trick is to remind myself of why I'm doing this, especially during times of weakness. I must not focus on those things I shouldn't eat, but rather should relish those things that will help me achieve my weight loss and fitness goals. And most importantly, I must not tell myself I can't eat something, but rather that I don't want to eat it. After all, "nothing tastes as good as thin!" (and by thin, I actually mean fit and healthy!!)

Here's to tackling twenty pounds!

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And The Winner Is...

Drumroll please! The winner of my first blog giveaway is....

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this very important message.
(You didn't really think I was just gonna blurt it out, did you? Silly goose.)

I wanted to clue you all in a little on why I did the giveaway and how I selected a winner. I know you probably don't care, but I'm telling you anyway.

The first and most obvious reason is that I'd hoped to get more followers for my blog. Shameless, right? But it actually did work. I went from having one follower to having six. And I didn't even make following my blog a requirement for entry into the giveaway, as so many other bloggers do. Ok, sure, I may lose five of you after I make the announcement of who won the Starbucks Gift Card, but I appreciate you stopping in, nonetheless.

The second reason I did it was... well, there really wasn't a second reason. Driving traffic to the site was about it. Pitiful? Yes. Effective? Somewhat.

Now, as to how I selected a winner, there was only one way to be fair, since many of the entrants were friends of mine.

A huge shout out to all of you, by the way, for putting up with my constant tweets and status updates about the giveaway; so glad none of you unfriended me, though I sure would understand if you'd blocked me from your news feed for a few days. It's okay to turn my news feed back on now. Really. I promise. Please?

Back to how I picked a winner (and how all winners of future giveaways will be selected!)

Each comment was assigned a number in sequential order as it was posted and provided it was within the timeframe specified. Once I had all the entries, I headed over to RANDOM.ORG and used their awesome Random Number Generator. You just put in your starting and ending numbers and it will pick a random number for you.

In this case, it selected number 13. Yes, lucky number 13.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming

Making the winner of the $25 Starbucks Gift Card...

The envelope please....

AztecConsulting! Congratulations!
I will be contacting you shortly for information on how to collect your winnings.

To the rest of you who didn't win this time, be not discouraged, there will be more giveaways.

Thank you so much for participating, and for sharing your awesome Starbucks drinks with me; I will definitely be ordering some, ok, most, of these at some point in my future.

Here's to a caffeinated weekend!

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Typos, Bad Grammar and Other Such Horrors

By day, my profession is that of a software quality assurance analyst. To non-techie folks this likely sounds way fancier than what it really is. In plain English, I test websites and software programs. Part of my job also involves proof reading the copy on said websites and programs. Yes, I actually get paid for this.

So you can imagine my chagrin, neigh, my sheer horror, when I publish mistakes on my own website! I do my best to proof read each post before publishing it, but inevitably I will miss a typo here and there and before I know it, voila, it's out there, flapping in the wind, for all the world to see. It's not pretty. These things never are.

We won't even start on my grammar. I use far too many commas, inserting them willy-nilly throughout the posts, much like a slight pause in a conversation. My liberal spattering of bold and italicized text is borderline abusive. Run on sentences? Brutal. Oh, wait! We weren't going to do this. Let's move on, shall we?

Now normal folks, like you, (I told you it was bad!) reading this are probably wondering, "Why in tarnation is this woman going on about her typos and laughable grammar?!"

I'm getting to that. Patience, grasshopper.

Today at the office, I was telling someone about the giveaway I'm having this week right here on this blog. Wanted to give my new co-worker a chance to win some yummy java. Ok, fine. Maybe it was a bit of shameless self promotion and even a teeny bit of brown-nosing, but hey, what's wrong with trying to play nice with the co-workers?! Hmph. I make no apologies for my actions. Deal with it.

My point is, said co-worker was quick to point out a big, fat typo on a previous post. Ugh.
I think he forgot that I'm the QA person, and he's the developer. Which means? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Yep. I'll be the one testing his code. MWAHAHAHA ! (I know. Not a word. But it really should be, 'mmmmkay?)

Here's to typos, bad grammar, and other such horrors!

UPDATE: Shortly after posting this, a friend on Facebook kindly pointed out that I'd misspelled "grammar" all over this post! (Hanging my head in shame.)
I have since corrected this nasty snafu. Thank you for playing my game.

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Starbucks is My Friend: A Giveaway

Two days on the new job and I am exhausted! Don't get me wrong, I love what I'm doing (so far) and am looking forward to tackling the many, many things that need to be tackled, so the exhaustion is exhilarating. But yeah, I'm definitely exhausted.

Never one to need an excuse to pay my local Starbucks a visit, if these last two days are any indication of what my days are going to be like, well, let's just say that it would behoove me to buy some Starbucks stock.

Now, there are some of you that are likely thinking, "Wow, must be nice to be able to afford a $6 blended coffee drink every day [insert sarcastic tone here]" but the reality is, I try to limit the blended drinks to no more than one every one or two weeks. Too many carbs and/or fat. No, I actually go there for straight up java. It's strong, caffeinated, tasty, and did I mention strong? And these days, strong coffee has become a necessity. I'm actually trying to figure out a way to safely mainline the stuff straight into my veins; I'll let you know if I find a good solution.

In the meantime, I will keep a steady supply on hand for the long days ahead. Call me addicted. And because I know so many of you are also java junkies, for whatever your reasons, "It tastes great!", I am finally ponying up the giveaway I've been teasing you with these last two weeks.

Here's the skinny (latte, anyone?) on the giveaway:

The prize - One $25 Starbucks gift card, to be used at a Starbucks of your choosing for your favorite java concoction.

To enter the contest - tell me, by way of a comment on this post (be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win!), your favorite Starbucks drink. Are you a "Tall Pike's Peak with lip for cream", a "Grande Skinny Cinnamon Latte"or a "Triple Venti Soy Caramel Macchiato?" (my personal favorite when nothing but a blended drink will do.)

One entry per person, please! (Multiple entries by the same user will be deleted!)
The winner will be selected randomly from the comment entries.
Entry deadline is 5pm (CST) Friday, March 26, 2010.
Winners will be announced sometime over the weekend; exactly when will depend on my level of exhaustion!

One last bit of messy housekeeping: Contest open to US residents only. Sorry rest of the world!

Here's to having some Starbucks, on me!


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Girl Time, Girlie Food

My husband went out of town this past weekend, to spend some time with the guys and get in touch with his "wild at heart" man.

This meant I had the weekend to myself and I chose to spend it in one of my favorite ways; hanging out with my girlfriends eating girlie food.

Yes. Girlie food.

There are some things guys, my husband in particular, just prefer not to eat. Don't ask me why. It's perfectly respectable food. Still, apparently it's not manly. Therefore, I eat this "girlie" food whenever my husband is out of town, or any other chance I have to enjoy girl time.

Started the day by putting together my favorite quiche. It's chock full of all kinds of goodies.

There's bacon.

And butter. Ah, butter. You make everything right.

We also have onions. Sweet. Softened in butter. Delicious.

And finally mushrooms and artichokes. Oh my.

All this encased in egg, cream, and swiss cheese, and we have a beautiful quiche.

Now, a girl cannot live on quiche alone. 

So we had the quintessential girl food - salad.

But not just any salad. This was my special spinach and fruit salad, topped with delightful chevre cheese crumbles and lightly drizzled with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

With these tasty dishes as our main entrees, I had to find something equally delicious as a starter, but something that could also serve as a snack tray.

I decided on a fruit and cheese tray. Raspberries, apple slices, grapes, and strawberries all complimented the smoked gouda, brie, and creamy chevre decorating this noshing tray.

Of course, girl time is just not girl time without the absolute, must have, girl food - chocolate!

This truffle tray:

and these spicy Mexican chocolate soufflés,

were the perfect finish for an awesome afternoon with my girlfriends.

Ladies, if you don't already have a girl day established in your routine, I highly recommend it, if for no other reason than to have an excuse to partake of these girlie treats among your girlie friends

Here's to the power of girls, and their food!

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Ugly Shoes

Ordered two really cute pairs of flats the other day.

The first pair: this adorable, leopard print silk number by Rocket Dog. Just precious!

The second pair: Sweet, candy apple red patent leather with a shiny buckle. Love these.

Received them today and immediately proceeded to try them on. I was disappointed when both pairs turned out to be too narrow for my foot. I tried telling myself they would stretch out, but fact of the matter is, having spent the last six years trying to get rid of plantar fasciitis, I refuse to do anything that will hurt my feet, even if it means giving up adorable flats such as these.

While at the store returning these great little shoes, I saw a display for Skechers Shape Ups, and remembered a tweet from a friend about how these are supposed to help make the most of your walking time, helping tone your muscles by mimicking the effects of walking in sand.

Now I don't know that I necessarily believe this, but I'd been hearing about these shoes for some time and since I had a store credit I figured, "why not?"

A little voice at the back of my head replied, "cause they're UGLY!"

I turned a blind eye to the lack of aesthetic appeal; the sparkly, bling-y touch at the laces was nowhere near enough dazzle to make these clogs even a little cute.

No, I definitely didn't get these for looks. 

As I had some more errands to run, I immediately put these on and proceeded to spend the next two hours walking around in the Shape Ups. I've no idea if they are doing or will do what Skechers claims they do. But I can tell you that my legs are notably more tired than if I'd been in my regular shoes. I suppose only time will tell if there is any truth to the claims. 

In the meantime, I'll wear my ugly shoes whenever I'll be walking for long periods, in the hopes of integrating my weight loss and fitness efforts into even the most mundane of activities.

Here's to making the most of walking!

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I Owe You a Giveaway

I was supposed to do my first giveaway this week, right here on this blog, but alas, I am way behind on stuff and just didn't have time to get everything together.

My apologies, but what can I tell you, life got in the way.
Anyway, I wanted to you to know that I've not forgotten, nor have I blown it off, but as I was still unsure of what the giveaway was going to be, it was tough to get a related blog post together.

I've got some ideas, but what I really want to know is what you folks would like to see for a giveaway. Now please, when making suggestions, be reasonable. I'm looking for kitschy, cool, and inexpensive ideas, but something desirable nonetheless. A gift card maybe, for Starbucks, iTunes, Chipotle? Or a cool workout DVD? Maybe an Amazon gift card? There are so many cool choices!

Oh, I've got it! Why don't you lovely folks give me your ideas? Just leave a comment with your suggestions! It's easy and you'd be doing me a huge favor by helping me decide!

As for the timing of the giveaway, I plan to get my act together this weekend, so hopefully some time next week! Help keep me honest, would ya'?

Here's to getting organized and giving back!

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