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Healthy Mind - New Books I picked Up

A lot's been going on in my life. A LOT. But things are slowly starting to trickle back into a normal space and I'm excited to have time and room in my brain to focus on reading for pleasure again. I just picked up these two books to hopefully work more on understanding myself and my goals. I hope to post a review of each soon along with getting back to posting regularly. Have you guys read any of these? What did you think?

http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Power-Introverts-World-Talking/dp/0307352153

http://www.amazon.com/Lean-In-Women-Work-Will/dp/0385349947

#books #reading #lean in: women work and the will to lead #quiet #introvert

I don't know about you... But my 22 was very different than Taylor Swift's

If you know me, you know I happen to have a soft spot for Taylor Swift - I don't know if it's her catchy tunes or my high school self relating to her scores of unrequited loves but something about her just clicks with me. Judge if you must. However, I do realize the cheesiness and sometimes naive nature of her songs, such as 22 (video here) and can fully appreciate a hilarious rebuttal of what it's really like to be 22 from Conan O'Brien (found here). This got me thinking.. What was my version of 22 like? If memory serves me correctly it played out something like this -

- Graduate college in 2008, one of the worst economic times in history. Start having panic attacks every time someone asks you what you are going to do you after graduate or while listening to "Marketplace" on NPR

- Live in a house in a neighborhood with questionable safety that only costs you $400 a month (including utilities)

- Spend hours online and stay up until 4 a.m. every night looking for a job and send out approximately 100 resumes a day

- Suck it up and get a job in retail to pass the time, cry in your car on your break because you have a bachelors degree and you just had to pick a rotten discarded diaper out of a display in the store

- Gain about 20 pounds eating cookies, pizza and drinking a whole bottle of $5 wine every night by yourself

- Go out to the bars even though you can't really afford to - have your debit card declined at Monty's

- Finally get a job interview - realize the only corporate attire you own is pair of black dress pants and whatever shirt isn't a t-shirt

- Take the first job you get offered, because OMG moneyyyyyyy

- Break up with your college boyfriend. Adopt a cat to cure your sadness, have existential crisis about being alone forever with your cat.

"It's not THAT, that's for sure." - Conan

What was 22 like for you?

#life #ramblings #taylor swift

Good reminder today and everyday.

Happy 1st Anniversary to my wonderful husband! "There's nowhere to go but everywhere". I love you.

Friday Finds..

If you're like me you find yourself doing a little more useless internet-ing on Friday afternoons (especially when the boss is out). Here are my favorite discoveries of the day:

BRB, crying. http://jezebel.com/your-morning-happy-cry-surprise-pregnancy-announceme-499157337

Meanwhile, at McDonalds. Barf. http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/meanwhile-at-mcdonalds

America's newest hero, auto-tuned of course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nZcRU0Op5P4

Probably not new to anyone this week, but I love this kid. (and his glorious flaxen locks) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGeHsPXZAu4&feature=youtu.be

That's all. Enjoy wasting the rest of your afternoon! I'm off for a much-needed lady weekend in Savannah!

#tbt in honor of upcoming Mother's Day @joydiener

#tbt

So this what I ended up with today. Thank you all for you help! We had a great time! Shirt from H&M, skirt from target, sandals from top shop and hat from Nordstrom.

Fancy Pants?

Mike came into some tickets to The Players Championship at Sawgrass, a fancy and high-profile golf tournament that comes around Jacksonville every spring. So tomorrow I'll be playing hooky and joining him to hobknob with Jacksonville's finest WASPs and real-housewives. Here's the thing though - I have NO idea what to wear to such an event. Adding to my anxiety is the fact that we've also been gifted wristbands for the VIP section. Oh, and it's forecasted to be a breezy 85 tomorrow. In an effort to shield myself from feeling like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman I've turned to my trusty Pinterest for inspiration. What do we think of these looks?

I have a jacket, dress and fedora similar to this.. ditch the oxfords for some strappy leather sandals?

Have a skirt just like this.. missing a bright t-shirt though.. could do a white shirt and a pop of color with a necklace?

Too boho for a golf outing??

HELP ME.

#fashion #golf #tpc #jacksonville #events

Like a fine wine..

Last night while watching "Pain and Gain" I realized I was more interested in Ed Harris than a shirtless Marky-Mark. Can I get a "amen" for all the guys out there aging beautifully? Here are some of my favorites.

The dude. 'Nuff said.

Paul Newman, pour some sugar, er, dressing on me.

Duh.

Monica on "Friends" had the right idea.

NCIS is terrible. But I forgive you.

My love for Bruce is Die Hard (oh, I crack myself up)

I've often referred to Liz Lemon as my spirit animal.. can Jack Donaghy be my imaginary boyfriend?

Who are your favorite old timers?

Catching up...

Anyone else always feel like they are trying to "catch up"? Like something is always around the corner but you can't get to it just yet because you have "so much to do?" I haven't posted in quite some time and I'm in a rut, y'all. I can't escape the feeling that I'm supposed to be doing something, like when you feel like you have homework due but can't remember or accidentally overslept. With everything that's been going on in the world and the slow and lazy summer season creeping in I've gotten into many existential conversations with myself lately. Most of them have ended with a resounding and overwhelming "I don't know." But I'm making strides to change this - taking new chances, exploring new activities, meeting new people and trying to foster new relationships. Let's make this a summer to remember.

Here's looking at you, 2012...

Ah, where to start right? A new year is always a time for reflection, and having a blog to rehash your favorite memories and moments from the previous year is a great way to really examine and bask in those moments while also contemplating the future. Here's to a year that was exciting, challenging, emotional and where I continually learned something about myself and those around me. Warning: photo heavy.

I rang in the New Year with some of my best buddies in a hot tub, with sparklers. What more could you ask for?

We got hitched!

And then went on a lovely Honeymoon to Malaga, Spain for a week

I reconnected with an awesome group of girls

I chopped all my hair off and was convinced for a few weeks until I got used to it that I looked like this

Michael turned 30! I took him on a super adult and serious trip to the Rapids water park.

I turned 26 and got a new whip

We moved back to my old stomping grounds, Jacksonville! A place with sort of actual seasons.

Also a place with good beer. Which we drink a lot of and can then walk home.

I started a new job with my Alma mater. It's crazy how much campus has changed(a dorm with a lazy river?!), but how much it still feels like home.

Michael started a new job at a fabulous restaurant where I would like to eat everyday if that didn't mean gaining 200 lbs.

Reconnected with another awesome group of my Jacksonville loves

Reggie discovered what a chimney is.

Took my first trip to NYC (albeit we were only in the city for approximately 36 hours).

We watched the Jags lose at almost every home game this year.

Dave and Tara had a baby. I guess "Wildcard" is a real grown up now.

Took my Dad to his very first professional soccer game.

I also went to my first game, Mexico v. Columbia.. In Miami..

Said goodbye to a friend taken too soon

My old man got glasses in his ripe old age. Something he's still not sure about..

We enjoyed the musical stylings of Minus the Bear (Mike's 11th show),OAR and Explosions in the Sky to mention a few..

I guess purplely blue is the color for concert lighting?

We went to a lot of weddings

We got Charlie. The sweetest little kitten I didn't even want to begin with. She's fitting in with the crew just fine.

We attempted decorating the house with adult furnishings, DIYs and things that had been sitting in storage.

Including a nice porch statute...

One time I woke up and my hair looked like this

One of my oldest and best friends moved back to Jacksonville

(sorry, Ian. but it's too uncanny). Also, if you're a lawyer and looking for someone.. I know a guy.

I took a girls trip to Chicago with my mom and the other fabulous "Diener" ladies.

See what I mean by "fabulous"?

We hosted our very first "married" Thanksgiving in our new home and everything tasted good, especially to Oso who ate two pies.

And last, but not least, we traveled down to Okeechobee and Lighthouse Point to spend a wonderful Christmas surrounded by friends and family.

Did you make it all the way to the end?! Wow, thanks.

#looking back #2012 #family #friends

A very merry .gif-mas

I'm going to express my feelings about the upcoming holiday season in one of my favorite forms - .gifs! Enjoy!

What my stomach feels like after seven cookies and two glasses of egg-nog at the company holiday party

When I put on the Mariah Carey Christmas album

My sister-in-law and I when we have a minute alone in the kitchen on Christmas Eve

Trying to get work done on the day before everyone leaves for Christmas break

When I find the absolute perfect gift for someone

When it's time to eat pie after dinner

When the first Christmas card of the season arrives in my mailbox

Checking Facebook and seeing how many people got engaged on Christmas/New Years and/or I'm on the 5th page of pictures of my friend's kids with Santa

When I try to interact with small children at family gatherings

What I'm doing in the limo on New Years Eve while everyone else is in the club/bar

When I find out there's no alcohol at a holiday party

When my vegan grandpa brings over a pie made of nut cheese/soy/tofu and no sugar

First thing Christmas morning

When the work lobby turns on the Christmas music station

When everyone starts arguing at the table at Christmas dinner

What the dog looks like after he's stolen and eaten the pie off the counter

What I expect my holiday season to go like..

But what it usually ends up feeling like...

When someone is spot on with the perfect gift and I love it

Trying to fit into my jeans after January 1st

When I've spent way too much time with my family over the holidays

Getting my credit card bill after holiday shopping

When someone spends hours wrapping presents and putting bows, tags and decorations on each one

When I'm trying to explain what I do for a living to my grandma at dinner

When the little kids wake you up at the crack of dawn to open presents

When my mom's had too much wine at dinner and starts to overshare

When someone gives you fruitcake as a present

When my single friend hooks up with someone from high school after a night out at the bars over Christmas break

When you get a realllllly long Christmas "what we've been up to letter" from someone you don't even know that well.

When I attend midnight mass (the first time I've been in church all year)

When I get someone a present but it doesn't fit/wrong color/they already have it etc..

When you and your spouse start fighting after the third hour of Christmas shopping in the mall

Having to take pictures on Christmas morning before you've showered and put on makeup

When someone asks me if I have any exciting holiday plans

When someone says "You don't have to get me a present!"

When I forgot to take the price tag off a present and someone is about to open it

Getting in the car to head home after a holiday weekend with the family

Trying to get back to work after being off for two weeks

All in good fun of course!

Merry Christmas!!

#christmas #holidays #gifs

My Experience with Bikram Yoga and an Update on Riding the Healthy Train

Well, it's been almost a month since I got on the healthy train. I've made a few pitstops and detours (ahem, Thanksgiving) along the way but overall I think it's going really well and I can already tell that I've formed some good, long-lasting habits.

As part of this experiment, I purchased a Groupon to a Bikram yoga studio near me to switch up my workouts and to have the guilt of already spending money on something to make me actually do it. When Mike and I were living in Tucson I found a wonderful studio (http://www.yogaoasis.com/home.html) where classes were only $4 each and at my peak I was attending class at least three times a week. This made me feel somewhat confident about attending Bikram yoga but after Googling "what to expect at your first Bikram yoga class" I started getting really nervous. Stories of passing out, vomiting and the like kept popping up, sufficiently freaking me out.

I've gone twice now and I can say that I definetly think that it gets easier and more enjoyable each time. My first class was pretty much a nightmare - I was already nervous going in and hadn't eaten a good lunch beforehand. I kept getting dizzy, seeing spots, my hands were shaking and I had to sit for basically the first half of the class. I also had a raging headache when I got home that night. However, I still had these pesky Groupons to use up so I made myself go again last night making sure that I ate enough for lunch, drank plenty of water before and mixed a little lemon juice and dash of salt in my water bottle for class to keep me going. This time was sooooooo much better. I knew what to expect for one, but being well hydrated and my blood-sugar level helped me concentrate and focus on class - the thing I really love about yoga. I will definitely go on a more regular basis and may even consider buying a class package once my Groupon runs out. For a good laugh - check this experience out

On other fronts, healthy train has been chugging right along. I have attended a spin class at least once a week, been cooking and eating most of my meals at home, haven't had a diet soda, or any soda for that matter, in weeks and although my scale is broken (or out of batteries that I'm too lazy to change) I think I'm down a few pounds since I'm finally fitting back in my size 6 pants that were too tight a couple of weeks ago. I stopped tracking my calories with My Fitness Pal, however. It's a great app and I do think it's good to take an inventory of what you are putting into your body on a regular basis but it was kind of stressing me out to see my calories countdown - on some days I was certainly not eating enough and would challenge myself to do it again (read: starving myself all day) and on the days I went over I starting beating myself up about it. I think it's better to just supply/surround yourself with healthy choices and let your cravings and hunger dictate what you eat from those resources. Of course, I had a few cheat days but I think that's ok every now and then.

My next challenge will be to see how I can stick to these guidelines while on vacation in Chicago (a recap post will make it's way on here I'm sure) this weekend.

#healthy train #bikram yoga

Lately...

Well, I've been a little behind on updating this new blog of mine not for any particular reason other than I sort of keep forgetting that I even have it. Hopefully, I will get better and have more regular updates.. (I know, I know you were all on the edge of your seat waiting for me). So, here's what I've been up to lately:

The healthy train experiment - I've done pretty well sticking the the principles I outlined here. I haven't had but two sodas in a two weeks span and I've worked out at least three times every week. I even tried a spinning class which I've been to twice now and am actually sort of enjoying. Tonight I'll take on my first Bikram yoga class. I've done plenty of yoga before, but none like this. I'm a little nervous. If you don't hear from me again I've likely melted into a puddle or passed out and died in the middle of downward facing dog.

(a few of my healthy and not so healthy meal attempts)

Housewarming - Mike and I had some friends over for a housewarming earlier this month. Now that we have a proper dining room table, all of our boxes unpacked and more than two plates to eat off of it only seemed appropriate to finally have everyone over to check out the joint (even though we moved 6 months ago). I plan on posting some pictures of the rest of the house soon.

(the front and back of casa de Bloom)

Getting ready for Thanksgiving - My parents will be joining us in our new house for our first "married" Thanksgiving and I can't wait to see them (and our dog, Madison). We went shopping for all the fixins and a turkey last night. I plan on taking a break from the healthy train this day. We also got several bottles of nice wine at the housewarming so I planning on breaking a few of those open as well. Mike has specifically requested this recipe.. hope I can pull it off!

In the meantime, I'm hoping to make it through these last few days at the office and squeeze in some fun with friends and family, naps and maybe a little bit of shopping. Maybe.

Cheers and Happy Holiday!

Keeping Myself Accountable..

Good morning! Don't you feel a little better this morning with that extra hour of sleep? I know I do which makes me feel even better about what I am going to take on.

After a few weeks of birthday celebrations, forgetting to grocery shop, Halloween and spending more time on the couch in the colder weather it's been catching up to me. My jeans are a little tighter, I'm having a harder time waking up in the morning, headaches and a pretty constant feeling of "blah". So I've decided to take on the month of November (I'm a few days late) and make some changes. What better way to keep yourself accountable than to post your goals and progress on the Internet? I knew this blogging would be good for something.. (other than the stream of consciousness of a maybe-crazy person). So here's what I've promised myself that I would do this month, starting today.

Drink more water - I used to be really good at this one, and I think slight dehydration may be the culprit of my headaches.

Stop drinking soda and relying on caffeinated beverages - I don't think I can commit to doing away with my morning cup of coffee but the three to four Diet Cokes in a day are going bye bye. I'm going to limit alcohol intake to weekends only as well.

Take a multivitamin everyday - Setting it out next to my coffee machine I think will help me remember in the morning.

Watch my caloric intake and stop eating processed junk - I'll be using the My Fitness Pal App (www.myfitnesspal.com) to track my calories, the nutritional value of my foods and water intake. No more lunches out, Taco Bell or frozen "health" meals full of sugar and sodium.

Do at least 30 minutes of exercise, 4 times a week - I've got access to a FREE gym (a beautiful one at that) at work and just bought a Groupon for Yoga classes. This one shouldn't be too hard.

Go to bed on time - Our recent Netflix subscription has made this one a bit hard (staying up way past bedtime to watch "just one more episode" sound familiar?) but I am going to try to commit to at least 7-8 solid hours a night.

I'll be checking back periodically to update you on my progress. If anyone else would like to join me in this challenge I welcome a buddy! Here's to ending the year a (hopefully) healthier and happier me!

Halloween.. come and gone

Yesterday was Halloween, one of my more favorite holidays as I'm always down for dressing up and eating copious amounts of candy. Well, I don't usually need a reason to eat copious amounts of candy but I feel better justifying it with a holiday.

We were having a party at work and I decided to dress up, however, I didn't want to spend any money - so this is my nerd costume ala Mike's closet and my already nerdy glasses.

Girl, you do you you're at a work party, right?

I may or may not have had to put this in a desk drawer to keep from consuming it all before I got home.

When I finally did make it home we made a nice dinner, had friends over and sat on the porch to give out candy. We were skeptical of whether or not we would have any kids but we ended up having so many that we ran out of candy. Even after coming inside and shutting the lights off these little demons kept knocking on the door. All in all, it was a good first "married" Halloween in our new home and city.

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