Surprise Birthday Weekend

I don't even know where to start when it comes to this past weekend. It was the BEST weekend ever minus our wedding lol. I was surrounded by so many people I love and was utterly shocked by everything they planned for me. I guess, I should start in the beginning lol.

A few weeks ago, Mark told me he planned a "staycation" for my 30th birthday on the weekend of Feb. 4th. My actual birthday is the 11th but he's going to be out of town for work. I am the worst when I know I have a surprise coming because I start asking a million questions and snoop into everything lol. I tried to be good because I truly didn't want to ruin the surprise.

On Friday, he told me to be ready by 5:30 and gave me some sort of idea of what to pack. I was ready and we headed off to his aunt and uncle's house to drop off the pups. After we left their house, he told me we were going to Palm Desert. I was surprised but also suspicious because he told me to get completely ready before we left and that's quite a drive. He took several detours to throw me off and then all of a sudden we pulled into an Inn in Temecula. We checked in and head to our room. He was trying to stall so we sat out on the balcony for a little until our reservation. We walked over to the restaurant and then they led us to a back room where SURPRISE, my family and friends were waiting for me. I was shocked and I think this picture pretty much sums up my emotions. I started balling because I saw everyone there and even my Grammie came from Michigan! We had a super yummy dinner and then I found out that there were more surprises coming in the morning. :)

The next day, they had a party bus pick us up to take us to a few wineries. The bus was decked out with birthday party decor. So fun! The extra surprise was that my friends Emily, Dina, and Will joined us on the winery tour. :) We went to three different wineries and tried LOTS of wine. Then we ended the tour with a picnic style lunch with sandwiches from Great Harvest. For a person who had just got done with Whole30, bread sounded amazing lol!

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel and relaxed for awhile before dinner. It was nice to just sit outside and chat with the girls. We even walked around the property before we realized how cold it was and went back inside lol!

We had dinner in Old Town at a Mexican restaurant. The food was soooo good! Oh how I missed tortilla chips!  After we ate, the guys headed back to the hotel and the girls went to a restaurant down the street, that had live music. It was relaxing and low key... definitely my style. :) We didn't stay out long and went back to the hotel to just hang out.

The next morning we had to say goodbye to everyone. Ugh, I hate goodbyes. I had such an amazing weekend and I couldn't accurately convey how grateful I was/ am that they wanted to do something so special for me. I've always struggled when it comes to my friend groups. I've never quite felt like I fit in but these people in my life just make me feel so loved and accepted. I can't even tell you how good that feels. I am so grateful for the people who came and even those who weren't able to make it. I have the BEST family and friends. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for loving me so well. Thank you to my mom and Mark for planning this shindig. You're the best! I am in tears just thinking about you all! :)

**A special thanks to Aunty Kathy for taking so many pictures!!! :)

Whole30 Diaries: The Home Stretch

We are officially done with Whole30! YAY!!!!! Even though I'm done, I haven't really stopped eating the Whole30 way. The only thing I've had this is not compliant is a little vanilla in my latte and some honey in a sauce I made for my chicken yesterday. The latte tasted sooo sweet though.. yuck! I don't want to ruin my results and go back to how I used to eat. I do plan on splurging a little this week though. :)

What we ate:

I lost some steam this week when it came to making new and different recipes. So some of these are repeats. Sorry!

Monday: Tacos using the Against All Grain taco seasoning recipe and Siete almond flour tortillas. Disclaimer: tortillas are not compliant, even though the ingredients were fine :)

Tuesday: Breakfast for dinner- sweet potato hash, scrambled eggs, and sausage.

Wednesday: Spaghetti squash with homemade meat-sauce and roasted green beans. The green beans were sooooo good!

Thursday: Slow-cooker pork with raisins, almonds, and roasted peppers. I made it into a salad and used salsa as dressing. YUM! You can also use the pork to make tortilla soup- the tortillas lol

Friday: Out to eat- meat and veggie kabobs from Fireside

Saturday: not pictured- we had a sweet potato chili at a friend's house

Sunday- Breakfast- sweet potato hash, chicken sausage, and a banana with cinnamon

 Sunday- Egg drop soup with leftover pulled pork and green onions. SOOO good!

Monday: roasted chicken and broccoli

Tuesday: not pictured- Italian roast and veggies

Feeling-

I feel great! I know I've lost some weight and I truly haven't had any stomach issues that I normally do. I feel energized most days, other than just being worn out by life lol. I am definitely not craving sugary foods like I was before. I've been around gingerbread cookies, candy galore, and cupcakes in the last two days and haven't felt the urge to eat any. YAY! I do miss chocolate but the craving isn't there, which is exciting! 

Loving- 

I haven't really tried any new food this week but I am still loving the RX bars, especially the blueberry kind. I also really love the Dasani raspberry lemonade sparkling water but it has sodium in it, which I was surprised about. I thought that most of the sparkling waters were sodium and sugar free. I dunno, it's still yummy!

Craving- 

Pizza. I REALLY want pizza but I'm scared to eat it because I think my body is going to freak out a bit. I haven't had any gluten or dairy :( I think I'll finally eat some this weekend though!

Final thoughts about Whole30-

I always love my results because I sleep better, feel more energized, and I lose weight. It's really hard to sustain it for long-term though. At some point, I want to drink a beer and have pizza lol. Not saying that I need those things ALL the time but the Whole30 helps me practice moderation afterwards.

Overall, I think the program is great if you want to eliminate some bad habits or see how certain food effect you. When you take beans out of your diet and then realize that you all of a sudden don't have bathroom issues... well there ya go! For me, it really helps with my sugar habit. You don't realize how bad it is until you take it out of your diet and then you realize your addiction is intense. Another great thing is that you start looking at labels so much more. Simple things like yogurt can have a ton of sugar. Even though you don't eat that while your doing Whole30, when you add it back in, you'll be much more conscious of what you are eating. Being aware is key!

If you've been thinking about doing the Whole30, just do it! There are so many resources out there to help you and give you some meal inspiration. Yes, it's a little more expensive than normal grocery weeks, and yes it's annoying to do all the dishes and constantly cook. Your health is worth it though! Also, I really recommend starting at the beginning of the month because it's just so much easier to track your days. :) Good luck on your Whole30 journey!

Check out my past posts here:

Whole30 Diaries: Getting Started

Whole30 Diaries: Week 1 Recap

Whole30 Diaries: Week 2 Recap
Whole30 Diaries: Week 3 Recap

{Relaxed San Diego} Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend, mine was very relaxing! On Friday, we went to have an early dinner at Fireside. They have meat and veggie grilled kabobs, so it's easy to stay close to the Whole30 guidelines. Afterwards, we saw Why Him? and I have to admit, I was a bit of a skeptic about this movie but it ended up being hilarious. Just a warning, it's pretty vulgar, so not for everyone!

On Saturday, I had plans with a friend in the morning and then went to workout at Orange Theory. I'm back to feeling pretty addicted to the workouts. They are always tough but manageable, so it's encouraging. It's no fun to go to a workout and everything just seems too hard lol. The rowing portion does make me feel like I'm going to throw up though lol.

Afterwards, Mark went on a run and I followed him on my bike. It was such a beautiful day and the views were pretty breathtaking. Mornings like this make me want to stay in Point Loma forever.

Mark worked on packing most of the day and I did laundry and other random things lol. We had a quick lunch at Jimmy's Famous and then headed down to IB to have dinner at a friend's house. We got there a little early so we decided to walk on the pier for a little while. Once again, just so pretty!

We had a great time at Sara and Dave's house. The boys are just so dang cute! I didn't get a picture of Braxton though :(

Sunday morning, we got up super early to take Mark to the airport and then I was off to have an early coffee date with Emily. We are the worst at taking pictures! Afterwards, I went home and cleaned the entire house, did more laundry, worked on some R+F stuff, made breakfast, and ran errands. It was a very productive day!

Dina and I also went to see LaLa Land. I've been wanting to see this for awhile so I'm so excited that I finally did! The movie was super good but definitely a chick flick.

It was a great weekend and I'm excited for this week as well. I hope you have a great day!!

Five on Friday {A Bunch of Randoms}

HAPPY FRIDAY everyone! This has been a whirlwind of a week but it has also been really productive. :) I am excited for the weekend though! Let's jump in!

Knights of Heroes

Team GiVe supports Knights of Heroes from Helm Creative Studio on Vimeo.

One of the most exciting parts of my business is being able to partner with really awesome organizations, and to give back to our community. During January and February, we are raising money for Knights of Heroes. This is a camp for kids who have lost a parent due to military service. There is so much sacrifice for a military family already, and then to loss a parent, is just devastating. Last year, Team Give was able to build several cabins for the camp through our fundraiser. This year, we plan to raise $50,000 for the moms and daughters at the camp. 

I am donating $10 for each preferred customer order through February and $50 for anyone who joins me in business. I'm so excited to be part of this and encourage you to help in anyway you can. Please watch the video above to learn a little more about what we are doing. I pretty much cried the whole way through! :)

Best Dry Shampoo

buy it here

I have been trying out several dry shampoos but now I am going back to an old favorite. The Batiste Dry Shampoo is just the best. It doesn't make your hair feel dirty or sticky and the smell is awesome. I have been using the tropical one and I'm in love!!

Planner Sticker Heaven

I'm back to ordering more planner stickers. Those of you who aren't obsessed with planners, will find this incredibly boring lol. Anyways, I've found a couple of shops that I really LOVE. One is Virgo Paper- this shop has super cute stickers that actually fit the horizontal layout for Erin Condren planners. They are also pretty reasonably priced. I ordered this Love Note sticker set for Valentine's day. SO CUTE! I also ordered from Hello Petite Paper. These stickers are so beautiful! I purchased the February monthly kit and the Celebrate set since my birthday is coming up. Using these stickers is like doing a mini-scrapbook. I LOVE it. :) 

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes

buy it here

I have been listening to a new audiobook, Into the Darkest Corner, and I'm obsessed. It's super suspenseful and keeps me wanting to listen all the time. The story goes back and forth between past and present, so you know what's coming but you don't know exactly how it all happens. I'm only halfway through and I wish I had it in print version so I could easily plow through the pages lol. Listening takes soooo much longer! I highly recommend this book though!

Portable Charger

buy it here

My phone pretty much dies by noon everyday unless I put it on low power mode. UGH! I think it's time for a new phone but in the mean time I decided to buy a portable charger. Its not the cutest option out there but it was really inexpensive and people seem to like it. So far, it's been working great. :) This is a must if you're going to be out of the house all day. Mark is taking me on a secret trip for my birthday, so maybe it will come in handy there as well! 

Well that's it for my Five on Friday! I hope you have a great day!

Whole30 Diaries: Week 3 Recap

As I am writing this, we are 25 days into Whole30. HOLY MOLY! We've almost made it! I'm so excited. This is going to be a recap of week 3 and then my final post will cover week 4 and my last few days. So now let's jump into the things you're really curious about... what we ate!

Monday- Buffalo Chicken Casserole: this was one of Mark's FAVE meals of Whole30. I didn't love it. There's something about casseroles that just grosses me out lol. People rave about this dish though, so try it out for yourself.

Tuesday- breakfast for dinner: Mexican brunch potatoes, sautéed portobello mushrooms, bacon, and two fried eggs. Mark cooked them in the bacon grease so that's why they look dirty lol

Wednesday- Proscuitto wrapped chicken stuffed with homemade (whole30 approved) pesto and roasted veggies. This is from the Against All Grain cookbook.

Thursday- I just couldn't get myself to make dinner this night so we went out to eat. I had an ahi tuna sandwich minus the sauces and bun. I ate it as a salad and WOW it was good.

Friday- I honestly cannot remember what we ate. I'm assuming leftovers??
Saturday- Breakfast scramble with sausage

Saturday dinner- Crispy Orange Beef (minus the honey in the glaze) & cauliflower fried rice. This was Mark's favorite thing I've made. SOOO GOOD! It took a lifetime to make though.

Sunday- Tacos with tomatillo salsa and almond flour tortillas. This is where I cheated a little. I didn't realize you can't use tortillas, even if the ingredients are okay with the program. I looked it up after we ate them. Do I regret it... not one bit lol! These are the Siete almond flour tortillas. They are very expensive but are a good replacement for the processed kind. Disclaimer: I'm not encouraging you to cheat on the program. Stay as true to it as you can :)

Feeling- 

This week I'm feeling pretty great. My body has adjusted to what we are eating/ not eating. I am getting more sleep and feel more rested. I'm not craving sugar as much, which is a plus. Clothes are starting to fit better so I know I must be losing some weight. I didn't weigh myself before I started, because I really just wanted to focus on eating better. Also, I have NO idea where the scale is from our move lol. 

 I am over ALL the cooking and preparations for food though. My goodness I've never done so many dishes in my life. Mark has been super helpful with that though. I have been having weird aversions to food as well. If we've eaten something the night before, and I smell it again, I feel sick. I have NO idea what's going on and no I'm not pregnant lol. It's frustrating because I'll like the food and then just all of a sudden can't eat it. Oh well!

Craving-

I have been super into fresh fruit bowls again. Strawberries are starting to taste like a dessert, which is exciting! I have been eating them every morning for a snack. YUM! I am also still craving pizza but more for the habit of it, not because I actually want it that badly. This is a good sign, because my body is changing! 

Loving-

I am loving avocado on everything! The healthy fat just gives the food more flavor and keeps me full longer. It's super hard to keep avocados in the house that are ripe but not too ripe. Has anyone seen that meme about avocados and the window you have to eat them??? lol I'll try and find it. 

I'm also loving the blueberry RX bars. I found them at Trader Joe's and holy moly they are delicious. 

So that's it for this edition of the Whole30 diaries. Check out my past posts here:

Whole30 Diaries: Getting Started

Whole30 Diaries: Week 1 Recap

Whole30 Diaries: Week 2 Recap