Finding Fall

I live in Arizona, so fall is more of a feeling than an actual season. I'm a northerner at heart and desperately miss those first cool days, especially as the leaves begin to change. So I try to embrace the season through colors, wearing more saturated, rich tones as apposed to bright poppy summer colors. And that includes my nails.

Initially I was afraid to venture beyond the safe realm of pale pinks and french nails, convinced that anything darker/bolder would be too harsh against my pale skin.  But once I did--oh baby, there was no going back!  So in honor of fall, I've found a new shade: OPI's Every Month is Oktoberfest.  The name may have swayed me too. :)  I may be jumping the gun a bit, but as October rolls around, I think this will make the perfect nail color: a dark and moody plum with a hint of gorgeous red sparkle.

OPI's Every Month is Oktoberfest Polish

If you're not quite ready to take the full plunge into a dark shade, another one I've been loving is Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Peridot.  It's a very unique combination of gold and green, which seems perfect as the leaves are changing (elsewhere...lucky ducks!).

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Peridot

I just love how this polish gives a dramatic color change, it's very fun to catch a glimpse of during the day!  I think you'll definitely get compliments. :)

So tell me: what are your favorites shades?  Has one leaped out as the perfect start of fall color?

Coffee Craving

While I’d love to make a commitment to eating healthy all the time, I desperately need those little cheater moments to keep me going.  But no reason those can’t be slimmed down, right?  My theory is if I’m absolutely craving something, I’ll let myself have it in moderation.  So: enter the slimmed white mocha.  Because let’s face it: some days require coffee.

What I use: ground espresso from a local coffee house, Sugar Free White Chocolate Syrup by Torani, Sugar Free House White Chocolate by 5Sparrows, nonfat milk, ice, and of course an espresso machine. 

The white chocolate by 5Sparrows is a powder, almost like small white chocolate shavings and it gives either iced or hot mochas a nice creaminess. It's especially helpful if you're using skim milk.  However, I like a lot of flavor in my mocha so I use the white chocolate syrup to add flavor without calories. The two products pair nicely and give you flavor and creaminess without a huge calorie spike--bonus!

So here's my process for creating an iced mocha. You could easily omit the ice and get similarly good results for a hot mocha. Just microwave your milk for a minute before adding your syrup.

Ingredients:

2 shots freshly brewed espresso

2 tablespoons sugar free house white chocolate by 5Sparrows

1 cup nonfat milk

1 tablespoon sugar free white chocolate syrup by Torani

1 handful of ice

Directions:

Begin by brewing about 2 shots of espresso.  Feel free to use less or more to taste (or based on how how awake you'd like to feel after. :) )

Mix in the 5Sparrows house white chocolate, stir until completely disolved.

Next you'll prep the cold part of the drink: pour a cup of milk into a glass.  Add the white chocolate syrup and ice, stir to combine.

 And the final step: combine these two halves into a delicious white chocolate mocha. Enjoy!

Made this way, the final calorie count is about 184. So while it'll cost you a bit more than a skinny flavored latte, you're still not in astronomical territory. It's certainly better than your garden-variety white chocolate mocha (even if those do taste amazing!). Next we'll have to try adding sugar free peppermint syrup for the holidays. :)

Big Decisions

It seems that despite our best intentions, life sometimes gets away from us. In the interim since my last post, so much has happened!  We traveled across country to try caterers and take engagement pictures, family visited for the first time to see our new place, we tried several new local restaurants, a lot of wedding dress shopping happened (more on that later!), we received our engagement photos, and this past weekend was my fiancee’s birthday.  Whew!

Wedding planning just jumped to the foreground of my world.  I’m in a rush to make all the big important decisions only to realize…wait: there are still hundreds of decisions left!  And I don’t feel overwhelmed (yet, haha, no doubt that will change in 6 months!). I think we’re attacking these decisions early enough to get a good handle on things before the wedding.  I’ve just realized that I have to break things down into categories and attack them one at a time.

So the first important decision?  The dress.  My sister commented that everything else is nice and all, but it really is all about the dress. I don’t know how true that is, but while my mom and the groom’s mom were in town, I definitely made use of their time to try on a ton of dresses and gather opinions.  After a day of looking (and three bridal shops later), we were narrowed down to two top contenders. Making matters worse, the dresses were very similar in silhouette, just extremely different in finishing touches.  They definitely had different personalities. 

Side note: for those of you who haven’t tried wedding dress shopping, it’s definitely an experience.  The dresses in the store are typically size 10-12 or so, and the associates either clamp you into the dress (literally pulling the dress snug against your body and using industrial clamps or pins to secure the shape) or add an additional fabric piece to the back of the dress to “let it out”.  Sounds strange (it was a little weird for the first few), but it definitely gives you a feel for the silhouette of the dress and how it will move around your body.  Pretty clever, actually!

So back to the exciting part, here were my top two choices:

Both were fit-to-flair style, which worked very well with my pear-shape. And for you smaller on top ladies, no worries: the dresses have boning and fit tight enough that all the weight is supported around your waist and you can definitely pull off a strapless! No adjusting/tugging all night. This was pretty much the best piece of news I discovered all month.

And for grins and giggles, here is a picture of me pinned into the second dress--they do a surprisingly good job, no?

So my advice for brides-to-be: try on a lot of dresses, take your time, and it's totally ok to go back to the store and try it on again.  In fact, I'd definitely advise trying on your top few choices back-to-back (even if they're at different locations) to make that final decision. I fully understand the "you only get to do this once" pressure of finding the perfect dress. So I sent out pics of me in both dresses and polled a ton of friends, but ultimately the decision was mine.  There was a certain feeling for the dress.  As one of the associates put it: think about what you want the groom to see, of how you'll feel walking toward him in that dress. That's the important part.

Running Away

Ever trained to run a half or even full marathon?  Or are you a regular runner? I’ll admit…even with my roommate heading our college’s running club and offering to train me one-on-one I had zero interest in the sport.  This was due in large part to the fact that after running about 200 meters I was a hot winded mess.  I may not have been in the best athletic shape…

Anyway, after leaving college and adopting a desk job, I very quickly realized just how many calories I had burned walking around campus.  And was now not burning.  So my freshman 15 arrived a bit late and I was finally motivated to join a gym and get kicked into shape.  Now it’s about two years later and the ladies I work out with are looking at a new challenge: a ten mile run.  As intimidating as that sounds, they want to go as a group, run as a group, and finish as a group.  No one will be watching their times, the goal is just to cross that finish line.  So…I think I’m going to do it.  I really want to have that camaraderie, especially on my first run, and I think this kind of support is the best way to train and actually accomplish my goal.

I have done a bit of running as part of our workouts, but certainly nothing endurance-related.  Where to start?  A friend suggested a program called Couch to 5K (sounds appropriate) to get me started.  She actually used it to finish her first 5K, so that was promising!  So far I’ve done the Week 1 workout (last one today!) and I feel pretty good about it.  Who knew I could manage to hold on for 20 minutes?  Definitely not me.  So I’m optimistic about the plan and very excited to see how this new type of fitness conditioning will affect my other workouts.  I’m hoping the added cardio/endurance will improve my strength training.  So—wish me luck and I’ll keep you posted on how the training is working out!

Exploring Perfume

For whatever reason, my subconscious managed to label perfume as "so adult" or at the very least "special occasion".  So I've never really worn it regularly, despite thinking that it was classy on other people.  Well, with the wedding coming up, I realized that desperately needed to change.  Maybe I want to feel more grown up that day, maybe I'm just worried about hugging everyone I love...I don't know. The point being, the label in my mind suddenly shifted from "eh...not for me" to "must have!". 

And I had a wonderful experience tracking down perfume!  I ventured out to my local beauty store, where they have an area dedicated to perfume.  I spoke with the perfume associate, describing my situation (perfume virgin) and that I was looking for something light and clean to eventually wear to my wedding.  And in the meantime enjoy day-to-day.  She was happy to suggest a number of options and then proceeded to send me home with five sample sprayers for myself and one for my fiancee, I couldn't believe it!  So now I'm able to test-drive these scents on my own time to decide how they react to my body and how they wear over the course of the day.

So onto the scents...I received Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh, Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, L'Eau de Chloe, BCBGMAXAZRIA Eau de Parfum, and Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb. Each strikes me as very light...some more floral while others are more fruity, but there was definitely something special about each one.  I guess now it's on to the test drives to determine which one will be my signature scent.

Do you wear perfume regularly? Do you have a favorite scent?  Or several? :)  I really enjoyed getting to sample the scents... it felt like being pampered.  So if you've got time, I'd definitely suggest stopping at your perfume counter to see what new scents are available.  I definitely wouldn't have been able to make these finds without some expert help!

Starting Something

One of the hardest things in life is to start something new…to just commit and put yourself out there for the world to see. And yes, judge.  It’s intimidating. I’ve been promising myself that I will start a blog for how many years now?  Three, at least.  And yet life always seemed to throw a curve-ball right at those moments when you’re choosing between committing and …all that other stuff.  So. Here goes: I’m starting something new.

Who am I?

A young professional, working at my first job out of college.  I work for a technology company, basically acting as a test engineer.  And quite frankly I want the opportunity to carve out time every day to think about other things.  My hobbies, my passions, my interests in things waaaay outside my realm of expertise. Fun things. :) 

I’m recently engaged, a recent homeowner, and recently committed to exercising and leading a healthier lifestyle.  I love thinking about fashion, I love cooking, and I absolutely love traveling. Or day-dreaming about travel.  (Which may happen more often than I’m proud of… hmm….)

So my plan is to use this space to focus on those things.  I want to be social, I want to be interactive, and I’d really like to be helpful.  I’ve gotten some amazing advice from bloggers over the years and I’d love nothing more than to be able to offer that in return.

I hope you enjoy!