Monday

I have been brainstorming ways for Violet and I to give inexpensive, yet thoughtful holiday gifts to our loved ones this year.

In that spirit, we visited our local paint-your-own-pottery studio today!  Violet chose three unique pieces: a unicorn (of course!), angel ornament and a coffee mug to paint for my parents and her Nana.  They are all very lovely with shades of purple, green and blue. Violet is quite the amazing little artist as we all know.



She chose this angel ornament for her Grampy and Grammy.



Here she is choosing colors with her little friend K.

















I also found some great bargains this weekend too.  Some good loot for my mum and sister.
It is definitely more difficult to shop on such a tight budget but it can be done.
I think I just have to be a lot more thoughtful actually, which is a good thing.

My diet continues to be awesome, although I am *still* working on creating meals that are filling and nutritious on a day-to-day basis.  I have all these awesome ingredients but putting them together into something great can be tricky for me.  And being short on time or unmotivated will leave me hungry and desperate for convenient foods.

To compensate and still get loads of goodness in me, I have been creating a lot of yummy juices and smoothies.
This weekend I made a beet/apple/carrot juice and it was pretty good.  I've never had the juice of a beet before and barely ate them as a child, so it was a new experience for me. 
It is kind of fun to try these new things and definitely nutritious too.

Sunday

Sunday

Violet, my sisters S + K and my Mom had a super cool Gingerbread House Making Party last night!

First we had to eat some *real* food for dinner... before the candy and cookies of course:

Then Auntie S put up our house foundation:  Nice work Auntie.

Grammy helped us assemble too:

As did Auntie K:

After she ate way more sugar than I felt she should, she spent some QT with the Auntie's doggies, Boxer and Thor!

Saturday

Another two days of awesome eating AND some yoga too!

I woke up the last couple of mornings with a little more zest than before, so I unrolled my  mat and jumped-on.  I only did a few sun salutations so far, but I am definitely ready to do more and more.  The feeling of being back into a routine (although new and not very extensive) is amazing.  I feel so special and happy to have this passion for something so awesome.  It is a gift.  Anyone that has been away from something they love so much, must know this kind of loving reunion.

My foods the last couple of days:
1. Berry smoothie. Pineapple, mango, banana and almond butter.
2. Strawberry/banana/walnut butter smoothie.
3. Salads! Romaine, spinach, kale, tomatoes, onion, peppers, mushrooms -- pretty much the works!
4. Hail Merry tarts.

I bought some dried chick peas last night to soak and sprout.  I want to make my own raw hummus!  Recipe courtesy of this great site.  I am nervous because I haven't tried to make something so complicated before but I am also excited to at least try.  I love hummus and making my own would be really cool and quite a cooking accomplishment!

Thursday

Food update:

I have been eating awesome for two straight days now!  No junk whatsoever and I feel good.

I know I know, this isn't really a big deal in the grand scheme but it is pretty awesome for me considering how awful my diet has become.

Stress, time, money and fatigue will be HUGE factors in how well I can keep this up.  I need to find ways of coping with all of these things if I want to be successful.

Yesterday I ate the following:
1. Green Juice. Kale, celery, green apple, parsley and carrots.
2. Corn Chowder. Corn, walnuts, garlic, sea salt, olive oil and avocado.
3. Strawberry Smoothie. Hemp seed, cacao/coconut spread, strawberries and coconut flakes.
4. Veggie stirfry.

And today:
1. Strawberry Smoothie.
2. Romaine/hummus wraps.
3. Hail Merry cacao/almond butter cup!
4. Banana(s)

And I am really trying to push the water consumption again.  I was really lagging before or drinking apple cider or soda (gasp!).

I am really excited and although I expect some detox to happen soon, I am ready for this change.

*****   ******   ******  *******  ********

On a side note, the matriarch of my family and the hottest momma in five counties, MY MOM is celebrating her birthday today!  So a big shout-out goes to her --  Happy Birthday Mom!  We all love you and thrive because of you and your support.

Wednesday

You are so beautiful.

You are. You are so fucking unbelievably, absolutely beautiful.



From one of my favorite movies!!  I love it and the crazy romance. 
She truly is so f*cking beautiful too, maybe the most beautiful actress, in my opinion.

Wednesday

Sad but true.


I am sort of on-the-fence when it comes to this because I, like any parent, want to give my child the world!  But it can get to be way too much.  We kind of wrestled with the idea of buying this crazy touch-pad learning thing for Violet this Christmas but decided against it.  She is 4!! She doesn't NEED all this expensive crap.  And I never want to feel like she has to have it.
We have this friend W, this really cool roller-derby playing friend and she is the kind of Mom I aspire to be.  She feeds her family only organic, wholesome foods and is amazing with her kids in general.  Anyways, last year she showed everyone the pictures of the items she MADE for her children for Christmas.  She didn't buy into the commercial crapola, like touchpads or barbie dolls or video games.  She designed and crafted the coolest gifts and I am totally envious. 

I guess I am in the middle on the gift thing -- I already tend to purchase Violet too much during the year anyways so Christmas is a day with even more "stuff" to fill the house.

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