July!

Nice to see you again!

We've had lots of summer fun so far and we still have two months left!

We've been to the lake, the ocean, the library, and Rhode Island so far.

We've had lots of fun crafting and reading. We've watched the original Jurassic Park movie (epic fail-the girls were pretty much terrified of the raptors!).

I ordered the Erin Condren Rose Gold Life Planner on launch day. I had an EC planner a couple of years ago and loved it. I've tried several other planners, but none come close to the EC one. It's truly a work of art. If you like organizing and making lists, you will love it! I got the July 2015-December 2016 version, so I was able to start using it today! I also fell into the rabbit hole of Pinterest & YouTube videos for decorating your planner, so the girls & I have been having "planner decorating parties" which have been super fun! I got them each a student planner from Amazon, and we've been collecting stickers & washi tapes-so much fun!



























Lake fun:

















Ocean fun:

















Hotel Fun:


















Looking forward to lots more SUMMER FUN!


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Home Updates-Guest Bathroom

For the past couple of months, we've been working on some updates around the house. Lots of work, lots of shopping (my favorite part!), and redecorating.

The first room we focused on was the guest bathroom. We've been in our house for eleven years, and it was in need of some love. It had this awful floral border on the top of the walls, and was just outdated.

Here are a couple of "Befores":








And some "Afters":










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Packing for Vacation!

This is what I woke up to this morning:




Note: today is April 9. It's supposed to be SPRING. Dear Winter, GO AWAY!




Thankfully, we are going on vacation a week from today! We are going on a road trip to the Carolinas and I cannot wait! I've been doing some shopping to get ready. I'm so excited to wear sandals, short sleeved tops and to feel the warm sun on my skin!

Here are a few purchases I've made in preparation of packing:





I have really missed blogging, so hope to get back to more regular posting. Lots of updates to come!




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Maine-I hate you...

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Snow, Update, Snow, Infusion, Snow, Workouts, Snow, Food, Snow

I had my infusion on Friday. It was a long day-we left the house at 4:00 am (it was snowing so we wanted to leave a bit earlier than normal) and didn't get home until 9:30 pm. I slept on the way back, and then pretty much all weekend. I slept all weekend-my biggest side effect after infusion is always fatigue. By Monday morning, I felt a lot better, and by yesterday I was feeling like myself again. I went to the gym yesterday and did 20 minutes of cardio & 30 minutes of strength training. Oh, and 45 minutes of shoveling snow. Here I am after shoveling:




Whoa...we have had FOUR big snow storms in the past week. There is another storm on it's way tonight.


Seriously. SO MUCH SNOW!

The girls have had 4 school cancellations and 1 delay start due to storms. At this rate, they will be in school until July!

I went to the gym again this morning and did 30 minutes of cardio-proof:





I picked up coffee for a friend & I for an impromptu coffee date! I haven't seen my buddy Freda for awhile and I missed her. We had a nice chat and then I went through the car wash:





The girls had swim lessons at the Y, and then I took a Toning class-I've been taking this class on Wednesdays since it immediately follows their swim lessons. They join in and love it too!

Other than this past weekend (infusion), I have been eating really well. I have been tracking on the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone consistently for the past 20 days. Here are a couple of meals I snapped pics of-

I made a batch of cauliflower rice and had it for lunch yesterday along with sliced cucumber and some leftover chicken breast:


Not the best pic, but this was some cod that I baked with sundried tomato & capers. I chopped up half a jicama and mixed it with a mashed avocado, salt and the juice of half a lime-fantastic!



Tonight, I had baked wild salmon and sautéed green beans & mushrooms (forgot to take a picture). For breakfasts, I've been having hard-boiled eggs with sugar snap peas. I'm eating lots of veggies and protein with limited carbs. I'm feeling great!

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, thought I'd give a product rave. I have been looking for a new eye cream. I have a Clarisonic Opal that I absolutely love, but hadn't been using it. I started using it again and was reminded how much I love it, but needed a new eye cream. I need something that is really moisturizing, but gentle due to my eye disease. After reading a bunch of reviews, I decided to try this:





LOVE! it is so moisturizing and gentle. I absolutely love it! It works great with the Opal as well...Winner! I got it on Amazon for $11.00!

That is all for now...have a great evening!


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Quickie!

Get your mind out of the gutter! Just a quick little update. I had my weigh-in today. I lost 7.2 pounds in the past two weeks! I have been eating really well and have been working out. I feel SO good!

Tomorrow is my infusion, so we'll be on the road to Cambridge at 4:00 AM. I'm tired already!

Talk to ya soon!




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Lately

It has been a crazy week and a half, but looks like we're on the upswing now! Maya tested positive for the flu, so the Pediatrician recommended Tamiflu. She bounced back quickly after that. Poor Suri was sick for 9 days..too late for Tamiflu, so ended up with a secondary infection. After we started her on a round of antibiotics she started feeling better.
My doctor started me on Tamiflu to prevent the flu since I'm immunocompromised.
Yesterday, both girls were back in school!

My savior:



I wrote about purchasing a couple of new workout outfits on a previous post, so thought I'd share those.

Also, I ordered a bunch of scarves on eBay. Cheap but cute!



The other day I saw that OPI has a line of nail polishes for Fifty Shades of Gray. Love the books, can't wait for the movie, love the colors-had to have them! I found a set of minis on eBay for $12.50, so promptly ordered them:








I've been taking daily walks to get some exercise (looks like I will finally be able to join my team at the Y for our group workouts next week!). Today, Anand & the girls joined in for a 40 minute walk. Now, it's snowing so we're all cozy & warm inside.

Have a great weekend!



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Progress!

Last week was going great...I started the new program at the Y, got my Fitbit...and then BOOM-Suri woke up on Thursday morning with a high fever. Poor girl was so sick, and still is on Day FIVE! She started to get better this weekend, but has had off & on fevers and her throat hurts so we're taking her to the doctor this afternoon for a throat swab. I had to miss my first group workout on Thursday, but have done really well all weekend despite the sickness in the house. I have been tracking food on My Fitness Pal, consumed lots of fruits & veggies, made a couple of new recipes, and went out on a couple of walks. Yesterday morning, just when I thought Maya had somehow beat the illness, she woke up at 3:00 am with a raging fever. She was on the couch all day. Around 6:00 last night, I took her temperature about 40 minutes after her dose of Motrin, and it was 104. We freaked. I gave her a lukewarm bath and Anand made some ice packs to cool her with. We finally got it down to 101.8, but once the Motrin started wearing off, it went up again. I ran to the store to get some Tylenol so we could alternate every 3 hours. She slept well, and this morning at 5:00 her temp was 101.8. We kept alternating Motrin & Tylenol every 3 hours and it looks like her fever has broken. I am taking her to the Pediatrician as well just for a quick check since I am bringing Suri in.

So, it was an eventful weekend (well, five days actually!).

We did have some good times, though! I made the Asian salmon bowls again-so good! I also made a batch of cauliflower "rice" for a light lunch since we were making fish & chips for the football game last night. I made baked beans and Maya & I made some soft pretzels. I wore a couple of scarves-the beige with gold flecks was a gift from Stacy, and I also wore a blanket scarf for the first time-love them both! I gave myself a mani & pedi (matches my Fitbit! Ha!).


Taking care is sick kids and doing mountains of laundry took up a lot of my days, but we were able to squeeze in a couple of movies! We decided to watch a family movie-Avatar. I cannot believe that I had never seen this movie-it was SO good! Anand & I watched Gone Girl-I read the book and have been dying to watch the movie. It was good, but I definitely preferred the book.



On Sunday morning, we were almost out of Motrin, so I decided to WALK to Rite-Aid to pick some up. It was a 30 minute walk-not too long-but I definitely would have hopped in the car before. My Fitbit definitely motivated me to get activity in! For me, activity definitely leads to better eating habits (which in turn makes me feel better overall), so definitely a WIN!

So, the week ahead. Barring a miracle, the girls will be out of school tomorrow. I had to reschedule my dental cleaning, cancel Suri's voice/piano lessons, cancel Maya's guitar lesson, and I will miss my second group workout (ugh!). But, what can I do? My plan is to keep doing what I'm doing and get this house healthy! And hopefully I will not get sick...my immune system is compromised due to my treatments, but so far, so good.

How was your weekend?!


UPDATE: Maya tested positive for Influenza and was started on Tamiflu. Suri is too far out for Tamiflu, but she had a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. If she is not better by Wednesday, we need to take her back in. Early this morning, she had a fever again and was coughing like crazy. Currently, neither one has a fever. Suri ate a small breakfast. Maya seems to be fine. They are both lying down, eating popsicles, and watching tv.

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Long Time No Blog!

It has been awhile...
I've missed blogging, so I'm back!

I could give a really long update, but I'll try to keep it short :)

After months of no workouts and eating not so well (ok-eating horribly!), I've decided I'm ready to get back on the track to feeling good. I'm still having treatments, but they are now every 8 weeks, so I have a good gap between them. My eyes are doing well!

So, I knew that I wanted some sort of program with structure. I researched several options and several gyms. I kept going back to the Y because I love that they offer so much...tons of classes, great (new!) equipment, two locations, pools, saunas, personal trainers, etc. I also love that they offer the family plan so that we can all go on the weekends if we want. Plus, we have been wanting to enroll the girls in swimming lessons, so it just seemed like a great fit. Early last week, I was looking at the Y's website and came across a program that reminded me a lot of my beloved ME First program (which I still miss terribly!). Here is the flyer:





A 12 week program where I will be placed with a group of four plus 1.5 hours of personal training per week for $90?! SOLD! I went that very morning and signed up! Then, I went to Target and bought two new workout outfits! I had just organized my closet a couple of weeks ago and told my husband how I have enough workout outfits to go to the gym for a month without wearing the same one twice. What can I say...cute, new gym clothes motivate me to go to the gym! I'll take all the motivation I can get at this point!

The kick-off meeting was last night. We were put into groups by day & time availability and then had to decide on our workout days & times. My group of six women chose me as our "Team Captain"-basically I will be the contact person for our group. We chose Tuesdays & Thursdays from 11:00-11:45 as our personal training sessions. We are also encouraged to go to the gym on other days as well to get more activity in. We met our trainer, Val, who seems to be pretty darn awesome! She is super energetic and encouraging. I am really excited to work with her. Our first group workout is tomorrow, although me and one other woman in my group went to a toning class that Val was teaching tonight. My kids had swimming lessons from 3:45-4:30 (yep-we signed them up too!) and Val had encouraged us to try the toning class at 5:00, so it worked out perfectly! I met with Val prior to the class for weight & body fat measurements...ugh. I'll admit I was nervous about the class-it has been a long time since I've taken a group fitness class. The girls joined in too and they had fun. The class was SO MUCH FUN! Val was amazing-she is such a positive, happy, energetic person that it totally rubs off on you.

This morning, I called my hairdresser to schedule a "cover the glitter" appointment and she was able to fit me right in! Then, I went to Target to get something I've been wanting for awhile-a Fitbit Flex! I figure it will motivate me to get activity in. It's so pretty and I love it so far! I got the Violet:





Then I came home and prepped for a healthy dinner. It was SO good and super healthy-Asian Salmon Bowl from the skinnytaste website. I'll definitely be making this one again!





I'm feeling motivated & ready to get back on track to living a healthy lifestyle. Oh, and blogging :)

See you soon!



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