I LOVE FALL

I LOVE FALL

I know it’s not quite fall yet, but I received my September issue of Vogue, the Fashion Bible as I like to call it.  It puts me into the mood for fall; I can hardly wait to wear my fall clothes. Although, here in Colorado it is still quite warm for the heavy layers of cotton, wool and tweed associated with fall.  But I can start organizing my fall wardrobe, and there is not a need to update everything, items that were in last year are still going strong this year, menswear, equestrian look (think Ralph Lauren)and reptile. It is going to be a fun fall.  The other mood enhancer for fall is education. Whether it’s your children going back to school and giving you some much needed break time or at least a little bit before all the fall sports kick into overdrive.  One thing to remember is to take care of you.  And part of it is to feed your brain. Enroll in a college course or two, something that interests you and not necessarily to enhance your job.  There have been endless studies that support if you continually work your mind you postpone dementia or even Alzheimer’s.  I am enrolling in a couple of 1 day workshops for fun and a 7 week course to learn another aspect of my business.  After my father retired, he took up some volunteer jobs, he also worked part time.  When I asked him why he doesn’t take it easy, he replied: “Daughter, I can either keep on working or just wait to die.”  He was of sound mind until the day he died. Everything we do, or do not do will affect the way we are able to live as we age.  When thinking of our health we tend to ignore our brain. Our brain is who we are; we need to take care of it as good, if not better than the rest of our body.  I have added to the loss log, added is the key term; both Walt and my weight are up.  I could blame it on the salty dinner we had the night before we weighed, but that’s just an excuse.  The fact of the matter is that we got a little lazy and a bit busy and we were eating out more than we should. So time to ignore my lazy bone and just get back into the kitchen and make a conscious effort of what goes into my body. I have also added to the fashion, recipe and beauty page. I hope you enjoy or learn something new.

As always, Breathe Chic

Case of the Blah's

Typically, I lead a crazy, hectic life.  For example, I hosted 26 High School Students at my home.  They are part of the Rocky Mountain District Key Club, their board to be specific.  They are a wonderful group of high school students whom I love working with.  They ate and slept at my home.  They bring their sleeping bags and most camp out on the floor.  The Governor gets the guest bedroom….perks of being “King”.  Usually every weekend I have something going, so when I come to a weekend like this past one and I didn’t have anything crammed packed into it, I felt off. I felt like I was missing out…..on something….anything.  Although the whole weekend wasn’t all relaxing I do have to help an adult child move on Sunday/Monday. I did get to enjoy my husband and my home and watch the hummingbirds for once.  It was a real treat, but it felt wrong and I feel that is wrong to feel wrong.  I have to learn to relax and smell the flowers; I suppose. However, I guess I just wasn’t wired to relax.  So next weekend I will have about a dozen High School students from our local Key Club Board stay the weekend and plan their year.  I love being involved with youth.

Speaking of moving a child, that leads my brain to decorating.  I like to freshen up the look of my home and typically on a whim and usually late in the day when stores are closed.  So to give a different look to an area, say a mantle or a shelf, gather different objects of the same color and display them.  For instance I noticed I had different candles, vases, a wine glass that were all purple and all within a shade or two of each other. I arranged them all on a fireplace mantle. It gave it a nice decorator touch and I spent zero dollars doing this.  The best part is all the compliments I get from people saying how beautiful, clever, ingenious and/or classy it looks.   You can change depending on the seasons or your mood. Just have fun with it and if you don’t care for it you can always change it back.

I added to the recipe and the beauty page and the loss log. I am still at a plateau but I must admit I have been horrible on the water intake, I also started beefing up my exercise routine and my muscles were pretty sore, which means water retention too. We shall see if it starts going down this next week. If not I will continue working at it.

As always,

Breathe Chic

Plateaus, purses and pimples; the bane of my existence

I guess my blog is going to be a whine fest, I would have preferred a wine fest, but since I am at a plateau with my weight I should not be having alcohol.  I know it’s a normal phenomenon to plateau after losing a good deal of weight.  And I have lost about 20 pounds (I only started recording when deciding to do this blog so it isn’t from the “true” beginning of my weight loss.) So now I am doing the up and down of quarter pounds.  I have to admit it ALMOST makes me feel like throwing in the towel, but since I am extremely stubborn I won’t. Instead I am going to intake more water.  Although I try; I do not do a very good job at keeping hydrated and I am going to try to up my exercise. That shouldn’t be hard since it is almost nonexistent. Next on my whine list is purses. I LOVE purses. The problem truly isn’t with the purse itself.  My problem is I have to make sure I have the right purse with my outfit, which means I am changing purses nearly every day. That is my whine.  I sometimes forget to move things over, like my epi-pen.  Hopefully, I will never need it. I am highly allergic to tree nuts and this pen (injection) will allow me enough time to get to a hospital in case I ingest nuts and go into anaphylactic shock.  I even did an impulse buy. The Kangaroo keeper.  I am sure you have seen it on TV.  I saw it at Target. I bought it. I took it home opened it up and it will be going back.  The large size was larger than most of my purses. Granted I do have a few satchels.  I had a phobia of large purses. I believe it started with going to the store with my mother who would carry quite fashionable suitcases err I mean purses. In my memory they were humongous. And EVERYTHING was in there, kind of like Mary Poppin's carpetbag.  I still remember the embarrassment of when My mother would go to pay for groceries, clothing, the hairdresser and literally almost without fail end up emptying out her purse on the cashiers stand to find her wallet…even at seven I was mortified I vowed I would never carry such a large bag that I cannot find things.  Well that worked up until about a year or so ago. A couple of things happened, a) I carry too much stuff for ordinary everyday life, like my Smartphone, my epi pen, my wallet which has to be medium to large size because of all the cards you have to carry and I am not talking credit cards, but all the preferred member cards, the Costco and Sam’s club the Expresso drive thru coffee punch card and the list goes on, sometimes my kindle if I have a doctors appt. or any appointment I know that I will end up having to wait, my lipstick, a pen, oh and let’s not forget the epipen and then ) fashion has evolved to where the purse is the most coveted of  accessories, and they don’t do them small. And finally the last thing to get off my chest is pimples.  I am 46 years old why must I still get this monthly annoyance. Yes that’s right I get 1 sometimes 2 a month and right on my chin. I know I know it could be worse, it’s not but I do not like them. I have tried everything to get rid of it. Nothing works.  I suppose I am doomed I just need to learn to accept it be thankful that all I have ever gotten my entire life is this 1…or sometimes 2 pimples once a month on my chin. Wow, it’s amazing I feel better already! Now as my husband would say I will take a little cheese to go with all that whine!
There is something new in the recipes, fashion and loss log tab.
As always,
Breathe Chic

No coincidences with God and a few other thoughts

I had 2 quite amazing things happen to me over the past couple weeks.  The first happened during my adoration time.  In our church we have an adoration chapel. An adoration chapel is where the body of Jesus Christ resides.  At our parish, we signed up during different hours throughout the day to spend time with the Lord. It is a time of reflection, prayer, and reading.  I call it my date with Jesus and although I always look forward to it, I wondered am I making a difference.  I was in prayer and asked for a sign of sorts to see if what I was doing made any difference.  As I was praying a woman walked in, clearly upset and was praying fervently.  She then asked if we could pray together. As we were praying I got to find out what was on her mind and heart. It was something I could actually council her with.  We had a very nice time working through her predicament, so God meant for me to be there when she needed somebody.  A few weeks ago I was going through an old box of pictures and found one with me and my best friend in 8^th grade. I wondered whatever happened to her.  She came into my life when we moved and I had to change schools after school had started for the year and being 13 it was a little tough. To have her befriend me was one of the best things that happened to me that year.  Well about a week ago she found me on Facebook. It is a time in my life when I need her as a friend. We spoke on the phone and it was as though no time has passed, she sounded exactly the same as she did 30 years ago. And there was something that drew us together then, that holds true today.  We are in similar lines of work; we have the same religious beliefs and the same political beliefs.  I look forward to renewing that friendship. Are there coincidences with God? Maybe they appear that way to us, but probably not with Him.

I added to the loss log page or maybe I need to call it the gain page this week.  It was a hectic week not a lot of meals at home which is a major culprit. We weren’t up in weight much, and fluctuation is going to happen so am I concerned? Not really, but if I am up again next week then I will be. Life happens and you have to just go with it at times.

I also added to the recipe and fashion and beauty page.  Speaking of fashion, it should be time for the annual fashion bible to be gracing our mailboxes. Yes, I am speaking of the September issue of Vogue.  I have looked forward to it every year since I was 12. Fall is the best time for clothing in my opinion and I have a feeling this year will not disappoint us. I wish you all the best week.

As always Breathe Chic

Uncle Ted and the importance of earplugs

This past week, I got to go see Ted Nugent.  The last time I saw Ted was in 1978, I think, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver.  Ted is a little older, but his music still sounded the same. LOUD. Although I cannot believe it, I am a little older, too.  I know unfathomable.  We had earplugs with us. Walt was holding mine. The girls and I went down to the front of the stage, while the guys stayed in our reserved seats. I was not going to give up my place to go back and get the earplugs. Normally, I take very good care of my ears. I always wear earplugs at concerts.  Even as a teenager, I never played my music loud.  Yes I was THAT irritating friend always turning down your music and telling you how you would have early hearing loss. So there I was about 3 feet from the speakers listening to Motorcity and Cat Scratch Fever.  I will digress for a moment,  my youngest child actually got this disease when she was little. You get it from cat scratches. When the doctor told us that is what she had I actually answered, “I thought that was just a Ted Nugent song.” As I was saying, there I was 3 feet from the speakers, caught a guitar pick too! When the show was over and the sound turned off, I felt as though I was under water. 3 days later, I still have some slight ringing and muffled sounds. The moral of this story is:  Protect your ears, especially when you are young, but more importantly when you are old.  Then you won’t be like me this week and keep repeating, “Huh?  What did you say?” I am annoying myself immensely and most likely those around me. Okay so more than usual.  But this is important.  Sound levels at concerts can be in the range of 120 to 140 decibels (db), well beyond the 100 db normally recognized as the threshold at which short-duration exposure can cause hearing loss. The loss is caused by damage to fragile tissue strands within the cochlea. These strands resemble tiny hairs. They move with the fluid in the cochlea to stimulate the electrical impulses in the auditory nerve. The hair cells become damaged in the presence of loud noise. To understand better, it’s like stepping on your grass, doing it occasionally your grass can recover, but if you have frequent traffic (or in my case a dog that uses the same path for his morning chase the chipmunks) and the grass becomes permanently damaged.  Damage to your ears happens the same way.  So even if you do not want to appear uncool or lose your place at the concert get those earplugs in.  It will be more enjoyable during and after the concert.

I have also updated the loss log, recipe, fashion and beauty pages.

As always, breathe chic

Like sand through the hourglass.......

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a Catholic Jew.   My mother was Jewish, my father Catholic. I always like to say I got the best of both worlds, and double the guilt. I also like to feed people, or as my husband would say overfeed people. I disagree, I do not overfeed people, I just make sure there is enough food that nobody leaves hungry. The importance of me bringing up this background is because I just found out one of my daughters is getting married. This is wonderful.  I am so happy for her.  She was on vacation and called me to tell me the news.  She also made the comment that I didn’t sound too excited.  It wasn’t that I wasn’t excited. My mind was churning. The Jewish half kicked into full gear, I was already planning the menu and location and where would be the best place to go bridal gown shopping. For a brief moment I forgot she was on the line, I also forgot I am not the bride but the mother of the bride. I am going to have to keep my Momzilla of the bride in check. It is exciting however, another page in life and then my thoughts turn to her having kids, guess I should wait for the wedding first. However, I cannot be totally to blame, some of the guilt falls onto her. I mean, she is the first one of the girls to get engaged! I have so many questions for her and have to wait until she comes back from vacation. That is really unfair and it should be worth me having my say for at least one thing in the wedding.  The really odd thing to me is how is that I have a child old enough to get married, I feel like I am only 25. Time just blows by. It seems it was only yesterday that she started kindergarten. Corny and cliché I know. But it is true. Speaking of feeling 25, I always get comments how great and young my skin looks and what do I use. In my opinion, part of what helps is what you apply your makeup with.  The right tools are so important.  Whether you are a mechanic or a makeup artist, the tools make all the difference in the world.  Invest in good brushes.  Good doesn’t have to be synonymous with pricey.  I find good brushes at Ulta, Sephora and Target. Sonia Kashuk has a line of bamboo brushes at Target, they have gotten great reviews. I have a few brushes from Origins that I have had for 10 plus years. They are still in great shape.  The reason why is that I take care of them. By taking care of the brushes you also take care of your skin.  Brushes are a breeding ground for germs and bacteria. You do not want to apply germs onto your skin. Every evening I clean the brushes I used that day with a little bit of baby shampoo and I rinse in warm water then let them air dry.  This also helps with your eye shadows, it keeps the colors true.  Speaking of eye shadow under the beauty tab is a great eye shadow primer. I also updated the loss log and fashion page.

As always Breathe Chic

Work Just Gets in the Way

Whether we love our jobs or we have our jobs as a means to live life it still seems as though it just gets in the way of living life.  As we come upon our great nation’s birthday, most of us get a 3 day weekend.  We look forward to it, and then we cram as much as we can into it so that we don’t miss anything.  When Tuesday comes, most of us are exhausted. Couple the tiring weekend with a short work week and the full expectation that you still need to get 5 days of work done, you will then need a break. Wouldn’t it just be nice to not have deadlines and do what we want when we want?  Well since we are adults and have responsibilities; that’s just wishful thinking. So that is why this year I am not planning a big barbecue or massive gardening projects.  I am planning just to enjoy my time off with the company of my husband.  I am even going to schedule a nap or 2 into the weekend.  I also am going to spend time in the garden.  I am not going to spend all day everyday weeding. I will limit it to 1 half day, and then I will enjoy a glass of tea or slice of watermelon. Sitting and enjoying the garden.  This will make the 4 day week a little easier to take on. That is the plan although then I remember the saying: “Men plan and God laughs”.  After last weekend of listening to great artists in the heat of the desert and eating not quite as healthy as I like, I need a get back on the wagon weekend. Although typically, in the past, when I would go to Country Jam I would come back with 5 -7 pounds of added weight.  This past weekend I was only up an 1/8 of a pound in weight and I am happy with that.  I think, too, that my weight is a little up as I haven’t been drinking my water like I should every day since coming back.  I heeded my advice last weekend and had drunk so much water and 0 calorie Sobe that I think I waterlogged myself. In closing, I would like to ask that everyone have a safe weekend and we Americans offer thanks to those first patriots that risked their lives and reputations to give us a country rich in freedoms for us.  Our country isn’t perfect, but it is a Great Nation, with great people.  GOD BLESS AMERICA!

PS: I did add to loss log, recipes, beauty and fashion tabs this week, be sure to check them out

As always Breathe Chic