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

Festivals and Sun

Summers bring on festivals of all kinds.  Last weekend we had our Strawberry Days.  This weekend, starting today, we have Country Jam. It is a huge music festival in Western Colorado. So far west it’s just a few miles to the Utah border. Which means it borders on a desert. Translation of the last sentence is it is very hot and sunny.  I have been attending Country Jam for over 10 years and only recall one summer where it was cool. Actually, cool is an understatement, it was cold and storming and bands had to stop.  I guess they weren’t game enough to play in the lightening while holding electrical instruments, go figure.  The most important thing when enjoying the music is to keep hydrated and use the sunscreen if you can’t get into the shade.  There are quite a few people who think that beer is hydrating, it’s not. Sorry, I know what a disappointment that must be for some of you. Seriously, if you want to drink, go for it, just drink a bottle of water in between the beers, or whatever you alcohol of choice is.  Unless of course your goal is to look like a middle aged prune then by all means go out there and bake yourself into a drunken oblivion.  I, however,  will be the one with glasses,  a hat and plenty of sunscreen sipping my water mostly and enjoying the great music of Lady Antebellum, Clint Black, Alan Jackson and Little Big Town just to name a few.  Yes I do imbibe I just want to remember the weekend.  Another pet peeve of mine is why is it that if you are going to a “party” atmosphere whether it be Country Jam or Vegas the dress could liken to that of what the oldest professionals were, and I am not talking white collar here either.  What happens in Vegas really doesn’t stay in Vegas, it usually gives us all good stories to bring back and the occasional cattiness of OMG did you see what she decided to wear?!  I am all about dressing up; I love my tall heels, but not at Country Jam as it is in a hayfield and would make it quite difficult not to break an ankle, although I have seen women there with platforms.  If you want to get a man’s attention typically less is not more, it is just less, leave some intrigue.  Most bodies look better covered anyway and you will have fewer parts that get burned.  The key to looking young is protecting our skin.  Some really important areas of the body that gets missed and can give your age away are your hands, neck and décolleté’.  Remember to apply to these parts as well.  I have updated fashion, beauty and the loss log this week.  I hope you enjoy them.

As always Breathe Chic

Summertime, busy time

I really love living in Colorado and there is no beating Colorado summers. No matter how warm, okay sometimes hot, it gets you can always rely on a cool evening. Which is probably where I get my fondness for jackets, wraps and cardigans. And this season all 3 are in style! We also need to protect our skin in the sun so either apply and reapply that sunscreen or layer with a light jacket. As I was reading through my past posts I noticed I was so focused on my weight loss. And that is such a small portion of my life.  Walt and I are still on our plan to be at a healthy weight, every week I will post our (hopeful) loss, I just am not going to consistently blog about it every time, unless I have a real light bulb moment. If you are interested you can always keep up on us through the loss log tab.
Like most small towns we have a central focused annual celebration. In our town it is Strawberry Days. There will be a carnival, carnival food, craft booths and lots of socialization. All the service clubs, I belong to Kiwanis, will be out in full force. It will be a very busy weekend, but very enjoyable. It culminates with Father's Day. Here is wishing all Father's an enjoyable day, hopefully spent with family. I will go down to the park and get my traditional carny dinner of a Gyro, yeah doesn't really sound like carnival food, but its about the only place you can get a good one in our town. Good carnival food? Is that an oxymoron?
I have updated the loss log, fashion, beauty and the recipe page take a peek and let me know what you think.
As always Breathe Chic

Birthday, Girlfriends and Weigh in

And not just on the scale, but on a total health management and lifestyle changes.  As you remember, I am on the Fat Trimmer Plan. Basically, I get 65% complex carbs (yummy fruits and vegetables) 15% protein and 20% healthy fats.  I feel the diet is going well. I have plenty to eat, more than plenty sometimes I cannot eat all that is allotted to me. For example, on Wednesday for lunch I made a vegetable soup, it was very tasty and filling, so filling in fact I couldn’t eat all the crackers or fruit that was meant to go with it.  I didn’t eat the allotted afternoon snack either as I was still really full from lunch. I am eating no less than a total of 8 servings of fruit and veggies a day. I LOVE this. Love it, love it, love it. Summertime is the season for fruits and vegetables and I am enjoying it and can this year as I am not on some forced unhealthy diet. God put the fruits and vegetables on this earth for us to eat! He did not have potato chips or frozen meals sprouting from the grown or blossoming on trees. I feel better and I have more energy.

The results, this week I am down almost ¾’s of a pound.  Walt has dropped 3 ½ pounds. Again, I am celebrating, I am down! And as I wrote last week, I had a party weekend the drinks were flowing, the food was abundant and the girl time was GREAT! Life is a celebration.  Again, I will be celebrating on Saturday. My husband and I are celebrating our 9^th anniversary.  We will be hitting one of our favorite restaurants, Riviera Supper Club, owned by a friend Colleen Stuart.  Riviera always serves fabulous food and they have a great wine list. I just need to remember to make wise choices or exercise more.

This leads me into this paragraph. Exercise. I actually did begin an exercise plan this week. Only 3 days ago. I could feel sore muscles. Okay so I felt like an extremely old lady, every time I bent down I groaned. It took me 5 times as long to roll over in bed, and I groaned.  But it felt good. My body needed it. And once my muscles get use to me moving again it will release the water it is retaining and I should see another drop in weight.

And finally, do not ever get too busy for your girlfriends….ever…there has been those emails that circulate about how your girlfriends will always be there.  I had the most fantastic birthday with my girls.

We had it at Nordstrom’s and it was fantastic. We had drinks, hors d’oeuvres, truffles, birthday cake, makeovers, and we shopped for outfits.  Truly a girl’s night out. We were going to go see a show too, but we ended up staying there until an hour after closing. Nordstrom’s were very accommodating. Enjoy some pictures of that evening below.

As always, Breathe Chic

2 Weeks down and 18.75 pounds to go!

So that seems like a lot but it is less than 20 pounds.  It wasn’t very long ago I had 35 [pounds to go.  I wasn’t very strict this week.  Memorial Day and friends and margarita’s were in the mix. But I came across a great skinny version of the Margarita. Check under the new recipe tab! It’s only about 150 calories per glass.  That is significantly lower than the real thing of 600-800 per serving.  I am often heard saying, I would rather eat my calories than drink them.  But I am celebrating, because the scale still went down.  So even though I had a day that wasn’t the healthiest, it didn’t torpedo my lifestyle. And it is about lifestyle change not a crash diet. I am hoping for a pound loss for next week. This weekend will be hard.  I am taking my granddaughter to the zoo, and then have a party with my girlfriends celebrating my birthday. Drinks will be flowing. But again as I have mentioned, life is all about celebrations! Life is not about denying oneself life’s pleasures.  What I really need to get in the mix is exercise. I do some, but not enough and not steadily…..maybe that will improve, here’s hoping.

As always, Breathe Chic