Child of the 90's

Some days I'm too cold, tired and lazy to try to style a fashionable outfit.  This was one of those days.  

I didn't feel like doing my hair...

...and this look is just too easy.   

(You'll notice I'm loving this Iris Los Angeles chambray top)

Grunge girl.

The least I could do was play around with my make up to try and look at least a little girly.  I wore Lorac turquoise shimmery shadow as liner for an edgy cat-eye look. 

Crazy Southern California Weather

The weather around here has been all over the place; it'll pour rain and hail one day and then it's sunny and gorgeous the next.  Here's an outfit I wore recently, which included bare legs in January, oh my.  

Cardigan - BCBG

Shirt - Iris Los Angeles

Skirt - Energie

Shoes - Steve Madden

Happy Monday and thank you for reading. 

Whipping My Butt Back Into Shape

I have a confession to make.  I do not belong to a gym.  Call me old-school or a cheapskate but I never have, and I don't expect I ever will.  Sure, during my time at my university I took advantage of the fitness center and worked out there, but to tell you the truth, I hated it.  Growing up we lived next door to my cousins and we exercised outdoors every day.  We used to play basketball, roller-skate, bikes, climbing, and even running.  

My Dad started running the L.A. Marathon when I was a kid and my Mom and I would go with him to the park to train.  Me and Mom would run/walk the 1 mile circumference of that park for a good hour and then go home and make banana/strawberry smoothies.  But I digress...the gym just feels unnatural to me.  As a grown up I have relied on jumping rope, workout DVD's and good, old-fashioned jogging.  In the last year, however, I've been a bum and I'm hating myself for it.  As of December 1, 2012 I've been working to get my old body back.  

I've devised a circuit-training system that I can do at home, in my garage or on the back patio.  I made index cards containing a variety of exercises to target the following: 

Arms/Chest

Legs

Abs

Glutes

Cardio

Combination Moves

Here is a sample of some of the Combo, Abs and Glutes cards.  The purpose of these index cards is to force myself to do a variety of movements to encourage muscle confusion.  I want to ensure that I'm not doing the same old tired moves over and over because our bodies adapt very quickly.

I had this cheapie shoe-organizer I got at the Dollar Tree a while back.  I knew it would come in handy!  I hung it out in the garage and all I have to do is pick various cards from each category to create a circuit I can repeat 3x.  

Here's my yoga mat, 5 lb dumbbells and a leather jump-rope.  I don't know if you can tell, but the handle broke from dropping it so many times and I had to mickey-mouse it with ghetto-ass duct tape!  

(Not shown: 3 lb weights, 5 lb medicine ball, an exercise ball and a weight bench)

Here's my lard-butt in my work-out gear.  Ok, I realize I am probably considered overweight and not obese or anything, but still, this is my personal highest weight.  I know its time to get my ass back in gear.  

You all may have different goals and different fitness levels, but this is me and I'm putting it all out there to hold myself accountable.  Shout out to Andee Layne at The Honeybee for keeping it real and showing that it takes work to be healthy.  

Thanks for reading, and to those of you with health and fitness goals for 2013--hang in there, consistency is key.  

Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Bell Peppers

This is what I whipped-up for lunch today.  I'm so proud because when I was a kid my Mom used to make lean ground turkey stuffed bell peppers and I managed to make a vegetarian version of that.  I'm not vegetarian, but my sister is, so its good to know I can modify recipes to suit her and other vegetarians as well.  Plus, its meatless Monday, right? Haha. 

I sauteed garlic, onion and carrots and added low-sodium canned corn, black beans and quinoa. 

Then I topped the little suckers with extra-sharp cheddar.  Hello, my name is Karolina and I'm addicted to extra-sharp cheddar.  You should know this about me now so that in the future when you see every other meal topped with cheese you'll nod and think to yourself, "ah yes, there's that sneaky aforementioned extra sharp cheddar cheese."  You guys, I have tried to quit this stuff. Really. I have.  I tried quitting cold turkey, low-fat cheese, and even Daiya vegan cheddar cheese.  Alas, there is no healthy equivalent to the rich flavor that is extra-sharp cheddar.  So you know what, I'm not switching.  But seriously, I know its high in saturated fat and not a health food so I have adapted and I use it sparingly, blah blah.  But I'm not gonna lie, I love this stuff.

Here's a quick peep at our little dining room and the lovely roses my hubby got me last week.  They're hanging on for dear life now but I still love them.  

Thanks for reading and Happy Monday!

I Got a Rose!

We we're watching The Bachelor the other night for the first time, ever, and we thought the rose ceremony was so funny.  Some of the ladies got really worked up over the fact that he was "bending the rules" and giving the roses out earlier than usual.  I thought the bachelor, Sean, was so cute and I said, "awww, I want a rose!"  Anyway, so the next day my hubby brought me a single red rose and asked me, "will you accept this rose?"  It was so sweet and charming I couldn't help but crack up and get misty-eyed at the same time.

Then he proceeded to give me the rest of the bouquet, so in essence, I got ALL the roses from this bachelor. I feel really lucky to have such a sweet man for a husband and I just thought I'd share.  Does anyone else watch The Bachelor?  I'm kind of hooked now!

Oatmeal Crust Pizza

Anyone who knows me knows I am a pizza fanatic and a bit of a connoisseur.  I'm not proud of this fact, as pizza is not exactly the best health food.  Over the weekend my husband and I skipped Graziano's and decided to make relatively clean oatmeal crust pizza with low fat cottage cheese instead of regular mozzarella.  

Our toppings were bell pepper, red onion and mushroom. 

We used organic marinara from Trader Joe's, I love this stuff!

My hubby cooked it on the grill and it and came out nice and crispy, but still soft and chewy in the center.  

My slice...

I must say, it was pretty good and satisfied my pizza craving.  The hubby thought is was great, too.  Next time, however, I'd like to try making the Clean Pizza Recipe I found on Little b's Healthy Habits.  This clean pizza recipe was created by Toni Cisneros and is creating quite the buzz among health and fitness bloggers.  Her recipe consists of a lean ground turkey crust, so you know its clean and high protein!  

Natural Saturday Make-Up

Just a quick post to show you a couple of things.  This is me doing my makeup and getting ready for today.  I recently purchased this hair towel and I love it!  

Here I'm wearing the L'oreal BB Cream in Fair.  It's great at hiding flaws and priming but its a little drying, even though it claims to be hydrating. I now know to moisturize before I put it on just to prep my skin as I used to, so in the end it doesn't save me that step. :(  I'd like to try some other BB creams out there.  Do you have any recommendations? 

Well hello there!  A quick gratuitous shot of me in my closet/vanity room.  

All made up...

...and ready to go!  Go do my hair, that is! 

The hubby and I will be running errands and going to mass this evening.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.  :)

The Requisite Introductory Post

Over the years I have asked people if they have any New Year's resolutions and most of them tell me they don't because resolutions don't work.  I'm more optimistic.  I'll take any excuse for a fresh start.  Resolutions give me hope that I can change and shed the negative things in my life and replace them with fresh, new lovely things.

Its the beginning of 2013 and I have plans--big plans for my career, my health and my personal life. I am returning to blogger after a (roughly) 9 year hiatus.  I often wonder what could have been if I had stayed on Blogger; the people I'd have met, the things I'd have learned.  Well, I don't want to miss out anymore so here I am.  I'd like this blog to be a space mainly for fitness and fashion related topics, but I'm certain I'll stray off topic a bit once in a while.  Stop in and say hello if you feel like it.  I'm sure we'll have fun.  Happy new year to all!