WooHoo

What's this you ask??? Why it is my activity chart for July. Every day that I get at least 30 minutes of activity, I get a sticker for the day. Yes, I am still in Kindergarten!! I don't know why such a small thing keeps me motivated, but it does.

You will notice I completed at least 30 minutes of activity on EVERY weekday EXCEPT the Monday after 4th of July which was a holiday. I am a bit bummed by this especially since I told myself that day that I must do my activity, but I was recovering from the holiday festivities that occurred and could not bring myself to do any more than what was absolutely necessary.

I am still happy with what I did accomplish and hope that August looks just as good!!

30 by 30 Thursday

I must say I am pretty proud of myself this week!! I have been getting up before work (5:50 am) to do the 30 Day Shred and running at least once a day. Plus, I have been doing a better job at watching what I eat.

Quick question for you 30 Day Shredders...How do you know you are ready to move on to the next level? I am still at level one, but have increased the weights (I was a wimp the first few times and used 3 lb. weights - now using 5 lbs.) but I don't think Level 1 is easy by any means. I think yesterday was the first, and only, time I was able to get through it without taking a break!!

Thursdays I get to sleep in because I have an hour and a half yoga class after work. I love my yoga instructor, but found out last week that she will be moving at the end of the summer :( I believe the class is going to continue, I just hope the new instructor is as good as this one.

I have been getting several compliments about looking better which is definitely keeping me motivated.

I am liking the direction I am headed :)

Top 2 (or 3) Tuesday (or Wednesday)

It's kinda funny this was the topic for Top 2 Tuesday on Taylor's blog because yesterday was the first day in a loooong time that I actually used perfume. I have quite the collection, but recently I just stopped using them.

Some of my faves are...

Chanel - Chance

Dolce & Gabbana - Light Blue

Burberry - London

I seriously get compliments when I wear any of these three perfumes.

Pics from Google Images

Book Worm

Last week I ordered a few "educational" books from Amazon and I cannot wait for Mr. UPS Man to deliver them so I can get to "learning"!!

Knowing that I am a reality tv show junkie, I know it will shock the heck out of you when I say that my book order consisted of...

and

I have watched several seasons of Kendra Wilkinson and Tori Spelling on the boob tube over the past few years and am really do like them both (or at least who they portray to be on their shows).

I am dying to know what goes down in the Playboy Mansion, did they really have to have sex with Hef?? And I read sTori Telling last year and really enjoyed Tori's writing style.

Now I know this may be disappointing to those who really do spend their time reading books with substance, but what can I say other than the fact that I enjoy reading tell alls and chick lit and US Weekly and People!! Important stuff I know!

Pics from Amazon

Weekend Review

This weekend was my sister's birthday weekend!!! We had planned to go to Alcatraz Saturday afternoon, have a wine and apps night at their house with friends Saturday night and do whatever she wanted on Sunday. Unfortunately, this is not how it went down because she was sick allllll weekend :( My family makes a BIG deal about birthdays, so the fact that we didn't get to celebrate with her this weekend was sad. BUT, we do have a camping trip with friends planned in a few weekends to really celebrate, so hopefully she will be in tip top shape by then.

I didn't have to work on Friday so I spent the morning sleeping in, cuddling with my doggies, going for a run, cleaning up and then going to my grandpa's for the afternoon. When I got home I decided to rent When In Rome and take it easy until Mr. Pickle got off work. Did anyone else see that movie?? I am a sucker for Romantic Comedy, but I could not get into that movie. I ended up taking a little nap and then woke up to get ready to visit our friends and meet their new son. I didn't get any pictures because he was a little fussy and then went down for a nap, but OMG he is adorable!!!

When we woke up on Saturday and found out we wouldn't be hanging with my sis and her boyfriend, we called our friends in San Jose and made plans with them. We were going to go to Santa Cruz for the day, but there was some big race going on so we opted to go to Half Moon Bay instead. We had a nice afternoon wine tasting, walking around, enjoying the beach and getting some drinks and apps before heading home.

Mr. Pickle and his friend actually just got back from Alaska where they caught a bunch of Halibut so they made delicious fish tacos for dinner while me and his wife drank some wine and hung out. The boys headed to the bar and we headed to bed (party poopers, I know).

Sunday morning we had a small breakfast and headed home. We ran some errands on the way home, took a nap once we got home and then woke up and finished our Sunday chores.

Although the weekend didn't go as planned, we still had a nice one. Although I wish my sis was feeling better. She went to the doctor's this morning, so hopefully she will get put on meds and back to normal in no time.

30 by 30 Thursday

Weeks are just flying by this year...craziness!!

Still doing good with my workouts. I have continued with my running and finally started the 30 Day Shred. Ouchie, my muscles were sore the first few days, but that is fine by me. I even got up before work a few days and got my workout out of the way. Usually I can't get my lazy ass out of bed for anything, but I was having a hard time going back to sleep a couple of mornings and decided to bite the bullet and workout. I love running in the morning, it is so peaceful and calm and it feels so refreshing to get a good sweat sesh before starting my chaotic (yet boring) day!!

I must say that I feel like exercise has become a habit. I don't really think about doing it, I just do it. I know I will need to vary my workout and eventually step it up a notch, but I think I am doing pretty well. One thing that keeps me motivated is keeping a calendar at my desk at work and every day I get in at least 30 mins. of exercise I get to put a sticker on the day. I have almost every week day filled with stickers for the month thus far so I am motivated to keep up with it. It may seem silly, but it honestly does work for me.

My mom told me last night that I look like I have lost some weight!! Woohoo. Hopefully my clothes will start fitting better. I know it is bad to say but I haven't tried on a pair of jeans since the weather has gotten warmer. I have been wearing dresses, skirts and linen pants with ties at the waist. Part of me is scared that my jeans won't fit like I had hoped the would and the other part of me is excited to finally put them on because I may be pleasantly surprised. I'll let you know how it goes since we are taking a tour of Alcatraz this weekend and I am probably going to need to bundle up a bit.

Photography's Finest

If you have been following me for a while, you may recall that my sister is a professional photographer. She has been in business full time for the past year and has grown so much personally and professionally. I couldn't be any happier for her!! I may be biased, but I think her work is fabulous.

For all you locals, she is hosting a special through the end of July in honor of her birthday month.

Here are the details:

- Book your session before July 31st and you will get one FREE Birthday Package.

- A Birthday Package includes eight wallet prints (one pose), four 5x5's or 5x7's, and two 10x10's or 8x10's.

- It can be ANY kind of session...maternity, newborn, kids, family, seniors, life style portraits, engagement, wedding...seriously, anything goes!

- If you are interested, you can email marcie@marciefranichphotography.com to book your session or with any questions.

Click here to check out some of her recent work (and rates) on her website or here to check out her Facebook Fan Page.

Weekend Review

While Mr. Pickle away...Mrs. Pickle will play!! (Mr. Pickle went to Alaska for five days to visit a friend.)

I had a mostly fabulous weekend!! As I mentioned on Friday, me and some girlfriends were headed up to Tahoe for a girls day/night. Friday night I packed, made cupcakes (we celebrated one of our friend's birthday while in Tahoe), gave myself a mani/pedi, ordered in some sushi and went to bed early.

We headed out early on Saturday morning and made it to Tahoe by noonish. The trip started with a little relaxing while consuming a few adult beverages (never mind that No Alcohol sign on the way to the beach).

We hung out for a few hours and headed to our swanky hotel to get ready. (Side Note: Hotel was farrrr from swanky, but it was cheap and the room came with three beds, lots of room for five girls' stuff and a enough counter space for us to not kill each other while trying to get ready.) We could hear the Rascal Flatts concert from our room which we enjoyed while getting ready. Sounded like a good concert!!

Once we left the room we hung out in the casino for a bit before headed to a fancy dinner at Sage Steakhouse located in Harveys.

After dinner we headed to Vex in Harrahs. While waiting in line, because I swear with a Celebrity Golf Tournament, a Snoop Dogg concert, a Rascal Flatts concert and a Rib Cookoff, there were a MILLION people in South Lake this weekend, we were entertained by everyone starring and taking pictures of this girl who apparently forgot to put on her pants before she left for the evening. This is no joke...this chick was straight walking around the casino like this and no, she did not work there. If this is your friend, sister, daughter, etc. I apologize for making fun, but common' someone should have refused to go out with her until she put some pants on.

After a long night of drinking and dancing, we made it to bed before 4:00 am and actually slept in until 9:30. We packed up and hit up Heidi's for some great service and delicious food before heading home. I so did not want to leave Tahoe. The weather was perfect and it is so beautiful up there, not to mention I can never get enough of the fresh clean air.

When we were exiting the parking lot I noticed a tour bus and jokingly said, "Hey, I wonder if that is Snoop's tour bus." Sure enough I look over and he is standing in front taking pictures with some fans. We flip a biatch and drive back through the parking lot, but he was already inside. Although you can't see, he is waving at us from inside his tour bus!!

Upon returning home on Sunday afternoon, I realized one of my dogs had run away from home. It isn't the first time he has ran away, but it is the first time in a looong time. (We usually don't leave him alone over night because he has separation anxiety but my roommate is usually home to keep him company for a bit so he doesn't normally get too anxious.) Luckily I found him within the first 5 minutes of looking. He was off the side of the road laying under a shady tree. Scary! I was soooooooooo happy he was okay. I obviously had to give him a bath because who knows where he had been. The rest of the afternoon was spent napping, doing laundry and watching TV.

Tahoe with the girls

I am super excited to be spending time with my girls in Tahoe this weekend. It is going to be a busy weekend and I am sure I will be exhausted by the time I return on Sunday, but BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend :)

Pic from Google Images

30 by 30 Thursday

I finally weighed myself and I have lost 4 lbs!!! What a great feeling.

I have continued to run 2.5 miles a day. The distance still feels difficult, as in I don't think I could handle adding to it, however my time is getting much better. In fact, I have shaved off a whole minute since last week.

It is wonderful to see progress being made and makes it easier to stick with it.

One issue that I have been having...I HATE sweating. Not really while I am working out but I can't stand sweating after I am done. Even if I jump in a cool shower after my workout, I find that I am still hot and sweat when I get out of the shower and am trying to get dressed. I guess it is just something I am going to have to get over, especially since it is starting to get really hot here in Nor Cal.

I finally got some hand weights and hope to test out the 30 Day Shred this upcoming week.

I don't know if it is the heat or some new medication I have been on, but I have actually been kind of nauseous and not really craving any food. I of course end up eating something (I don't skip meals) but it is just odd to me. My go to meal this past week has been salads...perfect for the hot weather!

Until next week :)

Goodbye my loooooove.

Haha, if you can name that movie, you rank pretty high on my "Who's a cool kid" list!! Want another hint...Harry, I took care of it. Okay, that's enough of that.

I have professed my love for Lauren Conrad and The Hills numerous times on this bloggity of mine. (Yes, I am still a 14 year old girl.) Anywho, I have been a loyal viewer of Laguna Beach and The Hills (even when LC left I couldn't stop watching) and am so sad to know that the end is here.

Tonight is the series finale and the after show, where LC is supposed to return for one last time. I of course have my DVR set!!

Are you going to watch? Are you bummed it is the end or am I just being a drama queen?

Pic from Google Images

Weekend Review

We had a busy weekend traveling to/from LA. We went there to spend some time with Mr. Pickle's sister (my sis-in-law) and her new baby (our new niece) and visit some friends whose wedding Mr. Pickle is in next year.

Friday night we didn't land in LA until 10:00 and we just went to our friend's house to visit for a bit before falling asleep.

Saturday morning Mr. Pickle's sister and her baby met us at our friend's house for breakfast. We had plans to go to Newport Beach later in the day to visit the wedding venue for our friend's and his sister and the baby ended up coming with. We headed out around 12:30 and hit MAJOR traffic (I was quickly reminded of how bad the traffic was, when I lived there it literally drove me nuts). Once we got to Newport the venue (a yacht) was out for the afternoon (nobody bothered to call even though we had an appointment to see it) so we went to grab a bite to eat and was able to see the boat once it returned. I am soooo super excited for the wedding, the boat is beautiful!! After a quick viewing of the boat, we headed home and sat in more traffic. By the time we got home it was 6:30 and we were all pretty tired (especially the baby). We ordered in some food and played games until 1:30 in the morning!!

Sunday morning we woke up, got our things together, had breakfast and headed home. Such a short trip :( At least we got to spend time with friends and family!!

I still haven't decided if it is better to drive to LA (about a five hour drive) or fly. With traveling to the airport, showing up early to get through security and wait for the flight, fly down there and then traveling from the airport to our destination seems to be about the same amount of time and cost about the same. I think I am more inclined to say flying just because I really do hate the long, boring drive.

Favorite Fridays

This week's Favorite Friday topic is:
Favorite Summer Attire

Sun Dresses & Flip Flops

Head over to Jen's blog to join in on the fun!!

Pic from Google Images

30 by 30 Thursday

Exercising has been going well. I have been running a about 2.5 miles a day and it feels really good to get back into it. Although my pesky knee pain is coming back. I am going to try to do some stretches, wear my knee brace and keep ice on it. I hate getting old!

I have been enjoying my yoga class and may want to look into doing it more than once a week. I really need to work on my flexibility.

I don't know if I mentioned it in an earlier post or not, but I recently bought 30 Day Shred. I was going to do it over the weekend, but couldn't find my hand weights ANYWHERE. Why is it that those things were always laying out when I didn't want to be reminded that I wasn't using them and then when I actually go to use them, I can't find them?? I suppose a trip to Target is in order. I have a feeling Jillian is going to kick my bootie.

As you can guess, eating over the holiday weekend was not great (unless you consider stuffing my face with yummy, not so healthy food great...No??).

I can do this!

This is a true story...

I don't know why (perhaps because I grew up with it) I am still addicted to The Real World. Side Note: According to Wikipedia the show first broadcasted in 1992...18 years ago!!! Holy cow! Anywho, I am not as interested as I used to be...I suppose I have moved on to such great MTV shows as The Hills and The City...yet still find the drama entertaining.

The new season of The Real World started last week and it is located in New Orleans. I love New Orleans, if you recall I blogged about when Mr. Pickle and I went to New Orleans here. I love the energy and the action the city has to offer. I am so jealous the cast members get to party it up in New Orleans for 3 months.

I think it would be awesome to be on The Real World, especially in a cool location. When I was 19 me, my sis and our two best friends went to summer school at the University of Hawaii, Manona on Oahu. We took one class, lived in the co-ed dorms and partied for 6 weeks. I feel like if our experiences were tapped it would have made an awesome reality show!! I will go into more detail in another post with pictures that I recently stumbled upon.

If you were offered a spot to be on The Real World, would you accept? Are you watching the new season?

Pic from Google Images

Weekend Review

Another wonderful weekend has passed.

I got off work early on Friday. I went home and fell asleep for 2.5 hours!!! I guess I needed the rest. Then I went for a nice bike ride before meeting Mr. Pickle at the grocery store to buy all the necessary items for our weekend BBQs. After grocery shopping we were hungry so we picked up some awesome Mexican food from down the street and ate at home while watching shows on the DVR. Since I took such a long nap, I was up watching wedding shows on TLC. I sooooo miss wedding planning.

Saturday morning we celebrated the 4th of July early with my Grandpa. We picked him up from his house and brought him to our house for a BBQ. Mr. Pickle made the BEST burgers. My grandpa really enjoyed being included in the festivities.
Saturday afternoon we headed to Modesto for the rest of the weekend. Mr. Pickle's parents were out of town and we decided we would have a get together at their house since they have a nice backyard with a pool. Saturday night was spent at some friend's house hanging out in the pool and playing some bean bag games.

Sunday morning Mr. Pickle woke up super early to get started on the yummy food for the day. (Please note that when I met him at the store on Friday, he had the entire menu for the day planned out along with a list of ingredients.) I woke up when he did but declared it far too early for the day and went back to sleep for a bit. When I woke up, he was in the kitchen chopping veggies, seasoning meat and grading cheese. He made a wonderful lunch (bacon wrapped hot dogs for the boys and chicken apple sausages for the girls along with pasta salad corn) AND dinner (pulled pork sandwiches, homemade mac & cheese, grilled veggies, salad and chicken kabobs). Needless to say, we drank, ate and swam the day away!!

We bought a few fireworks from the stands that were up around Modesto and had fun acting like kids letting them off.

Monday morning we woke up and headed home fairly early. We stopped for lunch on the way home (I had a salad because I was suffering from a major food hangover) and relaxed for the rest of the entire day. I would be lying if I said I didn't take a nap or move my butt from the couch for most of the day, but hey, that's what long weekends are for. Right?!?!

Hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend!!

Trash to Treasure & 100th post

I stayed at my mom's a few nights this week for some mother/daughter time while her hubby is out of town. One of the nights she threw a little party for her friends (whom I LOVE), however it wasn't your typical gathering. When she invited them over for a potluck she told them all to bring clothes, accessories, etc. that they no longer use, like, fit into, etc. My mom had several areas set up to place the differnt items (clothes, purses, jewlery, etc.) and after dinner they each picked a number. Then they all got to pick from the items as their turn came up.

It was so much fun to watch them. Not only did they each get new (to them) items for free, they got to get eachother's opinions on different outfits, not to mention spend a night with the girls. Everyone had a wonderful time, including me!!

I think I am going to have to do this with my friends. Have you ever done anything like this??

On another note, this is my 100th post!!!!! Holy cow!! Thanks for reading all my jiberish.

Pics from Google Images

30 by 30 Thursday

Another week has gone by. Thanks so much for the encouraging posts and great tips from last week's post.

I must say, I am horrible about weighing myself, but I don't feel like I am any lighter or my clothes fit any better. I know it will take time, but I so wish there was some sort of instant gratification.

I did increase the intensity on my 30 min. walks and started running for about half the time. I don't mind running too much. I actually feel like I am accomplishing more when I run rather than walk. Last Friday was my first day adding in running to my walks and I def felt a little sore the next day. I love that sore feeling!!

On another note, I start my yoga class again today. I signed up for a yoga class through the community center several weeks ago and have been going every Thursday. Last week was our last class, but I signed up again and will continue to go for the next six weeks. After that, I may look into joining a yoga gym. Yoga is actually really hard. I thought it would be easy poses and stretches, but there is a lot more too it. I love how I feel when I am done with the class.

Meal planning (and portion control) are still the rough part of this whole thing for me. I hate that for me no meal is "complete" until I have some dessert. Although I have found that if I keep myself busy after a meal, I don't really think about it until later and the craving for something sweet is not as bad.

Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I hope I don't spend the whole weekend eating!!