Resting Bitch Face and Squashbrowns

Have you ever had one of those days were you didn't get done anything you planned to but did everything you wanted?  Well that was my day yesterday. I had planned to do food prep all morning and blog in the afternoon with a new recipe I was experimenting with. But instead I found myself outside mowing and doing yardwork and going for a nice afternoon walk. When I came inside it was evening and thats when I began my food prep. 

I've been seeing lots of Squash recipes all over the place and been meaning to make something with the Squash from the gardens. I finally decided to combine a few different ones to get exactly what I wanted. I call these babies squashbrowns and they are super delicious and husband approved!

Squashbrowns

2 medium yellow squash, finely chopped or shredded

2 eggs

6 pearl red onions, chopped

1/2 cup + 2 TBSPS Whole Wheat Flour

Seasonings to taste

Mix squash, eggs and onions together till eggs are beaten. Add in flour little at a time, mixing with each add. Coat a skillet with spray butter, ghee, or anything that you like to cook in and heat to medium high heat. Drop in balls of mixture and then press with fork to make patty. Flip every few minutes until both sides are golden brown and enjoy! I got 14 patties out of this batch.

Whats your favorite ways to cook with squash?

So I'm very aware that I have what people call "resting bitch face". I can't help it. It's just how my face is. I'm very rarely ever upset but I get asked a lot "what's wrong".  Nothing! When I saw this on my facebook yesterday I read it and couldn't agree more..

20 Things People With Resting Bitch Face are Tired of Hearing.

Sorry I didn't get this post up yesterday, but enjoy you some squashbrowns!

I always hate asking for things, even minimal things but now I just have too. My aunt is in the hospital with kidney and liver failure. At this point in time there is really nothing anyone can do for her anymore. The family is considering hospice at this time. All I ask is that you send good thoughts or prayers in my families direction as we all prepare to deal with what lies ahead. No matter how old you get, these things never get easier.

Have a lovely day all!

-J

June Birchbox and Weekend Shenanigans

Happy Monday!!

Welcome back to the work flow, whomp whomp!

So this weekend the hub and I got up and went to see 22 Jump Street. It was hands down AMAZING! We aren't big on going to the theater, but we decided that Sunday was going to be our date day. 

After laughing our asses off to Channing (insert goo goo eyes and drool face) and Jonah for two hours we went out to Red Lobster for lunch. Have you seen it? If not go now, its okay your bosses will understand.

 At Red Lobster I had the an appetizer as a main course, the Lobster, Crab and Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms and Coconut breaded Shrimp (only ate half). Then we splurged and had some dessert. OH LAWDY that chocolate cake with chocolate syrup, chocolate chips and ice cream was so good I felt myself bloating up as we ate! But like good ones we left without finishing it.

We went grocery shopping in an attempt to walk off the fact we were chocolate wasted.

After cleaning house and grilling chicken and veggies for supper, the hub and I sat down to play our new game, Forbidden Island.

It is a strategy/team work game. All the players have to work together to collect the treasures from the island and get succesfully to the helicopter before the island sinks. We had a blast and we even won on our first time!!

Whats your favorite board/table top game to play?

Also this last week I got my Birchbox ! 

It included:

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser Starter Kit - It is a British award winning product, I had personally never heard of it. Its a two step system to purify skin. You apply the cleanser and then using hot water, soak the the muslin cloth and wipe off cleanser in small circles. It made my skin nice and soft without the redness that regular exfoliation causes.

Harvey Price "Hello" - This yummy and springy smelling perfume went straight to my gym bag to wear that day.

Supergoop! Everyday SPF 30 with Cellular Response Technology - I love Supergoop! First off and I love me sunscreen samplers that aren't that typical sunscreen smell. I love the samples I get because they are so easy to stash in the car or my purse for when my face needs it most. My face gets color easily so thats the main place that I apply it.

Cynthia Rowley Beauty Eyeliner, Black  - A smudge proof, eyeliner form a NYC Designer, this came at the BEST time. I was out of eyeliner and going to have to either go out of  my way to go get some or go with our for 5 days. Which isn't a big deal but eyeliner is a staple in my makeup routine. This went on easy and smooth and lasted all day and washed off easily!

Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo, Conditioner and Ol All in One Milk  - This trio is meant to smooth, soften, detangle and tame frizz. My hair naturally is a hot mess, a ratchet, frizzy hot mess. I gave this a shot for 4 washes. ( I only wash my hair every other day or every 2 days). You use the shampoo and conditioner as normal and after you towel dry apply the Milk and style. In all honestly it didn't detangle as much as I wished it did, BUT it did soften, smooth and tame the shit out of my frizz. I couldn't believe the lack of frizz and how easy it was to style my hair all those times and even on the second day hair also. It did super on that!!

Have you tried any of these before??

Also head over to my lovely friend Tatum's Blog to check her 12 week progress with her trainer, she freaking MURDERED it! She's looking stellar!!

And while you're surfing around don't forget to shop the Stella & Dot Mystery hostess link for your chance to win some Dot Dollars and Hostess Rewards! Go HERE for more info!

How was your weekend?

-J

TGITF

Why the extra T? Thank God its Tan Friday.

Be sure to stop by my girl Kara's blog today to see a guest post by me, and check out her awesome journey!

Its summer, we all want that natural sun kissed glow. But everyone is telling us don't go out in the sun, don't use tanning beds, self tanners streak ect. But you can tan anyway you want as long as you are being safe:

Limit your exposure

Check your moles/skin

Don't overdo it

Use sunscreen to some degree if in prolonged exposure

I'm a lover of all sorts of tanning. No matter the kind and over the years and because of school I've learned all about different products.

For at home tanning I like: 

Fake Bake Airbrush with a 360 degree nozzle for quick in a hurry tans or touch ups. Jergens Natural Glow daily lotion, goes on evenly and provides an instant color that gradually gets darker with use. 

There is one brand on here that I don't recommend and it is :

This lotion anytime I or anyone I know uses it it ends up orange and streaky. Just over all unimpressed with it.

Now for outdoor tanning, I like to mix my Tanning Bed Lotion with sunscreen. It gives me an instant color and does increase darkness. Never tan outside without any form of sunscreen, even if it is only SPF 5 or SPF 10.

For Indoor Tanning I really like

PlayBoy Boost Diamonds And Snookie Ultra Dark. Both have an instant bronzer so you can see where you've applied it, and they both have a firming aspect to them.

If you are looking for a Spray tan, I recommend Norvell brand.

 Mainly because I'm a certified Norvell Spray Tan Artist. But I really do enjoy their products which is why I went to their school. They have a 1 Hour Tan, which lets you shower after an hour, but you can keep it on as long as three hours. They also have a double dark color which is used for competitions because it is as dark as it goes.

Whats your favorite way to tan?

-J

And Remember that awesome giveaway I announced Monday..well here is some extras with it..

Hey y’all!

Wanted to give you a quick reminder to shop the Mystery Hostess Trunk Show!

Stella & Dot just launched our new Engravables Line!

How amazing do these necklaces look?

I can’t WAIT to get mine! They’re arriving in the mail this afternoon!

If you’re interested in ordering your own necklace then contact me directly at taters003@live.com

These make great gifts for recent graduates, newlyweds, and birthdays!

If you email me I can also send a list of all the options.

 I will also place the order for you to make sure you get just what you want.

Also, check out these steals that are available just for you! 

 

Don’t forget to shop at the link: http://www.stelladot.com/ts/22jz5

for your chance to win the Mystery Hostess awards!

Happy shopping! Xoxo, Tatum

www.stelladot.com/tatummcguire

taters003@live.com

At Home Workouts

Happy Wednesday!

Sorry for my leave of absence, but I just needed a break- but now I'm back!

But let me tell you a grrreeeaaat story...

 One  Sunday after it rained, the hub and decided to finally clear out a garden from behind our house. No biggie but it was terribly overgrown. We pulled plants, rocks, other debris, tilled and plowed. After awhile in there I showered and headed to work. Fast forward to the next morning, all of yesterdays activities had been forgotten. I woke up with a crazy itchy "rash" of bumps from my thighs to my neck. I was dying of itchiness. That afternoon I headed over to my moms house to get her opinion on what it could be. I get there show her, and she steps back and says "stay back!! It looks like chicken pox". I freaked out, I had them when I was little but I guess not to to bad. So like any modern age person my mom hits up WebMd, all signs point to chicken pox.I'm having a mini melt down because I think I need to quarantine myself and miss work and the gym. So I get myself into the local clinic that evening to get a final diagnosis. The nurse takes me back and she thinks there chicken pox, I'm thinking ah shit. UGH! So the doctor comes in, he's a farmer,  and just as country as they come. He takes one look at them and says chiggers. CHIGGERS? What the heck. I was so relieved. It was only chiggers, thank goodness! I just needed allergy pills and some calamine lotion. No quarantine, no long drawn out misery, I'm just gonna have some scratching to do. I guess they like tight clothes and my nike shorts and tanktop provided the ideal home for these little suckers. And that was the time I had chiggers so bad they thought they were chickenpox. 

Just a little bit of crazy.

I was writing up a guest post for a friend the other day and I touched on that on my days off I don't always make it to the gym because I live 23 miles from the town it's in, so I just have to make due and get creative to get in at home workouts. I get the feeling though that people think at home workouts might not be as effective without all the flashy equipment and stuff. And I'm guilty of thinking the same thing too, sometimes I feel that way too. But its so untrue, you can get in a great workout at home. Even with out a bunch of flashy equipment. 

And who doesn't want to a nice butt :)

It's always good to start a workout with cardio. Twenty to thirty minutes of cardio before strength training can help increase your caloric burn and up your metabolism.  Isn't that what we all want?? So do any combination of these in or outside your home:

*Sprints

*Jogging

*Farkle (Sprint as hard as you can as long as you can, then walk till you catch your breath and repeat)

*Stairs, run up and down the stadium or your own stairs.

*Bike Ride

*Skip

*Jump Rope

Then after your chosen cardio do your strength routine. You don't have to have hand weights but if you have them or want them- use them. If you look around your house and garage I'm sure you can find plenty of things that can double as weights. My dad does electronic combine balancing, so there are a lot of combine parts laying around that I can use to lift. But the best thing when doing strength is to remember PERFECT FORM! It's not about the quantity of imperfect moves, it is about the quality of each individual move. So do all the unweighted moves you want and do them well, add weight when you feel comfortable,  but never sacrifice your form for a number. Use chairs for step ups and dips even use step ladders for some stepping moves and calf exercises. Use your bed or sofa for dips or push ups. The possibilities are endless in your home, you just have to look around and see what other purposes things can have. 

Of course there are great at home dvd's too, but if you don't want to spend money, FitSugar has A TON of free workout videos of all kinds, yoga, Pilate's, ect!!

Here are some examples of at home workout moves that are good core workers:

What are some of your favorite at home workout dvds or workouts?

-J

The Hostess with the Mostess

No, this isn't about Twinkies- it's EVEN BETTER.

Yes, yes I managed to drop off the face of the planet for a week, or two. But now I'm back into the normal and I was thinking what better way to come back to the blog world than to do something for you!!!

My dear friend, Tatum, is an Independent Stylist for Stella & Dot and she has put together a Mystery Hostess Raffle for you!!! I'll let her explain some details real fast....

 

Hey ladies! Tatum here, Let me explain what a Mystery Hostess is exactly.

                Well, for each Trunk Show that we have for Stella & Dot, whoever is hosting the party at their home gets Hostess Rewards for doing the show –which means free stuff!  (The average show brings in rewards of $250 of free product, and 4 half off items!)

                Since Jess is hosting the show online she agreed to do a Mystery Hostess…. This means that any one of you can get the Hostess Rewards for this trunk show! To qualify you have to spend at least $50 before the trunk show ends on July 7th… Then I’ll put your name in a raffle and we will announce the winner on July 7^th! 

For every $50 you spend your name will be entered again
...So if you spend $100, you're name goes in twice! And so on!

To be entered to win make sure you shop here:
 http://www.stelladot.com/ts/22jz5

Take Advantage of Dot Dollars!

                For the month of June for every $50 you spend you will get $25 Dot dollars back to spend on jewelry in July! (It works like a gift card.  Stella & Dot will send you an email with the code for your Dot Dollars in July.) 

Must Haves

                If you’re planning on traveling than you need to check out the Getaway Bags – They unzip on the bottom to make the bag even larger so they are perfect for the beach, your carry on items, and road trips! 

Be sure to check out the bracelets too! These are two of my favorites… I wear them all the time! 

                The Renegade Cluster Bracelet is the one on the left, 

and the one on the right is the Urbane.  

 

Contact me, Tatum McGuire, at taters003@live.com or stelladot.com/tatummcguire with any questions you may have about the jewels, this online trunk show or whatever!

Happy Shopping! xoxo, Tatum =)

Remember to shop through this link:  

http://www.stelladot.com/ts/22jz5

 

Isn't this freaking cool!! It's like hosting a show without having to host!!

Stella & Dot has some super cute stuff. I've ordered the metallic pouf and a Joy candle. I'm in need of a new makeup bag to tote to the gym, this one has a wipeable fabric on the inside so I can keep it clean if anything gets spilled! And I'm a sucker for candles. If there's an apocalypse and you need some light, find me, I have candles out the wazoo. 

I'm dying over this pewter color. Its one of my favorite colors, it even was one of my wedding colors!

I'm also dying over these...

Again, more pewter. And these arrow pieces are freaking calling my name!!!!! That arrow bracelet deserves to be on my wrist, now.

Make sure you shop through the Link Tatum provided to insure your entry into the raffle!! I will give away a Pouf to one lucky winner!! To enter for the pouf, you must make a purchase through the Mystery Hostess Link, and then comment below and state the items you purchased in the comments for the raffle!! Simple enough!!! Both winners will be announced on JULY 7th!!

What pieces are catching your fancy?

-J

I will be back to regular scheduled posting after today :)