New Year's Resolutions

I have read SO many articles in the last couple days about New Year's Resolutions. News must be slow because every article seems to rant about the same thing: don't make them. I've read the statistics about how most people set the bar too high and are never able to follow through with them.

That doesn't stop me from making them, though.

I have learned not to make resolutions that are majorly life altering and not to make too many resolutions at once. Last year was the first year I made a realistic goal and was able to follow through with my resolution - with the exception of one or two days (there is nobody that can be that perfect.

So what easy resolution did I make last year?

To get dressed every day - even if it's just changing into a different pair of sweats.

You may laugh and think it's a silly resolution, but as a new stay-at-home mom, I found there were days when a shower wasn't even a fluttering thought in my head. And there is nothing worse than hanging on to that extra baby fat in clothes that haven't been changed since you last had to venture into the outside world - two days ago.

I thought about renewing my resolution for this year, except J and I spent the day in our pajamas in celebration of not having anything planned that day. Not a great way to start out a resolution.

I had already decided that completing one month of NaBloPoMo would be a great resolution in hopes of inspiring me to continue blogging more after the month was over. So far, so good.

My only other resolution is to start exercising regularly. I left it pretty vague so I could set my own time limits and mini-goals, and to avoid the too powerful resolution plague. It doesn't mean I have to exercise every day or beat myself up if I miss a day. It would be great to do the recommended average of 30 minutes a day, but I'm not sure I'll get there for a while.

To assist me in my resolution goal setting is our new Wii with the balance board. J and I already played lots this weekend, and I'm looking forward to starting the Wii Fit Plus program tomorrow. If I do well all week, then I may splurge and buy the Jillian Michaels' Ultimatum 2010 next weekend (I am a huge Biggest Loser fan!).

I purposely didn't set my resolution to lose weight in hopes that it will happen and won't be jinxed by the resolution curse. I've got less than 5 months until my wedding and it'd be nice to feel great on one of the best days of my life. Hopefully this fitness resolution will help with that.

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♥ Best Moments of the Day ♥

- Getting my kitchen cleaned for the first time all weekend! With the mixture of friends and cooking projects, it feels like my kitchen has been a disaster lately. I am pretty lucky that J helped with most of the cleaning while I manhandled the kid and assisting with the finishing touches. It feels so nice to go to bed with a clean kitchen!

- Cruising the Farmer's Market for the first time in a while. With a hectic schedule lately, it's been hard to get over to the market for delicious fruits and vegetables. We were originally planning to walk, but the thermometer said 41 degrees and we opted for the car.

- Staying on top of laundry today. No explanation needed. :)

Social Italian Butterflies

I am so lucky to be marrying someone who loves having friends over to our house as much as I do. We are both very social people and with Miss Monkey running around, it's so easy and enjoyable to have our friends come over to hang out at our house. Sure, there is usually a huge mess the next day when we wake up, but neither of us complain and we always seemed to get it cleaned up first thing.

Tonight is no exception as we decided to host a night of yummy Italian food with two of our closest friends. On the menu was a delicious Pizza Quattro Stagioni (WeightWatchers.com recipe) and some modified Cannolis from a family recipe.

The pizza, which included dough made from scratch, came out perfect. We topped the pizza with some canned Italian tomatoes, basil, oregano, parsley, mushrooms, prosciutto, and artichokes. I had never cooked with prosciutto before (not sure how as most of my meals are Italian for my Italian fiance), but I HIGHLY recommend it. It was so delicious and a great alternative for ham. I wish we had saved some extra so we could use it in an omelet tomorrow morning.

As for the cannolis, the hunt for the right recipe continues. The history of these cannolis stems from J's grandmas. It has been said that they make the best cannolis ever. Unfortunately, the recipe was either lost or never written down because poor J's aunt has been trying to recreate it ever since. I never got the pleasure of having any of J's grandma's cannolis, but it isn't Christmas without the delicious cannolis that J's aunt makes.

A couple months ago, I discovered a strawberry rhubarb tart recipe that J has fallen in love with. One day I must have hurried through the recipe because I accidentally added too much of each ingredient. Oops. The result did not taste like the tart, but did not taste bad either. J thought the pastry part tasted like what he remembers from his grandmothers' cannoli recipe so we tried duplicating the mistake in the recipe tonight.

The result? Cannoli fail.

We'll try again tomorrow as his aunt left us a bunch of the cannoli filling and we'd like to use it before it goes bad. Hopefully tomorrow's batch comes out a little better.

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♥ Best Moments of the Day ♥

- Getting to run errands by myself! J watched Miss Monkey while I ran to the craft and grocery stores. I discovered that I spend way less money when I'm trying to keep Miss Monkey entertained, and seem to be in and out quicker too. Who'd have thought she'd be a money saver?

- Watching part of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. That movie is too cute and Miss Monkey seemed to love it! Unfortunately I was running around the house doing chores so I didn't get to sit and watch it, but J and I may watch it during the kid's nap time if we don't see it sooner.

- Getting this post done 15 minutes before midnight, still allowing it to count for January 2nd's post. Go NaBloPoMo!

New Year, New Try

So last month's try at NaBloPoMo..

.....

We won't even go there. It's a new year, new month - so time for a new try at NaBloPoMo. First new year's resolution: not to blog how much I suck at blogging. I'm just going to go with it.

NaBloPoMo even has a great theme this month: best. I've decided to go with the boring "Best Moments of the Day" lists because 1) they're easy, and 2) I have some awesome moments in my day that I hope to look back on later and smile.

Tomorrow will be a longer blog, I promise. Unfortunately grocery lists don't write themselves.

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♥ Best Moments of the Day ♥

- Staying in my pajamas all day with J and Miss Monkey. Technically Miss Monkey didn't stay in her pajamas since she got a bath this morning, but we put her in sweats so she could lounge around all day with us. We didn't go anywhere or do anything too strenuous - the perfect way to ring in the new year.

- Getting woken up from my nap by Miss Monkey. Why is this a best moment, you ask? Well, we had stayed up late the night before and I was dragging today, so I decided to lay down when we put Miss Monkey down for her nap. I guess she didn't go down to sleep and was playing with J for a while when she wandered down the hall and decided to try out her new skill of opening doors. The bedroom door swung open and for a minute, I thought J had opened the door to let her wake me up. She paraded in with a proud look on her face and I realized that not only did she have the idea to get into our bedroom, but she was actually able to do it! J soon came rushing down the hallway when he heard the door open and we burst into laughter when we realized what she had done.

- Making plans to go to BabiesRUs tomorrow to get some child-proof door locks. :)

- Playing Wii with J when she finally went down for an actual nap. We just got a Wii this last week but hadn't really had a chance to mess around with it. I laughed so much watching him play some of the Wii Fit Plus games on the balance board, and he actually beat me at Trivial Pursuit. Maybe he'll play more now that he won once.. ;)

Working From Home

I'm not even going to go into my eating today. Bleh.

I know there is a huge debate out there among moms over who has an easier life: working moms vs. stay-at-home moms. Everyone has their opinions and I see the pros and cons of both sides. However, there is another side that not many people talk about: the part-time working/part-time stay-at-home mom.

To be frank, we part-time working moms seem to have the best of both worlds. Not only do we get to enjoy spending all the quality time with our children, but we get out for a couple days a week for some grown-up time. Miss Monkey also benefits since she gets to play with other kids two days a week at daycare.

Being part-time also creates some cons, though. Work never seems to stop for me. I have work at home (cleaning, paying bills, etc.) and then I bring work home with me.

Despite bringing home work with me, I never seem to get time to complete it.

Tonight, not only did I complete all my work, but I also did work I was planning to do tomorrow. It feels SO good to be ahead of the game for once.

Now if only I could get ahead of paying my bills...

Day 1: NaBloPoMo WIN; Diet FAIL

At least something happened right today - I am blogging my very first post for NaBloPoMo. Yay me!

Unfortunately, I am also blogging my first diet fail post. Boo me.

I knew today was going to be hectic: first day back at work after the holidays, an involved medical test appointment for my grandpa, and several errands - all to be completed before picking Miss Monkey up from daycare. Oh, and my goal was to stay OP (on points) all day. Maybe I set myself up to fail with too much to do?

The day started out great as I grabbed a couple diet shakes to bring with me since I knew it would be hectic. I have a hard time eating breakfast so I figure the diet shakes are better than not eating anything at all.

I breezed through work and picked up my grandpa on time for his appointment. It was supposed to be an easy test and I figured I'd have plenty of time to do my errands. When we got to his appointment, however, we realized it was way more involved than we anticipated. Foolishly, I should have expected it after all the prep we had to do before the appointment.

To make up for the unforseen uncomfortable appointment, I made another foolish mistake: offering to take my grandpa out to lunch. Bad move on my part.

My grandpa loves low-key family restaurants and diners. Always good food, but tons of fat and calories.

I tried to be good and ordered the cob salad without the bacon bits with a low-fat vinegarette on the side. Forgot about the yummy delicious blue cheese that came with it. Also didn't realize what a HUGE salad it was.

Diet? What diet?

Tomorrow is another day. But at least I blogged today. :)

(I am neglecting to discuss dinner - balsamic chicken with mashed potatoes and crispy onions from BJ's Brewhouse.. must get back on track tomorrow.. must get back on track tomorrow...)

NaBloPoMo

I know, I know. My blogging past has sucked. I've changed my blog name soooo many times. I really like this one so I think I am going to stick with it.

So anyways - NaBloPoMo. National Blog Posting Month. I am joining for the month of December in hopes that I can get into the blog posting state of mind. I read SO many blogs that inspire me, but I just can't seem to post that often.

This will change starting tomorrow.

Coinsidensly, I plan on starting my 30-day Weight Watcher posts in hopes that I will blog my weight/eating problems away. We'll see how it goes.

Hello, Blog - Don't Hate Me

I have been so horrible in keeping you updated, dear blog. It's not that I didn't think about you. I thought about you a lot, but never really got the chance to sit down and update you like I wanted to. Life got busy with visits from future in-laws, parties with friends, a 14 month-old toddler who has discovered her love for temper-tantrums, and a fun-filled trip to Disneyland with 6 of our closest friends and my mom.

As you can see, things have been hectic.

I will make amends, my neglected blog. I have bought the fiance a new video game to keep him occupied and my new (used) laptop is up and running. As long as the kid stays asleep at night, things should pick up in blog land for me. :)

Besides, I need your help in losing these pesky pounds before my wedding. More on that later.