15. Day One of BPC Prep

I admittedly did a poor job today. 

I blame my boss. He left for a new job today and we had a dessert celebration that I completely facilitated singlehandedly even knowing I was supposed to prepare for the cleanse.  The few days before you do the cleanse, BPC recommends that you cut back on meat, dairy, all processed foods and basically go vegan and drink a ridiculous amount of water. 

Here's what I did today to prep - 

Morning - Normally I chug at least 2 travel mugs full of black coffee before I can function like a normal being, but BPC says no caffeine. So coffee was out, but they do allow green tea. Now that I think of it, they probably mean the no-caffeine variety, oops. ANYWAY, I started off my morning with a warm mug of water with fresh lemon and a green tea on the way to work. I also downed a banana before I walked out the door. BPC recommends that you stick to just fruit in the few mornings before the cleanse starts. When I got to work I had another green tea and a bottle of water. Around 9:30 I had blackberries and raspberries. 

Mid-Day - Unfortunately people in my office hadn't had breakfast so the dessert (it was blueberry!) came early and I had two pieces of the best graham cracker blueberry treat I've ever made. Whoooops. 

Lunch - Another big bottle of water and this MONSTER SALAD full of mixed greens, tomato, avocado, cucumber and edemame. So big. This took me almost an hour to eat. 

Post-Lunch - I did not have more of the graham cracker dessert. 

Yes I did. 

Dinner - Cucumber salad with vinegar dressing and a half of a whole wheat tortilla. I probably shouldn't have had this, but so be it. 

Tune in tomorrow to see what day #2 of prep is like!

Axoxo,

-A

14. Blue Print Cleanse...The Prequel

Oh, guess what? I'm alive. And back. 

As a way to slip back into this blog, today I'm going to start documenting my week doing the Blue Print Cleanse. I'm starting with the 6-juice-a-day Renovation Cleanse on Saturday. Little did I know, it's really important to prep your body before committing to the juice. 

Here's why I'm doing it:

My BFFL/workout partner Elise did BPC a few months ago and loved it. She said it totally reset her cravings and gave her a good jump start on re-focusing her eating. This is why I want to do it. I'm not looking to starve myself or even lose weight. If I was looking to lose weight - this would be the worst way to do it. I'm doing the juice cleanse to start my body fresh and set me on a path to eating better and taking better care of my body. 

I've read almost 25 reviews of this cleanse and everyone says the same thing: it's tough, but it makes you feel amazing. I'm looking for more energy, a healthy glow and a reset button for my body. 

So here goes nothing. Below the jump is my hilarious conversation with Elise about how to prep for this. I'll post on my prep for today later tonight. 

13. Outfit of the Day

Today it seems like I wore all of the clothes in my closet that I've been neglecting. I don't think I've worn any of these things in almost a year. 

We had a few special guests in the office this afternoon, so I got a little extra dressed up. 

Pencil Skirt (The Limited): similar / Belt (Nine West): similar / Lace Top (The Limited): similar / Necklace (Loft): similar / Earrings (Stella & Dot): here

Of course, I woke up late and my second-day hair wasn't working out. I was out of dry shampoo so I knew my mane was going up.

I started by parting my hair to the side and pulling the fuller side to the back of my head. I took the top half into my hand as if I were going to put it half up and teased it with a round brush. I pinned that portion back with a few bobby pins and twisted the rest into a bun off to the right side of my head. 

Shoes (Nine West): similar 

These shoes are admittedly way too small for me, but they went well with the outfit and in the back of my mind I thought I could stretch them out. 

I was wrong. 

-axoxo,

A

12. S'mores "brownies" and a Solid Workout

This post is so contradictory it hurts. Maybe it's the fact that I have to be in a bathing suit in a few weeks or maybe it's that I ate my body weight in s'mores "brownies" (recipe to follow) last night/this morning (yes, before I got to work. So sue me.), but I had a KILLER work out this morning.

Let me start by saying that I wouldn't be motivated to workout with my workout partner, Elise. Elise and I have been the best of friends since our sophomore year in high school. We were debate partners - do you understand how that bonds two people!?

Here's a little picture of us back in our high school glory days... 

...and this is us now! 

I got lucky last year when Elise left a job in Chicago to start a new career here in DC. I got even luckier when she moved about 6 blocks from my house and right down the street from our gym. 

On the night of the super bowl, I had a bunch of people over at my house and between myself and my roommates we made the best bad-for-you food you can imagine. Half way to my cardiac arrest, I declared that the following day I was starting a new work out program, and Elise jumped on board. We send each other texts in the morning at 5:30am making sure we're up. This is something we need to get better at, but it still helps to have someone remind you that you ate like a man trying to increase his weight class last weekend and could use an hour of spin class. 

Anyway, that's  Elise. My workout partner. 

This morning Elise was sick so I was a lone wolf at the gym, but I did a HARD 30 minutes (2 miles on the treadmill and 15 minutes on the stair machine at max speed) and did my normal ab routine TWICE. I also did some lunges but I lost steam near the end. I walked out of the gym at 7:15 absolutely dripping in sweat. There's no better way to start the day!

And LORD, did I need it. 

Last night I made an insane amount of THESE:

Golden grahams s'mores "brownies".

Super simple. Super amazing. A guy who works in my building just tried one and he called them "nectar from the Gods". I usually reserve this term for bloody marys with extra mary...but these are well deserving. 

RECIPE:

10.5 ounce bag of mini marshmellows (plus 2 cups!)

1 standard box of Golden Graham cereal

1/4 cup of butter

1 standard package of milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Melt butter in a large pot on the stove at a low heat

2. Add 1 bag of marshmellows and mix until melted

3. Once melted, remove from heat and add cereal

4. Once this is stirred up, put back on a low heat and mix in chocolate chips until they are half-way melted

5. Add two more cups of marshellows

6. Stir until you feel like you just did a 3 hour upper body workout

7. Place into a large baking pan of your choice, let cool

8. Wait 20 minutes, cut into squares, serve, enjoy, die of happiness.

Happy Tuesday!

-axoxo,

A

11. Mission Mondays

As much as I loathe Mondays (cough:: notnowthattheBacheloretteison ::cough), I like that they are for restarting. Everything that happened over the last week suddenly doesn't matter as much and there's something calming in that fresh start. Because of this, Monday is a perfect day for a weekly mission.

MONDAY MISSION

Today I spent a lot of time planning the week ahead. It is going to be bus-y. Like, crazy busy. But in less than 4 weeks I need to be in a swimsuit, so I need to stop letting my busy days get in the way of my work out schedule. I have busy weeks a lot. I work a busy job and have lots of people that I don't see enough, but my health cannot keep taking the back seat. 

This week my Monday Mission is to plan better in order to get at least 4 workouts in before next Monday. I got my butt to the gym this morning and I'm planning on going again tomorrow - so that's two down, 2 to go! 

I'll report back next week about my progress and then have a new mission for next Monday ;-)

-axoxo,

A

10. High Five for Friday #1

Rebecca Black? Sing it, girl.

It's Friday, gang. I couldn't be more thrilled.

Today I'm linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk (one of my favorite blogs!)

Lauren uses Friday's to reflect back on the past several days by listing her five favorite things from that week. 

Here are mine!

1. Saturday afternoon lunches with my love

hello scarf that is too warm for summer...

2. Barbeque Popchips. 

If these need explanation you may not be at the right blog. 

3. Wine, TV, and Lounging

Clearly I was protesting pedicures at the time of this photograph. 

4. Babies.

On Tuesday I babysat the most precious, sleepy, sweet baby boy. Words cannot express how cute this child is. 

5. HALF DAY FRIDAY! YAY! 

Leaving the office at 12:30PM today ;-) 

Let the long weekend begin!

9. I See You, Memorial Day Weekend

Let's all take a moment to realize that we're nearly half-done with Thursday. This, to me, means it's basically Friday. Even better than that is the pending three day weekend and following four day week. A long weekend is truly a gift that keeps on giving. 

My memorial day weekend is going to be filled with the following:

Girls Night

Shopping

Cleaning

Couple Friends

Day Beverages

Sleeping

Snuggling

(cue: "These are a Few of My Favorite Things")

Most important on this list (and most exciting!) is shopping. I've lost over 15lbs since last summer and none of my clothes fit. I'm going to spend my Saturday attacking the outlets to take advantage of the Memorial Day weekend sales. 

Here is my shopping list: 

Peach Cotton Chino Short from JCrew


A Gold, Breathable Summer Flat

-A few printed dresses that I can throw on in the DC heat
-A thin white blouse for work days
...and the dreaded bathing suit.

I'm looking forward to posting what I scoop up (and what I save ;-)!!)

axoxo
-A