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!
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.
I learned the 10 commandments at age 7; but this, I simply cannot stop coveting.
I know about eighteen different people with some version of this watch, but I've never seen anyone
with the Blair and it has been on my wish list for well over a year now.
I've thought about just caving in and buying this no fewer than a willion (w intended) times, but it's never come to fruition do to a variety of haphazard life events - not the least of which is that whole "student loan repayment" thing. Blah.
This weekend I'm heading to the outlets to cash in on the Memorial Day sales and you better believe I'm taking the time to search for this beauty in at the Michael Kors outlet.
People call it "Hump Day" because after Wednesday the rest of the week is downhill. Here are some pretty (and otherwise bizarre,funny or completely strange) things I am loving right now that'll help you over that hump.
1. Cat on Two Legs
This video is undeniably hilarious/creepy as hell. One of my co-workers sent it to me yesterday morning and I caught her watching it on repeat several hours later.
2. Essie Fiji
Kevo and I went to Boston a few weekends ago and I got myself all pampered up before. I had been relying on Essie Ballet Slippers as my go-to spring color, but they were at when I got my last manicure so I tried Fiji (somehow for the first time). UHM HELLO?! Fiji>Ballet Slippers. It covered my nails in 2 coats (I use FOUR with Ballet Slippers) and was the perfect light pink shade. You can't really see it that well in this picture, but trust me - it's pretty.
Yes, that is an entire lobster. Yes, I ate the entire thing. No regrets.
Better picture here:
3. Red Wine Sangria
I singlehandedly decided that my boyfriend is having a party at his group house this weekend. I plan on making lots of this stuff, sitting outside on a blanket with one of my best friends and playing yard games with Kevo and his roommates.
4. This AMAZINGLY Adorable Ring
I've been looking for a dainty rose gold ring for a while. This ring is so cute and subtle and it will go with everything. Did I mention it's only $8?
5. This Blonde Girl
That's my best friend in the whole world, Sarah. Today his her 23rd birthday. This girl has been with me through EVERYTHING. Hap BD, Sar.
Remember that time that my life was insane and I didn't have time to blog? Me too. It was last week.
I've ended my week-long craziness with a relaxing weekend weekend 1-credit class for my Master's program. Gag me. I've been in class starting at 9am, which means I didn't get any time to catch up on sleep this weekend, but there is free coffee so I'm staying positive.
We got let out pretty early for lunch so I enjoyed the rest of my quinoa (from last week!) and an apple outside on the quad to soak up the beautiful weather. I really don't spend enough time outside. Must add to to-do list.
Zoning out in class has really allowed me to think about how I need to start dealing with crazy weeks. I know all it needs is planning, organization and lots of sleep...but somehow I never seem to get there.
But this week will be different:
Here's a blast from the past and my new mantra for the week.
Please watch this video. I like to think I'm best represented around 1:13.
I'm publicly stating that this week will be my PERFECT week. Here's what it entails:
1. Meal Planning
This is probably the thing I do the worst at. Meal planning helps me eat better and save money. I'm thinking about pre-making all of my lunches tonight and storing them in tupperware for easy access in the morning...but tupperware takes up more room than we have in our fridge. I'll update on this attempt later.
2. Getting Enough Sleep
Oh Lord. I do not sleep enough and I do not have good sleeping habits. Because I'm constantly stressed out, my brain doesn't turn off at night. In order to actually clear my mind of the 1,000 things going through it, I have to pre-occupy myself by watching something mindless on TV. Eventually, I will fall asleep but it takes longer because of the mental stimulation. To remedy this, I'm going to read a book EVERY night this week (right now I'm reading: A Place of Yes by Bethany Frankel (LOVE her). If I can't focus because my mind is racing, I'm putting a notebook next to my bed so I can transfer my thoughts to paper rather than laying awake worrying all night.
3. Completing Morning and Evening Routines
Why is this so hard? No one knows. I'm usually really good at completing my morning routine, but this week I'm adding 3 morning workouts. Oddly enough if I'm able to get up and get into the gym, the rest of the morning is seamless because I always have time to fit everything in (having a good breakfast, packing my lunch, getting coffee and tea, picking out clothes, making my bed). My evening routine falls to the wayside 75% of the time though. This week I resolve to do a 10-minute cleaning spree of my room, make a to-do list for the following day, put my clothes out for the morning and go through my hygienic routine (will post this later).
4. Being Productive
This is self-explanatory. I need to be productive at work so that I'm only at the office from 9-6. I need to be productive at home so I can tackle my post-work to-do list and have time for the rest of my evening and morning tasks. My lack of productivity is a major source for the lack of organization that leads to my stress. I will be productive. I will be productive. I will be productive.
5. Not Sweating the Small Stuff
My job is stressful. My family is stressful. My roommates are stressful. School is stressful and at times even my relationship is stressful. But there are things to worry about and things to dismiss. This week I'm going to keep the "Oprah" method in mind while facing obstacles in any of the previously stated areas. The Oprah method (which a good friend of mine learned from watching her show once) is thinking about problems in terms of the length of time they will matter. They are either day problems, week problems, month problems or year problems. Anything that won't be effecting me in a day or week, I will fix and move on.
This blog has been a long time coming, but I'm glad to say it's finally here.
Let's start with the name. When I started dating my boyfriend last summer, he told me once that he had to leave my house because he was "tiredroni". Since then, the addition of "roni" to emphasis words has worked it's way into my daily vocabulary.
Very mature, I know.
But when you find something that works, you stick with it.
I read a lot of different blogs. I want this one to be a combination of all of the things I read about. I want it to be a blog that i'd love to discover. I'm going to talk about fashion, food, fitness, friends and failure (ohhh so many F's). Those, to me, are the pretty things. Prettyroni. I'll loosely document my work life and my love life. Finally, I'm going to write about the every day stuff that happens in the life of a 20-something and how much red wine I have to drink in order to get through it.
So, here's a toast. To you, to me, to this blog. I hope that you'll join me.
Here's to you, here's to me.
Friends forever we shall be.
If we ever disagree, then f$*% you...and here's to me.
;-)
axoxo,
-A
P.S. My name is not PAUL. It's a line from RENT and I just couldn't shake it. Just run with it.
