A whole lotta mangoes and one kiwano melon

Firstly: Hello! It's been a while ;)

Secondly: I am addicted to mangoes - yellow mangoes if you want to be specific. I found out that Whole Foods had these on special (5 for 5$ for one day... then 4 for 5$) so I went and bought 17 (over a course of three days) and it cost 20$... and it was worth every penny.

While at Whole Foods, Bobby spotted a Kiwano Melon. Now Bobby is all about "experiences" and "trying new things". So somehow, we ended up with this strange prickly fruit in our basket... and it cost 5.99$ (To think, 5.99$ could have bought 5 more mangoes!!!)

Which one doesn't belong?

The Kiwano Melon is very seedy...and it's not sweet at all. I'm pretty sure Bobby wasn't very impressed with it either.

Anyway, nothing new to report here... got some new makeup/beauty products from Sephora that I will be posting reviews on... The PiYo craze has kind of died down a lot (mainly due to low energy levels/nausea from my anemia)... And just like that, we are at the end of April!

Easter 2015

Had an awesome 4 day weekend! We had great weather on Sunday and on Monday (sunshine and 15 degrees!) – needless to say, I am feeling refreshed this morning ;)

The weekend festivities started on Thursday evening – I told Bobby I would hide Easter eggs around our apartment for him to find over the long weekend. I bought some Ferrero Rocher eggs (looks like Ferrero is jumping on the Easter candy band wagon) and some Caramilk Easter eggs (these are the eggs Bobby requested). Each night (Thursday to Sunday), I hid three eggs for Bobby to find the next day (one giant Caramilk egg, and two smaller Ferrero eggs). Bobby was pro and found all of these eggs no problem. Next year, I think I am going to hide plastic eggs and get Bobby to swap them out for real chocolate so I can hide more than three at a time (I was paranoid that if I hid too many, Bobby might miss some and we would be finding old stale chocolate for the rest of our lives).

Easter egg in Bobby's jar o' nuts...

... and one in his scotch everyday drinking glass

Friday:

It was pouring rain on Friday so we stayed at home. I cleaned, cleaned and cleaned our entire apartment. Our apartment was due for some spring cleaning ;)

Bobby worked on our side tables… and while I was cleaning and watching Friends on Netflix, I dropped my phone. Now, I drop my phone on a daily basis. I have not had a phone that I have not dropped/ruined. Bobby calls me clumsy.. but I mean, how do you even begin to “fix” clumsy? I don’t think you can…. Anyway, so I dropped my phone and the screen shattered… I mean, shards of plastic everywhere… All I can say is thank goodness for Groupon – I bought a deal to get my screen fixed (65$ for a new screen when normally it should be 130$). 

Saturday:

I went to PiYo as per usual – we moved studios as of Saturday, and the new place is great! It’s about 5 minutes from the old studio, but it’s a lot bigger, and the layout is better than the old one.

After PiYo, I raced home to make lunch/eat lunch/shower so we could head out for the day. The first stop was to get my phone screen fixed. I went to iFix in International Village and I am impressed with their service! They did a great job and it only took about 25 minutes (one hour for me because I arrived as they were going for lunch). Anyway, I highly recommend them if you need your phone or tablet screen repaired. While we were waiting for my phone to get fixed, we went to Home Depot so that Bobby could buy some things he needed for the side tables… Then we went back to pick up my phone and then headed to Tiffany so I can pick out a birthday present :)

We hit up Thierry Chocolates since they are pretty much right next to Tiffany on Burrard/Alberni. I wanted to buy some lychee macarons but they were all sold out.. so I left empty handed :(

Wet then had dinner at Memphis Blue’s (Southern bbq place) and then we went to Chapter’s on Broadway to kill some time before watching a movie. The movie we watched was “While We’re Young” and let me just save you some time and money by telling you NOT to watch this movie. It is by far the worst Ben Stiller movie ever. No wonder it didn’t make the “big screens”. We watched it at Fifth Avenue Cinemas, a small theatre on Burrard St, which normally only plays small, independent films. Also, no offense, but this theatre is old people central. Like literally, there were elderly people waiting in line with their walkers and oxygen tanks… etc. I mean, I get that we all get old… but I nowknow which cinema I will be hitting up when I am old and gray ;)

Saturday Random: Just a stack of cars... on a tree trunk... in front of Science World-ish

Sunday:

Bobby worked on our side tables some more, and I chilled out and enjoyed the awesome weather. We had dinner at my parents’ house (small Easter dinner with my parents and my bro and his gf). Good food, great company

Here's Bobby eating his favorite Filipino dish (it's a "milk fish" called bangus)

Kiwi's Easter meal was cheerios - her new favorite treat!

Monday:

I hit the mall for some “browsing”. I am in the market for a new blazer… there are a few I am eyeing in Aritzia… also I went to Sephora to try some new foundation. I am wanting to buy some more “organic” make up and am looking into buying the Tarte Amazonian Clay foundation. I wanted to try it out first though since foundation is so expensive… and sometimes, certain foundations make my skin break out. We are less than three months away from the wedding so I don’t want new acne/acne scars). Anyway, so I tried it out for the day (I think I got to Sephora around 10:15am… literally right after they opened and left it on all day until it was time for PiYo around 8pm) and it provided excellent coverage. I think I will be picking this up later on this week ;)

Anyway... so I didn't get anything at the mall (In fact, I actually returned a couple of things!). I did buy a few necessities at Shopper's though: toothpaste, dish soap, mascara, allergy medicine...

... and my first Archie comic book in YEARS

I was a little bit dismayed at the fact that the double digests are now 5.99$ before tax (they used to be 2$ or something!). Luckily, I no longer have to buy these on my meager weekly allowance... 

Monday was also Kiwi’s bath day so yesterday marked the worst day of Kiwi's life (since her last bath) – but her housekeeper came around to wipe down her floors, scrub her wheel down and refill her food… so she was in good spirits post bath!

And the world's meanest April Fool's Joke goes to...

BOBBY

Okay so before I go on complaining how it was cold in Vancouver yesterday (about 4 degrees in the morning), I fully understand that it was much, MUCH colder in other parts of our home and native land. However, the heater was none functional at work so I spent most of the day FREEZING. And, for the most part, we average double digit temperatures in the Lower Mainland… so I get stressed out for Kiwi when the temperature drops. She starts to freeze her skinny little butt off. Usually, she wakes up during the day to poke around/scratch her butt/eat and I get a notification of her activity on my phone (Thanks Drop Cam/Nest) and yesterday she wasn’t active at all. On the train ride home, I called Bobby to ask him to check on Kiwi (he was almost home when I was just leaving work) and also to let him know I was stopping by Shopper’s on the way home.

30 minutes later, I’m in my car driving from the train station to Shopper’s and I receive a text. I didn’t check it until I parked my car and Bobby texted me “Kiwi didn’t make it”. Instantly, I knew it was a joke, but also in the back of my mind, I was like, OH NO KIWI FROZE TO DEATH (which isn’t even likely since she’s never THAT cold) and BOBBY OBVIOUSLY ISN’T JOKING BECAUSE APRIL FOOL’S JOKES STOP AT NOON (this is COMMON KNOWLEDGE IS IT NOT?!?!). I almost burst into tears at the Shopper’s parking lot. I called Bobby and he admitted it was a joke L

Happy to report the world's cutest hedgehog lives on! And she is as feisty as ever!

Ad Nauseum

I continue to suffer from nausea due to ridiculously low iron levels. I haven't felt gaggy in weeks which I why I was surprised that I felt like barfing today....

So, I decided to treat myself with my favourite iced tea:

Hopefully, this chilled sugary beverage will help alleviate the nausea.

In other news, today I picked up the candy for Bobby's Easter Egg Hunt :)

Las Margaritas

Hit up Las Margaritas for dinner today. Las Margaritas is one of my fave restaurants - their food is awesome!!! Bobby has never been so I finally took him today! :)

When in Las Margaritas... one must have a margarita!

I always get the chicken enchiladas (no beans so they give me extra rice). Since there are two enchiladas, I can only eat half of my meal which means lunch tomorrow will be AWESOME!!

After dinner, we walked around West 4th for a bit. Bobby is in the market for a new jacket (his is completely worn down with holes). We found him the perfect "Bobby" jacket at Arc'teryx. He got the Waylay jacket in graphite and it passed the three things Bobby looks for in a jacket:

1. It has a hood

2. It's waterproof

3. It's the perfect colour

Looking good, Bobby!

Personally, I like the jacket too! Maybe I'll get the female version for myself - we definitely need waterproof gear here in Vancouver!

The 60 Day PiYo Challenge – check in

Okay so yesterday was day 20 of the challenge. I started on the first of March… which means that my plan on doing 60 days straight uninterrupted has not worked out. Between watching Luca and not feeling well (my iron levels are really terrible right now), I managed to only skip three days!

Now, I’ve been meaning to do a check in blog, but I have been so busy doing PiYo every night (amongst other things in between), so I decided to just hold off and do a check in for when I am about 1/3 of the way into the challenge (I say 1/3 because  I am also still doing PiYo with Move and Groove Fitness once or twice a week so my 60 day challenge is actually a 60+ day challenge).

General Review:

All in all, I would say that the workouts provided in this DVD set are great. The first two that you do are really basic, so I found these quite boring and not very challenging, but I understand that there are people who may not have done yoga or pilates prior to starting this challenge that could greatly benefit from these basic workouts.  I will do a quick review of the different workouts I have done so far so I can share my likes and dislikes:

Alignment: The Fundamentals - 40 mins

This is a good overview of the different poses PiYo uses. It helps you improve your alignment as you hold each pose so that you are decreasing the risk of/avoiding injury. It also shows you how to modify poses (keep your eyes on Michelle for modifications!)

Define: Lower Body - 25 mins and Define Upper Body - 20 mins

After first doing Lower Body by itself, I decided to combine both workouts together to make it more challenging for myself. These are both pretty basic and I just didn’t feel like I would be pushing myself if just doing each workout separately. To be fair, because I combined these two workouts together, I got bored of them REALLY quickly. 

Something I didn’t like in Lower Body: It REALLY bothered me how during the “warrior series” we did the right leg twice but the left leg only once. I mean seriously! You would think that BeachBody would have caught this mistake and re-done this take? Who wants to be lopsided strength wise?!?!

Sweat - 35 mins

I love this workout!! It really does get you sweaty but you feel really awesome after. You get a great lower and upper body AND core workout! Of all of the workouts I have done in this challenge so far, this one is my favourite! After not being able to do tricep extensions/crouching tricep push ups for the longest time, I can finally do them!! Success!!!

Core - 30 mins

Great core workout – not my favorite but mainly because my core is not in the best shape it can be. I look forward to getting better at this!

Buns - 25 mins

I’ve only done this once and am honestly blanking at what we even did – I’m sure it was a great workout tho ;)  I mean, I think we can all use a derriere workout to keep our backsides perky!

Overall, I am enjoying the 60 day challenge. And now that I no longer have to do the Lower/Upper body workouts, I am excited for the new (and hopefully more challenging) workouts to come! 

My PiYo story:

When I first started PiYo last summer, it was the first time I worked out in YEARS. I did it once a week (Saturday mornings) and I would seriously hurt for two to three days post workout. Many people who are just starting this challenge probably feel this pain.. and I just want to say that I have been there and I understand!!! My instructor only offered PiYo once a week on Saturdays for about a month or so, and then she started to offer classes on Monday nights as well (due to studio availability, it had to be Monday nights). So I would go to PiYo on Saturday and be in so much pain and then attend on Monday while still sore... I pushed through this and after a month or so, I found that I could REALLY push myself in class and only be a little bit sore (lingering pain for less than a day). After a couple of months, I could push myself and not be sore at all. I know every body is different, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel - don't give up!! You can do this!! :)

Now that I am doing PiYo everyday, I am definitely a lot more fatigued than I normally would be (on Saturday I had to take a nap!), and my body definitely gets sore/tired. However, I have gotten to the point where I no longer hurt for long periods of time (eg: more than one day). I feel stronger, my clothes fit better... and people have commented that I look skinnier (huge ego boost which pushes me to keep going strong with this challenge!). So.. in short, keep on keeping on!! You too will see results :)

Babysitting... Round 2

Uncle Bob-Bob and Auntie Jenn-Jenn are on Luca duty again tonight... last time we watched Luca, we had a lovely pizza dinner... then Luca ran around like crazy playing catch with the numerous stuffed toys we had... then around 8:30pm, he looked at me and told me he was hungry. I gave him some snacks his mom packed and he was STILL hungry. Normally, Bobby and I don't keep snacks in the house because then we end up snacking all the time so I didn't really have anything to feed Luca. Luckily, his mom was on her way but still I felt so guilty... I didn't think an almost 2 year old would be so hungry after eating 3 slices of pizza and seaweed snacks (over a 3 hour period)!!! So this time around, I am PREPARED. I know Luca loves strawberries and popcorn so I will have BOTH on hand tonight ;)

I am also preparing myself with the right amount of caffeine. Last time, we babysat Luca on a Wednesday night... Bobby used to have school on Tuesday evenings and so he was REALLY tired on Wednesday (he would leave home at 6am for work, and then not get back until 10pm after school). Well tomorrow, Bobby has to drive to Victoria so he has to be up really early... which means he will be going to bed early-ish... which means it will just be me, Luca (and Kiwi!!). Wish me luck!

Bobby's back!!!

Bobby is back from his week long work trip.... he came home last night.. with presents!!

I got a Starbucks Chicago mug and popcorn... Kiwi didn't get anything so I put her in the mug box.

She wasn't into it

Wedding Haul!!!

I did a little wedding haulage this morning and I saved A LOT of money thanks to my Bay VIP discount. I think I was a little bit TOO excited about this event because I had trouble falling asleep last night. The night before, I had terrible insomnia – I didn’t fall asleep until 3am or so… but that was because I had caffeine at 7pm (I really needed caffeine to help get me through PiYo). Yesterday, I didn’t have any caffeine past 2pm and I still had trouble falling asleep… so I blame it on the sale :)

The Bay VIP sale happens twice a year (March and sometime in the fall… October I think?). They have their usual friends and family sales several times a year where you save 15 or 20% off when  you use your Bay Card, but these sales exclude A LOT of items. The Bay VIP includes EVERYTHING but licensed items (eg, Nespresso), The Room at The Bay, and certain higher end brands (eg. Ugg Australia). However, it includes J Brand, Maison Scotch, Free People, Le Creuset, etc. And you don't need a Bay credit card for this discount. And you get 25% off regardless if the item is on regular price, sale, or clearance (10% off for cosmetics and small appliances).

Okay, so basically, I was in the market for wedding shoes and a wedding purse (and a really nice scarf I saw, and some jeans, and makeup). At first, I really wanted these Alice and Olivia shoes. I first saw these shoes back in January.. but I was hesitant to buy them for 355$ because I knew I could buy them for 25% off in March (yes, I am cheap like that). I really loved how these shoes looked (the studs are amazing), but they are a bit too high (4 inch heels). I am a size 6… and 4 inch heels for small feet = walking around like Bambi on ice. Plus, these shoes are so difficult to put on. The strap for the shoe works very much like a watch strap - you need to poke the strap through a little knob thing and then tuck it under a band (I know I am not explaining this very well). But trust me, it is very hard to put on. I tried these shoes on many times.. twice with Bobby… and twice I’ve sat all contorted at the Bay while Bobby manipulated the damn shoe straps. In the end, the Bay sold out of size 6s and so these shoes weren’t meant to be.

Enter these lovely Joie sandals. To be honest, I love these shoes even more than the Alice and Olivia’s. Sure they are more plain, however, they are 100x more comfortable and 100x easier to put on. The soles of these shoes are very padded and the heels are only 3.25 inches. And the buckle is a lot easier to put on. I set my wedding shoe budget to 300$ because I wanted shoes that I would want to wear again.

I first spotted these on Monday and I very quickly put them on hold (good thing to because the sales person informed me that they only ever carry one size 6 for higher end shoes!!!) and I picked them up today with my discount. The shoes are regularly 388$. With my discount and with a giftcard I had, the shoes came to 268.86$ with tax! Score! I came in 30$ under budget.. woohooo!

So not only did the Bay only carry one size 6, it was also the floor model. Ugh. Now I get the sticky aftermath on the bottom of my shoes for a while

Now for purses. At first I considered this purse… but it’s just so small. Right now, I know it could hold my ID/credit card, lip gloss and iPhone… but eventually I will be switching back to Android… and then what? This purse would be useless. So I decided to get this purse instead. I got it in the colour geranium (not available on the Kate Spade website) which is a lovely coral colour. The biggest bonus is that this bag is on clearance! It’s regularly 198$, but it was on clearance for 148.50… so with my VIP discount and tax, I got it for 124.74$.

So that is my wedding haulage. Super happy with the deals I got. The best part is that these should’ve cost 600$ total and I paid just under 400$ for them :)

Chai tea

Ever since doing the Tea Me Tiny Detox in February (I have two 14 day packets left which I plan on using in June – pre wedding detox!) and starting the 60 Day PiYo Challenge in March, I have decided to cut back on dairy. I am not lactose intolerant per se, but dairy does cause me discomfort at times.

Anyway, I have been craving a chai latte for a while now. I decided that I would let myself get one this morning since today would be the day after daylight savings time… and everyone who lives in North America knows that daylight savings time leads to:

Side note: Am I the only one that thinks daylight savings time is completely useless? I don’t really understand how we are “saving daylight”. If anything, daylight savings time should be in the fall…? Every March, we set our clocks forward one hour… well, the days are progressively getting longer as we near Summer Solstice… so in order to make the days longer in the spring, shouldn’t we be setting our clocks BACK? Putting this argument another way: Okay, in November, it’s dark and depressing. The sun sets at 5pm. You go to work, it’s dark. You get off work, it’s dark. Then we go ahead and set our clocks BACK an hour. Like uh ok? Doing that makes the days shorter. Instead of the sun setting at 6pm, it sets at 5pm… So shouldn’t we be setting our clocks FORWARD in fall (that way the sun would set at 6pm). My other argument is we should just scrap daylight savings time period. Anyway…..

So I got a chai latte today. It was worth the wait. I’m still tired though, but that could just be because doing 35-60 minutes of PiYo everyday is wearing me down. I plan on doing a PiYo Challenge update sometime this week (my likes and dislikes). Stay tuned!

Another side note: What is the purpose of Stabucks' La Boulange? I see nothing different in what they are serving - everything is just PINK now... as opposed to brown or green. 

This little punk is three today!

Naturally, we need to celebrate with CAKE! Since Kiwi can’t eat chocolate… and since she shouldn’t be eating cake anyway, I picked up some carrot cake (a "healthier" option) from Whole Foods (PSA: Whole Foods has the best carrot cake ever!! /spamming). Needless to say, Kiwi will be getting one teeny tiny piece (more like a crumb for us normal sized humans) and Bobby and I will be enjoying the rest of the cake slice :)

Here's Kiwi last night - her last day/night as a two year old!

And here she is this morning as a brand new, glowing three year old

So because I am a crazy hedgehog lady, I made Kiwi a birthday hat… so that she can wear it and pose next to her birthday cake:

Kiwi and her hedgie friends Mr. Prickles and Old Chaos

Kiwi eating her carrot cake crumb

Bobby ate most of the cake...

Side note: This is my 600th post - perfect timing for Kiwi's third birthday!!

Now you can enjoy some of my favourite pics of Kiwi:

Bobbly head baby Kiwi

Kiwi's first bath

SO CUTE!

Kiwi and kiwi

Ninja Kiwi

Kiwi and mommy "sharing" the wheel

PiYo Challenge Day 1

Today was 45 minutes of learning the proper alignment for the different poses/moves.

Luckily, we have just enough space in our living room for two yoga mats! (Both mine by the way!!)

Here's Kiwi practicing her chaturanga - she's really good at it

All that working out made Kiwi tired! :)

 Bobby rocked PiYo by the way! Can't wait to do actual workouts!

The 60 Day PiYo Challenge

I picked up the Beach Body 60 day PiYo Challenge through a local Beach Body Coach recently and am finally starting the challenge today! I actually received the DVDs late last week, but the OCD with me wanted to start on the first of the Month... luckily for me, the first of March was just a few days away ;)

Side note, if you live in Vancouver, and don't have a Beach Body Coach, please buy your products through Stephen Lazar - he helped expedite my DVDs. I received my DVDs one week after placing my order when normally it should take at least 2 weeks! Also, Beach Body is an American Company... and since the Canadian dollar is pretty low, I bought everything in Canadian funds through Stephen.. so there wasn't a huge shock in the end (eg: spend 60$ USD today, get charged 39420472947$ CAD by your credit card company tomorrow).

The numbers break down:

I bought the DVDs for 65.95$ and with shipping (19.95$) and tax, it came to just over 95$. The set comes with 4 DVDs with all the different work outs, a measuring tape (so you can record your progress), a work out calendar showing you the order you should be doing your workouts in, a nutrition info booklet, etc.

What is PiYo?

PiYo is a combination of pilates and yoga. I would describe PiYo as holding yoga poses and repeating the motions as you would in pilates. It can get pretty intense because at first, you hold the poses for a longer period of time... then with each repetition, the movements become more fluid (eg: you are holding the poses for less time, making each pose flow more smoothly into the next pose.. etc), 

Why PiYo?

I have been doing PiYo for about 5 months now, but I just recently got really into it because I have noticed the changes. I am definitely stronger and more lean than I was last summer...but I am not as lean as I would like to be. I currently go to Move and Groove Fitness in Coquitlam and I cannot recommend Kim more for PiYo classes. She teaches PiYo on Mondays and Saturdays and she is so upbeat and her classes are always intense, but FUN. When I first started doing PiYo, I would seriously be in so much pain for like two or even THREE days after class - no joke. But because PiYo you do yoga poses and stretches in class, I find that even if I am a little bit sore, the stretching helps ease my muscle aches! What I like most about PiYo is that it is very low impact. In Kim's class, we do some cardio but it's never too intense that I feel like I need to throw up. You should never feel like you need to faint after working out - I know some people may like that feeling, but that is definitely not for me. 

I plan on still going to Kim's classes while doing the 60 day PiYo Challenge! To avoid confusion, I wrote out the work outs and intermixed the days I will be attending Kim's class in my official PiYo Journal (PS; I bought this journal a year ago for wedding planning and never really ended up using it). I decided to skip the "rest days", which is every Friday. I will just skip days if needed. 

Bobby will be joining my on this challenge on the days when he is not away for work/he wants to participate... so wish us luck! I will be sure to blog our results along the way and do one final blog at the end of my challenge.. which by the way works out to 63 days straight.. so give or take a few days off, I should have a full update by mid May.

The "Tea Me Tiny" Detox Review

I picked up the 2x14 day Tea Me Tiny Detox teas when they were having their BOGO clearance earlier this year.

The numbers break down:

Each 14 day pack is 29.94 CAD. I picked up 2 packs for 29.94, and with flat rate shipping (9.95$) and tax, I got two 14 day packs for just under 45$. (Actually, I bought this 2 for 1 deal twice, so I ended up with 4 x 14 day detox teas). The shipping was also really fast – I got my tea a few days after placing my orders… but I live in BC and Tea Me Tiny Detox is based out of Calgary. Geographically speaking, even Canada Post could not fuck this up.

Instructions:

Brew half a teaspoon of tea in one cup of boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Drink tea twice daily, 30 minutes before eating.

First impression:

I personally like the taste of this tea. It’s slightly minty and it’s similar to the teas they serve at spas. And since you let the tea steep for at least 10 minutes, it’s no longer piping hot by the time you drink it! The brewing process is simple enough, although I did use three different tea steepers I had at home before finding one that worked well. I don’t usually drink loose leaf tea (but I have a collection of tea steepers at home from tea pots/travel mugs) so I can’t really comment about whether or not the leaves are larger or smaller than normal… but I can say with certainty that this pincer did NOT work. I don’t know if the one we have is defective, and maybe the pincers just didn’t snap tightly enough, but when I used this, tea leaves would constantly escape making tea drinking a little less enjoyable J. What DID work for me is the tea steeper that came with my travel mug. Basically I would fill this with the tea leaves and I would place it in a large mug (the tea steeper has a flat bottom so it stands on its own). Then I would fill the mug with boiling water until it’s just at the top of the steeper. I was never exact with the 1 cup boiling water part… I would say, I drank approximately 1 cup of tea twice daily J

I drank this tea twice a day:

Once in the morning. I would brew the tea just after showering and I would drink it while getting ready.

Once in the evening – time varies more than in the morning. I would sometimes drink it right when I got home, before dinner, or while making dinner… Sometimes I would drink it AFTER dinner if I ended up going out for dinner, or I just forgot.

Review:

The following are my own personal reviews. I have been drinking this detox tea for just over three weeks now (24.5 days if you are counting) so I think I can make an honest enough review about it.

The following are results that are expected when drinking Tea Me Tiny:

1      Increased energy/overall metabolism

Yes, I agree that my energy levels have increased – especially in the morning. I don’t usually drink coffee, but I normally do when I am really tired. I have only had two coffees in the past three weeks (I used to have a lot more). Now, I don’t mean to be Debbie Downer, but the tea IS caffeinated… so that could also help with the energy increase.
No comment about the increase in metabolism (how does one even measure this?!)

2   Appetite Suppression

I    I definitely experienced appetite suppression – no longer am I starving on my way to work. I get to work around 8am (about 1.5 hours after drinking the tea) and I can casually eat breakfast (usually a granola bar or cereal) without the feeling of being super hungry/faint. I also find that I am less hungry on my home from work, but that could also be due to the lunch/snacks I’ve had throughout the day.

3   Weight Loss Promotion

I have lost about 5 pounds since starting this detox back in the beginning of February. My current weight fluctuates about 2 pounds daily (depending on what I eat?) but I am about 5 pounds lighter today than when I first started the tea.

     Improved Look of Skin/Nails/Hair

This would be a big fat no for me. Recently (months before detox), my skin breaks out one giant pimple pre period… Sadly this has continued even with the detox. My nails are healthier – but I’ve stopped painting them and am using a clear nail hardener. My hair is a mess (but I recently just dyed it so that is definitely a contributing factor). In Tea Me Tiny’s defense, I think 3 weeks is too short of a period to be able to measure this… maybe things get better after a month? 

Overall, I am happy with the results of the Tea Me Tiny detox. I’ve been looking for a healthy detox alternative (none of this only drink lemon water with cayenne pepper, or only drink juice for days straight nonsense). I didn’t actively seek one out that had weight loss benefits – that was just an added bonus for me! Honestly, I believe in “everything in moderation” diets, but not drastic ones. I’ve never tried juice cleanses, but the thought of just drinking juice is daunting.. isn’t this an act of starvation? I hate this saying, but it’s very true: you only live once. So why not enjoy what you eat? While doing this detox, it was recommended to cut dairy out of my diet… but did I? Nope. I mean I didn’t go out of my way to only eat ice cream… and I think I only had ice cream a few times (thanks to my brother and his billions ofmcflurries)… and yes I ate chips and I’m sure I also had fries. I’m happy to have done this detox (and the future ones with the tea packages I have yet to open) and I would definitely recommend this detox to others. It’s simple and it lets you detox on your terms. And, you can still EAT! :) 

VB for Nails Inc first impression

Okay so I first heard about Victoria Beckham's collaboration while browsing the interwebs late last week... And I was PUMPED. Firstly, I LOVE Victoria Beckham. Hands down, she is the best dressed celebrity out there. Secondly, I love nail polish!!! I tend to stick with the reds/pinks but I do have a few blue/green shades...

Anyway, so I've actually been seriously pondering what my nails will look like for our wedding. I'm thinking a light pink with glitter for my fingers and then blue for my toes (after all, I need a "something blue"). I'm also considering a bright red for toes since that is my "signature look"... But still pondering...

I was super pumped when I heard about VB's nail polish collab. And I was even more pumped when I read that she did a nude and a red polish! This could not be more perfect timing... So I headed to Sephora in Pacific Centre to check it out. 

Bamboo White Collection on left; Judo Red Collection on right (note: I am holding the Judo Red Collection bottle, the Bamboo White Collection bottle is black!!)

My first impressions (all opinions my own):

The Bamboo White is a little too beige for my liking. For nudes, I prefer if the polish is more on the white or even the pink side... when it's beige, it looks weird with my skin tone...

The Judo Red is a little too orange.... As previously mentioned, I like my reds to be RED. It's really difficult to find the perfect RED red, but if you are looking, I would suggest OPI's Big Apple Red. 

(Side note: in VB's defense, the Bamboo White is described as a white cream nude shade and the Judo Red is described as a red orange cream shade... so they definitely got their description 100% accurate ;) )

In terms of "coverage" the polish goes on smoothly and you get perfect non streaky coverage in just two coats. As for price... well, it's a little bit steep - not Christian Louboutin polish steep... but it's 28$ a bottle and each bottle is about 13ml. To be honest, if the colours were more to my liking, I would've been like, shut up and take my money!! But, since I am not into these two colours, I am happy to pass :)

Big boxes for small items

Last week, Origins had a 20% off anything, plus free shipping deal... so I got some moisturizer. I have been using their A Perfect World moisturizer... which is okay. I like that it has an SPF of 25.. it's a little bit greasy though so I make sure to use just a small amount. Anyway, when I went to check out, it asked me if I wanted "complimentary gift wrapping". I figured, sure why not?!?! Well, when I had to pick up my package at Purolator, I was a little bit surprised by the size of the box!! The moisturizer box is 1.5"x 1.5"x 1.5" and the box it got shipped in is much much larger!

But.. when I opened up the box a few minutes ago, I quickly learned why: the complimentary gift wrapping meant stuffing small items in a large gift box:

Tiny moisturizer in a giant box!

Guess Origins ran out of smaller gift boxes...? Or maybe people always place orders much larger than mine was??!

A man and his 'hog

Kiwi was cold last night so Bobby kept her warm while we were watching Nikita.

Kiwi suffers from a severe case of resting bitch face so she tends to look angry all the time... So don't be alarmed - no hedgies were harmed for this photo op :) 

My two loves!! <3

Happy Birthday, Cakey Cakes!!!

On Februrary 13th, 2012, Bobby bought a hedgehog... who we named Chaos (whose nicknames were Kay-Kay, Cakey-Cakes, etc). To keep things simple, we celebrated her "birthday/anniversary" on Valentine's Day. This year, we are definitely missing Chaos a lot so I wanted to share some of my favorite pics of her:

This is our first picture of Chaos. Bobby bought her from a family and he brought her home in a shoe box with some shavings and some cat food. She spent the night in a medium sized plastic box (no lid!!) with a towel and food and water. The next day, Bobby bought her a cage and the "wrong" kind of hedgehog food. Seriously, Chaos was not a picky eater - she eats EVERYTHING... but for whatever reason, she hated the first kind of hedgehog food Bobby bought her.. and she refused to eat it for two days! Bobby eventually got her the "right" hedgehog food and Chaos lived happily ever after :)

Chaos and her beloved cat food! 

Post birth - here's Chaos keeping watch of the outdoor world while keeping her three little babes warm

More food pics - Chaos LOVED mangoes!! 

Chaos (on left) and Kiwi enjoying patio time

Missing you lots Kay-Kay!! <3