Fashion Friday

Greetings..

I’ve decided to share what I think I would wear today had I gone on a shopping spree at some point. I would find a lovely & cozy tea house to go sit in to lounge about, sip on a delicious tea, people watch and read a good book. You would see me nestled at a table in the corner so that I could survey everything going on around me. Of course I would keep my hat on, because well.. it’s a part of the outfit and I wouldn’t want to sit there with hat hair! A woman with kind eyes and a shy smile would complement my Michael Kors bracelet and I would smile, say thank you, and in turn compliment her shoulder bag. It’s the polite thing to do, you know. Plus, I would actually like her bag. At some point I would get peckish and order finger sandwiches and savor the flavor of the variety that was offered. I’d read off and on in between people watching and then once I was at a good stopping point in the book, I would pack up my things, leave monies for my meal and wave goodbye to the shop owner promising to stop by again for tea next week.

Ciao!

A.  Sparkle
 

Fashion Friday by ptyfashvic featuring a yellow cashmere sweater

Jigsaw yellow cashmere sweater
$160 - jigsaw-online.com

Valentino black pleated skirt
saksfifthavenue.com

Black ankle booties
$49 - newlook.com

Judith Leiber multi color purse
bergdorfgoodman.com

Michael Kors bracelet bangle
bloomingdales.com

Kate Spade bracelet bangle
saksfifthavenue.com

Wide bangle
$54 - nelly.com

Helen Kaminski adjustable hat
intermixonline.com

Winter... You Can Go Now.

Greetings...

It's still snowy here in Atlanta and oddly and luckily enough my job has let us leave early on Tuesday! I jumped in joy when I found out this news and immediately started to shut down all of my computer programs. I bundled up in my Adidas coat, fingerless gloves, large infinity scarf, and threw my purse over shoulder and made a beeline to the front door!
I knew it would be bad out in the streets, but I had no idea how bad... I've driven in the snow plenty of times so I thought it'd be fine. Living in upstate New York, you have no choice but to drive in the stuff.. However I forgot that I live in Georgia. A state where they aren't used to snow and ice and don't have salting truck ready to go. A trip that normally takes fifteen minutes took forty-five minutes! I found out later from a friend that it took her f-i-f-t-e-e-n hours to get home!! I honestly couldn't even fathom.

The city literally did shut down! The interstates looked like a zombie apocalypse happened and nothing but a car graveyard was left.. Cars were abandoned, because there was nowhere to move, some were stranded with no gas, others were huddled together in collisions, and its still bad in spots. I heard about places like Kroger and Home Depot taking people in and letting them spend the night, because they had no way to get home and others simply walking out in the streets handing out food to those that were stranded.

On the opposite side of things, there were talks of police ticketing peoples cars that were abandoned and others charging the people around them for the snacks that they happened to have on them. I guess you will see the good and the bad in times of crisis!

My place of work was closed yesterday and open a half day today and I was grateful that I could get out of my complex to go make some coins. Unlike some other places........... my job will not pay us or allow us to use vacation time or PTO to make up for time that was missed while the business was closed. Which is completely bogus in my opinion!! You could at least let us use or own vacation time to help us still get paid. However, I digress.... I could go on forever about that subject. But I won't. ;o)

Quite frankly, I'm over totally over winter.  I like living in Georgia because we normally have very mild winters. This time last year we were in the seventies.... Oh elusive Spring, please come do your sultry dance down this way and bring life and warmth in your wake. I'm ready to pull out the sundresses and sandals! Who's with me? What's your weather like where you live? I'll be here. let me know. :)

Ciao!

A. Sparkle



  

Bloglovin'

Greetings...

I just joined bloglovin'! I know I'm like super late, but at least I made it. I was desperately needing to find a replacement for Google Reader! I'm geeked about trying this out! :) Who's with me??

Follow my blog with Bloglovin



Ciao!

A. Sparkle

Weight-Loss Wednesday #3

Greetings... 

I hope everyone has had a great week so far! Mine is moving right along and I'm just waiting on Fridaaaaay to get here soon! I'm super excited to be going to the Honda Battle of the Bands here in Atlanta, GA! I haven't been in quite a few years and although my glorious Alma Mater will not be there this time, it will not stop me from wearing my sweatshirt and representing them in their absence!

So I've been going with the whole concept of not 'dieting' or counting calories, because the book called Eat Q recommends not to. A world without dieting?!? Yes I know. The whole idea is that you want to live life like...... well normal I guess. I don't know what most thin/skinny people do, but I'm sure they don't always go around counting every little calorie they put into their mouth, right? At least I hope not.. In any case, that's not how I want to live my life. I just want to know what I should and shouldn't eat, make sure it still tastes good, and doesn't require for me to starve myself and deny my body of nutrients. So with that being said I thought I'd share more tips on what the book says that can also help in the mental warfare that occurs when choosing what to eat and when to stop eating.

P.A.U.S.E 

Perceive * Recognize that this is the moment you chose what you’re going to eat

Allow * At least 10 mins for that thought to sink in

Understand * what your feelings are in the moment and why as well as pay attention to your body                               language (i.e slumped shoulders, clenched fists)

Stay * In the moment and lean into the feelings instead of away from them

Entertain * the options you have to either stop eating or keep eating

This method was probably created for me. I find that I have the mindset of needing to finish everything on my plate, so as not to be wasteful. I hate wasting food. Whenever I'm leaving food to be thrown away, I hear that little voice in my head that says, 'Um, what are you doing? Don't you know there is someone starving somewhere right now?!? You better eat it!' Then I feel guilty for not eating it, but then if I eat it I feel guilty for getting full. Oh what a catch twenty-two! Guilt is a sneaky little unwanted mistress, no? 

The great thing about reading this book is that it’s forcing me to become aware of my habits, that way I can stop them. Such as, it just now occurred to me today that I've been treating eating healthier like a job. I can generally do great for breakfast and throughout the day at work, but as soon as I get home I feel like I'm finally on my own time and I can do what I want. I stop drinking water or anything for that fact when I get home and I tend to have a bigger portion of food for dinner. Now that I know that I can watch for that! 

Okay, that’s all for now. Give me your thoughts on the P.a.u.s.e. method and tell me about your struggles or successes! Until next week..

Ciao!

 

 A. Sparkle

When In Doubt #1

Greetings...

I've been feeling on the not so motivated side of things lately. I don't like to wallow in that for too long, because it doesn't feel good and well.... who wants to hear someone complaining! (I know I don't) A while ago I either read or watched something that said to write down things you're thankful for when you're feeling low and so I thought I'd make a list of things that made me smile and/or that I’m grateful for today!

For Smiles... 

*The song that I'm obsessed with right now was playing on the speakers in the bathroom at work, so I decided to have a dance party for one. Me and my dancing jubilation almost got caught by one of my co-workers. I smirked and pretended I was scratching my head and just walked into the nearest stall. :) 

*In the midst of this very cold and bleak winter, Monday's weather reached into the 60's. It was a beautiful glimmer of Spring that I wish would last. Oh how Spring is so fickle. :)

*I bought a new stainless steel (for lack of a better word) drink container that I have a love/hate relationship with at the moment. It holds 12 ounces of soul warming goodness and it will stay that way for eight whole hrs (according to the sticker). I prepared a kettle of boiling hot water that I poured into my new found friend at six am. I knew it would take some time to cool down so I let it be for oh um about two hrs. Two hrs later I went to take a swig and burned the crap out of my tongue and then had sandpaper tongue for the rest of the day!! Don't act like you don't know what sandpaper tongue is...... I could only laugh at myself for not testing the liquid first! We've found quite a happy medium now, where  I don't boil the water as long and I throw in a couple of ice cubes for good measure. :)

For Thanks...  

*If you didn’t know.. I've recently come to have a new badass car. For those of you who know me personally, you'll know that I gave it a name, because well..... I name everything! It's just fun. Maybe it's the fact that I'm an only child and my playmates (when my friends weren't with me) were inanimate objects. The world may never know! Anyhoo, I've named my car Siren Lotus Insert Last Name Here  and I am so very grateful for her. This is the first car I've had with power everything (i.e windows & locks), sunroof, remote start, and GPS! It's a total treat and can I just admit that I feel a little fancy? My car is totally sexy! :)

*Gloves!!!! More specifically fingerless gloves that turn into mittens. When working at such a place as I do (as well as many of you) where they don't like to turn the heat on for some reason, it is a wondrous and total gift from the heavens that there are fingerless gloves... My hands stay so cold and it gets hard to type, so thankfully my gloves/mitten (maybe glittens? or Mloves? ha ha) are here to save the day and save my fingers from frost bite! :)

My work is done here. Tell me what made you smile today? What are you grateful for? Let me know! I'll be here. :)

Ciao!

A .Sparkle