What I’m Loving Wednesday 1.9.12

1. I need really want this necklace from Tiffany & Co.

I also want this bracelet. It’s only $8,250.

I supposed I could settle for this much more affordable Etsy option.

2. After a long run a couple weeks ago, Amanda and I refueled with two of the best sandwiches at Purée: The Deep South Sandwich, which is very similar to a Chick-fil-A sandwich, but made with seitan,

and a Blackened Jalapeno Burger, made with tempeh.

If you’re thinking about bringing a man friend to Purée, convince him to try one of these and he’ll forget he’s not eating meat.

3. Yesterday I was using too many abbrevs (abbreviations) and my coworker said I sounded like Tom Haverford. I took that as a compliment.

4. Years ago, I loved these Grapples.

Now they have Crazy Apples . Have you tried either?

5. I took more than advantage of Old Navy’s sale on active wear. I bought a couple pairs of these compression pants that suck all your fat in:

a Go Dry tee:

this obnoxious tank that I will either love or hate in person:

and three compression jackets. Whoops?

Amanda and I both have the pink jacket and will be crossing the half marathon finish line wearing them. Nerd alert.

6. And why do I work out so much?

HOW I FEEL WATCHING THE VICTORIA’S SECRET FASHION SHOW

True or false? The Goonies was your favorite movie from the 80s.

What I’m Loving Wednesday 12.19.12

1. Last night I went out with Danielle to deliver samples of the new Red Bull Editions that we tried a couple weeks ago. While out, the bartender made us a little shot with the Bakon Vodka, Zing Zang, and pineapple juice. It was supposed to taste like a pineapple pizza which sounds totally weird, but it was so good. He said the Bakon Vodka is really good in a Bloody Mary.

2. Old Navy’s Compression Capris. I know you guys love your Lululemon gear because it stores fat in unknown places, but I promise these do the same. It looks like I worked out for a month straight when I wear them.

3. This.

4. Boding finally went to Mi Xao with Eric and me. It was weird not going with Danielle! My new favorite menu item is the Chicken Salad: steamed chicken breast, cabbage, carrots, shallots, fresh herbs, and peanuts with a lime dressing. I want to drink the dressing and I’m not joking.

5. Eric said lunch was BYOC: bring your own chopsticks. It was the perfect opportunity for me to give Boding one of his Christmas presents early.

6. I partnered with my new best friend Carly for The Ornament Swap. She decided to go above and beyond with the gift giving. I’ll show you it all soon, but check out the best item in the box: an inflatable dreidel.

I can’t decide which I like more: the dreidel or the boy holding it….hahah I am going to be in so much trouble for sharing this.

6 days until Christmas!

New Year’s Eve Outfit, Makeup, and Hair

I have a confession. I am not a huge fan of shopping, hate putting outfits together, and swear I don’t know how to match. For an event, I usually find a dress I love then beg Kaye and Amanda for outfit inspiration. That said, I’m pretty excited to have my New Year’s Eve outfit already planned, 20 days ahead of time. Who am I? The older I get, I swear, the more and more of a (gasp!) girly girl I become.

I forgot to tell you what happened with all those NYE dresses I ordered. Three of the four were from ASOS.com, a European site. When I ordered them, my credit card had a seizure and my bank immediately called me about fraudulent charges. Even though I approved the charge with them, it didn’t go through. By the time I could reorder, two of the dresses were gone in my size. Praise Jesus, I had already ordered the one shown below. It arrived yesterday and fits perfectly. I’ve had some good karma lately.

 

New Year's Eve 2013 by christinaorso featuring steve madden shoes

Back to the outfit. Do you think that is too much gold? It is NYE after all, and I do love to sparkle. I will keep my earrings and ring very simple and definitely wear a very delicate necklace.

Makeup is easy. I’ll just throw all this on my face:

 

MAC & MUA Makeup by christinaorso featuring mac cosmetics

The next issue is my hair. Do I ever do anything different with my hair? Nope. The beauty of having an angled bob is that it doesn’t need much styling, but it is at a length where I can change it up. Here are some ideas I’m pondering:

That was exhausting. How do you ladies plan weddings?

And because I know you’re dying to ask, yes, my date is planned too. He’s a cutie, can you guess who? ;)

Are you ready for NYE? What are you wearing/doing?

Food, Fitness, Fashion

Since we started The NYE Challenge, I have not touched any sweets. I thought I’d be freaking out by now. The last time I gave up candy, the first two weeks were the worst. In exchange, I’ve had these three foods every day:

Much healthier options. By the way, that Oikos key lime Greek yogurt is fantastic. If I put it in a pie crust, you’d be just as satisfied as eating key lime pie.

PS: The current score is Boding: 0,  Kaye: 2, Christina: 1, Carter: 2.

In addition to running and strength training, I’ve been planking like a crazy woman.

Forearm planks. (2 min each, 8-10x a day)

Side planks.

Kissing planks.

Flying planks. Just kidding, I look like an idiot.

While I’ve not been baking, I’ve been shopping. Great for my stomach, horrible for my budget. In hopes that at least one will fit me, I bought four potential NYE dresses today.

What’s your favorite replacement for sweets?

Do you like doing planks? Anything’s better than burpees, I suppose.

Which NYE dress do you like the most?

What I’m Loving Wednesday 12.5.12

1. Danielle and I eat lunch together every Monday. For the past month, we’ve gone to Mi Xao each week, at least once. This week, we went back for our favorite items on the menu. Mine is the Tom Yum Kung, extra spicy.

See the coconut shrimp? The owner was being nice and brought us some samples. Naturally, I threw one back and then bam! It hit me. They were fried and I just got a damn strike for The NYE Challenge.

Boding said it counts. I say it doesn’t because it wasn’t a conscious decision. Ugh!! I immediately confessed when I got home, so he then asked Kaye how she was doing.

Pizza. Really, Kaye?!? That evening, Carter admitted to eating chips and I had to explain to Boding that chips are fried. Hahahah. WE SUCK!

2. To me, this is heaven.

(The cookbook section of The Coastal Cupboard)

3. Rachel found a tutorial on how to make monogram Iphone wallpapers here. Pretty, pretty.

4. I finally got my hair colored last Friday. It’s my natural color in the back, with gold lowlights…

…then gold & blonde in the front.

Don’t ask me how I am standing in that picture, or how the tree didn’t get knocked over. Christmas miracles!

5. Low-key arm parties. This is one of my bracelets from Peppermint Lollipops.

6. On Saturday, I went to a food truck rodeo at Whole Foods. Of course I had Roti Rolls.

Here’s the Funky Farmer: curried local butternut squash, carrots, red potatoes, and totsoi, pickled local beets, and an egg.

The Roti Roll kids are opening a restaurant downtown called The Green Door. It’ll focus on local goodies and have a similar concept to Roti Rolls. We’re going to the Friends & Family Dinner on Thursday and I’m so excited! I will tell you all about it. : )