If Not For The Bad

This afternoon, I had lunch with an old friend from high school that I hadn't seen in ages. (Does anyone else seem to get into deep discussions with people they rarely see?) Anyway, we were talking about all the stuff that's happened to us in the past few years, and it got me to thinking about the things that didn't go as planned, but in the end turned out just fine anyway.

If it weren't for the bad things, I wouldn't be where I am today. Sure, some things sucked at the time, but that doesn't mean nothing good came out of it. From making mistakes, I learned how to accept my errors and change things for the better. From being hurt by others, I learned who my true friends are. From being torn down, I learned how to be confident with my own decisions and build myself up. Life will always hand you obstacles, and whether they're your own fault or completely uncontrollable is irrelevant. Look at your past and think about what you regret, then ask yourself: what good parts of your life wouldn't exist if you hadn't made that mistake? Maybe you never would have become close with your best friend, or you never would have changed a character flaw. Maybe you wouldn't be in your current relationship, or you'd never have found your dream job. If nothing else, you wouldn't have learned anything about yourself- and I think that discovering who you are and who you want to be  is one of the biggest parts of happiness.

After all, how can I regret the "bad" times when in the midst of it there were moments like this?

* * *

Anyway, enough with the heavy stuff. Onto dinner!

I'm not generally a leftover lover; for some reason, food rarely seems to taste as good the next day! (I know many people will disagree with me.) However, the biggest pro to making big batches of food in advance is that it cuts way down on meal prep later, which is never a bad thing.

For dinner this evening, I reheated a bowl of last night's quinoa-chickpea-vegetable combination, then added a bunch of toppings to make things more interesting: hummus, green olives, mixed nuts and roasted garlic cloves.

Adding a few new ingredients definitely made the meal less repetitive. The hummus was my favorite part!

For dessert, I had a bowl of cherries (x2) along with my favorite Lindt 70% dark chocolate.

Do you tend to have "regrets" in life, or do you just try to move on from the bad times? What's one positive thing that has come out of a bad experience for you?

Reader Request: Hair and Makeup Routine

Time for a reader request post!

I've gotten several emails and comments lately asking about my hair and makeup, which is ironic since I definitely don't consider myself any sort of beauty guru! Both my routines are incredibly simple, so I've got them down pat. I'm absolutely no pro, so take my tips with a grain of salt, but here's what works for me.

Hair


As a teenager, I was somewhat of a beauty product junkie, but in the past few years I've realized that I always come back to the old favorites and that trying new bottles on a whim is often a waste of money. I've been using Pantene "Frizzy to Smooth" (formerly "Sleek and Shine") shampoo and conditioner for three or four years now, and while it's not a professional product, my hairdresser is always impressed by the health of my hair.

I use the 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, followed by the conditioner. I have no idea if this is good for your hair or not, but my hair is very fine and snarls easily during shampooing, so the 2-in-1 helps in that department!

After washing my hair, I usually let it air-dry. It's better for my hair, and honestly, most of the time I'm too lazy to put that much time into it! When I do blow-dry, however, I use a Hot Tools hairdryer, and if I'm straightening my hair I use a CHI flat-iron. My hair is naturally slightly wavy and frizz-prone, so I straighten when I want it to look more polished.

As for styling products, I really only use two: Kenra Platinum silkening gloss and Oscar Blandi dry shampoo, both of which are available at Sephora or Ulta.

The silkening gloss helps to make my hair shiny and manage frizz on days when I don't use heat styling, and the dry shampoo is probably my favorite beauty product ever. It's pricey at $19 a bottle, but the amount of time it saves me on washing my hair is definitely worth it. I've tried several dry shampoos, and this is definitely my favorite- it's light, smells clean, and doesn't make your hair feel gross, like many brands do.

Makeup


As with hair products, when it comes to makeup I've learned the importance of quality over quantity. I'm not a big cosmetics wearer in general, and on most days I just wear under-eye concealer, powder and mascara. I do have some favorite products for when I'm looking to kick it up a notch, though!

Many of the product I use are on the more expensive side, but since I only use a handful of them and I know they all work well, I don't mind shelling out a bit more. I by dotting on the under-eye concealer I swear by, YSL touche eclat, then use Clinique stay matte sheer pressed powder on my T-zone. The color I use is "invisible matte," so supposedly it works on all skin tones...it doesn't add any coverage, just helps with shine.

If I have any blemishes, I use a concealer brush to dab bareMinerals powder foundation on the spot. I've never been a fan of foundation, but there are definitely days where my skin isn't looking its best on its own! Then, I use bareMinerals "warmth" bronzer to add some color to my cheekbones.

When it comes to eyes, on most days I just opt for DiorShow mascara in brownish black, but if I'm getting dressed up, I use a Stila smoky eye palette to apply a base, lid shade, crease color and eyeliner. I've used this palette for years, and I just love how well the colors accentuate my eyes without looking overdone.

If I'm dressing up, I also use Sephora eyeliner to really make my eyes pop. And when it comes to lips, I'm an uber simple girl- just whatever lip balm is lying around! I only own a few glosses and lipsticks, but I honestly can't even remember the last time I used them. Chapstick is all I need- preferably of the Disney princess variety ;)

And that's it! Writing this actually makes me feel incredibly high maintenance, but I swear that my makeup never takes me more than ten minutes, and on most days it's less than two. Sometimes I wish I was incredible at doing unique looks, but I just don't have the patience or artistic talent ;)

What are your favorite hair and makeup products? How long do you take to get ready for a typical day?

May Recap

So today is May 31st? Seriously? It's one of life's great injustices that the warm weather months always seem to fly by ten times faster than the cold weather ones. We've still got plenty of warm days ahead though, thank goodness!

This month was a good, albeit eventful one. During May, I...

Finished college (and yes, my grades are in and I actually passed)

Celebrated said graduation with a family dinner:

Met my new dog and the love of my life, Maggie!

Went to my cousin's baby shower:

Ate lots of delicious desserts:

Went to FitBloggin and saw new and old blog friends:

And went to London as a graduation trip with my dad!

Overall, it's definitely been a great month- despite some hair, passport and computer fiascos! All's well that ends well.

* * *

This morning I ended the month of May with what's become my favorite breakfast this month. Maybe I'll branch out and find a new one for June?

Hope you have a wonderful day!

What was the highlight of your May? What are you looking forward to in June?

Don't forget to enter my snack bar stash giveaway!

Bye Bye BlackBerry

After 2.5 years of being attached at the hip to my 'berry, I've moved onto bigger and better things...

Well, hopefully! I've had a streak of bad luck where Blackberries are concerned, and after going through six since November 2008, I decided to make the switch to an iPhone. Bonus: it has TweetDeck.

Though I still need to get used to this stupid touchscreen. I keep my nails really short, and my fingers are a bit clunky.

Obviously, I spent the afternoon getting used to my new toy. When dinnertime rolled around, I threw together a big batch of quinoa, chickpeas and steamed vegetables.

I cooked a cup of quinoa on the stove, then added a package of pre-prepared Tasty Bite chunky chickpeas from Costco. Then, I steamed up a chopped zucchini and three diced carrots in the microwave, added a few spoonfuls of olive oil and mixed everything together. Easy! It made a ton, too.

I had two big bowls of the stuff. Really filling and full of simple, plant-based ingredients.

For dessert, an apple and a serving of New Tree Belgian biscuit dark chocolate.

It was good, but not amazing- I prefer a really smooth texture, and even the tiny flaxseeds in this bar were a bit too much for me. Still, the taste itself was as good as some of my favorites.

iPhone owners: what's your favorite app? Any must-downloads? And if you've had both a Blackberry and an iPhone, which do you prefer?

Back in Action

Wow- waking up at 5 am makes the day seem long! 


This morning I unpacked my suitcase, organized my room, cleaned my desk (this took over an hour- it was a war zone) and still made it to the gym right when it opened at 8.

Once there, I did this twenty minute HIIT workout on the elliptical before moving onto upper-body strength training. I completed 3 sets of 12 reps of the following exercises

• dumbbell bench press, 15 lbs
• dumbbell flies, 12 lbs
• dumbbell press, 12 lbs
• side raises, 8 lbs
• dumbbell rows, 12 lbs
• pushups on knees, body weight
• tricep extensions, 15 lbs
• tricep dips, body weight
• bicep curls, 15 lbs
• hammer curls, 15 lbs
• plank, 30 seconds

It's been nearly two weeks since my last weight-training session, so it felt good to get back into things. Between Fitbloggin' and London, I've taken a pretty extended break, so I'm glad I didn't feel like I lost any strength. I'm back in action!

* * *

Despite having a snack right after the gym, I was hungry by 11 am, so lunch came early. I made an open-faced sandwich by spreading two slices of Alvarado St. Bakery sprouted whole-wheat bread with Trader Joe's flaxseed peanut butter, then topped them with salted sunflower seeds and unsweetened dried berries. 

I added a drizzle of agave for sweetness, then ate it alongside carrot sticks with Sabra pine nut hummus and dry roasted edamame.

It's so hot and humid out today that my camera lens fogged up when I first took it outside. I can't be the only person that actually loves this kind of weather, right? (I'm being 100% serious.)

After lunch, I went and took my city-walking-weathered toes for a much-needed pedicure, and now I'm off to get myself a new cell phone. Apparently I've been eligible for an upgrade for a few months now, which I which I'd known sooner. My Blackberry has been acting up a lot lately. Sometimes I wish I'd grown up a few decades ago, without all this technology to constantly replace...

Hope you're having a wonderful Memorial Day! If you want to see something really heartwarming, check out the Pioneer Woman's beautiful Memorial Day photo post.

If you had to give up one type of technology forever, which would it be? I'd definitely let TV go before anything else. There are a few shows I love, but I think it would be the easiest sacrifice!

PS- Don't forget to enter my British snack stash giveaway!