Currently Craving: Yoga

I've blogged of my love for yoga before (here), but since completing my cleanse this past weekend, I'm craving it. Particularly, hot yoga. I love how the heat allows you push into the stretches even more. When I walk out of class, I feel like all the stress from the day is gone. I'm always on the hunt for cute yoga clothes that can go from studio to errands, and these are just a few of the things I'm currently craving. Many of them are from Athleta, which just happens to be opening here next week (not far from my house). Having both Lululemon and Athleta easily accesible means I'm going to have to restrain myself even more.  Anytime I can just "pop" in and try stuff on is dangerous for me. Online and catalog ordering make it easier to just look.

Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4, Image 5, Image 6, Image 7, Image 8, Image 9, Image 10

iPhone & Instagram

A week of outfits by Instagram.  Do you have instagram yet? If you have an iPhone and you don't have it, get it. I love it! It allows you to select various tones for your pictures and follow people you are interested in (for example I follow Bergdorf Goodman, Alice&Olivia, Kate Spade, and many of my favorite bloggers). You can even follow me (mplsgirl) and see what I'm up to outside of this blog!

Sweater dress-Loft, Cardi-Target, Jeans-Paige, Shoes-Madden Girl, Necklaces-Target, Bracelets-F21, Target, Watch-Coach

Dress-Tucker for Target, Jeans-Mango, Shoes-Blowfish, Belt-Linea Pelle, Scarf-India, Bracelets-Target, gift, Watch-Coach

Shirt and Sweater-JCrew, Jeans-Paige, Shoes-Madden Girl, Necklace- Local store, Bracelet-Stella & Dot, Watch-Michele

Sweater-JCrew, Skirt-Elizabeth&James, Boots-Guess, Necklace-F21, Stella&Dot

Blouse-Equipment, Sweater-Urchin, Skirt-H&M, Boots-Guess, Belt-Target, Scarf-India, Bracelets- Target, Watch-Coach

Cleansing

Every year around Halloween I tend to go a bit overboard in the sugar category. I just can't help myself. The candy corns call my name at all hours of the day. I fall for their tricks every year.  I knew I had hit rock bottom when I found myself going for a second bag of candy corn (the big one by the way!) and it wasn't even noon yet. This is by no means healthy, and normally I'm a pretty healthy gal. I had to do something! Then, as if someone heard my cries, in my email was a blog post from Hillary at Who What Wear. She was recapping this cleanse that she did. I was intrigued. I had done cleanses before. The first couple days are hell. The headaches, the sluggishness, don't forget the constant hunger pains. She said this was different, so I thought I would give it a go. I ordered it up from BeWellByFrankLipman.com that night.

I'm on Day 10 and I have to say, this hasn't been difficult. You can't have caffeine, gluten, dairy, sugar, alcohol, or anything processed. Sounds restrictive, but it's really not. You drink 3 shakes during the day (breakfast, mid am snack, afternoon snack) and then eat lunch and dinner-The first dinner I made was roasted chicken with root vegetables. Real Food!  Along with the shakes, you get supplements that kill the cravings and aid in digestion and cleansing. This time around I didn't have any headaches, I haven't been hungry and I've already lost 4 pounds! I have to say I feel really good. I even did an intense hot yoga class this past weekend and felt great. In general I feel lighter and have tons of energy.

 If you are looking for something to jumpstart a healthy lifestyle, I recommend this. I feel great and know that I will continue with most of these habits. I will be adding wine back in (who am I kidding!), but will definitely be trying to avoid sugar and caffeine as well as gluten. 

Muse Monday #5

This week's Muse Monday is brought to you by the number 31. It was my friend Lalo's birthday last week and he turned...31. The inspiration for this card came from the blog Color-Collective.  Lauren Willhite's blog is a great place to start if you're looking for striking combinations or just trying to come up with a color scheme. It's a site I look to all the time for inspiration on color combinations for my cards. She's even done some cool art to outfit inspirations in Lucky (which is where the photo below is from).

Photo courtesy of Lucky Magazine

Another source of inspiration for this card was the candy in these jars. I just love the shapes and colors, specifically the turquoise and citron ribbon candy. Needless to say, Lalo loved the card. The pop of orange was the finishing touch as that's his favorite color.  

Photo courtesy of InStyle Magazine

Materials:
Paper: Vintage cream (Papertrey Ink), Grey (Bazzill), Peacock (Paper-Source)
Stamps:Background Basics: Retro (Papertrey Ink), Big Birthday Additions-inside of card (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Citrine, Surf, Mango Tango (Colorbox Cat eyes)
Other: Mat stack #4 Die (Papertrey Ink), By the Numbers die (Papertrey Ink), Ribbon (Joann)

Halloween

Pirates! The only year I've been able to get Ramesh to join in the fun (4+ years ago!)

 Happy Halloween! This is one of my favorite holidays. Those who know me, know I love to "dress up". My friends and I attend so many theme parties, I have some acquaintances that don't know what I look like day to day, as they have only seen me at these events. In honor of the holiday that encourages dress up, I thought I would share some of my best costumes over the years. Hope you enjoy and have a fun night!

Studio 54

Toy Soldiers

Octomom

Alice in Wonderland- Cheshire Cat

Glamorous Masquerade Ball

Roaring '20's

Daphne from Scooby Doo, also making an appearance were Gem, Fred, Dilbert, Spongebob and a rugrat

50's Theme-Mad Men

Jerseylicious

60's Mod for Haunted Theater 

The Magic of Oz

Forty and Fabulous. That's the mantra my BFF and I are sharing this year. We both turn 40. Can you believe it? I feel like 30 was just a few years ago, not 10. Anywho...last year my card for her was her favorite football team-Cowboys (Check it out here). This year I went with one of her favorite movies-The Wizard of Oz. How can you not like a movie that has red glitter shoes in it? They scream fabulous to me. Not to mention I think every girl under the age of 6 has a pair in her closet. Oh, and my BFF just moved back to her home town, so I thought the theme was also fitting. It's true what they say, "There's no place like home". Happy Birthday Remy!

Materials:
Paper:Wizard of Oz paper (Graphic 45),  Black (Papertrey Ink), Sf White (PaperSource), Clear Cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
Other: Glitter (JoAnn), Brads (Michaels), hand drawn shoe

Pensive

Dress(worn as a skirt)-Target, Shirt-Equipment, Sweater-H&M, Blazer-BGBG,
Boots-Seychelles, Necklace-Target, Rings-NY&Co, Earrings-F21

These last few months have been one gigantic blur. It's like I'm watching my life as a movie on fast forward. I'm out of balance. I think I've overcommitted myself trying to do too many things. I took Friday off last week just to catch my breath. I spent the day running errands I had on my to do list for months. It was such a sense of accomplishment. I sense a change coming. Time for me to take control and get some order back in my life! How do you re-balance yourself when you find you're out of whack?

Muse Monday #4

It was Paritha's 1st birthday last weekend and we were invited to the party. In India, first birthday's are a big deal (as I've shared here). It was quite the party- tons of people, great indian food and amazing cake. I wanted something pink, but didn't want it to be the bubble gum pink that seems to populate all girl gifts. As I scoured the web for inspiration, I didn't need to look any further thank Jessica from What I wore. I'm always inspired by her. She mixes colors with ease, and I recalled her mixing pink in numerous ways. This was one combo that caught my eye: 

Photo from What I Wore

Next was to see what I could find on Pinterest. Of course I found tons of inspiration, but these two were the best for the color combo I was looking for. Whatever you're looking for, you'll find it on Pinterest. It's addictive.

Photo from Pinterest

Photo from Pinterest

Materials:

Paper:Sft White (Paper Source), Sweet Blush (Papertrey Ink), Strawberry (Paper Source)

Stamps: Sweet Baby (Papertrey Ink), Big Birthday Wishes (Papertrey Ink), Birthday Bash Sentiments (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:Rustic Neutrals Cat Eye Queue (Colorbox)

Other:Sweet Baby die (Papertrey Ink), By the numbers die (Papertrey Ink), Twine (Pink Paislee)

Professor Plum

Blouse-Francesca's Closet, Skirt-H&M, Belt-Target, Boots-Guess, Necklaces-EmersonMade,
Watch-Coach, Bracelets-Target, Gifts. Earrings-Limited

Channeling my inner school girl today. The pleated skirt and tie blouse are a bit girly for me when paired together. Throwing on the boots adds a toughness to the ensemble. Wouldn't want you thinking I've changed my style M.O., but I like to keep you guessing. What will I pair together today? Kind of like was it Professor Plum, in the library, with the candlestick or Miss Scarlet, in the conservatory, with the rope? I won't give you a clue. You'll have to tune in each day.

 

Olive Obsession

Dress & Jacket-Loft, Blouse-Equipment, Boots-Target, Scarf-local boutique, Necklace,
Ring, & Bracelet-Target, Watch-Coach, Earrings-F21

Fall maybe here, but it's not the leaves falling or temperatures dropping that clued me onto this, it's the change in my color palette. I tend to go for darker colors, particularly neutrals. After looking at the past few posts, I've noticed I may have a slight obsession with the color olive. Check out the other ways I've worn it here, here AND here...yep. Obsessed! Looks like I'm going to have to step away from that color for a while. Hmmm. That's going to be a tough one. Let's see if I can do it.  Call me out if you see me wearing it in the next two weeks. Baby steps people. Baby steps. I can't just stop cold turkey. Just a week or two.