Boo!

Yes, I have realized how terribly behind I am on this blog. Just bear with me...we'll get caught up, promise. I know we are way past Halloween, but I need to catch you up on something I made for some sweet girls. So a few weeks ago a sweet mom asked me to make her adorable twin girls a Halloween-y dress. She had seen a little girl at church with a jumper on with a cat face, but not the outline of the cat...so she asked if I was able to do something like that. So, we decided on a ghost.

But I decided that since Halloween is over so quickly, that it would be a really great idea to make the dress reversible. So, I put a super cute fabric on the other side and added the girls' monograms.
What do you think? I really love how they turned out.
I saw a picture of the girls with the Halloween side and they look fantastic! I can hardly wait to see them with the reverse. Twins are just so fun...isn't two great!?

Boot Camp: Week 2

I'm back with a report on Boot Camp. Today is officially Week 3, Day 1...so I'm reporting on Week 2. The dreaded Week 2. If you have ever watched The Biggest Loser you know that they always refer to the second week as "dreaded week 2." Now I know why. It's not fair to say it was a dreadful week, but it certainly wasn't a fantastic week. I discovered today while we were at BC that most everyone in our group felt this way. I did a very good job of sticking with my diet and I was very diligent with my workouts, even better than last week. However, I have not lost any weight this week. Honestly, I'm not really down on myself about this (which is darn near miraculous for me). I have a little bit of biology working against me today (the kind that comes monthly), so that could be accounting for no drop in weight. I also think that because I did so well the first week, it was bound to happen that this would be a slow week. So...I'm gonna keep moving on.

Today's workout at BC was out of control. It's actually one of those workouts where you think, "good grief, surely I've lost at least 3 lbs in the last hour." It wasn't necessarily the most fun while we were doing it, but I felt awesome (and sore) afterward and like I had really given it my all. We did different stations for 2 min. each that included things like: tricep pull-downs, upright row, hula hoop (which I'm awesome at:)), clean and jerk, lunges with medicine ball, etc. Then we ran some, ran suicides, did squatting jumps...and went back through our stations again. Suffice it to say I was absolutely soaked when we were through...which isn't the greatest thing in the middle of the work day. But, if it's gonna help me lose weight and get healthier I'll do whatever it takes.

This week's homework is different strength training activities...although we are still to continue our interval homework from last week and of course our food homework from week 1. Honestly, the hardest part for me with the intervals is feeling pressure to do what the trainers have regimented for us versus something that will help me train better for the 5K. Basically, I'm not a runner, so I'm trying to improve as much as I can in time for the 5K. At this point, I'm modifying a running plan with the interval schedule...so we'll see if that continues to work. I guess that about covers my update for this week. Until next time...

Boot Camp

Today is officially Week 2, Day 1 of our Boot Camp. Basically, here is what that means...there is a group of 12 of us at work that has signed up for this program. We meet once a week, on Tuesdays during lunch, with 2 trainers. We do about an hour of interval training then spend some time talking about things like: food, diet, intervals, perceived rate of exertion, etc.

The most major changes that I have made, and all of us really, has to do with our eating habits. It's not as though they have taught us things I don't know about food (if you know me, you know I enjoy reading books about food, the chemicals in it, etc.). It's just that this time I am totally committed to the program...and to losing weight. And it's working! I'll tell you about that in a minute. First, I'll give you an idea of a typical day's worth of food for me.

Breakfast - egg white scramble or egg white omelet with veggies

yogurt
Snack - apple with peanut butter
Lunch - spinach salad with fruits/veggies & nuts/seeds
soup
Snack - almonds
Dinner - baked chicken
spinach salad
steamed broccoli

I really don't feel like I'm suffering with this, in fact, I feel really, really good. I have been eating spinach like it's going out of style. In a week we have finished 2 of those plastic containers from the grocery store. I'm going to have to go to Sam's for some this weekend...they sell those huge containers for like $3 a piece. Hello. For the record, it's not like I'm just super in love with spinach. In fact it was not all that long ago that I hated it, I would suffer through eating it just because I knew it was good for you and you're 'supposed' to eat it. I wouldn't say I'm craving it now. But I have eaten it daily, and most days twice, and I'm growing fond of it.

As far as my workouts go, I haven't changed all that much, I'm just working to remain more consistent with them. John and I are also going to run a 5K in a couple weeks, so we've started 'training' for that together. I really don't have any high or lofty goals for that race, basically I just want to finish...cause I am not a runner.

So there's a bit about Boot Camp...in a nutshell. I'll check in and tell you more each week and update you on my status. In Week 1, I lost 6 lbs! I'm so excited about that. I certainly don't expect to lose anywhere near that over the next few weeks, but I do hope to keep losing some. So how about yall? Are you in the middle of any great workout/training programs? Or sticking to a new eating plan? Or perhaps thinking about running a 5K too?

Ruby

Recently I made a little outfit for a sweet girl's 1st birthday...Ruby. Here's a peek.

And a closer look at the flounce pants. Is that not the cutest design on the fabric? I love the little details...the paisley, the birds, the flowers. I just love it.

I used the same fabric for the 'r' and a coordinating fabric for the background. Notice the birdie right behind the r. I just love these fabrics.
So there you have it. Tomorrow I'm going to tell you about something non-craft/sewing related. I'm in the middle of a 6-week boot camp...and I figure blogging about it will be an extra accountability for me. I'll check in every Tuesday, since that's the day we meet.