Monday, January 31, 2011

movin' it monday: a top ten

Tops ten best things about moving

10. Listening to my husband laugh hysterically as he reads my old high school yearbooks found in a box in the basement. 

9.  I found sheets and towels I didn't even know I had in the back of the linen closet. 

8.  I may come up with the best cookbook ever called Cooking with Random Ingredients Left in Your Cupboards Before You Move . . . that title may be a bit cumbersome.  The cookbook will include a recipe that uses Progresso Soup, whole wheat noodles, frozen peas, chopped olives, canned mushrooms and American cheese slices.  (Yep, we had that for dinner tonight and my husband actually like it.) 

7.  The junk drawer FINALLY gets cleaned out.

6.  Moving gives a big boost to the plastic garbage bag market  . . . you know, after making thirty some trips to our local donation center with a van filled to the brim with garbage bags stuffed with clothes, toys, towels, sheets, etc.

5.  Those size 6 jeans from my pre-baby days FINALLY get purged from my drawer.  No more guilt for not willing my hips to shrink back into the pre-labor and delivery days.

4.  I finally had to admit that I don't NEED eight mixing bowls. 

3.  The Lazyboy chairs in my husband's "man cave" had to be sold because they won't fit in the new house.

2.  Purging, sorting, walking up and down the stairs carrying heavy stuff hundreds of times a day is a great workout.

1.  Moving makes me never want to move again.     


What would you add to the list?

Craft on . . . because I'm not getting any crafing on!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

come join the blog spa blog hop!

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaways and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body
~a Fabulous Feet Set giveaway from the Abbey James Co.
~a personalized spa body wrap tutorial
~a foot care package from O.C. Styles and Lemongrass Spa
~a tutorial for spa slippers
~a $25 shop credit to Elegant Rose Boutique
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day we've been waiting for is finally here . . . the day that you get to start linking up your posts so we can learn from all of you!

Please link up:
~your own spa tips
~any spa-related tutorials
~any self-care ideas that you have
~a post about one or two ways you have taken care of yourself this week

This is a blog hop, so you can post this linky party on your blog by grabbing the code below - copy the code and paste it into your blog post for today in html mode.  If you want to participate but don't understand how to, please e-mail me any questions.  I'm happy to help.

And don't foget to enter all the great Blog Spa giveaways from this past week that are sponsored by these amazing shops:
Giveaways are open until February, 2, 2011 at 11:59 PM (CST).  Winners will be announced on February 3, 2011.
 
Blog Spa on!

Friday, January 28, 2011

blog spa: tips for taking care of the inside

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaways and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a facial mask and headband
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body
~a Fabulous Feet Set giveaway from the Abbey James Co.
~a personalized spa body wrap tutorial
~a foot care package from O.C. Styles and Lemongrass Spa
~a tutorial for spa slippers
~a $25 shop credit to Elegant Rose Boutique
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What did you have for breakfast this morning? 

Nothing?
Some left over lasagna from dinner last night?
A couple of baby carrots while making your child's lunch for school?
Coffee?

This week Bev and I have been on a mission . . . Blog Spa: a week of taking care of yourself after a year of taking care of others.  But the realty is that taking care of yourself needs to be done more than just one week out of every year.  AND it involves taking care of your entire body . . . outside and INSIDE!  We've been focusing on the outside part of ourselves all week, so as we round out Blog Spa, we want to remind you to take care of the inside too!

Exercising and eating right are musts for busy women.  Both contribute the fuel and stamina we need to get through each day.

Now, I know what you are saying:
"I'm too busy to eat breakfast."
"I'm trying to lose a few pounds, so I don't eat breakfast."
"I do eat breakfast . . . kind of.  I eat whatever is left over in my kid's bowl."
"I'm really not a breakfast person."

And to all those excuses I say, "BLECH!" and "NONSENSE!" and"BOO!"

Eating a proper breakfast is the best way to give you energy for that busy day, to work towards losing those last few pounds, to eliminate the need to eat off your child's plate, to get yourself into a healthy eating pattern the rest of the day.

So on our last day of Blog Spa, I'm going to give you three quick, easy, nutrition-PACKED Spa-like breakfast options to start your day off right.

Veggie Scramble
This protein-packed breakfast will keep you feeling full until lunch (I've eating this breakfast 3 days this week, and I didn't need a mid-morning snack) plus you start your day off with a serving a veggies!  Woo hoo!  If you have seven minutes you can make this and jump start your morning.

Here's what you need:
~1 whole egg and 2 egg whites
~1/2 of a small green, yellow or red pepper chopped*
~1/4 a cup of fresh broccoli florets*
~3 - 4 cherry tomatoes cut in half (right now I'm loving sweet yellow tomatoes)*
~2 T. Parmesan cheese
*Right before you go to bed the night before, quickly chop the veggies up and put them back in the refrigerator. 

Here's what you do:
Spray non-stick skillet with cooking spray and saute veggies while you whisk together egg and egg whites.  Pour whisked eggs into skillet and scramble together.  When eggs are properly cooked, dump them on to the plate, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

A Yummy Breakfast Treat
At first glance, this reads more like a dessert, but it's packed with good stuff to fuel your body . . . plus it's like dessert for breakfast.

Here's what you need:
~1 large banana
~2 T. peanut butter
~2 T. of nutella or 2 T. chocolate syrup
~1/2 cup vanilla soy milk or skim milk
~1/2 cup ice cube

Here's what you do:
Freeze banana overnight.  Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Drink!

The No-Excuses Egg Sandwich
Another good protein breakfast with a serving of whole grain some veggies and a sprinkling of calcium.  With the help of the microwave (yep, you can microwave eggs), this breakfast is a no-excuses breakfast option.

Here's what you need:
~1 egg
~1 T. water
~1 wedge if light Laughing Cow spreadable cheese
~1/4 cup finely chopped tomatoes
~2 slices of 100% whole wheat bread

Here's what you do:
Crack egg into microwave safe bowl.  Whisk it together with 1 T. water.  Cover and microwave 1 minute.  In meantime, toast bread and use large biscuit cutter to cut bread slices into circles.  Spread Laughing Cow cheese onto each circle.  Slide egg omelet onto one circle.  Sprinkle tomatoes onto egg and place other circle on top.  Enjoy! 

Are you a breakfast eater?  What are your healthy breakfast ideas?

Don't forget to come back tomorrow morning to link up your Blog Spa contributions!

Blog Spa on!
Blog Spa is sponsored by these great shops:
Amber's Lemongrass Spa Shop

blog spa: one last giveaway

Don't miss out on our great Blog Spa giveaways and tutorials:
~a Basic Skin Care Set from Skin Journey
~a facial mask and headband
~a soothing prize pack from Barefoot Bath and Body
~a Fabulous Feet Set giveaway from the Abbey James Co.
~a personalized spa body wrap tutorial
~a foot care package from O.C. Styles and Lemongrass Spa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our last Blog Spa giveaway from Elegant Rose Boutique is up now over at Bev's place.  This shop is AH. MAZE. ING!

 Sadly, Blog Spa is almost over.  We have one more tip/tutorial post scheduled here at twelve crafts for tonight, and our blog hop party will start tomorrow so you can ALL JOIN IN on the party! 

Remember to come link up:
~your own spa tips
~any spa-related tutorials
~any self-care ideas that you have
~a post about one or two ways you have taken care of yourself this week

I have one last shout out to Bev, my Blog Spa partner from Flamingo Toes.  Working with her has been so fun!  As a super creative crafter, blogger and businesswoman, she is the whole package!  ;)   
Spa on!

Blog Spa is sponsored by these great shops:
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