A great 5 for Friday this week!

Hello ladies! We made it... tomorrow is Friday. I for one am super duper glad. It has been long week. It has actually been a long month. Since the holidays have ended, my company has hit the ground running - full sprint. I am pooped. Thus I am taking a 3-day weekend, double YAY! Since today is a day of fun linkup's, let me get to my 5 on a Friday and high 5 for Friday.

Monday I woke up to another cold trying to make it is way into my body. I stayed doped up on Zicam, Emergen-C, and cold medicine. I took the night off from the gym and went home to rest after work. Since Monday was a pretty day and not too cold, a lot of birds were flying around. Marty was hilarious. He literally goes nuts when birds are around. I caught some funny pictures of him.

Tuesday I felt back to normal, thank goodness. It was the usual work day. On my lunch hour, I went to Old Navy because I had $10 in Old Navy "cash" and they have really good clearance stuff. I did good! I bought a pair of pants, a sequin tank top, necklace, and earrings for only $25. A complete new outfit! That is what I call being a diva on a budget! I rocked it on Wednesday, I love the design on the pants.

Tuesday night, Kelly and I hit the gym like we usually do for a cardio and core workout. She decided to spend the night with me after. I love how she is 29 and I am 24 and we still have sleepover's - even though we both have own apartments, ha! We had so much fun. A killer work out, getting tipsy off a couple bottles of wine, and watching trashy reality shows. Is there anything better?

I made the best dinner for she and I. It was chicken grilled via stove top that had been marinating in balsamic vingerette and cut up into pieces over a bed of spinach, and topped with feta, dried cranberries, and plain walnuts. It was so, so good. It was filled with so many different tastes and everything complimented each other so well.

Remember my headband that I bought for the first time on Saturday? It was the first headband that I have bought in at least 10 years. Well, it's safe to say I. am. obsessed. I have worn it everyday! Now I am going to have to go back to Ulta to buy more colors and styles! It's so fun.

Today I finished the second book of the "Original Sinners" series. I am so addicted to this book series. If you are into BDSM or even slightly intrigued by it, you will thoroughly enjoy the series. There are twists, turns, romance, action, adventure, desire, and the books are so much fun and easy to read. I bought and started the third book; "The Prince" on my lunch hour. Oh and of course I had the above salad again, ha!

After work today, I had the best workout at the gym. I had an hour of high intensity interval training. I did 40 minutes on the Elliptical then 20 minutes on the tredmill. I swear, using such high incline (the highest available) on those machines work wonders on thighs and glutes. I felt like a million bucks after. I pushed hard. After the gym I decided to make breakfast for dinner. I had two eggs over easy, fresh from my mama's farm, and I even made "paleo" biscuits with my coconut flour. As I mentioned earlier this week, I have not had the best of luck thus far with my recipes, but the biscuits were actually great. I will have the recipe up next week.

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A Low 5 for Liz This Week!

Life - 1. Liz - ZERO.

I have been off of my game big time this week. The only thing I have been successful at this week is Blogging. I wrote about my weekend, being a woman in today's society, had my blog hop, and then my most brilliant piece of literature: "The 3 most effective way to gain more followers"... something like that. I would post the links for you to revert back too, but I don't feel like it. If you want to read them, just scroll down the page.

A lot of my good blog friends know, 2013 was horrid for me health wise. I gained nearly 60 pounds from medical issues, so I have been working hard since November to get my groove back. It has been going great.

The week of 11/25 - 7.8 pounds lost.

The week of 12/2 - 2.8 pounds

The week of 12/9 - 3.5 pounds

The week of 12/16 - 2.5 pounds

The week of 12/23 - 5 pounds

Total down: 21.6 pounds

My last weigh in was last Tuesday, New Years Eve. I went back yesterday and I have gained 2.4 pounds. The doctor did add that my water levels were elevated so that could contribute, but I think he said that to make me feel better. 

You know, it is what is. I can't change the number today on the scale, but when I go back next week for my vitamin injection, I can. I think my problem is the holidays being over. I lost weight over Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I held strong. My mom came into town last week and we went out a lot, then I got sick, and being back at work this week, the first 5-day work week in almost 3 weeks, has just been hard. I am off of my game from travelling, being with family, enjoying time off, and doing fun things. I am not perfect and I never will be, so the only thing I can do it just keep pushing. I am going to make it a good weekend and just revamp myself. Next week, that scale better watch the hell out. 

Moving on. This week I decided to change up my breakfasts a little bit. I usually have 3 egg whites mixed with fat free cottage and feta cheese - cooked via stove top. It is actually delicious or maybe I am just crazy, but I enjoy it. I have been eating it every morning for over a month though. I had to switch it up. I made the most delicious smoothie. 

• A handful of frozen strawberries/bananas - I use the bag of frozen fruits from Dole
• 1 scoop of Vanilla Protein Powder. I use 100% Whey, the brand changes, it is usually whatever is cheapest.
• 1 tablespoon of Peanut Butter. I am currently using a peanut butter that has raisins and nuts mixed into it - delicious
• 1 handful of fresh spinach
• 1 cup of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (Blue Diamond brand, all others are gross and higher in calories)
• Blend like hell to perfection. I have this $20 blender from WalMart and that little sucker is a trooper. I just keep it on the liquefy setting for about a minute and I am good to go.

Monday night I watched a video on YouTube because I have been wanting to try some cute up-do's for work. My hair is getting super long and sometimes I don't feel like styling it. Plus I only try to wash it 3 times a week since it is so chemically treated. Thus, I wanted to learn how to do the head braid. It is not way hard, but it is not that easy either. It took me a good 45 minutes, but I think I did OK. It was nice sleeping in 15 extra minutes too. I woke up, sprayed leave in conditioner to eliminate frizz and I was good to go.

When my mom stayed last week, she brought her Kindle Fire for me to have. Excited was an understatement. She bought herself a Galaxy Tab for Christmas so she did not need her Kindle anymore. I finally turned it on and set out to buy my first book. You guys listed some great ideas for me, too. I bought the second book of "The Original Sinners" series. It is similar to "50 Shades of Grey" in the essence that BDSM is involved, but T.O.S is much, much better and realistic. If you're into weird stuff like me, you will love the series. If you are just into erotic novels, it may be a little much for you, because it is so real, but it is a GOOD read.

Since I live in Antarctica, I mean North Carolina, I have really had to bundle up lately. Damn it has been cold. I have a ton of scarfs from my grandmother but I never wear them because they are complicated and annoying. However, this week, I made an exception. It was cold. I like this black shiny one I was given so I decided to drape it over me. It looks a little weird over me maybe, but I liked it!

This wraps up my my Friday 5, so I would like to leave you with this amazing picture of my boo bear. He is so dang cute!

*Be sure to check out my link-up page, there is a lot going on today, you need to join in!

Have a great weekend!

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Weight Loss, Wine, Best Friend, Table, and a Book. How's that?

How has everyone's week been? Mine has been fantastic. I am absolutely head over heels in love with my new home! Work has been busy, but in a good way, I was able to get out of my Direct TV contract and get cable (there is no where to put a satellite dish at my new apartment and Direct TV were being complete assholes about it), my washer and dryer are being installed tomorrow, and things are just great.

It truly feels good to say that. I pray that they stay this way and I don't jinx myself.

As I wrote this post, I realized it is basically the "Friday 5" - you know the awesome link up's where you about 5 different things about your week? Well, I guess you can say I am starting the party early! Be sure and check out my "link up's" page so you can too!

1.) 3 pounds lost last week!

I was off of work Monday, thank God. It was so rainy, cold, and gloomy. I spent the day cleaning, unpacking, and organizing. I went to the doctor to get my B12 injection and I was down 3 pounds! I was very happy to see that. It was a complete surprise. I did not work out Saturday or Sunday because I was moving, and since my grandmother was in town, we ate out both nights as well. However, I did keep my meals healthy and moving is hard, hard exercise, so I suppose it makes sense. I am now down 10.2 pounds in two weeks. I cannot wait to write all about this!

I bought this shirt last winter because it was so cute. I could not pass it up. However, it was way too tight on me, especially around my stomach. But now it fits perfectly and is even loose around my stomach area. Total score!

2) Girl's night

Mine and my best friend Kelly, girls nights on "school nights" are really fun. We hit the gym for our work out's then come back to my place for dinner, wine, and girl talk. However, since I am working hard on my weight loss, I have not been drinking at all. But last night, when Kels came over for our girl's night, I decided to indulge. After all, we were celebrating my new place - it felt appropriate! 

3) New table!

My new dining room table was finally delivered last night as well. It was supposed to come Saturday, but in true "Murphy's Law"... sh** happens! And I have to say, does your best friend put together your new table? Mine does. While she is tipsy. Hilarious, but she totally did it! Go Kels! 

I lucked out on Amazon today and found two chairs that I think will go great with my new table. I bought them slightly used and was able to have both of them for only $43 bucks! The best part - they will be here Friday, hooray for free two day shipping!

4) Healthy but delicious dinner's

I always keep thinking cap on to make delicious dinners. Healthy and clean eating does not have to be boring and tasteless. I have been making a simple meal this week for dinners, but it has been SO delicious! The ingredients: ground turkey cooked in a frying pan via stove top with mushrooms with low sodium taco seasoning over a bed of fresh spinach topped with fat free cheddar cheese and crunchy onions. It is super easy and simple, but so good!

4) "There is more to life than this"

I consider myself to be a part book worm! I love to read. I do not have a Kindle or Nook, I prefer a cold, hard book. I do not know why, I just do. I am a huge fan of Teresa Caputo and her show, so I was excited when he new book was released. I picked a copy up at Target and it is such a good book. I read every night before bed to help get my mind tired and at ease, and this is a great book to do just that. It is an easy read with a lot of information and her background and other stories. It's definitely worth a pickup! 

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One jam-packed blog post! (about the week!)

Ooh, baby baby! This week is o-v-e-r! I have been up since 4 AM.

...and this girl does NOT do 4 AM.

Wednesday through today, my company was all in madness about our quarterly divisional meetings that ensued. I will try to explain this, but you may get confused. My company is owned by a holding group. The man who owns my company is the 168th wealthiest man in the entire universe. The 3rd wealthiest man in Canada. He is a big deal - he is our investor who buys companies and hires a President for each company to run it. There are many different companies that are apart of the holding company. For instance, I work for our publishing company. There is also a back office Administration company, wine business, automotive group, all of the Ripley's "Believe it or not" attractions, and we even own the "Guinness Book of World Records". Thus, four times a year, all of the Executives from each different business come together to show financial and business presentations. This quarter we were chosen to host. 

It was a busy, busy week. It's now Friday evening, I am on my couch writing a blog entry, resting, and I cannot think of anywhere else I would rather be. I ran around so much this week. Assisting my President, setting up for ALL of our events (that alone was a full time job), attending meetings, and still running my office. I wore my heart rate monitor this week because I was curious as to how much I was really running around - from Wednesday to Friday, 10-12 hour days each day, I walked nearly 17 miles. That is a LOT. All of that in my dress attire with full out hair, makeup, and jewelry... and heels. Oh, heels. I love you, but gosh you were killing my feet.

I had to keep my favorite quote at my desk, especially on a week like this. - keeps me positive!

My curls were cooperating this week for Wednesday - day one. And that is important to me. I love hot rollers and swear by them, but you never know what you're going to get. I was also double pleased because it really made the red in my hair come out. 

This is random but I love having those red streaks in my hair! It just completely sucks red fades so fast. At least I have a hair appointment on December 20th to spruce it back up!

Amidst the chaos and tiredness from work this week, I went by "Anna Linen's" last night. I picked out a new bedding set for my bed. I have had leopard and zebra print for years now and sadly, it is time to retire it.

I move into my new apartment two weeks from tomorrow and I could not be more excited. It is a one-bedroom, but it is really big, open, and spacious. It's almost 900 square feet. 

The theme for my new apartment is going to be old gothic and Victorian!

To go with my new decor, I needed new furniture for my bed and living room. Basically furniture wise, it will all be black. A lot of shiny blue, red, and white will be accented with everything. However, this can get pricey so I have to be frugal about it. Luckily, someone on Ebay was selling a black nightstand, black TV stand, and a small dresser - all for $100. After working all day today, I went by picked up the furniture from him, unloaded it and brought it up to my current apartment all. by. myself. I am pretty damn proud - just call me the energizer bunny!

Speaking of my new apartment, below are a few pictures of where I am moving. I am missing a lot of pictures like my built in bookcase that I love, but when I was touring the place, I was so excited that I did not take a lot of pictures.

When you first walk into the apartment, is a big opening with a coat closet that leads to a semi-long hallway, I like it. 

Standing on the edge of the hallway, there is a half view with some of the living room, dining area, and kitchen.

Another living room view, I love all of the windows. I have gorgeous curtains that will look fantastic on them!

View into the kitchen. I was so surprised, when I opened that pantry door you see below. It is a HUGE room - so much pantry space and a full size washer and dryer going in there. Now I understand why the room is quite small for the size of the apartment.

Bedroom: Because the living area is so big, the bedroom is paying for it. Between my king size bed, small dresser, and nightstand, I will not have room for much else.

So, thank goodness for big closets!

Partial bath area with nice garden tub.

I can't wait to be there. A short week at work is coming up, then Thanksgiving, then the next weekend, I will be moving. Lots of great things company up so it is nice to look forward to all of that. But for now, I am going to go pick up Panera for dinner then come back for a bubble bath and watch "The Dead Files" marathon. This girl is ready to veg out. Have a great weekend guys!

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Life is all about change

I am trying to gather my thoughts and put myself together right now. Writing helps. This week has been one of the most emotionally draining weeks I have ever had. As we have always heard "it is darkest before dawn". And now is when I have to believe it.

This week started off with a text message from my step mother at 7:30 on Monday morning. My dad had two seizures Sunday night. My dad has been battling incurable cancer for exactly 2 years now. Though it is incurable, he is receiving the best treatment from Duke. He can lead a semi-normal life. There are a lot of ups and downs, but over the past 6-8 months, the disease has been very doormat and under control. I don't know how much longer than it is going to last though. Having a father with incurable cancer and a mother with the incurable disease MS, is very heartbreaking. I do not speak about it, write about it, or complain about it to anyone because it is something no one can change. Sometimes I like to pretend it does not exist. It's not denial, but an escape. Anyways, my dad is back home now and taking a lot of medication. He had some swelling in his head from his brain tumors. He will go back to Duke for more radiation once the swelling goes down. I spoke to him earlier and thankfully he sounds in good spirit. My dad is a fighter, I know that much. He refuses to let cancer get the best of him. I love you, Dad.

Wednesday, I must have eaten something bad. Wednesday evening I was SO sick. I am still reeling from the effects. Not to be gross, but I have never thrown up so much in my life. On my way home, I had to pull over twice so I could "get it out me", I only live 10 minutes from work too. It passed within a few hours, but it was unbearable. I still feel weak from it. 

On top of the issues with my father, I am resigning from my job in a couple of weeks. The meeting came to a head yesterday. This is heartbreaking but happy at the same time. Horrible and great. I do not know how it is all of those things at one time, but it is. I am very lucky because I have my mother and a wonderful fiance standing behind of me through all of this. I have written about my job before  and the downhill turn things have taken for the past year, and now the company has hit the bottom. It is sad because you always want to root for a small, start up company, but with every risk there comes either a reward or penalty. You do not always win. We are a very small company, over the past two and a half years we have been more family than co-workers, that is the hardest part about it all. Thankfully, I will be able to collect unemployment, and I will be right back in the job market looking for something new. Marquis is in the works of a new business I could run, but I don't know if I want to do that. I do not know what is next, but I am going to look at all different kinds of ventures. I may not be on Blogger as much as I am applying and interviewing, but I will still be here.

So in true Friday fashion, I am going to write 5 great things about my week. No matter how hard life gets, we can always see the good in things, right?

1) My Hump Day b l o g h o p 

Ladies, you all amaze me. You guys helped me spread the word and we had nearly 80 link up's our first time. Plus over 1,500 views. My co-host gained 12 new readers and I loved hearing about you guys finding new friends and blogs. To me, this is what Blogging is all about - making new friends, networking, and coming together as a community. Sometimes I like writing on my blog and telling you guys about my life, more than I do to people in real life. So thank you for helping me make Wednesday a success. I look forward to doing this every week and promoting my next co-hosts.

2) I p s y and M a r y K a y

I came home on Monday to my first Ipsy bag, Mary Kay foundation and "Makeup Stay Spray". I have not use much from my Ipsy bag yet, but I did try the red Cailyn lip stain. Holy crap I love it! I always love receiving new mascara so I cannot wait to try it out. I will die with my Mary Kay foundation so I was happy to receive that and I am excited to try the new makeup stay spray. I have read about Urban Decay's stay spray but since I love my Mary Kay girl, I thought I would try theirs first. I hope it works!

3) P o l a r FT4

My new Polar arrived Tuesday! I am so happy to finally have this for the gym. It is more than just a heart rate monitor, it is a challenge. I am excited to keep up with how many calories I burn and what zone I am training it. I want to push myself to burn more calories and beat yesterday's goal. Another great thing - I only paid $60 for it, plus free shipping. Ladies, do not pay $90-120 for this, pay $60 like I did. You can purchase it here.

4) My mama is in town. There is nothing better than having your mom come see you after a very hard week. We are having a blast. I love my mom way too much. I am 24 years old and I still get like a baby around her. And in my true mother's fashion (you guys know how she is on Facebook) here is what she has said:

Brantley is my brother's son, her one year old grandson. I think I may break it to her that she is famous on my blog, ha ha!

5) I needed some fun in my life last night. Mom, Marquis, and I all went to the White Water Center for drinks and live music, and took the pups with us for extra added fun. It was a great time and much needed.

Mama, Marquis, and a couple of the pups @ Whitewater Center

Now I am ready for the weekend, I hope you guys have a great one!

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