Water was falling from the sky!!

I dislike rain for a lot of reasons but I do love it for a couple. I love rainbows, flowers and green grass. I dislike all the garb you have to wear to not get wet, driving on wet roads and especially despise gloomy skies!!

So, even though It was raining, thank God it was only just a couple of days. In being home with husband and the dumplings yesterday made us say "well, it's raining..so Disney is out!" I put on my thinking cap and started to think of indoor things that we could do on a gloomy day rather than wasting it on a sunny day.

Pretend City! Pretend city is a very cute indoor child's play place. It has a couple different city themed rooms and areas where children can wander,interact and explore! We happened to arrive here at 11am and on Monday's it closes at 1pm, which was fine for us because we did receive a discounted admission for being a military family.

Greenlee was a little overwhelmed by a lot of children that were there visiting with a school group visiting from LA but she managed to find some free space in a couple areas. I did inquire if everyday was open to large groups and the staff said yes but that you are more than welcome to phone ahead and see what the projected group attendance is, which I would do next time.

She loved the grocery store and the garden area as well as the building area where her and daddy were able to sort through different wood pieces and put together a wooden structure.

This place is very cute and appropriate in my opinion for children over 2yrs as there just seems to be more things to actually do. I think it would be very suitable for all ages of children with adequate parental supervision. Seeing those children with the school group made me ever so happy my girls have us and their Nana and Granddaddy to care for them, we are blessed!

Mahalo!

Oh, Okay?

It's sorta funny because when I started this little blog it was at the start of my weight loss. Then I had another baby and then I started loosing again.
I don't really notice too much of a difference in how I look and it feels weird sometimes for people to be like "oh my gosh you have lost weight!!!"
Don't get me wrong it's pretty cool but at the same time it's weird. Loosing weight for me was/is for me to achieve something that I really want and it's not to be in smaller jeans. That is just an extra bonus. Although I hated saying goodbye to some of my cute clothes that are waaaay to big now.
Loosing weight is 90% mental for me and 10% physical and I really believe it will always be like that for me. The best part is in my "before" pics I felt amazing and great as people look in their after pics. Loosing weight is exciting but regardless of getting rid of the weight, which is my new term because I don't intend to ever find it again, it's about being confident in who you are. I fully believe that an intend to continue on this journey being happy with the person I am,who I was and who I will be.
Doing this little side by side deal is important for me to really see how far I have come and how making small lifestyle changes have made huge changes in my lifestyle forever.
I have a little over a month till the end of 2011 and 6 pounds to meet my goal that I set forth at the beginning of 2011 and I fully intend on meeting it and surpassing it.
I won't stop now because I have gone so far beyond what my mind would have thought I could do and that to me is as valuable as how small my jeans are now!
Mahalo

Fashion Update

I am a frugal gal if ya didn't know that already,My husband calls me cheap,haha!  I would think that he would love that but he always says "this is a plot to save money!" on most of my ideas. I don't like paying full price for ANYTHING but I love to be cute,fun and flirty with my style.

I recently ran across a Pin on Pinterest (go figure) It was the greatest idea I had seen that day,lol! It was a picture of jeans that said something like update baggy jeans to skinny jeans. Much to my delight ,if I have not already rid my closet of all my larger jeans the only ones that remain are all baggy and too big.

So, I went to this great little blog with 2 gals who share my same thriftiness and saw a posting on how to achieve said "couture" skinny jeans. Lucky Design has a great tutorial on how to do this great update to your pants.

I chose to attempt this little operation on a cute little pair of jeans I purchased for Greenlee that were actually a boys pair I bought for 3$ at a local charity consignment store.

Greens looked like a farming Charlie Chaplin in these little pants, it was sorta cute! But, they needed to be spruced up a bit.

Here are the jeans I used as my pattern for the skinny jeans. These are great little Roxy skinnies I got at the warehouse sale.



So I turned them both inside out following the directions laid one on top of the other, chalk lined,pinned and sewed up the side, trimmed excess and.... Viola!



Cute little skinnies for 3$ yay!! I am a happy mama! Plus now that I have done it with these little guys I will soon be doing them on a pair of my own!

Don't be afraid to try new things... :-)
Mahalo,
Adina

Breakfast...Favorite Meal O' The Day!

Okay so breakfast is hands down my favorite,no really it is! haha But these delightful treats I whipped up last night are beginning to sway me... but, in the ooohhh so right direction.

In addition to my fondness for breakfast and all things sweet I am so addicted to Pinterest.com it has become such a fun way to put all of my favorite things in one amazing online space. I have created so many fun,useful and yummy creations and last nights were inspired by a recent pin.

I decided that I needed to make...watch out please..."Maple French Toast and Bacon Cupcakes!!!"

Really?!!? cupcakes with bacon!?! Yes, its soooo true! I used the disguise of making these delectable treats as a sort of "Good luck on your first day back in the Army" for my husband. But, really that was just a cover for me wanting to create and TASTE the most amazing yumminess I have made since the brownie,chocolate chip cookie, Oreo bars...hahaha!

So, First I took I box of French Vanilla cake mix, mixed according to directions minus 1/4 cup of water and substituted with Mrs. Buttersworth.

Then I chopped 5 pieces of cooked to crisp bacon and folded into my mixed cake batter.

Pour batter 3/4 full in cupcake wrappers and bake for 35 mins at 325 degrees...

While Baking gather ingredients for frosting. P.S. this is the most amazing cream cheese frosting I have ever used....

1/4 cup Mrs. Buttersworth
8 oz package of cream cheese
1 stick of butter
2 cups sifted Powdered Sugar

Cream together room temp butter and cream cheese, add syrup and sugar and blend on high to incorporate air till fluffy and smooth.

Apply frosting as you wish and top all cupcakes with chopped bacon pieces.

Next step....eat them, enjoy them and repeat as needed....:-)
Mahalo!

Powers Thriftin!

Our little Greens would like to be a particular creature for Halloween. So, while Mike and I were driving around today we decided to stop in a local thrift store to see what they had in their costume section. Well, we didn't find a costume but I found two fabulous accessories under 10$ and Mike found a child's dream toy!
My first score was a jade color,open-claw bracelet. $4.99 :-)
Second score pony hair,animal print Steve Madden peep-toe flats. $6.99:-)
Annnnnd then Mike found... A talking,scanning,credit card reading... Cash Register!!! Haha $4.99 :-)
Not really sure who's more likely to have more fun playing with it mike or greens, but either way it was a total score!!!

Mahalo!
Dina

Zoo day!

Amazing LA weather today encouraged an outing outside,of course!!
We have a house guest with us,mikes sister,sherry. So, we decided to go up to LA and visit the Los Angeles Zoo. We arrived at the zoo and much to our surprise the parking lot was empty and we parked close going right on in.
Our first stop was the meerkats, alligator and flamingos. As we viewed these animals we were met by so many people saying "let's go, I wanna see the real animals!" this was so funny it was like I'm pretty sure these are "real animals!"
We moved along and found those animals as well and ended up having a lovely day! Greenlee loved everything and was excited to see them all. It's so fun to see her face when they would roam towards the front of the exhibit.
Such a fun time and another fun adventure!

Mahalo!

Check that off!

So, yesterday I ran in the Long Beach Marathon...what?!?!?
Crazy!!!! :-) I still can't believe it! As I approached the day I knew I would complete it but I had no idea how the race would go!!
I started the race with a smile and my husband! Seriously it was a great morning we were a little tired but determined to take on the race!
The sight was absolutely beautiful as the sun rose over the city. It was a perfect morning to run and it stayed that way right up until about 30 mins before I finished.
I started out in the back and I mean the back of the 2nd wave of starts... I paced myself at that point because I knew I had 13.1 miles ahead of me.
The amount of people,port-a-potties and energy was a little overwhelming to say the least! As soon as i started going I found a great steady pace and it felt awesome. I found myself smiling the entire time which felt very odd I couldn't comprehend how I was actually doing this! Lol that feeling carried me through the whole way.
As we headed over the bridge the first of my little inspirational sights caught my eye. There was a man wheeling his heart out in a wheelchair going up the bridge to the other side of the harbor. Here was a man who was enduring the same discomfort as others were but in very different way. At this point I said wow I'm given the ability to run this race in great health using my legs,it was what I needed at mile 3.
I looped around The Queen Mary an came upon a man who had to be in his 70's just chugging along he had a shirt that said "why be nrml" in this crazy font it was sooo funny and again another boost.
Throughout the next 6 miles I came across people wearing inspirational quotes and bible verses. I came across a lady wearing a shirt that said "my body was tired but my heart was not." I love that these little messages where so great and really allowed me to be thankful and maintain excitement through the whole thing.
I got to the 10 mile point and I got a little overwhelmed first that I was a part of this and second that this was the furthest I had ever run. I thought of where I had come from and that never in a million years did I think I would do something like this. I started to get a little emotional and I had to pull myself together because I wasn't quite done yet!
The last 3 miles oh sorry 3.1 miles I saw people at the aide stations getting help,1 lady on a stretcher, 1 lady Hooked up to EKG on a grass beltway and a lot of people walking,talking, 1 lady stopped to by a big gulp...lol so much going on.
At this point you also rejoin the people who were doing the full marathon... Here I realized and said I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to ever do a full marathon but it was encouraging to say to myself I can surely go 3.1miles further if these people have run so many miles more than I have!
It was awesome to run down Ocean blvd and approach shoreline dr where the turn was for the finish line!!! I was almost there and as I was about to cross I looked up and saw mikes smiling face waiting for me!!! Ahh I love him and it was so cool to do this with him and have him there at the end to tell me how proud he was of me and how well I did! It was awesome!!
I can now check off my list doing a half marathon and find the next race to be a part of and look forward to!! It was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done by setting a goal and actually completing it!

Mahalo!