Positivity and Creating Your Reality

You can see beauty in the world if you just open your eyes to it.


Jillian Michaels was featured on Self's 5 on 5... check out the interview!

I love how she says that you should make sure to notice the positive things in life... yes, there might be that one total jerk that cut you off on the road - but try to focus on the people around you doing good.  Sometimes it's far too easy to let yourself focus and dwell on the negatives... when you find this happening, step back and look around for something to be thankful for :)


Speaking of being Thankful, for Thanksgiving this year I went back to Miami with Mike to see his familia.  This was a big trip because we drove from Miami up to Melbourne for Thanksgiving Day where I met his Nana for the first time - she's a fabulous lady!

The women with Nana

The men with Nana

Nana lives in Melbourne, FL on a Golf Course - but unlike a lot of Golf Courses here in Texas, this one had a jogging/biking path that went along beside parts of the course so I got to experience BEAUTIFUL scenery!

And the weather was perfect - mid 70's the entire stay!  Couldn't have asked for anything better.. so a few 3-4 mile runs were made in the mornings to offset the incredible Thanksgiving food that was *devoured*

Round I:

Salad, shrimp, mussels, fruit and vegetable soup

Round II:

you have to try everything... Turkey, croissant, mashed potatoes, grilled maple salmon, honey carrots, brown rice & stuffing

Round III:

I took a tiny sliver of about 5 different types of cake so that I could determine which one was best -- Carrot Cake was the clear winner.  There are no pictures of said dessert because it was too good to wait for my camera to turn on... 

Group Shot: with Mike's Family for Thanksgiving

I *loved* wearing this dark blue satin dress for the event!

ELIZA J Three-Quarter Sleeve V-Neck Dress

I scooped it up from Ideeli.com on Sale a few weeks before and the fit was perfect!  

After Thanksgiving dinner we went on a walk and later just watched Sports and Movies on the TV.


The next morning (Black Friday) we were up early for some breakfast to fuel us for our day of shopping!

I started the day of HEALTHY with an egg white veggie omelette & side of steamed broccoli

We went to a local cafe called Perkins and our server must have read my blog before and known just how much I love coffee... 

Because next thing I know there are FOUR pots in front of me!!!!

I created a barricade between Mike's dad and myself (he was the excellent photographer behind the above photo)..

No one really needs to socialize with me until after my first cup!

Speaking of being a morning person... I just am not.  I don't know if any of you have seen the new commercial that's out for 5 hr energy but Mike laughs everytime he sees the guy and says that's exactly me!  Except I don't love 5 hr energy shots.. I just love me some coffee. 

Now if I only had a better way to get my coffee in the mornings...

Oh, right, speaking of.. flipping through channels yesterday I came across an Oldie but Goodie - 

And Xzibit had an espresso machine installed in the center counsel of some girl's car!!!

HELLO WONDERFUL IDEA.

And because my boyfriend's day revolves around deciding where he's going to eat his next meal, by the time all our Black Friday shopping was completed at the Outlet Malls he'd already scoped out our next venue.

We had dinner at Cracker Barrel - not too shabby!

Mike and Abillo (his Cuban grandfather) even tried the home made Apple Cider.

Other highlights from the Thanksgiving trip included our first attempt really Mountain Biking!

We went to Oleta State Park and rented Mountain Bikes there... OMG the trails were so hard!  There were huge roots and rocks and drop offs everywhere!  I seriously should've had knee pads, elbow pads... I most likely should've been put inside a gigantic protective bubble!  

But I survived and tried something new... with only a small battle wound, it looked as if a baby tiger clawed my calf... then tried to bully me to the ground.  

The scenery was gorgeous though and the park was really awesome - next time I'd just stay on much simpler trails since I was a complete beginner!

Mike going over a ramp in the park

View from the Miami Beach Condo ---- Goodbye Miami!!! Until Next Time :)

Questions for the Day:

Do you try to focus your days on Positive Thoughts and not to Dwell too long on Negative Things?

What was your *favorite* thing you ate over Thanksgiving?

Mine was most likely Mike's mother's home made Ropa Vieja!!

How do you feel about Coffee?  Are you a morning person?

Ever tried Mountain Biking? Tips for beginners like me?

An Entire Post about FOOD.

I think Mike is starting to rub off on me. 

That man is busy planning his next meal while he's still enjoying the first!!!

Anyways, I've started to catch a little cooking bug recently and in my spare time I catch myself planning out what I'm going to be putting together next... 

Today Started with a toasted English Muffin (Thomas Light 100 cal with 1/3 Daily Fiber!), Provolone Cheese, Slice of Extra Thin Smoked Ham, and freshly prepared Egg White

Such a delicious breakfast sandwich!!! Take that McDonald's.. you ain't got nothin' on me!

I also attempted to whip up some Skinny Popcorn topped with melted Mint Chocolate inspired by PB Fingers White Chocolate PepperMint Popcorn.

1 Serving Skinny Popcorn (100 cal) plus Melted Mint Chocolate drizzled on top.

The hardest part was waiting for the chocolate to cool and harden so you could pick up the pieces without sticky chocolate fingers!  I loved it... Mike thought mint on popcorn was just strange lol.  Maybe next time I'll do a caramel nut twist for him :)

And for dinner I tried out these pre-made puppies:

220 cal each, 36g protein and only 7g fat... which, for being frozen and containing all that delicious gooey cheese inside I thought was pretty awesome!  They turned out perfect too - sometimes it's nice to have a meal you can just throw together in a hurry.

I served them with super hot soup since we went on a 2 hour bike ride in the freezing cold today!!!

We've been taking rides around different parks in different neighborhoods since we're thinking about looking for houses next year... you get a completely different view of a neighborhood when you explore it on bike!

The soup consisted of 1 can Amy's Low Fat Vegetable Barley Soup + Vegetarian Chicken Boullian (sp?) seasoning and hot water + left over pulled white chicken meat + bag mixed frozen veggies including squash and zucchini.  Let reach a boil and then simmer until your chicken is done baking in the oven!

Questions for the Day:

Do you ever add things to your soup cans to make them more 'hearty'?

What's your favorite thing to put on a breakfast sandwich?

I give myself permission to... Eat Birthday Cake.

Quote from Sarah Michelle Gellar featured in SELF Magazine this month:

"And really, how is eating a piece of cake bad? Being bad is murdering someone. That's bad. Don't do that." - SMG

{source}

I love how she puts that in perspective.


I've always had a problem with either one extreme or the other -- I focus on being INCREDIBLY healthy, or I splurge and binge and eat everything delicious in sight LOL.  This is probably what happens when you deprive yourself of little rewards and don't allow yourself to always enjoy what you eat.

Luckily, I've learned a lot of things that I love to eat that are also good for you!

Like this incredible new discovery...

SO DELICIOUS!!!

Seriously, that's exactly what I said after tasting it so they definitely got the name right. 

Don't you just love my tiny crooked sparkle tree in the background?!?

Mint Chocolate is one of my FAVORITE things about Christmas time!!! 

But backing up... since I haven't posted really since my birthday in November and this post is about eating birthday cake!!  That's exactly what I did...

Well.. technically they were cupcakes!

Thanks for the BFF bringing these I got to try a million flavors!  Mango, Cappuccino, Tres Leches, Dark Chocolate Raspberry (fav), Margarita (with real tequila), and Italian Creme Cake!

"Holy Cow - how old AM I??  That's a small fire!!!!!!"

I think everyone enjoyed their cake!!

The BFF and I <3

Rooms & Joey


I love cupcakes because you can get more flavors and you don't have to worry about serving knives and all that Jazz.  Cupcakes and Cake Balls are the way to go.  They're the future of cake.

Washing down the cupcakes with some skinny cocktails!!!  

That's our sexy face... shut up, you know you like it!

The night concluded with a trip to Pete's Piano Bar... where Mike ran up on stage during "I'm Sexy and I know It" and danced for me...

How did he know that's exactly what I wanted for my birthday?? lol

And THESE birthday shoes from my family were definitely rocked that night... 

Sadly there are no good pictures of me in the shoes because all of my friends are sucky photographers.  Apparently.  According to the film. (Can I even still say film now that everything is digital??)

Questions for the Day:

Are you more of a Cake or Cupcake fan?  What's your favorite flavor?

At what point do you quit putting your age in candles on a cake?  At what point does it become a fire hazard?

Do you limit your dessert intake?  Once a day? Once a week? Special Occasions only?