Pink is soo the new red!

Well it will be in my household for Christmas this year. Who needs red and green, when pink and green is way more fun and exciting!?

So Christy's Christmas Crafty Creation (try sayin that 5 times fast! haha) this year was Christmas stockings. Now, when I envisioned a Christmas stocking in pink and green the thoughts of "How would Lilly Pulitzer do it?"came to mind since she has the most awesome brightly colored fabrics. So after dropping a small fortune on some super cute fabric, the time for designing a cute stocking began. I needed some inspiration and thanks to Google and Neiman Marcus, I found some.

The winning look I decided to attempt to recreate for our Christmas this year was this awesome MacKenzie-Childs' Christmas stocking. While I knew I couldn't make something as cute and festive as this $78 stocking, I was sure going to try.

The hard part was creating my own pattern and piecing the pieces together but after that those sewing classes I took this summer finally paid off (well with the assistance of my sewing pro madre) Costing less than $40 of fabric, ribbon, and accessories (and still half left over) and the man hours I put in I made three pretty cute Christmas stockings if I must say so myself . But pretty much anything is cute with a little ric-rac, pom-poms, bows, ruffles, and polka dots!

Let the Christmas season begin!!!!!

The day of Thankfulness

I am in KY sitting in my dad's chair, belly full of Thanksgiving feast, my sister next to me playing the piano, dog sitting at my feet, and less than an hour ago my parent's house was full of family.... I can't help but to feel lucky.

Thanksgiving actually happens to be my favorite holiday. I am one of those sappy individuals that lives up this kind of holiday. I take this opportunity to reflect on everything in my life that I am thankful for. While I am thankful for a good job, a roof over my head, a car to drive, food on the table.... the number one thing I am thankful for this year is the people around me- All my family and my friends. And actually you know what? in my life those words are synonymous. My family are friends and my friends are my family....

My "friends"are my glue- They keep me together. When I am upset, they can tell just by the look on my face or the tone of my voice and know exactly what to do to make me smile. When I need someone to listen or advice they are the people I turn to. When I want to have a good time, they are the people I want to share it with. They don't judge me by the skeletons in my closest or knowing all my "crazy thoughts" haha... They seem to love me for me. I am thankful to be blessed with such amazing friends! Even if my life were bare of all the extra things in life, my friends would make my life full.

"To the world you may just be somebody, but to somebody you may just be their world." I want to thank each and everyone of my friends for making my world! :o)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

Waffles=Sunday Morning Manna!

So in honor of receiving my new waffle maker, I of coarse had to go all Martha Stewart and have my Nashville family over for Brunch Sunday morning. The waffle maker was very user friendly. Took only a couple tries to figure out exactly how much batter to put in and how long to cook for a good waffle. 1 problem we did run into though was the bottom got quite crispy compared to the top. The waffle maker will allow you to flip, I suggest for both sides to be equally as delicious and crispy, flip half way through. But either way, they were DELICIOUS!

Thanks CSN stores!
PS making a Belgian waffle guilt free is pretty difficult but we fared pretty well with fat free ready whip, fresh fruit and low calorie syrup….. Looks good doesn’t it?

The beginning of a new era...

It all started this year. My first close friend got married. 4 weddings(and several more invites) later this year, I got my first invitation to a baby shower. That is when I realized I have officially began a new era of my life. No longer am I in the "college" age group anymore. I am officially in the young adult category. This is just the beginning of many wedding invitations and baby showers.

When I expressed this thought one day to one of my older colleagues their answer was, "You go through 2 major stages in life. First it is weddings and babies. The next is funerals." I was well hey, thanks for being a debbie downer but it is the unfortunate truth.

I am happy being in this stage though. Nothing brings me joy like seeing my friends accept wedding vows and see all the love they have for each other. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I think there is no greater gift to give someone than your undying devotion. And the babies.... gosh I am such a sucker for babies. I hadn't been to a baby shower since I was probably 10 with my mom and at the time I didn't truly appreciate them. So today when I went to my first official shower as an adult it was a whole new experience. Seeing the naivety of a mom-to-be at a shower and seeing the excitement mixed with fear across her face, it was just so innocent and precious. Plus mixed with all the adorable baby gifts, cakes, decor... Anything in miniature is cuter right? haha

Cheers to many more new beginnings!!!

Kickball finale!

Last night was the play off's for our kickball team. It may appear to everyone else we lost, but at heart our team came out champions!!!

Liz stated it best, "Favorite quote of the season-(Q)"How long have you guys been playing together...Ya'll seem to really be a close team..." (A)"This is our first season. We bonded over suckin."" LOL

Until spring season!!!!!

My body is buggin!

If you look at me now it would probably be hard to imagine me being any chubbier than I already am. But in 2005 I was actually at my highest weight. At that point I decided I had to take my life in my hands, and gradually over the course of a year and a half I lost around 65 pounds. From then on I fluctuated around the same 10 pound weight for almost 2 years. I was still chubby but I was pretty happy with the way I looked.

Unfortunately sometime this spring (I dunno if it was the all you can eat cruise I went on in February that kicked all this off or what) but something happened and I lost all concern for staying at that happy place I had been holding onto. I was just so tired of working, counting, and eating low fat foods. But now I get on the scale and the numbers that keep growing higher and higher are haunting me. I don’t want to become that person I knew in 2005. The sad truth is now I am only about 38 pounds away from my heaviest.

My heaviest, skinniest, and NOW:

I want my old wardrobe back, I want the thinner face back, I want the confidence back! So I have decided to do something about it. This time no fad 3-day diet or doing good Monday through Thursday to totally blow it on the weekend. So 2 weeks ago when making this decision I needed something fresh. I was so tired of counting point after point (weight watchers) and decided I need something new to motivate me towards reaching my new goals. After a little research I decided to do the Apex Fitness program and buy a bodybugg.

Now for those that are completely clueless as to what a bodybugg is I will give you a reader’s digest version. It is a band you wear on your left tricep that is 90% accurate at determining your caloric burn. If you have ever watched the show biggest looser, that black thing around there upper arm is what I am referring to. The Apex Fitness program is pretty much just a website that you upload your calories consumed and calories burned and much much more. The websites main focus though is taking the guessing out of your weight loss. Did you know that 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories and if you want to loose 1 pound every week you need to burn 500 calories more a day than you consume? Well neither did I…. This program enlightened my on the scientific side of weight.

This program is pretty easy concept to understand: burn more calories than you consume. When I was researching the program it was like reading déjà vu of a first (and last) date I had with this guy. (Bringing up a woman’s weight is a no no in the first place, and especially with one that has always struggled with it.) Anyways, we got into this heated discussion where he told me basically I made myself fat. It’s called input versus output…..Literally those words came out his mouth on our first date. But no matter how much those words hurt then the fact is it is actually the truth (even if genetics isn’t on your side).

So today was my first official week on the program. I set up my program last Tuesday evening to aim to loose 2.5 lbs per wee . My program was to eat 1350 calories and ensure a burn of at least 2600 calories a day. No problem, and today when I weighed, I had lost exactly 2.5 pounds (coincidence or not I was pleased and now I am 40.5 lbs from my my highest!). This upcoming week though I think I am going to change things up due to the fact there is so much error in actual calorie consumption. Every bite, nibble, or chew has calories and on this program every one matters. I am aiming for 3 pounds this upcoming week, which mean calorie consumption of 1350 and a burn of 2880 calories/day.

This time around I am serious and to prove it to you I will be making periodic updates on my weightloss and if nothing else maintenance. No more of this gaining weight crap, even if the holidays are coming up!!!

Christmas Village

A big part of the woman I have become can be contributed to being in a sorority (actually a woman’s fraternity but who is getting technical?). Coming from a small private liberal arts school where Greek life was very popular, it became a major part of my college experience. Okay yes, sororities do mean parties and mixers but it was sooo much more to me than that. Pi Beta Phi fostered in me morals, lifelong bonds of friendship, philanthropy, scholarship, leadership… And I think it still does today.

As soon as I moved to Nashville one of the first items on my to-do list was joining the local Alumnae club. I got lucky because Nashville has one of the largest Pi Beta Phi alumnae clubs which offers a great network of women (young and old) and also provides us with several philanthropic opportunities.

This weekend was our alumnae club’s big philanthropy event- Christmas Village!!! With over 250 vendors, 6 buildings, and over 25000 people that attend, Christmas Village has raised over a total of 6.6 million dollars over the past 48 years. Last year we raised almost $500,000 of monies donated to the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

If you haven’t heard of Christmas Village before it is quite the shopping extravaganza. It offers products of every genre and it is really a shopaholic’s dream come true. (Thank God Friday was payday! Haha) This was my second year volunteering and there is nothing like the feeling of doing something good for others. While my main volunteer efforts goes to the sorority itself (I count the nickels and dimes, aka the treasurer) this weekend I donated time not only to volunteer but yes to shopping (who woulda guessed!? Haha) This year we proudly celebrated our 49th year of this philanthropy and 2009 marked the 21st anniversary of the founding of the Pi Beta Phi Rehabilitation Institute at the Bill Wilkerson Center. While we don’t know the total money raised for 2009 CV at this point, I just feel happy knowing that I am part of something that makes such a positive footprint and raises so much money for such a good cause.

Christmas Village is held at the Nashville Fair Grounds and there are some big concerns for our upcoming years of Christmas Village. With the fair grounds closing down next summer there is a big question mark as to the future of the project. Next year will be CV’s big 5-0 anniversary and I have high hopes the fair grounds will let us use the venue next year and also for record high revenues!

For more information about Christmas Village check out the website: http://www.christmasvillage.org/.

Christy's Kitchen

Everyone that knows me (and/or that can see me) is quite aware I like to cook or at least eat. haha It seems like every holiday my present list is always a collection of new kitchen items that I have been wanting to add to my kitchen collection. On my current list I have (hint hint for all of you thinking about upcoming Christmas presents :o) hehe) a fry daddy, a metal skimmer, a cooking thermometer, a knife sharpener, a saucepan with a strainer, a chef's knife, a salad plate/bowl, spice rack.... the list continues but one thing I have always wanted is a WAFFLE MAKER. I can remember the good ole' days in college when you could go late at night to the caf' (aka cafeteria) and fix up a belgium waffle. Nothing quite hits the spot (especially if you have been drinking) like a big sugary, buttery waffle! So when I got the opportunity to do a review for a product on Cookware.com I jumped on it. This site is or should be a mecca for all people that enjoy to cook and love collecting good quality kitchen products. From Rachel Ray to Emeril (and lots of other great brands/names) you can buy cookware sets, bakeware, cutlery, appliances, tableware.... basically anything and everything that has to do with cooking.

Here is the waffle maker I will be trying. I can't wait to try it out, attempting to make a low fat version of my old time favorite guilty pleasure....I am sure my roommates wont mind either!!!

Donate a life!

This past weekend a few friends and I headed to Jackson TN for one of our good friends weddings. The wedding went off without a hitch and was beautiful! Before heading home we attended one of my best friends hometown church Sunday morning. This past Sunday the United Methodist Church recognized and celebrated Disability Awareness and Organ Donation Sunday. It was a very important day for my friend and her family because not only is her brother autistic but he also had a kidney transplant last year. Having a first cousin that is disabled as well, I watched her brother Stephen two pews ahead of me with the same life and energy that my cousin has. So innocent, so childlike and Stephen was able to sit there happy as a clam all because of the blessing of receiving a kidney transplant. I couldn’t help but smile. Then the guest speaker came on and started discussing the topic of the day, one in which included the reasons behind Stephen’s transplant.

Apparently Stephen lost his kidney due to a staff infection. I guess I had never really asked why he needed to have his kidney replaced. When I heard staff infection the realization came over me that Stephen in this case was like anyone else. Anyone could get a staff infection. I actually dated someone that contracted mursa staff infection from the gym. Luckily his immune system was strong enough to fight it off relatively well, but he will always be a carrier of that type of staff. What happens if later in the life that infection leaves him seriously ill… The fact of the matter is something could easily happen to each and every one of us, leaving us in the position of needing a transplant.

I’ll be honest. For some reason I never supported personally being an organ donor. One time back in the day someone mislead me with the information that if you are labeled as an organ donor, doctors would be more concerned with saving your organs rather than your life. So in my head that was the deciding factor to not be a donor. So when the message on Sunday was about organ donation it was quite the eye opener for me. I just was mis-informed and never took the time to educate myself truly on the subject. Did you know around 18-19 people die every day due to lack of available organs and around 84 thousand people are on the list waiting for organ donation? It only takes 1 person to donate their tissues and organs to help out 50 people! Also, there is no proof or reason to believe that just because you are an organ donor, doctors will not do everything in their power to save your life. On the contrary, first and foremost doctors take an oath to save your life. When and if that isn’t possible, that is when the process of organ donation begins.

Besides the few reasons listed above, there are quite the numerous amount of pro’s on the list of why to become a donor, compared to the relatively small number of reasons not to be. Some people choose against it for ethical reasons or just the sheer fact they don’t want to share their organs or be cut up once you are deceased.

The reality of the situation is that if something happened to me and my only chance of extending my life (or whatever feasible reason) was receiving an organ transplant, I would say “sign me up!”. Then that brings me to the thought in my head, why would I be willing to take someone else’s organs if I don’t offer my organs in return if they unfortunately become available. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, right?.....

So today I am going to sign up to be an organ donor. When I die, (hopefully a very long time from now) I will leave this world on the good note of knowing I may save someone’s life, help revive several people’s health, and be a God send for someone in need here on earth.

If you are interested in becoming a donor as well, there are 4 ways to express your desire to become a donor.
1) Sign up for your states donor registration. For all you Tennessean’s the website is www.tndonorregistry.org
2) Declare your intention when renewing your driver’s license or sign the back
3) Print a donor card from the Organ Donor website
4) Inform your friends and family of your decision.

Women=over thinkers!

There comes a time in everyone's life when you feel a bit lonely. Sometimes loneliness brings crazy thoughts to the surface… crazy thoughts like will I end up being a spinster or a crazy cat lady. Okay the truth about me, one of my biggest fears is that will be me. I will be that crazy cat lady. Why? : A)Yes, I love cats. Always have, always will. B) I am about as single as they come. C) Not only am I single, but I am a serial single girl.

Okay I realize that first paragraph makes me seem pretty pathetic, so don't get the wrong impression here. I am not depressed or sitting in my bed crying at night...I am just expressing to you all how I feel on the occasion. I have a great group of friends that I love dearly. A wonderful family. An awesome group of co-workers. I live with 2 amazing roommates and their cat and a dog. I even usually have some sort of guy chasing after me. I am technically not alone. I have all of that but at the same time I am "alone".

Recently a major topic among myself and my single girlfriends has been our current boy craziness. We are just in that time in life when everyone our age is settling down. Our friend group is slowly turning into coupled entities, and besides all that we crave someone special to share our lives with too. We have been trying to figure out all the in's and out's of current relationships or the lack there of. We all have been in such sheer confusion about our serial singleness and unusual boy possibilities. (Even though I look at them and have no doubts because they are too awesome to end up alone). My group of friends happen to be some of the most well rounded people I know. Smart, fun, independent, a vast array of hobbies and interests, social, driven, cute, loyal, and have more love to give than imaginable. So why does no one jump on the band wagon for such amazing women?

The issue though isn’t what is wrong with us, I think it is how we go about men we are interested in. We were all women raised to go after what we want and we were told we can make anything happen if we put our minds to it. But maybe not in this case. The problem may actually be super simple: Guys go after what they want. And also men are born to respond to a challenge. Why else would guys love sports, and fights, and hunting. They like the challenge. Therefore with such a simple problem we also have a simple answer. Play hard to get.

This explains why inevitably the guys we aren’t interested in are always chasing after us - Because we don’t try. We don’t call them, drunk dial them, not attentive to their every want and need….we are completely indifferent. And the funny part is these guys still keep coming back and trying again.

Then on the other hand we rationalize and make excuse after excuse for the guys we like that end up rejecting us. We tell each other its fear of commitment, they are shy, lost our number... whatever. In turn to overcome these "excuses" maybe we make ourselves too available. We make it too easy. Men are the hunters, women are the gathers… If we take their hunt out of dating, maybe it just seems too easy to men. Even if the perfect woman is starring a man in the face, maybe men want to feel like they have earned a prize. So by golly, we will give them a chase because we deserve to find someone that will work hard to get us, that will want to claim us, that will love us. :o)

Bottom line, he's just not that into you if he is letting you slip away.

Everything at my fingertips....

I succumbed to social pressures and got an I-Phone. Succumbing really meaning I have always really wanted one and I am totally excited! LOL The days of carrying two phones, personal and work, are now over with and I couldn’t be more happy. Not only did I consolidate but I am doing it with style, rockin out with my new Iphone 3GS (with a hot pink cover)! While I have had it less than 24 hours at this point, I have really enjoyed having my itunes, email, the internet, instant message style texting, tons of applications (two of my fave being Pandora and Facebook), camera, video and everything else in between right at my finger tips at all times. Basically it is one awesome hand held computer with the added bonus of it including a phone.

Until this point I have always sported the “free with upgrade” phone. I just needed the basics- a phone that got good service, could text, and take pictures. That is all I asked… but when given the opportunity this last round to get the I -Phone I couldn’t pass it up. It has been a gradual change, but in the last two years I have become one of those people; you know one of those people that sends email or texts over making calls. I do facebook chat instead of asking someone to hang out. I read the news over the internet, I map out my driving directions, print off coupons, shop, pay bills, book travel- basically my life functions around technology.

Isn’t it crazy to think before my generation how different the world was and the way people functioned…. Having no cell phones or internet changes things completely. People had to use actual maps to get where they were going. They used a 35 MM camera and film. They had to use a pay phone if they were away from home. If they needed to know something they used an encyclopedia. If they wanted to read a book or write a research paper they went to the local library instead of using Google or Wikipedia. Card games, board games were replaced by video games and online game sites…. People couldn’t screen there calls because there were no caller ids.

Back in the day people had a sense of self and knowledge my generation has lost. The knowledge to take care of themselves, and to work harder for the things they have and wanted to learn. If you got a flat, you couldn’t just call up road side service with your cell to get it changed. If you left the house and someone didn’t know where you were you couldn’t be tracked down by cell, email or pager… You were all on your own. Now our generation has become a group of needy people. We are spoiled with easy accessibility to information, services, and people.

Technology has taken from our generation the pleasure of simplicity, and learned knowledge. With everything and everyone just one click away dating, politics, shopping marketing, recreation, research, hobbies, traveling, photography, communicating have all changed. Kind weird to think if all that can happen in a 25 or so years, what else will change in the next 25?

Guilt Free Must Haves!

Being the good Samaritan that I am, I am going to pass along to you my favorite guilt free must-haves because anyone watching their weight definitely needs to incorporate these foods into their life.

First and foremost is spray butter. For those that know me, you understand that spray butter is a must have for me. It is good on just about anything and is supposedly calorie free and fat free (basically liquid sodium) per 1-5 sprays (use in moderation or it isnt zero anymore... sad but true). Either way, liquid crack is what I like to call it. Trust me after you figure out how wonderful spray butter is, you will be doing the index finger work out on lots of different snacks and meals (you really can feel your finger burn after a certain number of sprays… you may want to consult your doctor before use. LOL)

Secondly, is wing sauce. While normally when you think of wing sauce the idea of fat full and calorie packed Buffalo hot wings come to mind, but the beauty of the topic is the sauce is the part that isn’t that bad for you. My brand of choice is _______(I'll have to get back with ya, it has slipped my mind at the moment) wing sauce and it is fat free and calorie free (per serving) and taste great! Put it on chicken, put it on a salad, or use it as a condiment for a sandwich. You can’t go wrong with a punch of spice that hides all the flavorlessness that is sometimes expected when you think of a healthy meal.

Laughing cow cheese is actually no laughing matter. It is dang right delish, and offered in regular or light choices in several different flavors. This is a new find and love for me even though it has been around for quite sometime. It is super rich in flavor, creamy, and is sooo in calories! Usually when I think of low-fat or fat free cheese I cringe a slight bit because you feel like you are eating “diet” food. Laughing Cow Cheese taste totally guilty and OHH the many ways to use it! (If any of you are curious of good ways to put this cheese to good use Hungry Girl and her cookbooks and recipes utilize this ingredient frequently! http://www.hungry-girl.com/ )

Everyone loves bagels, but if you are like me I refuse to eat them because I don’t think they are worth the cost (aka fat/calories), especially by the time you put some sort of spread on it. But I have found the solution= Western Alternative bagels. They are a bit smaller than traditional bagels but just as dense and chewy while only packing 110 calories. They come in quite the variety of flavors (white, wheat, blueberry, roasted onion, cinnamon…) and are just as satisfying as a regular bagel. It would take 4 or 5 alternative bagels to hit the same nutrition facts as 1 regular bagel… Now that is craziness. Who wouldn’t choose the alternative!? (no pun intended haha)

Last but not least is Cavendar’s All Purpose Greek seasoning. This is no diet food but it is just a seasoning. Can we say A-Mazing! It takes a boring low fat piece of fish or chicken and makes it a delicious masterpiece. It is also amazing on beef products too. Basically Cavendar’s should be everyone’s “secret ingredient” to making even the most ordinary foods amazing without a slam to your calorie count.

This list could go on but these are by far my favorite! Enjoy! :o)

So close yet so far.....

Talked to Crush constantly throughout the weekend though. I’ll admit me likey alot! :o) but part of me feels like I should hold myself back from forming any feelings/emotions with this one…. I have only met him over the course of 1 weekend over a month ago at this point, but he is someone I really enjoy talking too. We get along great and he actually seems to like me back. But there is always the lingering cloud over our heads that our lives are on totally different paths. But right now he is what he is and I wouldn’t take that away. I love having him in my life. He has turned into a really good friend that seems to have a lot of concern for my life and vis versa. It’s nice to feel cared about, even if he is caring 3 hours away…. I will just keep taking it day by day and see where it goes. Carpe diem right?

Noddin my head like "Yeah"!!

This weekend I was living life like a true 20 something. Halloween costumes, late nights, house party, toga/foam parties, bar hoping, friends in from out of town, seeing bar fights, 2 football games in 1 weekend(Vandy/GA tech & Titans!), and everything else in between. Yes I did that all in the 60 hours that we call the weekend. And the beautiful part of it all is that I feel great this morning, fully refreshed and ready to start the week. I’ll post ya some pictures tonight.
In case you were wondering, I finally got the package in the mail from my ex too… He sent me golf balls and golf tees. But not just normal ones, HOT PINK ones! (if you didn’t know, Pink is my favorite color) Not the most sentimental gift. Didn’t know what to expect when he said he was sending something that reminded him of me, but there you go, golf balls… I don’t actually play golf yet in my life, but it is a goal somewhere in there. He also put a little note in there, nothing special, but it was nice. I called him to thank him. Short and sweet call… No lingering, no lets hang out- it was good not to feel any pressure. It was actually like we were kinda friends again. So that was a good first step.