My latest spots i checked out....

Well in keeping up with my goal of trying new places, the month of march and so far in april i have had the opportunity to check out a few cool places so i thought i would review on it. I'm just going to do March for now.

Taco Milagro ( In upper kirby)

i went here in highschool but havent been back since. i met up here on a saturday with a friend and some of his friends. It was a super nice day and the patio was poppin! We had a great time people watching! i wont go into details but it was a riot! I ate their chicken fajita plate and it was great! the meat was drier than i expected but it was an adequate amount of meat and the guacamole was great! Since i'm not doing carbs right now i didnt get to try any of their chips or drinks but from the amount people were consuming, it must be good. the patio has people with their dogs and a great place for a saturday afternoon/early evening.

The Tiny Boxwoods

One of my girlfriends loves this place and reccomended it to me. I actually did not eat there but went by to check it out as a potential spot for my birthday. its just gorgeous. the people who own it own the restaurant, a landscape architecture firm, a nursery, and a store all right there. My friend Julie and i went over there one day and just walked around and we planned to eat but they were in between lunch and dinner so only wine and cheese were available. Since i cant have either we said we'd come back. I really want to go for breakfast or brunch one day and sit on the patio/garden.

Ibiza (Midtown)

I had dinner here one night and omg was it delicious. i ordered a big beef tenderloin and substituted veggies for the potatoes. It was huge and i loved every bite. My friend I ate with had the porkchop which i was fortunate enough to taste and it was delicious as well. the restaurant reminded me a of when i worked at Reggiano's the way they served and the open kitchen. My company had our spring meeting there last year in the lounge next door which was fabulous as well.

Ruby Tequila's (midtown)

This place opened up not to long ago, and one night i went and ate their with my friend Julie and her boyfriend. the place was pretty busy and the three of us just shared a combo of their fajitas. The fajitas were delicious. They were stingy on the guacamole. Again i didnt get to try any of the chips or the drinks, but they had margaritas with Dos Equis in them ( see above) as well as some other interesting margaritas that sounded delicious. They had a neat firepit inside that you could sit around as well. very casual probably a good place to go unwind after work!

Camielle's Sidewalk cafe ( downtown tunnel)

A coworker and i decided to try this place out during lunch one day as we have passed it in our walks around the tunnels a few times. It was so good and they have lots of healthy options. I grabbed their cobb salad with some modifications and she had one of their wraps. The food was great, was affordable, fast service and nice selection.

Grappinos's Patio (right outside of downtown on dallas)

This year my company has their spring meeting here on the patio. the food was really really good! i wish i could have tried the dessert and more of the food but the antipasta, veggies and skewers were great and from what others said the tiramisu and cheesecake were awesome too. Its a nice ambiance and there was a guy playing his guitar to some great music the night we went. it reminded me a bit of the patio at reggiano's when i worked there as well.

Boheme (taft and fairview)

Julie and i went here before going to Ruby tequila's. Its a fun little bar with some neat details. the inside has these large telescopes, cool chandaliers made from bottles and the patio has funny random pieces of furniture probably picked up from the junk stores near by. they have a wide variety of drinks and serve "bites" which are different kinds of curry. i plan to return to check that out!

25th birthday party prep

So i am about to be a quarter of a century... which blows my mind! Like always, I like to plan ahead and I see 25 as a big milestone and like I stated in my blog a few weeks ago, that with the past year i feel like CELEBRATING! So I've spent some time thinking and planning what I am going to do.


To set off the celebration i am going to do my favorite thing.... have brunch somewhere outside with good food and great company. I'm planning to invite my girlfriends and just have a good afternoon. Kinda reminds me of when I was younger and had tea parties actually!

So the other day i was at HEB and they had a tiny doll cake which i thought was adorable. I went back last night to have it priced and thats what I am going to get. A coworker of mine makes cakes/cupcakes/wedding cakes and she is going to do some pink cupcakes for me. So it will be something like the photo below!... minus the guady poofy hair on the doll.. lol


Even though i do not eat sweets hardly at all anymore, i googled so many cupcake places and omg some of them get so creative. forget crave or celebrity cupcakes, these are so artistic. I loved it! I would love to bake them and do that on the side!

So today i got an invitation in my email to an office related event and they used a site called Paperless Post. It's an evite but it resembles a real invitation in an envelope. I already joined and designed my invite. It just seems more personal and formal. I love it! I'll of course use the typical evite for my bar/party later that night but I thought that since no one mails invitations anymore i'd do the next best thing....

still deciding what i want to do that night..... dont know if i want to get all gussied up and go dance somewhere or find a more casual place that has dancing as well so that those who dont like dancing arent just standing against the wall..... Ideas anyone? i have a list going so far.....

Happy one year anniversary to myself!

So one year ago today i embarked on a big change in my life. for those of you who are my friends on facebook you might have remembered a note i wrote last october about falling in love with yourself. well i still feel that way and have come a long way in so many aspects of my life.



a year ago today i started training with my trainer and now friend James. its been a difficult and fun struggle. I never had ANY intention of training with him other than that day. I had a free session and had managed to drop a few lbs working out alone, that i thought after one session with him i would know all i needed to know and could work out on my own and get back to the size i was when i graduated college. WRONG!



James was in sales prior and basically didnt leave me an opportunity to say no. i would open my mouth but i didnt want to be rude and interupt him and well sometimes i just dont know how to say no!



In the last year i've pushed myself super hard and found out just how stubborn and determined as well as disciplined i am. i can seriously do anything. i always thought that but now i KNOW


So this was me before and right when i started working out with james.... i think the biggest difference is seen in my face and well my stomach....

well this is me as i went along.... i dropped weight pretty fast as i had a lot to lose and well i totally changed my lifestyle. so this was me last summer shortly after starting....

And this is me now.... from an 8/10 to a 2/4 and tons of inches and percent body fat lost! I'm not done either! but damn i feel great!

Hopefully on my next anniversary i'll have even more to be thankful for and happy about. its been great. dont ever think you cant be where you want to be. the only person who can make you happy is yourself. So your relationship with yourself and what ever high being you believe in is what you gotta focus on. Love yourself and you'll get there. Another person, a job, a car, money wont get you to the happiness you want and deserve.... YOU will... and you can!

makes me think/remember/smile

So while i could just blab on and an about something random i thought i would just post some photos of things that encourage, inspire, intrigue my thoughts or just make me smile.... some of these i took... some i did not.... i wish i had some scanned images of some of my older trips/adventures....

Hippo san antonio

an old friend took these of me, she always took great photos

Skuttle at 8 weeks old... so cute

Skuttle last year in prep for our Easter card

My grandparents before their 50th anniversary party.... i want a love like that

my attempt at trapezing.... I DID IT

my trip to chicago!

Hamilton Pool, Dripping Springs TX

Turner Falls, OK--- fun trip!

Maine

New Hampshire

Sunset in Costa Rica

butterfly in costa rica

Playa Coco, Costa Rica

men and women....

So every day I send a friend of mine jokes for something for him to laugh about while he is deployed. Today i sent this one and well it cracked me up. i'll let you read it and then i'll write as to why it cracked me up....

Needs

Husband and wife are getting all snugly in bed. The passion is heating up.
But then the wife stops and says, "I don' t feel like it. I just want you to hold me."
The husband says " WHAT???" The wife explains that he must not be in tune with her emotional needs as a woman.
The husband realizes that nothing is going to happen tonight and he might as well deal with it.
So the next day the husband takes her shopping at a big dept. store. He walks around and had her try on three very expensive outfits. And then tells his wife, We 'll take all three of them. Then goes over and gets matching shoes worth $200 each.
And then goes to the jewelry Dept. and gets a set of diamond earrings. The wife is so excited (she thinks her husband has flipped out, but she does not care). She goes for the tennis bracelet.
The husband says "but you don 't even play tennis, but OK if you like it then lets get it.'
The wife is jumping up and down. So excited she cannot even believe what is going on. She says " I am ready to go, lets go to the cash register. "
The husband says, " no no no, honey we're not going to buy all this stuff." The wife face goes blank.
" No honey - I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while."
Her face gets really red she is about to explode and then the husband says " You must not be in tune with my financial needs as a MAN!"

Oh man! I guess i find that funny because how many women do we know that have have acted that way. I guess I think more like a man in that aspect and i have never expected a guy to just buy things for me. i'd rather a guy give a nice gift from the heart then flash his wallet at me. Shoot do you think all the money Tiger Woods has makes up for the humiliation and hurt his wife has had to go through? Negative. I'll take a comfortable living and a faithful man over bling and labels thank you. Anyways, i thought that was funny and very close to how many women think and expect.... glad i'm not that girl!

Easter....

Well its my favorite holiday and i thought i would write about it.

Easter has always been my favorite for a few reasons

1. the death and resurrection of Jesus is what gives us eternal life and a clean slate
2. its celebrated at the most beautiful time of year
3. we always had the best easter memories. us in pretty clothes in fun colors, good food, good celebrations, beautiful flowers in my grandmother's yard or a kitchen full of easter lillies that my dad would buy my mother.....

I worked with a woman who was a jehovah witness and she explained to me why they do not celebrate easter as the eggs and bunnies were pagan rituals from the 1200's or so. While i understand her point i feel like to each his own. yes tons of families today celebrate easter just to give their kids candy or have the easter bunny come visit. however, there are tons of families that participate in the little rituals society has declared for easter but really are celebrating the real reason. i dont think there are many people that even know the symbolism behind why the pagans chose bunnies and eggs ( i think it was a fertility thing) or trees at christmas but really i see the bunnies and eggs as a symbolic of this time of year, rebirth, new beginnings, innocence and all those things that Jesus's death really means and represents.

so here is a funny video for easter as well as some photos i love... yes the first one is my honey on his first easter 3 years ago!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAqvMAsABXI

I LOVE BUNNIES... IN FACT I REALLY REALLY WANT ONE

Random thoughts

cleaning out my inbox today i found this in an email from raul. thanks hun!

Random thoughts from people our age...-

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.-

More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

-That's enough, Nickelback.

-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

- Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

-There is a great need for sarcasm font.

I'm so excited!!!!!!

I'm excited.... totally pumped about several upcoming things....

We're about to go into the month of April (which is crazy to me how quickly the year is going by...) I don't have much planned as of now for April, but after April is May and well May is my favorite month EVER!

May has always been my favorite time probably because well my birthday falls in May and anyone who has known me for a long time and knows my family knows that it wasn't birthday weekend for Emily, it was always birthday MONTH! My mom was like that with her birthday and just carried it over to me and well NO COMPLAINTS! THANKS MOM!

SO this may marks my quarter of a century celebration and I am so excited. Last year i didn't celebrate with friends. I was having a rough year so instead my brother and I went to see my mom that weekend ( my birthday is always mother's day weekend... this year it is mother's day). I'm glad we did it. We had a blast! We had a fancy dinner, drank great wine, my mom cooked a meal i wanted.... drank more great wine, played card games, went to an art festival and i got to have my last moments with my grandma. When I got back my dad and stepmom took me to a nice dinner at Churrassco's.

This year I'm resorting back to my old habits of celebrating life.... it just so happens many opportunities came my way the month of may and i am just using them as more of a way to celebrate the life i have lived and the excitement of whats to come.

The first weekend in May is the warrior dash up in Dallas. I'm STOKED! Not only am I stoked to do it but the whole weekend with my friends is super exciting for me. I plan to go up early and spend some much needed time with my girlfriend Toneisha. We haven't gotten to just hang out the two of us in a very very long time so we are both looking forward to having a little adventure like we used too. Lots of photos and probably lots of shopping!

I'm also going to spend time with and race with my old friends Braden and Brandon. It's always good times with those boys. My close friend Morgan will be running the dash with me on Sunday! I can't wait to see her as well! It will be a nice way to 1) see friends 2) have new memories and 3) start my bday celebration accomplishing my goal of the warrior dash

The following weekend is my actual birthday. Not sure if I will do anything that weekend as I don't want to compete with what people have going on. I wish i could fly to Atlanta for my cousin's graduation.... maybe

The next weekend its ON! I've been on this Ketosis diet for awhile so bday weekend is my first time off.... time for cake and time for some champagne! I plan to have brunch with close friends out on a patio somewhere, hang by the pool in my bikini all day and then dance all night with friends! no set plans just yet but that's the idea. Plus Michelle will be here so even if we did nothing, we'll have a blast!

Fast forward 2 weeks from that. I'll be boarding a plane with my oldest friend Kristin... headed to Miami to take a cruise with her family to the Bahamas...... We'll be celebrating both of us turning 25 and her graduating college! I started looking at excursions, spa treatments, activities on the boat and DUH.... new BIKINIS and cute clothes to wear.

So the month of April and May will be me anxious for all these upcoming exciting times and busting my butt to look my best! Can't wait!!!! Can't wait to blog about it and show the photos!!!

humility......

So the issue of humility is something that i think all people face with on a regular basis. For some being humble is easier than others. I dont think there is anything wrong with tooting your own horn from time to time and sharing in your successes but there's a difference between sharing and well having a HUGE EGO!

this weekend i was in san antonio for my best friends birthday and she was excited that her friends's boyfriend was bringing his friend who just so happened to be the olympic gold medalist this year in bobsledding. I wont say his name but if you are that interested.... google it. You'll find him.

i was excited too, not even going to lie. I loved the movie Cool Runnings from back in the day and how many Texans can say they know a bobsledder... i mean really? So i thought it would be neat to meet a bob sledder and an olympian. I was a bit skeptical if he would be full of himself and my friend told me from what she had seen on TV he seemed really nice. I was still skeptical as i figured it might have been his nerves on TV keeping him grounded.

Well he came to dinner and he sat on the opposite end of the table from me so i didn thave much interaction, but later when it was cake time i moved down to that end to help her cut and serve her cake as well as take pictures. well he seemed nice enough. he helped me get the cake out of the box, light the candles, even took pictures of us singing to her and serving the cake. i thought " wow he might be a non big inflated ego kinda guy" WRONG!!!!

I sat down there probably 20 minutes and the entire time he didnt stop talking about himself. it wasnt even about olympic stuff it was about anything and everything him he could come up with. how he used to wake up and cross the street and eat all his neighbors eggs and little debbie cakes while he was sleeping and he would eat them and watch him sleep and then deny it when he woke up. UMMMM and i care because? Then he went on and on about other stupid pointless stuff just cus he thought he was SOOOO COOL.

So we leave the restaurant to go to a bar and he was saying goodbye ( THANK GOD! I wish i could have my 20 minutes of my life back!) and he had his big Olympic jacket on and commented to me that my sweater was probably not going to keep me warm. So then he goes on and on about his jacket and how he shipped it down here and how he never thought he would have an opportunity in texas to get to wear it so he thought he should. Then this girl walked over and asked for his autograph. AHH GEEZ!

I dunno. i guess i wasnt surprised he was a tool bag but i was hoping there might still be some young athletes out there who's parents raised them not to be a big shot. i guess i had hoped he would at least ask the other people ( esp the bday girl) about herself. From the other people at the table who sat by him the whole dinner, i got the best of it and only endured 20 minutes and not hours. Who knows... maybe he was always a big dumb jock who liked to hear the sound of his voice or maybe winning a gold medal put him over the edge.... still. it put a big dent in my view of athletes, olympians and bobsledders.......

managing money....

So i've written a few blogs about managing money and saving money before and i guess the older i get the more i turn into my father and want to have complete awareness of where my money goes and how to make it go the farthest.

I had read in a few people's facebook statuses to try www.mint.com and that it helped them get out of debt and plan this and plan that. it had been awhile but i was bored one day i logged in and set up an account not really knowing what to expect.

I LOVE IT! i was used to checking into my bank and my credit card just about daily to see balances and check my spending and to make sure i was on track for my budget. the mint links all your accounts into one place. You can link any and all checking, savings, credit cards, loans, mortages, 401k, stocks etc in one place. So its nice to see your debt to cash on there. it has simple graphs that show where you money is going and if you are over or under in your spending categories. my wellsfargo does that too but since it links all your accounts together it links your credit spending with your cash spending. If you have property ( house, car, jewelry etc) you can put that as your assests too.

i like that the spending categories are very detailed. some budgets are too broad this gets very specific. It also have advice on different checking, savings, credit, 401k plans that work best for you. Unfortunately my 401k is through a smaller company and it doesnt link directly too it.

i suggest everyone check it out if they enjoy knowing where their money is going and like to stay on track. well and if you dont i suggest you get started... NOW!

obesity....

So this morning on the radio they were talking about the heaviest people ever and how the largest woman ever was recorded at over 1200 lbs and was 5 feet wide. I almost wrecked! Thats 10 of me weight wise and my height width wise! I'm sorry but how does that happen? I know there are medical conditions to make people gain weight or that effect their Thyroid,other glands and other hormones that effect our metabolism but come on.

Maria Todd is back on the radio and she posed a good point. The people are so big they are immobile, so who buys them the 3 cheesecakes a day, the ridiculous amount of junk and feeds it to them? They are enabling it. It reminds me of when i worked at red lobster and parents would feed their kids just french fries. oh that would upset me so much. way to get your kids off to a healthy start. I cant tell you how many times my parents made me sit at the table and finish everything that was green on my plate and i'm so glad they did!

Its interesting at how we are becoming more educated about health, weight, nutrition etc but yet there is this obesity epidemic. Watching the biggest loser and conversations with some of my friends i dont understand how some people arent even the SLIGHTEST big educated or knowledgable about food labels. its like Greek to them.

There is this new TV show coming out on ABC (the name slips my mind at the moment) about nutrition in schools and america. I'm REALLY hoping that like the biggest loser trend, it takes off and people become more inspired to think about what they put in their mouths and that you can still eat great tasting food ( even BETTER TASTING) without clogging your arteries and shortening your life. We're given one life, one body and i think we should make it be the best and make it last as long as we can.


Check out this article..... its quite sad The world's heavist people

The cost of healthy living...

So I've been aware of the cost of eating healthy and living a healthy lifestyle for quite awhile now and after a conversation with a friend over lunch and an article my friend crystal posted on facebook today i came across another article that inspired me to vent..

The article i found was about the cost of junkfood. It made me chuckle. I mean granted there was scientific research to find statistics to back up the information but in the article they basically say "we eat less crap when it cost more" NO KIDDING? REALLY?

Seriously, can i write for yahoo in the captian obvious section too and make money?

Anyways, the topic of diet ( and not losing weight diet but ones nutrition and what they eat everyday diet) came into thought. since i'm on a new nutrition plan i'm super conscious of particular foods, where to get it, how much it cost, how much of it i eat, how much i can afford and let me tell you: Healthy eating is not cheap! Take a walk through Whole Foods and you'll walk out feeling happy you are healthy but dejected cus your bank account took a bigger drop than you expected it too.

In my conversation with my friend today I said something like ,"taste isnt an issue. I love all foods and appreciate the taste of things that are good for me so its easy to give up junk. It also helps that over time your tastes and desires change but the real kicker is how much it cost. I love Ramen noodles and thats probably the cheapest thing one could eat and probably one of the worst things. People eat badly because its cheap and easy!"

So this goes back to the article. Obviously we eat less crap when it cost more, so if companies lowered the prices of expensive healthy food more people would be inclined to eat better. I mean shoot the only decent thing you can get on a dollar menu at a fast food restaurant is a side salad for the most part, with a few exceptions.

Some fastfood chains are coming up with healthier alternatives which is nice when you are on the go, or eating with people who arent always as aware or don't care as much as you do. other companies like myfitfoods and trumeals are designing single serving healthy meals you can get fast, but can you imagine what it would be like if you could go to a drive through and be like, " i'll take the turkey avocado burger with a side of veggies please"

I'm hoping as time progresses we'll see more and more of more options. Not saying we should do away with the junk. well we should, but to each is own. I would just hope that since we all are given a choice, the balance of good and bad choices gets better. or geez, find ways to make those burgers and those fries healthier.