Summer Heat + A Bee Grave

I know everyone is starting to complain about how hot it's getting but I am LOVING it. This past winter in Provo, UT was the worst one in 65 years, isn't that ridiculous? In February I was getting major cabin fever with all the snow and ordered sandals & swimsuits! {Ryan obviously thought I was crazy, but when doesn't he think that?} This week I took advantage of the pool and laid out with my new VS swimsuit, my awesome floppy Target hat, and some magazines. I also started snacking on some raspberries when I found a DEAD BEE chillin' at the bottom of the package. You know, just snuggled in between all my raspberries. SICK NASTINESS. I was absolutely disgusted and told my family all about it, they laughed saying I was being overdramatic...ERRONEOUS, ERRONEOUS ON ALL ACCOUNTS! 

Onto other news...welcome to all my new readers! Leave comments & change your email from a "no-reply" email address so I can write back to you! Glad to have you here :)

$300 J.Crew Gift Card Giveaway! {CLOSED}

This is a huge deal people...my first ever group giveaway!

And it's seriously the most awesome prize EVER...a $300 gift card to J.Crew!!!

Check out the other lovely blog ladies hosting this giveaway then hurry your buns up & enter!

{Giveaway goes from June 28-July 8...for US and Canada readers only}

                        {Hello Fab} {Cella Jane} {My Wardrobe Staples} {Book of Leisure}

        {A Spoonful of Style} {Sisters in the City} {The Fashion Canvas} {Design, Life, and Style}

          {Fashion Flirtation} {A Lifetime of Rain} {aBree Fashion} {Love Me, Dani Marie}

             {Salt Style} {A Beautiful Heart} {Fashion, Love, and Lauren} {Breezy Days}   

                 {Stylin' in St. Louis} {Love, Love, Love} {Blushing Blvd.}

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I Only Order a Salad To Laugh At It

I'll admit that I'm not the bestest housewife there ever was. I'm not a huge fan of slaving all day over a dinner, I only do deep cleaning when I'm angry/frustrated, and I don't make lunches every single day for my husband to take to work {I'm workin' on that though ;)}. BUT, when I do prepare a meal...it's dang delicious. Seeing as how I've made a commitment to keep up with my clean eating initiative, we've been eating more salads around here. Ryan used to joke with me and say "I only order a salad to laugh at it" {whatta skunk!}, but now that I've been trying out some different salad concoctions, he's been whistling a different tune. The top salad is: spinach, feta cheese, strawberries, grilled chicken, lite raspberry vinaigrette, and avocado. The salad below is: grilled chicken, spinach, cheese, bacon bits, and poppyseed dressing. 

What is your favorite salad dish that everyone should try?

Man of Steel

{Jack of All Trades}

I finally got to see the new Superman movie and boy was it an action-packed 2 hours! Holy smokes. Definitely loved all the action, but I felt like the relationship between Lois Lane and Superman was a little forced? Maybe that was just me hoping it would feel a tad more realistic. So being a girl and all...I was majorly excited to hit the movie because I had the perfect outfit to wear...my awesome Superman t-shirt! I felt SO PUMPED walking into the theater with my fro-yo in hand and reppin' my Superman tee. Nerdy? Hmmm, no. Just prepared :)

Weekend Update: BBQ+Longboards+S'mores

This past weekend was party central! Which totally explains why I've been a complete vegetable today...

 On Saturday there was a company BBQ in Orange where there was lots of amazing carne asada which made for deeeliiishhhh burritos. Still thinking about those...

My fellow sales wife Amelia works on a gourmet ice cream truck during the summer {how cool is that?!} and she convinced her boss to bring the ice cream truck to the BBQ! I got "The Big O" {don't let your dirty mind run rampant!}, it's a vanilla ice cream bar dipped in milk chocolate and topped with oreos! Follow Longboards on Twitter to find where in SoCal they will be next!

{Me & Amelia getting photo bombed by her boss!}

{Shane, Amelia's husband, was a BAMF with his double ice cream bar creation}

After scarfing carne asada burritos and ice cream, the team made their way to Corona where we all went to the movies! Amelia & I are scared-y cats and didn't want to watch World War Z, so we saw Monster's University. Soooo cute!

{And of course Ryan, trying to ruin any and all pictures of us}

Then on Sunday night we went over to my parents for dinner {pizza yummm}, and since it was such nice weather outside we fired up the fire-pit and made s'mores! It was so quiet and beautiful outside, and it was nice to sit around the fire with my favoritest people in the entire world {minus one, Evan is in Mexico!} and just talk about everything. My dad hopped up when it started getting darker and turned on the lights for ambiance. The twinkle lights are from my wedding reception 2 years ago, but my parents like them so much they were left up and get turned on from time to time :)

Stress Relievers

Being the young married college student that I am...I tend to get stressed sometimes. Ok, that might be a bit of an understatement! There are times when I let my anxiety get the best of me, but I try and make the choice to busy myself with other things. Stress and worry honestly do nothing for what you need to accomplish, and I have to remind myself of that all the time! In order for me to work on being healthy in all facets of life {exercise, eating, etc}, I need to teach myself not to stress as much. Until I can become the calm yoga master I one day hope to be, here is my list of go-to stress relievers:

+Work on a hobby of yours {pictured above, my mom & I made that wreath cause we love to craft}

+ Roam around Target by yourself with your drink of choice in hand

+ A good book/magazine with a nice hot bubble bath

+ Work out to your new Jillian Michaels dvd

+ Redecorate a part of your home, that focus while take your mind off the stress

+ A walk outside in the fresh air

+ This may sound counterintuitive, but clean your house! It feels like you can conquer any situation when you put yourself in clean & organized surroundings...then your mind is not cluttered with the clutter around you

+ Concentrated breathing...slowly in through your nose and out through your mouth

+ A quick yoga practice 

+ Go on a leisurely bike ride & enjoy the world around you

+ Retail therapy {enough said}

+ Create a flower arrangement for your home

+ Look at the positives to your situation, make the choice to be optimistic

+ Call up a friend or family member to catch up

+ Frozen yogurt run

+ Take a swim or lay by the pool and soak in the sun

"Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles, it takes away today's peace"

Everyone Smiles In the Same Language

Head on over to Love, the Skinnys for my Smile Chronicles post!
If you have something to smile about, share it! You can download & print one of these signs in any color then send your smiling picture to Deidre to be featured {more information on the post} :)
Happy weekend!

Weekend Update: SD+Father's Day

As I said in my last post, we made our way down to SD for Ryan's cousin's graduation, and ohhhh boy did I go off of my calorie count. Poor My Fitness Pal didn't see me all weekend. Between the fajitas at Chilis, Korean BBQ {which is the club looking place in the picture above, it was nuts!}, eggs benedict in a cute little restaurant on the beach, chocolate gelato, and Sprinkles cupcakes...I would have been wayyy too afraid to input my calories. Thus, they didn't count :) After we pretty much partied all weekend with his fam, Ryan and I made our way up from SD to Long Beach to meet up with my family at Brazilian Steakhouse Amazon for Father's Day {dad's pick of course}. I brought him a Sprinkles Red Velvet cupcake in a cute 'lil box and I heard that he later scarfed it down and didn't share a bite with anyone. Way to be dad ;)

Swiss Dots & Polka Dots

This past weekend we were able to make a quick escape to San Diego for Ryan's cousin's UCSD graduation. It's not often that his family is able to come our way, so we were mega stoked when they made the trip down and invited us to join them. Even though we came back completely exhausted, we had a total blast! When Ryan is working hard all day every day, it's nice to have a little break to look forward to. I am still convincing him to do a Mexico cruise with me at the end of the summer...we will see how successful I am with that! Btw, this denim jacket is the bomb dot com. I seriously wore it with everything on my SD trip. I now declare that everyone MUST own this American Eagle denim jacket!

Brother-Sister Date

If you've been following me for a while you should know a truckload about my brother Evan, who is 15 months younger than myself and only a couple grades behind me in school. He was up in Provo going to BYU at the same time as Ryan & I, so we got to spend a lot of time with him before he left for his LDS mission in Villahermosa, Mexico. 

This is my brother Jesse, he is 5 years younger than me {although some of my friends have mistaken him for being older & flirt with him...haha} and now that I'm living in SoCal for the summer I made it a point to spend more time with him because we are finally in the same state! 

Last week he took me out on a brother/sister date to go see "The Great Gatsby" {which we LOVED by the way}, then we spent time just talking about life & eating our pizza at BJ's. It's funny how some siblings will go through life and not take the time to really get to know one another. I'm just grateful that I have the opportunity to form a stronger relationship with Jesse before he leaves on his own LDS mission! 

{Btw, he will be available in 4 years for any adorable girls who want to be my sister-in-law ;)}

Weekend Hangover

After such a raucous party weekend with Ryan's family in San Diego (UCSD graduation, Korean BBQ, brunch on the beach, an intense bike ride, delicious chocolate gelato, Sprinkles cupcakes), I'll definitely be taking it easy today! Working out, lounging, and some pool time are sounding realllly good right about now :) 

How to Overcome Clean Living Guilt

Since moving back to CA for the summer, I made a promise to myself to make a lifestyle change. A real change, for good. Drink more water, use portion control, sleep 6-8 hours {not like that was an issue before, I probably sleep too much}, eat more fruits/veggies, and get my body moving 4-5 times a week. Honestly, I feel like I've been doing MUCH better than past attempts; I've already lost a few pounds, feel stronger when doing my workouts, and I sleep better at night! 

I use the My Fitness Pal app religiously in keeping track of my calorie intake & workouts...then we hit the weekend. Where Ryan gets off earlier on Saturdays {which is when we usually go out to eat & I actually get to see him} then we do amazing Sunday dinners at my parents....all this partying means that I also don't take the time to do my workouts. I want to spend time with family and enjoy delicious food goshdangit! I still continue to watch my portion control and make a conscious effort to choose "better" choices on the menu...but then I start to feel guilty. I can't eat this if I didn't work out today. This is totally going to ruin ALL my progress. Even if it's a little piece...why am I enjoying my favorite german chocolate pie from Marie Calendars? These are some things I remind myself of in order to avoid the ever-looming healthy living "guilt".

1. Realize That You're Not Perfect

You're human, you need some chocolate now and then. Specifically that amazing pie from last weekend. As long as it's not an everyday occurrence, you should allow yourself to indulge occasionally. This is a lifestyle change, not a diet...you're going to be doing this the rest of your life so you have to be realistic. So don't beat yourself up every time you give in!

2. Progress Is Perfection

If you're off track for one or even two days, just hop right back on that train and keep going. One weekend is not going to completely and drastically mess up a week's worth of training/clean eating. I'm loving this quote "progress IS perfection" because it's a reminder that every little bit counts, and that being perfect is not the end result, you're perfect because you're trying.

3. Don't Give Up!

The best and most cliche point of all time. DONT GIVE UP. Keep plugging away at your goal. It takes some people days, months, or even years to reach their ideal end result. With every set back you gotta come back stronger and with more resolve. At the very least be consistent!

And if you needed some more inspiration...here's some Ryan Gosling hotness for you.

You're welcome.

Newport Beach Anniversary

As you all know {or at least I'm assuming so cause you just love to read about my every move} last week was Ryan & I's 2 year anniversary {June 4th}! Seeing as how the husband works till 9:30 every night we postponed our date until Sunday {his only day off} and we made our way over to Newport Beach. For as overcast as it was, the beach was packed! We meandered around the shops, used the fun pier binoculars to people watch, put our feet in the ocean/sand, and of course took pictures to document our anniversary :) We then made our way home to grab my favorite treat...PAN DULCE from our new hole-in-the-wall mercado {I promptly stuffed my face with said pan} and ended the day with family Sunday dinner. Such a low key & relaxing day, just what we needed!