Fitness | Suzanne Bowen

I'm slightly obsessed with fitness expert Suzanne Bowen.

Oh how things change. The first time I did one of her videos, I was about 1.5 months postpartum. It was a 10 minute Solutions "Flat Belly Fast" segment at the end of my prenatal pilates dvd, and I turned it off in disgust. I remember thinking, "They really expect women who just had babies to do this?" She seemed so perfect and went through the moves with such ease, that all I could think was... robot. Needless to say, I didn't give that video, or Suzanne Bowen, another thought. Until, that is, I realized that my mom tummy wasn't going away by magic. I did some research on some good ab workout dvds, and finally pulled out that supposedly horrid 10 minute Suzanne Bowen workout. It was hard at first, but not as terrible as I remember. After-baby hormones and lack of sleep had probably played a significant role in my disdain for this woman.

Since then, I've bought her 10 Minute Solutions Blast Off Belly Fat dvd, and absolutely love it. Do I have flat abs? No, no, and no. But that's my fault. It is a fabulous compilation of workouts, though, and great for busy (and tired) moms since you can mix and match, or do just 10 minutes at a time.

Right now, I'm wishing I lived in Nashville so that I could attend her BarreAmped class.

Do have a fitness expert that you always turn to? In college, I was all about Denise Austin. I became a little disillusioned with her during my pregnancy, though. Her dvd was not that great, and definitely not intense enough.

Happy Thursday!

P.S. I'd love to know what you guys do for physical activity. Check out Suzanne's website and blog!

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Home | Surviving Monday

It's 8:30 p.m. and I have two things, side by side, in our oven: Blueberry muffins, and sliced olive oil and cajun spiced potatoes. I really hope the flavors don't mix in there...

Seb is finally in bed, and I can safely say we survived the day. My cold is still sticking close by my side and today I felt worse than ever. My blah-factor was only multiplied by the continual feeling that it was an hour later than it actually was. Talk about making the day drag on forever. The time change was nice on Sunday, but not so much on Monday. I think Sebastian felt the same, as he took his nap at 11 instead of 12, and went to bed at 6:30 instead of 7:30, and was terribly cranky all day.

The afternoon was lovely, though. We spent over an hour outside our apartment so that Seb could chat up the nice old man who holds the stop sign so the elementary kids can cross the road safely, and collected rocks and sticks to put in a basket we brought with us. We then took a little stroll down the road, and then back to the apartment to get graham crackers and the stroller for a nice little walk.

I gave Seb his bath tonight because Cody spent all afternoon and evening on campus, doing some research in the library. Cody has been teaching Seb to lay on his tummy in the bath, and it's so sweet to see him do it. Cody's mom told us that teaching your little one to do this in the bath helps them when they learn to swim, because being face to face with water at such a young age makes them less afraid of it when they're older. Tonight Seb was standing up, and I said, "Sit down, Seb." He promptly got on his belly and kicked his legs around, his little nakey bottom showing. Not quite what I meant, but so much better.

Right now, I'm starving and can't wait to dig into my eclectic dinner, and dreaming of having a kitchen that gets flooded with light like this one. Mmm...

How was your Monday?

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Fashion | The Everywhere LBD

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I have this amazing black sweater dress that I believe my mom found on clearance at a department store several years ago. I never used to wear it, but I recently got it out of my closet again, and have fallen madly in love with it. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I now have black leggings, and cognac boots to pair with it, and let me tell you, that's just a dynamite combo. For some reason I got it in my head that I need another such dress. Think about it; I can't wear the same dress to church every week this winter! So maybe if I alternate between two...

If you're looking for an LBD like the one that has recently become my best friend, try these Zara versions! One and Two come in Black, and oddly, the Third comes in dark blue, and a "blue" that looks like it's actually eggplant... hhmmm... maybe try this one on in the store.

Happy Weekend!

P.S. If you're looking for a little weekend inspiration check out 1) Meg & Andy for craft/diy inspiration and 2), you've probs heard of it, but indulge me for a minute: Nat the Fat Rat. This is such a charming blog written by a fellow mama. I never get bored over there.

Okay, I should really go to bed now. Have a lovely and restful Sunday, my friends!

Home | Do rainy days bring out your creative side?

Last night I woke up, probably to blow my nose, sicky that I am, and heard it raining. I'm pretty sure I can thank the inclement weather for giving me a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, Seb and I had planned to play around at a park today, but no rain gear, means no playing at the park in the rain. It was a good morning, though, ending with Seb being so exhausted that all I could do with him was sit him on my lap, plug some headphones into my computer and let him listen to a little She & Him until we could pick Dada up from school. You think I'm joking, but I'm not.

Pandora + She & Him = Seb's favorite music.

All that to say, this was supposed to be an extremely short post featuring a snazzy homemade tea strainer from Trula Kids. If only we could all be so ingenious on rainy days... 

Me? I'm going to take a nap.

Happy Friday!

image credit Trula Kids

Little One | Halloween

Did you dress up for Halloween? We had planned some awesome Phineas, Ferb, and Perry the Platypus costumes, but it turned out that funds were low and we didn't have a party to go to anyway. But, we totally went to Chipotle with some friends on Halloween and get awesome $2 burritos for dressing up like sheep farmers. The tragedy of the situation is that I have zero pictures to prove it. Epic fail.

So to make up for my lack of pictures and halloween documentation, I'm providing you with this. Aren't those little guys and gals so sweet? I love the idea of dressing your toddler like a Bla Bla doll.

P.S. My favorite Bla Bla doll. But maybe I just love the name. Hilarious bit: I tried to get Cody to name Sebastian, Beauregard. Hmm.. I still love it. Unfortunately Cody didn't like the nickname "Beau." I know several of you are extremely thankful for that right now.

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Little One | Nursery Decor

I can't imagine a sweeter way to decorate a child's room. I have long been enamored with Sharon Montrose's work, but this display is just stunning. I can't imagine how excited Seb would be to wake up each morning and check out all those cute baby animals. (eee!)

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Pregnant | A little humor for you

I was perusing a few posts from the blog Smallest Things, and happened upon this lovely lady's flikr stream of bump photos. Not only are they terribly cute, but underneath her "overcooked" 41 week photo, she attached this quote:

"I dream about the birth: I am lying on a sexy, pink satin quilted four-poster bed reading a magazine full of photos of gorgeous clothes I could afford that would look quite nice on me when a man in a leopard-skin suit comes past with a cocktail trolley on wheels full of excellent cakes, bottles of attractively coloured alcohol, an icebucket and some syringes. 'Martini?' he inquires politely. 'Or perhaps an epidural?' Just at that moment a perfectly charming baby pops out of me. 'Ow,' I remark, absent-mindedly. 'Why thank you, I'll take a gin and lime. And a small colostrum for my new young friend.'"

Extract from "The Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth", by Kaz Cooke.

P.S. Looking for a beautiful, fair trade baby gift? These are perfect.

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