Thinking Out Loud Thursday #5

1. The building managers where we live put off a pool party for the residents last weekend, and since The Guy (aka my husband, as he wants to remain internet anonymous from now on) was out of town over night, I went solo for a few hours, introducing myself to as many people as possible. The turn-out wasn’t impressive, and I only met a handful of people. But I’m happy I went, because I met a new-to-us couple, who also has a small dog and the wife and I have been walking our dogs every evening after she gets off work. We are sort of forcing friendship with our two dogs. They’re both territorial and “king/queen of the household” so there is a lot of barking and “I’m so scared I poop” (mainly from Alfie). But hooray for new friends!

J Crew Anya Suede Ballet Flats2. These shoes are comfortable, hence me buying them in bulk. Not as practical, as they’re suede and will get dirty quicker. I picked up the pink and blue one’s at the Gilroy Outlets, and bought the turquoise one online at J.Crew Factory for a steep discount. Roughly $110 for the three pairs, in total.

Tillandsia-Andreana3. I killed my air plant, that rarely needed watering. I’m disappointed in myself for letting it die. This is why I can only have real looking faux flowers. I only needed to rinse it under water once a week, which I did. It’s probably too hot for it in California. Lame.

Tiny Post Hoop Earrings in 14k Gold Fill 3mm4. I’ve been meaning to talk about these earring for a few months. I bought them from Autumn Equinox on etsy, and I think they’re super cool. I prefer stud earrings as opposed to anything that drops below the ear lobe, as my ears are pierced unevenly and you can really notice it when I wear anything but studs unfortunately.

5. Songza has been my choice of music for a few months, when The Guy introduced it to me. Freakin’ love it.

Every day makeup6. Makeup has been minimal for me for the last little while. Here’s all the goodies I’ve been wearing when I feel like wearing anything. Dior BB cream // Cle de Peau concealer // Jouer Bronzer // Dior Diorshow mascara // Tweezerman eyelash curler // Real Techniques brushes.

7. I love mangoes, but hate cutting them up — so here’s a way to peel a mango in 10 seconds or less. Thanks to Carla for posting the link on her blog!

FitBit Tory Burch (image from FitBit)

8. Love the concept of tracking your fitness and calories burned throughout the day, but hate the look of the athletic looking Fit-Bit? I know it’s not versatile for every one to wear. But Katie recently blogged about the new launch from Tory Burch making more aesthetically pleasing FitBit gear.

Random questions for you:

Do you have your ears pierced? If so, how old were you?
I was in Grade 5 when I got mine done.

When is the last time you uploaded new music to your iPod/Smart Phone/MP3 player?
I never listen to music on my 2nd gen iPod shuffle, and once it’s on there, it’s there for ever. Songza’s where it’s at. If I’m on the treadmill or running outside, I run sans music.

How often do you go swimming?

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Thinking Out Loud Thursday #4

Golden Gate Park picnic1. Jessica, her two sons and I went to Golden Gate Park yesterday for a picnic. It was gorgeous. Turtles piling up on one another, senior citizens playing with remote control sail boats, and freshly made sandwiches. It was a perfect little afternoon.

World Market candle2. I originally bought this gardenia scented candle for the basket to give to house guests, but since they didn’t use it — I took it upon myself to simply burn it, because who knows when the next house guest will come by? I’m not a huge candle burner – and still have a candle that is half full which is over 8 years old. But something about this scent and the packaging, makes me want to burn it all day long. I’ve been lighting it for 3 days and it’s quarter of the way down. A little pricey, at $10 from World Market, but you can always snag it for a better price with their coupons. Man, it’s great. Kind of reminds me of a Diptique knockoff, don’t you think?

J Crew Anya Suede Ballet Flats3. I have three pairs of Anya Suede Ballet flats from J.Crew outlet/factory. I bought two pairs when I went to the outlets with my sister-in-law, spotted a turquoise colour there too but they didn’t have my size. Christina blogged about J.Crew factory having a sale, so… I bought them in that turquoise colour. Oops. Overboard. They look nice with a tan though, I couldn’t help myself.

4. I should update you on my self-tanning routine. It’s my most popular post to date, and is really outdated because I use a mixture of tanners now. I’ve been applying self-tanner once a week for the past few months, considering I never get dark if I’m in the sun at all. Pure burn, is all I do. It’s that Canadian skin of mine.

5. BlogHer14 is a few short weeks away. I flew to San Diego California for BlogHer11 while living in Canada, and enjoyed myself. I wasn’t considering going to the BlogHer again, mainly due to the price of the ticket — but how can I not, when the conference is literally a 10 minute drive down the highway? Who else is going? Show of hands, please.

6. I must be so noticeably inflexible on my right side, that when I was doing yin yoga a few days ago the instructor came over to me asking if I was in pain. No ma’am, I’m not. I just can’t move my body in the ways the rest of the class does. It’s so strange, because my left side I can do anything with, but the right side just stays right where it is. Doesn’t want to move in any peculiar ways.

Tone It Up Gym bag7. I’m excited to go climbing with Ellen again today. It’s been weeks since we have a top rope session in together. Funny, because I mentioned I wouldn’t be able to squeeze in any climbs while my sister-in-laws were visiting, but somehow a day opened up and I bolted at the chance to boulder for an hour or so. It was such short notice, I didn’t bother to e-mail Ellen. Low and behold, she was at the climbing gym lifting weights. She didn’t bring any climbing gear, nor did I bring my harness. Gah! At least today we get to climb some walls.

Have you ever been to a blogging conference?

How often do you burn candles? What is your favourite candle scents?

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Thinking Out Loud Thursday #3

1. I want to get my hair done by Silvia at Bibbo Salon, in San Francisco. I first discovered her on YouTube, with her fantastic hair tips and tutorials. Maybe soon I’ll get the guts to drive there and get it done. I really dislike going to new-to-me stylists. I’m so afraid they’ll wreck my hair.

Balance Bar2. I’ve been eating Balance Bars as snacks lately. Recycling this picture from March because I don’t have any left. Ate them all! When we first moved to California, I was going through them like nobodies business. But I mean, that’s not healthy. Right? They’re onl $0.99 at the grocery store, couldn’t help myself. Now, it’s all in moderation (again). Sooo good. I only buy the S’mores flavour. These are close to impossible to find in Canada, so this was on my to-buy-list when we first moved here, ha!

3. Finally got my wedding rings back from being sized smaller yet again (they messed it up the first time), and for its 6 month inspection/and polishing etc. One of them is SO TIGHT that I may have a bruise on my knuckle from taking it off for swimming/climbing. I wasn’t seriously considering wearing my wedding bands, but I had thought of it. That was, until Ellen told me it would be a terrible idea, due to the fact that worst case scenario, you could de-glove your finger. Please do not google image that. It’s gory and may leave you light-headed.

4. La Belle Mixtape | Summer Memories | Henri Pfr: I’ve been listening to that YouTube video all week. Such good tunes now that it’s summer :)

Shauna Nancy5. My husband’s younger sister is here for a little while. She’s a speedy runner, so I’m going to ask her for some tips while she’s here. She ran a marathon in 3:20! She was also my husband’s “best man” at our wedding. The other sister will be getting here soon! I’m excited to spend some sister-in-law time with them both. I’ve been trying to take the younger one out to a few places, but I think we’ll have to do repeats because my favourite places, I want the older one to see too! Blogging will be sporadic until at least the first week of July. I don’t want to be on my computer too much while they’re here.

Boulder V4 green6. I finished the V4 green boulder problem on Tuesday! Some guy and I were working on it at the same time. I cheered for him as soon as he topped out, and then he told me to crush it, and was coaxing me along while I was on the wall. I ended up doing what he did, a butt-hook with my left butt cheek on the face, and then reaching over (feeling like you were almost laying down, that’s how laid back the route is!) and getting the top hold, manoeuvring your left foot where your butt was, and putting two feet on top of that hold, and going for the top. It was incredible! I was so happy. I think I shouted.

7. I walked into Athleta (kinda reminds me of Lululemon) the other day after climbing, and the girl who always helps me with the clothing was there again. She has a cool name, but I haven’t a clue how to spell it so I won’t butcher it. She saw me dressed in my black tank + black leggings with chalk all over it, and asked if I just got back from climbing! It was a mini-bonding experience, because she goes to another climbing gym in San Jose. Who knew there were SO FREAKING MANY!? I need to scope the one she was talking about, out.

That’s all I’ve got for today! Off I go :)

Tell me something random, I’ll read it before bed tonight. And don’t forget to enter the green tea matcha powder giveaway.

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