spring break happenings, ass n' thigh burn

I'm back!!!! Over Spring break I took an unannounced and somewhat forced hiatus from blogging. My older daughter had two weeks off school so I was her main source of entertainment. It was really busy despite the fact that I didn't have to be up as early as usual, it totally threw me through a loop and out of my routine. Then to top off the chaos my fiance broke his shin the first Monday of Spring Break; gaining me my title of nurse, personal chef, and chauffeur extraordinaire. Just Kidding. I'm really struggling with my new role of nurturer but I am trying to be as accommodating as possible despite my already full schedule. He slipped on location at work. He spent the first seven days in a soft wrap (full leg) because he had an open wound they couldn't cast until it had some time to close. Last Monday I took him to the hospital to get his cast put on. He has to have a full leg (foot up to top of his thigh) for 6 weeks, and then if it's healing properly they will shorten the cast to just above his knee for another 4 weeks, followed by physio. Way to go Kirk;)

The only bonus to this whole leg mishap is I have more opportunities to get out and about without the kids since he csn't go anywhere. I for once didn't have to go to extraordinary measures to find a babysitter or bring my daughter to my hair appointment. I finally took the plunge and got an ombre hair style I've been itching to try for almost a year! I like it, i'm not used to change but I think it looks pretty hot!;)

I planned to rewrite my workouts for March however I didn't get to all of them, just ass day (which I do every third day of the week) Here it is below. I do it with my beloved gym boss timer, 30/10 for 30 rounds, but you could do in sets. I'd aim for 3 sets of 10-15 reps of each exercise.

Lemon Sockeye and Asian Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad

I BBQed the salmon with a rub of organic extra virgin olive oil, squeezed Lemon, and covered in lemon slices and cooked for about 10-15 mins on low (times will vary based on the size of fish)

Yam Bake: 

Organic ingredients whenever possible

Preheat oven to 400c. 

2 medium sized yams chopped into small cubes

1 small white onion, finely chopped

1 tbs raw honey (optional, I omitted)

2 tbs rosemary (I prefer fresh but dried is OK) 

1tsp himilayan or sea salt 

Cracked pepper

Mixed Herb Salad with Asian Balsamic Vinagrette 

Dressing:

2 tbs sesame oil

4 tbs balsamic 

1 tbs orange juice (could squeeze right from an orange) 

2 tsp gluten-free soy sauce (I used tamari brand) 

1/4 cup chopped red onion 

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup red pepper chopped 

1/4 carrot grated 

1/4 cucumber chopped 

1/2 ripe avocado chopped

4-5 cups of mixed greens of choice 

4 tbs sesame seeds 

 1tbs goat feta (optional) 

1/2 cup chopped orange (optional, I omitted) 

The Method: 

In a medium salad bowl whisk dressing ingredients (if you can do this ahead if time the flavours will 'blend' but if not that's ok). Chop remaining ingredients, toss and enjoy :) 

Greek Salad with Bacon Wrapped Prawns

I don't always eat goat feta, but when I do it's in greek salad;)

Greek Salad Recipe:
organic ingredients whenever possible

Dressing:
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
4 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp raw honey (to taste)
2 tbs feta brine (the liquid, OR 1/2 tsp sea salt to taste)
1 tbs basil
1 tbs oregano

1/2 a cucumber
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 yellow bell pepper
1/4 red onion
1 cup kalamata olives
2-3 tbs goat feta, crumbled

The Method:
Whisk dressing ingredients in a medium salad bowl, then throw in salad ingredients, I like to chop all my veggies small so that every bite has lots of everything, toss and enjoy:)

Back in....PINK! (plus some yummies;)

I took a brief hiatus from blogging last week to play 'Cake Boss Babe & Party Planning Extraordinaire'  for my now 6 year old daughters who celebrated her birthday on the 20th. Everything I do in my life seems to heir on the side of an 'all or nothing' approach (which always gets me way, way over my head). Also, next year I will most likely be going to classes full time as I registered for Business Management at our local college, so this might have been my last chance to go overboard at birthday-time for a while. I spent weeks shopping, organizing, writing my plans for the cupcakes, and cake and decor, sending out invites and putting the day together. The party was Monster High themed and I think it turned out spooktacular, and went off without a hinge, the 'ghouls' had so much fun! Here's some photos of the day:

Makeup Modelling for Alicia Thompson Photograghy

On Sunday I had the pleasure of being a model for one of my amazing besties, Alicia Thompson, who is a local freelance makeup artist. The reason I was asked to be a model is because she was updating her portfolio to return to her passion in makeup artistry post-babies. Our other BFF Lana Hamilton (who I briefly mentioned in the previous post) is a talented local photographer who offered to take the head shots and help put the day in play! My baby sister, Nina, also came to model, so between the four of us it was a fabulous day of awesome laughs. I am so lucky that despite living in this shitty oil patch town, to be surrounded by a close network of such talented, inspiring, and beautiful women. I honestly don't know how I got so lucky! Lana is currently on a leave of absence until further notice but you can find her on facebook. Alicia is just kick starting her business, and can also be found on facebook. Some shots of the day:

Alicia hard at work on my beautiful sister 

A few of my shots

Valentines

Valentines just so happens to be my favorite day of the whole year. Not because i'm taken, or because I look forward to being lavishly spoiled with chocolate and roses (which was not the case this year), and I've never been the kind of girl who craves expensive jewelry, it's just not my style. Maybe I love the day because it's all about love and I am so lucky to have an army of friends and family who I love whole heartedly, it just makes me get right into the lovey spirit of the occasion. Then there's the whole lust part, but again i'll leave that part a mystery;) Anywho, so knowing Valentines was on it's way, a few weeks ago I made arrangements for a little surprise for my Mister. Boudoir photos. I had to pull some strings (to say the least) including sneaking to the next town to go lingerie shopping un-suspiciously, go to the session, take the money out of our joint bank account without it being noticed, then get down to my bra and panties in front of a complete stranger. It all went off without a hinge and honestly was an awesome experience. I went to a local photographer Lauren Brooke, whom my bestie (another local photographer whose on leave right now, Lana Hamilton) recommended. Lauren was awesome, super friendly and super comfortable, I didn't feel awkward for a second, and she was really good at posing me, which I feel is super important because a lot of the poses feel pretty weird and you feel like you look stupid even though you look hot. When I got the disc back I was sooooo excited. I'm still high on what a babe I am, I seriously recommend all ladies to just go for it and get sexy photos done, it is such a confidence boost (not that I really needed it) but it's an awesome experience, plus one day when you're old you'll be able to look back on your sexy younger self. :)

Heres just a little peek of Laurens fabulous work;)



Kirk worked all day on Valentines, so I got up early to give him the album of photos as a surprise before work, got in my cardi-oohhh, got dolled up and took my daughter to school and dropped my toher daughter off with my sister so I could clean while day drinking red wine, eating dark chocolate while listening to sexy music to feel Valentinesy. He didn't get home until late so we had a quick supper together and he had to go to bed (he worked again at 3am) so that kind of sucked but it's what you make of it so I still had a pretty good day. :) I cooked roasted oregano/basil potatoes, steak with sauteed mushrooms, and greek salad. It was so good!

Sexcersise....because I can!

HAPPY HUMP DAY! Figuratively, and hopefully to all of you literally as well. I won't go into my personal life details on this matter, because though I live a little bit on the wild side and like to push the limits (always) I still like to keep a little mystery too. ;) Some great reasons to talk about sex today.. hmmm. It's hump day. It also happens to be cardio day for me (sexcersise=great cardio), Valentines is just around the corner, it feels good, and feeling good is healthy. I'n also a huge believer in sex being a huge variable in performance. And I am all about performance on all aspects of life. So in honor of sexcersise on hump day:

True dat. I love you Tina Fey. You're a bad ass babe for sure. <3

Do your workout! Sexy people like other sexy people!

Speaks for itself.

You're training for a marathon and you didn't even know it.

Okay maybe among other things. I can almost relate.

Just do it.

On that note, time to go do my cardio! :)

<3- Steph