Thursday, September 19, 2013

children & the online world

hey y'all!
as you can tell, baby hb hasn't been put on this blog.  hb & i actually try to limit putting her picture up on any social media sites, but then i think...are we just postponing the invetitable?
every day, in some way, i'm sure baby hb is being photographed/videoed - in public spaces, to some extent we all are.  big brother is always watching right?
i'm always conflicted...how do i know that her picture isn't up on someone's facebook page when we all happened to be at a lacrosse game and a friend of a friend took the picture?  what will we do when she attends a birthday party and a parent takes a picture of her?  or what if a parent wants to put a class picture up?  it's one of those things that i struggle with because if some random person has it up, then why can't we allow those that love us to put pictures up?  so far, our friends and family have been so respectful of our wishes, but is it asking too much?
thoughts??

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

diaper rash remedies

hey y'all!
baby hb had a mean case of diaper rash last week, and i searched and asked any moms i knew what i could do to get rid of it.
the pediatrician and probably a lot on online sources will recommend saturating your baby wipes with water and then patting the bum area clean, drying the bum area and then applying a zinc oxide paste.  this worked well for us until last week when she had to be changed constantly. 
at daycare, they don't have the time to follow the steps above, so here's what we did that helped:
1. mylanta & corn starch: saturate a cotton ball with mylanta - make sure the bum area is completely covered in mylanta; this helps soothe the area.  next, cover the area with a nice coat of corn starch - what you would use for cooking.  baby hb could not even bear to be wiped down there until we used this. 
2. a & d diaper rash treatment: this continues to help baby hb.  the rash has cleared up and she's back at daycare.
one thing that we did and i recommend you do if you can is to keep your baby home and wash the area in the tub with soap and water everytime she would need a change.  we let her bum air dry and i believe it helped her so much!

Monday, September 16, 2013

update

hey y'all!
i'm alive and well.  since i've stopped blogging, i've had a baby!  baby hb is almost 1!  i'm going to try to post ideas and tips that i've picked up along the way.  hopefully reference for those that are asking questions about what to do.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

5k run with Santa

hey y'all! hope everyone is having an awesome week. hb & i finally got the pics from the race, and don't we look cool? actually, hb looks like he is having a nice leisurely run, whereas i look like i'm about to die. notice how there are no runners really behind us - in fact, just a woman out to run errands! next time, it will be a better finish for sure!!
ps, in case you were wondering about my gear - headband is from manzella, longsleeve crew is from mizuno, shorts by nike, tights by underarmour, and the half-zip is pearl izumi. next time i think i would probably just wear the crewneck.


Monday, December 5, 2011

13 and eaux

hey y'all! i'm sure by now y'all know that lsu will be playing alabama in the national championship game. it's kind of annoying that we have to play a team we have already beaten in the regular season, BUT i will say that bama is probably the second best team in the nation. one sportscaster said that the rest of the conferences should not be up in arms about this since they didn't take care of business in the regular season. i agree, but it would have been nice to have the national title game as an obvious win for us. the honey badger is ready for this game though.
speaking of honey badgers, my friends have now taken to calling me this since i use the honey badger as motivation when i run. every time i think i want to stop, i just think of how tenacious the honey badger is and keep going. unfortunately, i did walk part of the time at my first 5k this weekend. the silver lining is that although i woke up feeling cold and achy, i was able to finish in 43 minutes when my goal was to finish in 45. i guess i can only get better from here.
geaux tigers!!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

nervous nelly

hey y'all! i'm sure everyone is prepping for a fun filled thanksgiving, but while everyone is enjoying the leftovers and black friday sales, i'll be filled with nervous anxiety when lsu plays arkansas in the battle of the boot. as some of you know, i'm a big lsu fan. i love my former state and i LOVE my school! BUT, i'm so nervous to play arkansas as they are number 3. my hope is to finish the season undefeated and have alabama lose to auburn (war eagle to all you auburn fans out there!!). i was so counting on oklahoma state to go undefeated, because no offense, but i know that the national title would be ours playing them or oregon in the big game. now, i'm so nervous to potentially go up against bama again! the silver lining in all of this is that whoever we play, we play in the superdome in new orleans - how's that for home field advantage?? :)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

love

hey y'all....

i just wanted to share this wonderful interview with christine lagarde on 60 minutes. she's truly a role model and i am so in love with how she carries herself and her honesty of what is going on with the economy. my favorite part of the interview was when asked her thoughts on being the first woman managing director of the imf, she said that she doesn't care about being the first but she really hopes to not be the last.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

running gear

hey y'all! so, of course being the big shopper that i am, i see this whole running craze that i have going on as a perfect opportunity to buy some cute gear! i did some investigating and ordered three pieces - a manzella headband, a pearl izumi half zip and a pair of asics thermopolis running pants. the headband was awesome and really kept me warm. the half zip kept me warm as well, but since i ran in warmer weather, i got hot pretty quickly. the pants feel really amazing and comfortable. so much so that i probably would use them to just run errands had i not signed up for my race. the only complaint i have, and it's not really a complaint about the pant itself, but it's that i'm so short that i feel like the pant leg is too long. i am thinking that when the temperatures drop in the dc area more, i will have to invest in another pair of tights. my next purchase is going to be a running vest - anyone have one they particularly like??

Friday, November 11, 2011

the half

hey y'all! since everyone (alice) has been clamoring for more information - i will be running my half marathon on march 17, 2012. it's part of the rock and roll marathon series, so a band should be playing every couple of miles. i still haven't looked at the race course, but i'm thinking that avoiding won't help much. the great thing is that i actually have a PLAN! the next couple of weeks, i'm going to prep for my 5k race to establish a good base for the half training. any tips for me?

Thursday, November 10, 2011

hello...is thing on?

hey y'all! i'm wondering if there is anyone out there??? and if not, that's okay, i think i'm going to really try this time to blog again - third time's a charm right?
basically, i just want to be accountable to myself because i've signed up for a half marathon. i'm going to use this space to keep track of my training. first up - the run with santa 5k here in rockville, maryland!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

resolution update

Hey y’all!

So far keeping up with the “blogging more often” resolution is a total FAIL, but I’m happy to report that I have not eaten any meat (with the exception of seafood) the whole month of January!

I think it helped me really think about what to order and to not just go for the usual. To continue this type of eating, I have decided that I will try to limit my meat to once a week. Also, I have decided to start weight watchers again. I feel like I was able to shed some pounds on it, but I did not like the low fat aspect of it. So, for this go around, I’m sticking to “real” food – food that is not processed or has a lot of other things that I can’t pronounce. If you are up for some vegetarian options at home, try the following recipe from the Best Light Recipe cookbook.


1 tablespoon cumin seeds (i used cumin powder)

1 med. onion minced

1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded & chopped fine

9 med. garlic cloves, minced or pressed thru a garlic press (about 3 tablespoons)

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon veg. oil

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

salt

3 cups beans drained & rinsed (i used pinto, black, red kidney)

2 cups water

1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1 tablespoon of lime juice



1. toast cumin seeds in a large Dutch oven over med.-low heat, stirring constantly until fragrant, 1 minute. stir in the onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, oil, cayenne & 1/2 teaspoon salt. cover & cook, stirring often, until veggies have softened, about 8 to 10 mins

2. stir in the beans, water, tomatoes, oregano & brown sugar, scraping any browned bits. bring to a boil over med.-high heat; reduce the heat to med-low and simmer until the chili is slightly thickened, about 25 mins

3. stir in the corn & continue to simmer until heated thru, 5 to 10 mins; off the heat, stir in the cilantro and lime juice and season w/ salt to taste



*the chili can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

veggie tales

hey y'all!
just wanted to give y'all an update on eating more veggies - so far so good. i don't miss meat yet since i've been eating some fish & other seafood. i made a vegetarian chili on sunday, and to my surprise, it actually turned out pretty tasty.
i've been doing jillian two days so far, and it's kicking my butt, but i think i'm in a groove with it. tomorrow is biggest loser yoga, so watch out for that review.
hope y'all are keeping up with your resolutions :)

Friday, January 1, 2010

resolutions

happy new year y'all!
for one of my resolutions for 2010,i plan on returning to the ole blog :)
the rest are as follows - eat more veggies (for the month of january, i'm only eating seafood - no chicken, pork or beef), get back into the groove with jillian & biggest loser yoga, and save a lot more!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

two weeks notice

hey y'all!
hope everyone is having a great week.
i am feeling a lot better, and i think my hives are slowly going away. it's been very frustrating to feel so itchy all the time, but oatmeal baths & cortisone cream have been helping a lot.
y'all, hb & i have been wanting to move back up to the dc area for a while now, and we had already decided we would do it, but yesterday i finally gave my two weeks notice!!
i'm happy to start a new chapter in our lives, and i'm looking forward to seeing all of my friends. i truly felt like i was missing out by not being around them!!
now, we are prepping for packing, and there is so much to be done!! i've made lists and a move plan, and we are definitely getting a lot done on that front, but i know it will be tough to get everything done without scrambling at the last moment :)
the good thing is that before driving back up we will stop to spend some time in ocean isle, nc with hb's dad's cousin's family. i can't wait to see them, and i will post some pics as soon as i can because i will be leaving for nassau after that!! i certainly wish that i was a lot thinner for those trips, but i'm taking it a day at a time and trying to not beat myself up too much. i do need to focus more on my exercise, and that will be a goal for the next two weeks!

Monday, July 6, 2009

the fourth of july

hey y'all!
i hope that your fourth was fun!
mine started out great, and ended with a relaxing day at home with a bit of drama in the middle.
hb & i went to the pool on friday morning, and it was glorious!! it is so much more fun to do some workouts in the pool than out of it! i tried some jillian cardio moves and felt like i got a great workout. we also prepped the house for guests and got everything we needed for our tailgate on saturday.
saturday i woke up to itchy skin...i had a rash all over my arms and legs!! hb & i think that it was the sunscreen i applied friday, but can't be sure since this is the sunscreen i use daily on my face under makeup. needless to say, my day did not start off as well as i wanted, but i took some benadryl hoping it would clear up. it still hasn't cleared up, and i'm itchy today! hb & i had tickets to the 311 concert, and even though i was debating not going and staying home, i decided to tough it out and go. the concert was pretty fun, but after was not pretty. a key was lost, so we had to wait on a pop a lock, then while waiting some friends decided to post tailgate, and hb had to drive them to their hotel, but they didn't know where it was, and i was following in another car. it was a big debacle, and with my skin feeling the way it was, i went from itchy to well...put a b in front of that and you will know how i was!! the fun thing was i drove my friend's mini cooper and fell in love! i would love to have one, but there is really not much room in it.
sunday was spent recovering from the drama, watching some tv (congrats to roger federer and tiger woods!), and just getting ready for a full week at the office.
i'm debating on going to the doc if this doesn't clear up soon! any home remedies i should try??

Thursday, June 25, 2009

name game

hey y'all!

so i've been thinking more and more, and i'm not sure how i want my new name to read. when hb & i officially get married, i do want to change my name to his last name, but i have no idea how. so, i've put a poll in so that i can get your vote :)
so option a would make my name sil maiden married, b, would be sil cristina married, and c would be sil cristina maiden - married. let me know your thoughts! oh, and btw, my middle name is cristina.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

charleston

hey y'all!

i am still gonna owe y'all the mexico pics, but here are some pics from the weekend and our trip to charleston. i'll have to say that the highlights of the charleston trip were going to piggly wiggly and eating dinner at snob. charleston is definitely a city with a lot of history, and if you are a history buff i would definitely recommend it. there is a lot of civil war history within charleston. unfortunately, hb and i aren't big buffs, and did not really feel that the tour we took was that interesting.
we started friday off by picking up my friend bee from the airport. we decided to stop at the home of the first chick fil a! it was pretty good, but i LOVE chick fil a.


then we took bee to the virginia highlands for a quick bite at murphy's and some gelato at paolo's. bee had an awesome chicken sandwich there that hb & i will have to go back for soon.


once we arrived in charleston, hb & i had a quick bite at hominy grill. it's been featured on no reservations and rachael ray's $40 a day show, but i have to say we weren't that impressed. hb had a curried chicken sandwich and i had a shrimp caesar. i think i would recommend it if you try the breakfast (the big nasty dish is what bourdain had) or the shrimp & grits.
here i am in front. it's a really cute place just didn't impress me.


hb & i opted for taking a tour that was in an air-conditioned tour bus, and we got out for a bit during the tour. like i said the tour was mainly about civil war things. here we are by the water where they have cannons. apparently these are left over from the civil war, and they are plugged up because too many people would stick their heads in and get stuck! LOL

we also drove around the city market, but we decided to walk through it on sunday since it was sweltering on saturday afternoon. i think the temperature was about 105!!


once we checked into the hotel, we got relaxed for a bit and got ready for dinner at snob. y'all this was the best meal i have had in the southeast! the food was local and super tasty. hb started with some gazpacho, and i had the red bean soup. both were excellent and had such depth of flavors. for entrees, hb had the carolina quail breast - it was so juicy and perfectly cooked! he also had a side of spinach. i had the crab cakes with a corn, okra and grape tomato saute! y'all it was so amazingly good! and our bread basket was tasty too! cornbread was moist and full of good flavor. the highlight was that they knew were were taking another mini moon, and sent over two glasses of champagne to toast us. we ordered dessert and got a devils food & chocolate mousse cake topped with a strawberry ice cream scoop. y'all best meal hands down! i wish i would have taken pics of the food, but i was too busy really savoring and enjoying the dinner! if you are ever in charleston, eat here!


after dinner, hb & i decided to try to walk to see rainbow row. we only got one block up and decided it was too hot and we would see by car on sunday. we went to the rooftop bar at the pavillion hotel instead to cool off with some punch and beer. the view is really great here, but the service isn't so great. i recommend going up for the view though. here is the suspension bridge that they have connecting charleston to mount pleasant. it's really beautiful.

as we were driving back to the hotel, i spotted a piggly wiggly and decided we had to go in! i LOVE piggly wiggly y'all, and this one was super nice. the aisles were named after streets in charleston, so it was so cute.


all in all, i think we had a good fun trip, but i would definitely say that if i that if i had to choose, i would go to savannah over charleston.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

setback

hey y'all!
this weekend hb & i went to charleston, south carolina. it was a good time, but i should have read the post allie put up regarding vacations before i went. unfortunately, i really indulged, and the workouts from the week did not burn enough to allow for that indulgence. i was super bummed to find that i had gained 2lbs. this week, it's gonna be salads for dinner because i feel like i'm getting into a groove with the exercise, and i really have to do my best to incorporate a healthy diet so that i can see results.
this week, i have been lazy about waking up, so i'm going to do 45 minute elliptical workouts as soon as i get home (well today at least, hopefully tomorrow i'll be an early riser and get it done before going to work)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

variety

hey y'all!

i am really trying to stay on this exercise thing, and i think something that helps is planning activities that don't involve the gym, but will keep you active. they do say that variety is the spice of life!
before moving to atlanta, hb got me some golf lessons with a pro, and i LOVED it! unfortunately, i only had 3 lessons before we were set to move, and i could not continue with it. i became interested in golf because of hb. although we are young, we always talk about retirement, and how we would love to travel to places that have great golf courses (in my head we would play all the time in hawaii - i picture taking in the views of diamond head as we go through the course, and then finishing our round with a nice cocktail, but i think hb other courses in mind as well). i also feel like it would keep us from becoming distant, and not really knowing each other after the kids are out of the nest. sorry for that tangent! so, my point - golf is a great sport that's not high impact, but gives you a great shoulder, arm, and ab workout. you would think that it would be easy to hit a ball that's on the ground, but it's not as easy as you think. although i have yet to get on a course, walking a course is also excellent exercise, and i'm looking forward to one day actually playing a round, but for now, i will stick with going to the range and practicing my swing to prepare for future lessons.

do i look like tiger or what??


ps, if you are trying to golf, do NOT try my stance....you should have your knees slightly bent, and your feet going the same direction. my feet kind of in a plie in this one :)

Monday, June 15, 2009

habit

hey y'all!

how long does it take for something to become a habit?? i was pondering this today, and i feel like i've heard it only takes a month of doing something to make it a habit. i sure hope so because when i woke up this morning, i wanted to go back to bed. i'm back on the exercise wagon, and i have come to learn that doing my workouts in the morning really works for me because then i have it done for the day. i can come home and just relax and do nothing or run errands without worrying if the gym will be packed or not. i also think that planning out my week of workouts makes me more inclined to do them. i put them in my planner and check it off every time i've accomplished a workout. this week the plan is to do jillian today and wednesday, and do my walks on tuesday, thursday & saturday. i think the blog is helping me become more accountable - mean what you say, and say what you mean!! i'm already thinking to next week, when i will take some morning swims instead of jillian!!