Monthly Archives: July 2014

WIAW: Vacation Day in the Life

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Hello!

How are you all? No one ever answers that when it’s at the beginning of the blog post, right? But I really do want to know how you’re all doing, and I hope you’re doing well!

I replaced What I Ate Wednesday last week with a favorites vlog done with Daliza. I’m joining Jenn‘s party again this week because I want to show you guys the epic dinner we had last night! I swooned about 15 times.

There were biscuits. CHEESE BISCUITS.

I’ll also throw in all the things we did yesterday for a little day in the life— vacation style!

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8:45 AM— Awaken from slumber. Brush teeth and wash face.

9 AM— Go downstairs to make Gina’s cookie dough cereal for everyone. My cousin, aunt, and uncle loved it!

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Cookie dough cereal with bananas and blueberries {recycled photo}

9:30 AM— Read blogs, answer comments, take care of college scheduling.

11 AM— Pray, do a couple rounds of 20 air squats, 20 pushups, and 20 sit-ups (for the 100’s challenge!).

11:30 AM— Stretch and 8 minute core tabata with the fit family!

12:15 PM— Lunch of leftovers. I failed to take a photo, but I had a salad with Chinese takeout leftovers on top, some fried rice, some leftover chips and salsa, and some perfectly ripe mango.

1 PM— More blog reading and dish washing.

2:30 PM— Make a quick grocery run to Publix with Amy.

3:15 PM— Eat a snack and make smoothies for the others.

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3:30 PM— A couple more rounds for the 100’s challenge and reading.

4 PM— Power nap.

4:30 PM— Cousin walks in and wakes me up in time for me to shower and get ready for dinner.

6 PM— Arrive at Hemingway’s Restaurant in the Hyatt at Disney. We were celebrating my uncle’s and aunt’s wedding anniversary + my uncle’s birthday!

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6:20-ish PM— Order and EAT! But first, we had the complimentary cheese biscuits and holyyyyyyyyy cow.

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I miss them already. The butter on the side is a joke because these were so fluffy, flaky, buttery, and cheesy on their own. Oh mah goodness.

Three of the four adults ordered the prix fixe, which came with appetizer, entree, and dessert. We all shared bites of each other’s dishes too.

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Clockwise from top left: key lime caesar salad, crab cakes with sweet corn coconut grits (some of the best crab cakes I’ve ever eaten!), my dessert order of peanut butter mousse bombe (ooooof so good), and my dad’s dessert order of key lime tart.

10 out o’ 10. This was one of the best meals I’ve had on this vacation! It was the cheese biscuits. It really was.

7:30 PM— Color. It’s a soothing activity.

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8 PM— Roll Walk out into the garden and pool area of the Hyatt resort. It’s gorgeous!

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8:30 PM— Make a quick drive over to Disney’s Boardwalk. Walk/digest/take pictures/limp because I wore super flat flip flops.

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10 PM— Head home.

10:45 PM— Make my family and myself some overnight oats! I hope they like them, despite how scary they look in the morning. It’s what’s on the inside that counts 😀

11:30 PM— Start typing up this post while listening to Tori Kelly music.

12:30 AM— Get ready for bed and do the last set of exercises to complete the 100’s!

That, my friends, is the slow and laid-back lifestyle at the moment. College is going to be a blast when all this turns upside down and inside out!! o.o

Hope you all have a great day!

So tell me:

How are you? 🙂

What is the best meal you’ve eaten recently?

Do you ever make breakfast for your family?

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Family Influence on Fitness

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Hi!

Okay, even though she bullies me to tears sometimes, I am having Daliza withdrawals. She left with her family yesterday, and I can’t say “I guess so” without getting slightly emotional. I’ll see her back in New York soon, but she’s like my sister, and I want her to come back!

Thankfully, I still have my cousin, aunt, uncle, and parents here. {What am I gonna do with myself in college?} We all had a chill day yesterday, which I loved.

I slept in and came downstairs for another one of my peanut butter banana brown rice bowls (those are too good). I made Daliza some hot mango-peach-banana oatmeal on her last morning with us, since she never had my hot oats before.

Daliza: Hates pizza and pasta. Loves oatmeal.

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Daliza’s family came over for a short time and then we said goodbye to all of them. Afterwards, my uncle, cousin, and I were in the mood to get in some stretching and core work. Random?

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{Thanks for the picture, Uncle G!}

Stunned that I can still do that after a couple weeks without truly stretching

My uncle, aunt, and cousin are super healthy and fit people that are as passionate about exercise and healthy eating as I am. They do wushu kung fu together as a family, and they are legit. Amy (my cousin, pictured above) also dances and can do things like aerials, L-sits, and one handed handstands on the wall. TEACH ME.

The best part about hanging out with them is that I can gush over all things fitness without feeling like that health nut that no one really wants to listen to. (<— I hate ending on a preposition, but the proper sentence sounded snobby.)

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Look at all that fruit.

{photo credit to Uncle G again}

My immediate family is definitely interested in healthy living, so I can talk to them about it often, but these relatives bring it to a whole new level. I believe that having close family members that are passionate about— or at least interested in— fitness and health makes obtaining a healthy lifestyle much more fun and enjoyable.

This family appreciates every bit of movement they can get, even if that means walking farther or using the stairs instead of the escalator. That kinda makes me want to jump for joy. But they also know the importance of rest and treating yourself, which relieves me. I’m not about to give up ice cream. No no no.

We all went to Universal CityWalk in the evening for dinner, and we chose a Mexican restaurant called Antojito’s.

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antojito's

The food was really tasty (especially the guac)! I came in famished and left filled to the brim.

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But not filled enough to decline frozen yogurt. 🙂

It’s all about balance, moving often, and eating frozen desserts.

So tell me:

Is your family into health and fitness?

Do you find it easier/harder when they are/are not interested in health and fitness?

 

Florida Weekend Confessions

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Good morning!

We’re in the home stretch here in Florida! We have a little over a week before it’s time to head back to New York, and I’m actually quite happy about that. Although my time in the sunshine state has been absolutely wonderful, I’m ready to go back to our cozy home up north (I make it sound like I live in Alaska).

Today is also the day that Daliza leaves me 😦 Her family drove down from New York like hardcore troopers, so she’ll be joining them at a hotel, but she’ll still be nearby! My cousin, aunt, and uncle came in yesterday though, so we still have great company.

I’m feeling like it’s confession time again for this weekend recap. Honesty is the best policy, am I right? 😉

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Sharing my confessions on Katie‘s marvelous Monday linkup! 

Confession #1: I’m slightly obsessed with Us The Duo.

Their concert in Orlando on Friday night was so awesome. I don’t even care if I’ve known about their existence for only 5 days. I’m a fangirl and I already know the words to most of their songs. They are absolutely flawless when they sing live, which is a rarity these days with big-time musicians.

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They melt my heart.

Confession #2: Daliza and I learned the lyrics to this song:

It’s a song about BANANAS. A healthy living blogger’s dream right there. You should learn the words too, just to have it in your back pocket for impromptu performances. (This is the guy in Us the Duo and he performed it for us on Friday night, haha!)

Confession #3: Sometimes I just want Cheerios.

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But I also want sunflower seed butter. But putting sunflower seed butter in a regular bowl of cereal is a little inconvenient, so we compensate by making a rather patriotic yogurt bowl. Huzzah!

Confession #4: I probably would not do too well with hot yoga.

I think it was 90+ degrees F on Friday morning, and I made it through only 30 minutes of a yoga video before rolling up my mat and going back into the air-conditioned house.

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I was dripping sweat even though I was in the shade.

Confession #5: I’ve been watching the Crossfit Games all weekend.

I just can’t stop being in awe of those athletes. I also can’t stop staring at their shoulders!!!

Rich Froning? Incredible.

Confession #6: I am scared of Daliza.

She tried to pull my feet when we were swimming in my friend’s pool. Like, who does that?! She also scared me when I was walking out of a room, and I screamed and fell to the floor. Oh, she threw stuffed Pikachus at my head too. She doesn’t love me.

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“Do I have anything in my teeth?”

Confession #7: I ate soft serve ice cream two nights in a row.

And both were fantastic. Soft serve is just so delightful, I don’t think it gets old!

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Photo bomber in da purple shirt

Confession #8: I didn’t eat lunch on Saturday.

We went to our family friends’ house, and they said we would have an early dinner, so I just snacked on watermelon and cherries for “lunch” while swimming with Daliza. Needless to say, I was ravenous afterwards. I was so, so happy when I got to eat this delicious food made by our hostess.

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Daliza even tried fish (salmon) for the first time ever! She’s a very picky selective eater, so that was HUGE for her. She even said two days beforehand: “I would never eat fish.” OKAY. And then she tried eel last night. She has become a new person on this trip.

🙂

Confession #9: We ordered a little too much sushi.

I didn’t think it was possible, but the six of us (Daliza didn’t venture into the sushi) were stuffed to the brim after this meal, and this isn’t even all of it!

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Dragonfly restaurant with my cousin, aunt, and uncle

Confession #10: I really want some Lucky Charms.

It’s sitting in the pantry because I bought some last week “for my cousin.”

Confession #11: I did burpees this weekend!

I’ve been doing some here and there because I think I can start increasing my exercise a little more(!!) now. Slowly. I don’t do them often, but I did some and it felt so great!

I should go to sleep now. I’m making waffles for la famiglia in the morning/this morning/now.

Hope you all have a fantastic day!

So tell me:

What’s your favorite “indulgence” cereal?

Do you like hot yoga?

Soft or hard ice cream?

Confessions from the weekend!

Behind the Scenes #26: Harry Potter World

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Hey, it’s another vacation recap! Crap.

I know I said I wasn’t going to do these the rest of the time I’m in Florida, but there is just too much I want to tell you all about our adventures… At least there was a vlog to break things up a bit on Wednesday?

I’ll keep this post as short and sweet as possible by doing it Thinking Out Loud style (i.e. a numbered list)!

1) A few days ago, coming back from the outlet mall, we came across this little guy struggling on the side of the road in our neighborhood:

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I’ll name him Squirt in honor of Finding Nemo.

We pulled over to take a picture of him, but we didn’t know what to do with him. Then a dude in sunglasses drove up, picked up the turtle, and put him back into the lake without saying anything, even though we were trying to ask questions. Then he drove back to where he came from. #iGuessSo.

2) Daliza and I went mini-golfing on Wednesday evening!

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I won, but that’s not saying too much since that was Daliza’s first time playing. I’ve even played at this course before and I got a double bogey (two more strokes than par) on the FIRST HOLE.

I also fell on my butt somewhere, somehow during our game, but that’s not important…

3) Wednesday night was lovely and relaxing with a dinner of pork/veggie spring rolls made by mom and movie night. Daliza and I watched Heaven is For Real (the movie based off of my favorite book) finally, and it was pretty good! The book was better though, of course.

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Parcels of goodness

4) Daliza and I spent a whopping 13 hours in Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure yesterday. My feet hated me. But we knocked out more than 12 rides and attractions, I believe! Go hard or go home (literally). Now, for all you Harry Potter fans (ARMAN):

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Hogwarts

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Diagon Alley

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Surprisingly very delicious ice cream in Diagon Alley! I had strawberries and peanut butter + sticky toffee pudding. Daliza had butterbeer soft serve!

5) Daliza was totally awe-inspired by the Harry Potter sections of the parks, and I thought it was pretty fantastic too. But I’ve never read Harry Potter, and I’ve only watched a couple of the movies, so I wasn’t quite as ecstatic as she was. This is why:

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Is he not so scary?

6) There was never a moment in the day during which I didn’t feel soaked. It was either water from a ride or just plain sweat. So nasty. It’s all a part of the experience though, right?

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7) The lines were not terribly long! Glad we didn’t waste $100 on an express pass. Oof.

8) I was in a breakfast rut during this vacation until this morning. I was in the mood for some doughy, creamy grains, but I didn’t make overnight oats last night. So I used the brown rice mom had made earlier this week for a peanut butter banana rice pudding of sorts.

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Hallelujah!!!

Wow, it was delicious. I hadn’t made a breakfast rice bowl like this in a while. I tweaked this recipe a bit:

  • ¾ cup cooked brown rice
  • ¼ cup almond milk
  • 1 huge tablespoon of peanut butter
  • 1 baby banana/half a banana

Put all these ingredients in a bowl and microwave for 1-1.5 minutes. Mix well until the peanut butter and banana are combined with the rice and the milk is absorbed. Top with dollops of plain Greek yogurt and maple syrup. DIG IN.

Do it, please.

9) We’re going to a concert tonight! It’s a husband and wife duo called Us The Duo. Daliza actually introduced me to the group just two days ago, but I’ve been doing my job as a fangirl by listening to their music nonstop. If you like Colbie Caillat, Tori Kelly, Ingrid Michaelson or any other singer-songwriters like that, you’ll love these two. They’re adorable.

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10) I think I’m gonna do some yoga now. Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

So tell me:

Are you good at mini-golf?

Are you a Harry Potter fan?

Ever eaten rice for breakfast?

Ever heard of Us The Duo?

 

Favorites Vlog with Daliza

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Good morning!

My cousins left early this morning, so now it’s just Daliza, my parents, and me in Florida for now. I’m gonna miss those cuties! We had a laid-back day yesterday— the dads hit the golf course while the rest of us hit the outlet mall.

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 Breakfast was a peach, peanut butter, banana, yogurt smoothie + toast with sunflower seed butter

Perfect fuel for walking all over the mall 😉

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However, I think filming and editing the video you are about to watch was the best part of yesterday. Daliza and I found so many little things in it that made us laugh hysterically. I thought I was gonna pee my pants, I was laughing so hard.

We’re definitely the only ones that think it’s so funny.

I had seen several bloggers (like Julianna and Amanda and Brittany) do this favorites tag in a blog post, but I decided to do it in a video with Daliza, whom you’ve seen a lot of on the blog recently!

So here goes nothing:

The link in case you can’t see the video here: http://youtu.be/w7KPf7OMnTs

Notes:

*Edited by the amazing Daliza.

*Daliza’s not blind.

*Note the costume change.

*4:07 I am a donkey.

*Sweaters and BOOTS at 6:05

*#IGuessSo

*Daliza should make a blog called “50 Shades of Laughs”

We hope you enjoyed learning a little more about us! And perhaps laughing at us.

I leave you with a photo my uncle took last night:

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“From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the LORD is to be praised.” — Psalm 113:3

So tell me:

Some of your favorites!

Do you like Daliza’s sunglasses?

Should she start a blog?!