katiehigg – Page 10

09/03

Spring Cleaning (in the Fall)

So, I read about this thing the other day called, a life audit. Have ya’ll heard of this?! I don’t think it’s a new phenomenon, I think I just live in a bubble because I’m always late to hear about these things.

Um, hello, I SO need this!

Upon first reading it (How and Why to Do a Life Audit), it looked hella complicated, but after further inspection, it seems pretty straight forward, albeit time consuming.

Basically, it’s an activity that helps you take stock of where you are in life, where you want to be and whether or not you are working towards your goals.

Even though the task seems daunting, I really need to take the time and effort to do it.

I think I’m having a mid-thirties crisis. I got married and had babies young and now I’m kinda like, “what’s next?”

I’m pretty much cruising through life on auto-pilot.

Only stopping to pay attention when life demands it.

Focusing on the day to day tasks without looking at the bigger picture.

I’m naturally more of a watcher, than a doer, a think-it-till-it’s-dead kinda person

and I don’t necessarily want to change who I am, but I also know that I don’t want to get to the end of my life only to wish I had gotten off auto-pilot

I need to stop thinking and start doing

Jump off that cliff (with a bungee cord attached of course)

even if I end up climbing back up to the top and leaping off into another direction later

So, yeah…I’m pretty convinced I’m in need of a life audit.

Now to just do it!

“Reasons I procrastinate and don’t get shit done.” That’s a blog post for another day! 😛

• • • • • • • • • • •

In continuation of the fall cleaning mood I’m in, on the same blog post I read about the life audit, I also read about a capsule wardrobe. From what I gather, this is the “in” thing to do right now, but I refuse to believe that is why it’s so fascinating to me. (Me, jump on a trend bandwagon? Never!) Anywho, the idea is to minimize your wardrobe to several staple items that you can mix and match to make an outfit for every occasion. After a year long, trend chasing, over spending, finding my style, shopping spree, I’ve come to the realization that I feel most comfortable and beautiful in classic neutral staples. I think this is something that I pretty much knew, but I got sucked into the glam of all the fashion blogs and wanted to try something different. While I’m quite certain I won’t be creating a capsule quite as sparse as some, I do think it will be beneficial to pare it down and get more creative with accessories to spice up my outfits. After doing some research, the idea of a capsule wardrobe has been around for awhile (1970!) and there are plenty of blog posts out there about it (Project 333 is a blog ONLY about capsule wardrobes! It looks like a great resource and there’s even a Facebook group), but this is where I read about it first and she has a handy dandy wardrobe planner you can download here.

So tell me, do you need to spring (fall) clean your closet, your life, both or neither?! If you have it even somewhat figured out, please tell me your secrets. I’m in dire need of a little direction.

posted by katiehigg 1 Comment
Filed Under: Inspiration, My life Tagged: fear is the root of all evil, life audit

08/27

Stitch Fix Review // 05

It’s that time again! I’ve been so MIA on the blog over the summer that it seems like I just did a Stitch Fix review. So sorry if you’re getting bored with these. I promise to start posting more now that the kids are back in school.

I completely forgot I had a Stitch Fix scheduled until I got the “Your Stitch Fix is on it’s way!” email in my inbox.

Honestly, it wasn’t really the best time, but it was a nice little spot of sunshine in my otherwise grey week. I also found out the day I got my shipment that I had not just one, but TWO referral credits waiting for me to spend them!

**Shout out to my amazing link clickers for gifting me $50!! I don’t know who you are, but I love you!! Thanks so much for clicking my referral link!**

My fix.

Didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it this time around. I need to remember to put “no jeans” in all of my notes to the stylist, but overall I liked the patterns/colors (GREEN, yay!!) and the mix of items.

<<<<< >>>>>

Ventura Abstract Chevron Keyhole Detail Tank (Renee C), $38

Thoughts: Not loving the see through material. I’m lazy. I hate putting on a cami under shirts unless I’m dressing up and going somewhere. I might have been able to get away without a cami since it was a dark shirt, but the fit and colors weren’t right anyway.

Ultimately: Sent back. Maybe because it was overall too small, but it was too short for me and it bunched up weird in the bust area.

<<<<< >>>>>

Kaleigh Ankle Biter Skinny Jean (Kensie Jeans), $88

These jeans are also seen in the photos with the shirt above and the shirt at the end. Click the pic to see larger.

Thoughts: Nice mid rise jeans with a good stretch to them. They were pretty soft and felt a lot like jeggings.

Ultimately: Sent back. Great jeans, just not in the market for anymore right now. They would have needed to make my butt look amazing for me to have kept them.

<<<<< >>>>>

Cersei Halter Dress (Tart), $114

Thoughts: Super comfortable dress and it fit great, but although I do like pink, I mentioned previously that it wasn’t the best color on me. I don’t think it flatters me to be dressed in all hot pink. Not to mention that the price is pretty high for what it is.

Ultimately: Sent back. Style was a winner, but price and color were not.

<<<<< >>>>>

Chandler Beaded Drop Earrings (Zad), $32

Thoughts: I knew right away these weren’t for me. I’m not a fan of the beading.

Ultimately: Sent back. Not my style, but that’s okay.

<<<<< >>>>>

Hilly Crochet Detail Chevron Print Tank (Fun2Fun), $44

Thoughts: I was drawn to this top right off the bat! Loved the colors and pattern. The back is kinda long, but I dig it.

Ultimately: Kept! Since I had referral credit, I was totally willing to send everything back if I didn’t 100% like it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to because I loved this top.

<<<<< >>>>>

That’s it! I don’t work for Stitch Fix or get compensated in any way for these reviews, but I like reading about other bloggers Stitch Fix experiences and I wanted to maybe help others by blogging about my own. If you enjoy my reviews and you want to try Stitch Fix out for yourself, please consider using this link to sign up. It doesn’t cost you anything, but I get a $25 referral credit towards my next box. 🙂

If you haven’t seen my previous reviews, you can check them out here…#1, #2, #3, #4

And, in case you don’t know how Stitch Fix works, here’s the lowdown…

Sign up and fill out your online profile/questionnaire (be as honest and detailed as possible)
Schedule your Fix ($20)
Wait (impatiently) for your personal style selections to arrive
Play dress up in the privacy of your own home
Decide what you want to keep/send back (if you purchase all 5 pieces, you get a 25% discount!)
Check out online! (your $20 Fix fee gets applied to anything you purchase, but you forfeit the fee if you choose not to purchase anything)
Mail back your unwanted items within 3 business days in the included prepaid shipping bag

Feel free to comment with a link to your latest Fix! I love to read and see what others are getting! If you haven’t tried it yet…what are you waiting for?! 🙂

Disclaimer: this post includes referral links. By clicking them you help me out, but it costs you nothing in return.

posted by katiehigg 1 Comment
Filed Under: dressing room tales, Fashion, review Tagged: stitch fix, stitch fix august 2014, stitch fix review

08/25

Do-over

Last week the kids went back to school…I wanted to do a little jig and bask in my free time, but

Instead, we started our week off with a personal tragedy and a grey cloud followed us around all week long

We’re still healing and sorting through feelings about that and I might have thrown myself a little pity party last week, but this week I’m screaming…

Do Over!

Even though my mouth has been over run with canker sores (stress, hormones, diet??? UGH!), and all I want to do is eat my feelings (even though it hurts to eat!), I’m gonna stop eating junk and get my booty back to the gym! My shoulder had been giving me a hard time and last week my neck decided to join the party, so in addition to not running/weight lifting, I haven’t even been to yoga. 🙁 No wonder I’ve been such a cranky pants!

I’m determined that this week WILL be better though. A crappy week is not an option dangit!

Guidelines for a non-crappy week

Be prepared – start thinking about lunch items and what’s for dinner way in advance so I’m not rushing around at the last minute

Get up early – I’m such a nicer mommy in the morning when I’m awake before the kids. Even if it’s only 10 min.

Plan workouts – preparing for workouts makes it more likely that I’ll get them done

Eat breakfast – hangry is not a good look for me

Do a load of laundry a day – stay ahead of the monster so it doesn’t feel like it’s about to swallow me!

Ditto the above except substitute dishes for laundry

and finally…

Think positive, happy thoughts! – negativity breeds negativity

P.S. I really need to go to the grocery. I just ate chicken salad for breakfast. 😛

Happy Monday! I hope everyone has a great week!

Btw, I have no idea what product this video is for. I just thought it was cute. 🙂

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: My life

08/13

ProCakes | Review

A couple of weeks ago I was browsing some of my favorite fitness blogs and I ran across a new product.

ProCakes

A high protein pancake mix with no added sugar, wheat and gluten free!

Sounded promising!

I finally got a chance to try them out last week so I’m sharing it with you all!

They were super easy to prepare.

The batter smelled delicious…a yummy hint of cinnamon to it!

I haven’t cooked pancakes in awhile, but from what I remember, they were just like cooking an all flour, gluten filled pancake.

The packet made 3 nice size pancakes (only 2 are pictured because I jacked up my first one and it wasn’t so pretty). I decided to add blueberries to the pancakes and top them with a greek yogurt spread and a little drizzle of syrup.

Completely delicious!

No gritty or weird flavors

Fluffy texture

This mix is definitely a “love ’em!” If you’re looking for an easy, protein packed pancake that’s gluten free, low sugar and carb friendly…this is your answer. Do they taste like normal pancakes? Not completely, but no protein pancake does (IMO). That doesn’t mean that they aren’t good, just delicious in a different way. I’ve made my own protein pancakes before that were pretty dang tasty, but it took some preplanning on my part because it required ingredients that I may or may not have. Plus, I had to get the blender dirty, it took longer to prepare them and they had way more calories/carbs/fat than the ProCakes mix. ProCakes is premixed for you so it’s super EASY & FAST to prepare! I’ll definitely be ordering a bag soon! If you’re an Amazon prime member, you can get free shipping, but even ordering directly from ProCakes, the shipping is very reasonable.

ProCakes Nutrition (mix only) Calories: 165 | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 185g | Carbs: 22g (14g net) | Protein: 13g

disclaimer: I was gifted this sample packet of ProCakes, but I was not compensated in any other way and all views in this post are my honest, unbiased opinions!

disclaimer (2): This post contains an affiliate link. By clicking, you help me and this blog out, but this is at no cost to you! It’s a win-win! 🙂

posted by katiehigg 3 Comments
Filed Under: Feed Me, review Tagged: are procakes good, high protein pancakes, procakes, procakes review

08/04

Blogger Talk

I feel pretty comfortable with this blogging thing, but I’m well aware that there is a lot I don’t know. I stumble upon things on my own all the time that I need to learn, but sometimes, I get surprised.

Like this weekend, when I got an email about my linkbacks to a clothing store.

Apparently there’s this thing called a “nofollow” attribute and Google (other search engines as well possibly) is cracking down on links they consider unnatural or manipulative. The clothing store emailed me to ask me to either change my links to add nofollow or remove the links all together.

Thankfully I only had about 15 links to change, but it was still a pain.

So, tell me, fellow bloggers, how clueless am I? Have you heard of adding the nofollow attribute to your links?

I’m still a little confused to when I should add the nofollow part. Like, should I always do it when linking stores? I thought it was good to link back to the original source, but maybe I should add nofollow to everything? I’m not trying to get better Google rankings when I link, but if I like something and linking to it helps their ranking, then I would want to help. Then again, if it hurts their ranking, it’s not helping when I link without the nofollow. Geez louise, I just confused myself more. 😛

In case you haven’t heard of this before…here’s the link on Google about their policies and here’s a little infographic I found.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

07/24

Lucy girl

Just a little before and after grooming pic of our pup because she’s cute

I love her being fluffy, but we just don’t brush/wash her enough to keep her long all the time. Her fur mats like crazy and she gets stinky really easily when her hair is longer. It’s crazy how different she looks after she gets groomed.

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: My life Tagged: black, goldendoodle, grey, what does a goldendoodle look like

07/21

Happy Monday, party people!

All of the days are kind of running together now and instead of eagerly awaiting the weekend, I can’t wait for the weekend to be over.

Hubby works from home so he’s here most of the time and I’d rather do errands/fun stuff with the kids/workout, during the week when a majority of the rest of the world has to work.

I did however try out SUP yoga on Saturday! I was ecstatic to finally try it out, but nervous at the same time and then about halfway through the session, I got seasick. UGHHHHH! As much as yoga is about accepting where you are right now, in that moment I seriously hated my body. When I think about it now, I can absolutely see how I would get motion sick. The flowing between poses, the shaking of the board in the water, the sun beating down on me. I was pretty disappointed though that something I looked forward to so much, made me sick. I spent the second half of the class in and out of the water, in and out of poses, trying to continue, but also trying to keep the sickness at bay. Then I spent the car ride home, trying to recover. I came home, took a shower and napped it off for a couple of hours. 🙁 While I still want to take just a SUP class, I think I’ll stick to doing yoga on solid ground. It’s not relaxing if I have to take a pill before I go out and hope that it works. I’m still holding out hope that paddle boarding without the yoga won’t be as bad. I might take a dramamine beforehand just in case. 😛

We have exactly 4 weeks of summer left here. *sad face*

Well, mostly a sad face. The kids are getting tired of each other, they’re getting restless, they need more to do, but they also just want to be lazy bums.

There’s been WAY too much movie watching and game playing for my taste. They started sleeping in a lot and then just lounging in their rooms until lunchtime. I know it’s summer time and all, but being that lazy was just not gonna cut it. So last week, hubby gave the kids morning chores to do. And by chores I mean…come downstairs, EAT breakfast (yes they were skipping because they were sleeping late and then lounging around upstairs), get dressed, make their bed, feed/water the dog, take dog for a short walk.

The first few days were done without complaint. The teen, who’s trying to show responsibility because she wants a guinea pig, was happily up early and doing ALL the chores (even ones her brother was supposed to be helping on).

Over the weekend she asked if they could slack off on their chores for the weekend and we let them sleep a little later.

Today though, neither of them wanted to get up and the teen was all, “it’s so hot and humid out there…do I have to take Lucy for a walk?!”. *sigh* It’s no hotter than it’s been the last few days and the longer you complain, the hotter it gets outside!

When she realized I wasn’t letting her out of the walk, she came downstairs dressed…

in black skinny jeans…

Seriously?

Teens are weird

Or maybe it’s just mine

and because a blog post without a picture is against my religion, here are my Jamberry nails I’ve been rocking for the past few days…aren’t they purdy?!

How was your weekend?

posted by katiehigg 2 Comments
Filed Under: My life Tagged: jamberry nails, sup, sup yoga

07/17

But first, lemme take a selfie!

Last year, “selfie” was named word of the year by Oxford. I’m not sure if that’s something to be proud of or not, but it is what it is.

There are numerous articles about selfies.

Some are pretty judgemental, like this one.

Some are just having a little fun with how ridiculous selfies are getting. I have to admit, I’ve seen a lot of “worst type of selfie” lists, but these are pretty bad and these…most are in bad taste or just plain not safe!

I don’t agree with all of the ones on this list though….gym selfie, pet selfie, car selfie (as long as you’re not moving! Don’t do that!), pregnant belly selfie (c’mon! I thought she looked gorgeous!). Who cares?!

Some are defending them. Some are saying they are they are a cry for help…a mental disorder (seriously?)

I don’t know why people have a problem with someone taking a photo of themselves. Sure, some probably overdo it (are multiple selfies a day actually necessary?), but who am I to judge? If someone is posting too many selfies and this annoys me, why am I following them? Why do I care? Maybe there’s something wrong with you that you care so much about what other people are doing?

So I say,

#loveyourselfie

If you want to take a photo of yourself (in the bathroom, at the gym, with your dog)…DO IT! And don’t give a rats fanny what anyone else thinks!

I was rarely in photos because I was always the picture taker and apparently as I got older I felt more awkward about asking for someone to take my photo. I even fussed at my husband one time because I was so upset that we’d gone on a trip and there were a ton of pictures of he and the kids, but only one of me. *warning* I don’t recommend doing this as you may be assaulted with a camera on your next vacay and have a plethora of photos of yourself that may or may not be flattering…usually the latter. 😛

But now that selfies have become more commonplace, I have a ton of photos of myself…that I actually like! And seeing as photos are one of the few things that your family will have to remember you by when you are no longer around, I say…the more the merrier!

Take my advice though and print some of your favorites, because technology fails and those photos aren’t doing you any good on your phone or computer!

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: My life Tagged: loveyourselfie, selfie, take selfies often, why selfies aren't bad, why should you take selfies

07/12

Healthy Train Five on Friday (Err…Saturday)

I have finally come to terms with the fact that my half marathon is only 5 months away.
Holy crap…5 months! What was I thinking when I signed up for this?!

I admitted to myself that I’m not just bloated and those 10lbs are not going to magically disappear tomorrow.
Maybe my clothes are shrinking?

It was time to get back on the healthy train and get on it for realz this time.
No pretending to watch what I eat while “rewarding” myself on the daily!

So, this week, I’ve had health and fitness on the brain.

This has been my usual attire…sports bra, tank/shirt, stretchy bottoms. I don’t think I’ve put on real clothes all week!

I have several reusable water bottles, but there is something wrong with all of them and I eventually stop using them. The biggest issue is that most of them won’t fit into my cup holder in the car so I would have to hold onto it while driving or it would go flying. I have one or that fit in my cup holder, but they aren’t insulated to withstand this FL heat! I finally sat down at the computer last week and was determined to find a water bottle that fit my needs. My non-negotiables were insulated and it had to fit in my car. I also wanted a straw or sippy lid, but apparently that was like finding the holy grail of water bottles. I finally settled on this pretty little bottle by S’well.

S’well is 18/8 double-walled stainless steel, non-toxic, non-leaching and BPA free. Not to mention that a portion of the proceeds of each bottle sold goes back to WaterAid, which provides sustainable access to clean water and sanitation in the world’s poorest communities. I’m loving my bottle so far! I got the 17oz so it would fit in my car and as long as it keeps performing well, I’d love to get the kids the 9oz one to take to school. I did read about some issues a few people were having with the seal in some of the bottles, but I’m hoping that doesn’t happen to mine. I seriously spent WAY too much time researching reusable bottles to start my search over again.

Since June was so crazy and I knew I wanted to workout more, I decided to print a calendar to schedule in some fun time with the kids, but also some sweat time. Our first week was a little too high on kid fun and my workouts were a little more squeezed in than I would have liked. Hoping to do better next week!

Btw, did you know you can get have 3 fitness apps running at the same time? I usually have Polar Beat running for my HR, Runkeeper to keep track of my distance as well as my music playing in the background, so I don’t know why I didn’t think I could also have the C25K app running to give me audio cues. For some reason I thought I had to choose between knowing my distance or having my run/walk audio cues. [Hi my name is Katie and I’m a dork.] FYI, it doesn’t work with Hulu+ if you’re running on a treadmill and you’re trying to watch tv. It showed me visuals of when I needed to walk/run, but not the audio cues.

Last but not least, I was frantically looking for some camera items I was missing, which I found thankfully, but I also found my beloved FLogg journal (that sadly isn’t sold anymore)! I love using MyFitnessPal, but I hate that you have to enter what you ate and the calories for everything at the same time. Sometimes I don’t have time to look up the item and say how much I ate. Sometimes I just need to jot it down quickly and then get to the specifics later when I have more time. Sometimes I don’t necessarily want to count calories, but I want to journal what I ate for reference. There may quite possible be an app for that, but nothing beats pencil and paper! I plan to carry this baby around everywhere!

Friday I was supposed to run again, but instead, I napped and listened to a wicked thunderstorm all night. It was a super lazy day that may or may not have ended in ice cream (okay, okay, so I’m still working on cutting out the treats!). 😉

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

posted by katiehigg Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Fitness, My life Tagged: s'well water bottle

07/10

Summer Reading

I’ve been busy this week getting back on the healthy train (more about that tomorrow!), but I haven’t done a book update lately and I’ve still been reading a lot.

Btw, if you’re visiting from Stitch Fix Reviews, thanks for stopping by! I hope you stay awhile and feel free to just say “hi”! 🙂

April/May/June was a little busy so I slowed down some, but I’m back in full swing now! I’m on my 19th book at the moment (The Beginning of Everything), but let’s discuss the ones I’ve read since the last update.

Everywhere I turned people were raving about Gone Girl, so I finally broke down and read it. The story, in a nutshell is…a missing wife, with signs pointing to a struggle and the husband as the prime suspect. Now, it’s much more than that, but I found myself having to push through the pages at times. Up until about 50% through I was really needing it to pick up the pace and that’s exactly what it did. It gave the mother of all plot twists and then I was hooked for the next 30 %. In the end it was just an okay read.

If you’re into memoirs (I didn’t realize I liked them so much until I started this challenge and noticed that some of my favorites were the memoirs) , Love With a Chance of Drowning and Wild are good ones. I liked Wild more than LWACOD. If you’re a hiker and you want to read about hiking, that is NOT what Wild is about. It’s a memoir of how she got back to the person she once was…hiking just happens to be how she got back there. I was hooked within the first chapter! LWACOD is about an Australian expat who meets a charming man and decides to spend the next several months with him crossing the Pacific Ocean even though she hates the ocean and gets seasick. It got slow at times, but overall I enjoyed it.

Orphan Train, Out of the Easy (YA) , Blur (YA) and Dead Like Me were all great fiction reads! 3 out of the 4 are murder/mystery, which I’m a big fan of. Orphan Train is more historical fiction so I was surprised I enjoyed it, but it was interesting and kept me engaged the whole time.

I wasn’t a fan of Long Gone. I’m not extremely picky in my reading (except that I need it to keep me engaged or I won’t be able to read and comprehend it), but this is one that I could have done without reading. It took me several chapters to get into it, but then it kept me somewhat entertained. Unfortunately, there were several things that left me scratching my head as to why they were even included in the story line.

I love Goodreads for keeping up with what I’ve read so far and what I want to read. I have a ton on my to-read list, but I’m always game for adding to my ever growing list. So tell me…

What are some of your favorite books or ones you read lately that you enjoyed?

*Full Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

posted by katiehigg 5 Comments
Filed Under: bookworm