I would rather be hiking

Lately I have been a wild streak of adventure and hiking. It's a collaboration of being active, being outdoors, and getting Stella some exercise that makes me enjoy it so much. I grew up in the middle of literal no where, so the woods is something that I am quite familiar with. One of my best childhood memories involves a patch of palmetto bushes! When I was younger (probably around 8 or 9) my stepdad created a series of tunnels through the insides of a large patch of palmetto bushes on our property. This isn't something that's easy to describe, but just try to imagine a bunch of children crawling around on their hands and knees in the bushes. It's something that I don't think any child is experiencing today with the surplus of technology and the lack of outside playtime. To say playing out there was fun is an understatement. I also have very fond memories of my dad and I walking a few trails when I was younger, we even got lost a few times as I do recall; but anytime spent with my dad was fun for me and still is today. So my history with nature is very much entwined with who I am. When I moved to Orlando in the Fall of 2011 I found myself concerned that I would never see a cow again, yes that was a real thing... yes I did cry about it, but that's how women are for some reason (it probably wasn't about the cows). It might not be that nature is such a big deal to me, it may just be that I want to have some serenity and sense of ruralism in this metropolis. Sometimes the city can be a wonderful place and then other times you just want to know that there are still places where the birds sing proudly and the wind blows without the background noise of a freeway.

With the discovery of nature trails here in Orlando came the spark of desire to hike them all! (Or at least the ones that Stella is allowed to join me on.) So far I have hiked six different locations, a couple of them I've gone a few times and always with Stella. My favorite so far has been Wekiwa, and that's simply because of the vastness of the entire park.

Go outside! (And bring Fido, too!)

Lately one of the things I enjoy doing the most is taking Stella on hikes here in Orlando; every time I have energy and free daylight hours I take her somewhere to run. I can honestly say though this new found hobby was only discovered through the use of a running app: Nike+ Running.

A friend and I had gotten our dogs together a couple of times to go for walks and we would unknowingly walk as far as seemed fit and turn around to return to our cars, that seemed fine to me. I mean, why do I need to know exactly where I'm going and where I've been, it's just dog walking right? Yeah that's what I thought too until I tracked my walk using the Nike+ Running app. 

I first discovered this app from a photo that was posted on Instagram and honestly thought it was cool because the map of the walk was overlaid onto a picture from the actual walk, making it a super easy way to share a cute picture as well as your fitness accomplishments. After downloading the app and testing it out for the first time I was disappointed to realize that it doesn't work that way on Android, it's just an iPhone update, so every time my phone updates apps I anxiously await to see if that's one of them, alas it hasn't yet happened.

Despite the lack of sharing abilities I still use the app and do so quite frequently. Not only does this app show me the exact path I walked/ran, it tells me my fastest mile times, my pace, calories burned, and it keeps track of total miles. So far, using the Nike+ Running app we have hiked a total of 28.30 miles! There are also accomplishments that it gives you for different things and this is motivating to me to see how I've been doing. 

When we go hiking I like to take the map of our walk and overlay it with the map of the trail, it's usually an almost perfect match (except for that time we got lost at Wekiwa, but I'll save that story for later). I don't know if I would've found my hiking hobby if it wasn't for this app and I know that Stella enjoys it far more than I do. For now I'm simply walking on these hikes, but I think soon I will start to try and run them too. If I were to rate this app I would give it 4 out of 5 stars and that's only because of the missing Instagram sharing option, whenever that comes out it will be a perfect match for me! I'm sure from the images below you can see how much Stella enjoys our adventures.

Stay tuned for more about our hiking adventures and my nature bucket list!

A Polenta Worth Blogging About

As you all know I'm doing the 28 Day Jumpstart, it's going good, thanks for asking! Currently I've lost three pounds and I think that's pretty spectacular considering I've only really changed my eating habits. The meals have all been good (this weeks lunch isn't my favorite but it's alright); dinner this week is an alternation between Pumpkin Lasagna and Polenta. I know you're probably stuck on the fact that I just said PUMPKIN Lasagna so let's get this out of the way. It's normal cheese lasagna with pumpkin puree added into the mix and it's is actually pretty damn good- but that's not why we're all here so on with the show!

I've never made polenta before and I didn't know what it was, honestly. My friend and I scoured all of Wal-Mart searching for polenta and after asking a man who had no clue what we were talking about we resulted to grabbing cornmeal instead. This was only because in the FitGirl recipe it says polenta/cornmeal/grits. Little to our surprise on the back of the bag of cornmeal there was a recipe for polenta! Granted I didn't follow said recipe, it was just reassuring that it was there and I knew I was getting the right thing.

Polishing the Patio

In no way, shape, or form do I consider myself anything more than someone with novice experience when it comes to gardening. I mean, when I was younger botany was my thing but middle school knowledge doesn't transfer well into adulthood. For the last few years, as some of you know, I have been in love with plants and my little patio "garden-" lately though it has been in the need of some serious TLC. 

Yesterday I made it my mission to clean and replant everything that has been needing it (I even said good-riddance to a couple of sore thumbs). This isn't a tutorial as much as it's a follow up from my garden post that I made a year ago. At that point I was IN LOVE with my succulents and I still am today, just a few of them had to go though... One being the original Donkey Ears I received from my mom- this plant is like a contagious disease and it goes where ever it wants and puts babies in the soil of other plants and it just needed to go. I actually put this one by the trash a couple of months ago, but surprisingly enough (yet not really at all) I found some of its offspring still trying to take root last night; don't worry they're gone too. 

The Kalanchoe Luciae is doing well although the mother plant has since died off. I'm not sure what happened with it but it started to rot at the stem so I broke it off before it took into the other two plants that had sprouted from it. The Neoregelia Fireball is growing nicely, the baby from last year is currently growing its own baby. The two original pieces are dying off but that's normal with this type of plant. Now for the Echeveria Cante! To say this plant is doing well may be sort of an understatement. All of the babies are good and every once in a while I find a stray leaf and allow for it to grow some roots before I toss it into the planter too!

Now I'll get you up-to-date with some visuals!

Above on the left what you see is my spider plant after it had been removed from its original basket. The majority of those roots were entwined in the lining of the basket, I was just amazed with how large the roots actually were! On the right above you see one of my original succulents from my Home Depot trip so many years ago. I was disappointed with this one until recently because it hadn't grown much at all, but now it's sprouted three new plants and should do well in its new arrangement.

All three pictures above are before I cleaned and re-potted. In the top photo you can see the aforementioned succulent in the far left container along with a piece of trailing jade I laid in there a couple months ago, too lazy to plant it. Continuing to the right in the same image is the poor amaryllis that Ricky brought home from work. The bulbs hadn't been stored properly so it began to bloom before it was even potted. When he brought it home it had flowers and hardly any green leaves. Next are two succulents he has brought home over time- one being the same Kalanchoe Luciae. You can see the Echeveria Cante hiding on the ground there too with the babies of the original Kalanchoe Luciae on its other side. 

The next image on the lower left shows the plants mentioned above as well as my Lipstick Plant. Can you see how ratty that basket is?! Yeah, it needed to be changed... I planted this plant in a hanging basket way before I should've, honestly. I propagated this plant from the mother plant at my dad's house, it has taken almost two years for it to grow this big. It's never had flowers but that might be do to Stella always breaking them off while it has been sitting on the ground. Next to it there you can see my Jade in a pot way too small with not enough drainage.

The picture on the right shows a dead bromelaid, my three Christmas Cacti (although they're more like New Years Cacti if you go by when they're blooming!) and a very "let go" succulent. All have been saved, don't fret. 

Christmas Cacti and Amaryllis happily planted in their new homes.

I combined the two succulents and the Trailing Jade in this container, it looks much better this way! I didn't change anything in the plant on the right. You can also see my sweet potato project poking up in the middle!

Happily hanging in brand new soil and baskets! I'm worried that the larger basket will allow for my spider plant to grow too heavy... but hopefully that doesn't happen. In the right photo you can see where I replanted the succulents Ricky brought home as well as a better angle of my Echeveria. I put the Jade in a larger pot with fresh soil, I'm hoping it grows larger now.

Happy planting!

Operation Fit Girl

Lately I've been completely unhappy with my body and I've been trying to turn it around. Earlier this month I came across an Instagram account called FitGirlsGuide  and this is a company that sells and promotes weight loss books. The books include inspirational messages, complete meal plans, as well as weekly workout routines. At the time when I looked at it they were advertising that the next "challenge" was to start on March 14th. Without  second guessing I quickly clicked on the link and purchased the entire package of ebooks. This included: The Detox, Fit Girl Cookbook, Fitkini Challenge, 28 Day Jumpstart, Fit Girl Bootcamp, and a journal to go along with the bootcamp. At the time it was on sale for $125 (the books individually retail between $20 to $50); I think it was a good deal. Immediately I began to look through the books and decided that I didn't want to wait until the 14th, I was going to the detox starting on Monday.

For some reason I wasn't content with simply going to Publix to pick up all the groceries on the supplied grocery list, instead I ventured thirty minutes away to Trader Joe's. There I spent around $85 on everything minus a couple items; so altogether I spent approximately $100 for the detox food. The meals for the detox were alright, some were my favorites and some I will never try again. The point of the detox is to cleanse you body from all of the sugars and fats and to basically restart your pallet and prepare yourself for a healthier diet without completely jumping full throttle. 

Currently I am three days into the 28 Day Jumpstart and LET ME TELL you this is the best money I've spent. Groceries for this week were around $60 (not bad if you ask me) and I've been  eating pizza and tacos! What diet let's you eat that? I'll wait... oh that's right you probably don't have an answer because they don't. I was skeptical about these tacos but oh my goodness they're good, you can't even tell they're healthy. Another great plus about this one is you can eat chocolate too! 

All in all I would totally recommend this to any girl out there trying to lose weight or trying to get fit. Not only because it provides you with all the tools and information you need but because there is such a large support system on the Instagram end of it. So many girls start these challenges each month and for many (definitely me) it becomes more than a thing to lose weight, it becomes a lifestyle.

I'm looking forward to making these changes and I'm excited to see where this journey will lead me. Follow along with my FitGirl journey on my Instagram account.

Everything but the Dry Sink

Two years ago I became very interested in making my own bar; not the kind you sit at but rather one that would house my liquor and drink glasses. A decorative cupboard that isn't completely necessary but you feel as if you need it to complete a space- that sort of thing. When you don't want to spend $500 at a place like Seventh Avenue or even Walmart for that matter you have to get a little more creative, so I turned to Pinterest. There I found several different ideas on how to turn dressers and other sets of drawers or cabinets into a bar; I was sold!
My beginning intentions were to find a hutch or maybe a decorative shelf and refurnish it and add some decorative paper to the shelve to make it pop. It wasn't long into the search before I realized this piece of furniture wasn't so simple to find. I then scoured craigslist for days on end hoping for something to catch my eye when alas, I found my antiqued beaut. As soon as I saw it I knew not only that I found the piece I wanted but that I was looking for the wrong thing all along, I should've been searching for a dry sink. So I traveled to the antique mall, had them clear it off and loaded it up in my car. I brought it home and was absolutely ready to stain it! The only issues were I had never done that before and it was currently painted white.
So I set to Home Depot and purchased some Minwax Polyshades and a brush for application. I also bought sand paper to get off the paint. At Target I found a wrapping paper I liked and planned on lining the shelves with it. I stained this bad boy right in my dining room. My apartment smelled like stain for weeks... Mistakes were made in this process and I don't even know that I realized it let alone cared. First of all, I didn't remove the hinges meaning I also didn't remove the doors. Secondly, I was doing this project in my carpeted dining room on top of a towel.
Staining sucks. Big time. I don't think I cared then, I kept telling myself it will improve. When I finished I think I was just so happy I completed it that I didn't notice it kind of looked awful. The stain had dripped and streaked, it wasn't evenly stained in several places. I couldn't find any pulls I liked so I was using four regular knobs in the holes. The interior paper was applied with spay adhesive and was already coming off in spots. It just wasn't my best work but nonetheless it lasted two years until I was done with it.
Finding myself in need of yet again refinishing my cabinet and maybe making it the original color I wanted (espresso not oak) I turned to Pinterest. This time around I found several things on spray painting your furniture instead of staining. The only downfall with this is you can't see wood grain, but with the hack job I previously did I don't think wood grain would've mattered much. So I turned to spray paint- where has this luxury been?! It went on so great and it dried in hours, there are a few spots that aren't glossy but you can't tell unless you're looking for it. One of the issues I had with this was finding new hinges since I ruined to current ones by staining directly over them! After zero luck with finding silver H hinges at any store I decided to attempt taking off the stain, and it worked, but now they were bronze. So what else does one do but spray paint them?! I am completely proud of this project this time around. It looks nice and it actually matches.

Original white and finished shitty stain

Current

For some reason I wrote this post probably eight months ago but I never published it. Strange. I can vaguely remember wanting to add more (maybe some how to instructions) but I think it's fine as is for now. I still want to finish the interior of my cabinet but until then it's golden!