I ♥ Mailbox Surprises

On the way home from work this afternoon I stopped at the mail box…opened it to find a nice surprise from Angie. It’s a little hard to read, but it’s a card congratulating me on 100 lbs lost. How incredibly thoughtful was that? Totally brightened my whole afternoon!! Thanks chickie! :) I feel so lucky to have made such great real-life friends because of blogging.

Today’s eat were on the ball. This morning I woke up to the heavenly smell of coffee, what a way to start off my Monday! (That and I wore my new shoes!!) J has finally jumped on the coffee bandwagon and had a steamy mug all ready for me.

For Breaky, I had an old favourite - 2 slices of ezekiel toast with peanut butter & sliced banana.

Munched on a fresh peanut butter oatcake when my belly started grumbling around 10.


Work was quite busy today; ended up eating lunch away from my desk so I didn’t get to take any pics. It was a bowl of the homemade chicken noodle soup, homemade roll and the other half of the banana from this morning.

Supper was so GOOD! BLT’s, corn on the cob and salad. Mmmm.

The sammie was made out of 2 slices of ezekiel toast, turkey bacon, lettuce tomatoes with a smear of light mayo.

Fresh corn with melty olive oil becel & pepper. Delish!

Simple Gestures

Sometimes all it takes is a cute surprise in the mail to turn a good day into a great one! :)


Thank you Amy, for making my day a little brighter! xoxo

The Day Has Arrived

Happy Halloween!!!

This evening we’re having Holly & Dean over to watch a bunch of scary movies while we pass out treats to all the kiddies. I’m kinda excited! hehe.

What plans do you guys have for tonight? I’m hoping to see some fun costumes appear in blogland soon!

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My top secret plan will be put into action in just a few short hours. Full details this afternoon! I’m a bit nervous so that explains the early morning blogging. Am very lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive friend who is part of this plan too. :)

In regards to yesterday's post, I want to thank everyone for their comments. It’s really nice to hear that people appreciate my honesty and struggles. When I write a post it’s 100% me and it’s my hope that others can relate.

So life in general has been good great!

As most of you know, I really enjoy graphic design and social media (LOL, who doesn’t enjoy some type of social media these days?) I’ve recently had the opportunity to take on some part-time work in that field; my evenings have been spent setting up Tweets (Check out Twuffer, it’s a great tool that allows you to set up tweets to post at a later date/time), creating Facebook pages, blogs and email newsletters. Right up my ally!

My full time job is quite rewarding though and definitely not something that I’d leave, but some part time work that doesn’t feel like work can’t hurt! :)

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I was lucky enough to get two wonderful surprises yesterday afternoon. Fridays + surprises = best combo ever!

The first was news that I won a Bodum French Press from a contest being held by Things To Do For Two. I was so excited to found out that I’d won. I never win anything and it totally made my afternoon. If you have a moment check out their site – it’s a Nova Scotian couple that blogs about fun and budget friendly things to do together. Thanks again TTDF2, can’t wait to get it!

And to top it off, I got another lovely surprise when I opened my mail box. A nice note from Cat (& b/f!).


And last but not least, if you follow me on Twitter you’ll know that I spent Thursday evening baking tasty Brownie Bites for the Bank’s charity bake sale. I made them both iced and plain, sprinkles all around! The only way I can even get away with saying these are calorie friendly is the fact that they are small, ie: portion controlled. Too bad ya can’t just eat one! ;)


There was so much batter that I had enough to send hubby off with loads for his bake sale and still take a tray full into work to share with the guys. All I can say is glad they are out of the house!

A Real Booty Kicker!

A few weeks ago Booty Camp Fitness contacted me to see if I would be interested in receiving a copy of their new DVD, Booty Camp Fitness Ultimate Home Edition.

If you remember, back in the Summer I was one of the lucky bloggers who got to attend Booty Camp here in Halifax. It was a great workout (I could definitely feel the burn!) and I had a blast having fun in the sun with a few of the other local girls! Included with my sessions was a copy of the first DVD, and it too has always left me sweating and sore. :)

So, of course I said yes to this DVD. It’s the perfect time of year too, with New Years Resolutions and the cold temperatures who doesn’t want an effective indoor workout?

On Friday, I opened up my mailbox……


And excitedly opened my package to find the DVD and a nice little note from Lisa, their PR Rep.

”The Ultimate-Home Edition DVD has eight fat-burning and body-sculpting workouts that will deliver rapid and visible results.”


“This two-disc DVD takes you through progressive, time-focused workouts, allow you to tack full body as well as muscle specific exercises.”

Pink Disc Includes:	White Disc Includes:
- Cardio Quickie (20 mins)	- Phase 1 Beginner (47 mins)
- Booty Booster (15 mins)	- Phase 2 Intermediate (43 mins)
- Ab-Salute Core (20 mins)	- Phase 3 Advanced (60 mins)
- Seaside Serenity Stretch (27 mins)
- Bringing The Heat Cardio (35 mins)

I had no run planned for today so I finally got a chance to test out the DVD this evening. I tried out two workouts, both from the pink disc.


Cardio Quickie – WOW, this got my heart rate up and I was sweating almost immediately. The moves were all fairly simple: jumping rope, running on the spot, jumping jacks, tees, a few kick boxing style moves and a nice stretchy cool down. Simple but quite effective. Mr. Polar tells me I burned 176 calories. Nice!


Ab-Salute! Core – I admit for the most part when I work out its cardio. I really need to get my act together and follow some type of core/strength routine. This routine was great and I will be using it again. There were many different exercises and for the most part I could do them all. I carry the majority of my excess weight in my lower belly so sometimes I find it hard to do abs/core. I found this routine really fun (seriously!); there were a lot of the moves I’d never seen before like the starfish crunch and one move where you’re on your knees and slowing lean backwards. And, of course there were the regulars like plank and bicycle crunches. About half-way through the routine I could definitely feel my core muscles burning. Have a feeling I’m going to be sore in the mid-section tomorrow! :) Mr. Polar tells me I burned 125 calories.

Yup, I was pretty red and sweaty after my two routines. I can’t wait to check out the rest of the workouts over the next couple of weeks!

This was definitely a great addition to my fitness DVD collection! Thanks again Booty Camp Fitness.