Happy Accidents, or, How Laziness Pays Off

I’ve been working on picking out this month’s reward for doing a good job of working out/eating right, and had settled on this skirt from Anthro:

Pretty in Pink

It was regularly $118, on sale for $59.95. A bit above my reward price limit, but that’s okay. The extra $10 was worth it. I was all set to order it yesterday, but decided I was too lazy to get off my bum and get my wallet. After working out this evening, I finally decided I should actually place my order before my size was sold out. I logged into the Fresh Cuts section, hoping another skirt I had been keeping my eye on would be there too (no such luck), when I noticed my skirt was now $29.95! YOWZA. Needless to say, the pretty pink skirt is on its merry way to my house. Can’t wait! Now, maybe Spring will decide to show its happy face so I can actually wear the skirt…minus tights….

In other news, I’ve been taking a break from running. Yes, I know I have that 5k in a week and a half. But I’m just so bored with the treadmill, and somehow it’s still too cold to run outside (seriously…snow yesterday?). So I’ve been taking advantage of the workouts on OnDemand. I’ve really started to like Denise Austin’s “Daily Dozen” cardio workouts. They’re long enough to get my heart rate up, but short enough so I don’t get too bored with them. I might actually consider buying her DVDs. Plus, the Cardio Kickboxing workout really reminds me of Kick-n-Core from college.

Anywho, time to make dinner. I’m thinking I’ll make the Hungry Girl Monte Cristo sandwich tonight. Paul’s out of town to go fishing with a friend, so I actually get to make things that he wouldn’t like!

The Good, The Better, The Bad, and The Even Worse….

The Good: I’ve been doing really well with the gym. I’ve upped my time on the elliptical slightly (to 40 minutes), and I’ve been adding in abs and weights after every workout. And, I just earned my free water bottle from the gym for going a certain number of times. Free T-shirt, here I come!

The Better: I FIT INTO TWO PAIRS OF PANTS FROM MY CLOSET! Yes!!!! I haven’t been able to wear my trouser jeans in ages, and I tried them on on a whim today. They fit! (Okay, so there was a little bit of a muffin-top situation, but there was also a gap in the back, so I’m calling it even.) PLUS, I fit into a pair of black pants that have never really fit properly. Huzzah for expanding one’s wardrobe without actually shopping!

The Bad: Um… I didn’t go to the gym today. Which, in itself, is not bad. It’s okay to take a day off. However, coming home and binge eating is bad. Now, old-Carly would have said “Ho hum. I’ve thrown the week away. I’ll just start all over next week.” But not this time! New-Carly is keeping a positive attitude. The week is not over yet. I can still do better tomorrow. And I WILL do better tomorrow. And I did so well today. We had a baby shower for a co-worker, and I stuck to veggies and fruit, and a teeny tiny piece of cake.

The Even Worse: The reason I didn’t go to the gym today is because I was starting to feel sick. Rather than pushing myself and feeling worse later, I just decided to take the night off. That’s fine, I know that’s acceptable. However, I cannot afford to get sick right now. I have an eligibility meeting tomorrow, another next Friday, another the Wednesday after that, and then the Wednesday after that, and then that Friday as well. Plus, I need to schedule an annual review or two somewhere in that mess. And I haven’t finished testing for next week’s eligibility…. Ugh. Is it June yet? No?

Best part of my day: I got a text message from my mom that said “I wore a belt OVER my sweater today! How’s that for fashion forward?” Oh I love my mom. I replied with “Way to create a clearly defined waistline!”

Shopper’s Envy

I’ll admit it…I’ve jumped on the bandwagon. I’m a follower. It seems that everyone and their mother has the Steve Madden Intyce boots, and I have fallen victim to a bad case of Shopper’s (Blogger’s?) Envy. Oh I love those boots. I have longed for them for quite some time. I asked for them for Christmas…but they just weren’t in the budget. Paul did buy me a gorgeous pair of boots for Christmas (Steve Madden’s Inka, in black), and I love them. I wear them at least 2 or 3 times a week. But nothing could compare to Intyce. And so I ordered them. They’re still not really in the budget…but, being the innovative person that I am, I have signed up for 3 evenings of supervision/scoreboard-keeping for my school’s home wrestling meets as well as 1 evening of volleyball supervision. All for a pair of boots….

Chasing the carrot…

Workouts have been going well this week. I did weights Monday and Tuesday, but not today. Instead, I did an ab workout after the elliptical. I’m calling it a fair trade.

I had a moment yesterday, while on the elliptical, where I realized I was working out just so that I could leave there and eat my cheese stick in the car. Like dangling a carrot in front of a horse….

Tonight was taco night (sloppy joe leftovers lasted longer than anticipated). The Hungry Girl recipe was good, but a little bland. It’s probably my fault, though, for omitting the 1/4 cup of chopped green chiles. Next time…

As of last week, I decided that I was going to start wearing what I wanted to wear to work, and to heck with what people think. Most of the teachers at my school are fairly casual, but I really love wearing dresses and pencil skirts (especially with tights and boots). So the past two weeks, I’ve been wearing a lot of boots, skirts, dresses, etc. I’ve been feeling good about myself, both because I feel more put together and because I’m doing what makes me happy. Now I just need to get in the habit of taking pictures, too.

Time to read through Paul’s personal statement for grad school. Have a lovely evening.

FFF: Try try again

Happy Friday the 13th! Oooooh!

Earlier in the week, Elena posted a comment from another blog about making wearable outfits out of what you already have. And while, on a day-to-day basis, I do, I feel like I’ve been posting things lately that are “recent acquisitions.” They’re basics, though, that I’ll be able to use again and again to rebuild a pretty frumpy wardrobe (you read it here first: I will not wear v-neck t-shirts and cardigans together more than 1 day per work week!). So, this week, I tried to restyle a couple of pieces that I have, but of which I’ve never been particularly fond. I have to say…after trying to style these pieces a couple of different ways, I actually really like them and am excited to get more use out of them. Take a look: