Happy Music Monday!!!

This is a suggestion from Steph, and I'd have to agree it ALWAYS makes me dance and sing along. Guaranteed to help you start your day off right!! (There was never an official video made for this song, so you'll just have to deal with someone's YouTube version).

Weekend Recap.

This was my last "relaxing" weekend before sh*t hits the fan for the entire month of September. And I spent it not feeling well.
I haven't taken pictures in forever because I left my camera battery charger in Virginia Beach, so my camera is dead, and a new charger is like 40 bucks. And I'm cheap. So, this post is going to be boring.
You can stop reading now if you want. It's ok.
Anyway, Friday Felix and I went out with Carla and Jason from work. We hit up Caffe Capri for dinner, and I got the Pasta Capri (it was less than spectacular), and then we went to Imbibe, the martini bar downtown!! I love it there, but I don't think I've been there since before Felix and I started dating. This place has 121 different flavored martinis. Anything you can imagine, they have. Felix started out with a beer, but I had him drinking martinis by the end of the night. I drank 3 (whoops!), so Felix had to drive my car home. My favorite was Tropical Candy, which was pineappley tasting. YUM!
Saturday I woke up and felt like crap. So Felix and I stayed in allllll day. The only thing we left the house for was to get some chinese food. It was WONDERFUL. I can't remember the last time we had a day where we just lounged around in our pj's. We started watching the series "Dexter" on On Demand, and made it through 5 1-hour episodes. I've heard the show was good, but it's addicting! So now we have 2 and a half more seasons to get through.
Today, I still don't feel well. My throat hurts and I have a headache. I think it's the beginnings of a sinus infection. Yuck.
This afternoon is Talia's 10th birthday party, so Felix and I will be attending that later this afternoon. I'd wish her a happy birthday on here, but her real birthday isn't until tomorrow.
Peace out, homies.

Caturday.

nataliedee.com

Fit Friday!!!

30 Day Shred Update!

Today is day 28 of our 30 Day Shred Challenge, and I think I can speak for myself AND the other girls by saying I can't wait until it's done! I'm bored with it. Don't get me wrong, though, I'm SOOO glad we did it. Anyway, look for our final thoughts next Friday.

Speaking of challenges, there is still time to get in our September Challenge...which consists of 5 workouts a week, three of those being Jillian Michael's "Banish Fat Boost Metabolism". Let me know if you wanna join us.

Vitalicious!

No, I did not invent a new slang term. Vitalicious is a brand of muffin tops (a food, not the extra chub that peaks out the top of your jeans), muffins, brownies, and mixes. For those of you who are fans of Hungry Girl, you've no doubt read about Lillian's obsession with these. Each is 100 calories, tastes like a decadent treat, and has lots of tummy-filling fiber. Last week, Hungry Girl was running a 10% off special, so I went to the website and ordered their Chocolate SuperSampler. It's kind of pricey, but if you've managed to find these in the grocery store, you'll see you save a LOT of money buying off the website, and there's a lot more selection. Anyway, my SuperSampler arrived Wednesday, and I am pretty impressed! My only complaint is they have a slight fibery aftertaste, but for 100 calories and only 1 Weight Watchers point for a BROWNIE? I'll take it. I've eaten 3 in the last 24 hours (hey, I had to sample a few, and I couldn't pick just one!). I've tried the Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip VitaTop, a Dark Chocolate Pomegranate VitaTop, and a Deep & Velvety Chocolate Brownie. Out of the three, I must say the peanut butter was my favorite, followed by the Brownie, and then the pomegranate. Anyway, these are definately worth spending a little money on and sticking them in your freezer for when you need a chocolate fix. Before you buy, Google "Vitalicious discount code" and you should be able to find a discount code. Seems like the company always has one floating around.

Other Stuff!

Mi Madre and I got into kind of a heated argument last weekend over this article from Time Magazine. It basically says you don't need to work out like a crazy fitness-obsessed freak to lose weight, and sometimes, it's almost impossible to lose. At first, I thought the article was giving people an excuse not to exercise, but after I read the whole thing, it made sense. I was just pissed because I'm of the mindset that the harder you workout, the more weight you'll lose, and that's obviously just not true...because I feel like I'd be fitting into a lot smaller jeans than I am now.

Ya know that weight loss drug Alli? The one that makes you leak poopy ickyness into your underwear? Yeah, it's linked to liver damage now. BUT- the cases seem very rare, and I guess you gotta look at the pros vs. cons on this one.

The American Heart Association is saying what most of us already know: Ya GOTTA cut back on the sugar! Read about it here. Even one can of pop can put you over the daily recommendation. Those dumb guidelines are so hard to follow, though! Like sodium? Who ever stays in their recommended intake for salt? Never me. Ever ever ever.

If you're trying to drop a few pounds and are the proud owner of a Smart Phone, Scottsdale Weight Loss Center has introduced an application for the iPhone, iTouch and BlackBerry smart phones to help interpret nutrition labels. FoodGauge ranks foods from one to five based on how they impact a person’s weight. Users must enter data on fat, carbohydrates, fiber and protein from food labels. The new app is available for 99 cents from Apple iTunes and $2.99 from BlackBerry App World.

Last but not least...my new thing (cause I'm a dork) is typing in words under Google Image Search and finding funny pictures. (see Tuesday's blog for proof). Today, I typed in the word "skinny" and this was one of the first pictures:

How can anyone think this is attractive?! And does this poor model have no one who loves her enough to tell her to EAT?! I feel bad for her...but at the same time she's probably living off cocaine, coffee, and cigarettes, so it's her own damn fault.

Enough ranting though..Ladies, this is what we DON'T want to look like..and I don't think I really even had to say that. Yickity yuck yuck.

If I Ruled the World...

Every week without fail, my three overnight coworkers and I pitch in a dollar on Tuesday's and Friday's, and I buy us four Mega Millions lottery tickets. We never win. Obviously.

Tomorrow's drawing is the fourth largest lottery jackpot in history, estimated at a cool 325 million bucks.

This shit's getting serious, ya'll.

Not only are we doing our little overnight drawing, but I also entered another work pool, which was five dollars. I will also buy five dollars worth of tickets for myself.

I want to win.

Yeah, I know, everyone wants to win the lottery, but I WANT TO WIN.

Winning the lottery would solve all of my problems. Predominantly the issue of me working overnights FOR-EV-ER.

Anyway, so the talk at work the last few days has been, "what would you do if you won the jackpot?"

If I won the jackpot (after taxes and if you take the cash option, it's estimated you're walking away with approximately 150 million bucks), here's what I would do:

Immediately put half of it (75 million dollars) in a trust fund to use for charity work. Yeah, that seems like a huge number, to give HALF to charity, but hey...If I can't make another 75 million last me until I kick the bucket, there's something wrong. Ya just won 150 million bucks. Nows not the time to be selfish.

Now I have 75 million left.

5 million of that would go to Felix. Let me explain why. In my newly rich paranoia, I'm accutely aware that I would totally think he was staying with me for my money. If I gift him 5 million, he can hit the road if he wants and live confortably without thinking he has to depend on ME for his newly found lavish lifestyle.

Left with 70 million.

5 million goes to my brother and his wife and their son.

5 million goes to my parents.

We're down to 60 million.

2.5 million would each go into a trust fund for Talia and Morgan...set up so they'd receive so much of it while they were in college, and can't tap into the rest until they graduate...with at least a B average. Boo-Yah!

Now I'm down to 55 million.

The next 5 million gets divided up between people I care about...coworkers, family members, not the people crawling out of the woodwork saying, "hey remember that time we partied in college?!"

That leaves me with 50 million dollars to invest and spend the way I see fit to last me the rest of my life. I think I could do it.

I'd build a modest house (but gorgeous, obviously), in either Canfield or Poland, and hire a personal trainer.

I'd go on one huge shopping trip with my closest girlfriends to Chicago, where we would spend one weekend shopping, and buying whatever we wanted...on my tab.

After that, I'd live a life where I would use that first 75 million to help people. Particularly children. Inner city kids that don't seem to have a chance, abused children, kids who can't read. That sort of thing. I'm pretty sure something like that could turn into a full-time job in itself.

I'd travel when I want to travel, spend when I want to spend...but I honestly don't see myself buying lavish, extravagent things.

If I really think about it, I'd be content to just being able to pay off my student loans and my car, which would put me at zero debt.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Blatant Hatred.

So, I hesitate a little bit to write today's blog, because I'm not trying to start any internet wars via my blog or Facebook, but I need to vent.
Most of you are aware of how Facebook works, but for those of you who don't...When you log on, and get to the homepage, there's a thing called a "news feed". Basically what the news feed is, is a rundown of all of your "friends" posts. I have like 300-something friends on Facebook, so obviously I don't speak to the majority of them, they just somehow ended up my friend via a friend of a friend at college or something equally as bizarre.
Anyway, so I log on yesterday, and this girl (whom I'm NOT friends with in real life, but we had some mutual friends in college) has a post somewhere along the lines of this:

"So I'm driving home on 85 in my Saturn, jamming out to music and minding my own business, when I see a sweet Audi drive by. I speed up beside it to see who's hot car this is, and what do I see? An effing Mexican. Figures. Probably not working, and using my tax dollars to buy that car."

What?!
Really!!?

Now, I'm not slamming the girl who posted it. I don't even really know her. It just blows me away that someone can be so blatantly racist on FACEBOOK. A social networking site that EVERYONE can see what you're writing. Which led me to believe she honestly saw NOTHING wrong with posting that. My first impulse was to post something nasty in response, but then took a few deep breaths to calm down. Then I realized that something SHOULD have been said to her. If you're gonna post something that unabashedly racist on Facebook, you're asking for a response. So, I wasn't mean, I just said something along the lines of: "Don't you think you're jumping to conclusions a LITTLE bit? I'm sure it's not totally out of the ordinary to see an educated Mexican who makes money, isn't on welfare, and can afford to buy an Audi."

A few more people posted after me, calling her racist, or agreeing with her. That's fine, I guess. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I felt I needed to voice mine as well. Later that night, when I logged on once again, I looked at her page and she had deleted that post. I hope she felt like an asshole for posting something like that.
I'm not even a girl who gets easily pissed off my racism. I'll laugh at stereotypical jokes, and Felix calls me a "cracker" now and then. It can be funny. But in my opinion, something like that just gave me a sick feeling in my stomach. Not because of WHAT it said, but the fact she obviously posted something like that without a second thought as to whether or not it was offensive.
If you think like that, keep it to yourselves! I'd like to think we've at least come that far!

I Suck.

Sorry everyone, I suck. I just can't think of anything to write about lately. So...I decided to type in the world "awesome" under Google images, and this is what came up, so THIS is my blog post for today. Enjoy: