prettier in person

i realized i never shared the rest of the sunglass cases that i made for my aunt's store... so here they are... 

my two favorites are the vintage white with embroidered rainbow, and the vintage flower pattern in the photo with the glasses. so much prettier in person.

i'm busy today with packing and cleaning and getting ready for our camping trip - we leave bright and early tomorrow morning (5:30am!) and will have no cell phones or computers while there... i'm very excited and can't wait to actually be there - i'm so stinkin tired of packing and organizing.

 i wont be back to blogging till the beginning of august. i hope you all have a lovely end of your july.

xo,

kass

challenge update

 i mentioned in this post that i'm doing a thirty day challenge so i thought i would share some of my favorite moves with you that i've learned from my tracy anderson dvd's...

- great for thighs and butt - 

get on all fours, take your leg out to the side and then cross it over your opposite leg - do at least thirty-five reps on each leg

 - great for butt, thighs and side abs - 

grab a chair while on all fours with one hand on the chair and the other on the ground. lift the opposite leg from the arm that is holding the chair and lift straight back, bend that leg forward at a diagonal while bringing the chair forward - do at least thirty-five reps on each leg

- my favorite ab move - 

lay with legs and arms outstretched while holding no more than three pound weights (i use two), bring your arms out towards your legs while pulling your legs in a frog like position - repeat at least forty times never letting your legs touch the ground

these are just a few of my favorite moves - let me know if you try any

remember, don't use more than three pound weights!

i use two pounds...

here is a rundown of my meals and workouts over the last few days:

day: friday july 16, 2010

breakfast: kashi cereal with rice milk and coffee

lunch: ten multi grain crackers with raspberry jam from trader joes and water

dinner: small bean, cheese and chicken burrito

workout: tracy anderson perfect design series sequence III

dancing/jumping on rebounder

time: TA 55min

rebounder 45min

day: saturday july 17, 2010

breakfast: pumpkin spice kashi bar with coffee

lunch: coffee/banana smoothie with fat burner blend from blenders in the grass with handful of wasabi flavored almonds

snack: ruffels chips with sour cream and onion dip

dinner: grilled chicken breast, sweet mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, greens with avo, pine nuts drizzle of balsamic dressing, few sips of chardonay

dessert: light whipped cream with fresh strawberries

workout: 30 min of playing in the pool with the girls

day: sunday july 18, 2010

breakfast: pumpkin spice kashi bar with coffee

lunch: banana and carob smoothie with fat burner blend from blenders handful of cheese flavored sun chips

dinner: small spoonful of baked beans, small spoonful of potato salad, greens with hardboiled egg and fresh strawberries, slice of french bread and iced tea

dessert: tiny sliver of homemade banana cake with carmel frosting, and two small slices of homemade lemon maringue pie with coffee

snack: fresca taco from taco bell 170calories

workout: none

day: monday july 19, 2010

breakfast: kashi cereal with rice milk and coffee

lunch: small slice of lemon maringue pie and coffee

dinner: pumpkin spice kashi bars and coffee

workout: tracy anderson's mat workout dvd plus extra ab work and dancing/jumping on rebounder

time: TA 57min

extra ab work 5min

rebounding 60min

day: tuesday july 20, 2010

breakfast: kashi cereal, rice milk and coffee

lunch: pumpkin spice kashi bar

dinner: small glass of white wine, sushi 9 pieces

dessert: 1 small chocolate covered butter cookie with coffee

snack: three small slices of cheese, handful of pita chips with yogurt cucumber dip

workout: 47min of tracy anderson's post pregnancy workout and dancing/jumping on rebounder

time: TA 47min

rebounding 40min

day: wednesday july 21, 2010

breakfast: kashi cereal with rice milk and coffee

lunch: handful sea salt pita chips dipped in cucumber yogurt sauce

dinner: baked chicken breast with organic brown rice and black beans with water

workout: 55 min of tracy anderson perfect design series sequence I, dancing/jumping on rebounder, ab isolations, arms

time: TA 55min

rebounding 60min

extra ab isolations 5min

extra arms 7min

weighted arms with two pound weights 7min

i also drink about 60oz of water every day - sometimes more, sometimes less - water is key!

as i've mentioned plenty of times before on my blog, i'm a HUGE tracy anderson fan so i thought i would share a little clip of tracy explaining her method and showing some of her moves from her mat workout - the arms and ab isolations are insane in this dvd - it kicks butt!

have any of you tried TA's method?

what do you think?

xo,

kass

guaranteed good time

click for larger photo

 hume lake 2008 - mama bear and two photos of a gorgeous field we came across

this week i'm getting ready for a seven night camping trip at hume lake in the sequoias with the fam. dan's family has been camping there since before he was born and we try to join them at least every two years. swimming, biking, campfires, games, walks around the lake, dinner at the snack shop at the christian camp, laughter, playing on the floating log... it's pretty much a guaranteed good time! going to hume brings back great memories for me since i grew up going to winter camp there with my church during my jr. high and high school years. although it's a lot of work to camp with little kids (and we're tent camping!)... and going without a shower for seven days isn't exactly ideal... it's always a lot of fun. i've got a lot of work ahead of me this week, piles and piles of laundry, getting all the gear together, making lists of what we need and going over those lists a million times, shopping for all the food we need to pack and other items that we need as well as cleaning the whole house and changing sheets for our friends adam and alisha who are so kindly house/dog/kitty sitting for us. all of this PLUS working out two hours a day so that i can stick with my challenge all while trying my best to entertain three rambunctious kids. 

so... i probably wont be blogging much this week... maybe just one or two more posts... 

some questions for you

do you like camping? how many of you could go without a shower for seven days? tent camping or are you a motor home/trailer type of girl?

xo,

kass

team bracob

one of my favorite texans, brandi, has started a 30 day fitness challenge so i thought it would be good for me to join along and start it too. once a week i'll be posting my workouts, and what i've eaten and keep you posted on how i'm doing with my workouts. my goal is to eat well, stay away from alcohol, sugar and cheese and to work out two hours a day at least five days a week.
hopefully keeping track of my workouts on my blog will keep me accountable and i would love for you guys to keep me accountable too.

day: wednesday july 14, 2010

work out: tracy anderson perfect design series sequence II

how long: 55min

usually i would do cardio for an hour too, but i wasn't feeling well and just couldn't do it... i also didn't work out yesterday due to being sick - however i'm going to make sure i get at least an hour in today... being sick and having a fever wont stop me!

breakfast: pumpkin spice kashi bar and coffee
lunch: grapes, whole wheat crackers and water
dinner: grilled chicken, grilled zucchini and grilled squash with a small glass of wine



brandi and her husband jacob have also started a fitness blog, shape up bracob, where they keep track of their workouts, what they are eating, share their playlists and work out gear.... check it out here.

i'm team bracob

if you're interested in starting the challenge be sure to link up!

xo,
kass

oh how the time goes by

we had an early birthday celebration yesterday for tayli who turns three on tuesday.

tons of family and friends, good food, a jump house (thanks mom and bob!) and lots of fun presents all made for a pretty successful party.

here are a few photos of our day

tay really got some amazing gifts...

a ten week old kitty from dan's mom and step-dad, matryoshka dolls straight from russia that my sis-in-law and brother just brought back, a beautiful colored pencil holder/satchel that my bestie made, cute little hand painted rocks that tannyn, my mom, step-dad and aunt painted, a slip-n-slide from my dad and step-mom, a pretty delicate bracelet made with love by my step-sister.... she got tons more than that too - so many cute dresses and other fun outfits, an awesome 3D puzzle, art journal, stickers, plate/bowl set, my little pony, boogie board, goggles, pet shop toys... and more!

such a loved little girl!

i can't believe that my baby is turning three tomorrow... oh how the time goes by much too quickly!

maybe it's time to start making another one... hmmm... or maybe the kitty is enough for now! 

how was your weekend?

xo,

kass

favorite

happy birthday to the best sister a girl could ask for

i love you more than you know

you're my favorite

"nature made you my sister... but we made us friends"

 (a quote from a card keely gave me many years ago... i've never forgotten it)

go here to wish her a happy birthday 

xo,

kass

welcome home

yesterday tayli and i made tannyn some welcome home signs... we sure are excited to see her today!

have a lovely thursday my friends!

xo,

kass

i adore

i adore these three and miss my tyler and tannyn - i'm so looking forward to having my tannybear come home tomorrow and to see tyler at tayli's party on sunday. but for now, i'm going to continue to enjoy my one on one time with my sweet tay...

have a lovely wednesday friends!

xo,

kass

our weekend plans didn't quite turn out as planned

 on our way to lake arrowhead dan's volvo broke down on the 91 freeway in riverside. it was actually pretty scary being stuck on the side of road with cars just zooming by us at speeds up to 90mph. we called a tow truck and an hour later he showed up to tow us... it was another hour and a half, two hours before we got home. needless to say, we didn't end up going to the lake. instead, our friends jonathan and marina paid us a surprise visit - we chatted, drank beer and ate up the bean and corn salsa i made for the party at the lake. after they left dan and i cleaned the house, lazed around and then we all ate sandwiches for dinner outside, watched transformers for a bit (tay loved it) and then headed up to the roof to watch fireworks. i've never been able to see fireworks from my own home before (we used to try when i was younger but it was usually too foggy) anyway, it was so cool being able to see them so clearly and not only could we see the local laguna niguel fireworks show but we could see the show in aliso viejo as well and some other fireworks off in the distance too.

 it was kinda magical

how was your fourth of july?

xo,

kass