Mixing patterns isn’t usually my favorite. On the other hand, how super funky & awesome is this duo?!
This entire outfit is online at lovecocos.com –> direct links below
Plaid Scarf $15 | Cheetah Sleeve Top $29 | Tall Black Boots $69 | Beanie $12 | Black Legging $19
If you are as busy as I am, then meal prepping is the answer to all of your problems. It’s a great way to eat healthy despite your hectic schedule, but the best part about it is that it saves time! And who doesn’t need more of that?
Here are some of my favorite meal prepping recipes most of which are Paleo, too!
-Boiled eggs
-Egg Cups (stir 6 eggs, 1 cup of chopped spinach, 6 peices of fully cooked & chopped up turkey bacon in a bowl. Coat a muffin tin lightly with spray oil & fill each cup halfway with the mixture. Bake it in the oven for 20 minutes on 350 or until they look done. I like to wing things when it comes to cooking)
-Greek Yogurt & Granola
-Overnight Oatmeal (combine 1 cup of oatmeal, 1 cup of coconut milk, a tsp. of stevia in a 1 serving size tupperware container and let it sit overnight in the fridge) I add blueberries to mine in the morning too!
-Fruit (I love asian pairs, oranges, and apples. Another really yummy thing is to make a fruit salad by chopping up and combining different fruits. You can usually make two breakfasts with that–or eat the other
-Salad from a salad bar (the grocery store in Pittsburg has an awesome salad bar! If there isn’t one near you, buy all the ingredients you like in a salad and prep multiple salads out of it.) Be careful about what dressing you are buying! My favorite kinds are these:
-Turkey Meatballs (Mix 1 pound of turkey, 1 cup of GF bread crumbs, spinach, chopped onion, 1 egg, and a tsp. of garlic in a big bowl. Roll them into balls and put them in a greased pan. Cook them for 30 minutes on 350. Scoop them out and put them into a crock pot and pour your favorite bbq sauce over them. Let them sit for an hour or two then place them into individual containers that are easy to grab & go in the morning!)
-Cold vegetables & Yogurt Ranch (Carrots, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, red pepper, really any veggie you like)
To make the ranch you need 1/4 of a cup of plain yogurt & a dry ranch packet. Add the ranch a little bit at a time until it taste the way you like it! It’s seriously SO good and only about 25 calories for 1/4 a cup instead of 150 in 2 tablespoons of regular ranch! Huge difference!
-Ground Turkey Tacos
Browning the meat is what takes the longest. Prepare it and chop your toppings ahead of time so all you have to do at dinner is warm up a serving and bake the shells!
-Baked Chicken
This is my favorite because you can choose to cook/use chicken in so many ways. I despise chicken breast because it’s always so plain and dry but I have figured out a way I do like it.
Chop up the chicken breasts into small chunks and marinate them in your favorite sauces. I get sick of eating the same things so if you use foil as a barrier so I can cook it all in the same pan. That also makes for extremely easy clean up!
Meal prepping is a great way to kick off the New Year and reach your 2016 goals–
(Holy Wind!! LOL)
Totally obsessing over this long cardi trend! There are so many ways to style them. My favorite is with bootcut jeans & a fitted tank, but don’t they look awesome over a dress too? I am definitely taking the black & white Buddylove one to wear over my New Year’s Eve dress on Thursday. (It’s on sale for 40% off at lovecocos.com if you use the code “BUDDYLOVE” at checkout!!!)
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The dreaded New Year’s Resolution time has come again. You could always pick the basics: eat healthy, get a gym membership, budget your money better.
But who is really going to stick to those? NOT ME. If you really want to improve yourself start small. You aren’t going to want to get out of bed at 5 a.m. January 15th and hit the treadmill any more than you do right now.
So, here are some suggestions on how to start small, and then reach for a bigger goal once you have succeeded.
1. Limit yourself to 30 minutes of social media a day.
This one may come easy to some of you, but I find myself checking my personal social media way too often. Pick a certain time of the day (morning, lunch, evening), set a timer, check your Facebook, post something you’ve been wanting to share– but then get back to your REAL life.
2. Don’t bring your phone to bed.
So…you lay down at 10 p.m. and get suckered into watching a cute video of a puppy….. somehow it magically turned to midnight?
Sleep is important!
3. Keep a food journal.
Even if you don’t keep exact track of it, it does make you aware of how much you subconsciously eat throughout the day. (Good one for people who want to lose weight!)
4. Drink more water
These water bottles are an AWESOME way to stick to that resolution!!! Get one here.
5. Drink less alcohol
Replace with water ^^^ 😉
6. Start replacing some of your usual groceries with the organic version.
Yes, they are more expensive– So are medical bills due to health complications.
7. Add 15 more minutes to your cardio. Or try something new!
Do what you usually do, just go for longer! Instead of walking or running on the treadmill for 30 minutes, go for 45. Usually go to Yoga? Try boot camp or Zumba!
Any changes you make (even small) and stick with are a success.
Here is to a wonderful 2016!!!!
Yesterday at Cocos we got a shipment of these gigantic plaid squares. Come to find out, they were scarves. As I held one up I had a “WTF” moment. –How can this possibly be a scarf?? How to do I wear it? Why. is. it. so. freaking. large.
Then I tried one on. And……. HOLY CUTE!
Am I right?
Definitely going to be obsessed with these this winter and did I mention there are like 7 different ways to wear them??
{My favorite way is the triangle!}
Find these scarves here. $19
Looks like my Master’s Degree is paying off already! One of my millions of assignments for Theories of Human Communication this week was to read the chapter over “Relationships” and teach it to the class.
Ironic because I am probably the last person on Earth that should be teaching others about relationships.
Anyway, as I was reading I came across a list that Carl Rodgers (a 20th century psychologist) theoretically constructed about what a healthy relationship possesses:
The relationships that I view as “healthy” in my life have EVERY single one of these qualities. I think about my best friend and how much both of us have experienced and changed over the years. We are so different from each other and instead of growing apart, we have embraced these qualities and have created a friendship that will literally last forever.
If you are in a relationship, whether it be a family member, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, etc. and none of these qualities are present– get out of it! Everyone deserves healthy, happy relationships because in the end– that’s all that we have!
Do you ever have one of those days where you just CAN’T get happy? I mean, It’s not like my life is awful. I have SO much to smile and be happy about. But even so, sometimes it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Between working full time, going to graduate school full time, homework, and a photography business it’s hard to keep my sanity.
(I don’t know how people go back to school when they have kids, seriously!— Whole new level of respect for them!)
I want things in my life to fall in place and they just aren’t. No matter what path I choose, something goes wrong. It makes me feel like it’s my fault. Like there’s something wrong with me.
I tend to overthink mostly everything. (I need to work very hard on changing that about myself.) But when I step back and look at the BIG picture of life, how lucky I am to even be living, how lucky I am to have a laptop and a cell phone to use whenever I please, how lucky I am to have an entire family that loves me– I remember a line from one of my favorite songs ever, Simple Man.
“Troubles will come, and they will pass…”
Although life isn’t exactly comfortable or easy for me right NOW doesn’t mean that it won’t be next week, or next month, or even next year.
I just need to be patient and remember I get the privilege of waking up every morning to work towards a future goal.
Balayage and Ombre are so big right now it’s hard to not want to be part of the trend.
But, as we all know bleaching hair can really damage it. I’ve learned from experience. Chopping all your hair off is usually the result. (Why my hair is so short in both pictures!)
Now, I’m on the road to recovery. I LOVE my ombre because there is NO upkeep. I can let my natural color grow for as long as I want and save so much money from going to the salon less.
It’s just the ends I have to worry about. Here are some ways to take care of your hair to keep it healthier and longer.
Don’t wash it everyday! Seriously, dry shampoo works wonders. When you do wash it, put conditioner on just the ends of your hair before you shampoo it. Try to keep shampoo only towards your scalp & try to keep condition just towards the ends.
2. Use Anti-Snap
I can’t use any oils or serums on my hair because it will make it too oily. But I can’t use nothing because my hair is too dry on the ends. 
I use Redken extreme anti-snap and LOVE it. Anti-Snap has made it harder for my hair to break off, which has made it grow more.
3. Weekly hair treatments
Coconut oil is my #1. On nights that my hair is dirty and I know I will wash it the next morning, I COVER my hair in coconut oil & sleep in it.
You can also buy weekly hair treatments at Wal-Mart or Ulta, I just think coconut oil is easiest because I use it for other things as well.
This morning I woke up at 5:45 to go workout like always. Chugged some pre-workout, slipped my shoes on and tied my ratty hair up into a bun. My brother-in-law was in the kitchen waiting on me so I yelled “I’ll drive to the gym!”
Little did I know 8 minutes later I’d be getting pulled over for ignoring a “Road Closed” sign that I literally have gone around everyday the last month. (not exaggerating.) One $139 ticket later, I was pissed. Why did I say I’d drive? Why couldn’t that cop just have told me not to do it again?
Needless to say my workout was horrible. When we got home I knew my day was going to be that much worse if I didn’t get a good sweat in so I decided to go run. (Exercise is seriously the BEST stress reliever, next to eating a huge cheeseburger)
As I was running by an Arby’s restaurant (wishing I was inside eating a huge #2 with curly fries) I thought to myself “thank god I don’t have to work at a fast food restaurant.” I’ve had my fair share of bad jobs, and that is one that I would never want to have to do.
My point here is things could always be worse.
The rest of my run I focused on all the positives I have in my life. Focusing on the good made a $139 seem so pointless in the scheme of life.
This weekend was my sister’s bachelorette party which called for something special. Something flashy. Something awesome. Something you can wear all day long AND get wet. (From pool water to sweat from dancing all night long.)
Have you ever heard of flash tattoos?! They are basically exactly like the temporary tattoos we wore when we were little, only more appropriate since we aren’t 7 anymore.
Seriously, they are awesome! I got so many compliments from my sister’s friends, and most of them decided they wanted to wear one too!
EVEN my mom decided she wanted to wear one:
Awesome, right? (Find them here)
After the pool party we had going on, we went out to the bars to celebrate Kylie’s last fling before the ring.
This is how it ended:
Fun times & Great memories. (P.S. Kylie isn’t passed out, just wanted to snuggle me for the picture lol)
