Its starting to feel a lot like Christmas . . .

Well the weather dropped about 25 degrees over night almost and it definitely feels like winter in Phoenix finally. This past weekend, I scored on some clothes at Goodwill, love when they have 50% off days! I also I froze my tushy off at the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon, My eldest niece Camriana (14yrs old) ran her second 5k!! I am so ridiculously proud of that girl! She ended up getting 12th place in her age group and 123 out of the 900+ female runners! I sure hope she keeps up the great work and does more races!! It has inspired me to attempt to train and do a 5k with her sometime in 2012... stay tuned for that!!

thank god for those heaters, it was FREEEEEEZING!

I spy with my little eye....

Her friend from school and racing buddy

 My sister, the proud mom

The proud auntie, "Me"

 So I decided to make an attempt to "model" my awesome finds this time around since they were all articles of clothing. I use the word model loosely though, I am far from a model. It was so very cold outside and I was trying to look "cute" not "frostbitten" .... hopefully you all enjoy them. 

 Robby wanted to model something off so we turned my scarf into a superhero cape

he might have a career in modeling.hehe.

Although NOT cheap or bought this weekend at goodwill, I love these COACH heels my boyfriend bought me a few Christmas's back....

HAPPY TUESDAY EVERYONE!

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Juicing

So I have been a "juicer" for close to 6 months now and I love love love it! The benefits from it are tremendous and it seriously is so very tasty! It all started when Robert saw a documentary called "FatSickAndNearlyDead" (GO WATCH IT!!). He immediately downloaded it and told me to watch it. I was so amazed by the journey this guy went through!! When the movie was over we got in the car and drove to the store, bought a juicer and TONS of fresh fruits and veggies. We did the strictly juicing diet for about 5 days,  we ended it early due to my reaction from the chemicals used on the kale, read here on more about that.  We still have fresh juice in our daily diet though. It is such a life saver!! So I thought I would share a few of our favorite juice recipes ..... This is a GREAT way to get the kids to get more vegetables into their diet too!

Green Lemonade -
1 Green Apple
3 Handfuls Spinach
6-8 Kale Leaves
½ Cucumber
4 Celery Stalks
½ Lemon

Alkaline Juice -
1 cup of spinach
1/2 cucumber
2 stalks of celery including leaves
3 carrots
1/2 apple

Lemony Apple -
2 apples
1 lemon
1 slice of ginger

Orange Carrot -
8 Large Fresh Cleaned Carrots
2 Large Fresh Peeled Oranges

Mean Green-
1 Bulk of kale
4 Stalks of celery
1 Cucumber
2 granny smith apples
½ lemon
Ginger root (thumb sized)

Of course, plain apple juice or orange juice is always great too !!  

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Spiced Shrimp with Ginger Rice and Peas

I made this for dinner last week and my family loved it, even if my family consists of Robert and I. hehe. Robby is still stuck on baby food and only takes bites here and there of our food.... but back to the point, it is pretty fast and easy to make!! Plus it isn't very heavy, but still has a lot of flavor!!

What you will need:

4 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1 cup long-grain white rice

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 cup frozen peas

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

Lime wedges, for serving

Heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high. (you can do this in a saucepan if you wish) Add scallion whites and ginger and cook, stirring often, until soft, 3 minutes. 

Add rice and 1 1/2 cups water and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, cook peas.

 Remove from heat and top with peas. Let stand, covered, 5 minutes, then add scallion greens and fluff rice with a fork.

Then, in a medium bowl, toss shrimp with cumin and coriander and season with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high. Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until opaque throughout, about 4 minutes.

Serve shrimp with rice and lime wedges. ( I used lime concentrate because we didn't have any limes)

 Voila!! Dinner is served.....

Also, I want to give Robby recognition for sitting and watching mommy cook so patiently..... with the help of some cheerios.

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Christmas Crafts (2)

I had more free time than I expect today.... So in addition to Flashback Friday, as I promised, more Christmas DIY for you crafty ones!!

 Christmas pillowcover made from napkins

no tutorial, but it just looks like boards nailed onto a vertical board....

Super cute idea!

 Snowman Family

 Reindeer thumbprint ornaments

no tutorial, but pretty....

 

Hand print Tree Skirt

Happy Crafting Folks!!

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Flashback Friday No. 3

Now this is a good one! I'm gonna say 2005 maybe 2004... Yep, high school days! The girl with me is my friend Christina (aka Alina's mother) We've been buddies for many many moons!! We have grown up so much since this picture!! I miss it sometimes though......

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Goodbye Novemeber!!

Although its still officially Fall until December 22nd, it seems that Christmas/Winter starts to take over a little early. Once November is done, I can bet no one has out orange and brown decorations! Its all about the Christmas lights, snowmen and white/red/green colors now. I'm not complaining one bit, I'm just making an observation really.  I mean its true for our household!! So I wanted to pay homage to some of the fall decor around our house and hello to our Christmas tree of course.  I cant believe 2011 is nearly over by the way..... One month left to make great memories before we start over again!!

not fall decor, but gotta love pretty flowers !!

Now say hello to our tree....

Happy Holidays Folks!

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