Spring Trend Kimono Style

The Kimono is bar far my second favorite spring trend for 2015 next to the midi skirt! A printed kimono adds instant style to any outfit. It's so versatile, throw it on over a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans or rock it as a swim suit cover up!

What I Ate Wednesday + Week 2 Weigh In

“The journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step”- Lao Tzu

Week two of project "get healthy and lose some weight along the way" (I just made that up) was surprisingly much easier than I anticipated. In the past around week two is where m y momentum pretty much dissipated, I’m that girl that can pretty much do anything for a week but longer than that becomes a struggle. But because I have taken my focus off weight loss and placed it on health, I am finding it much easier to stay on track. Ok, now for what I know you're really here for; What I ate Wednesday!

Breakfast  

My day always starts with coffee! Three chicken sausage, two egg whites, one whole egg and a tangerine.

Daily Starbucks run

If you follow me on snapchat you seen that Wednesday was a terrible, no good very bad morning. Nothing was going my way, it was just one of those morning where want to throw a tantrum and go back home, however when you're 30 and you throw a tantrum it really doesn't get you too far. So rather than behave like a three year old I threw all caution to the wind and got a S'mores frappuccino! Oh’ my stars the marshmallow whip is amazing! Maybe it was the sugar high, but totally turned my morning around. 

Mid morning Snack

I had one cup of edamame!

Lunch

I’m only in the office five hours a day, I tend to have a lot of things to get done in a short amount of time so it’s not uncommon that I get busy at work and don’t have time for a lunch. This was one of those days, so I had more edamame and pushed through the afternoon. 

Dinner

For dinner I we had Trader Joe’s chicken fried rice, fried in coconut oil. This stuff is so good and one cup is only 5 points! I also steamed some green beans on the side!

 Evening Snack

After dinner I had some dried seaweed.

My last weeks goal was to cut sugary drinks out. With the exception of my frappuccino binge I was successful. I pretty much drank fruit infused water all week (with the exception of my daily coffee). I have noticed that since I have really made an effort to cut back on my sugar intake my overall appetite has dramatically decreased and I am noticing that I find myself not as hungry and I’m definitely not having as many sugar cravings.

This upcoming week I will build on last weeks goal of cutting sugary drinks and I am going to add meal prepping my lunch for the week. Because my work day gets hectic, unless I pack a healthy lunch I either skip lunch entirely or I have something quick from the vending machine. I want to set myself up for success by bringing a healthy option to eat.

Wednesday is my official weigh in day and this week lost two more pounds! My total two week weight loss is five pounds! I know it’s not much but this girl will take her victories where she can get ‘em!

Sunday Favorites + Memorial Day Sales

Girl with Curves wearing Maurices plus size dress | Maurices clothing |Plus size Deep V-Neck Sleeveless Romper Royal Blue | Forever 21 plus size pants | Lane Bryant wide shoes | BCBGMAXAZRIA clutch | Wayfarer glasses | Perfume fragrance | LSA International colored wine glasses

Hey lovies, I hope your having a fantastic three day weekend! This week I fell in love with so many amazing things and I wanted to share some of those things with you! My favorite is these Forever 21 wide leg floral print pants with a second close being the Lane Bryant Embellished sandals. You gals know I love my flats and with these beauties being office appropriate, I haven't taken them off all week!There are also a number of Memorial day sales happening this weekend, here are a few worth checking out.

ASOS 20% OFF everything// code LONGWKND

LANE BRYANT Buy one Get One Free entire site// Code EPICSUMMERLB

ELOQUII 25% OFF full priced items// Code OUTOFOFFICE

TORRID Buy one Get one 50% OFF entire site// Code LONGWKEND

Linked up with Beauty 101 by Lisa | Refined Eclectic Style Friday Favs

Check, Please! Four Ways to Wear Gingham

Gingham is everywhere! It’s probably the hottest trend for 2015. Its so refreshing, but it can be tricky. While trendy and fresh, it can quickly go wrong. The most iconic versions of gingham are looks worth avoiding; if not careful you could end up channeling Dorothy trying to escape OZ or an old school picnic blanket.  No, you've got to carefully consider all cliches (like milkmaids and cowgirls) and find a way to sidestep each.

If that simply sounds like too much work for you, never fear I’ve done the research for you and compiled a list of 4 foolproof tips for always getting this checkered patterned right every time!

1. Stick to neutral and soft tones

I love Black and white gingham, pink and white is another great option. Avoid blue and white or red and white, you might run the risk of looking like a picnic blanket. 

2. Go for clean structured pieces 

Structured blazers and pencil skirts are a great way to keep it modern and polished. 

3. Modernize gingham with a graphic top

Add a graphic tee or sweatshirt and voilo, you’ve got a trendy unexpected outfit.

4. Go minimal with Gingham

Not ready to take the gingham plunge ? Add a touch of the trend with accessories, a gingham clutch or flats immediately freshens up any outfit.

There's nothing wrong with an all over checked pattern, as long as it comes on something sharp and not over-the-top, like a tailored suit.

Gingham is truly one of the greatest ways to incorporate a bit of pattern into your everyday look. Best paired with neutral pieces, gingham will make a great summertime look even better.

Linked up with// Style Elixir Fab Friday Favorites | Fashion Friday Fashion Linkup

What I ate Wednesday-Week 1 Weigh In

Hey guys, so week one of my new weight loss journey went pretty well. My focus this week was to simply get use to tracking everything I eat and less on staying within my points. So here is my What I Ate Wednesday /Day in The Life recap for you;

Breakfast
I have a major issue with egg white, think its just a visual thing for me so instead of having all egg whites I had one whole egg and two egg white scrabbled and sliced tomato with salt and pepper.

If you follow me on Instagram you know that I am slightly obsessed with Starbucks. Since starting my weight loss journey I have traded in my usual venti toffee nut latte with caramel drizzle for a Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte no caramel drizzle in an effort to save points/calories!

Snack
My mid morning snack was 10 baby carrots and two table spoons of Trader Joes Hummus!

Lunch
Wednesdays are always crazy at work so I really didn't have time for a full lunch so I ran over to the Subway shop next door. I never finish a whole sandwich so I always order the kids meal. It comes with a juice box that I take home for my son to enjoy and apple slices which I saved for my afternoon snack. I love chips but I exercised control and didn't have any.  I got black forest ham with no cheese and avocado instead of mayo for an easy 7 Point lunch.

Afternoon Snack
I forgot to pack my afternoon snack so I just ate my apple slices from lunch.

Dinner
Because I had such a minimal afternoon snack, it goes without saying that I was starving by the time I got home from work. I made a quick dinner of some curry chicken using the bottled sauce from Trader Joes and fried rice with peas and carrots. I had a half cup of rice and a whole cup of the chicken!

Evening Snack
I had a good amount of points left after dinner so I made some stove top pop corn with real butter! I had three cups!

 One of the major things I am focusing on during this journey is making healthy lifestyle changes first and weight loss second. My plan is to focus on adding one healthy habit each week, while building on the previous weeks habit. This upcoming week I am really going to focus on staying within my daily point allowance and replacing my drinks with water and low sugar options.

My first week went really well. Wednesdays are my official weigh in day and today and I lost 3 pounds!!!!!!! Next week I may try to add a day or two of exercise into my life, I hate exercise so don't hold me to that it may or may not happen.

Weekend Shenanigans + Weekly Goals

Skirt-Forever 21

Top-Old Navy

Shoes-old

Bag-JustFab

I must say my weekend was pretty lazy yet rather productive, if that makes any sense! If you’re ever wondering what I am up to on a daily basis, just follow me on Instagram and/or Snapchat (SaprinaD) I’m always posting pictures and videos of my daily shenanigans!

Friday was a pretty productive day, it was Nic’s weekend with his dad so I was able to get some errands done.  I worked my day job, did my weekly Trader Joe’s run and headed over to Bestbuy to pick out a new lap top. I had my old laptop for five years so needless to say, a new one was long overdue, however it was an expense that I just did not want to incur anytime soon, but unfortunately last week my old laptop finally went on to glory and crashed.

Saturday was my kinda lazy day, I didn't leave the house and spent the entire day in my sweats.  I did some much needed house work in the morning.  I pretty much spent the rest of the day on my couch. I binge watched Bravo's “The Single Project”. Have any of you seen this show?  I seriously watched the entire season on Saturday, which caused me to be way to involved in these strangers lives, and for a moment I found myself yelling at the tv in frustration... which was about the point that I realized it was time for me to turn the tv OFF.

If you're a regular reader, and I hope that you are you may have notice the blog got a facelift, that was also a Saturday accomplishment.

Sunday was church and dinner with my best friend, followed by my sad attempt at meal prep, which really just consist of me packing up my snack servings for the week.

That was pretty much my epic weekend! Next weekend is a three day and Nic will be home so, I have no idea what type of adventures it will bring!

My goals for this week….

• BE//  ON TRACK WITH WEIGHT LOSS- Wednesday I will post last weeks weight loss recap, and I am pretty excited to share with you guys my week one results.

• DO// ORGANIZE THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS- Currently my Christmas decor is shoved in a few plastic tubs and stored behind my sofa (don’t ask) but this week I need to organize it and find it a new home!

• READ// Instincts by TD Jakes- new book I will be starting

• MEMORIZE// My memory scripture for this week is Galatians 5:22-23

I'd love to hear about  your goals this wee? 

Linked up // What I Wore To Work | Meet & Greet Blog Hop | Link Up With Lisa | Mahogany's Closet Mondays

Open Letter to My Future Husband

Dear Future Husband,

Please forgive me if I come across as snarky and slightly mistrusting in the beginning. You see, I have dated a lot of not so good guys before you. I’ve been broken. I’ve sinned. I’ve been wronged and I’ve done the wrong doing. I’ve willed the wrong and run away from what's right. I have been accused of flightlessness and manipulation. I have been lost. And at times have even lost sight of my virtue. I’ve looked for you on the street, I have prayed for you and at times I even doubted your existence. 

Weight Loss Wednesday: Start of a Journey

I love to eat and I love food. I do not love dieting! Overall my diets relatively balanced, I eat my veggies and I don’t make a habit of skipping breakfast, that being said I’m not one to turn down a piece of cake or a glass of wine! Truth be told I have always been  a “thick girl” but indulging a little too much, a little too often has resulted in a slow but steady weight gain over the last few years.

When I was younger I managed to maintain a healthy size. While I have never been a person to worry too much about the number on the scale, I find that I am comfortable somewhere around 180 pounds. Before having my son I easily maintained my weight by engaging in physical activities like dance team and I had a very active job. Now a days majority of my work day is spent behind sitting at a desk and have little to no motivation to work out!

180 Pounds circa 2010 at 180

My Tipping Point

Ok, so I read a lot of weight loss blogs and I must warn you, my tipping point is not some profound deep heart wrenching experience. I didn’t find myself unrecognizable in a photo, or find myself too large to fit into the seat of my favorite a roller coaster. No, my tipping point is much more shallow. Recently I ordered a skirt online from one of my favorite retailers, I shop this site often and my sizes are always very right on, a 16 if its an a-line and because this girls got hips I order an 18 if its a pencil style skirt. The size 18 skirt arrived and much to my dismay, it was too small. The buck stops here,  I refuse to go up to a size 20!  Currently I am at my heaviest weighing in at 225.4 pounds! Now let me start by saying overall I am happy in my skin, and if I never lose a pound I would be ok if I remained this size for the remainder of my life, my self image overall is a positive one. But, from a completely shallow standpoint I’ve invested too much in my current wardrobe to continue to grown and not fit into any of it and  honestly from a medical standpoint I know that I am carrying around a lot of extra weight, and I know it’s not healthy.


 Monique Lhuillier gown size 16.

The Plan

In the past I have started and stopped many diets! I have put pressure on  myself to loose an unrealistic amount of weight in an equally unrealistic amount of time. I have done every fad diet on the market, I get discouraged and I quit! This time I am not setting out with any “weight loss” goals, I simply want to live a healthier lifestyle, and lose some weight along the way. Shortly after my son was born I did Weight Watchers and I was successful on the program. I never felt deprived and for me, its just the most realistic option.

For myself as I am sure it is for most women, weight loss is a very personal journey. I don’t know how this will go, but my hope in blogging about it is to first make myself accountable to you my readers and second maybe I will encourage someone else along the way.

As I go on this journey I invite you to come back weekly for as I travel on this road to a healthier and hopefully thinner self!

Unboxing: Ipsy Glam Bag May

OMG, Yay! My first Ipsy bag is here. If you aren't familiar, Ipsy is $10/month subscription service.As a member you receive a beautiful Glam Bag with deluxe samples and full-sized products. 

Ipsy ships via DHL Global Mail and there shipping is super fast. I was impressed. It took only 4 days to get to me! 

Ipsy releases the contents of the bag on the 10th of each month, so your able to sneak peak on line on that months contents! Each bag has a theme. This months theme was "Jet Setter".

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Lip Pencil and Bonus Gloss

I love Urban Decay so I'm excited to give this a try!

Balanced Guru Style Me Hair Oil

I'm a devote coconut oil user so I doubt that I will be using this bad boy! 

Chella Eye Brow Color Pencil

In always on the hunt for a good brow pencil. I'll let you know what I think about this one.

Nuxe Facial Cleanser and Makeup Remover

Eh not super excited about this but of course I'll give it a try! 

Jesse's Girl Pure Pigment Eye Dust

I life the neutral color I think it will be a pretty everyday eye but I'm not a fan of loose shadow.

Another thing I like about Ipsy is they offer a discount on each months product they send. So if you like it you can pick it up on there site for 20-25% off retail price.

If your interested in getting your own subscription you can subscribe here, and tell 'em I sent you!

A Day in the life: Mothers Day Weekend

My Mothers day weekend was filled with love and good company!

Saturday was my church’s annual Women’s Tea. I love this event and look forward to it every year. The women in my church sign up to host a table. You get to decorate your table how ever you like, while staying within that years theme. This years theme was "A Legacy of Knowledge". The women in my church go all out with the tables and it’s always so much fun to  see all the creative beautiful things they come up with. This is my second year doing a table.

My Best friend and I 

On Sunday I attended worship service with my son!

Dress-eShakti  |Necklace-Charming Charlie's|

Its So Hard to get him to take a serious picture!

Finally got it!

 Ever since I had Nicholas being a mom has taken on a whole new meaning for me. Becoming a mother myself  has caused me to appreciate my own mom so much more. She was a single mom who raised two children.  There are times when I feel overwhelmed with just one, and unlike my own mom I have so much help. I can not imagine doing it with two and no support! Wether your a mommy or not, I hope your weekend was blessed!

What I'm Wearing: Black and White Obsession

If you follow me in Instagram (and if you don't you should) then you may have notice that lately I have been completely obsessed with Black and white patterns! I think its safe to say that if my wardrobe consisted of only black and white, my withdraw from color wouldn't be too severe.

Yes, you can mix and match and layer your black and white pieces (the possibilities are endless) but the result is always the same, a polished, stylish winning combination!

|Skirt-Old Torrid-Similar |T shirt-Target|

Style Tip: You've probably heard lots of warnings that horizontal stripes will make you look heavier. The way to style stripes is to choose the right size stripe. Very thin stripes do have a tendency to visually widen the body. Curvy girls should stick to medium to thicker stripes! 

A few more examples of how I have been rocking black and white combination lately!

If you remember a few blog post back this dress was my Fashion find!

Office Ready 

For more black and white style looks and just basic fun and foolishness follow me on Instagram!

The $50 Mini Closet Makeover

My closet has been a major stress-or in my life for sometime now! Its small, cluttered and has no sort of organizational system whatsoever. Not even to mention the mountain of pants piled up on the top shelf. Every time I went to pull a pair down the entire mountain collapsed around me! It was awful.

I set out to Target with a $50 budget in search for a solution. I must warn you what your about to see is not pretty and I am not proud of it...

Seriously I had a $50 budget so if you are expecting to see an Extreme Home Makeover style remodel here, go ahead and dial it down a notch before you go any further...go ahead I'll wait!

Okay, now that we have adjusted our expectations...I did go a little over budget . Target had a sale on shelving units...I bought two of these three shelf organizing systems, they were $24 each and a basic tension rod for $6.00 (I bought two sizes because I didn't know which I would need, I plan to return which ever I don't use).

First step was to put these bad boys together. They were seriously super simple to assemble (but I must say I'm pretty good at putting things together). All in all I think it took less than an hour for both.

Next was the truly awful part..pulling everything out of the closet. This truly was awful because I was forced to deal with the incredible amount of stuff I have been hoarding in that closet. Seriously how many pairs of distressed Boyfriend Jeans dose one girl need? Once it was all out I also took the time to purge things I no longer wear and/ or  fit.

I stacked the two shelves on top of each other and anchored them to the back closet wall. And inserted the tension rod for extra hanging space.

The space is small but I still have a considerable amount of storage space up top and eventually I’d like to add an extra shelf for shoes. Currently my shoes live on a shoe shelf tucked in a corner of the hall way.

An organized closet space makes my brain feel less cluttered and makes getting dressed in the morning way less stressful! Its not perfect but for just over fifty buck I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. 

After it was all done, I stepped back to admire my handy work and couldn't help but think, “Gosh, it’s times like this I am thankful for my singleness, cause where on earth would my husband put his things!”