Sep 22, 2017

Friday Thoughts

Happy first day of Fall!!! This was meant to be posted yesterday but I forgot to hit publish. Ooops....  It's the end of the week though so YAY!!! Even though today is the start of Fall, that means nothing when you live in the Southeast. There is truly no telling when Fall will actually come (October, December who can guess). I know that it is suppose to be still in the high 80s for the next 2 weeks. WHYYYY!!!!

Anywho, here are some thoughts for this first day of Fall 17':






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Peace& Blessing, all!! Everyone have a great weekend & enjoy the start of a new season.

Sep 20, 2017

My new favorite candles

Anyone who has been reading the blog long enough know that I love candles, aromatherapy, or anything that smells good. Recently, I went in to Bath & Body Works to get some body wash/ hand soap (the usual). One of the first things I noticed was that they had new candles. Of course me being me I had to smell each one. 

These were my two favorite ones:


One of the things that I like about these is that there is a little essential oil in them. I have been burning both of them non-stop since I bought them a little over a week ago. The lemon one I usually burn in the kitchen (I love the smell of lemons). 
Right now the "medium size candles" are mix & match 2 for $22.


I will go back & most likely buy these two at some point in the next few weeks:



I also bought this candle
This is the larger version of the candle of one that I bought last year. All of the ones above I like because they not only smell great but they are not super overwhelming. With that being said, there were some ones that were super strong & not in a good way.

Some of the ones that are super strong in the smell department are based on cities across the U.S. Some of the smells for each city are a little interesting (meaning they do not smell good at all). Of all of those, the one I would buy would be the Seattle one:
The smell of this reminds me of the coffee lip balm & body butter The Body Shop use to make. This would go great in a kitchen. I mean, it smell just like coffee.

Peace & Blessings all!! I would love to hear if any of you have seen or bought some of the new candles at Bath & Body Works/White Candle Barn.





Sep 19, 2017

Fitness Tuesday

With me being sick for the last week, I have been super lazy,slacking on a couple of items on my to-do list. A few of those items in particular: finishing unpacking, some reading for school, & the gym. I did go to the gym once last week, a major change from 4-5 times. One good thing from that one day was that I was sore for a few days.

Pertaining to my workout, I think that I have definitely gotten my leg day down pretty good. Arms, shoulders, & chest are getting there. The one area I have always had an issue with, like most women is the stomach area. With me, that is the first place that I gain & the last place I lose. Most of it is diet, which I have gotten under control for the most part (having my desk by the work candy drawer is the worst idea EVER!!!!). Now, I am starting to work on getting my stomach back to where it was.

These are a few of the core/stomach/ab routines that I liked from Pinterest:










Over the weekend, I have decided to make a few changes to the blog & the way I post. I think that have set days for topics work best for me at the moment personally. This week, is going to be a test so, we will see how it goes.

Peace & Blessings all!! Have a great Tuesday!

Sep 13, 2017

Cook's Essential Air Fryer

This is my opinion on the product. I received not compensation for my review of this item.
Hi all!!! I have been busy & sick the last couple of days. I was going to post this yesterday but I decided to be somewhat productive & try to study. A few months ago, I bought an air fryer from QVC. My friend bought one at the beginning of the year & we used the a couple of days after she got it delivered. To say that I have been obsessed with it is an understatement.

Since we have moved into the house, I not only have a place to put it but I have been using it on the regular. They have a variety of sizes on the site. The one that I purchased was the 3 quart since the 5.3 quart was sold out when I bought mine (my friend has that one). It comes in 7 colors (which in the 3 quart they only have the white one left). I chose the Turquoise because I like fun colors. 
The fryer is pretty easy to work. There are buttons for fish, poultry, beef, & potatoes. When you turn it on, it does go to a preset temperature of 370 degrees with the time depending on if you use one of the preset button or fixed the time yourself. It can be adjusted to below 370 degrees in increments of 10 degrees. The highest that the fryer will go is 400 degrees.


My fryer came with the fry basket & a the pie try. Since my friend bought the larger one, that one came with a divider for when you want to cook two items at once such as an entree & a side.
This is the air fryer basket. For those who are not sure how this work: The holes in the basket cooks the item placed in it by use the air to crisp/fry the item without grease. You have to push the power button twice in order to make the fryer to start cooking. To say that I love this fryer is an understatement. The other night, I bought some salmon at Whole Foods & decided to try it out. 

I brushed a little Lemon Pepper marinated on each piece. The Air Fryer was set at 370 degrees for 8 minutes.


 One thing that is important is to use oven mitts when opening the fryer. I use tongs usually to take whatever I cooked in it out. To me, the fish turned out pretty good. It was flaky, not over or undercooked. I did put a little too much sauce on it (which are the brown pieces on the fish). It did not have a fish small once cooked & was easy to remove.

If you ever have a chance to invest in one of these, I would definitely suggest buying one.Air frying is also great for steaming vegetables among other things. Right now they have the 3 quart for $99.98 & the 5.3 quart for $95.52. The great thing about QVC is that you can do payments on it which they call easy pay. 

Peace & blessings, all! Have a great hump day! I love would love to hear what you would cook in an air fryer if you have/had one.




Sep 5, 2017

Fitness Tuesday

Crazy to think that it is already September and that the year is 4 months away from being over. Summer 2017 slipped by me quicker than other summers before for some reason. Since the end of July/beginning of August I have been trying to lose weight.  Recently, I found out that I have an under active thyroid that has made me gain a lot
of weight in a short period of time.

I started taking medicine to get it under control plus I had to change my diet food wise (so far I have lost about 20lbs). The other change that I made is working out again.
I have started going to the gym 4 to 6 times a week. Usually when I go, I do a combination of cardio/weight machines/exercises that I have found on Pinterest. One thing I love about this time of year is that we are getting closer to boot season. I focus a good deal on legs this time of year in my workouts. I mean, who can say no to a pair of boots with a dress. Here are some of the legs exercises that I do at home & the gym from Pinterest:

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I am going to try to get back in to the swing of things at some point in the next month. Peace & blessings all. Have a great Tuesday!!!