Craft Corner- Hearts Time!

After many weeks of beading and then the big Show, I had to find another creative outlet. I used my new- found love of Modge Podge and the now empty spots on my bathroom walls to create these new Valentine's Heart Wall Hangings.

Remember, at Christmas time I had the Christmas tree ones? Well this is what is now adorning my 'Chocolate Milk' coloured bathroom walls (that really was the name of the paint). I used heart-shapped cookie cutters to trace some hearts on the back of some scrapbooking papers. I love that they are not all red, like all the rest of my Valentine's Day house decorations.

They kind of look like they are danding a little bit, eh?  If you recall from last time, all you do is Modge Podge the canvas first, then Modge Podge the back of your shapes and place them on the canvas. Then Modge Podge on top of your shapes, making sure you seal all edges, then one final coat of Modge Podge all over the canvas to finish the wall hanging.  My goal is to make some of these Modge Podge canvas' for every celebration/season. Next up, Easter!

Nice Nails- Blushing Blue Sky

Things are changing around my world... for the first time ever I am wearing BLUE nail polish. I have never done this, but with all the amazing, exciting colours out there, I had to get this vibrant blue and go nuts this week and change it up!

Let me tell you, I kinda feel like Lady Gaga! I keep on looking down at my hands and being surprised by what I see there! It does take some getting used to- I have been wearing red/pink/purple/brown all my life!

These are the wild and crazy colours. Rockstar Pink, Blizzard Blue, and my white little art deco paintbrush.

Healthy Snack Alternative- Pretzels and Chocolate

You're probably saying.... WHAT? Well, apart from the salt, pretzels are a pretty healthy snack. They have very little fat, and because they are so crunchy, I find that you need very little to 'fill you up'. This was a nice way to feel like I was having a decadent snack.

Here you have a small bowl of pretzels- 17 of these little babies are 110 calories (I had about 13 in my bow) and some melted dark and delicious chocolate. I took a square and a half of the Lindt Excellence 70% cacao dark chocolate and microwaved it until it was nice and melted. Then I dipped the little bits of pretzels in the melted chocolate- yummmm! But what was even better was that Brent walked by with a bowl of strawberries... and that was even better dipped in the the hot chocolate. You only need a little bit of chocolate and let me tell you, it was like a fondue party on my lap (I was sittiing watching the Bachelor- I know, trashy!!!).  I think these would be even better if you dipped the ends in the chocolate and then put them on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet in the fridge. They would come out delicious and with a 'hard' chocolate coating.

Here's the nutrional information:

168 calories

21g carbs

 8g  fat

 3g protein

 2g fibre

 3g sugar

Quick Dinner Idea- Omelette and Salad

There are many nights in the week where I need to make a quick dinner for the family. It needs to be nutritious and delicious too. That's when I turn to my old standby...Omelette and Salad. It's so easy because it's flexible... you can throw into it whatever you have in your fridge and whatever your little fussy family likes.  This week I had low fat cheddar cheese and blackforest ham.

The way I do it is - 2 eggs per person, add a bit of milk, whisk it up and then add your ingredients like cheese, meat, veggies. Spray a large pan with Pam and then pour the egg mixture in. I let it cook on the bottom, kind of splitting it into quarters then I flip each quarter and voila! You have 4 little omelettes. They make nice little sandwiches on whole wheat toast with a bit of butter and nice for leftovers for lunch the next day. It warms up well in the microwave.  I then add a nice bright, fresh salad....remember, you eat with your eyes! This is the simplest too... take some spring mix, cut a few berries, add some almonds or seeds, then a little Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette- you don't need a lot.

Here's the nutrional information for this meal:

465 calories
37g carbs
25g fat
27g protein
 7g fibre
10g sugar

I still go out for lunch...Extreme Pita Alert!

Part of living this healthy lifestyle is to also 'live'. Which means still being able to go out with girlfriends at lunch time...but just make smart restaurant choices. Enter Extreme Pita.

All of us are trying to watch what we eat, so Extreme Pita is a good choice because they have lots of fresh veggies and they grill your meat right there for you. So here we have Sarah, Jane, Lily, Kelly and Nancy all proud and excited to share there pita's for the camera.

This is my absolute favorite. It's Thai Beef Pita with a spicy, zingy Sweet Thai Sauce. It's even got the Health Check Mark from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. It kind of makes my nose run... but it's a good burn. Filled with cabbage and peppers and carrots and broccoli and onions and thin, real delicious grilled beef.  See this link... they give you all the nutritional information on their website. So you can plan what you are going to eat before you eat it and make the right choices.

The Total Wedding Show and the Booth Babes

Still catching up with the Total Wedding Show and the blog posts I need to share. This one is dedicated to my beautiful friends and family who gave some of their weekend up to come and help me at the Total Wedding Show. 

With the help of my Mom, we set our booth up with the jewellery of course, but added photos of real brides that were customers and the photos that they sent me to show off their jewellery on their special day. See, it was real cozy.

See... doesn't it look cozy, just like your dressing room in your home?

Here's the little coco mado 'postcard' we were giving out to all the shinny, happy brides.

Some closeups of the big show stoppers....these were a hit for sure. The big chunky bracelets were the only things left on the table. The big chunky necklaces were worn by the models in the fashion show. They looked so nice.

I can't show you their heads (or I would have to pay royalties) ... but look at the pretty coco mado necklace adorning the pretty Bride Model. I took some photos that didn't really turn out. But I will have some better pictures to share that were taken by my Booth Babe Noelle and Booth Babe Julie who have great cameras a little later on for you.

Speaking of my Booth Babes....here's my lovely friend Noelle who drove 4 hours -one-way- to come and help and support me on the weekend. She is a beautiful girl who might have gotten a little, tiny, wedding bug...ok, maybe just the photographers got her excited!

My wonderful Mom who is a 'Pro' at this... it's our 4th year. She doesn't like to smile for the camera though... but she is great at handing out the cards. I feel so proud when she talks to the brides-to-be and says '...my daughter custom designs the jewellery ....'. Love you Mom!

And then one of my BFF's Fancy Nancy came to help me out on Sunday. She was so excited to be part of the whole scene. She is actually one of my best customers too!  She wears it proud!

I just love this candid shot. Armed with her coffee... she looks so excited looking at the chunky bracelet, she looks like an excited kid on Christmas morning!

Here's Nancy and I looking bright and bushy on Sunday morning.

Ok, this is a horrible picture of me. But real nice of Janice. I thought I needed to honour the wonderful lady who has given me an amazing opportunity for the past 4 years now. Thanks Janice, you organize an awesome show!

Here's my little sister helping me out again this year. Thanks for all your help Julie. This year, her shift was a little shorter...

Because she is 7 months pregnant... She's gonna be mad that I put this funny picture of her up... but I had to show you how gorgeous she is! Love you Jul!



The Total Wedding Show- The Planning and Set Up

I know that my blog entries have been less about good healthy recipes and more about my little business, coco mado, and the Total Wedding Show these past few days... it kinda took over my life for the past 2 weeks. So now I am going to share with you some pictures of how I had to rethink of the whole weekend. In the past, snacks and meals were just second thoughts and I would just buy food at the show or eat all the free wedding cake samples. Well this year was different... I planned all the healthy foods and snacks that I was going to bring to the show so that I could feed myself and my booth babes very healthy foods.

Here you have it- the grocery list:

• Apples (didn't eat)
• Homemade Low Fat Banana Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Carrots
• Pretzels (didn't eat)
• Lindt 70% dark chocolate
• Dried fruit and nuts (didn't eat)
• Raw Almonds (didn't eat)
• Margaret's Artisan Bakery Organinc Flour Crisps - Cranberry Pumpkin Seed
• Extra Old White Cheddar (finished by the cheese monster... Noelle the Booth Babe)
• Brookside Dark Chocolate covered berries
• Whole Grain thin buns
• Delicious natural raspberry jam
• Peanut Butter (made delicious BP & J sandwiches)
• Kashi Granola Bars

These granola bars are delicious and good for you. Seven Whole Graind and Almonds and Trail Mix are the 2 different kinds we enjoyed.

1 bar has 4g of fibre and 150 calories. Not bad for a snack on the run.

You know I don't like to buy too many packaged items now, but these are one of the only granola bars out there that I don't mind eating. They are filled with good for you ingredients, and unlike Fibre 1 bars, their first ingredient is not sugar... in fact they use brown rice syrup and cane juice molasses.

So now that I was all prepared with my food, Friday morning I loaded up my car, my Mom and Dad put a few things in their car and we went off to the wedding show.

This is a fuzzy picture of the booth before we set it all up. Pretty ugly right!!! Well except for my pretty purse.

And here is a nicer picture of the booth after setting up. A lot nicer right???

The best part of this whole experience was that for the first time in the 4 years I have been doing this, "I" am the one who loaded my car with all the heavy tables and bins and things. "I" am the one (with a little help from my Mom and Dad) who mostly emptied all the stuff from my car and brought it into the show. Since starting this New Healthy Lifestyle, the side effects of me losing weight and exercising is that I am a lot stronger and have a lot more stamina. I guess that is what 35 lbs off can do for you. Also, my body is not filled with crap, junk and garbage... so during the show I had a lot more stamina, I wasn't as tired and was able to stand up for a lot longer than I have in the past. What a success in deed! 

Another example is that a few weeks ago, we had a little snow fall... maybe 3 cm, so I got home after work on a Friday and the driveway had enough snow there to be shovelled... now usually I would let Brent shovel it, it's always been a 'Man's job', but this year was different. Brent was sleeping and was going to work that night, so I went and got the shovel and did the whole driveway by myself. Since we have moved into our home (almost 10 years), I have never shoveled by myself at all... and when I have helped out previously, I thought I was going to pass out or die of a heart attack.  This time, I was strong, not out of breath, no heart racing, the only thing was I wished I had a hat!!!! I did it all in about 30 minutes. What a triumph and a great big pat on the back for me!



Nice Nails- Cascading Starlight

I guess you could say that I am in LOVE with my silver sparkle tiny paint brush. This time I used it over a dark plum/brown colour. It just ads a quick sparkle to plain nails. This is why I called it Cascading Starlight, it looks like stars falling from the sky.

Longo's Panini Lunch- Healthy Alternative

My healthy living journey is not lived in a bubble. Meaning.... real life happens. So on weekends I still have to run and around and do errands and go here and there and everywhere and sometimes you can pack your lunch or your snacks, but sometimes you need to eat out and making healthy choices out there in this 'fast food world' can be a challenge. Now in the past, the answer would have been a quick McDonald's or some other unhealthy 'crap'. 
All that has changed... now I look for healthier, whole food options. Less processed with natural ingredients. Well recently we ended up at Longo's and had to have lunch, so we were floored by all the choices they had. Fresh salad bar, fresh sushi, fresh hot dishes, fresh made pizza and my personal favorite- Panini sandwhich.

I chose a delicious combination of turkey, roasted tomatoes, provolone and lettuce. Not your average everyday sandwhich. Visit their website http://www.longos.com/ and you can actually view their recipes and even their magazines online. I already know what I want to make next- Whole wheat pumkin scones.

Washed it down with this beverage- Fuze Shape- only 20 calories. Tasted like a kind of Fruitopia.

I guess it's know for it's vitamins and minerals. Vitamin C and Chromium to be exact. I know that it contains sucralose- an artificial sweetener- and I am trying to stay away from the chemicals. But it was something I just wanted to try. Next time, I'll choose water.

Melanie chose her favorite. Arthur's Smoothies in Verry-Berry.

Check out the ingredients. Completely natural, no additives or preservatives. A mom likes that!



Popcorn, Indiana- Healthy Popcorn Alternative

Even though I am eating healthier, cleaner. I still so enjoy a crunchy snack. Imagine my excitement when I found this product in the Organic Garage. The place where only good for you organic products are sold.
Well this ia a girls dream come true. Crunchy, salty and sweet- Kettlecorn.
If you visit their website http://www.popcornindiana.com/product_type/classic-popcorn you will see that they have a whole bunch of flavours. Here, in Canada, I have only seen Kettlecorn and Movie Theatre Popcorn flavours. But I see they have many, many more... I would love to try Cinnamon Sugar, oh boy!

Snack time!

See the calorie count, 2 cups would be about 130 calories. And look at those ingredients. Just 4, popcorn, sugar, canola oil and salt. Simply delicious when you need a little snack on the go.

Healthy Living- Walking really is the best exercise!

When I started on this new lifestyle journey I vowed that I would get 30 minutes a day of walking. In fact, the team at the Wharton clinic and Dr. Oz both mentioned that this is what I needed to do to start getting fit. Now that I have lost some weight they also both recommend some strength training... so that’s when I do my at home crunchs, leg lifts, arm lifts, butt scrunches etc.

I subscribe to the Dr. Oz email list and got this amazing article that proves exactly what I was talking about...

Here’s the link...

http://www.realage.com/health-tips/health-benefits-of-short-walk?eid=1010654796&memberid=51587748&cbr=therm_pr

and here’s an excerpt of what it’s all about...

Looking for a simple way to extend your life? All you have to do is give your body 15 minutes of physical activity a day and you'll win yourself three extra years of life. Pretty amazing, right?

A recent study tracked more than 400,000 people for more than 8 years and found that just 15 minutes of light, daily activity, such as walking, makes you physically 3 years younger than your couch-potato friends and cuts your chances of dying from pretty much anything by 14%.

Double Is Better

When it comes to walking, a little more is always better. In fact, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend 30 minutes of physical activity each day. By squeezing in an additional 15 minutes, you'll likely live even longer and make your daily life a lot more pleasurable. That's because:

·         Thirty minutes of brisk walking (or any moderately intense activity) is a terrific antidepressant.

·         It lowers your blood pressure

·         It helps tame type 2 diabetes, especially if you mix in some strength training.

·         It decreases breast cancer risk by 30% and increases survival rate from a heart attack by 80%.

How to eat out in a all you can eat Sushi Restaurant

Around the Holidays you get together with friends over a nice meal to catch up and gossip... you know... Well I did that recently with some co-workers- present and past... at an all you can eat Sushi Restaurant. Now this could have been a disaster, right.... But I focused catching up with my friends and eating healthier options. And guess what, my friends all did the same, naturally.... remember my quote from the other day... 'eat like thin people eat'!

Here's Lily and Cheryl,

Nancy and I.

The restaurant is called Sushi Sushi and the all you can eat price for lunch is $13.99, http://sushisushionline.ca/menu.html . I recommend it. My favourite item to order is this Grilled Salmon and Grilled Beef Asparagus Roll. The salmon is pictured above and it is delicious, but the beef is even better. It's simply a piece of asparagus with grilled salmon or steak around it with just a little bit of terriyaki sauce over it....and it's to die for!!!!

California rolls, Tempura Shrimp roll (sorry, but we had to do a bit of tempura).

And of course... steamed and salty Edemame!!!! Love these!

And these great big Dynamite Rolls, with a little more shrimp tempura.

Being Creative- Total Wedding Show

This weekend is the Total Wedding Show in Toronto, so for the past few weeks I have been beading and creating like crazy. Coming up with new designs for brides to see is my passion. You see, I am lucky enough to have the privilege of having the fashion show models wear my jewellery during the 5 shows that run all weekend long. So I have to come up with bold and distinctive designs.

This past weekend I gave up the other parts of my life and created like mad.... my fingers and eyes were beyond tired. But let me tell you, I couldn't have done it without the love and help of my family. Brent was in charge of dinners- he even made soup on Sunday and Melanie prepared us lunch. (see yesterday's post).

So have a look at my new designs full of bold and brilliant beads.