Oreo Cheesecake

Today is half price cheesecake at the Cheesecake factory. I went with a few friends, dying to try the new oreo cheesecake. Josh took me on my birthday, and I was so excited to try a slice of the new oreo cheesecake they had been advertising for WEEKS! Only to discover that it wasn't out yet! It almost ruined my birthday - seriously folks. But, today was my chance to try this amazing cheesecake, and I'm happy to report it lived up to the expectations I had for it!! So folks, go get yourself a slice... but ignore your husband when he sends you calorie information before you go :)

Let's talk about...

violence.  You and me.

Check out this post by Girl's Gone Child.  Couldn't have said it better myself!

"We Need to Talk about Violence"

Sometimes

Sometimes you hope for the best from someone and it never comes.  But you can't help yourself in still trusting in them.

~I'm almost too trusting of people I love to a fault.  But I never stop.  regardless of what they've done.  I say this should be a good quality to have but at times it's burdensome.~

OMG!!!

This lady is HILARIOUS!  Butt hangers. Curious now, ain't ya?!

Now you need to go read this post from our favorite, The Bearded Iris.

"Aw, nuts.  Or, how puppies and testicles are related"

Upgrade!

HOLLA!  We gots a specialist in our corner!  Thanks to Kumquat's hubster J, we are upgrading our site in the next week.  We purchased the .com for our name and will be switching blog publishers.  Jes and I are excited for this change.  I have a few posts scheduled tomorrow but after that will be not be posting until we are up and running at kumquatnjunebug.com!

See y'all there!

Improving our blog

You may have noticed, but we have made some changes to our blog! Trixie has spent some time adding tabs including a list of our favorite sites (you should totally check them out - we have good taste!), causes we support, as well as some specific interests like fashion and fitness. Please be patient with us as we make these improvements, and we love having you as readers!

Coming out or staying in?

Since my beloved Anderson Cooper recently came "out", I've been thinking about the gays in my life.  First off, it was not a surprise AC is gay. Um hello?!  He's WAAYY too manicured and coiffed to be straight, no? Besides, if you were in the closet of knowing AC plays for the other team, welcome to 2012.  But still, he's got my heart. What woman does not find him uber attractive?  He's intelligent and hot. Now onto the gays in my life.

In high school, I had a few friends that were gay.  2 boys and a few girls.  I never felt uncomfortable with their lifestyle in anyway.  I remember one of my best friends wrote a poem that got published in the lit mag about the murder of Matthew Shephard.  It was so beautiful and honest.  It talked about being scared to be gay and proud.  He today is a successful musician.  If you have facebook, follow Mr. Pixie!

In college I made 2 more friends who in the ended up being gay.  One is still so dear to my heart even though I've not seen him since 2000.  Miss you Lean Bean!

The point of my writing this is to say:  love the person, not their choices.  The choices do not necessarily make the person.  We are human, folks!  Love people for who they are, not the choices they make.

stepping down from my soap box.....

New Music Tuesday

You know her from Gotye's "somebody that I used to know" but she's got herself a flourishing solo career.  KIMBRA!

Cameo Lover
The blind folded men are kind of odd but I love the slightly 60s era feel to the song and the funny dancers in the back.



And eastmountainsouth.  They only had one release in 2003 before disbanding.  I heard this album in my yoga class last week.  I fell in love and immediately had to download the entire album.  "So You are to Me" and "show me the river" are my two ab favs.  They don't actually have any music videos so bear with me as I share their music and the lame ass fan videos.







Happy new music!

Ideas of grandeur

Anyone ever have these?  I know I do.  In a conversation with SF today (in the midst of meltdown of the week.  I've been having those on a regular basis.  don't ask...) she told me that I needed to start a fashion blog.  I told her, "I have a blog but it's not really a fashion blog. I have been posting my 30x30 pics".  Does that count?  She told me I could rock it.  Like be the next big thing.  How wonderful is she to believe in me?!?  It makes sense but who has the time?  I know I'd need to dedicate more to it but first I need a better computer.  Always an excuse.  Tell me one and I've PROBABLY used it.

but who knows? maybe my ideas of grandeur will someday be a reality of amazingness.

-trixie

Podcast addict and new music Tuesday

Summer is my time to take a break from TV mayhem.  With the few exceptions this summer (the Bachelorette, Fashion Police, Mrs. eastwood and Co, Kathy), I've not really watched much tv.  I've really enjoyed podcasts.  Mostly those from NPR.  I love NPR.  You?  If you don't stop reading this blog immediately and go find the following podcasts:

Fresh Air, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, This American Life, Tiny Desk Music Series, All Songs Considered.

I've found some really kick ass music that I've already downloaded onto my iPhone for listening while exercising at the gym.

Have you heard of Ivan and Alyosha?  Well if you haven't, here's their NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert series vid.  You can thank me later.






AND

Iron and Wine.  I really don't like their lps but I love the live.  I love just a pure voice and an acoustic guitar.

Happy Monday!

Ain't this the truth?!

Happy happy birthday Jes, dear!

Happy birthday, Kumquat!  You'll always be younger than me (so jealous) and even more fabulous than I will ever be (you are my fashion guru!)!

Here are the reasons I love Jes aka Kumquat:

1.  She is an amazing person.  In every imaginable way.  Think of some way a person is amazing, that's Jes.  She's caring and intelligent, wildly creative and generous.

2.  She cares about the real issues.  I know this sounds like a political term, but she really does.  She cares about issues that affect women and people in general.  She's an advocate for access to birth control, stopping domestic abuse and the World Food Programme.

3.  She's an amazing to nieces A and L.  She's also a wonderful adopted aunt to my kiddos.  S adored her when we lived in Syracuse.  She was his go to girl.

Now, I'm not much for words.  I hope Jes knows how much she means to me.  I've never known a more wonderful person.  Happy birthday, bestie!

30x30 days 3-10

I'm behind.  It's hard to post on my computer every day and my instagram is set to private.  So deal with me as I post multiples at one time.  Note: I took a week off because I went out of town and I did not have a full length mirror.  Valid excuse, I think.  ^ o ^ and my days are all out of order.  I'll make them all up, I promise!

Day 3.  I had yoga in the am then went swimming right after. Why did I straighten my hair?!

Top: C9 from Target    Bottoms: C9 from Target

Day 4.  Not feelin it. Maxi kind of day.

Dress: Gap Outlet  Shirt: Downeast Basics  Necklace: World Market  Bracelet: c/o Paige C. 

Day 5: This was taken later in the day of #4 but let's add to #5.  See my little friend, there?  She wanted a maxi skirt like momma.  

Top: Hand-me-down from Banana Republic    Skirt: Target     Bracelet: c/o Paige C.

Day 6:  Pajama day!

Bra: Aerie   Shirt: TJ Maxx   Pants:  Aerie  Bracelet: c/o Paige C

Day 7:  Sunday funday

Top: F21   Skirt: Bailey 44   Belt: Belly Couture   Necklace: Loft

 Day 9:  Yogalicious. I want to live in these pants.

Top: Alo Sport   Bottoms: Alo Sport

Day 10: Sunday is the day of rest

Dress: Modcloth   Glasses: Oliver Peoples  Watch : Fossil

Tomorrow is a new day.  Happy remixing!

Bicycles!!

My birthday is Monday and our 4 year (!!!!!) anniversary is just a few days after that. I've been thinking for awhile that having a bicycle would be a lot of fun, and last night I got Josh to go look at some with me. The first store we went to had some bikes, but whoa, the sticker shock got to me. I guess I thought you could get a good bike for a $100 or so. WRONG. Later, I went to the grocery store and Josh stopped at 2 more bike stores. This morning, after sleeping in and doing some light cleaning, Josh suggested we go look at the bikes he found last night. And we left with 2!

Still a ton of money, but apparently they are really great bikes. Tonight, we rode our bikes to Chipolte, then on a 4 mile bike ride. It took some getting used to, learning the gears and all, but overall, we had a lot of fun. I'm super excited to spend time with Josh and get a little exercise while we are at it. Overall, a great birthday present. Oh, and I got a pink helmet :)

And finally, I've started using this app call CharityMiles that uses the GPS on my phone to track our time and miles, then donates money to a charity we choose. For the past 2 days we've chosen the charity, the World Food Programme. CharityMiles received $1,000,000 in corporate sponsorship to donate the money that app users "earn"to the selected charities. You can walk, run, or bike. Do it today! :)

Inspiring

Its my secret dream to someday work for the Gates Foundation. I think the work that they do is simply wonderful and amazing. Till then, I leave you with this TED talk from Melinda Gates.

I ask myself, "WHY?!?"

Every time I see a redo of a boy item into something specifically for a girl, I get all angry inside.  CRAZY ASIAN ALERT!

Seriously.

I was playing on Pinterest the other day and saw that someone whose boards I follow had pinned this:

Photo credit: Fashiongeek.com

I threw up a little in my mouth.  Now some of you might be thinking, "Why is she getting her panties all up in a bundle? It's just a fun way for a little girl to be a superhero."  In my mind, it's not a fun way.  Why can't girls wear boy capes?  It won't make them more masculine or a lesbian, if that's what you're thinking.  Some of my favorite girl friends are tomboys and wear the hell out of red lipstick and high heels.  Why is it not OK for moms to let girls play with boy stuff and vice versa?  And besides, most of it is a marketing plow to get you to spend more of your hard earned dollars on shit your kid really does not need.  Sure, my 3 year old daughter would love the tutu but why can't she wear her brother's cape and also don her own tutu at the same time?  Mixing the best of both worlds?  I love it when my daughter plays with her brother's action figures and wears his Star Wars helmets, toting a blaster and when my son is sweet to his sister's dolls.  I think it teaches kids life skills and creativity not usually encouraged outside the home.  So, I'm for "gender neutral" toys.  Screw all the pink legos marketed towards girls.  Although, I don't see anything wrong with carrying a pistol with a pink handle.  I could rock that.  

                                           Brother putting little sis in a choke hold.  Love. 

Nail Polish Addict

I am addicted to nail polish. My nails are always painted. And I have quite the collection of polish - and this isn't all of them :) I love all kinds of polish - I buy cheap polish (Sally Hansen) to very expensive (Deborah Lippman and Butter London) and everything in between.

When I found myself bored this week, pondering how to spend the Sephora gift card my wonderful sister gave me, I came across Sephora by OPI's at home gel colour system - its a gel manicure system that guarantees polish to last 2 weeks. I spent an hour reading reviews and trying to talk myself out of it. I even stopped by my local Sephora on my way home from work to check it out. The sales woman tried talking me into it too - I didn't need much convincing, I'm pretty good at doing that all on my own (anyone else would have been scared away - her nails were a total mess. But still.) All I needed was about another hundred in Sephora gift cards and it was mine! Till I was at dinner with Josh, hinting at what a wonderful birthday gift it would make, when he said "you shouldn't get it because you LIKE painting your nails. Every couple days, you want to try something different. This would be a waste." How right he was - its funny that sometimes, he knows me better than I know myself! I paint my nails because I like to. I like changing up the colors, and I almost never do the same color in a row. I buy nail polish all the time because I'm obsessed with new colors and textures. So instead of spending $160 on a gel manicure set, I bought cool polishes instead Nail Jewelry and Sprinkle nail polish. Now I just need to patient until they arrive :)

30 days

30 days. 30 days to make something a habit.

 So it began.... I got a 30day pass to a local gym. What's different about this city gym and the gym at the university I had been using? Gym A has babysitting! Working out at home is not my thing. I've tried but i've never been successful longer than a week. So my friend P referred me to the gym A and I thought, "hey, free pass for 30 days? sold." And I am now addicted. I am at the gym every morning by 9 Mon-Fri. Have I seen a difference in my body? Definitely. I've had more energy too. So will I be purchasing a membership to gym A? MOST DEF!

 30 days #2. 30 outfits in 30 days. I stole the idea from me heroine, Kendi over at Kendi Everyday. Here's the link to her 30x30 remix.  So for 30 days, I am making outfits from what I have in my closet only.  I can't add in any new pieces I've purchased.  I can buy clothing in the 30 days of the challenge but just not add them into the remix.  Here;s days 1 and 2.  Granted day 1 was easy because church is fun to get ready for.  No worries of dirt for 3 hours.

                                                                                Day 1
                                        top:   stylemint  (no longer available)      skirt:  jcrew (sold out)
                                 

Day 2

top:  loft     pants: jcrew      shoes:   gap (clearance)   belt:  jcrew      jewelry:  loft and bloom

Happy styling!