oh, hey.

by the way...

I'M ENGAGED!

guess i can cross that off the 30 before 30 list, too ;)

blueprint juice cleanse.

i have always wanted to do a juice cleanse. not just for the health benefits, but also because, as someone with IBS, i wanted to know if it helped with symptoms.

there are several different types of juice cleanses out there, but during all the research, i found i felt most comfortable with blueprint cleanse. i appreciated the fact that their first level cleanse includes five different kinds of juices - not just one type of juice that you're drinking all day [aka super unhealthy]. and each juice contains a ton of different vitamins and nutrients. the green juice [which you drank twice a day] contains 6 pounds of leafy goodness - so that means fiber... and lots of it. their pineapple/apple juice gives you a boost of energy and antioxidants. the fourth juice, spicy lemonade, speeds up your metabolism. the beet juice contains lots of iron, and the cashew vanilla is a great source of magnesium and copper. i read that the nutrients from the juices go directly into your blood stream & get to your cells within ten to fifteen minutes - so your body doesn't have to digest anything. that's crazy!

when i decided to order from blueprint, i knew i could really only do a two day cleanse. there was no way i was going to try to do it at work, so i had to plan to do it on a weekend that i had off. and let's be real,  two days without food is enough. the three days before and after the cleanse are suppose to be diet-restricted, too. on day three you cut out meat; day two you cut out grains & dairy; day one you only eat fruits and vegetables - and vice-versa. 'day one' before and after the cleanse were the hardest for me. every single thing sounded and smelled delicious. my biggest cravings? cheese. and cinnamon raisin french toast. weird.

the juice cleanse itself:
the green juice was... interesting. it was really hard for me to drink the whole bottle, let alone two a day. but, it worked. it got a lot of crap out of my system [sorry, tmi]. the second juice [pineapple] was deeelish and gave me tons of energy. the fourth was strange. cayenne pepper? yikes. but i got used to it and didn't mind it after awhile. the fifth juice was AWFUL. to me, beets taste like dirt. something strange happened in between the fourth and fifth juices - i got extremely nauseous. both days, actually. i felt so bad the first day that i decided to email blueprint just to see if i was having a bad reaction. they never emailed me back, but about an 30/40 minutes later i started feeling better. adam thought that the spiciness and acidity affected me poorly, but we weren't positive. the last juice, cashew vanilla, was great. because it was the last bottle, it felt like dessert.

the after-effects:
on monday morning i felt great. clean, refreshed, but empty. i needed food. i stuck to my juice, fruit & veges, but cheated that night and had some brown rice. the beginning of that week i ate really well and kept drinking a ton of naked juice - not just because it's what i should have done, but because i actually wanted it. and that cheese craving? gone! but then friday & saturday came, and my diet went on the back burner. i had burgers, nachos, beer & an ice cream soda. not good. i definitely felt the repercussions today.

but the juice cleanse? totally worth it. i learned a lot about my body and started to think of food more as fuel. i now drink naked juice two or three times a day and have been making pineapple smoothies every morning before work. i also decided to budget in a blueprint cleanse every quarter in order to stay on track and consistent with my healthy regimen.

thinking of doing a juice cleanse? have any questions? email me! :)

i hiked in my tom's.

when i put this list together back in may, i really had no idea what hiking entailed. in my head, it basically involved ugly hiking boots, sweating, bugs and wheezing - all of which i hated. but, i figured that a lot of people loved doing it, so i should experience it.

so on thursday, a. and i packed our bags and headed two and half hours northwest to asheville. our first stop? chimney rock state park.

chimney rock [where the flag is] is approximately 2,280 feet high. no, we didn't climb that.. we took the elevator up and then climbed to exclamation point - a .7 mile/150 foot uphill hike. pretty difficult, but well worth it.

after our hike, we spent the afternoon in chimney rock, and the evening and following morning in asheville. on our way back home, we stopped at dupont state forest.

i have never seen waterfalls up close [except niagara falls, if you can count that], so i was super excited to see triple falls. the clincher, though? parts of the hunger games was filmed there! yes, i am a geek. 

the hike was about a mile round trip - and then we decided to climb some of the rocks. can you find me? :)

so yes, there was some sweating and some bugs - but no wheezing and no ugly hiking boots. i did it all in my tom's! and you know what? i loved it. i am already trying to persuade a. to go hiking with me once a week :)

walk for a cause.

on sunday i participated in my first 5K walk :]

every year the community of evanston puts on a 'race against hate' to remember the basketball coach that was murdered by a white supremacist in 1999. there was an amazing turnout this year!

and despite the humidity & my nagging cold, i finished the walk in under an hour! 

i was pretty proud of myself :]

now i can cross 'walk for a cause' off my list! 

30 before 30.

there are approximately four days until i turn 25. 

the dreaded 25.

to be honest.. i've totally been freaking out about this whole age-change thing. i'm going to be a quarter of a century & i really feel like i don't have much to show for it. therefore, i decided to write a list. a list of things i need to do before i'm 30, because 30 is only five years away. and five years is gonna fly by.
so here we go...


*30 things to do before i am 30*

be a hippie at a three day music festival.

learn how to use a sewing machine.

visit new york city.

skydive.

take couples' dance lessons.

sell one of my refurbished pieces of furniture.

learn how to play the guitar.

visit italy. or live in italy. or both.

get engaged.

take a graphic design class.

go hiking.

take an all-american cross-country road trip.

own my own studio, office space and/or business.

swim with dolphins.

walk for a cause.

pay off two of my three student loans.

learn my body [what i can/cannot eat].

try acupuncture.

go on a hot air balloon ride.

have a health regimen.

read one book a month [60 in 5 years].

scuba dive.

learn time management.

get a puppy.

go to mardi gras!

become fluent in a language [3 semesters of italian doesn't count].

see the beatles 'love' show.

complete a juice cleanse.
get a tattoo dedicated to jeremy.

forgive.


i will be documenting each item when it is completed, so that you guys will be able to follow my journey :]

do you have a 30 before 30 list? i'd love to see what is on yours!