5 Things Friday

I hope everyone is excited for the weekend!! It has been such a nice week, but apparently will be cold on Sunday. Sigh #Canada.

Onto my 5 things for this week!

1. My Gladiolus is Growing!

Cam got a gladiolus bulb for teacher appreciation day and I planted it in this old flower pot of mine using dollar store soil (amazing place to buy dirt if you only need a small bag- FYI!). I really didn't know if it would grow because I have a bit of a black thumb but after two weeks it actually sprouted! It is actually even bigger now than when I took this photo a few days ago.

Fun Fact- up until I looked up how to plant this thing, I thought these were called gladiolas. I feel like my whole life is a lie now...

2, I Got a New Bathroom Faucet!

I love my Delta Trinsic faucet in the kitchen, so when the bathroom faucet started leaking, I was more than happy to shell out some dough for the bathroom Trinsic model to replace it. I didn't really realize it when I ordered it, but it is really the exact mini replica of my kitchen faucet (minus the pull-out sprayer). Can a faucet be cute? Because this one makes me go "aww". I even ordered the matching towel bar, towel ring, and toilet paper holder. I feel so adult with my matching bathroom set. Now I just need to install everything. That should be fun. 

3. I am Going to See Princess Pop this Weekend with my Niece

My Niece is 3.5 years old now and I have been waiting all these years to be able to take her out on fun auntie & Maddy adventures and finally she is old enough! I saw an ad for this play in Toronto with all the Disney princesses in it and I knew she would love it. Plus, after the show we get to MEET THE PRINCESSES!!!! I am actually a pretty big Disney fan so I feel like this will be fun for both of us.

4. I Painted My Bedroom- Sneak Peek For You!

There will be a full reveal on the blog- next week hopefully if lighting cooperates- but I painted my bedroom finally! I did half the room on Tuesday night and the other half on Wednesday night! I love how it turned out!! The colour looks super different under various lighting too, so hopefully I can get a somewhat true representation with my good camera (this was iphone). It is kind of a light bluey-green colour, leaning more towards the blue side of things. It looks almost white in natural, bright sunshine, but quite turquoisey under lamp-light.

5. I HAVE A NEW NIECE!!

I saved the best for last! My best friend Steph had a sweet little baby girl on Wednesday and I am soooo excited to go and meet her soon. I won't go into Steph's private life, but this baby was a long time coming and a total miracle and I actually teared up with joy when she arrived safely. I can't wait to one day take her to meet the Disney princesses too :). Being an auntie is awesome.

PS- how is it June on Monday? I swear May just started...

Workout Wednesdays- Working Full Time and Working Out

I am changing up my Casey Gets Fit(ter) series and bringing in what I am calling "Workout Wednesdays, which will focus more on my fitness plans than my weight. This also is coming around because I am not longer really following a diet plan. I was started to get frustrated by the really low calorie count I needed to see even a slight drop in the scales and I was missing my favourite foods.

Plus, it is summer and I want to enjoy my refreshing beers and ice cream cones, guilt free. So I am switching my tactic for the summer and I am going to focus on balanced eating, without calorie counting, and I am going to go whole-hog on my workouts and getting in shape. I thought today I would discuss working out while working full time!

First of all, I would like to bow down to all the full-time working parents who find time to work out. I literally have no responsibility outside of my 8-4 job so I have no idea how people with kids do it. Seriously. Have a pat on the back.

Anyway, I get up every morning at 6:35 and I am out the door for work at 7:15 and I get home at 5:00pm. I love working out in the mornings, but the idea of getting up at 5:30 is rough so I do all my weekday workouts in the evening. This will probably need to change as I start my half-marathon training in June as it will be hot as Hades in the evenings. But for now I am generally doing weight training 3 days a week and a short run midweek and a long run on the weekend. I will probably stick with this until I start training and then drop one or two of the weight days to focus more on runs.

Here is a typical workout week for me:
Monday- Weights
Tuesday- Rest
Wednesday- Weights
Thursday- short run (5-8km)
Friday- Weights
Saturday- Rest
Sunday- Long run (8km+)

It often gets all mixed up with various plans and some days I combine a run and weights in one day or two weight training routines in one day, but usually I hit all 5 workouts in a week! I rarely have a day where I don't work out without a legitimate reason like all-evening plans or a sore muscle. Which is crazy, because I used to be a very lazy, anti-gym kind of person. Just goes to show how a person can change if they put in the effort! Now I crave working out if I haven't gone in awhile!

I started weight training in mid March and I have actually stuck to my 3 workouts a week every week since then!! I really like it because I feel I am getting so much stronger and following my Jefit app is a breeze.

For the record- here is my progress on my "Monday" workout from March 16th (day 1) to this past week (each exercise is 3 sets of 10 reps each)!

The workout takes roughly 35-40 minutes as I try and go slow and take a 60 second break between exercises- but man oh man am I tired after some of them and I am getting so much stronger! I haven't even touched the 5lbs weights in weeks!! In the last couple weeks I also added in a few ab exercises too so right now I am fairly evenly targeting abs, back, biceps, chest, shoulder, triceps, and upper legs (according to the pie chart on my app, anyway).

I don't think my weight training exercises burn a lot of calories in and of themselves, but a muscular body naturally burns more calories while doing nothing and looking toned never hurts one's confidence either! Plus it is really easy to fit this kind of workout into a really busy day so it is a plus for me there too as I always seem to be on the go during the week.

So there is your motivation for today! You DO have time to workout and you can even follow a workout plan like the one above at home, if you invest in a set of weights!!

Silly Hats Only Birthday Party

It was my Sweet 29 (that's a thing, right?) a couple weeks ago and I decided to throw myself a birthday party/housewarming party with some of my friends. A lot of them I have known since high school and back then we were really into the Rejected Cartoons (this was long before Youtube so I have no idea how we found them). In the spirit of those cartoons, I made the party a "Silly Hats Only" party, like one of the cartoons.

Except there was no beating people who had unsilly hats (though to be honest, there really weren't any unsilly hats anyway). There WAS a prize for best hat, though!

To liven things up, I turned my den into a photobooth. I debated decorating the wall that I was using as a backdrop, but I didn't want to take away from the hats and I ran out of time anyway. I basically just set my camera up on the built-ins opposite and had people use the remote! I ended up IN 95% of the photos because I was usually in there helping turn everything on and off.

Oh and I tried to make props for the photobooth, but they kind of sucked. However my friend Veronica found some and got me a set as a gift! I think the props and photobooth are going to be a staple around here for years to come. I did have to do a bit of light editing on them though, because the den has terrible lighting!

I thought I would share some of the fun photos that came out of my camera (there were over 300!!)...it sure was a fun night!!

PS- the pinata hat won for best hat...it was mesmerizing.

There were many other shenanigans taking place in the livingroom and kitchen (my island was definitely a gathering place). I also invented a drink that I dubbed "Silly Juice", which ended up being the cause of most shenanigans since it was delicious and very alcoholic.

Silly Juice:
Equal Parts: Blue curacao, melon liquor, and mango passionfruit liquor (or anything fruity)
Sprite
Pineapple Juice

I didn't really measure anything since I made a HUGE jug of it, but that was the gist of the ingredients! It comes out super bright green too. I didn't really take a photo of it, but that is it on the left in this photo (that jug was at least half full when the party started!)

I am not sure how I am going to top "Silly Hats" for the big 3-0 next year, but I will think of something!

Nadia Lloyd Art

About a month ago, there was a message on my neighbourhood's Facebook group that local artist and clothing designer Nadia Llyod was looking for "Everyday Women" to be models and spokespeople for her line of clothing. On a whim, I decided to apply and I got an email a couple of weeks later saying they had a lot of applicants and would get back to the chosen spokespersons in a couple of weeks. I really didn't think I had much of a chance, but then in early May I got an email saying I had been chosen!!

The modeling session was a couple of weeks ago and I was super nervous as I had never modeled before and I can be super awkward in front of the camera. But I met Nadia and her team and they were all so amazing and kind! I actually ended up modeling with her line of pillows, and then a couple of scarves and a clutch. It was a really fun day and I am super excited to see the photos when they come out!

As a thank you for helping with her campaign, I got to chose one of her pillows to take home with me! The Horizon II was calling my name from the moment I saw it, so I picked that one! The pillow has a really silky feel to it and is so nice and cushiony that it is quickly becoming the coveted pillow for couch lounging.

I also really like Nadia's art and the other pieces in the collection so I encourage you to check out her site. She focuses a lot on Toronto and graffiti art so it is a really funky and urban look ranging from paintings to clothing. I saw a bunch of her leggings and skirts on the other models and they were amazingly cool!

I love the colours in the pillow and I will definitely be basing my fabric and art choices for the living room against it. I have always loved turquoise, and had been considering purple as an accent colour for this living room as well, but now I feel I will need to tie a bit green in too!

Nadia is also the creator of the Toronto Art Crawl, presented by Varekai, Cirque Du Soleil this summer. There are a few different dates for their outdoor art fairs and I am hoping to make it out to one of them (the first one is in June, but I am out of town). I love supporting local artists and bringing a taste of Toronto into my home decor. I love this city!!

And, of course, once I see my photos from the campaign I will definitely share them with you guys! Should be some time this summer.

Casey Gets Fit(ter): Week 12

WeightL 142.6!!!

I finally saw 142 on the scale!!! And you know what is weird? I totally eff'd my diet this whole past week because it was my birthday and cake was calling me. I still kept up my workouts, but otherwise just kind of ate what I wanted. I am thinking the calorie restriction of the past few weeks was too hard on the old body and it was holding onto fat in fear.

I am not an expert when it comes to weight loss. The convention is calories in vs calories out, but my body only sometimes seems to follow that rule. So I am going to try a few weeks of maintenance-level eating and see how my body responds. I was 100% convinced to try Whole30 for the next month and eat as much as I wanted but cut out grains, dairy, and sugar (I have an addiction to sugar). However I remembered I am going to Vegas in mid-June so it is bad timing for that. Perhaps in the fall!

And then once I am back from Vegas...I am training for a half marathon!!!!!

My run is in October and I am starting training in late June (I am going to follow a training plan on my RunKeeper app). I am definitely going to need to start eating more balanced foods in order to have energy for all the training runs and not overeat (I hear a lot of people gain weight when running long distances because of the calorie drain and wanting to eat all the things).

In other fun workout news...I got new running shoes! The same as my old model (Asics GT-2000), but fun black this time. I was trying to choose between these ones and the white/rainbow ones they have too, but chose the black- and then my Mom showed up the SportingLife 10K last week wearing the white ones! Out of all the shoes, we end up buying the exact same model. Too funny. I also bought myself some new hot pink workout capris (with pockets!) and a new workout tank (with a pocket!). I love having a pocket for my phone when I'm lifting weights in the gym, but finding workout clothes with them is hard. Winners came through for me this past week though! Also, exercise shirts with pockets tend to be with cycling clothes...if any of you are looking!

I don't know what to do with my face in selfies

Oh, and this week I bought a new pencil skirt and it was a size EIGHT. SINGLE DIGITS, Y'ALL!!

Lifting the Bed Up!

When I bought my new bed last fall, I opted not to buy a metal frame. The main reason was because I didn't know if I was going to buy a fancy one from a furniture store. The secondary reason is I knew metal bed frames could be picked up for cheap on Craigslist or Kijiji. So I just got the mattress and box spring and for the past 6 months it has been sitting on the floor!

I finally decided to just build a upholstered headboard and use a cheap metal frame rather than buy an expensive wooden frame, so I kept my eyes peeled on the internet for anyone in the neighbourhood trying to sell one. My only condition was that I didn't want wheels, because they scratched up the floors in my old condo. Finally I found a frame for sale a couple blocks away for $30 so I convinced my friend Veronica to help me carry it home a couple weeks ago!

The bed feels sooo tall now, like I need a ladder to climb in! Honestly, I love tall beds so I am not minding. Cam thinks the bed side shelves are too low now, but I am not sure of what to do with them once I build the headboard, so I am just leaving them for now. So far I haven't bonked my head!

You might have also noticed my bedding has changed! My duvet is down at the dry-cleaners getting a much needed deep clean. But it all works out because my condo doesn't have air conditioning on yet and it is about a billion degrees in here so the light sheet and crocheted blanket is wonderful. PS- my grandmother crocheted this blanket for me years ago. I think maybe it was intended to be a wedding gift? She is in a home now and my Dad found it in her apartment. I just LOVE it. So pretty. I'll need to figure out how to clean it!

The purple pillow is also new, and is from Nadia Llyod's 2015 cushion collection. Stay tuned for some fun news on that front!! I think long term it will live in the living room, which gets more use than the bedroom, but we shall see!

Casey Gets Fit(ter): Week 11 (SportingLife 10K Recap!)

So I ran the SportingLife 10K on Sunday and I pr'd for pace, but not for overall time. I guess I was weaving through the throng so much I added 0.3km to my run and my overall time was basically the exact same as last year (55:15 vs 55:13) BUT my actual pace was faster (5:23 mins per km vs 5:28 mins per km). So I am super excited! Fastest pace ever for me, I think!

Anyway, let's rewind back to Saturday so I can really set the stage for the day! Saturday night I made delicious homemade pizza and Cam and I watched the hockey game and at 10pm I said goodnight to him and crawled into bed all ready for reading a little The Girl On The Train and then a good nights sleep. I go to bed at 10pm most nights and usually I'm out by 10:30 with no issue. But Saturday night I just lay there. I was WIDE AWAKE. I think at first I was excited for the run which elevated by heart rate, and then around 11:30pm I started to get stressed about still being up and THAT was keeping my heart rate up. It was seriously one of the longest and worst nights of my life. I was so frustrated by my lack of sleep I wanted to cry.

I definitely saw 3:08am on the clock and then the next thing I knew I woke up at 4:45am and thankfully managed to fall back asleep and my alarm went off at 5:45am. So I think I got 2- 2.5 hours sleep! and I had to run a 10K!! I downed some green tea and a peanut butter Clif bar and hoped for the best. I was really excited about the race so that helped keep me in good spirits.

At 6:20 my mom and stepdad came and they parked in my 2nd spot and Cam drove all of us to the shuttle bus at Ontario Place. We hopped on a bus and then rode up to the starting line!

We got to the start around 7:20am and had an hour or so to kill as our corral started at 8:20am. Basically took our time with a bathroom break and then got in our corral and did some stretching and took some selfies. It felt less busy this year vs last, and I am not sure why? But still, 27,000 people were apparently there!

At 8:20 we were off! I don't really have much to say about the race itself except it was good and then HARD. It started to get HOT halfway through and I was really glad most of the race was in the shade of buildings downtown. I felt really good up until the last three kilometres when I was starting to really tire and sweat, but I managed to run the whole 10K without stopping for any walking breaks! At around km 6 my friend Sarah was waiting for me and that kept me motivated for the first half of the race! After that it was just thoughts of brunch and a nap.

It was seriously tough. I saw a girl throw up around 8km. My stepdad saw a woman passed out just 30 yards from the finish. The humidity was killer.

But I made it through to the end! And I met back up with mom and Lee and we got our medals and then walked back to my condo, where we showered and then went out for a brunch that was celebrating our run, Mother's Day, Lee's 65th birthday and my 29th birthday!!

And then I took a 3 hour nap.

Overall I am super happy with my race. I pulled out a pace PR, despite the heat and only 2 hours sleep! Plus I ran the entire length of the course! All good training for my half-marathon in October...because ya...Crazy Casey signed up for one of those this week!!!

SportingLife 10K PLaylist!

Tomorrow I am running the SportingLife 10K in Toronto, and I worked this week on making the most awesome-pump-you-up playlist ever. Some people like to run along to mellow songs or even no songs, but not me. I need every song to scream "RUN FASTER, CASEY!" It totally gets my pumped up and excited to run my heart out. And I like to find new songs before a race so I don't get bored.

Here is tomorrow's playlist:

Style- Taylor Swift: I just really like Taylor Swift. Don't judge me.

The Nights- Avicii: Really upbeat and good rhythm. Makes me want to clap

Hold My Hand- Jess Glynne: really good tempo!

Honey I'm Good- Andy Grammer: OMG. New favourite song. I really am a fan of the fast, folksy tune. Video is cute too

Work This Body- Walk The Moon: I really like Walk the Moon and this song has a great beat and is all about werkin' it

Anna Sun- Walk the Moon: I told you I liked them.

First Kiss- Kid Rock: I like songs about "the good ol days". Makes me think of summer and beaches, cottages, and fun times

Round Here- Florida Georgia Line: I like country and needed some in my playlist

Want to Want Me- Jason Derulo: Good beat and good song

Fight Song- Rachel Platten: Starts off slow but is soooo good. Great song if you are hitting the wall. very motivational

Great Expectations- The Gaslight Anthem: Nice and fast paced...good for keeping up a pace!

Time of Our Lives- Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo: This song is just really fun! Makes me want to dance, which is good when I am running

Heartbeat Song- Kelly Clarkson: Great and upbeat!

Whistle (While You Work It)- Katy Tiz: Any song telling me to work it when I am working out is a good song to me.

Bills- LunchMoney Lewis: OMG, This song is so catchy. love it

Burnin Up- Jessie J ft 2 Chainz: The chorus of this sooo GOOD. Makes me wanna dance. Also, one time my boss was in an elevator with Jessie J, so we are practically BFFs

The following I think I have shared before, but I ain't sick of them yet so I put them on my playlist! Though honestly I love all my new songs so I might skip over these :)

Shut Up and Dance- Walk the Moon

Geronimo- Sheppard

Uptown Funk- Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars

Taylor Swift- Shake It Off

Total Playlist Time: 75 mins

Total Euphloria

I don't know if it is just the amazing arrival of spring in the past few weeks, but I am craving florals like no one's business. Seriously. I want to buy the world's supply of floral fabrics, papers, and decorative pieces and make my condo look like a florist's paradise. I don't think I am alone in this, because I have been seeing floral patterns everywhere!

Anywho, I am planning on building one of them upholstered headboards you see all over Pinterest these days and I am thinking floral fabric would be a fun direction to go! As you may recall, I am painting the room a soft greeny-blue (and why yes, the paint swatches have been on my wall since March. I am working on it...). I think this colour with a bright floral is fun to the max! There are very few floral headboards on Pinterest, but here is some inspiration:

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Can we just take a moment and discuss the last photo here. Now, for months I have had this dream floral fabric in my head for this floral headboard idea. I searched high and low and could find similar, but not-quite-it fabrics. Then this week I finally found it- it is made by a company called Bluebellgray in the UK and retails for like $150/yard so I will never buy it. BUT ALSO- their bedding is sold at The Bay. Which is where I first saw it. 5 months ago. And prompty forgot. Isn't that funny?? I thought I had made up this magical floral fabric in my mind but in fact it was lodged in my memory from a trip to The Bay months ago.

Anyway, it is completely out of my budget so I am in the market for the perfect floral fabric for my headboard (unless I change my mind before making it, which is entirely possible, knowing me). I also really am into watercolours right now, so I tried to find floral fabrics with a watercolour look to them.

HGTV Color Study Berry

This is the same fabric, as the one above, but looks whiter?

Gazebo, Umber

Paint Palette, Punch

The first one is from HGTVs fabric line, which is only available at Joann's in the states. I am not sure what the true colours on it are because it looks different depending on where I find it. And I can't easily order a sample (lol shipping fees). PLUS it is 50% off at Joann's right now...so I feel like I need to decide soon, or risk ordering from that other site, which has iffy reviews! But I do like all the white space and the floral design!

The 2nd one is actually quite popular in it's "cloud" colour...I see it a lot on Pinterest and in the blog world. But I feel the room will have a LOT of blue tones with the turquoise walls, so I think I would rather bring some warmer tones into it with the "umber" colour. Also, this fabric is available in Canada, which will save me some shipping fees! I need 3 yards, which ain't cheap so saving where I can is appreciated.

YHL

The third option is Paint Palette is also available up in Canada, and it seems to be everyone's current crush. I don't blame them because it sure is pretty...but I worry it doesn't have enough white space? Do you think it would be too bold as a 5'x3' headboard?? Here it is in a "larger" view. Do you think it would go with light turquoise walls? It is very warm-toned.

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PS- if you want to see some more floral fabric, check out my Pretty Fabrics Pinterest board. It basically swallowed a ton of Miracle-Gro lately.

Also- In a very unusual bout of decisiveness, I actually ordered two new fabrics to make throw pillows out of in the living room (and yep, that is where I ripped off my post title from):

Euphloria In Coral

Serape in Dream

Aren't they pretty? And at roughly $12/yard quite affordable and quite unlikely I will get hit with the huge import fees that tend to come with orders over $100 from the US. Besides, it is my birthday next week so I totally deserve pretty fabric. Last update said they were in New York City, so hopefully they get to me soon!