Truly Insane?

If you have followed my blog for any amount of time, you've probably wondered where I've run off to. 

I admit it. I got bored with the outfit posts. It's not that I stopped loving fashion or thrifting. I guess it's that it started turning into more of a chore than a fun project. 

That said....boy...do I have a doozy of a topic to start blogging about!

See this picture above? 

Yep, that's me. I think I'm still in shock. 

About a year ago, I joined a local gym called Train Insane Gym. A friend of mine at the time had family members there and I started checking out their website. I was immediately sold once I saw all of the "before" and "after" pictures.

My goal was to get in great shape and have some "before" and "after" pics of my own.

It wasn't easy.

 

At first, I was just getting used to the crazy workouts. I had never done any of these things before. Kettle Bells? Wall Balls? Double-unders? 

I'm sorry..what? You want me to do a handstand push-up? 

It was a tough learning curve...but nothing was as hard as the meal plan.

I tried SO HARD to resist getting on a meal plan. I mean..certainly these workouts were hard enough to burn off what I'm eating, right? RIGHT?!?!?

Nope.

Once I surrendered and started really focusing on eating healthy and reaching my daily numbers (protein, carbs, fat, calories), it was a completely different story. Suddenly my clothes were fitting better and I was noticing these strange shadows appearing along my arm. 

Dare I say that I had MUSCLES???

I never before had the goal of getting stronger. But...once I actually did get stronger, it became fun to see what I could accomplish. I started setting goals for myself like wanting to achieve unassisted pull-ups. 

(Which I can, btw!)

So, as you can see by the first photo, I finally got my "after" photo. I was SO excited to finally accomplish the thing I set out to do a year ago. 

So...now what?

Two friends of mine at the gym (who are obviously crazy) decided to sign up for their very first bikini competition.

If you remember, this is something my sister did a couple of years ago:

I've had a certain interest in doing it ever since I saw her show, but I always had convenient excuses: "She lives out of state and it's not something I would ever do alone and I could never afford the training..soooo....I guess that will never be me." 

As it turns out, I am officially out of excuses.

I already belong to the gym that will provide my training and now I have a couple of awesome ladies who have signed up also.

The next step was clear.

WHAT AM I DOING?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Let's just set aside the absolute terror I feel about walking onto a stage in a tiny bikini and literally having an audience judge my body. 

This competition is in December. Do you know what that means? That means that my birthday, my 2 year A.B. anniversary AND Thanksgiving will be spent eating chicken and asparagus out of plastic containers that I will tote around in my huge purse/duffel bag.

(That reminds me that I actually need to purchase said "huge purse/duffel bag".)

*Sigh*

So, currently I am spending the next week saying goodbye to anything that I can't have over the next 6 months: pizza, wine, Thai food, ice cream...

Is this a good idea to have a "mourning phase" before training for a competition? 

Uh...I don't know...or care. It's just what I'm doing, ok?

So, starting on Monday, July 1st (because all new diet plans start on Mondays) I will be eating super clean and hitting the gym hard!

Yes, it's going to make for a long summer and probably a lonely one at that. But, in the end, it will be so worth it. I can't wait to see what I can achieve over the next 6 months. And I'm going to keep blogging about it. This is less about entertaining others and more about keeping me accountable. 

Ok, folks...wish me luck! And if you would like to check out the blogs of the other two Train Insane gals who are joining me, here they are:

http://www.insanebikinimomma.blogspot.com/ 

http://burpeesandbikinis.blogspot.com/

A Star Wars Baby Shower?

Yep! That's right! That is exactly what I set out to do once I found out the theme of my newest nephew's nursery. Nice choice, sister....nice choice. :) I couldn't wait to begin!

That's when it dawned on me. How in the world am I going to pull off a beautiful, elegant baby shower while still capturing the Star Wars feel? When I started my research, it seemed like there were endless children birthday party ideas and decor...but nothing sweet and "baby-like". I started to get a little worried. 

This had the potential of being the scariest baby shower ever. 

My first breakthrough was when I found this adorable Etsy shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/vmiddleton5?ref=seller_info

I had originally wanted to make the invitations myself, but decided it couldn't hurt to have a LITTLE help from someone else. :) I ordered the basic image of the invitations and decided to put my own twist on things. 

Here's how they turned out.

 

Once the invitations were done, things got a little easier. I paid a visit to my local IKEA and found all sorts of "spacey" looking things. I also managed to pick up a cool vase from a nearby Goodwill. 

Here's a tip: I find that if you cover a table in candles and flowers, it really classes things up!

Check out the finished product.

I bet I know what you're thinking. "Hey Dawnya! Where did you get that AMAZING Jedi sign?"

Well, I'll tell you! My extremely talented artist of a boyfriend painted that. (This photo hardly does it justice.) He's kind of a big deal. 

My sister loved it so much that it is now hanging in the nursery. :)

I knew that I needed to have a few actual Star Wars pieces, so I found these plastic party rings online. I paired them with light saber picks and turned them into cupcake toppers for my super yummy strawberry cupcakes. So cute!

These are just a couple VERY cheap picture frames from IKEA. 

I used a bit of computer magic to create the inserts.

All in all, I was able to put together a beautiful, sweet and elegant baby shower without completely breaking the bank. It just took some serious brainstorming!

A big "thank you" to my Grandma for sewing the tablecloths and to my Mommy for hosting the party!

And thank you, Amber, for letting me run with this idea! haha

Wanting.... and then GETTING it all.

Recently my sister posted a blog titled "I want it all!" She talked about the list of things she wants out of life. From little things to big things...everything had its place in her heart.

This got me thinking about the things I want. 

The funny thing is...I already had a list started and I already started accomplishing some of them! So I decided I would start documenting them. I'm not done with the outfit posts. I still love fashion and I love creating new looks out of thrifted clothes or things in my closet. But there's so much more to me than that and I want to share it with you. :)

So, for today's post, I'm going to share with you a project that I have ALWAYS wanted to do. Do you know how many times I've seen these DIY mosaic table top projects on tv??? It's something I've always wanted to try but didn't have it in me to find a table that I wanted to destroy in order to create my own masterpiece. 

My time finally came when I moved into my place. The previous renters had left a rusted bistro tiled table in the back patio. It sat there for almost 2 years collecting spider webs. My mission was clear. One morning I said to myself...

"I'm going to re-tile this table today."

It was that simple. I grabbed A.B. ("amazing boyfriend" for those of you who are just joining us) and we started hitting up Goodwill stores and Dollar stores. Three Goodwills and two Dollar stores later I had collected all of the colorful plates that I wanted to smash up to create my tiles.

Next stop? Home Depot. We grabbed spray paint and tile adhesive. 

Time for the dirty work! I grabbed a hammer and went to town on the existing tile. 

A.B.'s job was to sand and spray paint the table.

While he painted away, I started taking out some aggression on the plates I purchased. I placed the plates between old towels and hammered them to bits!!!

Then I laid them out on bath towels and grouped the colors together so that I would have a clear view of my "palette."

Now for the REAL fun!

I put some adhesive on the back of each piece and started placing them on the grated metal top. 

I didn't exactly have a design plan in place, but I trusted my instincts. ;)

The last step was to grout the table.

Sounds like a job for A.B.!!

This was the final product and I could NOT be happier with it!!!! 

This table is a perfect example of something I've talked about doing for years and finally just decided to do it. 

It may not seem like a huge task, but I think most of us have a ton of things we say we want to do and then for one reason or another...we don't do it. 

That's not me anymore.

I want it all and I will GET it all. :)

And because I can't resist....here's an outfit post!

 

 I hope everyone has an amazing weekend filled with messy projects and fulfilled dreams. :)