Had an awesome time hanging out with my cousins in Lake Tahoe. I've missed them.

Will be posting photos when I finally get to have some time since school started and been busy at work. 

Teen Cravings

There are moments when I want to satisfy my teen cravings and one way to do so is watching some sort of teen-type movie. Such examples include cheesy movies such as the classic 'Bring it On' with Kristen Dunst and the not so classic 'Bring it On: All or Nothing' starring Hayden Panettiere and Beyonce's sister, Solange Knowles. I mean how LOL hilarious was it seeing Hayden Panettiere doing cheerleading moves and routines! Others include not-so cheesy movies (IMO) such as 'Harry Potter and the Goblet Fire' and more recently, the film 'Twilight'. 

This movie has been playing every free time I  have available and I am totally in love with this movie. However, I am utterly disappointed that the soundtrack lacks majority of the instrumental music that makes the film just as enjoyable to watch. I am definitely anticipating the next installment from the series, 'New Moon'.

8 Foods of Overindulgence

8 foods we eat too much of without realizing it (according to MSN Health & Fitness article):

1. Pizza

2. Salad Dressing (Blue Cheese)

3. Ice Cream

4. Orange Juice

5. Soft Drinks

6. White Rice

7. Potato Chips

8. Hamburgers

Thoughts:

1. I have been enjoying pepperoni pizza lately (probably as a result of intense studying), especially on a multigrain crust. The best pizza I thought I had was when I was in Chicago, but the pizza in NY (when I was in Niagara Falls) beat the Chi-town one. 

2. I always order a vinaigrette dressing because I hate ranch dressing and blue cheese so much. I'll have that when I am desperately hungry. But I'd rather have thousand islands before ranch.

3. I'm pretty good about eating ice cream. 

4. Surprising to me since I never look at the label to check the calories in a glass of OJ. I love orange juice but usually have it in the morning anyway since I load up on water and caffeine during the day and night. 

5. Rarely drink soda. I'll only have a few sips when I'm in the mood and when I have a cheeseburger or pizza. I never order cocktails with soda either. 

6. I'll only have a small portion of white rice with my meals, but I can have that every day depending on what the white rice is accompanying. 

7. I love certain kind of potato chips, but I try not to eat too much of it. I'll substitute potato chips for popcorn most of the time. A couple of my favorites: kettle popcorn, regular salted popcorn and light butter popcorn.

8. There are times when I want a cheeseburger so I'll go and order one. But I don't have a problem as far as over-indulging in burgers. 

Things I do overindulge in that instantly comes to mind:

1. Chocolate Chip cookies (soft-baked or hard)

2. Brownies

3. Strawberries

4. Strawberry and Banana smoothie

5. Sugarfree Red Bull

6. Blondies (when I can find them - so yummy)

7. Popcorn

8. Mom's cooking (not all the time which is great, but her filipino dishes are wonderful)

9. Kit Kat

10. Cheese and crackers

I never deny myself of what I am craving to eat because I find that I'll be substituting the hunger/craving for other things, thinking about what I *really* wanted to eat and not be satisfied in the end and just be completely unhappy and grumpy. So I give into what I am craving for that moment and eat slow and not eat too much to stuff myself. When I'm full, I'm full and don't have a problem seeing little or tons of leftovers on my plate. 

My big problem is with the chocolate chip cookies - I love to eat them! I have recently discovered Fresh & Easy's chocolate chip cookies and they are sooo good! I grab a bag of these when I am craving the soft-baked variety. For cookie crunch cravings, I've been getting Archer Farms chocolate chip and pecan cookies. 

I think this post resulted because I'm actually hungry!

Question: Do you overindulge in anything on the list? not on the list?

America's Portion Distortion

Facial Bliss

Treated myself to a much-deserved facial yesterday and have been feeling so much more relaxed since I just finished up with finals. 

While I am beginning to mask I always lie there thinking to myself that I won't be able to sleep for about the 20 minutes (or more thanks to my esthetician who lets me snooze away much longer!) I'm masking and I have a million things racing in my head. But I kid you not, every time I'm masking I knock out maybe 10 minutes into the it. When the esthetician comes in to wake me up, I am so drowsy I completely forget that I'm still there. She always tells me that usually happens since masking not only helps to provide hygiene effects to smooth and soothe the face, but for obvious reasons it has a calming and relaxing effect so an overall pleasant feeling is experienced. So by the time I arrive home, I am completely relaxed that I'll fall into a heavy "nap". This is what happened earlier today and I've been feeling refreshed since.

Iyengar and Bikram Yoga

Sanskrit: Utthita Trikonasana

Translation: Extended Triangle Pose

I have been practicing Iyengar yoga for roughly about 2.5 years and have learned to appreciate the practice and benefits it has to offer physically and mentally which is why I have incorporated it into my life permanently. Creating a stillness in the mind for just an hour while performing the various asanas (poses) is truly rewarding if you come into the workout with an open mind and are willing to put aside all those distractions and feelings that you normally carry with you all the time. I have never been flexible and hated that I was never as flexible as others. I have slowly learned to become flexible through yoga, but more importantly (in my opinion) there is an awareness you learn about your own body and limitations through yoga. I've noticed a sense of balance and internal harmony since taking yoga. It's like you become attuned to your body and with that knowledge you learn a little more about yourself and your outlook on life and other things seems just a little different. Yoga is awesome.

 

So lately I have been thinking about trying out "hot" yoga a.k.a. Bikram yoga. The room is maintaned at a temperature of 95-100 degrees while performing 26 poses. Doing various poses at high temperatures promotes profuse sweating to rid the body of toxins and increased flexibility is observed since the body is warmer. Sounds good to me and I'll update if I have an experience with this type of yoga. 

Review: Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief

I am in LOVE. 

Clinique's Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief has quickly become a staple in my daily beauty routine. This was actually acquired through the makeup department settlement a few months ago (thanks Anna!) and my skin has been feeling oh-so wonderfully soft and refreshed since. 

I apply this baby in the morning and night before my regular moisturizer. It absorbs beautifully into my skin without leaving any greasy residue. Before I started using this, my skin suffered the occasional dry patches from the colder season and even after trying out different types of moisturizers, my skin was left feeling tight and flakey. And women who routinely use foundation (liquid, mineral, powder) very well know how it just seems to highlight the patches and flakes on the skin. 

This is definitely a winner if you want your skin to feel luxurious and happy. 

Europe Summer Plans

Potential Summer 2009 Plans after Dublin, Ireland:

Plan A: Ireland -> London -> Paris -> Germany???

Plan B: Ireland -> London -> Paris -> Belgium -> Netherlands??? 

Plan C: same as Plan B but including Germany??

New Blog

Have been meaning to start fresh with a new blog for some time now and I suppose the time is perfect right now. My old blog somewhere on Livejournal just got abandoned when I reached a point of transition and just got extremely lazy trying to update. I figure it's a new year and my approach on Blogger can be a fresh one.