massmusings

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE! I've been leveled out with the flu this whole week but I'm still glad it's Friday so I can sleep without missing work. Looking forward to brunch on Sunday with some fabulous bloggers! Have a great weekend everyone and get excited for the return of the photo challenge tomorrow and Sunday! 

THIS may be of interest to my Boston followers specifically, I hope the rest of you read it too!

P.S. I have a serious thing for eyebrows. You need to take care of them, plain and simple. 

Thank you to Liz Mollica of Liz Molllica Photography for taking these amazing pictures!

This week's SSS is dedicated to my favorite kind of hat- the beanie. Beanies in my opinion have always been great but lately they have been making a serious fashion comeback. You can dress them up, dress them down, and you do NOT have to be a "hipster" to wear them. The Splurge this week is the Rag & Bone Daviana Ribbed Beanie. At $150, it's definitely on the expensive side but the color is a great neutral and can be worn with essentially anything. The Save is much lower in the price rang at $20. This TOPSHOP Shorter Turn Up Beanie is in my favorite winter color and just looks effortlessly cool when paired with a leather jacket and riding pants. The bonus this week is that the Steal is not much cheaper than the Save, making both very affordable and attainable. This Downtown Beanie is $15 from nastygal is in classic black and is perfect for committing to a beanie before you become addicted and rush out to get one in every color. 

I hope you all have big things poppin this weekend! Personally, I can't wait to celebrate Kelsey's birthday!!! Have a fabulous weekend humans! 

Now that I am working at a company that has a much more casual dress code, I've been trying to think of innovative ways to be stylish yet functional at work. Because my duties no longer include greeting clients and essentially being the face of the company, I can dress down and be more comfortable. I know that there are some of you out there in similar companies so I thought I would curate some great items to be productive and professional in the work place. 

Jeans are work appropriate if paired with a nice sweater or blouse. Try to pick something with visual interest as it pulls the outfit together without having to add layers and copious amounts of jewelry. I also think it's fun to add in a simple metallic flat to dress up the look a little. Lately, my go to jewelry has been very minimal. Don't get me wrong, I still covet my collection of statement necklaces but sometimes it's nice to just wear a simple chain and stud earrings. 

Never underestimate the power of a sleek, structured bag. Not only are they super fashionable, but they can hold much more than meets the eye (and typically they keep everything more organized than a slouchy tote bag). Fill yours with unique and fun desk accessories and you're ready for work! How amazing is this octopus coffee mug? I think that's going to be my next desk purchase. 

Thanks for reading and check back soon for more posts like this, as well as the next installment of the 195 Webster series! 

So this weekend I went to visit my beautiful friends in Baltimore. I'm obsessed with that city, in fact I almost moved there after college. It was so great to spend time with friends that I hadn't seen in a while but it was absolutely detrimental to my cleanse. I actually managed to eat salads and follow the plan for every meal except breakfasts which I told myself was okay (No way was I missing those bagel places down there!). So I had a cheat weekend, really not a big deal, except now I feel like crap. Literally my stomach has been so upset and still has that feeling you get when you eat too much sweetened stuff or are dehydrated. Very uncomfortable and I can't wait until a few days from now when I finally feel better again. *** I should note that I've been drinking about 2 nalgenes of water a day. 

That's pretty much it for now... I have some big things coming up on the blog (think outfit posts, 195 Webster and more) but for now I leave you with this: Ombre. 

Instead of doing a SSS, today I am going to give you an update on my Eat To Live cleanse. It's been 5 days since I started and so far I feel really great! I've been taking the one serving a day of whole grains very seriously as that's usually one of my biggest pitfalls. I've been eating 1 or 2 pieces of whole grain toast with fruit for a meal (typically breakfast) only if I have to. When I had time in the mornings this week I made an all fruit smoothie but due to a two-day work meeting I was limited to my breakfast selections and had to sub in the toast. Besides that though, I've been sticking to it and I actually do feel a lot better. I've lost a 3 solid pounds, I have significantly less bloating and I don't feel that "food coma" feeling after eating a hefty meal. Even though this it is possible to keep this up for 6 weeks, I think I'm only going to do 3 weeks and then slowly start adding animal products back in... I miss meat way too much. 

Keep checking back for more updates on my Eat To Live cleanse. Until then, I leave you with this amazing video to take you into Friday: 

P.S. Let this song take you into the weekend! It's UNREAL.

Today I'm so excited to be posting about Brilliant Earth for their Pinterest Personality Style Challenge! Brilliant Earth is a great company that focuses on ethically sourced diamonds which I fully support. In this styling session, I based my look off of their elegant, minimalist accessories because I think that they fit best with my own personal style.

I'm going to be blunt and honest: I've struggled with eating for essentially my entire life. Growing up as a dancer in front of a mirror, I always compared myself to everyone else in the room. It was common practice for our teachers to be strict in all aspects: technique, manners, facial expression, and of course diet. Naturally, any young girl in this situation would start to have doubts about her self-esteem and body image. Insert eating trouble here. Unfortunately, even though I had an incredibly supportive family, I slipped into a pattern known all too well by people with eating disorders. Luckily, since then I have utilized many tools and become more comfortable with food. However, I'm still always on the hunt for something that will make my body feel better and less weighed down by all of the processed crap that's out there. Thus, my new relationship with the Eat To Live diet.

Typically I eat fairly healthy things. I do not eat any refined sugar or white flour and I love fruit and most veggies. However, I'm definitely a salt lover. I love crackers, chips... anything with salt really. I'm also a sucker for Cesar salad, the creamier the better. Now as you all know, those things are fine in moderation. But, on a Sunday when I'm hungover, you better believe I'm stuffing about 85 breakfast sandwiches into my mouth. Eat To Live is great because it forces you to eat only healthy options, mostly focusing on vegetables.

I initially heard about the Eat To Live plan from my friend Jessie (she's essentially my personal health guru- this girl is an amazing cook and has a great wealth of knowledge for the best practices in healthy eating). At first I was totally against it, mostly due to my obsession with french fries. Almost a year after learning about it though, I've finally decided to jump on board.

Here are the sparknotes:

- created by Dr. Joel Furhman 

- eat as many vegetables as you want until you are full

- eat tons of fruits

- no meat, no bread, no cheese (you can technically have these in moderation for the life plan but not in the cleanse, which is what I'm doing)

- no coffee- stick to tea 

- don't snack between meals

Because I know that a lot of you are just as ADHD with long posts as I am, I'm going to include some links below for you to read at your leisure. If you are really serious about doing this, I recommend reading through everything (including at least part of the actual book) so that you are educated on your new eating plan. *DISCLAIMER- I am by no means a licensed dietitian or health expert. You should consult your doctor if you have any doubts about eating and exercise. 

Approved foods list 

Dr. Furhman website

A great blog post about the 6 week plan

Today marks the first day of my cleanse. After such a gross weekend of unhealthy eating, I was thrilled to only be consuming a fruit smoothie for breakfast. I even woke up a little earlier to blend one myself. However, by lunch I was feeling the hunger a little. No problem... I walked over to the cafeteria and made myself a nice salad, following all the rules. But once 3:30pm rolled around, I started to get a little hangry (hungry and angry). I started craving something with carbs in it which is a definite no-no at this stage in the game. Luckily I was able to make it through and distracted myself with a good, cardio-infused, gym session but it wasn't easy.

Every few days I will be blogging about my progress as a way to hold myself accountable. Hopefully I can inspire some of you to adopt a healthier relationship with food by doing this. To those of you who are with me, GOOD LUCK! 

(Please email me any stories about your Eat To Live experience)

IT'S FRIDAY! You know what that means, another great SSS coming at you! This week I chose to showcase some great options for the boyfriend jean trend. The price range doesn't vary as much as typical SSS segments, but if anything that's a good thing.

The Splurge is the Rag & Bone boyfriend jean. Coming in at $220, it's a little more pricey but I love the distressed details and the wash. The Save is the TOPSHOP MOTO Boyfriend Jean, $84 (shown here in petite). For a boyfriend jean I typically prefer a lighter wash. However, this dark wash doesn't bother me. In fact, I think it's a great shade for mixing and matching. The Steal is H&M Boyfriend Slim Jeans at $49. As you know, H&M is my go to if I want to try out a trend without dropping a lot of cash to achieve the look I want. If you're going to purchase your first pair of boyfriend jeans, these are the way to go. 

As I mentioned before, over the next few weeks, the new layout should be implemented. Until then, have a FABULOUS weekend and make sure you tell your family and friends you love them!

First of all, I need to say Thank You! Thank you to all of my followers, my fellow bloggers, my friends, and my family for making 2013 such a great year for me. I successfully moved to Boston, completed one year at my first job and then got a new one (I start this Wednesday!), celebrated some mile-stone anniversaries and moved into a fabulous new apartment in East Boston. I also was so fortunate to learn more about the blogging world and grow massmusings exponentially. Without the support and love of everyone around me (that's all of you too!) most of these things would not have been possible. So, again, I say thank you. Thank You!

To kick off 2014, I have decided to make "The List." The List, as many other bloggers have called it, is a compilation of things that I want to accomplish in a certain period of time. I'm going to give myself 4 years to finish everything on the list. My reasoning for 4 years is that I want to make sure that I allow myself enough to time to actually complete all of the items. There's nothing worse than running out of time, especially in regards to something like this. So here it goes! 

- Skydive

- Travel to Spain

- Travel to Greece

- Tour Europe with Drew

- Double my blog followers

- Inspire someone to try something new

- Have my apartment featured on a major blog or online magazine

- Buy a new computer

- Actually purge my closet of all items that I no longer wear

- Host a blogger event

- Send out Christmas cards

- Host a family dinner or holiday at my apartment 

- Learn at least 6 more recipes and cook them often

- Learn to surf

- Attend the Boston Ballet

- Go to a Bruins game

- Be photographed by HONY

- Have a tea party
- Get my second tattoo
- Go hiking

- Learn to ski

- Swim/ compete in an alumni swim meet

- Buy a tent from L.L. Bean

- Adopt a puppy/dog

- Run four 5k's

- Go to four more Lucky FABB conferences 

- Add more to this list :)

P.S. I may be adding more to the list so keep checking back!