Love Where You Live, Live Where You Love

Residing in the glorious city of Chicago, it's easy to boast about the uniqueness of where I live. The activities are endless, the diversity is ample, and the food is delicious. Public transit, valet parking, lakefront bike lanes, all help to make the city accessible to tourists and locals alike. Being from small town Indiana, I am fully aware some places don't have nearly as much to offer for culture, events, and all around amusement.

So what is your Fabulous in February challenge for the day? I believe we are in control of our lives much more than we realize and a healthy dose of appreciation and perspective of where you're living is needed on occasion. You task today is to find an activity to attend, or coordinate a neighborhood party, throw together a girls night out (or in). It doesn't have to be expensive, aka a classic dvd and cheap bottle of wine in your own abode will add some atmosphere to your home, your life, and your city. 

Taken from Oak Street Beach on a glorious summer day!

Last night, I went out to take advantage of restaurant week for a second time. I will say, all of my food was amazing and it was worth the freezing cold train ride after work! I am completely guilty of not enjoying all my glorious city has to offer, this is something that needs to change. 

Where are you from? What makes your town so unique and what do you enjoy doing?

Fabulous in February: A Man Friendly Potluck Dish

We attended a friend's Super Bowl party today. It was potluck style at their condo and, at my fiance's suggestion, I needed to bring my famous meatloaf. The dish isn't inherently potluck, grab and go, appropriate. Also, our friend's wife doesn't eat red meat. Major whomp whomp. After some soul searching, and grocery searching, I put together a football friendly treat.

Mini (Turkey) Meatloaf Sliders:
-3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
-1/2 cup oats
-1 egg
-1/2 teaspoon salt
- BBQ Sauce for topping
-1 pound lean ground turkey
- Hawaiian Mini Sub Sweet Rolls
Calories per mini slider: 169


Mix egg, oatmeal, milk, cheese, and salt. Add in ground turkey. Form into large six mini meatloaves. Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet and cook at 350 for 45 minutes. Let the mini loaves cool, then slice in half. Slice the mini sub rolls in half and place half a meatloaf on each. Secure with a toothpick. This makes one dozen sliders.

These were a total shot in the dark initially and I think they're going to be a big hit. I ate one already and the pairing is delicious.

I also brought along some vegetables and hummus to snack on myself. Because, you know, if I'm famished table full of dips, chips, and unhealthy treats is staring me in the face I am totally eating it.

Fabulous in February: Get Your Life Together For the Month Ahead

I always love the beginning of a new month. A fresh page in my agenda book, changing the calendars to see what events I have ahead. Also, it is the perfect time to analyze whatever it is you want to accomplish in the next few weeks. I've laid out some of my tasks broken down by category to give you some inspiration on what you can focus on this February:

Finances:
-I don't follow a strict budget (although that may be changing soon), but I lay out which bills with be coming from which pay check. Checking my calendar, I can see I also have a facial, hair cut, and dinner out with friends this week. I need to make sure I have extra money set aside for that as well as my usual groceries, gas, and Target run.
-I finally tackled an issue one of my student loans seemed to be having. Luckily, it was an easy fix. I made an over sight on some forms I needed to send in, so they are now addressed and ready to be sent out.

Fitness:
-My monthly goal is five workouts a week with one being an hour long yoga workout to stretch and help my muscles recover. I often get six workouts in each week, which helps me to feel extra productive and great!
-I try my wedding dress on in 16 days. You bet your butt I'm stepping up the cardio and toning routines. Early this morning, I did a 45 minute workout dvd consisting of weights, abs, and cardio. I will keep you updated on the new fitness routines I try throughout the month.

Home/Organization:
-So today I cleared out my fridge and cabinets. It's a very unsettling thing to do when it's too snowy to leave the house. We are living on leftovers today, may do dinner out tonight, and it allowed me to accurately evaluate all the items I now need to buy at the stores tomorrow. At least there will be plenty of room for everything when I cart it home!
-I also created my weekly list of errands, workouts, and other tasks to do.
-I like to use my weekends to get things accomplished so our place is vacuumed, mopped, and our half a dozen loads of laundry are complete. The latter is no easy task as it required quarters and traipsing up and down a freezing cold stairwell to the basement. I will be so glad when we have laundry in our own home!

Wedding:
-My wedding to do's this month are super simple. Thank goodness. I need to mail our Save the Dates, the main issue has been getting to the post office to purchase stamps. I also want to register, set aside pictures for my hair and make up trial on the 16th of this month, and set up appointments to do our cake and food tasting. You know, the fun stuff. I'm actually pretty pumped for this month of planning, our long engagement and working ahead is starting to pay off.
-Chill. Relax. Enjoy that I am engaged and planning what is going to be a seriously amazing time for our friends and family. And, of course, appreciate being one month closer to marrying the love of my life.

Health:
-Throughout this month I will be doing some clean eating features and healthy food swaps. I am aiming to incorporate more whole foods into my diet each day. Processed items, even too frequent of granola bars, leave me feeling bloated and hungry.
-Mental health is also important, I am going to finish two books and make more time for "brain games" like sudoku. My fiance and I play chess on SocialChess for our iPhones, so I plan to get in the habit of checking our game more than once every three days. Maybe this will help me improve my chess skills? Doubtful, I am really quite awful.

What are some of your big picture goals for the month?

Fabulous in February

Winter is really starting to get on my nerves. My energy is gone, I have been cranky, and all motivation is often a lost cause. While February is typically a month where the bitter cold reaches a peak, I hope we have already seen the worst of what this season has to offer. February is going to be all about being positive and making life just a little bit better to help me survive the last month and a half before spring. Plus, my birthday is in March and who doesn't want to feel more fabulous in time for their birthday?!

What does all of this even mean? Throughout the month my posts will focus on one thing you can do each day - from organization, to fitness, to relaxation - which will help you break through the doldrums of the cold and radiate will improved wellness from within. Also, I promise they won't break the bank. Fabulous in February series begins tomorrow, get excited!

Five Ways I've Been Working Out For Free

I have never in my life paid a gym membership fee. With the exception of the half off group fitness glasses at college, when the price is reduced half way through the semester. I bought a workout class Groupon once. I never went as they were good in the peak of winter. Point is, I love fitness and breaking a sweat but I don't think anyone should have to pay a hefty price to improve their body. The bonus about these tips? They don't even require you to leave your home in this horrid polar vortex.

1. YouTube. I mentioned before how I adore the Blogilates videos. I will often print out her workout calendars and mix them with my own. Other favorites are Tone It Up, Fitness Blender, and PopSugar Fitness. I just sign into my account and their latest videos are in my feed, ready to go.

2. Amazon Prime. Yes, technically I pay for the prime membership but I have that anyway due to my free Kindle rentals and the shipping perks. This membership is becoming my new favorite thing. I recently discovered the free shows and movies, as they occupied bitter cold days on my Christmas break. Well now, I have been trying a new workout video each day for the past few days and it's pretty awesome. They offer everything from Jillian Michaels, to yoga, to Densie Austin for nights when I feel my body needs a low impact recovery routine. I am in love. 

3. Magazine workouts. I subscribe to a couple of fitness magazines currently but have read a variety for years and years. I now have a pretty impressive stock pile of their top workouts. Following Shape, Self, Fitness, or the like on Twitter or Facebook will provide the same information. They will link you to a ton of free workouts you can print out or bookmark for the future.

4. Make it up as you go along. Interval training is all the rage and it's quite effective. We all know the basics, intense moves such as split squats, burpees, or speed skaters for 20 - 45 seconds and 10 - 15 seconds of recovery. Choose different exercises and continue for 20+ minutes. Back in the day I used to attempt to watch the clock for these routines but I now use a website that tracks the time, circuit, and when to begin and end each set for me. It's the perfect workout for when you aren't feeling any workout in particular.

5. Keep it brief, yet frequent. Jumping jacks during commercials. Crunches when your favorite movie/television character says their catch phrase. Squats while you brush your teeth, or hover while you pee. All the small changes you make add up. Have an impromptu dance party or clean the house vigorously, it will be done faster that way! Whatever you choose to do, you should be breaking a sweat every single day. Your mind will equate fitness as a habit, a lifestyle change; not a fleeting trend. 

BONUS FREEBIE:
6. Run. I am not a big runner, and I will never run in this brutal weather we are currently experiencing. However, running is free. So is walking more. As it warms up, grab some comfy kicks and go for a brisk stroll.

Peanut Butter Hot Cocoa

The temperatures in the city are still unbelievably miserable. While driving home in snow and subzero weather, all I could think about was relaxing as soon as I walked in the door. What relaxes me? At the moment, chocolate and peanut butter. The base recipe was taken from my skinny spicy hot cocoa recipe, I just tweaked it a bit. 

Recipe:
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1.5 tablespoons Hershey's unsweetened cocoa
- 2 packets Truvia
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons peanut butter
- Whipped cream (optional)
Calories: 105 (sans whipped cream)

I heated my milk on the stove before adding the cocoa, truvia, and vanilla. I blended the mix with a whisk for a couple of minutes. Then added peanut butter about a minute before taking it off the stove, to ensure everything completely dissolved. 

I have been cutting back on dairy recently, but I absolutely add a bit or Redi Whip to the top of mine. Enjoy!

Blame It On The Wedding Brain...

I ordered my wedding invitations a while back and I just received them today as I had them shipped to my future in law's house. The anticipation of finally seeing my glorious invites, response cards, reception cards, pearl lined envelopes (and we wonder why weddings are a multi-million dollar business..) was killing me. I read through the invitation. Success. The stark white envelopes were gorgeous and our response cards and envelopes were on point. What am I leaving out? Oh yes, the reception cards. You know, the card where you tell your guests where your reception is located. I may have been extremely hungry and tired when I placed the order, then became frustrated when I lost the entire order and had to start over. I failed to properly proofread everything and put the WRONG ADDRESS on our reception cards. So close to perfection! If this is the only thing that goes wrong in our wedding planning adventure, I know I can count myself lucky. I have ordered the proper cards and they should be shipped out soon.

This is why you do things very far in advance. If there is a mistake, you have time to correct it. At least I am only frustrated at my own oversight instead of panicked about rush ordering new cards. Life lesson learned.

My (almost) magical box of wedding invitations!