A squat challenge

I haven't been as good as I should be, after my completion of Reboot...  My intention had been to then follow an 80/20 paleo eating plan, but I have fallen off the wagon a bit...  Still sticking to smaller portions, love that I don't need sugar in my tea... But need to be more strict with myself!

My gym routine has also not been as dedicated as it was during Reboot.  I think I've fallen into a bit of a comfort zone, happy with my Reboot results and now not so motivated to continue... I need to change this mindset!  I still have another 5kg or so to lose!

I came across a squat challenge, and thought I'd give it a try.  Yesterday was Day 1.  50 squats, how hard can it be, right?!  Can you say: jelly legs!!

Keen to give it a try, during Reboot I did quite a lot of leg press-ups at the gym, and used the stepper machine, and I could feel a difference in my glutes - in just a few weeks of not doing the same exercises, my bum already feels all flabby! :-( 

How cool it will be to emerge from winter with toned legs - let's get this started and keep with the program!

Awesome YouTube video on how to do the perfect squat, check it out. :-)

xx

LashCurl treatment!

 

I'm so excited, I found the WOW-factor lash treatment I was looking for!

 

LashCurl is an eyelash lifting treatment, that really enhances the eye area beautifully, and still looks natural.  The treatment takes around 45 minutes to do, and then the results last for up to 6 weeks.

 

I had mine done two weeks ago, loved it so much that I ordered my kit, did training this weekend, practiced on a couple of family members, and am now ready to see clients!

 

My lashes:

 

 

My sister's lashes that I did last night:

 

 

For more info, squiz my business blog: 

Skincare By Jessica

 

 

Mia's ouma-grootjie came to visit

Last week Wyn's ouma came to stay with us for a week.  She lives in Dealesville (very small town near Bloemfontein) in a retirement village.  We don't see her very often, and she's a very sweet lady, and we thought it would be a treat for her to come visit us, so we booked her a bus ticket.  She was super excited to come stay!

It was really special for Ouma Poppie to spend time with Mia.  We did all sorts of outings - went for lunch at our fave coffee shop, Isabella's, I took Ouma Poppie to the movies, I did a facial and manicure treatment for her, Mia had tea parties for her, and they baked cookies together.

Then on Friday she came with us to Bethlehem when we went to visit Wyn's folks, and now she'll stay there for a while to visit them, and then get a lift back home again.

xx

To my darling Mia Mooi

My special one,

Your favourite thing to tell me these days, is: "I love you so much, Mommy!" And I can't tell you how my heart just bursts each and every time I hear those words, and how I make sure that I tell them back to you.

Mia Jill, you are the light of my life.  I can stare at your face forever, I can kiss every lil bit of you, and I can hold you and squeeze you all the time (until you tell me you're not a bubble, you can't pop!)

I love our chats, I love how curious you are, I love how you are mommy's big helper girl  - your lil chair gets scraped all over the kitchen floor so that you can stand at the counter and help me with whatever I'm doing.

I don't want you to ever be sad - whenever you're upset, frustrated, hurt or cross, I do my best to make you feel all better.

You love your family so much, and your family loves you to the moon and back.

I love to be with you, I wish I could be with you all the time.  You are such a special, lovable, amazing little person.  You have a sensitive heart of gold.

I love you.  I love you more than words can express. I love you so, so, very, very much.

Mommy

xx

 

The Barney Show

On Friday I took Mia to the baby expo in Joburg at the Coca-Cola Dome, where they had a Barney show on as well.

For two weeks now, Mia has been looking forward to seeing "real Barney."

It was lots of fun to watch her face as she saw Barney come dancing and singing on the stage.  She was super serious - not scared, but also didn't want to sit on her own seat, just stood on my lap.  She didn't clap or sing along, just stared in solemn disbelief and wonder.

Very cute, so glad I took her!

Mothersday 2013

We had a super special Mothersday lunch last Sunday, with my parents.  It was nice to make a photo opportunity of it and take piccies of everyone together! ♥

Bon Jovi Concert!

This weekend, I ticked two things off my bucket list:  See Bon Jovi live, and meet my good friend Debs.  What an amazing weekend it was!!

Debs and I met about 6 years ago, on a wedding-planning forum, and we clicked over a mutual love for Lindt chilli chocolate - started chatting via email, and have decided we are twins separated at birth, peas in a pod - we have so many similar interests, similar outlook on life, similar values - and after literally hundreds of emails between us, we finally met face-to-face this weekend - and Debs is just as lovely, sweet, caring and kind as she is in her emails.  A beautiful, beautiful woman, inside and out. ♥

We went to Soccer City FNB stadium in Soweto in a Shuttle Bus - we were 5 girls going together, and then my brother and his girlfriend also came with us in the bus.  It worked really well to go in a bus and not stress about traffic, parking, etc.  The driver found a parking spot which was quite close to the road, but it meant that we had quite a bit of a walk to do to get to the stadium, but it was fine - adrenaline and excitement made us just go, go, go!

We got something to drink and found our seat, and had fun watching the thousands of people milling about.  The first pre-show musician came on at around 7pm, I forget his name, and then after him it was Elvis Blue - I really like Elvis Blue's music, have been a fan of his since he was on Idols, really enjoyed his couple of songs he did.

And then it was the countdown to the big moment!  The crowd was doing Mexican waves all around the stadium, was quite amazing to see and take part in.  Suddenly the lights went out, and Jon Bon Jovi and his band exploded into "That's What The Water Made Me" - one of my favourite songs on his new CD!

Oh, how we screamed and sang and clapped and danced.

The concert was fantastic, amazing, awesome, wonderful, breath-taking.  I love how he interacted with the crowd, telling us it's a bit chilly but he'll keep us warm, apologizing for taking so long to come back to South Africa, and sharing bits of info here and there, like counting down to 1983 when they became famous. And he said that he might not be as good looking as Justin Bieber, and he might not be able to dance like Justin Timberlake, but he's been around longer than the two of them put together, and he sure ain't going anywhere any time soon!  Yay!

He even serenaded us with an awesome cover of Pretty Woman.  Swoooooon!

(pic by Big Concert)

He did so many of my favourite songs - I adored "I'll be there for you", and "You want to make a memory", and "In these arms", and oh wow, "Bed of Roses" is just the ultimate love song.  His new one "Because we can" is fantastic, and also loved the previous hits, "It's my life" and "Lost highway".  Oh man, it was brilliant.

Jon Bon Jovi would just flash a gorgeous sexy smile every now and then, and the crowd would go absolutely wild.  What a powerful feeling it must be, to be able to command a crowd of 70 000 people to stand up, to put their hands up in the air, and to have them singing along to all the songs.

(pic by Big Concert)

I am still on a high, still constantly thinking about how awesome the show was, listening to his songs over and over - I am a bigger fan than ever before!

Hope he comes to SA again soon - I'll be there for sure. ♥

xx

Cupcakes & Tea Party!

Ah wow, what a perfect Sunday afternoon.

When Mia woke up from her nap, we baked cupcakes.  I've been wanting to do this for a while, ever since my good friend Debs started their Cupcake Sunday tradition, I knew Mia would love this too!

After the cupcakes were baked, iced and decorated, I decided we need to make an occasion of enjoying them - so took lil table and chairs out into the garden, made some tea for myself and Mia and poured it into her miniature tea set - Mia absolutely loved it!  She also loved the fact that Nala had a tea party with us - all too keen for any crumbs of cupcake that might fall in her path! ;-)

This was the first time we have a proper "tea party" - I look forward to doing this a lot more often!
xx

30 Days of Reboot DONE!

I did it.  I actually did it.

30 whole days of no sugar, no starch, no grains, no dairy, and no alcohol.  YAY ME!

I love that I put my mind to it, and stuck to it, and completed it.

I feel healthy, I feel gooooooood!

Reboot has really done a lot for me, as per my previous post - but the added bonus is the weight and centimetres lost!

During the 30 days, I have lost 4.7 kgs, and a total of 39 cm!  The biggest difference in centimetres lost, were 8cm around my tummy, 6cm around my chest (back fat be gone!), 5cm around my hips, 3cm around my thighs.  YAY!

I think the last time I saw the number 65.8 on the scale was about 8 years ago, during my 3rd year in college and my first year working... 

To celebrate, I went out and bought a pair of size 12 jeans... they're not even tight, they're a perfect fit!  I am so, so stoked.  Woohoo!