Accidental Tourists

It is a beautiful Saturday morning in sunny Florida.  I'm sitting at my computer and after paying bills, doing some work from home, and searching the web for homes in South Florida I've decided to write a little blog.  My husband's at work, but I'm trying to prepare for our little mini-adventure today when he gets home.  You see, we've decided to cruise the neighborhoods of Southeast Florida in an attempt to zone in on some that we haven't considered before.  Last weekend we traveled up to Boca Raton and Delray Beach (areas foreign to both of us our entire lives), but something just didn't feel right. 

You'd think that two native Floridians would know immediately where we wanted to call home, but alas we've turned into nomads over these past couple years.  I've lived in Weston, South Beach, Aventura, Hollywood Beach, Downtown Fort Lauderdale, and Plantation.  My in-laws live in Aventura (which my mother-in-law thinks is the center of universe - it is very nice) and my parents up and decided to leave Aventura and move to a golf course community in West Palm Beach a couple years ago (much to my dismay because I do not ever want to live in West Palm Beach - although it's very nice up there too). 

I'm often jealous of people that just know where they want to live.  Wouldn't that make our lives so much easier...to just know?  I think our problem is that we've lived in so maybe different neighborhoods as renters that we know too much of the bad or too much of the good and it makes it hard to just pick a place!  So armed with various listings from Hollywood down to Miami Beach, we're taking a driving tour today of so many of the neighborhoods that we've known well our whole lives.  We are going to be "accidental" tourists and look at these places with fresh eyes in the hopes that maybe we'll find something that feels right!

Keurig You're My Crack

     Hey out there - any other coffee-holics in the blogoshpere?  I love my coffee so much that I drink it black - it's truest and purest form.  I could drink it throughout the entire day and well into the evening.  I love my coffee so much that it is probably one addiction that is preventing me from even thinking of getting pregnant.  I recently read somewhere that women trying to get pregnant should not drink more than 300 mg of coffee per day or roughly 3 cups I believe.  Coffee, not only are you my crutch to get me through the day, but you are also another form of birth control. 
     All kidding aside, my favorite way to drink coffee is a nice, robust, coarse coffee blend in a french press.  Unfortunately, I do not have 10 minutes everyday to make one of my 4-5 cups of coffee.  Up until two months ago I would generally brew a pot each morning and end up throwing half of it away before I left for work in my little Mr. Coffee.  That was until my mom bought me a beautiful Keurig Programmable Brewer.  I can make a single cup of coffee as many times a day as I want - waste not, want not, right?  I travel to Bed, Bath, and Beyond with my 20% off coupons and purchase different K Cup flavors.  I must say that all of them have been good, but some of my new favorites, in no particular order, are: Donut Shop Coffee, French Roast Coffee, and Newmans Own Organics Special Blend Extra Bold Coffee. 

     I'm not being paid by Keurig to write this although, as with all of my product endorsements on this blog, some free coffee would be nice.  I've had some of their teas (not a tea person) and they come out fantastic.  I even like my milk chocolate K Cup for dessert some nights (It's 2 Points).  This is a perfect gift for any coffee lovers out there and if you don't agree with me just contact Keurig directly, they've got an awesome customer service department.  I thought my beautiful machine had broken the first week we got it because it would shut off automatically after each cup.  The lovely people at Keurig talked me through how to turn off the automatic shut off feature and didn't treat me like an idiot for not knowing how and worrying that I broke my favorite gadget since...I don't even know since, it's changed my life - and my husband's, he's making a cup for himself right now!

Summertime is Berry Time

     Last Wednesday was my first weigh in for Weight Watchers and my first full week on the "diet."  I managed to lose 7 lbs - woo hoo.  I don't think I'll lose that much when I take my weight tomorrow, but whatever it is, it is.  The hardest thing for me is eating breakfast, but I've found something that I like - it's only 4 points - and I can actually stomach it in the morning.  I call it "Euge's Berry Breakfast," and it consists of the following:
(1) Single Service Chobani 0% Fruit - I like rasberry, strawberry, or blueberry best.  I buy a variety and try and alternate each morning.
(2) 1 cup of mixed berries - right now I'm buying blueberries, rasberries, and blackberries.
(3) Put it all into a small cereal bowl, mix it up, and voila - Euge's Berry Breakfast.
     I'd also like to bring up something else that I'm doing, which I started last Tuesday and is a 14 day commitment.  In my all things berry theme, I'm doing the Applied 14-Day Acai Berry Cleanse.  You have to take two vitamins with 8 ozs of water before breakfast and another two vitamins with 8 ozs of water before bed.  The vitamins taste like berries so they don't repulse me.  I figured that after a couple years of eating horribly what could doing this hurt?  So far, I've had no negative reactions to this, which I was worried about, but we'll see if it did anything once I've completed it (a week from today). 
     One thing that I've learned is that it takes a lot of work to be a disciplined and responsible person with food.  If you can find something that you actually enjoy eating and stick with that one thing each morning for breakfast it will make your life a lot easier.

Preppy at Bedtime

     Over the years - despite hating to iron - I have developed a love affair with button down shirts.  To me, nothing looks better than a button down shirt - it dresses up jeans & shorts and has a conservative sexiness about it that I find very appealing.  They scream Americana and summer is when I like to wear these button downs most.  For some reason, the light cotton and rolled up sleeves is surprisingly cooling in the hot summer months. 

     However, here is where I am forced to digress.  I have become obsessed with button down shirts for bedtime.  It all started about three years ago when my husband started giving me his old dress shirts that he no longer wore.  I started sleeping in them and really don't enjoy sleeping in anything else.  I was in Bloomingdales and discovered the Ralph Lauren button down shirt/dress pajamas and have started to build up quite a collection.  I'd like to encourage all of you girls out there to give these pj's a try.  Sometimes, they even pop up at Marshall's for $19.99 in the off colors, but it's such a happy day for me when I can snag one there. 

     Just like button down shirts for daytime need to be drycleaned and/or washed and ironed so do these pajamas.  I have discovered that if I air dry them out of the wash they look crisp and clean and great for sleeping in again and again.  If anyone else out there is in love with these for slumber, please let everyone out there know.  They really are wonderful!

The Un-Diet

     As most of my readers know, I've referenced the fact that I've been dieting for the better part of five years.  Maybe it was the Jennifer Hudson (she looks fantastic) commercials for Weight Watchers or the fact that I got on my scale and gained 20 pounds since I got married nine months ago, but I realized that it was time to make a change.  I've starved myself, done the cookie diet, got all hopped up on diet pills from GNC, eatten for my blood type, blah, blah, blah, but alas I always put the weight back on and then I get depressed.  So, I signed up for Weight Watchers online program on Wednesday, April 28, 2010.  I was going to weight myself today, but I got scared and decided against it.  I'm going to give myself a full week - until Wednesday, May 5, 2010. 
     I definitely feel thinner - my clothes felt a little looser today.  I've never been on a diet where I've gotten to eat so much food.  It's really unbelievable and counting the points is like playing a game. I will post my progress on Wednesday.  Wish me luck.  Maybe once I start dropping the pounds, I'll finally start running again.  FYI - what better time to start running than Florida in the summer time?