details in black.

texture and details add oomph to this otherwise plain black sweater from Fevrie. i love simple and unfussy pieces, and this top is one you can throw on with jeans and heels for an easy yet pulled together look.

scenes from the weekend below.

after a long hiatus, they brought back a carnival to our neighborhood...so we went to show our support and get our fill of carnival food.

mini-she being a good sport by riding the

merry-go-round with her brother.

(dress rehearsal)

after four months of late-night rehearsals, we finally got to see mini-she on stage at opening night of her school play. she did great...i'm so proud of her.

(Fevrie mesh & quilted top c/o; Bebe necklace;
Patty's Closet shorts; lips: LAQA & Co. 'Doppelganger')

marathon chronicles 03. juicing update.

it's been almost two months since i started juicing, so i thought this would be a good time to check in and see if the benefits outweigh the cost and time spent.

my main intent was to supplement mini-she's teen diet. although she has a well balanced dinner, she rarely eats (a good) breakfast, and who knows what she has for lunch at school. for myself, i wanted an overall healthy diet to go along with my training and increased physical activity.

i, personally, have no problem eating my fruits and veggies. in fact, i prefer to eat them. a huge bowl of salad is always on the dinner table, and fruits are always on hand at home. but truth is, with my typical weekday, generally eating only three meals a day, it can be difficult to get those 3-5 servings of veggies and 2-4 servings of fruit in. maybe not the veggies, but definitely the fruits.

that's where juicing works for me.

what i bought in february:

2x carrots 10lb, $7.49

3x gala apples, $8.79/$8.49/$9.99

3x organic power greens (baby kale, chard, spinach), $4.99

cucumbers, $4.49

strawberries $7.79

3x oranges, $9.79

lemons, $5.99

celery, $3.79

pears, $6.29

ginger $2.00

cost:

month total: $124.45

daily: $4.44

per person: $2.22

time:

juicing (prepping/juicing/cleaning) in the mornings added 20-30 minutes to my daily routine, depending on whether i prepped the night before. 

tip: juice more veggies than fruits. juicing can be high in sugar, so use veggies as your base, then add a little fruit to sweeten. as a beginner, we added lots of fruits to mask the taste of the veggies. i slowly decreased the amount of fruit and actually began to appreciate the "taste" of the veggies.

tip: buy organic whenever possible, otherwise scrub/wash well.

tip: regular kale can taste bitter and smells horrible in my opinion. this green mix is a lot easier to drink...

great for beginners!

tip: drink your juice with a straw.

goes down easier without the smell.

tip: continue to eat your fruits and veggies for fiber.

in fact, have a piece of fruit with your morning juice!

favorite 'green' juice:

4-5 handfuls green mix

2 celery stalks

2-inch cucumber

1 apple (or pear or orange)

1/2 lemon

favorite 'orange' juice:

4-5 carrots

1 apple

1/2 orange (or 3-4 strawberries)

1/4 lemon

small piece ginger

*makes about 15 oz

i use the breville juice fountain plus.

below are some of the popular juicers:

top centrifugal juicers:

top masticating juicers:

(better if you juice more leafy greens)

my thoughts?

although i don't see any physical differences after a month of juicing, i feel better knowing that i'm getting my daily servings of fruits and vegetables. i have my juice in the morning on an empty stomach and do feel "clean" and energized...it certainly makes me think twice about what i put in my body the rest of the day. i believe the cost per drink is reasonable considering you'd pay $5-$7 at a juice bar. eventually, i'd like to incorporate other veggies, but i stuck to what was conveniently available (in bulk) at my local costco. 

overall, i would not survive on a liquid diet. i love food too much. however, daily juicing as a complement to my meals (as opposed to a replacement) works for me. i can't afford the extra 30 minutes in the morning, so i'll have to make an effort to do more prep work the night before. i will continue to juice at this point and will make another assessment in a few more months.

if you juice, what's your favorite recipe?

if you don't juice, would you consider it?

it's About Time.

this post was sponsored by Universal Pictures through their partnership with POPSUGAR. i was compensated to write a post about About Time; all opinions are my own.


we experience things in life, big and small, that we'll remember forever. sometimes it's as innocent as our first childhood pet or first kiss, or sometimes it's life-changing events such as getting married or the death of a loved one. while i've had many favorite moments in time (vacations, buying my first car, graduating), the most obvious life-changing moment in my life was having kids. and life has never been the same.

as a single mom, life gets overwhelming, and it's frustrating trying to do it all. i wonder how things might be now if i did things differently. i even catch myself thinking,
"if i could only go back in time."

but what if i did? would i get the results i was hoping for? maybe, but then i would have erased all the other ups and downs that made my family what we are today. crazy, chaotic, critical, loud, but spontaneous, supportive and loving....and i wouldn't change any of that. and that's what Tim realizes in the movie, About Time, that life's imperfections are what make
it extraordinary.

this november, the creator of Love Actually returns with his most personal and memorable film of all, About Time. About Time tells the story of a young man whose gift allows him to go back and relive any moment of his life. but instead of making every moment perfect, he learns that life and love are most extraordinary
when you embrace all of their imperfections.

on november 8, 2013, get ready to fall in love
all over again...with About Time.

about the movie:
at the age of 21, Tim Lake (Domhall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time...
the night after another unsatisfactory new year party, Tim's father (Bill Nighy) tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Tim can't change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own life - so he decides to make his world a better place...by getting a girlfriend. turns out that it's not as easy as you might think.

Tim finally meets the beautiful but insecure Mary (Rachel McAdams). they fall in love, then an unfortunate time-travel incident means he's never met her at all. so they meet for the first time again...and again...but finally, after a lot of cunning time traveling, he wins her heart.

Tim then uses his power to create the perfect romantic proposal, to save his wedding from the worst best-man speeches and to save his best friend from professional disaster. but as his unusual life progresses, Tim finds out that his unique gift can't save him from the sorrows and ups and downs that affect families everywhere.

About Time is a comedy about love and time travel, which discovers that, in the end, making the most of life may not need time travel at all.

if you took a minute to reflect on your life up until this moment, would you be able to say it was perfect? do you have life-changing events that you would like to change or relive?

weekend randoms.

since some of you may be gearing up for the 4th of july weekend, i thought i'd share some pictures from last weekend. we certainly have been enjoying the longer days by packing in the activities and staying out as late as possible.

as mini-she gets older, i've been seeking volunteer opportunities to teach her about giving back. i signed us up to help at one of the bigger book sales here. we were "adders" which meant we totaled the customers' books and sent them to the cashier. it was a great opportunity for mini-she to use her math skills. on this day, everything was 50% off, so people didn't come to us with one or two books...they brought box loads of books to add up!

mini rolled her teenage eyes when i told her we'd be there for seven hours, but supporting our public libraries is a good cause, and the organization took care of their volunteers. mini got a free t-shirt, a yummy lunch, and a box full of books at

great prices.

they fed us the most delicious lunch consisting of a

curry-chicken-apple salad sandwich and this beet-pasta-feta salad. after googling, i found out that this was a pasta called ancini de pepe.

we also got free shave ice from one of the vendors there.

they used homemade syrups; this strawberry milk flavor was so good...you can even see the strawberry seeds!

sunday mornings are spent watching mini-he's football game. it was a really exciting game. we were in the lead, but the other team scored literally in the last 30 seconds and won by 2 points.

in the afternoon, we headed to the courts to roller skate, play tennis, and shoot some hoops. tennis is such a great workout.

and, boy, those 10-foot baskets are hard to make...

i mean, i'm only 5-ish feet!

if you are celebrating, have a fun and safe 4th of july.

to the waterfall.

this past weekend, we headed north to waimea valley.

it's been years since my last visit to waimea valley, so this was all new to me. upon entering the grounds, you experience a lush botanical garden with a pathway that leads to the waterfall. i wanted to introduce mini-he to hiking, and this short (3/4 mile each way), paved, and relatively level hike was a nice start. they do offer cart rides, which was my backup plan in case he got tired and fussy, but we didn't need it. there was so much to see while enjoying the company of our friends.

come on, i'll show you what we saw and heard!

see the stream.
hear the stream.

see the waterfall.

hear the waterfall.

stopped for ono pops, shave ice, and fresh coconut water on the way down. this kula strawberry and maui goat cheese ono pop was so. good.

later, when i got home, i cracked open the coconut and

scooped out the meat!

ended the day with a late lunch...

li hing mui margaritas + enchiladas.

(last photo by mini-he)

have a great weekend!

*     *     *

last weekend to enter - ends 6/30

enter the coach bag giveaway here

weekend in photos. staycationing.

we had a quick overnighter in waikiki this past weekend...a last hoopla before the minis started summer school. it started with a family day/graduation party at ala moana beach where we ate and swam, played cards, rode scooters around the park, and walked on the rocks. then we checked into the hotel and ate

and swam some more.

unfortunately, i grabbed my camera but not my battery that was charging in the outlet. so the weekend was photo-documented

with my iphone.

  

we got here bright and early to set up camp and get parking.

by mid-morning, we were hungry so burgers went on the grill.

still recovering from last week's sunburn,

i took cover when i could!

tried to get jump shots with diamond head in the background.

obviously this one was a #fail.

stocked up on a couple tanks for the weekend,

got the hat below free with purchase.

it was perfect for keeping the sun out of my face.

check-in!

first stop? pool.

evening panorama from the balcony, 24th floor, #nofilter.

a couple friends came by for drinks on the balcony.

have no idea where this shot came from...possibly a failed panoramic, but it's pretty cool.

and the morning view.

refueled with a hearty breakfast before our last swim at the pool.

 mini-she & friend.

 checked out of the hotel and headed to the beach

for some standup paddling.

this would have been a great panoramic shot if it weren't for

the tent in the middle of the beach!

we had a wild time...

...but all good things must come to an end.

*     *     *

enter the coach bag giveaway here.