'Tis the Season!

Once again, Casey, my friend...your blog inspired me! I started to post a comment on a few movies you didn't have on the list --and definitely should see if you haven't yet! :) -- and then I started thinking about all my favorites....

I love the holidays! And I looooove my Christmastime movie and tv specials! Here's a list of a, um, few (lol) of my all time favorites! Ok, 25 of them, roughly listed from most to least favorite! After 10 it all really gets a little fuzzy :D

1. White Christmas ( <3 Bing Crosby!!)

2. Polar Express

3. Christmas in Connecticut

4. Elf

5. It’s a Wonderful Life

6. A Charlie Brown Christmas
7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (original tv special)
8. The Santa Clause

9. Home Alone

10. Glee’s Christmas Episode

11. Santa Baby (ABC Family Movie)

12. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (the old, awesome claymation-style one!)

13. Frosty the Snowman

14. The Holiday

15. The Family Stone

16. The Muppet Christmas Carol

17. Meet Me in St. Louis

18. Hallmark’s Christmas in November

19. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (movie)

20. A Christmas Story

21. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (made the same way as Rudolph)

22. Miracle on 34th Street (1947, 1994)

23. A Christmas Carol (1951, 1984 tv)

24. The Nutcracker (1993, starring Maculey Culkin)

25. Disney’s Fantasia’s Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy

I was going to write a little bit about each one and include some visuals...but there are 25 movies, and I think most of them are pretty self-explanatory as to why they are so great. Some are just plain awesome, some are reminiscent of a younger, more innocent time in life, and others are time-tested classics. Hope you enjoyed my list and maybe discover a few to add to your own! :)

xo-k

Dick-Move of the Day

Wow! Really?! The following video is a clip from last night's Jets/Dolphins game. An assistant/strength and conditioning coach for the Jets (Sal Alosi) INTENTIONALLY tripping a Dolphins player (Nolan Carroll) while running along the sideline.

I seriously can't believe that happened!! I mean really?! C'mon people!! That coach should be FIRED! He could have ended that player's career! Alosi's lucky it looks like a "clean" trip and Carroll sustained no significant injuries...that could have ended up much, much worse!

What kind of person does that, though!? I get that as a coach (and probably former player), you are still very apart of the team, you get really into the game/wish you were on the field, and your emotions can run high...but none of that excuses Alosi's actions! Just absolutely ridiculous...had to share!

The "Infinite" and the "Unexplainable"

So this morning I was watching The View (judge me if you want, but I love their Hot Topics lol), and they said that scientists have recently made some discoveries that suggest the universe is three times bigger than we originally thought it was. I wish I could find a clip to put in this post, but I watched it twice to make sure I heard it right. Well, naturally, my question was: How can something we believed to be "infinite" suddenly be "three times bigger" than what we currently thought?

It's been on my mind all afternoon while decorating for Christmas around the house. I couldn't understand why people just HAD to know the answers to everything, and they "whys" behind all the mysteries of life. Why can't people come to a point where they accept not EVERYTHING can be explained, and that maybe those things that are hard to figure out are better left to accepting as something bigger, outside the realm of human understanding, and possibly divine?

So anyways, I decided to do a little digging and look for some articles about the topic. What I found was that the actual article from Yale (found here) really says that there are three times more stars in the universe, specifically red dwarfs, which in turn increases the number of possible planets in the universe, leading to the possibility of more "Earths" and life similar to our own out there--except they'd be far more "evolved" because their galaxies are apparently older than ours. Anyhow, I thought it was just interesting, even if finding this article kinda killed my whole train of thought on people saying the size of the universe multiplied, haha.

xo-k

Day...5?

Ok, just to be holding myself accountable...

Friday's workout: Wii sword fighting w/Truman (my kindergarten-aged neighbor lol. he's tough competition!!)

Saturday: Technically, I gave myself Sat/Sundays off...but if you count dancin my ass off at P&L...lol

Sunday: Coach vball. Yeah, I play and do some workouts w/them, too! They def worked harder though, haha!

Monday: P90X Cardio workout (43 min)

So far...on track!! :)

Oh, minus the getting up earlier part...oops! Weekends will do that to ya! :)

My 30 Day Challenge :)

So I guess a lot of people that blog/use facebook/twitter do these 30 day challenge things...and I thought, hmm...sounds kinda fun! But, I'm doing my own little twist.

See, lately I've just been feeling so tired, sluggish, lathargic...just plain blah! I know my lifestyle doesn't really help much...I have such odd hours with work: Some days I open at 9am to get the office stuff ready. Some days, that's it. Some days I stay and work the floor, opening the bar from 10-11am, which includes sweeping, washing windows, cleaning tables...just getting the bar ready for customers to come in starting at 11am. Days are slow, so I'm usually cut by 2:30pm. Some days I do non of that can come in around 4:30 for a night shift, which is much busier, and can last til 1:30-2am if i'm the closer. So I don't really have a  regular sleeping pattern. And as much as I want my rest, and I require a lot of it each night (lol),  I hate sleepnig in late. Even if I'm not scheduled to work the next day til the night shift, or not work at all, I just feel like it wastes the day.

Anyway, so here's my challenge to myself: I'm going to work out every day of the "normal" work week (Mon-Friday) and have weekends off. I'm not going to give myself any strict rules as far as what i'm going to do each day, or how long I'm going to do my workouts. Sometimes I think that defeats the purpose. My minimum workout time is 20-30 min though, since I have a couple dvds that fit that criteria.

I started today already actually! :) So here's what I did:

• Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, Level 2 (20 min)
• BeachBody's 10 Minute Trainer, Cardio (10 min) & Yoga Flex (10 min)
• Karen Voight Yoga & Sculpting, Abdominals (10 min)

There was also about 20 min of Windsor Pilates Maximum Burn Cardio....but it was really dance-based, which is great 'n all....but the last time I took a dance class, I was about 6 years old...and it's just not for me as far as workouts go. Fun on a Saturday night, that's a different story! lol :) So I stopped that one, cuz I felt like I wasn't getting anything out of it. Then after my ab workout I was moving to the Yogaflow (25 min) section of the dvd...but I got really light-headed and sorta blacked out for a sec...like, pre-passing out (which I've never done, but I don't wanna find out what it's fully like), so I decided it was definitely time to quit for the day. And definitely time to eat, since I havent since breaky! (oops!) Time for lunch!

PS- I started my day with an energy drink (NOT like Red Bull! ick!) It's called Spark, by Advocare...its supposed to be a healthier version. Comes from a powder mix, NOT a carbonated pop can. And I followed my work out with a post-workout recovery powder  (chocolate flavored!), but instead of just mixing it w/water I mixed it in with my peanut butter-banana smoothie (banana, spoonful of natural creamy pb, organic non-fat skim milk, and crushed ice)--so good!

OOOH, and my goal is NOT weight loss. It's to GAIN energy, and to tone up. I also hope to start doing the exercises earlier in the day/mornings...which I hope will help regulate my sleeping pattern somewhat. I just want to feel GOOD again. So naturally, I want to clean up my diet a little, start avoiding the little things that i've let slide lately (like snacking on french fries in the kitchen at work, lol, and avoiding so much fried stuff/cheese). More veggies/fruit, more lean/white meat vs. red (though I will NOT turn down a steak if I want one!)...stuff like that!

Ok, that's it, just putting this out there to hopefully help hold me accountable in some way. :)

Love is Love

I got motivated for this blog when reading my friend Casey's about her support for gay marriage. A friend of hers commented like many people I know do: they don't agree with banning it, but disagree with the homosexual lifestyle. And many religious friends say, like this commenter noted, that allowing homosexuals to marry goes against the "sacredness" of marriage that is intended only for a man and woman.

But, if you ask me, there is nothing more sacred about straight marriages than gay marriages. I mean, look at all the cheating scandals, 5-minute-marriages, lies, etc. that are strung across tabloid headlines in recent years. Hell, even way back when,, Elizabeth Taylor was married eight different times! Isn't a marriage sacred if the couple trust one another, and treat their partner with respect, they are loyal, they never stray, they never commit adultery, and they are together forever ( barring major infractions on the previous criteria). I'm sorry, but I just don't see a lot of straight couples that are fulfilling those requirements of a sacred marriage.

According to Dictionary.com, here are a few definitions of the word "sacred:"

sa·cred [sey-krid]
-adjective


4. reverently dedicated to some person, purpose, or object


5. regarded with reverence

6. secured against violation, infringement, etc., as by reverence or sense of right: sacred oaths; sacred rights.

and... reverence =

rev·er·ence
noun, verb, -enced, -enc·ing.
–noun


1. a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration.


2. the outward manifestation of this feeling: to pay reverence.


3. a gesture indicative of deep respect; an obeisance, bow, or curtsy.


So, I say, why keep a whole group of people - who are human and love just like the rest of us - keep from finding happiness? I know I look forward to the day I can plan my own wedding, I know how that desire makes me feel....and if I were told I could not have the day that I want to celebrate the love I feel for my man/the love we have for one another...I would be devastated. I don't think that anyone who has the desire to celebrate their love with friends and family, and commit to a sacred marriage between themselves and their partner, should be denied the right to do just that.

xo-k

AMA Fashion!

Sooo last night was the American Music Awards, and, as always, they provided me with plenty of great costume ideas for Halloween next year lol. Well, at least the outfits worn during performances did :) But, I was seeing some other fashion I loved, so I felt like sharing some of them (with, like, the one person that reads this, haha!):

:Taylor Swift:

I LOVED her new 'do, loved the sparkly dress, loved the shoes, love love love T-Swift :) (Mini by Colette Dinnigan)

:Rihanna:

 There was a lot of lacey, see-through looks at the awards show last night, from the red carpet to the award podium, and this one is one of my favorite. Most of the others were black, but I like how Rihanna took the trend and made it her own. (Gown by Elie Saab Haute Couture)

:Katy Perry:

Omigosh Katy looked flawless last night! I loooooved this look on her, so girly and soft, which is such a 180' from her crazy-fun performance costumes (which I love just as much)! She always looks amazing, especially when she glams herself up like this.

:Whitney Port:

I didn't see this til looking through People Magazine's website, and I think she looks fabulous! I mean, really, she looks so pretty, and so her age. I feel like Whitney's City looks kind of age her a bit, and she's always in black! I love this look on her! (Dress by Rafael Cennamo, shoes by Camilla Skovgaard)

:Kelly Osbourne:

I don't know how anyonen can not love her. Kelly looks so amazing lately, and last night was no exception! I adooooore her! Serioulsy, look at her! Amazing!

:Miley Cyrus:

I am NOT a Miley fan. I mean, I find some guilty pleasure in some of her music, yeah, but her...can't say I love her. Horrible, horrible "idol" for young girls (see her b-day pic below). But, I will say that she looks pretty good in this dress, minus the ridiculous train/tail. I hate when something long like that is attached to a mini (see Julianne Hough, below in trends). But, I will say its a MAJOR step up from this:

WHERE ARE HER PARENTS!?

:Jessica Alba:

She looks so good! Perfect necklace for an asymmetrical neckline, love the sleek lines, love the LBD/gold accents, shoes are to die for...she definitely got it right last night!

There were a few other looks I liked that I just can't find embeddable (is that a word? lol) pics for, but Dave from Lady Antebellum and his wife looked amazing, as did John Legend and his...girlfriend? Wife? Date? Not sure on their status lol.

TRENDS

:See-Through Lace:

Heidi Klum and Julianne Hough both wore the same trend I mentioned earlier (Rihanna), but I'm just not loving these versions. Especially on Julianne....I LOVE her, but I don't love the half/half dress thing she's got going on. Either make it a full-length look or chop off the lace overlay where the rest of the dress ends.

:YUCK YUCK YUCK:

Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha...both look ridiculous. I don't care if this is a "fun" awards show and you can get away with a lot more experimental fashion....these looks suck. Newsflash: neither of you are Lady Gaga, it doesn't work for you! Nicki...she has awesome curves...but there's absolutely no need to accentuate them even more, we see them. Ke$ha....you're just ridiculous...everything she wears/does just seems so gimmiky and fake to me...that dress looks like a shredded trashbag. Just stop. PLEASE.

Willow Smith...adorable girl...love that whole Smith fam...but....this outfit...well it's a look. C'mon Will and Jada...you're fashionable people...that has to transfer to your kids.

Thanks for reading, if you did! haha!

xo- k

all pics from People.com and Usmagazine.com