Weekly Recap

1// As I said in this post, I enrolled into an online business/marketing school and I am so FREAKIN EXCITED

2// In my acting class at school, I was cast as Beth for our "Little Women" show. She is a character that ends up passing away lol, but I'm still thrilled I've got a semi-big part!

3// I hit 700 followers AND 800 followers on Instagram. God I freakin love you guys :)

4// I had kind of a crying breakdown about my eating disorder, because I've just been having a rough time. As easy as it may seem to recover on the outside, it's like prison on the inside. But, my mom came in my room and hugged and talked to me for at least an hour and made everything better…she's the best.

5// Lately I've been doing a lot more yoga and flexibility routines, and I've noticed such a difference!! I'm getting more flexible, stronger, and I can even transition into backbends and wheels :D 

The weeks have been going bye so fast and I can barely keep up…like it's MARCH. WHAT?? I'll be graduating high school in 2 months…gulp.

Have a lovely weekend xx

Enrolling in a New School?

Yep. You read that right. As of today I am officially enrolling into an online business/marketing school, and I am SO FREAKIN EXCITED. It's everything I've been asking for. I'll be able to learn about social media, branding, networking, building a business and everything else that comes with being a successful entrepreneur. Gosh I'm getting goosebumps just writing this. And the best part is, I'll be able to work and study on my own time, so school or activities will never be in the way. This, as crazy and exciting as it is, is a big step for me. It's out of my comfort zone, and so far it's making me feel so confident and powerful. This year I made it a goal to do things I would normally say no to or to back away from. Why not take risks? There is absolutely nothing bad that can come from saying yes, other than finding out if you like and don't like something. Instead of saying no and regretting it forever, make awesome memories! Make yourself stronger and smarter and happier! I'm already so thrilled that I'm able to do something like this, and it hasn't even started yet. This is an opportunity that was basically put in front of me after praying for something like it to show up, and its crazy to me that my wishes came true. I am SO beyond grateful for my parents too, who are helping to pay for some of it. But I told them they will get every penny back. I'm so excited to start this new wild journey :)

Here's to saying yes to many opportunities and creating a freakin amazing life<3

Reaching Out

There are so many aspects to blogging that I love, but my favorite part, and arguably the best part, is meeting so many different people. A week ago, I made it a goal to reach out to a ton more people on Instagram and tumblr, even through blogs on bloglovin'. I can't believe it, but I've gained over 100 new followers within a couple of days, and for me thats a lot! Leaving comments on pictures leads to so many different possibilities on relationships and followings. Before I set up goals for myself, I was kind of a ghost follower. I never really commented or let people know what I think so of course no one is gonna find me! I don't know why it never clicked, but suddenly it did. Even within the span of a week, I've gotten close/gotten to know some bloggers well and so many more are finding me. I feel so much more in the loop and connected. It's not always about the number of followers you have or gain, but it is nice to see that people are actually finding what I share and enjoy it, you know? It's important to set goals for yourself, and layout what you really want to happen for yourself, because anything you set your mind to CAN happen. You have the power to make your life the way you want it :) Reach out to people! Create new friendships and hobbies. <3

Have a lovely Monday everyone :)

25 Facts About Me

1. I've lived in Arizona, United States my whole life

2. No, I don't like it here so I'm hoping to move to Cali in the upcoming years

3. I'm turning 18 on May 27th ;)

4. I've been vegan for a year now-woohoo!

5. I'm a gemini, and boy do I act like one

6. I've been told by many of my teachers that I 'have a gift for writing'

7. I've never really been one to have a bunch of friends, only a couple of really close ones :)

8. I find Numerology and Astrology very fascinating

9. I'm a die-hard yogi, self-taught, and trying to practice as much as possible

10. I must say I make killer vegan desserts

11. I suffer from anorexia/orthorexia/over-exercising but I am in the midst of recovery <3

12. I spend way too many nights laying in my bed scrolling through Instagram accounts and talking to new people ;)

13. Although I'm not properly Buddhist, I practice that lifestyle

14. My style is allllwayyss changing, whether it comes to fashion, hair, lifestyle…

15. My dream is to do what I love and make a career out of it, and be able to financially support myself while traveling all over the world

16. Paris, London, Rome, and Australia are just a few of the places I want to live and visit

17. Every morning I wake up at 5:15 and work out before school

18. Even though I'm an early bird, I find that I get lots of my creative juices flowing in the middle of the night

19. My favorite season is Summer, where I can literally lay in the sun all day and turn a dark golden color haha!

20. Some days I love to go all out and dress up, and other days you can find me curled up in sweats

21. I really wish I knew how to use my Canon DLSR camera correctly-I'm kind of intimidated by it

22. I would love for this blog to grow into a full-time job for me <3

23. Even though I'm turning 18, I feel like a 12 year old most days. 

24. I love saving all the magazines I read, and ripping and tearing out pictures from them and making mood/inspiration boards

25. I spend a lot of my free time on the internet, searching/writing/reading blogs and videos, but it's the best thing that has happened to me

I feel like I could write more but would that be boring?? Haha--basically I'm just a girl who is shy at first and then once I get to know you I can't really shut up. I talk too much about vegan food and I love to instastalk people on a regular basis. I'm an art freak who loves to dance wildly to loud music and also stay in on the weekends and bake cookies with my mom :) Traveling the world is something that I'm made to do and I can't wait to be able to share my adventures <3

Favorite Vegan Tumblr Blogs

Essena

Clean Body Fresh Start

EarthlingMaxi

TessBegg

I've been spending waaaaaay too much time on Tumblr, but as a result I have found, followed, and friended these amazing vegan blogs. I don't know how but I think they are all from Australia, but they are so relatable and just like me. We're all around the same age, we have the same beliefs, and the fact that I'm able to make friends with people around the world is so so cool to me. I love catching up on what kind of meals they create, what exercises they love and find efficient and stuff like that. Sorry if that seems weird but it's what I'm into haha! ;D And what I love most about these blogs is that they promote healthy body image and wholesome eating and fitness, none of that barely eating crap. I think it's so amazing that there are more and more young girls coming out about the right way to eat and the right way to feel and look your best. I've also been obsessed with watching their youtube videos too xx

Check them out if you're interested :-)

Anorexia Recovery

I've really been thinking about it a lot, and I've come to realize I really want to help other girls going through what I'm going through. Being diagnosed with anorexia/orthorexia is something I never would have thought I would have to deal with. It's been a very long, hard journey for me. I've restricted calories, over-exercised, cut out foods and food groups. I've dealt with extreme weight loss, hair loss, fatigue, you name it. I started my vegan journey a year ago and I feel absolutely wonderful. So, when I see girls with this same problem struggling, it kills me. I so so badly want to help and guide and answer questions. I want to share all of my vegan recipes, tips, and things like that.

Where do I begin? Tumblr? This blog? Another blog? A youtube channel? I want to make the jump. I feel like I'm kind of starting over with my blog. I'm leaning towards more lifestyle, vegan/fitness but also still incorporating beauty and fashion because I love it. I'm trying to set up and figure out a good posting schedule, where maybe every monday is lifestyle, tuesday is something vegan, and so on. But I have to find something that works for me.

Meeting so many different girls from Instagram and blogs who have recovered or are recovering is so special to me. It's like making a new friend, and they know EXACTLY what you're going through. The whole vegan community is so reassuring and lovely and I really want to be apart of it. So I think I'm going to make that my priority :)

I also have a question- do you think there are more vegan tumblr blogs? I feel like there's a lot and I have a better chance of talking to people quicker and easier…what do you think? I just have to learn how to use that site properly haha! ;)

iPhone Life

1//Mega green smoothie with bananas, mango, spinach and coconut water- it was heaven! 2//A chakara charm my mom got me at our favorite yoga studio- i have been wanting this for months and i almost cried when she gave it to me. I can't wait to hang it above my bed. 3//Felt sporty with this beanie. 4//Breakyy-Oats, covered with strawberries, blueberries, almonds and heaps of cinnamon

5//My candy-mango. 6//Wearing my fuzzy pink sweater for the last time with my favorite heart necklace. 7//Killed a workout! 8//Love this nude- Revlon color burst matte balm in the shade 'complex'

Maddie

Past Memories

During my study hall at school, i had brought one of my old journals from home to look through, because i like to do that every once and a while. It's fun to see what I was up to in past years. Anyway, holy cow was I in a time warp. It was soooo weird to see what kind of thoughts I was thinking, and how I was perceiving the future. I was writing about what kinds of things I wanted to achieve with starting Youtube, getting my first camera, and things like that. Even a year ago I was still thinking some of the same thoughts I am today, like where the heck am I going to be in a year?? It freaks me out and I wish I could control that emotion more, but I can't. Life is going to keep moving forward no matter what.

The other night my mom had left to go to a class, so it was just me and my dad at home. Normally, after dinner he goes into the living room and works/watches tv and I clean up the kitchen and go do whatever I do. But this night, he stayed in the kitchen with me and talked to me. We had such a deep conversation, and it lasted 2 HOURS. I haven't had a conversation like that with my dad in I don't even know how long. It felt so good to get some things off of my chest, like talking about my eating disorder with him, how I'm trying to gain weight, what I think about school and how I'm doing with "future plans", he even asked me about my hobbies and I told him how I wanted to start modeling, which is something I've always been afraid of admitting! But I did and he said he is on my side no matter what. He gave me his insights about everything and I listened, and we even got a bit emotional. Honestly I loved every minute of it. We ended up hugging for a long time at the end and in that moment I felt so secure, like everything is going to end up okay. Sometimes I wish I could have more talks like that. It just gives me a sense of knowing that I'm in really good hands and that life is going to be okay during these confusing times. Anyway, I thought I would share that because it was a really special moment with my dad and I want to remember it forever.

Maddie

Some Sunday Inspiration

Ever since this little break I'm taking on my body, I feel like so many thoughts and ideas are coming to my head. I've been doing yoga in the morning when I wake up instead of my crazy workouts, and I swear it's helping to calm my mind and open my creativity. Today as I was sitting here reading through some artsy blogs, I realized that this is really what I'm meant to do, create and express myself through art.

I feel like over the past year or so I've just been lost. I've tried to adapt to certain styles and convince myself to like certain things just because they were popular, and it's hitting me now that doing that to myself is such a waste of time. Why do I want to be anybody but myself?? Everyday I pray and wish that I will "find myself" and my calling and discover my passion, when really it's been in front of me the whole time, I've just been going through a lot of shit and it's been blocking me from realizing it. 

I really am getting the urge to change everything, once again haha. I want to change my blog layout to something more me, because it's not me anymore. I've held off on getting my bedroom furniture and I don't know why, but now it's all making sense because I guess I just wasn't ready to commit to another big change. It's so funny how everything always ends up happening for a reason..I've also been wondering about getting a job and when that will happen, but I've been thinking of so many different things like interning, and even modeling, that I'm okay with not having a job yet because I know the right one will come soon.

I know it seems silly to talk about exercise the way I do, but ever since I'm taking a break I feel free. I feel like I'm finally relaxing and enjoying the present moment. I'm not worried about how many calories I burned or what kind of crazy insane workout I will do tomorrow. It's not worth that mental stress and I'm finally starting to realize that. I want to be able to look back on this journey and see what kind of progress I made through this hard time. 

After seeing some really cool artsy posts, I'm feeling realllyyy inspired and right now I just want to grab some paints and create an awesome collage or abstract painting, so I think I'm gonna do that :-) I guess this was just a quick little stop to check in :) I hope everyone is having a beautiful weekend! The rainy weather I'm experiencing is also perfect for that cozy warm artsy feeling haha!

Maddie

Weekly Recap

Okay, so this week was a bit of a blur to me! It went bye really fast and was filled with so many different emotions. in my last post I talked about how crazy confused I am about my "diet"/lifestyle, and looking at it now I feel kind of stupid about it.

I've talked to so many different bloggers about this, and I even got in touch with Jordan from the Balanced Blonde (formerly the Blonde Vegan). If any of you know her blog, you know that she was a very strict vegan until last year when she came out about her eating disorder. She has a huuuuge following, and for her to be able to get back to the email I sent her made me absolutely ecstatic. And the email was long and loving and so so amazing, and basically saved me from going into a deep whole of another disorder. I basically told her I'm totally lost with what to do about my disorder, meaning if I should try these certain lifestyles like high carb or high fat. Jordan answered perfectly that I know deep down doing these fad diets not only cause me more of a restrictive mindset, but also inner competition. It's hard to explain but she did so well.

So anyway, I'm not going on a high carb diet. I had low energy, and I'm getting signals from my body that it wasn't working, like my thinning hair and dry skin. Basically I need to get back to the way I was eating, but more. Which brings me to my next point, my calories and fitness. I'm taking a two week break from exercise, which if you know me is totally unheard of. I haven't taken that long of a break for over a year. It's crazy but its true. I read another blog post from Emma D Fitness, and she basically has the same story as me. She lost her period, restricted her food, and became obsessed with healthy food and overexercising. ME. She explained in her post that she had come to the realization in the midst of her eating disorder that what she was doing to her body was absolutely pointless. She was obsessed with having abs 24/7 (guilty) and always pushing herself to her limits (guilty again). She knew she had to gain body fat because she had none in order to get her period back, and to do this she needed to up her calories and stop working out for the time being. To make this story shorter, she did, despite being addicted, stop exercising for 2 weeks and majorly ate more. She didn't gain a ton of weight funnily enough, but she did get her period back. And that was the beginning of her recovery. And I've come to the realization that that's what I have to do too. It's so hard for me not to exercise or at least do yoga everyday, but I HAVE to get my body back to normal. I'm sick of being so thin and tired all the time. For what? I miss my old body, where I was strong and ready to do anything all the time. I miss my thick hair and strong nails..

So yep. Starting today I'm eating a lot more, especially fats. I'm not going to exercise for at least a week or two, and we're gonna see where this goes. It's like I'm starting over on my health and fitness journey. It's time for me to get my body back in order, because I'm almost 18 and I'm 20 pounds underweight. Not good.

That's my crazy week for ya! It's been very cold and rainy every single day, which I love, but don't get me wrong I'm constantly feeling like an icicle. Most days after school I've been bundled up reading blogs and catching up on youtube videos ;)

Here's to the beginning of my new journey, day one.

Have a good weekend <3

Maddie

I'm Vegan, Now What?

So I've been kind of on the down low when it comes to food posts, because to tell you the truth I've been going through a really hard time lately. I haven't been sure if I wanted to share all of what I'm feeling, but after thinking about it this is where I share everything and I'm going to just spill everything right now.

As some of you may know, I'm vegan. I could also say I'm gluten free, processed sugar free, you know the works. Basically I only eat fruits, veggies, and plants haha. I don't know when it started, probably a couple weeks ago, but I was constantly looking at new food accounts on instagram of girls who are my age that went through eating disorders and healed themselves with going high carb low fat vegan. I have seen this before but I never really thought anything of it, and I just kind of kept it in the back of my mind. When I look at some of these posts, its smoothies with like 6 bananas plus dates, or a huge potato with endless amounts of veggies, or meals of 10 mangoes. For some reason, I got the urge to want to try this lifestyle. After all, I'm going through an eating disorder right now, trying to recover, so if these girls were able to heal themselves with this kind of lifestyle, why couldn't I? I realized that there are different kind of high carb diets. Some consist of eating raw meals/fruits all day and then a cooked meal of starches at night. Or some you can just eat all the carbs you want all day, like oats, rice, potatoes, fruits and veggies. 

For the past week, I've had nothing but carbs. I've eaten plenty of sweet potatoes with veggies, tons of oatmeal, fruit fruit fruit…And this morning I had my first smoothie with 2 bananas. Which is a lot for me, coming from someone who restricted. To tell you the truth, I feel good. I'm never bloated and my skin and body feel amazing. But it's all becoming a bit too much for me. I feel like I'm becoming overwhelmed with everything and I don't even know how to explain it. I know I'm trying to recover from my eating disorder, and so far I have been getting more calories in because I've been eating more starches, but I don't know if I can switch over to a lifestyle like this, at least not now. I'm pretty sure my mom has noticed that I've changed my eating habits the past week, and I don't think she would be on board with me eating like this, at least not at first. A lot of the girls I've talked to about their past eating disorders said eating this way helped them gain the weight they needed back, but my gut is telling me that might not work for me. I don't know, like I said I feel like I'm thinking in 10 different directions. Today though, since I did have my first "big" smoothie, I feel sort of bloated. And I had another huuuge sweet potato at lunch today. And last night, I had made some granola with grated apple and maple syrup, and since I was so hungry because it was late in the day, I ate a lot of it and felt full and bloated a bit. I don't know if it's all in my head, or nerves or if this way of eating really isn't right for me. I've only been eating like this for 6 or 7 days so I can't just say it doesn't work, but I think I might have to put this on hold. After all, if I really did want to switch to this kind of eating, I would still have to triple my calories at least and really know what I'm doing and how to eat these bigger meals. And its hard for me to think about that. 

I feel like I'm constantly trying to outdo myself. Eat more fruit, drink more water, exercise longer and harder, more carbs, less fat, more protein, less carbs…I feel like a yoyo. And I never thought I would be in this position. I don't want to be like those girls who constantly go from diet to diet, trying to figure out a medium. Because the way I was eating before, with nuts and seeds and less "starchy meals" I felt fine. Like I said in a previous post, I think Instagram and social media are getting the best of me and I think its time I take a little break from them. I'm constantly comparing myself to these fitness and health accounts and I know its not healthy, and its addictive. 

Sorry for this being a long ramble-y post. I just felt like I had to get it off of my chest. I don't know what to do. Do I stop this high carb thing, or do I try it and see where it takes my mental state, my weight and my overall wellbeing? Or do I go back to eating the way I was, but adding in more fats and proteins so I really gain the much needed weight back? Help :-( 

Sometimes I wish all of this was just a dream and I could wake up, without my bad eating habits, and enjoy life without constantly bringing myself down, competing 24/7.

Maddie

iPhone Life// January

1// New Years Eve rocking some bold makeup 2// White nails 3// Beautiful morning sunrise on the first day back at school (which was kind of wimpy but this picture made the day a lot brighter! 4// Delicious Kale, roasted sweet potato, quinoa, and slivered almond salad

5// Stuck in acting class! 6// A perky little flower I spotted on a lovely walk :) 7// Bling with a fuzzy sweater always makes me happy

These are just some pictures from my instagram from the month of January so far, since it's been going bye so quickly!! I mean really it's almost over…nuts. I feel like I haven't had time to start anything because I've been worried too much about the future. I know I need to stop that and start thinking in the present moment. Ahhhhh. Right now I'm going to pick up a book at the library called "The Starch Solution" and I'm sooooo excited to read it. It's all about being on a high carb, low fat vegan lifestyle. It's nothing about losing weight or anything crazy like that, because that's definitely not something I need, but it's just about feeling balanced and whole through lots of fruits and veggies and stuff like that. Learning about food really interests me and I'll be making a lot more posts about it soon, and about my current diet and what's been on my mind :-)

Happy Wednesday!!

Maddie

It's Friday, Friday

As I'm typing this I'm eating some deliciouuuus cookie dough my mama made. It's so sweet and melt-in-your-mouth yummy and just had to share that as I reflected on my week haha! So this week school started up again, and even though it's terribly depressing that all of the holiday festiveness is over it really wasn't that bad. I got to experience my fashion class which is everything I could ask for and more, and i met some really nice girls that I've sat with at lunch for the past couple of days and it's just been really nice. It also warmed up a bit, so now I'm not FREEZING in the morning…don't get me wrong I'm still an icicle but I was able to chill out in the sun for a little while which is my favorite thing to do in the summer…agh those summer feels. I also drove to my grandmas house and stayed with her for a couple hours and we talked and reflected about a lot, and that's something i never get to do with her, so that was a nice surprise and it left me feeling really good.

That was my week! I hope everyone has something fun planned for the weekend :) How was your week?

Maddie

It's a New Year

It's a new year, and to be very openly honest, I really want to change. Not in a big way, but just improve myself. Over the last couple of months I have gone through a lot of confusion about my life, school, where and what I want to do after I graduate high school, and it all got to me. I'm still trying to ease off of myself and just let myself relax and breathe, but it takes time. 

I want to get more personal on this blog, and take it very seriously. Since my head has been anywhere but here, I feel terrible and guilty. There were some weeks where I was content and posting everyday, and over the last month or two its been every 3-5 days, and I'm not okay with that. I'm not saying I'm just gonna post something to have something go up, I want my content to be great quality that you look forward to reading. 

I want my blog to grow so much this year, and I want to DO so much this year. I want to write and achieve goals, accomplish things that scare me, and work my butt off. But at the same time, go easy on myself and tie my body a break when it needs it, because I struggled with that last year. 

The content on this blog will change a bit, I want it to be more organized. Im sort of beauty, food, lifestyle, all over the place, but I've been putting a lot of thought into it and I want to share more of what I love, like design, fashion, baking vegan things (since I am vegan haha!) and overall beauty. 

I am SO looking forward to this year. I know it's going to be amazing and filled with scary situations, but I have to get over that. Im gonna push myself, get inspired, and kick 2015's ass! ;)

Care to join me?!

Maddie

Christmas Withdrawls

All of the excitement, the build up, the shopping stress, now it's all over. I have to say every year I always get pretty sad and depressed haha. Doesn't everyone?! My Christmas was very magical and amazing, I woke up right before 6 and heard my little brother rustling through his presents, so I put on my fluffy slippers and robe and joined him to stare at our beautiful tree. That has to be one of my favorite parts of the morning, is just staring at the ornaments, the glistening lights, and the beautiful packages under it :-)

My brothers and I always wait for our parents to get up before we open our presents, its just a tradition we started a long time ago. I'll make my parents fresh coffee and we'll turn on christmas music or the parades. We opened our gifts and had such a great time.

Then my mom and I turned into super mode and we cleaned up the house for the guests that we were having over for dinner haha! There really wasn't that much to clean but making the house spotless was a must. 

The rest of the day was filled with cooking and eating and resting. I made a marvelous tray of roasted veggies, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Mmmmm gosh I could eat it all again I swear. Then after our guests left and I cleaned up the kitchen, I took a nice long shower, put on my new pjs and snuggled up on the couch and watched some youtube, with some cookies of course!! 

Christmas is always such a special day of the year and its sad that it comes and goes so quickly. It seems like we just put up all our decorations! I'll share what I got in a post coming soon ;)

How was your Christmas if you celebrated? I want to hear all about it!! 

Maddie

To the Top// Weekend Recap

So I climbed a mountain yesterday, and this is the view from the top. Can you even believe it? I've wanted to climb this mountain for years and just never got around to it. On a whim, my mom said hey let's just go. So OF COURSE i hopped right in the car. When we got there, I was a little intimidated, because it's literally a mountain that is SOOO steep, but breathless and sore I got to the top. It is SO worth it. The way up was actually pretty cool, it's basically like rock climbing. There were lots of huge rocks and stairs too. Basically, I am so grateful that I was able to get this shot. Standing at the top after an hour of climbing is a pretty incredible thing to feel. If you have anything like this where you live, definitely do it, even if you're afraid to try it. After finishing you feel on top of the world :)

This weekend was pretty fun. We had a family friend come out from California for a few days. We basically hung out the first night and I made some of my special vegan cookies that were devoured haha! ANNNNND we got a beautiful christmas tree!! I am so excited to decorate it, it smells amazing and it's finally starting to feel like Christmas to me. My dad put up all our decorations outside and we even had a fire going outside :) ahhhh that cozy holiday feeling is the best haha. 

This week at school I've got to stay an extra 4 hours after for acting :( Not looking forward to it….but I guess I have to suck it up and just do it. This is mostly what our grade will consist of, so I don't really have a choice to miss it or not.

I hope everyone had a great weekend and an amazing start to a new week :)

Anything fun happen to you over the weekend?

Maddie

iPhone Life

1// Feeling joyous

2// Winter nails (essie a list)

3// First chilly day calls for a sweater and boots!

4// A pretty rose in my school garden

5// Rainy mornings <3

6// Soup and sushi with mom

7// Yummy breakfast of almond butter and blueberries on toasted raisin bread

8// Piling on everything from the whole foods salad bar

I want to do more of these, they're fun haha! Just a peek into my daily life from my iPhone ;) This week went bye fairly quickly. It was my moms birthday on wednesday so I bought her balloons and flowers, and surprised her with a few gifts. We also went out to dinner and I got her a beautiful fruit tart :) Now I am trying my hardest to decorate the house and my bedroom for Christmas…so far I have my white fairy lights up around my window, a mini christmas tree, and some other little knick knacks. But thats about it! Besides getting through school also ;) 

What are you guys up to this weekend? We have a family friend coming in so hopefully we will do something fun together since I haven't seen her in YEARS. 

Maddie

Happy Thanksgiving!

To my fellow Americans, I hope you have a beautiful and safe Thanksgiving!! I'm headed a couple hours away to my cousins house for the day :) I have plenty of crazy family to keep me busy haha! My mom and I cooked our feast, a huge turkey, stuffing, roasted sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce. Mmmm I can't wait to eat it. Since there will be so much family in one house, there's usually  multiple tables of turkeys and other sides so I just eat what my mom makes because I'm not gonna lie she's the best cook in the family ;)

After we eat our Thanksgiving dinner my cousins and I have a tradition of playing either a family football game or baseball game until its dark outside and time for dessert haha! It usually gets freezing cold and we all end up snuggling together inside with hot chocolate and a Christmas movie :) Isn't that the best feeling? I love being with my family, especially now because I haven't seen them in over a year which is sad and insane!

Does anyone have any traditions or anything special planned for turkey day? :) I wanna hear all about it! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Maddie

First Experience: Boxing Class

(my free wraps i got ;) )

I finally did it. I went to my first group fitness class and I absolutely loved it. AND its at a boxing/kickboxing club so close to my house, which makes me even more excited to go since i've been looking for this for months. I got this coupon where I have an unlimited amount of classes for free for the next two weeks, and let me tell you I plan on going as much as I can.

When I walked in I was a little nervous, but it wasn't too crowded and there were people at all skill levels which made me feel a lot more comfortable. As soon as we started, I got all pumped up and gave it my all. Hitting that boxing bag (and maybe pretending it was some people that pissed me off last week lol) made me feel SO invigorated and confident. During the active rests we did lunges squats and different toning exercises and it was basically amazing haha. It was definitely hard and near the end i was counting down the minutes, but i honestly cant wait to go back. The trainers were so so nice and i felt like i had been going there for a while even though i had never set my foot in the door! 

Going to that class on Saturday morning helped me overcome a little fear I had of public fitness places haha but hey that's what life is about right?! When I got done I went to whole foods and made the most amazing salad bowl from the salad bar with roasted sweet potatoes, brown rice, arugula, walnuts, shredded carrots...ugh yum. Then I got home and took a power nap for about an hour and woke up very very sore haha! But I plan on going again today or tomorrow ;) 

I hope you're having a beautiful weekend!

Maddie

Weekly Recap

Where did this week gooooooo. Gosh and I'm really sorry I've kind of been slacking here. It's killing me. Since it was my first week back at school it's been a little crazy around here. Honestly these three days at school felt like a couple of weeks haha! Anyway I had a pretty good week, yesterday I also went to a college event for FIDM (Fashion Institute for Design and Merchandising in California), which is my DREAM school. I absolutely loved it and it gave me goosebumps to listen to the students' stories of going there. The only problem is I have no idea what I would want my major to be, so I have to think about that. I sat there and listened and munched on yummy food they had in the back. Seriously they had some good food.

I'm finally feeling like myself after being sick for almost a month. I mean, I still have a bit of a headache and a sore throat, but I've been able to workout and feel GOOD again :) lalala yay.

How was everyone's week? Catch me up :)

Maddie