Kauai here we come!

Happy Wednesday!  You may be reading this as I’m in flight over the Pacific to Kauai.  It’s been about 4.5 years since I’ve last visited Hawaii, but that time was Oahu.

I imagine I’m in store for a bit of this:

And what makes this trip even better is that we’re going to celebrate Anne and Conor’s wedding.  AND Zach and I are staying with my 2 favorite couples (Andrea and Ilya and Kim and Lou)!

Let the shenanigans begin

If you’ve been to Kauai, any recommendations for restaurants / hikes / beaches / etc?

Shoes-Day!

I need to apologize.  I noticed on my WordPress “Dashboard” that I had quite a few Spam emails so I checked to verify.  Wouldn’t ya know that in the last 10 days, 20 comments went to spam…and 99% of them were from regular readers/commentors.  I’m sorry I missed them!  But I got a smile reading them in retrospect   And I’m super sorry if you posted on the Shoes-Day Giveaway and your comments to Spam.  Next time I will make sure this doesn’t happen.

Oh and I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one that experiences backfire when the pressure is on to look good.  Your advice: chill out, and eat in moderation.  Will do!

Tomorrow I will be wearing wedges and flip-flops, but today I’m still sportin’ the boots Cali-winter style.  I still have a few more to show you before warm weather footwear trumps all.

For work

For play

Clearly, I apparently wear this sweater far too often!  Yikes!  I’m committing my own fashion faux pas

But let’s get back to the boots shall we?

BCBG Earla

Le boot

ShopItToMe got me again!

Each Sunday I visit with my own personal shopper via email and dangit if it’s not spot on with a high percentage of the finds.  So when I saw this boot (in black) I knew I wanted it.  Not to be too impulsive, I decided to get in a sweaty workout before making any decisions.  Upon my sweaty return, my mind was made up.  I clicked the link to Piperlime and GASP :O the black was all sold out in my size!

I noticed there was a grey option, and after mentally scanning my boot inventory, decided that these were different enough from any other boots I own.  Click. Purchase.  Win.

And what’s even better is that they retailed for close to $150 and I got them for the awesome price of $50! 

Questions to ponder…

What was the most impulsive shoe / clothing purchase you’ve had? The most recent one is a Michael Kors oversized watch I got a Nordstroms this past weekend.  It was pricey, but it spoke to me…what can I say?

If you had to live in flip-flops or boots, which would you choose? I’d say boots because they have more pizzazz and style!  And boots are fab with a heel.  Flip-flops not so much.

Swimsuit Sabotage

In just a few days, I’ll be slipping into one of these:

8 swimsuits, 7 days...makes sense right?

So knowing this, why the heck did this happen on Friday night?

The Saboteurs

Okay, so  I didn’t eat all of this junk (source), but I did manage to snarf down nearly 1/2 bag of Twizzlers, 1/2 bag of popcorn, a bag of Skittles, and a small handful of preztel-PB sandwiches.  Oye.  And this was on top of having 1/3 of a frozen pizza.  Can I blame it on the terrible movie we watched?  (FYI, The American with George Clooney sucks).

Although I’m certainly not “dieting” for my trip to Kauai, I have been trying to be more mindful of my eating (and overeating for that matter) since the start of the New Year.  And, well who doesn’t want to reign in the eating a bit knowing they’ll be living in a bikini for a week?

Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident.  Anytime I tend to put pressure on myself — overt or not — I end up sabotaging it.  Intellectually this makes plenty of sense, right?  I must have felt like I was restricting in some way and then when I opened the flood gates just a wee bit, the Hoover Dam was released   (Well not really compared to my truly epic fat-kid moments, but you get the point).

Why, then, do I continue this pattern knowing that it very likely will result in an unexpected splurge?

I think I am putting way too much emphasis on what I may look like in one of these:

or these   

  

 

 

 

 

Silly me, I think my priorities are a bit messed up.

For the next few days and for the entire vacation, I intend to not worry about how I look in my bikini.  I will not deprive myself of extra pieces of my friend’s wedding cake.  I will not forego an unplanned trip for shaved ice or ice cream. 

I will, however, have a blast with my friends.  I will go back for seconds.  I will go paddle-boarding and stand in my bikini proud.

Yep, there you have it

Am I the only one that self-sabotages?

What are your great tips for feeling confident in a bikini? No surprise, here, I say a good wedge to elongate the leg.  Oh and a smile

Favorite swimsuit resources? For me it’s VS, Marshalls, and Alloy.com