Pacific Punched Me in the Face

Today I am going to share with you another Ashley moment.
You may have noticed that I have not posted in like a week.  Well, that is because my plans to post about my vacation to the beach were foiled when the Pacific Ocean punched me in the face. 

My friend Lauren and I were very excited for a long weekend spent in and around Newport Beach with friends.  So excited in fact, that after spending a few hours out at the bars, we wanted to say hello to the Pacific. Tip: you know how they say nothing good ever happens after 2AM?  The saying is especially true at the beach.

I took off my four-inch heels and pulled up my jeans ever so slightly. (I'm pretty happy that I took off my heels, because I had had a little a lot to drink.)  I ran excitedly towards the ocean, taking absolutely no note of how high the water would come.  I was taking it all in; the sand beneath my toes, the salty sea air, the water... the water coming in quickly and soaking me up to the knee, the lack of balance. "Stop running Ashley", I remember thinking (yes, I commonly talk to myself in the third person), but the brakes didn't turn on fast enough.  Then, before I knew what had happened, I had face-planted into the Pacific Ocean and like a stylish submarine, was completely submerged. My blazer will never be the same.   Oh and around my Coach wristlet that once dangled freely from my wrist, was now floating...containing my Iphone.

I sprung from the water unfazed and made my way back up to the beach soaked, covered in sand and smiling.  My friends were concerned, "Are you okay?" they asked.
"Yep, I'm fine" I chirped. 
"What about your phone?" the look of concern flooding their faces (much like the sea water was flooding the inner workings of my precious Iphone)
"It's right here... Oh crap. We need to put in rice."

Things get a little fuzzy from there (hey it was vacation), but the next morning, I found a bowl of rice on the counter.  I dug in and did a silent prayer that my phone would turn on.  I pressed the button with optimism.  Nothing.  I buried it in the rice again convinced my Iphone was merely in a phone coma and it would be revived after a little more time on rice-support. 

Sadly, neither my song (My Iphone just fell in the ocean.  My Iphone just fell in the sea.  My Iphone just fell in the ocean.  Rice bring back my Iphone to me.  Catchy huh?) or my continued optimism brought my Iphone back to life and by the end of the weekend, I had to take it off rice-support and face facts. 

The point of this story is that I couldn't take all the pictures I wanted to blog about.  So here is my trip in minimal pictures stolen from friends. 

Don't worry, I got a new Iphone and all is well in the world again.  I'm not holding a grudge against the Pacific Ocean that totally punched me in the face or the alcohol tolerance that is much lower than I remembered. 

It's Okay Thursday

It's link up day!  If you haven't already, check out Neely's blog, A Complete Waste of Makeup.  I am pretty sure we are suppose to be friends. 

It's okay to...

 watch Sex in the City marathons hoping to find guidance

always buy fabulous heels, but mostly wear the $3 flip flops from Old Navy

 be majorly obsessed with my new Iphone case and it's daily encouragement (it says Have Courage)

 cry when you see a fantastic dance performance.  Because I do... all the time

plan a vacation without actually planning anything.

enjoy your alone time... A lot

dance instead of walk

pretend you are in a movie transition scene when you are driving and a good song comes on

blog instead of therapy

What's okay with you?

Women That Inspire Wednesday

Yes, I know it is no longer Wednesday.  Things have been really busy the last few days, so I am a day late, but that doesn't make this weeks lovely lady any less inspiring.

Sara Blakely at age 41 has done something no one else has.  She is the youngest female self-made billionaire- yes I said billion. And how did she do it?  She got annoyed with with pantyhose- who hasn't?  Well Sara did something about it. 

Sara Blakely

"I think failure is nothing more than life's way of nudging you that you are off course. My attitude to failure is not attached to outcome, but in not trying. It is liberating. Most people attach failure to something not working out or how people perceive you. This way, it is about answering to yourself." - Sara Blakely

After graduating college from Florida State University (where she was a Tri Delta!!!) and scoring poorly on the LSAT's she got a job selling fax machines door to door.  She quickly became accustomed to the word no and doors slamming in her face.  That just fuelled her to become not only a successful saleswoman but a fighter. What she couldn't stand was the seemed-toe pantyhose she was forced to wear.  She tried to make adjustments by cutting the foot off of her stockings, but that just made them roll up.  She designed something to solve her own problem- Spanx.  You know, the savior to cellulite and muffin tops.  While she continued to work a full time job, she began pitching her product to hosiery manufacturers.  In time, someone took a chance on Sara and her footless pantyhose.

 But the fight wasn't over.  She designed her own packaging on a friends computer.  She bought a book from Barnes and Nobel and saved herself legal fees by trademarking and incorporating herself.   Sarah put her whole self (literally) into her product. She took pictures of her own butt in a pair of cream dress pants to show the difference between underwear and Spanx and used those pictures on all of the initial marketing materials.  She sold to Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus out of her apartment.  She pitched stories to the media and sent her product to media moguls and magazines.  Then Oprah's people called and said to get her website ready for lots of orders.  What website?  Sara then became her own IT department. 

She invested $5000 into her company and now 12 years later she is 100% owner of a billion dollar company.  She has no debt.

What inspires me about Sara is her tenacity, passion and drive.  Sara proves the American dream is real and not just for the already affluent.  With hard work anything is possible.  Today she still tests every product.  She is a part of every item she puts out.  She is constantly adding new products and expanding her hugely successful business.  She has never let failure define her.  If anything failure has only fuelled her fire.  Who knows what you can do if you never give up?

Nutella Croissants

On Sunday, before I began thinking about swimsuits, bikini's and the beach (oh my!), I felt like baking.  Sometimes, I love to take on a baking adventure and create some glorious treat from scratch.  I have made elaborate cupcakes, pies and every category of treat!  Well, on Sunday, I had spent my morning working at a 5K in 100 plus degrees, so I wasn't in the mood to start from scratch, I just wanted something delicious.  I stopped by the store and picked up two of my favorite treats- Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and Nutella.  It's a quick, cheap treat to make for dessert or a party.  Everyone will think they are delicious and you will feel like a baking rock star with very little work!

You will need:
Crescent rolls (get as many as you want to make.  I get one container so that I can't eat too many!)
A jar of Nutella (If this isn't a kitchen staple, it should be!)
1/2 cup of sugar
1 TBS of cinnamon
2 TBS melted Butter
an bakers paint brush

1. Unroll the crescent rolls and spread Nutella on each one.
2. Roll up your crescent rolls and try to close the ends as best you can.
3. Follow baking directions on canister.  When rolls are done, brush them with melted butter. 
4. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and dip each roll.

Enjoy!  (But not too quickly, the boyfriend burnt his mouth.  It didn't stop him from finishing it though!)

Swimsuit Shopping Will Only Ruin Your Day If You Let It

Today I had a great day.  I felt incredibly blessed.  I got a lot done at work.  I took a leap.  I looked ahead to the fun holiday weekend I have planned.  Not to brag, but my Monday was pretty awesome... up until I tried on a swimsuit.  (yep, this post is going there, the horrors of swimsuit shopping when you are less than fit.)

So far this year, I have successfully evaded swimsuit season.  "Oh no, I forgot my suit", "I don't want to get my hair wet", "I'm sorry, I have other plans", have all worked as legit excuses.  Until now.  This weekend I am headed to the beach. I'm so excited for my trip, except there's the whole issue of having to wear a bathing suit.

So I put on my big girl pants, (literally, my tush wouldn't fit in little girl pants) and headed to the store. I knew my current weight would require more fabric than a bikini, so I went straight for the tankinis and one pieces.  Figuring out my size was a bit of a challenge. (Here is what you should know, I am a tall girl that isn't in the best shape of her life, but carries her weight pretty well.  I have no delusions about my size or how much hard work it will take to get back to a comfortable size.  My build is athletic with a layer of lazy resting between the muscle and skin- yeah some people call that fat.)  The XL bottoms were a little too snug, but when I tried on bottoms from the plus size section they fell off.  Hmmm.  On the same token, tops made for plus size women assume large cup size- which I don't have.  All my fat goes to my tummy thighs and butt- not my breasties.   My size is apparently somewhere in the gap between regular women sizes and plus sizes... Awesome.

This is what the final selection looks like!

After three different stores, I bought a cute stripped black and white tankini from one store, black bottoms from another store and board shorts from another.  And of course a few accessories.  The experience taught me two things:
1. Bathing suit shopping is not fun unless you feel confident in your own skin.
2. I want to feel confident in my own skin.

The good news is we started another biggest loser competition at work.  I have to redeem myself for my loss in the last competition.What better way to kick start my trek to losing 80 pounds?  The goal is to never hate swimsuit shopping again.  Wish me luck!

On another note, I want to do something fun with my nails for my vacay. What do you think of these three options? Glitter? Ombre? Cast your votes.  Which do you like best?

A                                                                    B                                                                C

Even after the swim wear shopping experience I still feel like today was an excellent day!  I hope your Monday was just as good or better!

Quote Of The Week

Found this on Pinterest.  Obsessed.

Women Than Inspire- Part Six

When I came up with this little project, I had no idea how much fun it was going to be. More importantly, I had no idea how inspired I would be from it. Believe it or not, I kind of think my blog might have begun to found it’s stride this week . 

I have to admit, after reading all the fabulous posts by Jordan, Molly, Nikki, Maggie and Elisa, I was really nervous to start writing. What direction should I go? Well, I started think about some of the women that inspire me. I just couldn’t pick just one. I realized rather quickly that I am inspired by different women every day for different reasons. There is only one solution. I am going to have to make this a weekly feature. I’d love to feature other bloggers too, so don’t be shy if you want to share!

I learned a lot this week. Each post was so unique and so perfectly showed exactly why I asked each of them to contribute. Throughout the week, I was finding myself motivated by women. I mean let’s face it we’re awesome. Here are some of the incredible women that have inspired me this week.

Diane Keaton

"When I was younger I had these enormous vanities about what I expected from myself.
I'm glad to have a comfortable and fascinating life, but now I see it for what it is, so I can be braver and
more spontaneous and say to myself, Oh, screw it, just go out there and do it."- Diane Keaton

This week I watched Father of the Bride 1& 2 and Something’s Gotta Give. If I had had Because I Said So and The Family Stone within reach, I would have watched them too. What do all these movies have in common? You guessed it, Diane Keaton. Keaton has consistently chosen roles depicting free spirited women. These characters have all had to face struggles, but found the strength they needed, not just to get through something, but to find success and even themselves in the fight. I mean seriously, First Wives Club, Annie Hall and all the rest, are great movies about women and how we stay strong even amidst chaos.  She makes all these characters amazing with their subtle strength and perseverance.  Diane doesn’t just inspire me in her roles, but in her life as well. The woman dated Woody Allen and Warren Beatty, but never married. She said it never felt right. She adopted two children later in life and cherished being a mother. This week Diane inspired me by reminding me that I can live the life I want, not the one I am "supposed" to live and her characters inspired me to remember that every struggle will build character and strength.

Dara Torres

“I'd proven to the world that maturity, experience, dedication, and ingenuity can make up for a
little senescence. Muscle tightening is not the only thing that happens to our bodies over time.
We gain knowledge, focus, and understanding, and those things can help us win.”- Dara Torres

Maybe at first you didn't recognize this incredible woman. You have probably seen her more often in a swimsuit and a swimmers cap or loaded up with Olympic medals. With the Summer Olympics right around the corner, I have seen a couple of stories about this extreme athlete. I mean for one, this woman has competed in five, yes I said five, Olympic Games since 1984. If you are doing the math in your head right now, then you know that means she has been an Olympian since before I was born. She's won 12 medals, three of which were in Beijing in 2008, when she was 41 years old, the oldest swimmer ever to have a place on an Olympic team. SAY WHAT?! Oh yeah, and she won a gold medal at the US Nationals just 15 months after having a baby. Is she even human? Now she is attempting to qualify for her 6th Olympic games at 45. I hope she does. This week Dara inspired me to never give up no matter how many people tell you you're crazy and do what you love.

Sofia Grace and Rosie

Technically, my Sophia Grace and Rosie obsession started last week, but their impact is still with me. Okay, lets first talk about the serious set of balls Sophia Grace has. She's 8, rocking a tutu and belting out songs... on Ellen. Girlfriend is freaking fearless! She loves life and thinks everything is "Sooooo good". She is just a positive little bubble of talent. Then we have Rosie. She doesn't talk much, but little miss thang can wiggle. She knows what she does best and she owns it. P.S. if you can make a career out of being a "hype girl" at age 5, you are my dream realized! This week Sophia Grace and Rosie inspired me to love life and do what I'm good at without fear. Oh, and that I need to figure out a way to have British children so that they turn out this stinkin’ delicious.

Thanks for joining me this week. Be sure to check back on Wednesday when I official kick off my first week of Women That Inspire Wednesday!