new job + new diet = new me?

another day as a naval officer means another abrupt change in my job.  i'm back to engineering, so no more executive department head for me.  instead, i'm an assistant to the chief engineer...but there already is an assistant to the chief engineer...but i am two ranks ahead of him, so...what am i!?  

• saturday consisted of a cardio workout and bootycamp
• sunday consisted of sleeping until 2pm and then getting out of bed for a few hours only to go to sleep again at 8
• monday consisted of TONS of push ups, a brief run, and 45 minutes on the elliptical
• tuesday consisted of a cardio workout and bootycamp
• today will consist of more cardio and then some 12 oz curls...aka happy hour with my college roommate!  the bf is being sweet enough to drop me off so i can be a little generous with myself and the margaritas ;)

 how cute and amazing is this picture? it's my grandfather and grandmother on their wedding day in their native ireland! i went to ireland this new year's with one of my best friends and we spent a week at the gorgeous ritz-carlton at powerscourt (about twenty minutes outside of dublin).  it was freezing, but the people were SO welcoming and friendly and the experience was incredible - we did it through a groupon, so if you're considering doing a trip package with them, i'd totally recommend it!

i'm taking the day off work tomorrow to take care of my to do list...you know, mani/pedi, figure out wtf is going on with my HOA, figure out wtf is going with my finances, clean out my car, clean up my house...i am going to be super efficient since i work all day saturday!!! (if i say it to myself enough, it comes true, right?)

maybe i'll even go for a run, so i can comfortably sign up for a race! and by that i mean a 5k.  and by race i mean fun run:
 runordye.com

thecolorrun.com

finally, i think i'm gonna buy a crock pot today and experiment tomorrow - 

i'm currently checking out these recipe sites and i'm minorly obsessed:
twogreenfoxes.com

skinnytaste.com/2012/12/top-25-skinny-recipes-2012.html

cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/superfast-20-minute-recipes-00412000071183/

greatist.com/health/39-deliciously-unexpected-healthy-avocado-recipes

nom nom nom :)

xx,

a

you know that lace is sex incarnate, right?

battenburg lace is what any southern girl with good intentions and poor execution needs to redeem herself after a successful friday/saturday/tuesday night full of embarassing random flirt sessions/wearing last night's makeup to brunch/meeting your boyfriend's mom with only a dry shampoo shower.

my reward for the first step in operation maximum potential?
 

battenburg lace everything, courtesy of abercrombie summer sale 2012 

(yes, i know i'm 26 and too old to be wearing abercrombie, but face it - if you recognize where any of this is from when it's on, it's because you were shopping the a&f summer sale too).

it whispers quietly (and we all know that sometimes works better than screaming), 'i'm so delicate, youthful and pretty - i can plan a dinner party for twenty at a moment's notice and wouldn't think of leaving the house without my hair and makeup done and i would absolutely never make out with someone i just met...treat me like a china doll and buy me drinks and look past my foul mouth and penchant for dirty jokes.'

are these not some of the most beautiful things you've ever seen?  i only hope they look as innocently sexy on as they do in my plans.  

so what did i do to deserve this wealth of generosity from myself to myself?  i moved my laptop off my bed and onto my desk.  you don't think it's a big deal?  i live in my bed when i'm at home.  first thing i used to do when i got home was prep something for dinner, turn my laptop on and sit on my bed.  i ate dinner, screwed around on the computer for an hour or two, ate something else (all sitting in bed), and thought about being productive.  usually i'd think about it for long enough that i'd decide to eat a good night snack and then eventually, finally, try to fall asleep, hours after i originally could have.

no more. 

now, if i want to use my computer, i have to be out of my bed, and at my desk - double whammy, because in order to make room on my desk, i had to clean it off and go through even more old mail, which was finally easy to do because i knew that the revolting stack of envelopes sitting there obscenely mocking my fear of finance no longer held any weight.  similarly, i would have nothing to do if i sat on my bed eating dinner - i don't have cable so if i'm not actively watching a show on my Roku, mindless snacking isn't really appealing.  

the power of habit strikes again, except now my cue (to relax because i'm burned out from a long day at work) will be followed by a routine that is not food/laptop focused.  and either way, a few hours later, the reward of being wound down enough to fall asleep will be well within my grasp!!

certainly a legitimate reason to spend $350, right?

fine. maybe i'll focus on finance next.

xx,

alanna

halloween and cashmere

Halloween was, of course, fun.  Friday night we went bowling downtown for a friend of a friend's surprise party.  We went to a large party at the VFW (it was just as classy as it sounds) on Saturday night and then I Lilly'ed on Sunday, so Trip and I went to see that Katherine Heigl/Josh Duhamel movie - 'life as we know it', I believe.  It was pretty good!  Definitely a romantic comedy, so pretty predictable, but very heartwarming :)  It's our 6 month anniversary on Sunday but I have duty, so we have a busy/romantic Saturday planned!  Yay!

Halloween: Me, Becky and Christina as german beer girls

Today, I decided to replace my windshield wiper blades as I haven't had any in months (fortunately, in San Diego, you can do that...not bragging, just saying.  okay, I am bragging.  it's 88 and sunny today, Nov. 3...of course, McDonalds is more expensive than anywhere in the country and it costs 11.25 to see a movie, so I think I'm paying for all this sunshine somehow...).  Anyways, unfortunately, while I could remove the old blades, I cannot figure out how to put the new ones on.  Score: Wiperblades: 1, Alanna: 0.  Hopefully it doesn't decide to start raining :/

As a shocking aside, I have not lost any weight and am still hovering around that stupid effing 150 mark I've been hovering around for months.  I don't want to be content with it but Trip is a foodie too and we are always going new places and ordering amazing things...Bloody Mary brunch at Crabcatcher's and then dinner at the Melting Pot is sure not to help my case on Saturday - but at least we are going kayaking in La Jolla Cove beforehand!

I'm totally crushing on this Lilly Pulitzer Katherine cashmere cableknit sweater for this winter (we got samples in the store before resort came out and it's delightfully long with a fairly deep v-neck so I really liked it).  The sample was in lavender and I loved it, so I know I'll be getting that one.  Unfortunately, they also have three shades of blue and I don't know which I want - turquoise, skye blue, or shorely blue!  Halp!!



Lavender - already definitely getting it...it's almost like periwinkle, so pretty!



From left to right: Turquoise, Shorely Blue, Skye Blue

How am I supposed to choose?!  

I'm also considering getting a Babs...our manager, Sami, has one in black, and she wears it tossed over her shoulder and it looks so elegant!  You know me though...I'd go for this one:

and the most important thing I've done recently? 

I cut up one of my credit cards! 

Wooo, on the road to debt free living!

xx,

alanna

denise richards-srsly!?, lilly resort 2011!!! and Cabo

First things first...we all made it back from Cabo alive and well!

We didn't get particularly tan as we spent every port visit drinking, but c'est la vie.  Especially because if you look at the Denise Richards photos below you'll see that the power of botox far outweighs the power of a good tan.

Becky and I - the original two!

 the staff of Billygan's and the four winners of a free round of drinks, and then, courtesy of Rachel and her booty-shaking bikini contest abilities, a free round of shots!

Christina, myself and Rachel!

Okay, back to my botox/Denise Richards reference:

[images courtesy of http://www.thesuperficial.com/]

how the hell is this humanly possible?! she looks freaking amazing!  Yes she looks botoxed, but SUCH a good job...booking next appointment in 3...2...1....

Finallllly, Lilly Pulitzer Resort 2011 first shipment is at Lilly Pulitzer Fashion Valley!  Some of it is SO cute and while all of the cuts aren't particularly my thing, the prints are DEFINITELY gorgeous so I'm going to end up with a few pieces...probably for sure the new Adelson in this gorgeous coral-y pink, a Cassie Slub (or 3!) and another one of those "Large Tote" bags that I use ALL the time.  My current one is the Sea and Be Seen Large Tote, which is on sale right now at Zappos!  I really like mine!

The one I currently have is on the left; the new resort one I will soon own is trimmed with gold sparkly handles and is super cute as well!

And now, via C. Orrico who have kindly already put up their Resort 2010 first shipment photos, here are just a few of the pretty pieces I'm looking forward to:

 [all images courtesy of www.corrico.com]

 From Left to Right - Cassie Slub, Adelson, Connie, Jillie, Adalie
Cassie Slub - I am minorly obsessed with.  Imagine the belt/shoe possibilities - skinny belt, wide belt, heels, wedged boots, over the knee boots...
Adelson - They're making it in a coral-y pink that's just stunning.  As my co-worker said (she was not as pleased about this as I was), it's "a little bit neon".  yAy!
Connie - We'll see when we can try it on...but I like that print.
Jillie - Hopefully it doesn't actually look like a maternity dress and it's just because the model is so thin!  The dress looks beautiful and like it has *so* much potential.
Adalie - my always favorite...the best wrap dress ever that I blogged about only a few months ago.  I don't really like that print (at. all.) but I'm sure they'll be doing it in others.

Check out their site for more images as they're added!

Finally, a few more pics from the Sophie Pyle Style Blog and the amazing new Lilly Pulitzer Furniture Line:

Can't wait!  Happy Halloween!

xx,

alanna

Rihanna, drinking for thirty years and shopping for 23

hey girls! (and boys, although i think that probably only applies to trip)

it's been a whirlwind last two weeks.  two of my best friends from high school flew out to visit, so you know i had to show them a good time, right?  we drank our way through thirty years, hitting up an '80's bar crawl, a "'90's house party" (at a bar) and, of course, going out in normal clothes ONCE just so we encompassed the '00's.  we lost one of my best friends the second night, and waking up in the morning, i called the bar where we last saw her, but i was still pretty out of it so my message sounded a little like this:

"uh, hi! this is alanna!  we lost my best friend last night?

[giggles]

her name is judy!  she is 4'11 and she was wearing '80's gear!!

[giggles for about two minutes]

call me if you find her!! she is very nice so maybe she is still there!! see you in a few hours!"

appropriate, given the severity of the situation, huh?  well, we of course checked facebook and little judy had managed to get online and message me to tell me that her phone was lost, her purse was soaked as she had decided to mermaid it up in the pacific ocean, and her side pony was just all out of wack.  we picked her up from her new location (seriously thirty minutes away...girl must have been on some adventures) and proceeded to make our 1115 champagne brunch reservations...

oh, that's '80's and '00's, you ask?  [and yes, the second photo is 00's...despite the psychedelic pattern, it's a Trina Turk '10 swimsuit coverup that happens to make a fab sundress] what happened to '90's?  obviously judy forgot her camera cord and she can't upload them!! that's what 96 hours straight of drinking through 30 years of clothing does to you!

i also wanted to update y'all on my couch...SO, after it wouldn't fit (see last post) and i listed it on craigslist, i came home to find the entire structure of it gone.  fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) i still had the cushions in my apartment.  thus, i give you, the uncouch-couch:

hilarious, eh?

other than that, things have been going well. 

Rihanna and the rest of the big stars for the new movie Battleship made a visit to the USS Stockdale yesterday and a couple guys from my office got to go photograph it - having seen the 'before' photos (unretouched), Rihanna is really. freaking. pretty. girl has no blemishes whatsoever, and her skin naturally looks airbrushed. 

becky (http://www.happinessisaprivateship.blogspot.com/) gets back on friday so i'm looking forward to another antics filled weekend!

xoxo!

P.S.
there's a $50 Chili's Gift Card giveaway at http://www.theundomesticmomma.com/ !