My good friend suggested that we do a cleansing diet. We were feeling a bit heavy and clothes didn't fit right.
I also  would often hide in sweaters and pajamas because I hated looking at my missing curves. I stayed on the couch and just watched movies all day. I was devouring cupcakes from the moment I open my eyes and even finding myself in the kitchen with a plate full of rice and meat at 12 midnight before heading to bed. I can no longer count how many times I've had sleepless nights with a terrible heartburn. Buffets here and there. Milk Tea boba every afternoon. What was I doing to myself? I ate like a man. No, I ate like three men. Food had become my friend and then my enemy. I realized it has got to stop.

image found here

So for three days now, I've only been eating fruits and veggies. I've never eaten anything with a lot of color before except for cake with sprinkles or cupcakes with pretty frosting (it's amazing that I don't salivate while typing those). Although, I was once a vegetarian for a short while, that was different because I mostly ate veggie dogs and cheese. This time, all I ate were fruits, veggies and drank black coffee and water. Absolutely no sugar, except for natural sugars found in fruits. We bought so many fruits and veggies that there was no place to eat on at our dining table. Our fridge was full too and so was our kitchen counter. We spent around $160 for everything, not even half of what we would have usually spent on junk and meat. My 15 year old twin daughters joined me but gave up on day 2 but I stuck with it. I am now on Day 3. This cleansing diet is supposed to be for one whole week. I believe I will finish it with flying colors, I swear I deserve a golden medal. I feel so good that I might keep eating healthier and eating smaller, frequent meals instead of big, frequent meals.

image found here

I've never consumed this much fruits and veggies in my life. I've even finished a dozen mangoes in just 1 1/2 days by making mango/orange smoothies using only mango and 100% OJ. I hated mango. I hated fruits but I think that has changed. I think I just fell in love.

There are many changes that I feel and changes that I see. I never took my weight so I don't know how much I lost. I know it's not much but I do feel lighter inside. My skin is also smoother and I'm a lot calmer, less hyper, less anxious. I feel awesome. And most of all, I lost my sugar cravings and junk cravings. I could watch 'best thing I ever ate' all day and not feel like a starving wolf staring at it's prey. My hair feels different, not dry like before and I slept better at nights too. So I guess, after this one week plan, like I said I will eat better. I don't ever want to feel like how I felt before this.

Just say it.

I just listed these pretty shoes here. More stuff like clothes, purses and vintage will be posted soon!

The best cupcakes I've ever had in my life. We used to drive so far just to get cupcakes, little did I know that the best ones are only a few minutes away from our house! I have tried their cupcakes before but it didn't blow my mind but this time it was just crazy good! The frosting was so light and not overtly sweet and these cupcakes are gigantic!

Here, are pictures I took from my son's picture day and pizza party in school.
(click to enlarge photos)

And an Alice in Wonderland painting I did for my daughter. She drew it and I painted it. I have not painted in many years! So I apologize for the imperfectness (hehe, is there even such a word? If not then there should be). I used to paint but there are many forms of art that came between us.

I am currently Spring cleaning. It is liberating to let go of stuff we don't need and use. There is still so much to do here, I'm thinking of painting the walls and moving things around.
Sometimes, change can do us good.

The perfect Regina Spektor/Katy Perry/Bjork fusion
with a wardrobe to die for.

I saw Hunger Games last night in Hollywood. I didn't read the book  but I sort of knew what it was about.
This movie could have been way better. All throughout the movie, my mind was racing with amazing ideas. It was torturous to sit there and see none of it.

And what was up with the shaky camera? I understand that kids killing one another can be disturbing to some people but there are better ways to conceal the violence. It was difficult to watch the lead actors running and the camera guy running with them! I swear, I wanted Katniss to kill the camera guy first! I also would have wanted if they showed how the other characters were killed, instead of just hearing them scream or showing their already dead bodies.
I would have preferred seeing that rather than seeing Katniss' reaction every time she hears them scream.

Oh and so little fight scenes, just a lot of running, a lot of pastries, a lot of shaking and out of focus shots, costumes and more costumes. It actually reminded me of Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette.

right?

Though I didn't enjoy the costumes as much as I did with Marie Antoinette.
Nothing was explained about the districts and how the world was divided. Actually, I don't even know if it was just a country or the whole planet. Is it America? Could be Canada. I mean, did they even mention it? I could have missed it. For other books to Films movies like Harry Potter, you can still understand the movie even if you didn't read the book but with this, I got a little lost. I also didn't understand why the main characters rarely ate. Coming from a place with extreme poverty, hence, Hunger Games, I would've devoured all the scrumptious desserts and prettified meat laid out so beautifully in front of me! But no, they just didn't have the appetite. My mister said they were scared and in shock but come on, I would've been scared and in shock but I would still be starving so I'd still be eating!

It also reminded me of Twilight, star-crossed lovers yadda yadda yadda, minus the rough love scenes, in fact, this didn't have any so, better for us parents? bad for kids with raging hormones.

Well all in all, I still enjoyed it not as much as I've expected (not even close) but it was still entertaining. But I'm really happy we had guest passes and didn't have to shell out precious $ for it or my review would've had more violence than the movie itself.

They left for Vancouver last Thursday. How fast those 2 weeks went by!

I was surprised that my son didn't cry when they left. He usually doesn't take goodbyes lightly but I think now, he understood that they had to go home and that they have their own house somewhere.

I hope next time, we can visit them in Vancouver.

It was his 13th birthday last week so we thought it was perfect for a mini photo shoot to remember the special day.

I think he's a natural. This little guy needs to be a model! He was supposed to have an appointment at a modeling agency back in Vancouver but my sister forgot to go to the actual appointment!

Still busy around here. Like I mentioned in the last post, my nieces and nephew are here for a two week vacation from Vancouver. We've been running around town, eating like there's no tomorrow and hanging out with people we love.

I honestly think I gained around 10 lbs. from the past week alone. My mom has been cooking a feast and I just can't stop myself.
Look at my dessert plate above. One of the two plates I had that day.
Let me just say, it was worth the extra pounds! It was just Divine (yes with a capital D)
I promise to do some yoga, pilates or something that does not involve a lot of sweating.
And I am crossing my fingers that I lose this extra baggage (and a little more) sooner than I expect.