My Fab Fifties Life - Inspire Archives - Page 9 of 15

Inspire

How To Incorporate Summer Pieces Into Your Fall Wardrobe

October 2, 2020

Leave a Comment

0 Comments

Location: In the USA

I have had so many people ask me if I’m going to do a travel wardrobe blog post this fall. You might remember I have done this in the past two years when I was heading back out on the Grand Adventure. Both these posts from the past were really well received (see Travel Wardrobe 2018 here and Travel Wardrobe 2019 here). Well the Grand Adventure, unfortunately, remains in pause mode, but since you all seem interested I thought I would offer a different take on fashion for the Fab Fifties set. Let’s look at how to incorporate summer pieces into your fall wardrobe.

Summer to Fall on a Budget

I’ve dropped thirty pounds over the past four months and I therefore needed to purchase several new clothing items over the summer. Now that the weather has turned, I’m looking through my closet and still can’t find anything to wear. What’s a girl to do?

Taking Inventory

My grey hair has made yellow one of my favorite colors in my closet

So I spent one afternoon going through my closet, figuring out what I had that fit and styling my new summer finds with many of my old (some REALLY old) pieces I have held on to over the years. I used five different pairs of pants as the base to build an entire wardrobe that can take me right on into the winter and back to spring…and it may well be we are still here in the USA come spring.

Classics

My style may not be your style but I think the premise is the same no matter what your favorite fashion aesthetic is – build a new wardrobe from favorites you already own. I’ve always leaned a bit to the classics, rarely buying anything too trendy or the look of the moment. I do most of my shopping at classically tailored American stores that fit a women of a certain age including Talbots, J Jill, and sometimes Nordstrom or Macy’s. I bought some jeans recently that I love at White House Black Market. I might go check that place out again soon. But the point is, with a few classics in your closet you can mix and match throughout the seasons, including learning how to incorporate summer pieces into your fall wardrobe.

Color

Since becoming a grey goddess about seven years ago, I learned that my fashion and make up color choices needed to adjust to my new hair color. If you are one of the thousands of women who has let her hair go natural during lockdown I salute you. And now is the time to consider if your make up needs a change and are you wearing the right colors – particularly colors near your face. I wear bright colors a lot, but I also like black and navy with my hair color. I stay away from pale pastels, most tans and browns and only occasionally wear gray. Bright and cheerful works for me and my complexion and hair.

So let me share with you how I took five pairs of pants and created more than twenty new outfits. Here we go.

Black Jeans

Summer to Fall Fashion — Black Jeans Four Ways

I bought these jeans at White House Black Market and they are comfortable and fit great. I will be able to wear these in endless ways, but here I show you four different looks. Left to right –

1. Summer print blouse from Talbots tucked in with black belt.

2. Leopard print sweater also from Talbots but this sweater is at least 10 years old.

3. Black t-shirt from Target and covered with oversize polka dot blouse from Talbots that is about 15 years old.

4. Finally, this ruched top from J Jill I bought right before I started losing weight, and now I am swimming in it. But I like the print so cinched it up with a little side knot and I think it looks cute.

Navy Blue Linen Slacks

I bought these lined linen slacks with a button detail at the ankle at J Jill early in the summer. I like the side zip fit and the length is nice for most of my shoes. Like denim jeans, navy blue slacks are a great wardrobe basic and I’m sure I will wear these a lot. Here I styled them five ways (clockwise);

1. Simple and comfy with this long sleeve striped t-shirt I got from Nordstrom this past spring.

2. Dressed up a bit with the darling short sleeve mint green sweater from Talbots

3. Looking all business like in this soft grey cotton blazer and navy/grey plaid scarf

4. I love this summer button down from Talbots in navy checked fabric, looks great with the navy pant and

5. Paired with one of my classic blouses I’ve had for years. This white button down is from Jones New York and the pink sweater is about five years old from Talbots.

Gray Blue Slacks

I like these pants because depending on what you pair with them sometimes they look gray and sometimes they look blue. They are a wide leg short length. I’ve paired them with different shoes here but I kinda like them with the white Converse. Cute. Left to right –

1. Dressed up with black T-shirt from Target and a black linen blazer I have owned probably twenty years.

2. The denim jacket is a staple and I love it here paired with an ancient wine colored turtle neck and my black boots.

3. Chunky cable knit black sweater (circa 1999) with quilted vest and my new red hat my friend Lisa made me.

4. And finally, my favorite soft denim button down goes with everything, including these great pants.

Pink Pants

There is no reason not to bring some bright colors (beyond fall orange) into your fall wardrobe and these Talbot pink pants are so cute and comfy I plan to wear them all year long. Here are four ideas to take these pants into fall;

1. Paired with a gray and pink plaid button-down from Talbots that is about 8 years old and layered with a black cardigan from Casalon at Nordstrom.

2. The Talbots mint green cardigan makes an appearance again with this pretty scarf.

3. My Jones New York classic white button down is here with this sage green denim jacket I got on clearance at Talbots this summer.

4. And finally I love this fun look with the layered Talbots navy blue checkered button down topped with this lightweight black and white stripped cotton sweater from Talbots.

Black Leggings

Yep every girl needs some black leggings no matter what the season. And since I accidentally spilled bleach on my last pair, I bought these online from American Eagle this spring. I didn’t have much cause to wear them over the summer, but I sure will now that fall is here.

1. This oversized sweater with drop shoulder neckline is from Nordstrom but it is at least ten years old. It is perfect with leggings and booties.

2. Here I paired two summer sweaters – a polka dot sweater tank from Talbots and a soft and sheer cardigan from JJill with pearls for a easy but fun look for a special occasion.

3. My classic white button down with a few accessories is all you need.

4. I love this look because this color looks so great with my hair. This sweater is a bargain purchase at Costco and the scarf I have had forever.

Key Take Aways

I love fashion and dressing in a way that I look and feel good without being flashy or trashy, dumpy or frumpy. And I really love when I can do that on a budget. Building a seasonal wardrobe that includes tried and try and a little new is easy and fun when you start with the basics you already own. Once you have the tools to incorporate summer pieces into your fall wardrobe, it will work for all seasons. My biggest advice for Fabulous Fifties Fashion is to wear bright colors that complement your skin tone and hair, while staying away from large patterns. Loose fitting is better than skintight but not to the point of baggy like a tent. Always remember to consider your footwear (a critical component of looking put together) and your undergarments (invest in the foundation so your clothes hang like they should).

Be Comfortable. Be Beautiful. Be Fabulous.

See this week’s top performing pin here.

We love it when you pin and share our blog. Thank you.

Leave a comment

Fun and Delicious Ways to Cook Fish

Cooking at Home with Fresh and Sustainable Fish

September 18, 2020

Laureen

Leave a Comment

0 Comments

It’s been a summer of a lot of fish for us and I am now feeling much more confident in the kitchen as I have learned fun and delicious ways to cook fish. My membership to the monthly Wild Caught Alaska Seafood delivery service has certainly helped with that. Having this beautiful fish ready in my freezer is convenient, healthy, sustainable and most of all delicious.

Today is the third and final blog featuring fun and delicious ways to cook fish, recipes I have either created on my own or taught myself from recipes I have found over the summer. I offer you a little bit of everything here today, from Thai inspired Cod to Ceviche from Peru and Walnut encrusted Halibut. Get cooking my friends! I’d love to hear from you if you try any of these delicious recipes.

Salmon Salad on Croissant

How to cook fish — Delicious salmon salad

Whenever I cook a whole or half a salmon fillet, this recipe is one of our favorites to use for the leftovers. Although honestly we rarely have any leftovers. But we enjoy this salmon salad on croissants for lunch, hiking or even for dinner on a warm summer night.

6-10 oz cooked salmon, flake and bones removed

1/4 cup of capers

1/4 cup diced celery

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 T dry dill

1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise mixed with some of the juice from the jar of capers

Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together and let refrigerate for a few hours before enjoying as a sandwhich.

Thai Cod in Coconut Broth

One of our favorite recipes for cod or white fish. Check out our YouTube video here on how to make this delicious meal. BTW we post a YouTube video EVERY TUESDAY for Tasty Tuesday. We sure would love for you to follow us on YouTube.

Crunchy Rockfish Tacos

I wasn’t familiar with rockfish when I first received it from Alaska, but I have found it to be a pretty versatile, somewhat nondescript fish that is perfect for breading and frying. It makes good fish and chips and crispy fish tacos. Here’s how I did that.

10- oz rockfish, thawed and dried with a paper towel

Mix 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup panko, 1 T cumin, 1/2 t red chili powder or flakes and salt and pepper. Dredge the fillets in the dry mixture.

Cook in air fryer about 6 min first side, turn over for 3 more minutes. Or fry in cast iron skillet in vegetable oil, set on paper towel to drain a minute before serving.

Salmon in Lemon Basil Sauce

Easy but elegant.

2 6 oz salmon fillets drizzled with olive oil and the salt and pepper. Let sit for a few minutes.

In food processor or blender mix together;

1/2 cup fresh basil, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 garlic clove, 1 T fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pulse until mixed. Pour in small saucepan and bring up to medium heat.

Meanwhile cook salmon about four minutes per side in skillet. Place on plate and pour warm basil lemon sauce over.

Ceviche

One of my favorite foods from around the world is ceviche; it is so very easy to make, and healthy too. Here is how we did this on our YouTube channel for Tasty Tuesday.

Walnut Crusted Halibut

I found this recipe on Pinterest and I changed it up a bit and made it for two people. Oh my did it turn out lovely. This is something you could easily serve to guests.

2 6 oz halibut fillets; salt and pepper them and let them air dry for a few minutes

Combine 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 cup finely ground walnuts, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. Add 1 T melted butter, 1 T stone ground mustard, 1 T dry dill, 1 t lemon zest.

Place the halibut on greased baking sheet and cover with walnut mixture, pressing into the fish to get it secured. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and then back in preheated 425 oven for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile in small sauce pan heat 1 t olive oil, 1 T chopped shallots, 1/4 cup white wine, 1 T lemon juice, 1 T butter and 1 t dry dill (or fresh).

Pour sauce over fish for serving or serve on the side.

What does F.I.S.H stand for?

Well, ” fish is so healthy” of course! Especially when you are buying, cooking and serving wild caught sustainable fish. I have learned a lot about how to prepare fish these past few months and I now am confident in my kitchen when it comes to delicious and healthy fish meals.

I hope you too will try some of our favorites here, and learn fun and delicious ways to cook fish. Be sure to check out our Salmon Recipe Blog and our White Fish Recipe Blog from earlier this summer. Enjoy!!

See this week’s top performing pin here.

We love it when you share our blog!

Leave a comment

Inspire

My Summer of Miscontent

The Unexpected Summer of 2020

September 11, 2020

Laureen

Leave a Comment

6 Comments

Miscontent – adjective: annoying, obsolete, disgruntled, dissatisfied

How to describe the unexpected, slightly annoying, and hopefully soon-to-be obsolete summer of 2020? I don’t think any of us will forget it soon. No sir, summer 2020 is branded on each of us forever; a somewhat sad, somewhat frightening, but often annoying period in history.

I approached this time of my life as optimistically as I could muster, setting my sights on goals and activities to keep me from going crazy. I can’t remember another summer in my life with so few parties, not a single concert, and zero festivals. No family reunion, no weddings, no fair or rodeo. No summer blockbuster movies, organized runs or even Seafair hydroplanes. Ho hum.

masks — The family all masked up but nowhere to go.

But most of all it’s been years since I haven’t had a vacation or trip looming on the horizon. The world according to Covid. So sad….

I knew full well as we flew half way across the world back to the United States on April 30th (abruptly ending our world tour) that nothing was going to be the same this summer. Our two months locked down on the island of Cyprus had us fully prepared with a good understanding of the dangers and contagion of the virus. We weren’t however prepared for the way the USA handled the virus with lack of cohesion, lack of preparation, lack of equipment, lack of communication. That part blew my mind. And thanks to all of that, we as Americans can’t travel now…perhaps for a very long time. Annoying.

Growth Mindset

The term ‘growth mindset’ is a bit of mantra for me, and I, sometimes to my husband’s dismay, tackle each problem head on with belief I can make something good out of the situation. And do it today. Generally I am a positive person with a somewhat Pollyanna view and so I set out to make the most of the situation. I lead a quantified life, meaning quarantine and lockdown seemed like another opportunity to tackle and reach some goals. This isn’t for everyone, but it works for me and damn I get a lot done!

So after four months stuck back in the USA it’s time to review my summer of miscontent, and consider what lies ahead.

Learning New Garden Skills

I didn’t do much work on my garden last summer because we were up to our eyeballs in remodeling our new villa. This year I set out to learn all I could about deer resistant gardening as well as gardening with woodland plants. Read Deer Resistant Gardening post here.

I have learned so much this summer, mostly by trial and error and I can say a few things with confidence about deer resistant gardening. First, the deer will try anything at least once…even if it’s supposedly “deer resistant”. Second, the female deer eat like pigs in the spring when they are carrying their fawns. And finally, there really are some plants the deer don’t like…thankfully. My successes this summer include lavender and all herbs, canna, cone flowers, daises, peonies, most grasses, cotoneaster and most woody shrubs, day lilies, and mums. I won’t be planting much beyond this list in the years ahead.

BTW my Master Gardener friend Kim (who helped me a lot) reminded me that no matter if the tag on the plant says “deer resistant” the deer can’t read.

Getting My Glow Back

Something I wasn’t prepared for when we started our life of nearly full time travel more than four years ago is how hard travel is on your skin and hair. Yes, I said skin and hair. Sun and sand, chlorine and salt, dry airplanes, dehydration, humidity…you name it. I felt my skin looked ancient when I arrived back in the USA. So, since we were going to be staying close to home, it seemed like a good time to launch a much needed and long neglected anti-aging skin care routine. Within a week of arrival I was into it and here is the post I wrote about Skin Care at Sixty

It’s now been 18 weeks since I took control of the future of my skin and I can’t tell you how much better I look and I feel. It is worth the effort and the money and I will never go back to neglecting my own self-care again. Whether you use the products I used or another brand or approach, just taking the time to put yourself first and take care of you is an important goal in life.

While I’m At It – Let’s Get Skinny

The two months on lockdown in Cyprus was a time I taught myself all about Cypriot cuisine. It was fun to have the time to do that. We also had an amazing Airbnb host who brought us baked goods nearly everyday. Oh boy those were good.

But on touchdown in the USA I was at least fifteen pounds heavier than when I had left, and my weight then wasn’t ideal either. One of the best things about travel is the wonderful food around the world – and I want to try it all. But, back in the USA it was time to take some serious measures and drop some serious pounds. And so I joined Noom and got to work within a week of arriving back home. Here is the post I wrote about Noom Weightloss.

I also set out to make better choices of what I ate and Noom helped me with that. We joined a seafood club and began receiving delicious wild caught Alaska Seafood and I taught myself all kinds of delicious seafood recipes. Cooking fish has always been a bit daunting for me, but not anymore. See some of the recipes here for Alaska Wild Caught Fish.

It’s now been four and half months and I have lost 27 pounds and I am currently maintaining my new weight. My god I feel so great! Noom is a great program. It might not be for everyone but it was just right for me and my growth mindset life and I am going to do everything I can to keep the weight off.

Let’s Get Physical

Half Marathon Running — Training for a half marathon

Noom was my motivation, but running really helped me kickstart a quick weight loss from the beginning. I set out to train for a half marathon, knowing full well the virus was causing all organized runs to be canceled. But I decided I could do my own half marathons and gave myself twelve weeks to be ready using Hal Higdon’s training program. See the post I wrote about Half Marathon Training

The twelve weeks have come and gone and I have run my half marathon and plan to run my second one this coming weekend. And as long as this old sixty year old body will let me, I’ll just keep right on running. I love it and it helps me stay slim.

Learning Something New

We can’t travel but I live on a golf course…there it is right in my own front yard. So no time like the present to learn something new. I have golfed in the past but it had been at least 15 years since I picked up some clubs. So my summer of miscontent became my summer of learn to golf. I took 8 lessons and learned a great deal during that time. I got a new driver, new shoes and a whole new atititude and confidence to this game and I look forward to golfing through out the fall and even the winter as I work to feel natural with a club in my hand. Another great way to get my exercise in.

Staycations and Road Trips

Once I felt safe to be out and about on a limited basis, we planned some close-to-home two and three day getaways (see our Island Sanity Staycation #1 here and our Tree House #2 here). I also got outside to hike and cycle as often as possible, keeping social distancing top of mind. I was really grateful for those close to home activities with my husband, my grown sons and some of our close friends.

In August we decided to venture a little farther from home and did a 13 day road trip through Idaho to Colorado and back through Oregon. It was a lot of driving and in hind sight we should have added a few more days, but the weather was excellent, the scenery sublime and the ability to play my “get out of jail free card” really helped my sanity. I felt safe the entire time and we were careful and social distanced everywhere we went.

And Just Like That, Fall is Here

Fall in Washington — Fall is just around the corner

The virus is here for a long while, and learning to deal with it has been the unexpected outcome of my summer of miscontent. So now I look forward. I’ve done a little soul searching through all of this. Learning to accept the fact I can’t travel and I am not in control of when I might be able to again. Learning to find peace with that and find other things to occupy my over active brain. Learning to socialize primarily with my closest family and keep most everyone at arms length. No hugs. That sucks.

The weather will turn soon and I will turn to my arts and crafts and focus on healthy eating and working out. We might do another road trip…or even fly to the sunny parts of the USA if we decide it’s safe to do so. But learning to be kinder, quieter, more thoughtful has been good medicine for me. I’ve given up the news and refuse to engage in politics or hate. It’s not my way.

I know well there are so many people who have it so much worse than I do. I have a home, a family and I am safe and so far healthy. There is nothing more that I need.

I know a handful of people who have had the virus, all but one of them surviving. It’s real and it’s going to be around for a while…I am settling in for the long haul. Likely no travel for a while, but learning to live within the boundaries the virus has imposed. And do so with a positive attitude…as much as possible. Sometimes that means stepping away from the news, shutting down the social media, turning away from the screen.

My goal – a fall and winter of contentment. Putting away the miscontent and finding acceptance and satisfaction in the solitude this virus has thrust on us, and the major change in lifestyle that is now my routine. My autumn of contentment. My winter of gratitude. My Fab Fifties Life.

We love it when you share our blog.

Leave a comment

Inspire

My Self-Care Journey with Noom Diet Plan; Getting Healthy Inside and Out

Noom Diet Plan

July 17, 2020

Laureen

Leave a Comment

1 Comments

Location: Washington State USA

Goals Girl

I am a goals driven woman. I have always been this way. It has both positive and negative effects. When I was a career woman, sometimes my drive was perceived in a negative way by those who don’t work in this same manner. I don’t have those people to worry about anymore, and setting specific goals has been paramount in getting me through lockdown and quarantine. I set a self-care goal and gave it my nearly undivided attention. My self-care journey with Noom diet plan, getting healthy inside and out, has been a success. Here is how I did it.

(Please note this blog includes affiliate links with Noom, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and join Noom Diet Plan.

As we flew in an empty 787 across the planet during the height of the pandemic, I spent my airplane time trying to imagine what it was going to be like back in the USA. We had been gone for seven months, and stuck in Cyprus for two months. Nothing was the same, and my once highly controlled and organized life had fallen into chaos. If the pandemic has taught me anything it’s that I really am not in control. It’s been a silver-lining lesson.

Noom Diet Plan — Our last day in Cyprus at about 177 pounds late April

The only thing I knew for sure was I was going to have a lot of free time on my hands. And so my overly active goal-setting brain began to percolate ideas.

Diving Right In

Jet lag had me awake at 3:30am on my first night back in the USA. Wide awake I began to explore online skin care, specifically the TimeWise products I had been reading about. See that blog here. But soon I moved on to researching Hal Higdon’s Marathon Training Program (see that blog here), healthy immunity boosting foods (see that blog here), and Noom Weight loss program.

Without too much effort, I had laid out a plan for my personal self-care goals that for the next three months would focus on bringing me back to a healthy, active, confident and inspired Fab Fifties Life.

Becoming a Noomer – My Self-Care Journey with Noom Diet Plan

The Noom Weight Loss program is one I had been hearing about, and I knew several people who had been successful on the program. I debated about spending the money (about $260), telling myself I had the knowledge to lose weight, from all those other weight loss programs I had done over the years. But what I knew down deep in my heart, I needed some motivation and something to keep me accountable. So I signed up and began my self-care journey with Noom diet plan.

Best decision ever.

What is Noom? Well, before I explain it from my perspective, please go back and read the very first sentence in this blog. What does it say?

I am a goals driven woman.

I ask you to read it again, BECAUSE my ability to focus on my goals is why I have been successful on Noom. Because Noom is not going to do it for you. Noom is a tool to ASSIST you in personalized healthy eating plan that should help you lose weight. BUT IT’S HARD WORK. Yes, I said it. Losing weight is hard work. And although Noom is designed to be entertaining, educational, and inspiring, you will only be successful if you set goals and and DO THE WORK – EVERY DAY.

My Goals

I started out my self-care journey with Noom diet plan using the Noom app to determine my weight-loss goals and how fast I thought I could accomplish it. I was very realistic in my goal setting, choosing both specific and achievable goals that included a target weight and work out plans. Knowing how much harder it is to lose weight at sixty than it was twenty years ago, I considered all the factors in my day to day life in search of realistic goals I could set for myself.

The next thing I did was create an action plan. For me this was just in my head but some people might want to write it down. It took me about two weeks to feel I was following my action plan effectively with daily workouts, nutrition study and focusing on well-being and mindfulness through both Noom and other online programs, lessons and videos.

Weight loss on Noom — My personal weight loss chart

I dropped 12 pounds before I began to share online that I was on Noom. I needed that time to find my rhythm and feel confident. Sharing your goals helps keep you accountable and also helps you find like-minded goal setters who can be part of your support system.

Today, my sharing continues and I am thrilled to have inspired several friends to join Noom and give it a try.

Comparison

Let me compare Noom to Weight Watchers. Now to be fair, I have not done online Weight Watchers but I did successfully lose weight on Weight Watchers many moons ago. I know a lot of people have used Weight Watchers in the past, so I’ll use it here as comparative. Noom is designed very close to how Weight Watchers is laid out. On Noom you are tracking your intake of food every day. On the app the foods will be designated a caloric number (instead of points) and will be put into one of three categories; green, yellow and red. I liked this part very much and here is why;

Watching what I ate each day and learning the caloric count was such an eye opener to me. I was fascinated to learn if I need a little snack I can eat a whole dill pickle for 4 calories, or a granola bar for 180 calories. That’s a no brainer. I also liked seeing the green, yellow, red foods at the end of the day. It helped me to recognize that some red foods (cheese, meat, hummus,nuts, oils) I have been eating more of, so I should cut back on and add more green foods (vegetables, fruit, fish, yogurt). Noom also has a library of recipes on the app, easy and at your fingertips.

Like Weight Watchers, Noom has a community you can get involved in, or if you don’t want to you can blow that part off. There is an online coach who checks in with you and you can ask your coach specific questions. The coach puts out daily challenges and there are daily “stories” to read that cover a wide variety of psychological, physical and science-based information about our bodies, our brains and weight loss. I thought it was well presented.

weight loss — Noom Weight Loss weighing in everyday

One major difference between Noom and Weight Watchers is that on Noom they want you to step on the scale EVERY DAY! What? At first I thought that was ridiculous. Back in my Weight Watcher days you weighed in once a week (it was always kinda scary). But on Noom I weigh each morning and log the results on the app along with my food intake and also exercise. And I really learned to LIKE weighing everyday, and watching my body slim down oz by oz. I found it exciting and motivating.

Now for exercise. You aren’t required to exercise, but if you do you can add that to your daily log and then your daily calorie goal will automatically be adjusted. This I think is one of the reasons I was able to lose more than twenty pounds in two months…I was working out a lot. But like I said, you can work out a little or not at all, but your weight loss will be slower and calorie intake more restricted.

Day In The Life

Let me share my day in the life on Noom. Wake up usually around 6am. I always go pee before I step on the scale. Then I make coffee and take it back to bed, where I open the app, record my weight and read the challenges and stories and teachings for the day. As you progress through Noom the daily lessons become more interesting and are filled with science and psychology.

weight loss breakfast — Noom diet plan breakfast

Next I go for my run and then come back for breakfast. Almost every morning I have a bowl filled with fruits, spinach, carrots, nuts, rice or grains and yogurt. I also have a hard boiled egg. It totals about 350 calories.

Then I go about my day. I rarely eat lunch but I’ll have a piece of fruit, or maybe a slice of lunch meat as a snack. Sometimes I might have a pickle, or some carrots. Occasionally if I am really hungry I’ll have some soup. I record this all on the app. I drink water throughout the day and I almost always have a cup of herbal tea in the afternoon. It fills me up and warms me up. Sometimes I have another cup in the evening. Zero calories.

Since we don’t eat lunch, we usually have dinner early around 4-5pm. Dinner is often fish, veg, grains. Sometimes chicken or pork. We eat several different kinds of veg at dinner. I will occasionally have a gin and tonic or a beer but not too often. I record all this on the app. We have eaten out a few times, but with the lockdown I was on Noom for many weeks before eating out was even an option. But when we have eaten out I record it and adjust my exercise or my calorie intake.

After dinner I don’t eat again until about 9am the next morning.

Surprises

I have stopped eating most dairy and have limited my bread. The most surprising thing of all is I have stopped having heartburn. So, I’ve been able to get off the omeprazole heartburn medicine I have been taking every day for YEARS! Because of my heartburn I also used to drink a Coke often when I had indigestion or heartburn. I haven’t had a Coke in three months. Boom.

Recap

So let’s recap. My Lockdown Self-Care Journey has focused on skin care, running, healthy eating and weight loss. I am going to need to stay focused on each of these goals, or lose traction and end up back where I started.

One of Noom’s goal setting tools

I acknowledge that the fact I am retired, I have a lot more free time than many people. But, if you are serious about getting healthy and making yourself your number one priority, then you might choose one or all of these goals I am working on and begin your own Self Care Journey. Your goals will look different than mine. You know what you want. But Noom will only work if you make it a priority. It’s not magic.

I’ve had a few people say to me they don’t have time because of their job. Yes your job takes a lot of time. But what are the other excuses you are using? Boards and committees? Watching television? Projects around the house? There is ALWAYS something…in your goal setting you need to prioritize what it important and maybe weight loss just isn’t important to you. And that’s okay. Just don’t sign up for Noom or any other program and say it didn’t work for you, when the reality is you didn’t make it a priority. Wait until you are ready.

I’m here to help. Ask me questions in the comments or message me privately. Join me on this healthy journey while we wait to find out how our life in post-Covid is going to look. Let’s do all we can to take care of our physical, emotional and mental health as we live through this stressful time.

Courage my friends. Be well.

(Please note this blog includes affiliate links with Noom, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and join Noom Diet Plan.

Join Noom with this link today and get started.

See last week’s Friday Inspiration blog here.

We love it when you pin and share our blog.

See this week’s top performing pin here.

Lose Weight For Good With Noom

Leave a comment

At Home -- Inspire -- North America Travel

Sanity Staycation

July 3, 2020

Laureen

Leave a Comment

6 Comments

Location: Whidbey Island Washington USA

Not everyone is up for a staycation right now. But for me, getting away even for a day, or two, or three, is a great boost to mental health during pandemic paralysis. Since it looks like it might be awhile until we can fly off to the Alps, or the Cote d’Azure or the Azores…a little sanity staycation is a perfect pandemic prescription.

We’ve decided to do several sanity staycations in the weeks and months ahead, visiting places within a few hours or a few days from home. Places reachable by car with low impact as far as crowds or contact with humans. Our first sanity staycation was to the beautiful Whidbey Island less than two hours from my home in Washington State where we have been on travel pause for two months.

Whidbey Island

First, traveling mid-week is a great way to avoid crowds. On Whidbey we felt like we were the only visitors, and that was okay with us. We rented a cottage on the grounds of the Quintessa, a wedding and events location. But on a Tuesday, we were the only guests and it felt really special to have it all to ourselves.

Whidbey is easy to get around by car. We’ve been here before so didn’t need to see everything, but if you haven’t visited before the cute shops especially in Langley and Coupeville are my favorites. If you are game there are also wine tasting rooms, distilleries and taprooms. Greenbank Farms will serve you wine and cheese and send you off with a delicious berry pie to take home – giving you a chance to savor your sanity staycation for a day or two more. Or pick up some world famous Penn Cove Oysters while here…the tiny sweet delicious mollusks are the best.

If you are an experienced cyclists it’s a great place to ride, but we left our bikes at home this time and opted for some easy hiking. We chose to do a really fun day hike in the Fort Ebey State Park, perfect for any fitness level and offering some really beautiful views. Exactly what my mental health was craving.

Although we didn’t have a reservation (highly recommended) we were able to slide in for an early dinner at the highly rated Prima Bistro in Langley. Both indoor and outdoor dining and a really great menu makes the Prima Bistro a top choice. If you want to social distance try to get a reservation off peak, although the restaurant was following all State of Washington distancing rules. On our second night we got take-out at the highly rated Joe’s Wood Fired Pizza. Excellent New York style pizza, in the Bayview area halfway between Langley and Freeland. We also made a quick stop for a treat at Coupeville’s Red Hen Bakery – killer cinnamon rolls, take out only.

Plan Ahead

A sanity staycation takes a bit of planning…don’t assume everything is open and running regular hours. For instance Joe’s is only open for take-out currently (July 2020).

Also very important is that you check the current schedule for the Washington State Ferries (unless you plan to arrive from the North over the Deception Pass Bridge). Currently due to reduced staffing Washington State Ferries are running at half capacity (July 2020). The Mukilteo to Clinton Ferry (closest from Seattle and King and Snohomish County and all points east) is usually a 2-3 boat wait unless you can travel during non-peak. Another option is the Port Townsend to Coupeville Ferry. If you are coming from points west and south ( Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Mason or Jefferson Counties) this is definitely the way to go. The great thing about this boat is you can make a reservation and be secured a spot on whatever sailing you want.

But that’s all part of the “fun” (she says tongue in cheek) during the time of Covid. Learning to live with new rules and guidelines will serve us all in the long run…and taking a mental health sanity staycation is a highly recommended way to feel better and wash away the blues – but only if you are comfortable being out. We plan to choose safe, quiet and unpopulated places to visit on upcoming sanity staycations.

Not a soul around. Enjoying a cinnamon roll outside Red Hen Bakery

Be safe. Be smart. And above all else, please be kind.

We love it when you share our blog.

Check out this week’s top performing pin.

Leave a comment

Inspire

How REI Travels With Us Around the World

June 19, 2020

Laureen

Leave a Comment

4 Comments

Funny title you say, how REI travels with us around the world? But it’s true. Oh so true. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and the Recreational Equipment Inc Co-op (REI) was just a tiny store back then in the ’60’s, but it was still a big part of my childhood. In those days REI was primarily focused on mountain climbing and backpacking. Jim Whitaker, the first American to summit Mount Everest and a Seattle native, was the first full-time employee of REI in 1955.

In the 1980’s REI expanded it’s offerings but remained true to it’s co-op roots. From then until now, REI continues to offer high quality gear for backpacking, camping, kayaking, cycling and travel.

REI roller bags and backpacks — All our bags last fall on departure day

I’ve been a member of REI since the 1990’s, and through membership you earn points for discounts on every purchase you make. And, because we travel so much and love the products, we make a lot of purchases at REI. In fact our family has learned to buy REI gift certificates for us when gift giving is in order.

We have been using our down time during quarantine to inventory our travel gear and prepare so that as soon as we can, we can hit the road again. It’s still gonna be a while, probably after the new year, but we will travel again, and our REI gear will be with us.

Packing for the Grand Adventure — It takes a little effort to prepare for departure day

Even if you don’t travel as extensively as we do, REI has a wonderful selection of travel items for casual travelers, walkers, hikers and more. Because we are such big fans, tooday we share with you some of our most favorite items from REI that we don’t leave home without. We hope this is helpful to you.

The links below are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you.

Travel Bags

REI Roller bags on the train — Our REI bags ready for boarding in Berlin

We LOVE our REI roller bags and we can verify they are tough! Our bags are four years old and have been around the world twice! That’s 121 flights, 153,000 miles and 68 countries! With all the wear and tear the only thing we have had happen was one wheel got caught in a baggage carousel and we had to replace it…but the replacement was available on line and easy to install. We continually pack these bags to 50lbs each and will continue to do so. A great purchase for us.

Check out this amazing bag here – https://www.rei.com/product/118820/rei-co-op-big-haul-rolling-duffel-34

Backpacks

REI Backpack on the Camino — Arne and his REI backpacking on the Portuguese Camino

We each have a backpack, mine an Osprey brand and my husband’s an REI brand. These have also been traveling with us as our carryon for four years. Additionally the backpacks made the 500 mile trek with us on the Camino de Santiago Frances, as well as on many other hikes. Both of these brands available at REI are durable and sturdy as well a comfortable. We beat them up, and the take a licken and keep on trekking.

Check out Arne’s REI pack here https://www.rei.com/product/126937/rei-co-op-traverse-35-pack-mens

And this is the one I use https://www.rei.com/product/144762/osprey-skimmer-28-hydration-pack-womens

Packing Cubes

When I first heard about something called packing cubes I thought it was just another gimmick to get me to spend money…boy was I wrong. I can’t imagine being on the road as much as we are now without packing cubes. Because we carry so much more than just clothes, our packing cubes provide us with a way to organize medicines, electronics and cords, office supplies and even things like salt and pepper and olive oil – and of course our clothes too. We have several different kinds of packing cubes but our Eagle Creek REI Cubes are our favorite and the most durable. The zipper (which has blown out on our other brands) is so strong and the fabric is perfect. I plan to pick up a few more of these before we hit the road again.

My favorite packing cubes – https://www.rei.com/product/866241/eagle-creek-original-pack-it-cube-set

Hammock

Yes we do carry a hammock with us around the world…why? Because we can, with this lightweight and compact hammock by ENO from REI. We use the hammock on the beach, or on our Airbnb patio and sometimes even on a hotel deck. The straps we also purchased from REI.

Our favorite hammock https://www.rei.com/product/754773/eno-doublenest-hammock

And the straps https://www.rei.com/product/886799/eno-atlas-chroma-suspension-system

French Press

You might be surprised that I carry a French Press with me when I travel, but it is actually one of the things in my suitcase I use the most – in fact every day. And it’s so easy to be able to have my favorite French-press coffee each morning because of this amazing titanium light weight French press from REI. One of my all time favorite purchases from REI. It’s made for backpacking, but just as useful for a long trip or weekend getaway.

Coffee on the go! https://www.rei.com/product/129640/snow-peak-titanium-french-press

Trekking Poles

If you consider price and quality, buying a product that is well made will always give you more bang for the buck. Case in point, our trekking poles by Black Diamond. We have been using these same trekking poles for nearly 12 years. They took me over Mount Warminanusqa on the Inca Trail and all 640 miles on both the Camino Frances and the Camino Portuguese and hundreds of other hikes equaling thousands of miles. Trekking poles keep my posture upright, keep my hands from swelling and provide stability as I hike around the world. These collapsible poles easily fit in our suitcase.

My favorite poles https://www.rei.com/product/162591/black-diamond-trail-back-trekking-poles-pair

Hiking Socks

My husband really likes the Cool Max REI hiking socks while my favorite are the lower cut Smartwool women’s style that keeps the merino wool off my ankle because I sometimes have a skin reaction with wool.

His – https://www.rei.com/product/165392/rei-co-op-coolmax-ecomade-ultralight-tech-hiking-quarter-socks

Hers – https://www.rei.com/product/112491/smartwool-phd-outdoor-light-mini-socks-womens

So Many Shoes

Over the years we have bought several pairs of hiking shoes as well as several pairs of Keen Sandals at REI (I practically live in my Keen sandals). I’ve also bought Teva Walking Shoes. My husband is currently a big fan of Merrill, and REI carries a lot of Merrill options.

Clothing

We have purchased many of our favorite pieces of clothing for both hiking and everyday travel at REI. My husband is a big fan of PrAna and owns multiple pairs of PrAna shorts and long hiking pants. I have REI hiking shorts that I LOVE and will be getting another pair soon. And we both own several REI and Columbia brand hiking shirts, both long and short sleeve.

Hats

REI hiking gear in the mountains — My fav hat and REI shorts

If you follow us around the world you will notice we are rarely without a hat on our head. I carry three or four different hats in my bag while Arne usually has two kinds. He likes a wicking style baseball cap for running and daily use and likes the Outdoor Research brand. And for hiking he wears a wide brim hat by by REI. I also have a wide brim hiking hat that includes a roll down neck protector by Sunday Afternoon. I have had this hat so long I don’t even remember and it’s still in great condition.

As you can see, I am a huge fan of REI, for the products I need at a price point I can afford. Through my experience I know I can trust REI for quality and durability on the things we love for our travels. It’s also really important to me to support local businesses. Although REI is now an internationally recognized brand, I love how it’s roots are solidly in the Pacific Northwest. And so that’s how REI travels with us around the world.

REI with friends in Washington State — With friends last summer, Mount Rainier Washington State

Our fingers are crossed that we will be back traveling internationally in early 2021. We hope to pick up our itinerary where we left off (with some adjustments for weather) and continue on our Grand Adventure. The world has changed but our desire to see it has not. Another thing that hasn’t changed, how REI travels around the world with us. We are loyal customers and look forward to updating what’s in our suitcase very soon.

Feel free to ask me any questions about products I am endorsing here. We love it when you share our blog. Be safe.

Leave a comment

At Home -- Inspire

My System for Organizing Digital Photos

May 29, 2020

Laureen

Leave a Comment

6 Comments

This is my system for organizing digital photos. It might not work for everyone but it works for me. I use an iPhone and a MacBook so if you are not using Apple products your system will need to be different. For those of you who are not Mac users, I have included in this blog information about Google Drive photos (see below). So at the request of some of my friends, I have put together this blog that lays out my system for organizing digital photos. I hope it can be helpful to you.

What Kind Are You?

I read an interesting article once that placed digital photo people into three different categories; casual, moderate or enthusiastic. My photo library has 59,000 photos and nearly 400 videos. I’m pretty sure I fall into the “enthusiastic” category. Or crazy. I think my husband would label my photo taking as crazy.

I was a Mac user before I was an iPhone user and the day I realized my two devices were going to be talking to each other was the day my life changed. I mean really. It didn’t take me long to give up my SLR camera altogether and use my iPhone as my sole camera. I currently have an iPhone 11x and it takes beautiful images. Even though I have a few complaints about the iPhone 11, photos are not one of them. So I take lots of photos every day and I need a good system for organizing my digital photos.

Photography — Photo I took in 1980 on my first film SLR when I was learning photography in college. That’s my husband…before he was my husband.

Editing

Before I get into storage let me talk briefly about editing. On the iPhone you can adjust the light level before you take a photo by tapping lightly on the screen and adjusting the up and down toggle for brightness. But often I don’t have time to do that if I need to capture a fleeting moment. And so I do it in edit mode after. The iPhone editor has a wide variety of options for lightening, brightening and adding color to your images. Sometimes I will turn a color photo into a black and white photo for dramatic effect. You can warm up a photo or cool it down. It’s all very user friendly.

Photo drama — I added color and drama to this image taken from a moving car.

Sometimes I use the bounce or loop feature on the iPhone and I really enjoy the long exposure feature. When traveling I find I love it for any water image, storms or even traffic.

Long exposure photography — Iguazu Falls in Brazil, long exposure image

Another cool feature with the iPhone is the live camera. I keep live on all the time. If I capture an image where the subject may have moved unexpectedly or a car moved into the frame, often you can go back to the live edit and skip back a frame or two to easily make your photo perfect. Super easy without needing to be a techno whiz.

Filters on photos — Using Snapseed I made this old Route 66 gas station look very vintage

The only other edit program I use is a very rudimentary app called Snapseed. In Snapseed I can add lots of dramatic color to a stormy photo. Or I can make an old vintage truck look even more old and vintage. I can make my photos look like they were taken on a Polaroid camera 40 years ago – or a number of other very simple edit options. I use Snapseed often and don’t find I need any other complicated editing software for the purposes I use my photos for.

Lightening a photo — In this image I was in the shadow with bright light behind. I used Snapseed to lighten up the forefront of the image. This image also is in portrait mode, one of the features on the iPhone 11

Types of Storage Options

Not so long ago all my photos were printed and put into photos albums. I still have all those photo albums and one long term project goal is to eventually transfer those to digital.

Not so long ago I was storing photos on CDRom and thumb drive. I hated this system because I didn’t seem to be able to keep these organized or find them easily, needing to pop the CD or thumb drive in and out of the computer.

Then came the wonderful cloud.

Today there are a variety of photo storage options available and everyone has their favorites. My photos are in iCloud, while other people prefer options like DropBox, Shutterfly, or Picasso. Amazon Prime has a photo storage program, but I haven’t been able to find anyone who uses it. From my experience the two most popular are Apple iCloud and Google Drive. Since I don’t use Google Drive I asked a fellow blogger, Slavka, to share a little about Google Drive:

Do you have a Gmail email address? If you do, Google offers other convenient services that you can access via your Gmail email account. Google Drive is one of them and it’s great cloud storage for your photos and other files.

Google Drive Photo Storage is popular and reliable

So how to use it? First of all, you need to have or open a new Gmail email account. With this email account, you have 15 GB of free space. You can use this free space for any of the connected services such as Google Drive, Google Docs, or Google Sheets. You can access these by clicking on the 9 dots icon that appears in the top right corner next to your login icon. Click on the triangle icon of Google Drive. This is a space where you can store photos, videos, audio files, documents files, etc. You can group then into separate files and share them with others via a sharable link.

Google Drive storage is convenient for the temporary storage of recent photos or the ones you want to share. Older images and files should be downloaded to an external storage drive for archiving. Or, if you want to keep them available online, you might need to pay for additional cloud storage after you run out of free space. Currently, Google charges approx. $28 per year for 100GB of cloud space.

Link to my blog: https://on2continents.com

Thanks Slavka. Be sure to check out Slavka’s wonderful travel blog on the link above.

So, the iCloud photo storage works basically the same way. It’s free for the first 5G and then you pay monthly for additional storage. For a long time I paid $4 a month for 200GB but now I pay $10 a month for 500GB. My photos are automatically uploaded regularly to the cloud.

No matter which storage system you chose, keeping your photos organized is the challenge. For me it’s a big committment given the number of photos I have and my constant need to access them. Here is how I do it.

Organizing my Images

When you open the iCloud photo library, you can go to File in the top left hand corner. Click on File and you will get an option to create an album. In my photo library I have dozens of albums. I have albums for family, friends, house and garden, genealogy, cycling, hiking and camping, and of course cats. (LOL). Then I have an album for every country we have visited. Sometimes I will combine a couple of countries to save a little space. Additionally I have separate albums where I store art work for my blog, birthday funny memes, or things I might want for holidays on social media. I have one whole albums for Seahawks and Cougar football memes.

Creating the albums is the easy part. The hard part is continually moving your new images into the files. Here is how I do that:

Every few weeks I sit down and delete images. Ideally you should be doing this daily or minute to minute on your phone, but that doesn’t seem to happen for me. So I go through and delete duplicate images, poor quality images or other images I don’t want in one go.

Photo organization — Albums for all the things I love and want to keep organized

I check the date I last moved images to albums and after deleting I start with that date and begin moving the images (click and drag) into the albums. Sometimes an image might end up in multiple albums (for example family album and hiking album). This way I can find it easily for future use.

Photo storage — Working on deleting hundreds of images

The Big Delete

Since I’ve had A LOT of free time on my hands these past few covid months, I began a new delete project. Going to the overarching file called Photos, where all images are from all albums, I started with the oldest images and slowly am going through and deleting. I have found there are photos I don’t even remember taking or where I took them. Some photos that seemed important at the time, no longer have meaning for me (the first time I saw a wild baboon it seemed impressive…now so many thousands of baboons later who cares). And so I delete. This is very time consuming but will eventually help my overall storage issue. I am committing a few hours a week to accomplish this task by the end of the summer – it’s about ten years worth of photos, but an important goal for organizing digital photos.

So What About External Hard Drives?

For a couple of years before I went all Mac I used to have an external hard drive I would plug in to my PC and back up my photos regularly. But I haven’t done that since I went to 500 GB in the cloud, as I feel confident in the system I am using. However, I recently purchased a new external hard drive called Photo Stick that stores 128GB of data. I haven’t started using it yet, but I decided it was worth it to have it since it is very small (like a thumb drive), has a huge amount of storage, works continually and will help me clean up duplicates. It also will offer me even more peace of mind. Hopefully it actually does all those things. I paid $79 for it.

So What is Best for You?

Remember in the beginning when I asked what kind of photo person you are? Determining the answer to that question is your first step in getting your images organized and safe. As an “enthusiastic” photographer, as well as a blogger, travel writer and very active social media user, my photos are incredibly important to me in my day-to-day life. I consider myself a good photographer, after years of practice and a small amount of training, and photography is an important hobby in my life. So I spend both time and money making sure my images are protected, accessible, and good quality.

No matter what kind of photographer you are, you can start organizing your digital photos with a little knowledge and commitment. Good luck!

We love it when you pin and share our blogs.

See this week’s top performing pin here

The links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

Leave a comment

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Follow us as we inspire you to live your best life now. We find inspiration in our Retired Midlife through travel and learning new cultures, writing and reading! What inspires you? I am a retired Grey Goddess on the Go, here to empower and inspire you through your Fabulous middle years! We write regular travel posts and book reviews and have been sharing this blog for 12 years!! Join our club and be fabulous too! You can find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Threads. My Fab Fifties Life!