The Year of Me.

Hi guys!! We are back from a fun long weekend exploring China and are getting back into the swing of day to day life here in Shanghai. I have tons of fun pictures to share with you from our trip that I will hopefully get posted sometime this week. Today I am talking about the goal that I set for myself at the start of this year which was to make it the year that I focused on my health and getting back into shape also spending more time doing things just for myself. I felt selfish making this my yearly goal but at then end of the day I have been giving all of myself to Motherhood since I became pregnant at 25 . I have nursed all of my children past a year only to then find myself pregnant again. Mama is TIRED. I have no plans of changing my devotion to my children at all but somehow in it all I need to make sure I carve out some time for myself.

Little did I know that 2017 was going to start out by throwing me curve ball after curve ball. First with some stuff with my beautiful nephew then with the loss of a family friend. Finally it seems the storm is settling and I am now feeling emotionally ready to invest this time in myself. SO with that being said it seems that the stars are lining up because one of my old childhood friends who is a personal trainer ( @bodybybriana on instagram if you want to follow her )  messaged me asking if I would like for her to set me up with a workout plan. ummmm YESSS. So I am really going to go all out with this and post my before picture to track my progress. I was going to post my weight but then at the end of the day that doesn't really matter my goal is to feel my best not weight my least. Also I will post some of her workouts if you guys are interested in doing them with me. I will update you in a month and let you know my progress. Fingers crossed I will be Beach ready! Remember to follow @bodybybriana on instagram for daily workout inspo.

Here is my before picture. Not bad but no where were I want to be in terms of being comfortable and happy with MYSELF. My goals are not other goals I just want to be in a place where I feel good in my clothes and in my own skin. My problem areas are my lower stomach ( after 3 sections ) and my saddle bag area on my legs. I would love to tone up my arms are well so I feel better in sleeveless tops.

Todays Leg Workout by @bodybybriana

1. Start with a warmup such as
- Stairs 10x
- Frog Jumps up and back in Hallway
-3 sprints outside
-10 minute jog

Legs -
Circut 1:
1. Single leg step up with a kick back - two dumbbells 8-10 pounds and a sturdy chair/bench/ottonman Do 15 reps each leg
2.Split lunge jumps, no weight 20 reps
3. Plank with single leg raise. The leg raise is more of a pulse, 30 seconds each leg

Circuit 2 :
1. Single leg Lunge off bench, use 8-10 pound dumbbell 12-15 reps per leg. Squeeze butt at the top
2. Over the bench tap backs - Hold one 10lb dumbbell under your chin. 15 reps then repeat with other leg
3. " Frog Booty Raise" . ( on floor or hips hanging off ottoman )

Circuit3:
1. Plie squat wwith 25lb dumbbell ( 15-20 reps )
2. Standing Side leg raises against weight 15 reps each leg
3 Single leg booty lift. Lay on your back ( on the ground ) one heel on the bench, the other leg straight up in the air and lift butt off the ground 20 reps each leg.

You guys Im not asking for much..just you know to KILL IT like Kourtney Kardashian hahaha JK. I will check back with you guys next week to give you an arm workout and let you know how sore I am. Hope you have a great Wednesday!!

Easy Margarita plus a few things

Its that time again my most favorite season of the year when the days are long and the sun is warm and shining which puts me right in the mood for a nice cool cocktail. Since I now have three kids and attending out door happy hours are not anywhere near relaxing me and Jay have been making drinks at home. A friend of ours here working as a alcohol distributor from Dublin taught us a super simple delicious Margarita recipe that has become our go to.

 picture above is of our finished result ( bowing down to food bloggers it took forever for me to get this photo ) 

Ingredients:

Agave Syrup - 1 part
Four Limes - 2 parts
Tequila - 4 parts

Instructions :

First we cut the limes in half and take all the seeds out of the limes
Next squeeze the lime Juice out of the limes ( We have found that it is easier to use a lime squeezer that you can pick up the next time you are aimlessly strolling the aisles at Home Goods )

Then add the agave syrup to the lime juice

Then lastly we add the tequila and add any garnish that you like ( I enjoy adding a little grapefruit to mine )

And there you have it a perfect cocktail for any occasion.

A couple of things I was to discuss that I saw this week that really caught my eye..

Can we please take a second and give Kourtney K a round of applause. One for not falling into the fake butt trap two for having three kids and looking like this and three for FLAUNTING IT on her 38th Birthday.  I am in between wanting to work super hard and attempt to look like this and throwing in the towel and just have another kid to round out the troops. Kael is begging me for a little brother not sure I am sold. I have always loved the idea of another little boy named " Penn " in our lives..we shall see where life takes us

image via Phillip Van

We are headed to see the Great Wall of China next week. We have been putting this trip off we usually like to leave China when we take trips but we really cant leave China without actually seeing the great wall so off we go. Crossing fingers for clean air and nice temperatures.

ahhh sweet Visitors

We are just coming off the high of having visitors in town so this week is a little blah without the house being full with the people that we love from home. I have thrown myself into spring cleaning and switching out the kids closets to keep myself busy. Last week was filled with so much fun. My brother and his girlfriend arrived just in time to celebrate my Birthday with me. We decided the only appropriate thing to do was take them down to the bund so they can take in some of Shanghais amazing views.  I quickly realized they both wanted to experience authentic China which was awesome. Being a expat here I am often trying to escape China and find as many western options as possible. So it was fun being a tourist in my own city for the week. We all particularly enjoyed an awesome Art District with some really great graffiti walls  little places to eat and unique art spaces. Another highlight of the trip was a night bike ride through Shanghai and all of its back alleys. I have done this once before and still is my favorite thing I have done since becoming a expat. On this tour the guide takes you down roads you didnt even know existed. You get to see how the Chinese really live their night life and how they relax after a hard days work. Overall we biked 14 miles and all of our butts hurt so bad at the end but it was exhiliarating and something I know none of us will ever forget. The day before they left we celebrated Easter together one great thing Shanghai does is offer really fun brunches around the city always offered are endless cocktails and wayyy too much sugar so a win win for the adults and kids. I LOVED having my brother in town it is so great to be able to show our family how we are living over here and get some actual face to face time instead of just talking over the phone. I am going to dump a bunch of photos on here to try to give you a vision of our week together. Hope you enjoy! 

 Out on The Bund for my Birthday dinner.

We took the kids out of school early this day ( which thrilled them ) and checked out a local watertown.

This was a awesome hipster art district left the kids at home this day and tried some great local food. 

Fun Fact my brother got his blazer custom made here in China just days before Easter #chinaperk

Kaels blazer was made here also 

Easter Sunday Flowers 

here is my brother trying out our scooter and of course little P had to go along for a ride too..

Getting fitted for his custom blazer..

Highlight of the trip the night bike ride...

A little home inspo...

With the thoughts of moving back to the good ole USA swimming in my head I can't help but think about what I want to do with our next home. So lets back up. I have lived in four homes since me and Jay have been married. I have liked them all for different reasons but none of them ever totally felt like mine. We always knew that we would soon be relocating within two or three years so there was never any point to put too much time or energy into them. I am a very visual person so it tends to irk at me when I am a living in a home that was clearly picked by someone else. SO I am thinking (  and I may retract this entire blog when I actually get home and start looking at houses ) of taking on a project. Something I can entirely make my own. It wont be perfect at first and I have to get my head OK with that but I think that in the end I would be happier bc it will be all my taste. Scrolling Trulia and there are so many move in ready homes but then I would have to settle with tile in a bathroom I loathe or a kitchen with finishes that I feel are just are OK. Which I have done before and it is fine but I feel like after three years in China I want something to be fully mine.  So I have been trolling pinterest for some inspiration and then I really got excited when I started watching Fixer Upper. I would never go as as extreme as them but it is really is so inspiring the things they can do with these homes. I will be over at my pinterest a lot getting inspiration so come on over and check me out

At the top of my list is a nice open kitchen. I always feel like people gather in the kitchen and I believe it is the heart of the home. 

I love the cabinet colors and the open shelves in this kitchen. I would definitely need some traditional shelving as well to hide the kids plates and tupperwear but love the idea of this for everyday plates and mugs to easily grab.

image via pinterest

Image Via Pinterest

Also really important to us is a good outdoor space and a yard for the kids to play in. A lot of homes in Houston have pools which we are kinda on the fence on just because the kids are so young and they can be so dangerous. 

Image Via Pinterest

Last we would love a " bonus " area where the kids can have their toys and TV for their shows and just a space from them to relax. I would love some built in desks like the one above. A place where they can do homework and Kael can build his legos.