Happy Friday! I like doing these link-ups with other fellow bloggers and to also reflect on the week. It is good for the soul.

Here's a look back at some of my favorite things this past week:

1. Went to the town's farmers market this past weekend. It is super small, but worth it. I bought a couple  herbs for my little herb garden. I love having fresh herbs near by, not only do they smell heavenly, they make your food dish taste even better!

2. Now that I have my career, I had to move closer to where the firm is. I've been blessed that I've landed one at an area I really wanted to call home. For the last 2 and 1/2 weeks, I'm still trying to settle in! Although,  I really want to take the time to home decor our new home. I need to allow the house to "speak to me" - you know what I mean? Or am I the only one that thinks this? Nevermind. Moving on..

3. I've started back up my blog! It's so weird to what seems like having somewhat of a life again. What a feeling it is to know that I can sit down, be creative on my own terms, and write about the small things I love about life. And better yet, I get to share it with you!

4. I'm getting healthier. Yep. I'm do'in it! And I already dropped a couple lbs this week. I hope your joining in with me in this journey!

5. Lunch at the Park. It's a restaurant that is in a certain district in the area. It's oh-so-wonderful and had a bowl of delicious vegetable soup. Yum!

How was your week?

I love trying beauty products. But really, what girl doesn't? How about a chance to win a $100 to Target?  This is a sweepstakes through St.Ives and I think their products are really great. The one thing I always have on hand is their apricot face scrub - which smells wonderful. Though I haven't tried the fresh hydration lotions yet. However, I do plan on picking up the coconut milk with orchid extract which sounds wonderful and perfect for this summer.  You may receive (2) total entries and you can find out more on what the details are here. I hope you will win! Which one of these will you go out and try?

*I've received this sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing this blog post.* 

One of my most favorite things to do is browsing and shopping for the home. Especially mine. You can always get a Pottery Barn look for way cheaper if you know where to shop. Also, thanks to Pinterest getting inspired is also a great way to list up a home decor shopping list.  

Here are a few of my favorite places to go and get great home decor on a budget:

- Target

- World Market

- TJ Max or Home Goods

Here is what is on my wish list to spruce up my new home:

So tell me, what are your favorite places to shop for your home?

I don't know about you, but I've struggle with my weight for most of my life. Wait - what am I talking about? I believe MOST of us have this problem! Seriously, my weight goes up and then down. And now it's up - go figure.  However, I thought of this - every Monday, why not start telling and sharing about my journey?

Since last - oh - Tuesday, I've been eating cleaner and been tracking on what I've been eating 70% of the time.  I also been adding a bit more activity into my day as well. It's kind of encouraging to see my activity giving me added calories to intake throughout my day. Your probably wondering what I use as a tracker. Have you heard of My Fitness Pal? It's really a great tool to help you drop weight. If you track everything you eat, your more in likely to drop those darn pesky pounds you want gone.

Here's the best advice I've received that has kind of been my "Ah-HA" moment: Don't look ahead and see the whole mountain, instead, take it one step at a time.

This is my whole overall goal:

- I really want to drop 30 lbs.
- Run a 10k to a Half by Sept. 28th (Found the race I'm going to sign up for)
- Eating a lot more clean.

Oh gosh.. But here is my before shot. Its awful and so embarrassing that I'm putting myself out there like this.  Please be nice.

Urg! That's embarrassing! Who wants to join this journey with me? I'll give this challenge series 3 months and show my progress, recipes, workouts along the way. :)

Going to get my sweat-on,

Caty-DID!

Let's be honest here - I'm struggling. The funny thing is, is during the day, I'm great and on track. But once night falls, I just give up. Why? Why do I consistently sabotage my "being good" during the day and totally fail at night? I'm kind of at a loss of words as to what I should do to move forward with this post.   I'm not going to give up totally with my 3 month getting healthy series. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I'm just human going through the same struggles as someone else. Are you with me on this? Hmmmm, .... Okay, here is my deal. What if I commit to you I'll NOT sabotage my evening by doing just 3 of them for the week. There. I put it out there. Will you be my support?

Do you struggle at night as I do? Please, let me know!

Wow. How long has it been? 2 years!?  Dang!

So much has happened since November of 2012. But I'm here now starting again and now entering a brand new chapter in my life. Exciting one at that. For those who didn't know, I've graduated from college exactly two weeks ago. It's kind of surreal.  To this day, I still find myself asking "what is due for this week"?

I want to give this blogging thing another try. Over the past few months, I've written myself a list of fun topics to write about. Though I'm still in love with design, I figured I'd focus more on lifestyle. There is so many things that I love, like, find interesting, inspiring, that I would really enjoy to share with you. I'll still post regularly on design - especially for the home.

I want to become friends. Inspire you - heck inspire me! Help motivate me - you.

Grab a coffee, or tea, or whatever it is you enjoy drinking to a small read for the day.

Happy November ya'll!

I know I've been bad about doing posts lately. I've been SUPER busy with school (not to mention also doing 15 hour days). And I just recently received a job change that gave me a bit more responsibility. I hope you still come back and check out my blog. Don't forget to update your desktop either for the month of November! AND your cuptakes app. Take care ya'll!

This one was perfect for my computer for studio. They need to make one like this for EVERY month.

Love-

lil'Buck