My Everyday Life [Week 5]

Here's what this week looked like!

Cuddling with Shiva, probably after watching episodes of Chelsea Handler's show on Netflix. Craig wasn't as familiar with her as I was and he quickly grew quite fond of her humor. I only wish she had more episodes to watch because we thoroughly enjoyed all four!

We also watched this documentary about a high school in the 80's and a Finnish exchange student's perspective on her time in America. Because we are children of the 80's, we enjoyed revisiting the hairstyles, clothing and music.

I am so glad I had an ACE nutrition webinar scheduled midweek that forced me to leave my office for lunch. I got away to Stabrucks on a sunny day.

I enjoyed the Whole Foods hot bar before heading to Boswell books on Thursday evening! They had a great assortment of Indian foods there this time and I was in heaven.

Loved seeing Amy Cuddy at Boswell! She was inspiring and I cannot wait to read her book, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges.

I had off of work on Friday and Shiva would not stop following me around. He would sit outside the bedroom door and meow like this at me.

And as I baked banana bread, Pema jumped up on me. He eventually jumped on my back!

The sun was finally shining nice and bright! It felt so good to be exposed to warm sun. I cannot wait until summer.

Nektar Naturals sent me another bottle of their product and I tried it on a baked grapefruit (which is delicious by the way)! How had I never had grapefruit that way before. 

Love Costco's book selection and I took a photo of these two to remind me I want to read them.

Pretty Pewaukee before my haircut and highlight. 

Hadn't had my hair highlighted since I donated it back in September! Love my hair a bit blonder. 

I went shorter too! I figure I'll wait another year or so to grow it out again, so I might as well have fun with my cut.

Trying to find a mystery to read to fulfill the library winter reading challenge. I liked the suggestions they posted, but couldn't find any of them on the shelves. Any mysteries you loved that you can share with me?

I had gut issues all weekend, so this was the sad scene at an Indian restaurant. Craig got the buffet and all I ordered was a mango lassi. I was so disappointed that I couldn't eat. 

We headed over to a midcentury modern furniture sale after Indian food. No finds there either, except my grandparents' names in an old Milwaukee phone book, which was fun! 

Spotted this door on our walk back to the car and loved the details. 

I attempted to clean my headlights using baking soda, vinegar, a toothbrush, etc. but it failed. I think I need to sand it next.

Attended a Wisconsin Whisk food photography workshop at Drunk Lunch today! 

I don't have a lightbox nor a real need to buy one, but it was fun to try out.

 My natural light shot turned out best.

I tried not to add too many cat photos to this post, so if you want to view them, head over to a "lately" post on my cat blog Katzen Manifest. 

Beauty Favorites of January 2016

I've been loving some new beauty products this month and wanted to share them with you!

Here's the list:

-Aveda Nourish-mint Rehydrating lip glaze in Morning Rose 

(received complementary via an exchange of a lip color I had purchased). Details below.

-Macadamia Oil Nourishing Leave-In Cream 

I've been skipping using conditioner in the shower and choosing this leave-in cream instead. I think it's been a really great product to add to my winter haircare routine. My hair looks less frizzy, it's not as staticky and my ends seem less dry when I use it. 

-Simple Make-Up Micellar Remover Wipes

I purchased these at Costco earlier this month and while I don't like the waste they produce, I love how quickly I can remove my makeup at the end of a long day. I don't use them every single night, but they're great when I am in a rush. I also love them for wiping my face on the mornings I don't shower and just need to get my skin prepped for the day. I love micellar water too and think I may pick up the Simple brand of that too when I run out of these wipes. 

-St. Ives Even & Bright Pink Lemon and Mandarin Body Wash

I was so excited to receive this to use in the winter months! It exfoliates my dry winter skin and smells lovely. The exfoliants are 100% natural. 

-St. Ives Nourished & Smooth Oatmeal Scrub + Mask

Another wonderful product to use in winter--I used to use the St. Ives apricot scrub back in the day and I forgot how much I love this to exfoliate my face! Like the body wash, this is made with 100% natural exfoliants.  

-St. Ives Refresh & Revive Pear Nectar & Soy Body Lotion

This scent is refreshing & clean. I love that this is paraben free & suitable for sensitive skin. 

(I received the three St. Ives products complimentary via Influenster in exchange for this review. Thanks Influenster!)

I am an Aveda Pure Privilege member and they e-mailed me an offer I couldn't resist--bring in your old lipstick (any brand) and exchange it for an Aveda lip color of your choice. I had tried their lipsticks before and found them to be too drying for me, so I went with the Aveda Nourish-Mint lip glaze instead. With the help of an Aveda saleswoman, I chose Morning Rose, which we both thought would be flattering with my skin and hair color. I have been very happy with the texture, minty flavor and the gorgeous color! I would definitely purchase it again.

Any beauty favorites you've been loving this month? Share them in the comments below!

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links which help support this blog if you purchase products through them. 

My Everyday Life [Week 4]

I didn't take that many photos this week. Truth be told, it wasn't all that exciting and I just wanted it to be over with. 

I enjoyed this for breakfast most days. It definitely filled me up. Yum!

 Reading by the fireplace with Pema sitting on my bum. I finished Rising Strong this week!

I received these fabulous samples in the mail for free through Generation Good and tried them out in two laundry loads this weekend. I purchase natural laundry detergent regularly and have been picking out the free & clear types more often because of my skin sensitivity. Loved this product and I would definitely purchase it in the future.

We didn't take advantage of our Netflix trial too much this week, but I did watch a pretty good movie called Copenhagen. It made me want to travel so badly and learn Danish on DuoLingo.

Bedside books--Spark Joy is pretty good so far. 

First car wash of the winter season! It felt great to get all of that nasty salt off.

My after work ritual most days was a cup of hot cocoa.

I went to the eye doc and he sent me home with two new types of lenses to try out. I've never tried dailies before. My opinion so far is that they are wasteful and dirt is easily attracted to them. I am hoping the monthly kind works well because that's the most economical. I was hoping for laser surgery soon, but my prescription changed.

I Need to make that Caramel-Hazelnut Cafe Mocha.

A good purse clean out is always an excellent thing. Now I need to find a new black purse. 

Craig and I had a late lunch at Jason's Deli on Saturday! The black bean taco salad was huge and delicious! 

We also shared the caprese sandwich. I appreciate all of the vegetarian options on their menu (and the free ice cream)!

Here's to hoping this week is more exciting! I've got some fun events coming up to look forward to and a day off of work on Friday, so I am sure it will be.

Beerline Cafe // Milwaukee

On Saturday night, Craig, my now former colleague Toni and I finally got over to the Beerline Cafe in Milwaukee to check out the all vegetarian and vegan restaurant! It was Toni's last day at work, so we treated her to dinner.

It's surprisingly still pretty rare to find an all veg restaurant in Milwaukee, so it was a big deal when it opened up last fall. It's in a residential part of town full of condos and apartments.

From the restaurant's website: The Beerline Cafe is an inexpensive to moderately priced low-environmental-impact vegetarian "fast-casual" cafe specializing in unique, mouth-watering sweet and savory crepe creations, panini-style sandwiches, soups, salads, healthy smoothies, fresh juices, local bakery products, Milwaukee' s own Stone Creek coffee and espresso drinks, and a selection of bottled and tap wines and locally brewed beers. The cafe has earned a three-star Green Restaurant Association rating, the first in the city of Milwaukee and only the second in the greater Milwaukee metro area. 

The interior was cozy, full of my favorite colors and lots of greenery (which I failed at taking a picture of). There are many windows, so I need to return on a sunny day for a lunch break or brunch.

Me and Toni!

I ordered the special, chickpea chorizo tacos, which were delicious. Toni had a vegan crepe and I think I might get that next time!

 Craig got the vegan mac & cheese, which I had a bit of. I liked it!

 The walls behind our table were unique.

I think I will find myself wanting to return here again and again. It's so nice to find a restaurant where I can eat everything on the menu. 

Beerline Cafe
2076 N. Commerce Street
Milwaukee, WI 53212
(414) 265-5644

My Everyday Life [Week 3]

I started my week off with a teeth cleaning on Monday afternoon. Then I got a workout in at a nearby gym that I tried for a week. I decided not to join. I have a feeling I'll sign up at another one soon or wait 'till next winter.

This was my breakfast most mornings. I love those Morning Rounds from Costco.

I took this picture for an appointment with the Occupational Therapist later in the week. She could tell a lot from it and offered suggestions of products to buy like a chair pad, lumbar support, a therapy cane, etc.

Door to Door Organics order arrived on Tuesday!

Started reading Rising Strong by Brene Brown this week! It's really good, but I need to write down ways to apply it to my own life so I don't forget some of her take aways.

Pema always snuggles when I read.

I look forward to watching Finding your Roots every Tuesday evening.

Hi, my name is Lisa and I have a greek yogurt (and quark) problem. Seriously though, yogurt has been my favorite food since I was a little girl. It's one big reason I'm not sure I could ever go vegan.

Pema trying to sneak into our bedroom. He was so hilarious to watch.

We're a bit too obsessed with licorice.

I did a double take in Target because this looked like our living room.

Now that my neck is getting better, I can do yoga again!

The kitties were curious about the mat and my poses.

Yum, oatmeal from Starbucks! It took forever for them to call my name, so the guy who took my order gave me free fresh blueberries! Score!

I saw the Occupational Therapist on Friday morning and she suggested I use a binder to take notes in meetings and even use one for typing on my laptop at home.

I had a really busy week at work. I decided to calm down and color by the fireplace on Friday evening with a tasty cup of Earl Grey tea.

Soon after I started relaxing, Craig came home and we spontaneously decided to go to the Waukesha JanBoree. Renting a toboggan was free and there were other fun things to check out at a park nearby. I hadn't been on a toboggan since I was a kid. 

 The ride down was scarier than I expected!

Ice sculpting was cool to check out! A local weatherman did a live report in front of the sculptures and I jumped in the background and waved my hands around. I called my parents to warn them and they saw me on TV, which was fun!

Saturday morning was like Christmas for me. 23andMe finally released my health reports and I got an e-mail notifying me they were ready. I think I'm going to post about my experience with the site soon. I can't say enough good things about it.

I was a planning failure on Saturday. I thought the nature center had free snowshoe rentals (I swear I read it on a website) and so we bundled up and headed over there. It was Sunday only and there was no way we were heading back out the next day in the zero degree weather. We didn't end up going because we had enough stuff going on yesterday anyway.

At least the scenery there was pretty.

 Brr, cold temps made the kitties snuggle a lot over the weekend!

 I'm so lucky Shiva is such a snuggler.

I made a delicious breakfast this morning with the kale and avocado I received in my Door to Door organics box.

 The b&w kitties wanted to eat the kale!

Shiva ate a few pieces and the cats were constantly following me around the kitchen to try to get more.

This afternoon, we headed out in the frigid temps to the library. I had this book on hold. I need help figuring out my closet situation.

I am thinking about getting this for our dining room wall. I need to do some measurements, but I have a feeling it would look perfect there. The previous owners had two white shelves and they looked really cute, but this one is easier to hang and more modern.

We finally found some curtains that work for the living room! They're hard to see in this photo though. Thank god for Home Goods because they were only $25 for two panels!

Craig's big project of the day was cleaning the glass on the fireplace and repositioning the logs until they were in better positions. Our glass was all full of gunk and I doubt it had ever been cleaned in the 2.5 years anyone lived here.

I'll end with Shiva in my favorite spot on the couch, which is where I am writing this from right now! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Thanks for checking out my every day life this week.