Oil Pulling Method

Have you heard of this method of detoxification? I stumbling across a vlog about it the other day. And I'm going to tell you, my curiosity has been peaked. So I'm going to start this on Monday.
I'm hoping that it works and I don't have to worry about medications that are tearing up my body trying to fix something else. I have this skin situation going on and the medicine the dermatologist prescribes just holds it at bay, it doesn't fix it. My skin darkens and I feel so dried out while I'm on it. And then as soon as I stop taking the medicine the situation is back. I have been sitting embarrassed about my skin rather than continue that medication. I'm hoping that this natural detox remedy works. I don't want to spend my life on medications designed to make me sicker and sicker.
AND since I am just getting over the worst version of a sinus infection that I've had yet, I think its time to try something else. This last one was my third or fourth one this year. I don't know how often is too often but I'm thinking an infection a quarter is too many. The doctor said I was fine, but I don't believe that.
The Oil Pull Method is supposed to remove bacteria from your oral cavity which is obviously help with tooth decay (which I need a lot of help with as well #badteeth), sinuses, acne, and many more. Those are the ones that stood out to me most.
I'll loop back around and let you know how it goes for me. I hope you're doing well, and I will talk to you soon.

FroYo Traumas

OK so, let me tell you. There are somethings that I rely on to be consistent in my life. My love of frozen dessert and my overly dramatic love for frozen dessert! So let me tell you what happened to me. I was with my sisters yesterday and we decided as a group to go to Red Mango, a frozen yogurt spot in the Emeryville Bay Street shopping center.
What I love about this place is that I can always count on them to have my White Peach flavored FroYo and fresh kiwi. I can taste the deliciousness as I sit here thinking about it.
We walk in I grab my cup and I prepare to do damage. This place charges by the weight but ask me if I care! I load up my cup and I enjoy my yogurt without any remorse for how expensive it turns out to be. Well, I walk over and WHERE IS THE WHITE PEACH? You know how most places change their flavors every week or so? Well this Red Mango has consistently kept the White Peach as the main star in their flavor offerings and I have personally thanked the staff for keeping it there. But this time it was no where to be found. I honestly thought I was being "punked" I yelled out, "WHERE IS THE WHITE PEACH?" The poor teenage employees all froze as they thought my rage was directed towards them. They all started explaining at once that the manager changed the flavor to add others. So I dramatically told the kids to tell that manager of theirs to PUT IT BACK! When they realized I was light weight joking they laughed a little. I settled on Pineapple and Mango, but it was not what I came for. As I paid for my yogurt I again dramatically shared how upset I was about my flavor. Now I know I was being funny, and I know my drama was humorous, but seriously why were they laughing so hard that they were crying? Yes I was joking, but I meant every bit of what I was saying. I wondered if this is what Darryl a character in my author friend's story might feel like. Yes, I'm funny. But I'm only being funny so I don't choke someone out because I was disappointed in the flavor selection. Oh well.

To the manager of the Emeryville Red Mango..... BRING BACK THE WHITE PEACH YOGURT AND DON'T EVER TAKE IT AWAY AGAIN! Or else you will lose one of your faithful customers to a much cheaper FroYo spot! This is not a threat, it is a fact! :) As usual thank you for reading.

Cube Decorating

So my office is having a cubical decorating "contest" bragging rights are our only prize. But you should see.... I mean I will post pictures of the things that my team mates have come up with. I am surrounded by some pretty creative folks. One person has transformed their space into a Cantina. I cant wait to show you pictures.

My immediate neighbor has put a almost 3D Lorax experience outside of her cubical. It is a AMAZING! My neighbor across from me has a Art Gallery showcasing some of her artwork. My neighbor on the other side of me has a Nebraska theme to her decoration she even has a Barbie in a University of Nebraska cheerleader outfit. Can you guess, what my theme is????? One guess. Let's see if you know me at all. (BIG SMILE!) Yep its gonna look like the Niners threw-up in and all over my cube. The context ends next week on Monday. So I guess I'll post pictures some time next week.

Happy Bloggerversary!!!!



Yay Me!

So I was looking at the calendar and today is my Bloggerversary! I thought I've been at this a lot longer, but apparently its only been three years. Three years of my whining and randomness! (BIG SMILES!) One day I may figure out a speciffic direction for this blog. Meanwhile thank you for tuning in and checking me out.

Twitter

Guess what! I feel close to you, so I'll share...... :) I have a twitter account. Maybe if I had followers I'd actually tweet more often. I will admit that I've been using it to stalk my writer friend mostly. :)

But I guess I could stand to be more interactive especially if she gets her new idea off the ground. More details on that later.... if it actually happens. But come follow me on Twitter, I promise to be as dramatic and ridiculous as I always am. Just within the limited space for my foolishness.

Follow me:
@LizBettyG


Psst btw I'm RR LB ;) of course I am!

Havanna Twist Take Down

So, after a month I took down my twist. FIRST! Let me say that I loved my twist, lets relive some of those moments shall we:

Two of my three sisters and my niece

My lovie and I feeling good off Wine!

My sisters

Ladybug and Me

I was playing around and thought this could be cute with the right outfit and accessories.

On my way to the Niner Fan Fest

At the Niner pre-season game.

I had a ton of fun with my twist. I got so many compliments on them, and I hated to take them down when I did, but I knew it was time. A word to the wise, when you install these braids make sure you don't make them too heavy, mine were and I knew this love affair wasn't going to end nicely. Let me just say my hair is very sensitive and it doesn't respond nicely to too much tension. And these heavy braids weren't ideal for my temperamental strands. In the end I lost a lot of hair. Some of it I'm sure was normal shedding, but there was more. I cant even think about it right now. So as you see from my first picture, I'm rocking my hair pieces for a few months while I deep condition and Henna my hair to get some strength and nourishment back up there. I want Naptural's hair today.... oh well! Back to the drawing board. But it was fun while it lasted.

And now just because she's so doggone cute, here she is one more time for your viewing pleasure. I give you The Lady Bug Ladies and Gentlemen:

yep she's a cutie! Enjoy your day!

Go Niners

Ok so Saturday is the 49er Fan Fest! Oh yes! I'm going! This will be my first one EVER! And the last one at Candlestick Park. Next year we will be in the new stadium.
I am SO EXCITED! I CANNOT wait to get there. See all my fellow Niner Fans, and have a SF Niners good time. LOL! Can you say FOOTBALL SEASON! Let the games begin! Hopefully I'll have decent pictures to post later. Here's to a fantastically NINER weekend! Root for my team, GO NINERS!!!! (Smiles!)

Havanna Twist

 





Who knew posting simple pictures of yourself could be SO IRRITATING!!!!!! WHY OH WHY cant I rotate the view of this picture? It wasn't taken at a slant don't know why its translating this way. AND THEN I have other pictures to share and they're not even sharing properly! IRRITATING! I'm sitting over here screaming my computer! UGH!UGH! UGH!

This post is quickly becoming my WHAT in the WORLD post! All I want to do is share my hair! Why cant I do this in the manner in which I'm trying to??? ROLLING EYES SO HARD I ALMOST FELL ASLEEP!

So anyways! I saw a picture of this hair style and I decided I wanted it for myself. I love the loc'd look on my hair. But I lack the conviction to commit to them. I like brushing and combing my hair too much to actually permanently loc my hair. So what I used to do years ago was get the dread hair and have singles installed. I've been watching V-blogger like Cassandre Beccai and other use Marley hair to achieve many styles that I've wanted to try  but hadn't for whatever reason. But THEN I saw this one. I texted my braider, armed with a name and picture I asked her if she could do it. Of course she said yes, so I booked my appointment months in advance! (BIG SMILE!)
Now these things are heavy, and thick. But I like them. I had a special event this weekend. I was on YouTube looking for styling advice. But everyone manipulating their hair probably weren't dealing with freshly installed braids. Yikes! So as you see I kept it simple, cause my scalp couldn't take too much.
All in all, I have to say... YES SIR! I really like them! They're heavy but pretty, and my hair is protected for a few weeks! RIGHTEOUS!

Flax Seed Gel PART II

OK so, last week was week one of the flax seed gel experience. Let me just say.... I LOVED IT! My hair held it's shape all week. I made another batch yesterday as I was down to the last scrapings. You know how it goes when you do something a second time, its so much better.

I produced more the second time and its thicker. This morning my hair feels and smells great again, and I'm loving it. My hair didn't feel dry and crunchy, it remained soft and moisturized all week. I love it! Now GROW hair GROW!

As usual thank you for reading....

Flax seed gel

Ok so I finally did it. I made my own Flax seed gel. When "they" said the consistency was snotty, "they" didn't lie. But my hair feels great!

I worked out Sunday and I sweated a lot. Then I cowashed with Tresemme Naturals. While my hair was dripping wet I worked in my oil medley. Then I sealed with my Shea butter/coconut oil concoction, then I slathered my flax seed gel on top. Then I tied a old t-shirt around my head for a while. Then I put my hair in twist all over my head. I wore them to work on Monday. And my hair felt soft and bouncy. Then I separated the twist yesterday. Bouncy and moisturized twist out all day yesterday and today. My hair feels and smells great. Its so soft to the touch. YAY ME!

A friend suggested making my own deodorant. HHHHHMMMMM, I'll have to see about that. Has anyone tried homemade deodorant and it worked for them? I wonder. I assume it would, but I guess I'll have to see.

Salt Scrubs

I just got back from a trip to Minneapolis for a work event. We had a all day meeting in this skyscraper building. BUT the wonderful touch was the salt scrub in the bathroom by the sink when you washed your hands. I used it and loved how soft my hands were after using it. I decided right then and there that I wanted to make my own salt scrubs. One for my face and one for my body. I didn't think it would be too hard. I just looked it up on line, and its not hard to do at all. I've shared with a couple of my close friends that I want to do this, and they're REALLY encouraging me (kind of pushing me) to do it. LOL!
I am truly preparing myself for my hippie inner self. So let's see so farI'll go. 

I have the following on my resume:

Hair Oil
Hair and Body lotion
Facial and Body Scrubs (will make today)
Flax seed gel (Haven't made this one yet, but its coming soon)

So just in case you didn't know by now, I'm gradually moving towards all things natural. I honestly feel there's something on this earth for everything. We just don't know about them yet. Not all of them anyways. I wish my grandmother was alive cause I'd interview her for real. She's the one who told my mother to get me some Chlorophyll pills when I was having a major body odor malfunction during my adolescences. When I looked it up recently some sites were trying to discredit chlorophyll for working in this way. I'm living proof that it does work. It saved my life!

As usual, thank you for reading.

Me in Blue!

Did you guess yet? My favorite color is Royal Blue to be specific, but Blue all the same!





Any who, this was a sad and weird day for me. At the last minute I found out that a friend's grandmother passed away. This woman was truly loved, you could tell by all the people in attendance and all the tears shed. I don't know if my ambiguity is showing on my face at this moment. But I'm sure torn feelings showed on my face later. I have expressions on my face sometimes when I really wished they would just stay inside.

SUBJECT CHANGE!!!!

So I've been eating stuff like this for breakfast and lunch:

What is that you ask.... Whole wheat toast, guacamole, eggs, cheese, Morning Star sausage patties (meatless). I will follow this up with some yogurt and/or a pear. And tons and tons of water. This was my breakfast Friday morning and I was so full that I didn't eat lunch until WAY later. And then since it was so close to going home, I decided to keep it simple. I ate some Almond butter on whole wheat toast. YUM! Later that night after the gym I had a six inch subway sandwich.
Why am I telling you all this? Well I wanted to share my progress with you. The last four years have been pretty tumultuous for me. I've made some new friends, lost a few too. At some points my life has seem like its playing out in front of my eyes. Its been hard to know whether I'm coming or going. A couple to a few years ago some friends and I started doing the Fat Smash Diet. I loved it, cause I felt so CLEAN! But when things got heavy it was difficult to maintain that extremely clean way of living. So the thirty plus pounds I lost came back with a vengeance.
Since November 1st I have been working with Creating Healthy Habits to get a handle on me. So drum roll! Check it out:

Sept. 15th and May 4th

 May 14th and Sept 15th

As you can see. I still have a LONG way to go. I'm not even down to my smallest on the Fat Smash, but this time around is totally different. Cause I'm still eating the things I like, but in moderation. My trainer is living the same struggles that we all do, which helps when I'm being my normal difficult self. She looks FANTASTIC! Which is ALWAYS motivation to keep going. She didnt start off as bad as I did by a LONG shot. But my point is that she's done it, and she's showing me how. One day I'll look in the mirror and see that face I havent seen in over almost sixteen years. I cant wait! Meanwhile I'm taking babysteps.

Well, I hope I kind of entertained you with my usual ramble about nothing. As always thank you for reading. And if you feel so inclined, leave a comment if you can. Talk to you soon.



Saturday in Napa

OK, so we had a wonderful weekend away. If you live in or come to visit Northern California, you HAVE to visit the wine country! I've lived out here my entire life, and I just now started exploring this adult feature. Its beautiful out there, and TONS and TONS of wine. We visited three wineries and by the third we were feeling GOOD! So I wont bore you with a bunch of words. But I will share pictures which are worth a thousand!

Yep, can you tell? I was feeling REALLY REALLY GOOD!!!

This is our quartet, my sister-in-law surprised us with a limo! We were all smiles!

There were more picture opts here, my plan is to go back and take more pictures. LOL!

My sister and my sister-in-law looking too cute in the limo. This was my sister's first trip to the wine country!

My sister and I after we survived the crow who wanted to jump in our picture. MEMORIES!

I absolutely LOVE this picture of my brother and sister-in-law. We were listening to Babyface "This is for the cool in you" and they were just mellowing out! I think this picture is completely grown and completely sexy! (BIG SMILES!)

As usual thank you for reading, I look forward to hearing from you soon.

http://www.raymondvineyards.com/
http://www.vsattui.com/ MY HOME!!!!
http://www.rutherfordwine.com/rutherford-ranch-winery/

Orange & Blue

I love Old Navy! My child was an Old Navy baby. Almost all their clothes came from there. So Saturday my child had a performance, and I wanted to be comfortable. So I went to my old staple. I found a wonderful ORANGE dress. At first I didn't want orange. But when I tried it on, how could I not love it?

This dress does not cling to me, and I love it for that. I have a long way to go on my journey. And where others may see me and say I've come so far. Even looking at this picture I say I have a LONG way to go!

Saturday I had my hair out and it felt great. But this morning I decided not to look like a bush woman. So I slicked it down. It was wild and cute for Saturday. But after my workout Sunday, I was looking a HOT MESS! Oh well! Next on my list of todo's? I'm making some Flax seed gel for my hair. If I like it..... Watch out now!

NO Sweet with the Serious

OK so you know how I have this rule that I live by? NO SWEET WITH THE SERIOUS!!!!!!! It's a pretty strict rule in my life. Sweet and Sour PORK???? Are you trying to kill me? Pork should always be SERIOUS! All my serious foods should always be serious! No sweetness to them. I know I'm dramatic but if you wanna see me have a dramatic fit, give me something I consider serious drenched in sweetness. FOR EXAMPLE!!! We went out to this FANCY restaurant in San Francisco for my cousin's anniversary. I was trying to decide what I was having. The menu said pork shank and something about grapes. RED FLAG! So I was trying to be adventurous and really consider it. Listening to my inner self I went with something else, but my sisterinlaw ordered the dish. When her plate came my insides screamed:

Do you see all the sweet stuff on the serious stuff? She said it was delicious and tender. Ok, ok it did fall off the bone, but my goodness! How about NO! And it did smell good, but THAT'S NOT MY POINT!

So now, that I've subjected you to more of my drama queen ways, you tell me have I betrayed my logic.... (swallow) Don't tell nobody ok? (Dont read anymore if you cant promise to keep this between me and you!) But there's this place in Walnut Creek that serves FRESH made ice cream. Yep I said it ice cream! Wait for it! So I go there yesterday. And this place has some traditional and a few "non-traditional" flavors. Chocolate, Coffee, Strawberry, Tequila, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Butter Pecan, etc. Yea, I tried to slip that tequila in there but hey there's rum raisin so why would tequila be weird? Then there's nontraditional like Corn, Cheese, Avocado, and a few others I cant recall off the top of my head. So I asked to taste the avocado........ OH MYLANTA!!!!!! I had to have it! So I got Avocado and Coffee. Let me tell you as dramatically as I can how delicious this was. (I'm in a dramatic place today, can you tell? LOL!) The avocado ice cream was creamy and smooth and then there were frozen chunks of SMOOTH avocado in it. (Eyes rolling back in head thinking about it.) It wasn't overly sweet, but oh so DELICIOUS! AND THEN! Mixed with the coffee it was OFF THE HOOK! I was content the rest of the day after eating that. So now, technically avocados are fruit! So technically I did not betray my logic by eating it in a ice cream. BUT does that mean, could it possibly say..... that every time I eat a delicious guacamole I am enjoying a sweet with the serious? NO! NO! Say it ain't SO!
I have decided that since avocado is a fruit technically and it can go either way it is NOT a contradiction of my rule. NO! I am not a hypocrite, stop saying that! But this is one of those grey areas for me. MY RULE STILL STANDS!!! No sweet with the serious! NOW..... Get me back to Guantnos off of Treat Blvd so I can have more Avocado Ice Cream. (smiles)

Going through it! And I'm heat Free!

Howdy all, I hope all is well on your end. How am I? You know I really thank you for asking. Thank you for caring. I'm tired, I'm sick and tired. I'm physically tired today, running on no sleep today. But my plate has been pretty full emotionally. I have to come to terms with the fact that March is just a good month for me. I thought I was doing better and that I would be OK. But by the time the anniversary of friend's passing arrived I had successfully stuffed my face with so much junk food that its a wonder I didn't undo all of my progress to date. But you know what? Lately it seems like all I have been doing is going through it or nothing. I don't really have good news to write about. People pulling on me in every direction it seems like sometimes. Oh well, I try to tell myself that it's love until they act ugly about it. Then I'm pissed about it. But I digress....

Oh but here's something good.... my hair has gotten a little longer. Break out the champagne! Yay! I've gone from needing to basically shave my head, which I didn't do. To about ear length post stretching free hanging curls. The bottom of the back of my hair stretches to the middle of my back. Sometimes I'm tempted to almost think about straightening it, just to do a length check. But that's what got me here in the first place. I'm am two years three in August heat free. With my homemade method of stretching and measuring I'm about ten inches on each side and the back and eight in the front where I had to cut out a scrunchy. SAD TIMES! Oh well. I just needed to say something cause I haven't said much. I'm still over here, trying to grow my hair and telling people to leave me alone.

Drifting

Its time to relax and drift away. Can you do that with me? Close your eyes, after you read this of course. Take a deep breath, and slowly exhale. We're both in inner tubes on top of water. Nothing but nice tranquil sounds around us. Our bodies are being rocked by the gentle sway of the water. We're drifting slowly but surely. It feels great doesn't it. The peace in this moment is abundant and there's no fear. Sometimes when you let go, you gotta go to that happy place and find the strength to just let go. Whether its a person, place, or thing sometimes letting go is what you need to do to find that peace. Letting go is never easy, because we're always taught to hold on. But today, I'm letting go.... letting it all go! Out with the old and in with the new. The air smells better now.

I dont have it in me to hold on to something that stopped working years ago. As usual, thank you for reading.

Nothing Beats an Outlet

Ill say it again! Nothing beats an outlet! I haven't been so pent up and angry or depressed. I've been getting my butt kicked regularly and loving it. For those of you out there who feel like things are kind of spinning out of control. YOU GOT TO FIND AN OUTLET one that is just for you, and one you can share.

My just for me has been having Nae TORTURE me on the track. Thanks Nae for loving me with so much hatred. LOL! She knows what I mean.

And my share has been entertaining my friends. When people get you and don't judge you, it makes life that much more sweet. So I'll say it. My name is Lizzy and I approve this message! Get out there and find an outlet.

For the first time in a MINUTE I'm having people over my house for some good food and clean fun. I'm looking forward to laughing until my stomach hurts, and some lovely upbuidling association. I love my family and friends. They're the BOMB! (Dated myself with that, but hey!)

As always thanks for reading, until we meet again.

A moment away

I had the privilege to spend a few hours away with the people I talk to the most these days. I'm just gonna tell you, it was pretty awesome! Having a real moment with real people really helps the coping with everyday realities. My Soul Sistah Number One and I go all the way back to elementary school. To have that connection with someone who's known you that long is always amazing to me. There's certain things I don't have to explain about myself cause she was right there when I was going through it. And my sister in-law and I have had our moments, but we started off as friends and these days it seems like we're back where we started.

So we said we're Grown now, lets have an adult activity. An adult activity we did. I had a wonderful time out in Napa with my girls. I don't know why I always thought it was so far away from The Bay, but its right there! Although I'm not much of a drinker these days, I still enjoy the occasional drink. Wine with dinner always sounds great to me.

Does it make me a foodie if all I could think about was the meals that I would pair my wines with? One wine made me think of a mushroom risotto. One of these days I will get back in my kitchen and start creating fantastic meals again. I think I'll start with a wine and build my meal around that. YUMMY!

I don't know why its upside down, but maybe its a reflection of how happy we were in the end.

As usual thanks for reading!

Harriet Tubman
by Eloise Greenfield
Harriet Tubman didn't take no stuff Wasn't scared of nothing neither Didn't come in this world to be no slave And wasn't going to stay one either "Farewell!" she sang to her friends one night She was mighty sad to leave 'em But she ran away that dark, hot night Ran looking for her freedom She ran to the woods and she ran through the woods With the slave catchers right behind her And she kept on going till she got to the North Where those mean men couldn't find her Nineteen times she went back South To get three hundred others She ran for her freedom nineteen times To save Black sisters and brothers Harriet Tubman didn't take no stuff Wasn't scared of nothing neither Didn't come in this world to be no slave And didn't stay one either And didn't stay one either

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16485

I can still here Ms. P. Graham reading us this poem. She read it with such flare and piazza.

Happy Black History Month!

It's ok

OK so I started out Friday really happy and excited for a Niner win this weekend. But in all honesty I was really nervous and not so sure. But as you can see, I put on a brave face anyways. As the weekend progressed I didn't know how I felt from moment to moment. Niner's Please win syndrome for real. But alas, we did not win. I'm dealing with the loss a lot better than my baby is though. My baby cried, which was surprising to see. You just don't know how important something is to the children until it goes wrong sometimes. I couldn't say it was just a game in the middle of their tears. So I said maybe next year we'll get there. I hope, I hope.

Meanwhile in other news I finally accomplished something and it only took me a year to do it. LOL! For the past year I've been trying to figure out a lemon recipe. A friend of mine asked me to make them anything with lemon in it. One early morning when inspiration hit me the hardest I came up with an idea. I made an extra lemon, lemon curd and then a really rich lemon topping. I bought (which now means I will be on a mission to learn how to make from scratch) graham cracker crust.... ok so this pie is REALLY REALLY RICH!!! But in the end its delicious! My family and friend loved it. Yay! Yay me! So now I gotta get my mind wrapped around a graham cracker crust which shouldn't be too hard to do. Especially since I've mastered a traditional pie crust. YES! Then I will go back to perfecting my own Peach cobbler recipe. I got pretty close, but I wasn't quite there.

January 3rd

I missed the mark, every January 3rd I upload music that speaks to me. Yesterday I was so focused on writing that it completely slipped my mind to add my music. So this year shall be without any musical accompaniment. I think my theme song for this year shall be Adorn by Miguel. If you don't know about that song.... well.... hey. Meanwhile, I'm click, click,clicking away... writing has been my therapy to say the least. So as usual thanks for reading...