Author: cheriarmour

Oil pulling!

| cheriarmour

A little while back, I read this article on Fashionlush (cutest, cleverest name, right?) about oil pulling.  I was so intrigued, however, so I took to trip down the baking oil and grabbed a container of Organic Coconut oil.

**As a side note, one of my best friends, Chelsie, recommended that I try to put coconut oil on my skin for some of my acne issues with my forehead, so I finally went and got some**

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So what is oil pulling?

So it sounds a lot crazier than it is, but oil pulling involves these steps.

  1. Wake up.
  2. Drink some water.
  3. Put a teaspoon of organic coconut oil in your mouth and swish it around for 20 minutes.

It sounds intense because a teaspoon of anything is a lot, and swishing something that appears to be a solid around for 20 minutes in your mouth sounds insane, but hear me out.

Coconut oil does come in a solid forum when it’s cooled, but it’s not stinky or gross like an oil that you’d fry chicken in or something.  It has a TON of uses.  You can use it on your skin, on your hair, and in your cooking, but for the intents of talking about it’s (sorta ingestion), let’s talk about how this oil pulling things works.

Like I said, you swish for 20 minutes, and pretty soon, you’ll start to see some sweet bennies.

  1. Fixes hangovers!!!!!
  2. Pulls toxins from your bod.  
  3. Coconut oil is a natural antibacterial.  Meaning that any funk that’s chilling in your mouth, waiting to attack your gums and teeth?  This is gonna reduce them.
  4. It strengthens your teeth and gums
  5. And finally, for all of you who are TIRED of your teeth hurting like a mofo after you whiten with those Crest White Strips, I think we found a solution.  This stuff whitens your smile without making your teeth hurt SO bad. 

A few tips

  1. Go for organic.  It’s only slightly pricier, and it hasn’t been treated with persistent pesticides.
  2. A teaspoon seems like a lot.  It is, but just let the chunk melt in your mouth, and it gets a lot easier from there.
  3. 20 minutes seems like a long time, but put if in your mouth, then do something like get in the shower while it’s in there, and it flies by.
  4. When you spit it out, spit it in the trash.  Just like you wouldn’t pour cooking oil down the drain, don’t do it with your coconut oil either.  Be friendly to your environment!

So go out and buy your Organic Coconut oil, and get to pulling!

Any of you guys practice oil pulling now? 

Things we love about the South.

| cheriarmour

North Carolina, in particular.

I made a single-day trip to Charlotte from Raleigh this weekend (about 6 hours total, to where my parents live), and even though the South isn’t renowned for some things (race relations and state budgets), but there are a LOT of things that make North Carolina totally worth it.  If you’re ever thinking of making a move, let me help you with a few reasons why North Carolina is one of the most beautiful states EVER, and you should move here.

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1.  The pace is perfect.  We’re not as slow as some of the spots in the deep south, but we’re not as quick as say, DC.  We don’t use our horns.  We’re generally not a bunch of assholes when we drive.  Stuff opens when it’s supposed to.  Closes when it’s supposed to.  It’s really nice.

2.  Customer service.  In New Jersey, where I’ve spent a ton of time (and where a lot of my family lives now), you pay someone for a service, and they’re STILL rude to you.  The guy parking your car is a colossal idiot of a jerk, and will yell and scream at you if he deems it fit.  Here in North Carolina, at the Harris Teeter, for example, if you’re looking for an item, the kind associate will WALK you to the item that you’re lost on, and then ask you if you have any questions about it.  Oh, and Harris Teeter!

3.  Northerners (which I am one of,) try and make fun of this, but they are jealous. We get snow days off.  So rude folks, enjoy making fun of us, but we get to sit at home and sip hot chocolate while you slough your way to work.  Boooo.  As a kind of bonus to this reasoning, the weather is amazing here.  We (typically) don’t get much of a winter, have a gorgeous fall, and the summer nights make you want to slap someone they’re so good.

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This is what happens when it snows in Raleigh.  Snowpocolypse.

4.  The food here.  There are a few things here that you can’t get in New York (mah home state), and it’s so sad.

  • Mac and Cheese made right.  Velveeta should not be an ingredient.  And it needs to be baked.
  • Biscuits.  The biscuits down here. Like.  Don’t even get me started.
  • Cookout.  Not like, a barbecue.  There’s a magical place called cookout where you can get really disgusting food and enjoy it.
  • Sweet tea?  That is one thing that I could never really get down with, but people say it’s amazing down here.

5.  The music.  If, for a second, you don’t think some of the best musicians come from down here, you are trippin.  Clay Aiken (okay, kidding!), Fantasia, Chris Daughtry, and the amazing Petey Pablo are all from here.

So are there any North Carolina people out there?  What do you love about this state? 

 

 

Clean eating + the weekend.

| cheriarmour

The weekend was full of a lot of joy.

And a lot of food that was just horrible for me.

Saturday afternoon, after I taught a killer Zumba class, I attended the graduation party of a friend, where there were some amazing sides (life of a vegetarian), and what I ate was not limited to:

  • Two types of macaroni and cheese.
  • Potato salad
  • Guacamole + Chips
  • Pasta salad
  • Deviled eggs
  • Baked beans
  • Diet Sierra Mist

Followed by…

  • A lovely thick slice of cheesecake made by my boss’s boss.

I ate disgustingly – and I kind of want to try something to kind of get rid of the nasty I ingested this weekend.

Before that!

Let’s review my weekend!

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Because I am so beautiful and gorgeous, I did another photoshoot for Headbands of Hope.  Okay, I kid, I kid, but I did another, and don’t worry, I will share those photos with you as soon as they are edited and ready to go!  But I did get this sweet buff that made me feel like a fun hippie all weekend.  I think I’m gonna buy a ton of these, because these are randomly really absorbent too!

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WARK!

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I ran home to my parents’ in Charlotte, and got to see my newly-engaged younger sister.  Everyone thinks that I’m younger because I’m only 5’8″ and she’s like 5’10-5′-11″.  I look SO short compared to her!

I photo 4

My brother kind of impressed me with his burrito making/folding skills and he made one for a ton of folks.  I told him he needs to open something up and that he could give Moe’s a run for their money.  He’s showing promise in the cooking arena.  Between him, my dad, me, and my sister Kimmy (who cooks like a pro), we could have an excellent little family restaurant situation.

photo 5And my mom is liable to murder me, but there she is, feeling much much better.  Not sure if you remember, but my mom suffered a stroke last year, and this time last year, she was not smiling.  Good to see it this year 🙂 🙂

Onto the gross stuff that I ate this weekend and what I’m going to do about it.  

I’ve been reading this week about clean eating, and to be 100%, I feel like I’m kind of fumbling around blindly with the idea.

I don’t believe in fads, and I don’t believe in cleanses, but I totally believe it eating good stuff, and prepackaged foods like my yogurt and my Fiber 1 bars are making me feel like crap.  For a week, I’m prepping my foods, avoiding alcohol and coffee, and staying away from anything that comes in a wrapper.

My only hope is to alleviate some tummy troubles, and to get rid of this gross stuff that I spent this weekend eating and drinking.

Now….with all of that….what did you do this weekend?  

 

Free cat!

| cheriarmour

Okay, I’m totally just kidding.

Sort of.

So I have this cat, Martin.  He’s young, and he’s orange, and super cute.  At least, I thought so.

So two nights ago, I was working on some stems for my button/brooch bouquets for the wedding, and after it got too late, I started putting things away to go to bed.

I shoulda known something was up, because Martin didn’t harass me to wake me up the next morning.

Here’s why.

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This is what I woke up to.

I was late to work because I was crawling around on all fours, scooping buttons into a ziplock while Martin batted them around.  Ugh.  So free cat to a good home.  Or to a bad home really.

Totally kidding.  He’s staying, get your own cat.

What are you up to this Saturday?  Anyone racing this weekend? 

–I’m on another photoshoot, teaching my Zumba class, lifting a bit, and headed to a graduation party!

That time I sent my fiancé to Michael’s for something…

| cheriarmour

By now, you know that I’m marrying this guy…

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And he’s so amazing at so many things.  He’s an amazing caregiver, he’s smart, he’s sweet, he’s hysterical, and he’s two tons of fun to do stuff with  Some of the most things that we have done have involved us taking trips to Target to get stuff that we need.  It’s so awesome.  But alas, my honey-bear isn’t good at everything.  And disaster struck two nights ago.

Earlier this week, I went to Michael’s to pick up some things for my button/brooch bouquets.  This time, the experience was much better.  I’m honestly really curious to see who was the heinous woman that I dealt with in floral a few weeks ago cause she was mean and she sucked.

Moving right along.

So something that I needed for the bouquets was 50% off, and in the spirit of saving as much money as possible for the wedding, I sent Austin, with specific instructions for what I needed 5 fake blooms of certain flowers to provide the shape for my bouquets.  One of which was a peony bloom.

Evidently, Austin looked up something called a pilonie (I’m not kidding), and purchased this weird flower thing that I can’t find for the life of me now that I tried.  I literally gasped when I saw him, clutching these flowers in his hands, but the look on his face was so proud, so cute, and so accomplished, that I accepted the blooms with open arms.  (I later located the receipts and had to exchange them for the correct flower).

You ever sent your significant other out for something – with disastrous results?

 

Here’s What! What three things are you obsessed with?

| cheriarmour

I’m getting right into it, beautiful people!  (If you’re new here, I do this little feature every Friday, and it’s all the random crap that I’m completely obsessed with.)  Get into it!

1.  The big reveal!!!  Remember that I told you that I would show you what the save-the-dates looked like?  Well…I’m finally doing it cause if you haven’t checked your mail by now, it’s your own damned fault!

DSC_0497This is exactly what I had in my head when we started this – and the very very talented Evane Corder brought them to life for me.  I had them printed at a local boutique-style paper shop for super-affordable, and I addressed them myself with these metallic sharpies.  Very cool, and very involved process.

2.  Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.  “I put that shit on everything.”  I’m mostly a Tabasco type of lady, but Austin introduced me to Franks Red hot recently, and I literally just poured it all over my body this mac & cheese I made last night, and it really took me to the next level.  I’m not sure how I rank them, but Sriracha, Tasbasco, and Frank’s are like the 3 faves right now.

3.  Buttons + Etsy!  I made my first Etsy purchase earlier this week.  Wanna see?

DSC_0498The bag on the left is 5 pounds worth of white, clear, tan and beige buttons from a very sweet vendor on Etsy.  This weekend (and a little bit this evening), I will be working to create stems for my button/brooch bouquets, and I am SO thrilled to be able to share them with you when they’re done!  Eep!

Now honey-bears.  What three things are you obsessed with on this ridiculously warm Friday?

 

You know you went to Elon if….

| cheriarmour

Elon’s been in the news a good bit.  Remember  the camels out on the yard?  Anyone?  Yep, that was us.

I will never stop talking about what a fantastic school Elon University was/continues to be.  If you’re reading and you’re thinking of attending or sending your kids, do NOT pass go, just do it.  I’m literally not even kidding.  DO ITTTT.  And now, here is my incredible list!

elon-is-incredible-campus

  • You can’t think of a single ugly person you went to school with.  Even that girl that shows up to your 8am in dirty sweatpants who smells like cigarettes and alcohol?  Have you seen her all cleaned up?  She looks amazing.
  • You know what SURF day is. 
  • Winter Term.  You go to class all day for a month, then go to the bar at night and practice your dance moves for spring break with the help of most of the football team.
  • Instead of being a responsible, global citizen, you spent a SURF Day or a reading day eve out until 4am.  Then you went to a presentation really early. 
  • You had a job on-campus.  In fact, you had like 3.  
  • Overcommitted was your middle name.  You went from meeting to meeting, then to a training and then to dinner with friends.
  • Speaking of dinner, despite the fact that you and all of your friends were disgustingly attractive, you gained like 40 pounds from eating constantly.  Food you ate was not limited to Cookout, Chic-Fil-A sandwiches, and sketchy food from Red Bowl place that’s on special.
  • You’ve been in the line at Cookout at 3am and seen like 40 friends there. 
  • You side-eye High Point University.  It may look like a resort, but we are a botanical garden, dammit!
  • You once (or twice) skipped class to lay out on the “boobs” in a bikini and yet…
  • Somehow, your grades are amazing…
  • Even though the weekend starts on Wednesday night.
  • Ain’t no party like a PiKapp party cause a PiKapp party don’t stop!  Now someone pass the Busch Light!
  • Nike shorts + Big nasty t-shirt + boat shoe = your new uniform.  This will only change on days that you have a presentation.
  • Global citizen?  Thaaat’s me!  Seriously, you studied abroad and found your new outlook on life like three times while you were here.

  • And finally.  You, like everyone else entered college as kind of an asswipe.  Until some amazing professor bitch-slapped you into reality with your first 79 on a paper.  You’re now a successfully working adult because of it.

Thanks, Elon ❤ !!!

Also, just cause I’m nosy, where’d you go to school?

-I went to Elon, my sister went to Duke, and my other sister went to Auburn.  My brother is gearing up for his first year at NC State which means he will be over at our house doing laundry for the next 4 years.

Body Pump!

| cheriarmour

So, for a few months now, Matthew and I, coworkers, have been waking up at the buttcrack of dawn to go do this Les Mills class called Body Pump.

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Dramatty and me!

I liked it the first time, and with the first instructor I took it with.

And then I took it with Monica.

And I honestly hope Monica never reads this because I don’t want her to get skeeved out, but she is an incredible instructor.

For starters, she’s beautiful, and I’ve heard rumors that she has a few kids.  She wears her instructorhood well, and she’s muscular and still feminine, and it’s obvious that she maintains her activity level outside of the studio.  (There are some fitness instructors who NEVER work out – I definitely was one of them many many moons ago.)  So as I started to fall in love with Monica (and with the class), the fleeting thought crossed my mind a few times, that I should look into becoming a Body Pump instructor.

And then Gina at The Fitnessista posted about her experiences at her Body Pump instructor training.

And THEN, finally, the other day, I took a class where the instructor made a HUGE boo-boo.  She was really cute, and very energetic, but not the best instructor in the entire world (her cueing wasn’t great, and her form was pretty bad to be a teacher).  And in the middle of a weighted squat, which I am still very very sore from, she goes “Come on!  It’s bikini season!  You wanna fit into that bikini!”.  I will go into later why you never say that as a fitness instructor, but that very day, I started doing some research and poking around for information on how to become a Body Pump instructor.

So, here is the official announcement!  I’m demoing my skills as a teacher in general next week at the Rapid Fitness downtown, and then I officially start the process to become a Body Pump instructor!  Crossing my fingers and hoping that the training won’t come to Raleigh until AFTER we get married, but with my luck, I’ll be in training like a week before 🙂

Any of you guys taken Body Pump before?