Quad Cities; The Cherry on Top Boutique : April 2013

Friday, April 26, 2013

Trying to be something I'm not

Sooo.... I like to workout and eat clean for the most part. But sometimes I don’t. I want to eat ice cream, and french fries and lots and lots of chocolate. Gosh it’s so different being a woman nowadays than it was 50 years ago. Yes, we could have stayed at home and JUST raised our kids. lol Now we have to do everything. Literally. Do you guys feel that way sometimes? I don’t just mean laundry, dishes, cooking, mom. I mean WOMAN EMPIRE! A woman owning a business was unheard of even 30-40 years ago even which isn’t that long ago. Making the dough and the playdough if you know what I mean. I feel a lot of pressure to do it all, especially maybe because I’m a mom that’s on her own..(hate that “single-parent” word) My daughters have a father, I’m just not married to him, nor do I take pity on myself because it was my choice to leave. Anyways... it is hard to see realistically how I can look like these women on Facebook. And I let myself feel bad because of it. Yes I am really proud of my abs but I’m nowhere near perfect. I have a booty and these are the pictures I compare myself to.......

Yea...setting myself up for failure..so yesterday when I ate two of my daughters mini (tiny bite size) snickers , I then think to myself...Libby, why did you do that? Now you’ll never look like that girl, that 40 min workout was for nothing, whole day shot, eat whatever you want, may as well give up, I think I see each snickers absorbed into each thigh, just gained 2 pants sizes EPIC FAILURE...

Wow, that was a bit dramatic, but that’s how I feel?!Why do I let myself feel that way?

I don’t have her body, I don’t have her goals, her metabolism, her job, life, etc. Get the drift?

I think women beat themselves up over comparing to each other when I have to remember to just be the best I can be. I know that was corny but it’s true.

I can tell you there will be setbacks, heck I had a few of the girls curly fries last night...It happens. But I try not to let it happen everyday, because I do have goals. I’m not where I want to be but I have got to stop looking at all these other women in the magazines and understand no one is as hard on me as I am. No one cares more than I do of what my thighs look like in a swim suit. So here’s a picture ...I just went to Florida a few weeks ago and am really happy with everything else except my legs. So the whole time I’m focusing on that when I’m not proud of what I’ve already accomplished. So I’m just a “Work in Progress” and I hope every woman or man that reads this that is getting to any goal whether it be business, physically, financially or emotionally that you look to where you were one week ago, month ago, year ago or 5 years ago and if it’s progress, pat yourself on the back and tell yourself out loud how proud you are of yourself. Progress is progress no matter how small. You’ll get there.

There’s so much in this world going against you that you may to to fight for what you want more than others do. I was thinking to myself the other day how easy it is for me to gain and lose muscle in a short amount of time. Why can’t I just be naturally skinny like some? Those people that can eat whatever they want and be the same size their whole life. I WANT A STINKING BREAD BOWL OF BROCCOLI CHEESE SOUP FROM PANERA !!!ahh..had to get that one out..:)

Then I think..these struggles that I have to deal with make me a stronger person and for that I am grateful.

So what makes you different? Embrace it then change something if you don’t like how you’re life is going.

Usually I write these blogs on Thursday nights because lets face it..I’m a procrastinator. BIG TIME. This week I started this on Monday and through the whole week tried to just love me for me and focus on what my body CAN do more than it can’t. It’s amazing what happened. My sister and I went to breakfast yesterday morning at Nostalgia Farms in the freighthouse in downtown Davenport...FYI The best Denver omelet ever. Anyways they have baked goods like homemade biscotti, muffins, breads and there was a lemon cupcake to die for. Usually I would think to myself..Libby..just wait until that cupcake goes right to your thighs...AND you know what?! IT DIDN’T! It tastes so yummy and my sweet tooth was gone for the day. I learned that I can still have treats, love myself and quit being paranoid that other people are picking me apart. They are probably doing it to themselves.

My recipe...Go eat a cupcake:)

Workout..I challenged myself lately to just do 30 minutes of anything whether it be a walk, run with my girls at the park, put a timer on for 30 min and do push ups, air squats, lunges, side lunges! Have an amazing weekend!

ADVOCARE- I’m going to start a challenge next week for anyone that’s interested. KEEP POSTED NEXT WEEK FOR DETAILS! It’s going to be a LEAN IN 13 which is a few products that will catapult you into that summer goal whatever it may be! AND A GIVEAWAY to the winner!!!

Check out the Facebook Page Called Body Image Movement

Most of the time the “before and after" are sad girl to “perfect” body but this woman said she loved her body just as much on stage in a figure competition as she did sitting buck naked posing...love it. I need more of this in my life..

LIKE THIS PAGE..It’s the real deal on loving who you are for you. :)

https://www.facebook.com/bodyimagemovement

Thursday, April 25, 2013

ugh!

My basement flooded!

My house is almost 20years old and has never had water, we moved in less than a year ago and we get the water.

Figures, just my luck, lol.

We were pretty lucky, I heard some horror stories of people having to tear out dry wall and trim, and loosing everything that was in the basement, yikes! We had to tear up some carpet and padding and lost some items that had been on the floor, but all in all not too aweful. It was a FULL day of work, 5:30am-11pm, and now we just need to get everything back into our storage room. I am so thankful for my parents! My husband was out of town for work so they all stepped in to lend a hand...or five! We needed lots of fans, squeegies(sp?), muscles, trucks, garbage bags and help with the kids. Did I mention how thankful I am for them!?

Did I also mention that this happened on my husbands second day of his new job? I'm not really sure who I felt worse for, me for having to deal with it all or him for just having to be at work and feel bad because he couldn't be here to help. Well, let's be real, of course I felt worse for me! Lol, especially the next day when I was soar in places I really didn't know I could be soar. Who knew squeegeeing the floor could cause pain??? The extremely heavy, wet carpet, yes, I knew that would cause some soar arms and back, but the cuts and scrapes on my hands were the worst.

We tried calling every clean up business in town and they were all booked for two to three days out! Thank goodness we just had rain water and could manage most of the clean up on our own. I have a serious appreciation for people who do this work everyday!

One last thing, we were very lucky to have a flood addendum on our home owners insurance policy. Do you have one? Not every policy includes water, so do yourself a favor and go check it out before something like this happens to you! We all think it won't happen to me, I thought so too.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Meet Melissa

My name is Melissa Doerscher and I have been selling Lia Sophia since August 2012. I had never heard of the jewelry until a friend invited me to her party and I fell in love, 3 parties later I started selling it so that I could feed my new jewelry passion! It's great jewelry and being an advisor allows me to meet new people, learn new things and is flexible with my full time job so I can do both jobs that I love! I work in the office at Carpetland in Davenport full time and do Lia Sophia part time.
I am married to my husband of 8 years, Chris. We have been together a total of 13 years. We live in west Davenport with our two children, Connor who is 7 and in 2nd grade and Brianna who is 3. We also have two furry Doberman children, Shadow and Sasha, whom we've had since they were babies, and are almost 5 years old now.

Host a party in April or May and have one of your hostess items paid in full by me when you’re show qualifies! There are some wonderful deals on some of the items along with our monthly special of buy 2 item and get up to 4 items at 50% off!! (Your cheapest items are your full priced items!)

Get your party booked NOW with a guest list of 20 or more friends and their addresses and receive a FREE retired item! 30 friends get a SECOND FREE retired item!! Get $250 in sales BEFORE your party from friends that can’t attend and get ANOTHER hostess priced item FREE!!
What you get for hosting a party:
-Any 4 jewelry pieces at Hostess-only pricing, starting at $15 each, unless otherwise noted
-And any 5 pieces of jewelry at half-price
-20% of your sales in credits to be applied towards any regular priced items in the style guide
-Get 10 orders and 2 friends to book a party and make it 40% in credits for $15!
You can also submit an individual order if you would like, which will be submitted with the next show that I have. Please contact me via phone at (563) 889-1030 or email at cusamelissad@yahoo.com to book your shows now and get your style guides to pass around to your friends Feel free to also check out my website to view it online now!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Little Things Add Up~By Libby

Today I want to talk about how those little things you do in life add up to big things. I’ve felt like I’ve been off lately. It’s hard when you’re not in that “want to workout/eat clean zone”. The past few weeks I have been traveling a lot and have not had time to work out. The problem with me is that I want to work out hard for at least an hour but I’ve come to realize that’s just not reality. Kids, appointments, cleaning the house, errands, work, etc can definitely get in the way.

So..I’ve started to commit to FIRST getting my eating habits down. Bigger breakfast so I’m snacking less all day (eat lots of protein!!) LOTS of water. I drink a glass with my vitamins before breakfast and one after. It is so true that you can’t out train a bad diet. Sometimes when I’ve been working out hard and see results I think, “Oh its just a couple of the girls fries or bite of Mac and Cheese.” Not good thinking on my part.

If I can eat clean and for me clean means, no cheese, breads, pasta, lots of veggies, lean protein, no fruit after 3, no dinner after 7. If I can do that and stay on track then about 30-40 min of exercise will STILL give me great results because I’m not trying to burn off that extra cookie or slice of pizza but now I have the food my body needs and burning off that extra badonkidonk and turn it into a badinkadink..:) God willing..lol

So today I’m going to challenge whoever is reading this to do one thing a day that will push you in the direction of whatever your goal is. Do laundry squats, (putting the laundry on the floor and squatting down to pick up each one to fold) If you have kids, you may have your 30 min in right there. You won’t believe how much better you’ll feel and my girls sometimes will do them right along with me.

Drink one more glass of water when you feel like you’re hungry and maybe just bored.

I’ve realized after having kids, you have to do things differently than before. I can’t eat everything I want and not gain 10 lbs. in a week.

I want to share a link to an article about why women shouldn’t just get on the treadmill for an hour and think that will solve your weight problems.

http://www.dangerouslyhardcore.com/5343/why-women-should-not-run/?fb_action_ids=566248449726&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582

Seriously do 5 sets of 15-20 squats with as much weight (10,20,30,40, your child) as you can do.

My workout the monday while my girls were napping.

Set of 30 Squats with a 30 lb dumbbell.

I have a lane that I ran down (total distance 1/3 of each time) Ran not sprinted so if you can’t run fast then start slow, even if you have to walk.

Then 30 walking lunges

I did that 4 times...it took me 25 min and I was pretty sore the next day. If you lift or use resistance bands you will get better results than hopping on a treadmill or eliptical for an hour.

I promise you. www.powersystems.com has some very cheap bands, $3-6

Snack I love!! Greek Yogurt with Honey and Fruit!

I love that greek yogurt is really high in protein and really love in sugar and carbs. For me I get a serving of yogurt and put honey, cut up half an apple, blueberries, strawberries, or rasberries. I also love walnuts of sliced almonds for that crunch. The possibilities are endless!

ADVOCARE PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

THERMOPLUS!!!!!

https://www.advocare.com/10032350/Store/ItemDetail.aspx?itemCode=T4101&id=A

What the thermoplus will do is boost your metabolism and burn extra calories. When I started taking AdvoCare products I started with SPARK, Catalyst and Thermoplus and lost 8 LBS in 2 WEEKS! For a mother of twins I felt great and I think after children and getting closer to 30...eeek! I can’t eat like I used to so the thermoplus really helps me boost my metabolism. If you’re interested in trying it out a bottle is only $31.5 and will last you over a month! Think about that! June is in about 7 weeks so you could really get ready for that swimsuit within that time!

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this and have a fantastic weekend!!

..OH YEA... Let’s GIVE something AWAY!!

How about.....An AdvoCare SAMPLER!!!

OUR NEW DARK CHOCOLATE MEAL SHAKE!!! (just tried them this week and it’s seriously gets hits the spot for my chocolate fixin!

3 Flavors of Spark

PRO 20- Great for people that may not get enough protein or a serious BOOST before a workout (took a min off my mile) OR recovery after a workout

If you are going for this, comment what your favorite kind of exercise is!!

Hope you win!!! :)

The winner will be picked at random and will be announced Sunday morning!

*this prize will be available for pick up at the trunk show on Monday night, see link to event for more info TCOT Trunk Show at The Grape Life

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Brushing up on our wine knowledge (written by our Resident Wino)

Common Wine Myths:

1. Wine Snobs know tons about wine.

HA! Like snobs in any category they’re just trying to make you feel dumb before they can look dumb. People who know anything about wine know there is an overwhelming amount of information out there and would be patient with your confusion and questions.

I am not saying I do not mock Carly when she drops ice cubes in her wine or sigh heavily when I see friends drinking cheap pink wines. But what I do after I am done rolling my eyes is offer an alternative. Good info to have – whisky rocks (flavorless stones people freeze and drop in whisky so not to water down with ice cubes) go a long way in a glass of un-chilled wine. And for you pink wine drinkers – the wine industry has made a number of sweet wine alternatives like sweet Rieslings, moscatos, and red blends to let you keep it secret you haven’t moved on to dry wines yet.

2. You’re allergic to the sulfites in wine.

You’re wine headaches are (probably) not from the sulfites. Unless you also get headaches from raisins, prunes, or other dried fruit – which have tons more sulfites – that is probably not the cause of your headache.

Here’s what it could be:

Dehydration is an obvious one. Like any alcohol you drink it will leave you dehydrated if you are not having water between or after your wine drinking. Another possibility that ties in to that is alcohol sensitivity – table wines have 12-15% alcohol which is much more than your average beer.

More of a vodka on the rocks/gin martini/Jack and Coke kind of girl/guy? Than it probably is a histamine issue. I have found this to be relatively common in people who have seasonal allergies. You know how your Claratin D box says “do not take with alcohol”? Part of it is because it’ll knock you on your ass. The other part is that there are histamines in wine and ANTIhistamines in allergy meds. Wine from grapes which are plants which start as a blooming flower – pollen and histamines can turn in to a headache.

BUT REALLY!!! DON’T LET THIS STOP YOU! Drink more water, limit your intake and if the headaches persist go for lighter and less tannic wine like white wines and some Pinot Noirs – they tend to go easier on allergy sufferers.

3. Alcohol is bad for you!

There’s a saying that goes “Even sunshine burns if you have too much.” I only encourage responsible drinking … moderation… don’t drive… don’t do it under age… I won’t keep going because I am not your mom. The important thing to know is that most studies show moderate, responsible drinking is actually pretty good for you.

Red wine consumption is shown to help women lose weight. This is for a few reasons but first is that women are likely to replace their food calories with their wine calories and end up eating fewer unhealthy foods… whereas men will drink their calories and then go on and eat everything they were planning to eat anyway. Wine also has many antioxidants that will help kick start your metabolism. Pinot Noir has the most of these antioxidants (the same that is found acai) and sweeter and white wines have the least of it.

There’s also a study that has resulted in my favorite findings outside of cures for diseases. Have 1-2 servings of alcohol a day helps you live longer. Hang on. Let it sink in. People who drink in moderation will live longer than those who do not drink at all. But people who drink too much will still not live as long as non-drinkers and moderate drinkers. And no – you cannot save ALL your drinks for Friday night.

           Phew!!! Thats enough myth busting for today!!!
           But lets do something fun for WIN IT WEDNESDAY!
           Carly and Lindsay have a FUN wine night coming up on April 22nd in Davenport.
           I am bummed that I can't make it, but here is what I will do....giveaway a drink!!!

           To enter: please comment below with your answer to the following question:

          Do you love red wine (like Carly) or white wine (like Lindsay)?

          We will pick a random winner tonight! WOOHOO!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Another GIVEAWAY!!!! 1000 fans fun!!!

                                       Today, we have a super cute Mary Kay Goodie Bag!!!
                                                         Love their products!!!

                 To enter: comment below with your answer to this question....

                How many kids do the owners of TCOT Boutique have collectively?
                   (hint: did you read the intro blog posts at the start of our blog?)


ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT WITH THE CORRECT ANSWER WILL BE ENTERED INTO THE DRAWING TO WIN!!!

Monday, April 15, 2013

1000 Fan giveaway...still!

Let's brighten up your Monday by doing another giveaway!!!

Today's prize is a Scentsy gift bag!

We are going to give you several ways to get your name in the fish bowl...

1. Comment below with your favorite sent for your home

2. Subscribe to this blog

3.Share the below Stephanie Michelle Photography picture from our facebook page. You can just click the link below the picture and it will take you right to the picture on our page!

So, you have the potential to get your name in here 3 times!

*We will pick the winner tonight at 9pm*