cyber monday

yay cyber monday sale!!!  


don't you just adore this pic??  
i'll have more to share later...
all done by my amazing friend Katie

be pretty~melis

11.11.11

it's 11.11.11!!!!


did you make your wish today??


hope it was a good one:)


be pretty~melis


an apple a day

i have really bad food habits.
it's not that i just sit around and eat bon bons all day...although wouldn't that be awesome??
i'm just very inconsistent.
one day i'll eat healthy, and then the next day i have cookies for breakfast...and maybe dinner too;)

i also hate working out.
i don't like being out of breath...
i don't like to sweat...
and lets be honest...gym shoes are UGLY!!!

but john and i are trying to plan a mini vacay before he leaves for training in jan, one of which may involve bikinis...something i haven't worn in like years... 
which means i kinda need to stop being lazy with my eating and non working out...blah.

so i figured if i share what i'm doing and some fun healthier recipes maybe i'll actually stick with it...
maybe...
i could always wear a grandpa cardi with my bikini...
don't roll your eyes, i totes would!!

to start off, i just made the easiest thing in the world...
it involves two ingredients...
an apple and cinnamon...yum!

are you ready for this?
take an apple (i used honeycrisp) and slice it really really really thin...


now if you have an apple corer thingy you could use that.
i just used a big fatty knife...it works just as well:)


once your apple is sliced (i just used one to test it)
place the slices on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.


then sprinkle with cinnamon or cinnamon sugar...
and use as much or as little as you want.


then place in a preheated oven (275 degrees)
and bake for one hour...
flip them over...
re-sprinkle...
and bake for another hour...
and then...TA-DA!!!
baked apple chips!!!



i told you it was the easiest thing in the world..
AND your house will smell delish!
they are totes crunchy like chips, but totes healthy because they're apples...
YAY!!!

time to go flip and re-sprinkle my second batch:)

be pretty~melis








buy a band, save a boob

a little over six years ago i was visiting john in madison.
he was going to school there and it was my weekend to go visit him...
(for the record, i hate madison...i totes do not fit in there)

one afternoon we decided to be lazy and snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie.
i was laying on my side and noticed that my right boob hurt....
side note: i am a total freak...i get a little pain somewhere or something that doesn't look right and i think i'm dying...i know it's totally ridiculous, but it's just how i am...

so being my crazy self, i started feeling around...
and then i felt it...
a lump.

enter freak out mode...
instantly i though i must have breast cancer and i'm dying
(i told you i'm a crazy)...
but after talking to john and calling my mom i calmed down enough to make a doctor's appointment.

luckily i was able to get in right away and ended up having a mammogram and an ultrasound...
the whole time i remember thinking i was too young to be going through all this and what if this was something serious...
my grandma had breast cancer and she survived...hi grandma:)
but the fact that it's in the family made it even scarier...

luckily it was not cancer...
just a stupid, annoying, sometimes painful, benign tumor lump thingy...
i didn't need to have surgery to have it removed...
although at some point i might...just because who really wants a lump in their boob:)

so every year i go in to get an ultrasound...
(which btw sucks...i mean, constant pushing on something that hurts...not fun)
but every time i am so grateful that it hasn't changed 
(in fact last time it was even a little smaller)
and i'm so grateful that it's not something scary...



which is why this october mrd did 
"buy a band, save a boob"
to raise money for breast cancer awareness.

there are SO MANY women that aren't as lucky as i was 
and anything little thing i can do to help find a cure i am more than happy to do!!

10% of all of our sales last month are being donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure and i want to thank all of you that purchased something last month because you were a part of hopefully saving someone's life!  
sooooo.....

and remember...
just because you're in your twenties or thirties doesn't mean that this can't happen to you because you're "too young"...
so do yourself a favor...
and feel your boobs:)

be pretty~melis