Pink Ritas and Lip Gloss

I hate this time of year: benefits renewal at work. We run on a July 1 - June 30 fiscal year so the changes to our benefits are going out now so we can adjust coverages, add coverages, or opt out. I get the general concept of things like dental insurance, health insurance, 401(k) Plans, and life insurance but I don’t know enough about any to make solid decisions which frustrates me. I’ve tried a few different books to understand the basics of these items but in the end, once I get that package from work every spring my eyes glaze over and I get confused. I know enough to ensure I have coverage for everything I need and that I don’t get more than I possibly need or not enough. I also make sure coverages are with reputable firms but other than that I just don’t know if there is something I’m missing. Anyone have some tips on how to navigate benefit packages and insurance?

We’ve had Mexican & Italian crockpot recipes so far so let’s throw a little Cajun in the mix because you can never go wrong with a little Cajun cooking every now and then. This is a great recipe for when you are hosting friends or relatives. I think this is the most requested recipe my friends ask me to make for them as none of them cook but like home cooked meals. I really need to introduce them to crockpots but I think we gotta start with how to work a kitchen first. This is one of those recipes where adding the complete “Cajun Trinity” would work best even though the recipe calls for just 2/3 of it. As a reminder the Trinity is - Onions, Celery, and Green Bell Pepper. My local Kroger sells the Kroger Brand frozen vegetables mix with these three combined so I just defrost and throw in!

Chicken Jambalaya

1 lb. uncooked, boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
3 c fat free chicken broth
3/4 c water
1.5 c uncooked brown rice
4 oz reduced fat smoked turkey sausage
1/2 c celery with leaves thinly sliced
1/2 c onion, chopped
1/2 c green bell pepper, chopped
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
2 cloves garlic minced
1/8 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 bay leaf
14.5 oz can no salt diced tomatoes, undrained

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute chicken 2-3 minutes.
2. Stir together remaining ingredients in slow cooker.
3. Add sauteed chicken
4. Cover. Cook on high for 6 hours.

Per serving: 370 cals, 7gms fat, 42 gms carbs, 4 gms fiber, 34gms protein.

I tweeked this recipe a bit. I used 4 c of chicken broth instead of the 3 cups and 3/4 c of water. I also did 1/2 a package of turkey sausage (7oz) instead of just 4 oz. I also did 1 cup onion, bell pepper, and celery (since Kroger sells them prechopped). It ended up being 9 1-cup servings.

5 WW points.

I am not a clean freak. I actually prefer organized chaos over neatness and order. Cleaning has always been one of those things I do when absolutely necessary - like when things get a little too grimy or I can’t pass it off on someone else - but not something I keep up with on a daily or weekly basis. So last year I got the grand idea to hire a maid service to do my cleaning for me. I figured I was no longer paying for parking so I’ll just transfer the expenses from monthly parking to a once a month maid service. Things started out well in the beginning but somewhere along the lines I started noticing little things that kept adding up to bigger things. Like dust still on my shelves, mildew growing on my shower liner and tub walls that were never cleaned and so on. So after 3 months of noticing this I called it quits. No use in paying someone to do minimal cleaning since I can do that myself.

So now I’m working on devising a cleaning schedule to do 1-2 rooms a weekend so that my apartment stays clean, I don’t get overwhelmed nor bored, and I’m not spending the entire weekend cleaning. Last weekend was the bathrooms and it went well. I pulled out my windex wipes and quickly cleaned the large mirror, used the clorox wipes to do the doors, cabinets, counter tops, and around the toilet area, then I pulled out the soft scrub (the only non-wipe) and went to town on the bathtub area. I felt very accomplished and proud when it was all said and done. My only complaint is how fast everything gets dirtied up again - especially the bathroom faucets. OMG talk about a germ-y nightmare with toothpaste and soap scum. I need to find some wipes for those!

This weekend I’ll be out of town but I think before we leave tomorrow I’ll spend tonight shredding the junk mail I received this week, wipe down the kitchen, run the dishes, and vacuum the apartment.

After spending the past week evaluating my blog and the direction it has been heading in, I’ve decided to head back to my roots.  What does this mean?  Well it means I’m going back to writing about beauty products/reviews and cooking.  I got a tad wrapped up in clicking on sites, joining directories, and well writing paid posts that quite frankly my blog has become a mess and lost focus.  I really hate that it happened and how fast it happened.  What started as a small but fun blog sharing my makeup stories and favorite recipes soon got taken over with just about every topic under the sun which is not fair to my readers who come for recipes or makeup recommendations.  So for that I apologize.  I am turning my focus over to writing quality content and not worrying about who is digging or buzzing me or even the paid stuff.  I have a few more of those I’m under obligation to write but after Sunday that will be over as well. :)  It was just out of control and too stressful on top of work stress, family stress, and vacation planning and unplanning.

So with that I welcome you back to the new and improved Pink Ritas and Lip Gloss and will be posting my most favorite Crockpot (and WW friendly might I add) recipe for everyone to enjoy!

I love exercises where you do more than just the standard moves. You know instead of doing a regular push up or standard crunch you do it off the exercise ball. I think it adds an element of fun to my workouts and keeps me from getting bored. There was a great move I found in Shape 5 years ago that I haven’t found again quite yet but you lay facing the floor on your exercise ball and then stretch out into a push up formation and then you roll the ball forward with your knees until your knees are under your chest. It helps your abs because you have to try and balance or you will fall. If I can ever find that video I will gladly share but my description probably isn’t giving the full picture.

So I found this video for flattening your belly. It took me a little bit to figure out how to get it to work at home because I don’t have enough room at my gym to do this without getting people mad at me. So I think I finally figured it out as I don’t have a sturdy weight bench at home. Instead I tried a few things and either one will work: using your couch or window sill if it is the right height. I didn’t try a kitchen chair but it definitely was next on the list. I really did feel my abs working hard doing this exercise so you if need something new to do try this video out with your exercise ball.

Previous entries in the Ab Exercise Series can be found below

• Part 1
• Part 2

My last post went over pretty well explaining what I do that I thought I’d do another post since Q1 2008 has started. What does Q1 2008 mean? Well in simple terms, the year is split into four quarters for financial reporting purposes. Most companies follow the calendar year Jan-Dec with quarters beginning on January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1. Others go by what is called a financial year and those can run any which way they want as long as they are for a 12 month period and are reasonable.

So Q1 has just finished and all of us auditors and financial reporting professionals are all gearing up for earnings releases which go out this week or next week depending on when companies decide they have finalized numbers and are ready to answer to the investors. They can release earnings any time before they file their quarterly report (aka 10-Q) with May 9th being the filing deadline for most large public companies. The quarterly report is basically an update on how the company did financially during the quarter, how did they do compared to last year, and what things are they planning on doing the rest of the year. They are normally short reads as well (70ish pages) compared to the gigantic 10-Ks though I don’t really recommend reading either for fun. If you do decide to read them check out the book Financial Fine Print first.

So what does that mean for your favorite auditor/blogger? Unfortunately, lots of long, late nights (8/9ish) for the next 2 weeks until we file but since my client hasn’t done much during Q1 it shouldn’t be too bad. Just the usual schedules and questions to ask and we should be good to go. Q2 though looks like a different story but most is related to our foreign counterparts so *knock on wood* it continues this way and I get another quiet quarter coming up. So after May 9th it will be some smoother sailing with just some smaller audits going on thru the end of May, June and July. Hope you enjoyed another installment of me and my job as an auditor.

I am super excited that it is offically spring and summer is right around the corner. I know most people in the south don’t really look forward to the summer (especially here in Texas with 96+ degree heat and humidity) but I do. Why you may ask… because it means I can pull out my summer makeup. Fall and winter nudes/browns while they are pretty just aren’t as fun as summery golds and bronzers.

So my favorite summer items are:

• Cargo eye shadow duo in Corsica (blue and shimmery gold)
• Stila eye shadows in Prize (gold) and Moonlight (white)
• Too Faced duo in Denim and Diamonds (blue and white)
• Stila eye shadow in Cassia paired up with Urban Decay’s Stalker (Shimmery Purple)

But while you are lightening up your eyes don’t forget you need to lighten up your lips as well.  Pale lip glosses rather than dark lipsticks should do the trick.  I tend to stick with Stila lip glaze in grapefruit or my Too Faced Lip Smacker in a pale but bright pink.  The rest of your makeup should be fine going from winter to summer if you go with a basic neutral shades and light to medium weighted foundations.

If makeup is not your thing but you want to welcome in summer don’t forget to check out the Philosophy 3-in-1s.  They have a wide range of scents and I just finished my Double Rich Hot Chocolate one and will be opting for Frozen Lemon Custard for the summer months.   Lightening up your bath soap like this can be a lot of fun as well!

One of the things I have been trying to deal with since last November/December is time management. You see when my immediate supervisor quit on us I was propelled into her position/responsibilities. The hardest thing has been supervising 4 people under me and then keeping all of our audit projects moving forward via client meetings, manager meetings, and then my own reviewing over work that has been performed. Often times I’m either buried under a stack of papers at my desk (I prefer to see everything hard copy rather than review by soft copy) or I have a to-do list that is a mile long. So not fun!

So since I am a paper reviewer I’ve been trying to figure out a quick and easy way to mark things as I look them over and are done with them. As auditors, we keep everything we work with until we file the audit then whatever doesn’t make the official hard copy file - either was scanned into our databases or was just copies of spreadsheets kept electronically- gets tossed. So I tonight I was thinking maybe a couple of customized rubber stamps that say reviewed, completed, and for follow-up. I thought this could be a really easy way for me to keep track of all my papers and things I need to do. Anyone have any good tips/suggestions that you use to stay on track and organized at work?

Well another week has come and go.  This week I had high hopes for.  I had all my meals planned out and ingredients ready to go but somewhere along the way I realized I was missing a can of pineapple and got too lazy to hit the grocery store.  Then I had a few late nights at work and well you know where this is heading.  Yup derailed by the weekend - hit up our favorite Mexican Restaurant (Chuy’s) after our Relay for Life Walk on Friday and then Buffalo Wild Wings Saturday night for UFC Fight Night.  Yeah no healthy choices at either.  Its ok though.

I’m not letting that stop me.  I hit the grocery store last night and picked up the can of pineapple I was missing and am cooking my fruited pork chops right now as I type.  These should last till Thursday as the value pack of chops had 10 large chops in there before we get tired and try something new. :)  I’m also plugging away with my workout routine.  I’m trying to keep things fresh so I’ve decided to retry the new cardio machine at work.  It is a cross between a stair stepper and an elliptical machine.  Last time I tried it I only made it for 10 minutes but that was when I first started working out.  I’m hoping I can make it a little longer this time around.  I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

So at the end of week 6 I weighed in at the same as last week which I consider a victory especially with my falling off the wagon so hard last week.  This week I’m vowing to be better and healthier.

I swear it seems like it is always hurricane season here in the south. While the usual season stretches June - November, the past few years we have been seeing hurricanes in May and December which stretches the season even further. Mike and I have started to keep a hurricane cooler in my apartment. We have it filled up with essentials such as Spaghetti O’s, batteries, flashlights, pack of poker cards, and a case of water. There are a few more things I want to try and work into our emergency kit such as a weather resistant radio and a larger lantern/flood light as those give more light than a normal flashlight. I was looking at DeWalt tools and noticed they had both items and were at a reasonable price so I think Mike and I will just plan on adding the radio this year and the flood light next year to our kit so that we are adequately prepared.