Wednesday, February 29, 2012

love. coffee and health

I'm not sure if you have picked up on this yet....but I love coffee. I mean I LOVE it! as in a lot...


When I started my paleo journey {see here} I realized that I couldn't go with my usual caramel macchiato anymore- a grande has over 30 grams of sugar!! but was I going to give up on coffee all together???- HECK NO! 
So, I thought of trying the "skinny latte's" at Starbucks, but those use fake sugar which i think tastes like crap and is also pretty unhealthy. Thats when I went for a caffe latte- which tasted good, but not great. 


But then. It dawned on me.


Enter: The Cappuchino. 


It is small, yet delicious, but not too milky. It's rich and creamy- the perfect after lunch pick me up. When I drink a Cappuchino,  I feel European- elegant, sophisticated and refined. 
Plus with only 120 calories and about 12 carbs (at Starbucks) the Cappuchino is both stylish and healthy! 


Tuesday, February 28, 2012

life. portland photography

A few weeks ago my wonderful friend and former college roommate Victoria came up to visit me for the weekend. I had a giant list of Portland things to do (most of them involving food) and we got most of them checked off. Victoria happens to be an awesome photographer and got some great shots of our adventure. Here are some of my favorites: 


This one is my fav. - we found this spot in an alleyway. 

Bikes... so Portland :) 

She snapped this one without me knowing it! 

Both of us together at Powell's 

View from Pioneer Square.

View from the Portland Arial Tram. 

To say the least, we had a great time! 

Nicole 

Monday, February 27, 2012

life.stocks

So what are stocks anyway?
In essence, buying a stock is buying a portion of a business. A really really small portion. If you were to buy stock in Disney, it would be like going to Disneyland and finding a rock- thats your portion (not literally, but you get the picture).


Why should I buy stocks?
To make money... you hope at least. 
Think of stock prices like gas prices. They are fickle- they go up and down like crazy! Your goal is to buy low (think buying something on sale) then sell high (when your stocks are worth the most amount of money). 


In addition, some companies offer dividends (aka they pay you a small amount of money on a regular basis so that you will buy there stocks and keep your money invested in their company). Personally, I love dividends! 


Where can I buy stocks? 
Generally, most banks have an investment section of their company and their are many financial advising firms out there too. The problem with both of these options is that most people who work at these places are commission based employees- meaning they make most of (if not all of) their money by selling- NOT advising. 


If you decide that you would just rather buy stock on your own then have to deal with sales people then you are in luck! Their are a few online legit places to buy stock.  My favorite is Charles Schwab


Thats all for now. And don't worry, it only gets more complicated ;) 


Nicole 


Friday, February 24, 2012

life.high five for friday

It's Friday! what!! :) Here is my top five list of exciting things for this week!


1) Tomorrow is my little sisters solo contest- She plays the trumpet quite well, I'm super proud :) 




2) Tuesday we celebrated my friend Tim's birthday with the ultimate meal- Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon. 
Sooooooo good!!!!!!!!


3) My new shirt from Old Navy. AND I got it on sale!!!
You can get it here : http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=26194&vid=1&pid=897881


4) I have been obsessed with anything Jeera. He is an amazing photographer located in London and you can find his stuff on Instagram. Here is one of his recent photos: 
So cute!

5) Lastly, I FOUND GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!!!! :) 
Thin Mint is the way to go!!!



Happy Friday Everyone!!!





Wednesday, February 22, 2012

people.baristas

I think that baristas are amazing. They take something wonderful {coffee} and turn it into art. What could be better? Here is a photo from my recent trip to Stumptown {a Portland based coffee shop}



Cappuccino Art :) 

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

life.spending

Many people hark over themselves to get their finances in order. You hear that Starbucks is costing you hundreds of dollars every year and you worry about getting out of debt or saving up for retirement/house/car/college. Basically life sucks and you should feel bad about spending money on that extra latte. 

Here's my point: We need a new outlook. Finance is 99% how we value money. What do you value? Is it your car, the gym, shopping, coffee, books, saving? There is no wrong answer. You get to decide how you spend your money based off of your values. 


The problem comes when we become unconscious of our spending habits, then later when we get the credit card bill we hitting our head against the wall. Every time you swipe your card, you are making a choice. For me, I realized that I was spending a ton of money eating out- and mostly because I was lazy and didn't pack myself a lunch. I realized that I would much rather keep that 5-10 dollars a day and spend on something that I actually want like my awesome (and expensive) gym membership. 


Bottom Line: Spend money on what you value, and cut back where it doesn't matter. 


Homework: Make a top five list of the things that you want to spend your money on, then check your spending for the past month. How does it match up?  

Monday, February 20, 2012

people.chicas

This weekend I had the pleasure of hosting a slumber party for the chicas in my church's youth group. We busted some moves playing Michael Jackson Wii dance (I totally killed it), made ourselves into a human pyramid and had traditional ukrainian dessert. Take a look :) 





Cheers to an awesome Weekend!! 


Sunday, February 5, 2012

life.puppy

So, my family got a new puppy and she is absolutely adorable! We named her Penny. So far we are learning about Penny's favorite things. 1) She loves to heard people... which can be kind of annoying, but its part of her instincts. 2) She loves her snuggawagga- its a chew toy. 3) She loves beards- she tries to eat them off of all my guy friends. 4) She loves chasing her leash around the ottoman.- yes we keep her leash on most of the time, but this has just proven to be more fun for her! 5) lastly, like most dogs, she loves to play fetch.... but were still working on the bring it back part.
Thats all for now :)

Penny