Do you have any friends you argue with all the time?  Not huge arguments but disagreements nonetheless.

I do.  One of my very closest friends is probably the person who annoys me most in this world.  He's actually starred in one of my blogs before. If you're a regular follower (which I super appreciate both of you by the way) you'll remember The Bathing Suit Incident.

Anyway, everyone who knows him knows he is HIGH MAINTENANCE as opposed to myself, the most laid back person ever.  I've been friends with him for 7 years and in the past 7 years our little arguments have become humorous.  So humorous, in fact, that our former boss used to say we should make a TV Show and he wanted all the credit for the idea.  Hmmm, rather than Regis and Kelly (it's not even that anymore, is it), Josh and Katie--has a nice ring to it.

Cut to...our argument today.

Prior knowledge that you'll need (Just read the middle one):

So...there you have it.  Our friendship is ridiculous.
Do you have any ridiculous friends?  No, we're not 15 Katie. 

So exciting that I know so many people with small businesses because they give me free stuff because it's great to see people I know doing what they love and not being a part of WalMart or Target.

Today I dedicate my What I'm Loving Wednesday to the small businesses I know and love.

Crescent Moon Baby
This is a friend of a friend who I have met and ordered from so that makes me my friend, too, by association :)  She makes the CUTEST baby stuff and is the perfect answer to, "I have no idea what to get and I don't want to buy off the registry."



CrossFit 480
Although, at this point, I'm not sure it's still called a small business.  It's raging in that joint.  It's been exciting to watch my gym (Katie you can't call it "your gym" if you only go once a week) go from 7 person classes to tons of classes happening and all of them packed with peeps.  Way to go 480.

If you haven't checked it out and wanna change your life, every 3rd Saturday of the month is free.


Splendid Karma 
My friend, Kris, started this business and it has blown up!  She's having to hire employees left and right.  Why?  Because everything she sells is AH-DOR-A-BLE.  It's all so bright and fun and creative. She has bags, wallets, baby mats, bibs, coasters.  It's all so random and cute.  She's currently in a few stores but the one I frequent the most is Luci's Marketplace.



Malia B Photography
I'm not sure why but she always has this way of bringing tears to my eyes.  Perhaps it's because she's one of my forever friends and I love that.  Or maybe it's because she's quitting her job and fully pursuing her passion of photography.  Or maybe it's because she photographs new babies and they always make me cry.  Or maybe it's because she has this ability to capture the sweetness and sassiness of these babies every single time.  Either way, I'm so happy that my dear friend isn't just another girl with a camera who things she's a photographer.  She's actually a photographer and does amazing work.

Let's just get the bad news out of the way so I don't feel like it's looming over my head...
I failed at my 1st juice fast.  Yes I did.

Now let's walk through it...

I watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," and decided I needed to "Juice."  My friend who juices was super on board.  She told me she was going to do a juice fast and asked if I wanted to start with her.  "Yes!" Just the motivation I need, I thought.

I went out to nasty WalMart and bought a juicer and tons of produce (don't judge me for buying produce at WalMart).  Roughly $200 later, I was ready to begin my 10 Day Juice Fast.

Came home and chopped, peeled, and juiced my ass off.
  


I put them in cute mason jars and labeled them with Expo.


Then I ordered a pizza.  No, I'm not kidding.  I just wanted to make sure my body was really toxic before starting.

I put this little chart idea I saw on Pinterest up.



I posted in my Boots to Ass Juice Group.  I posted on Facebook.

Sunday Morning:
Drank my 1st juice-Mean Green...not bad.  Spinach, Cucumbers, Celery, and Granny Smith Apples.
I was tired all day.  I took 2 naps.  1 is normal for me, 2...not so much.  Then I got a RAGING headache (Caffeine, I think).  Well, I may be exaggerating about the raging part but I never get headaches so this sucked.  I had this achin' head from 2 pm until the next morning.  By this time I had decided I'd just do a 5 day fast for my 1st one; 10 was a bit ambitious.


PS.  I also drank some juice with beets (SICK!  I don't like beets.  They taste like dirt) and 1 that was straight orange juice...didn't really taste like my Simply Orange Juice.


Sunday Morning:
I got up and drank a Mean Green and watched "Hungry for Change" <---great documentary.  Then I went to Whole Foods to get some Kale and nectarines.  While I was there I picked up some ghoda for after my fast (and some tortilla chips).  I started to think, 3 days is probably plenty for my 1st Juice Fast.

By the time I got in the car I had decided that 1 1/2 days was a great amount of time.

So there you have it.  I freakin' failed my 1st Juice Fast.

Things I Learned:
1.  I DO like eating my food.
2.  I DO NOT like drinking my food.
3.  I don't like beets.  They are pretty but not delicious.
4.  Mixing vegetables and fruit is nothing to be scared of...I'll add spinach to my morning smoothies.
5.  I'm gonna take a break from the caffeine for a while.  It scared me that I was so addicted to coffee that not having it gave me such a headache.
6.  I'm determined to incorporate more raw food into my diet
6.  I have to figure out a plan that works best for me.  For the past year I have been: Whole 30ing, off the wagon, Paleo, off, Whole 30, off...it seems to be an endless cycle that is becoming yo-yo dieting.

I don't think it was bad for me to do the Whole 30s.  They taught be SO much about myself, my body, my allergies and how we can use food as medicine.  However, I think it's time for me to find a lifestyle that works.

I have a lot of "tough love" friend, who I love, who are gonna say, "What's your problem?  Just do it!  It's not that hard."  To that, I would say, "I agree."  That's exactly what I want to say to people who: don't work hard at their jobs, can't manage their classrooms, who don't have friends (Katie, you don't have friends.  That's why you're writing a blog on Memorial Day.) who have social anxiety, can't carry on a conversations without completely dominating it (Katie, you do that sometimes).

But, ya know, I guess we all have our vices.  80/20, right?  80% of us is good and the other 20% is pretty sucky.



Apparently this is part of my 20% (a small part because I have a lot of other !@#$ in my 20%), my ongoing weight battle/body issues, one so many people I know have-well every person I know except 3.  And I say to them, way to go- the 3 of you.  I envy that part of your 80%.  I bet you envy some parts of my 80%...like my amazeballs personality or the way I can match my pajamas so well or, possibly, my super cute work bag and lunch bag.  We all have our 80%.  We all have our 20%.

What's your 20%?  What's your 80%?

PS.  Anyone wanna buy a juicer from me for $100?

You said, "Ghostbusters," didn't you?

Permission to not love my 1st tattoo and, still, want a 2nd.  I was gonna get one last weekend but apparently you can't find an excellent tattoo artist who is available with 2 day's notice.  I thought it was like the nail salon-walk in, get a tattoo.  No?



Permission to love my dog more than life but get so embarrassed by her, when people come over, because she needs Ritalin (or a tranquilizer).


Permission to be obsessed with this case about the 3 Cleveland girls.  I wanna know everything.  I Google it every day.  I just can't believe this story.  How did these girls do it?  So sad.


Permission to be in love with everything teal.  I heart that color.


Permission to love speaking Spanish even though I know I super suck.  Back in my younger days, when I would go out at night, after a few drinks I would only want to speak Spanish.  Recuerdes Michelle?  Raise your hand if you want to spend next summer in a Spanish speaking country with me?


Permission to get teary eyed all the time.  Happy, sad, all the time.  Does anyone else do this?  No, Katie, we're normal.  



Permission to be SO relieved that Danielle is coming to take care of me after I get my ankle surgery.  She'll know exactly what to do and, best part, she loves my Scout so she'll take good care of her!



Permission to want a teal cast.  I'm getting my first cast this summer.  When I was a kid I always wanted a cast.  Now it doesn't seem so awesome...but I still want it to be teal.

I'm wondering if anyone else has these same struggles...

I try live the "greenest" livestyle possible.  However, I have these internal struggles:
- I need things to smell good (and not like lavender or patulloui all the time).
- I love the smells of "my" products.
- I HATE waste--especially plastic.  It pains me to throw it away, but it even pains me to put it in the recycle.



Anyone else have this same struggle?  What do you do to create less waste and, yet, still have "nice" and "clean smelling" things.

Here's an example that's happening right now:
I ran out of dryer sheets while doing my laundry.  I don't wanna run to the store and I'm not sure I need to use those throw away sheets each time (and I certainly don't want to buy a big plastic bottle of Downey).  So, I looked up how to make your own and found this recipe.

I got my conditioner (which I'm also struggling with because I'm tired of having to throw away those big, plastic bottles when I run out) and giant vinegar out.  I mixed everything up and, as you would imagine, IT STINKS!  I hate the smell of vinegar.  I'm was hoping the Biolage would counteract it but I could still smell the vinegar.  I'm still trying them out but if my clean clothes smell like s!@# when they get out of the dryer, what the hell am I gonna do?!  Umm, how bout wash them again and not act like it's the end of the world?  <---Stupid reader voice forgot how much I hate doing laundry.

My struggle continues...
I drink a LOT of sparkling water...at least 2 cans a day.  That's a lot of waste.  I know it's recycle but I once heard that it's actually worse for the environment to recycle because of all of the chemicals recycling uses.


And, in case you're wondering, I STILL forget my reusable bags to show with!!!  I have added to my collection and now I have, a million.  A million bags I don't remember-ever.


How do these people do it?  I know they a tiny bit nutty.  I mean  Zero Waste?  I'm not sure that's ever gonna happen in my world but I would like to be a lot better than I am now.

I need your help.  Who thinks about this stuff too?  What do you do?

And I use K-Cups--uh, is there no hope for me?!

I've been on a crazy cleaning kick lately.  My house looks like it's brand new right now because it's so spick n' span.  Obvi what I'm loving right now are cleaning products!


Dyson
Of course I have to pay homage to my amazing, God sent of a vaccumm.  If I could, I would marry it.


Comet
Simple.  Old school.  Reminds me of my grandma's house when I used to beg her to clean her toilets (you were a weird kid) so I could use the Comet.


Vinegar 
So, I hate the way it smells but it's natural and cleans like nobody's business.  There are a billion things I could clean with vinegar.  Billion.



Clorox Wipes 
Because who doesn't love them?!



Windex
Nothin fancy but it totes works on the granite, windows, all of it.  

Swiffer Wet Sweeper
These because they smell amazeballs.
Febreze.  
I just read this book, The Power of Habit.  In it there was a story about Febreze and how when it first came out, nobody bought it.  Then, they decided they had to make it people's habit.  So, on the commercials they showed how after women cleaned they sprayed it to give the house that nice clean smell.  I'M SUCH A SUCKER CONSUMER!  That's totally what I do.


What fabulous cleaning products am I missing out on?  I probably won't change my mind because I'm DEEP into my habits and a total brand loyalist but, perhaps, I'm wanna jump at the new and fab idea!