I think its time for another Fashion on Friday’s post. If you’re on Instagram and follow me, you’ve probably already seen these pictures. I absolutely love Instagram and I’ve gotten to ‘meet’ some fun bloggers through it. I also discovered Christina, the author of Little Fashion Diary, who created the hashtag #FashionDiaries on Instagram. It’s a fun way to share your daily outfits with other fashion lovers. Very fun, indeed!

click on the photo to enlarge

#FashionDiaries is a lot of fun. It encourages me to get out of my workout clothes or sweats and actually get dressed. For those of us that love exercise, its just so easy to live in workout clothes. But I think wearing a cute outfit is a great reward to all the hard work I’ve put in the gym and in my eating habits. I know I’ve talked about this before.. but I think its important for you to rock your success.

Today however, I will be living in workout clothes all day pretty much. Zumba clothes that is! I’m going to my normal Zumba class this morning, but this evening, the Zumba girls and I are headed to the Gin & Tonic Houston Tour, by Gina and Tanya’s Zumba Masterclass.

Holla!! This class is gonna be friggin’-awesome!! I can’t wait to go. Also, are any of you locals going to the LuLulemon Salutation Nation?

I’m thinking of going Saturday morning. The weather has been so completely great lately that yoga in the park sounds fantastic!

What do you have planned this weekend? Who’s training for races? I feel so out of the loop for races!

I don’t know about you… but I often live in workout clothes.

I do try to dress “cute” when I work out, because if I feel good in what I’m wearing, I won’t be distracted by my clothes and give more to my workouts. True story.

But I got to thinking the other day… busting my booty to exercise and only living in workout clothes all the time, I don’t get to appreciate all my hard work. I’m a girly girl, I like to get dressed up and look cute. It’s a fun way to appreciate all my hard work to be fit.

Sometimes we need a break from the workout clothes and need to put on a pretty outfit and flaunt what we work so hard to get. Take the time to get dressed up this weekend and show off that rockin’ bod that you make work hard for you on the pavement or the gym.

Ya’ll know I want to be a barbie doll when I grow up… I saw this the other day and I think this is what my doll would look like…. I think the hair is pretty close…

There needs to be a “Lauren” Barbie… yes?

Happy Weekend, my friends!!!

So it’s been a long time since I did a Q&A time… like, forever ago. Let’s get this party started!

QUESTION: That Pink Girl asks…

“What is your favorite running bra? I need new ones – they don’t make my fave anymore!“

ANSWER:

Some of my favorites are C9 Sports Bra by Champion, sold at Target…

and I also like the Nike Pro Women’s Bra..

I try to find all my sports bra’s either on sale or I check out Marshall’s or TJMaxx. They can be super pricey… but of course worth it to protect the goods.

QUESTION: Carolina asks…

“How many calories do you eat in a day?”

ANSWER: I’ll preference this by saying, everyone is different, height, weight, metabolism, etc. So be sure to consult your doctor or nutritionist to know what your daily recommended calorie intake should be. For me, I roughly take in anywhere form 1400 to 1600 calories a day. Depending on my physical activity.

QUESTION: Jessica from Dairy Free Betty asks…

“I’m curious to know what you ended up getting!!” {related to the Fashion Swap Party}

ANSWER: Here’s what I got…

Top and Pants from J.Crew, Tops from Ann Taylor, Gap. Also not pictured, I grabbed a cute blue purse, black knee-high boots and couple of belts. That grey/yellow dress is cute, but I want to find a tailor who can turn it into a top for me. I had 35 + items I gave to swap, and I could have replaced those items, but I was having too much fun playing hostess.

QUESTION: Amanda at Click. The Good  News asks…

“That glass is adorable- where did you get it? I’m trying to transition away from reusing my bottles to cups with straws. Thanks!” {related to this post)

ANSWER: I got this beauty as a gift at the end of the school year from one of my preschool kids. I LOVE it. It’s about the size of a grande drink at Starbucks. (Yes, I measure everything according to Starbucks) This cup came from Pier One I’ve been informed. I’d love to get me more. Its hand wash only, so if you pick up one, don’t put it in the dish washer!! You wouldn’t want it to lose it’s pretty colors.

QUESTION: Tammie askes…

“How old is your dog?“

ANSWER:

This little firecracker is about 2 years old. We got her from a (kill) shelter who knew nothing about her. Once we took Taxi to the vet, the doc said she was rough 6 months to 1 year old. We went with the 1 year old age, and have had her for 1 year this last April. We of course celebrated her “Gotcha Day“. Taxi is such a fun little pup. She has so much personality its unreal. She also makes for a great running partner and is up for a trip to the park anytime…

QUESTION: Whitney from Slimming Down for the Gown (Hop over to Whitney’s blog and send her some congrats, she’s getting married June 25, 2011) asks…

“Did your goal weight line up with your expectations about what your body would look like? Or did you adjust your goal as you got closer?” {in reference to this post}

ANSWER: I love this question.

For those of you who are losing weight or have lost weight, you know that you started with a number in your head… whether it be a pants size or a weight number, you had a number in your head… For the longest time, I wanted to be a size 10. That was my goal for years. It didn’t matter so much to me how much I weighed, to me it was all about how I would feel in my clothes and I just knew that if I was a size 10, I’d be my healthiest weight possible, and that’s the only size I’d ever be able to be, without of course being “too thin” (I’m 5’10″). The funny thing is, I didn’t really know what a healthy weight was for me, and I surely didn’t know what “size” that would put me in. So as I set the goal weight that I needed to be, and started to lose weight, track my weight loss on a scale, my body started to look and feel better than what I expected. I passed my goal of wearing a size 10 and still had weight to lose (to be in a healthy weight/height range) and above all, I was feeling good in my own skin. Now that I’ve reached my goal weight, I’m happy with the way my body looks. Sure, there’s areas I definitely want to tone up (no flabby arms, please), but I know that will take time. Just like it took time for me to lose the weight. Nothing happens over night, its a journey, its a process. Once you submit yourself to that process, nothing but good can come out of it.

Thanks for all your questions. If you ever have a question you want me to answer… send it my way!

One day I came up with this brilliant idea; to have a party at my house, with friends, yummy eats and drinks and exchange clothing, purses, shoes, jewelry, etc, and call it a “Fashion Swap Party!” My idea was truly brilliant… I shared said idea with my sister and she informed me “Oh yeah, haven’t you heard of those before? Its a clothing swap. Google it.” So that I did…

And apparently Clothing Swap parties are all the rage. How did I miss this? I thought my idea was original… oh well, so what, lets party!

“Old Clothes shouldn’t die, they should find new life with a proud new owner.”

I sent out an invitation via facebook {gotta love modern technology!} and got a great response from everyone. I wanted to have a fun, fabulous, everything girly fun kind of party, and that my friends is exactly what it was…

The rules were simple:

*For every one item you contribute, you are welcome to take one item from the table. Want more items? Bring more stuff! (Please bring a minimum of 5 items, they can be anything from the following: clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, purses, etc. No home decor. Just fashion items you can wear/use)

*If two or more people see an item they want at the same time, desperately want it and negotiations are at a standstill, they must draw straws for the item.

*Make sure all items are free of stains, rips, etc.

*Whatever is left over on the table/racks and the original owner doesn’t want to take it home, it will be donated.

There was 20 people that came to the Fashion Swap and everyone raved how fun the night was and that they want to host their own party too. There was even giveaways! Everyone put a raffle ticket in the jar and fun prizes were given from Amanda Carol Designs, Confectionaly Yours, MoCo Zumba and a personal stylist genius (my sister), Sarah.

The party was a great success and everyone left with fun new items to add to their closet! I don’t know if I could have pulled the event off so well with out my two sidekicks…

I have two of the most creative, fabulous, awesomest sisters ever!! We just had to get all doll’d up for the event. That’s how we roll.

My sister was taking pictures all night {thank you sissy!}, so everything you see above is from her. That evening at like, midnight {she had WAY too much coffee} she sent me this…

How adorable is that? And yes, I do have to tease my hair to make it “bigger than Dallas”, thankyouverymuch. I should file this under “Signs I’m from Texas”. Yes?

There ya go, loves. That’s how you have a Fashion Swap Party. Have you ever had a clothing swap before? Do tell.