DIY boyfriend jeans

Finding the perfect pair of boyfriend jeans is HELL.
After about 2 years of searching, I gave up. there is no such thing as a pair that would fit by waist, butt and thighs...

Then I found these jeans at VV's Boutique (Value Village) and thought to myself: these would make the perfect boyfriend jeans.. if they were ripped more... and had a skinnier leg.... so for 5.99 they were mine for the crafting.

Before: 

 

1) turn the jeans inside out and put them on . Pin down the calves, keeping in mind you don't want skinny jeans! 

2) sew along the outside of the pins, I went over it twice to make sure it would hold. Put them on to make sure you didn't do something weird. 

3) snip snip !! Cut of the excess, leave about 1/4 inch of Jean past the stitches

 

4) Distress them. All it took to get these where I wanted was some sandpaper and some elbow grease.. Easy!! 

5) wear your fabulous new boyfriend jeans. 

Finding the perfect pair of boyfriend jeans is HELL.
After about 2 years of searching, I gave up. there is no such thing as a pair that would fit by waist, butt and thighs...

Then I found these jeans at VV's Boutique (Value Village) and thought to myself: these would make the perfect boyfriend jeans.. if they were ripped more... and had a skinnier leg.... so for 5.99 they were mine for the crafting.

Before: 

 

1) turn the jeans inside out and put them on . Pin down the calves, keeping in mind you don't want skinny jeans! 

2) sew along the outside of the pins, I went over it twice to make sure it would hold. Put them on to make sure you didn't do something weird. 

3) snip snip !! Cut of the excess, leave about 1/4 inch of Jean past the stitches

 

4) Distress them. All it took to get these where I wanted was some sandpaper and some elbow grease.. Easy!! 

5) wear your fabulous new boyfriend jeans. 

3 miler + Stairs

Todays Workout: 

3 miles outside ( 9 min/mile) 

8 sets of stairs (run, run skip, hop, hop skip, repeat) 

Todays Workout: 

3 miles outside ( 9 min/mile) 

8 sets of stairs (run, run skip, hop, hop skip, repeat) 

Crazy 8s Workout

Im totally obsessed with my new tank from Activate Apparel.

Here's todays, somewhat of a full body workout with bit of a focus on legs:

CRAZY 8s

all of these exercises (except those with a * are weighted), I list what I use, which may not work for you!

1) 8 deadlifts 60#

2) 8 burpies *

3) 8 squats 50#

4) 8 kettlebell swings 25#

5) 8 jump squats *

6) 8 walking lunges 40#

7) 8 box jumps *

8) 8 wood chops (kettle bell) 25#

REPEAT

2 min plank set

- 30sec plank on elbows

- 30sec plank on hands

- 30sec plank each side

+ 25 exercise ball crunches

+ 15 mins light elliptical/walk to cool down

Im totally obsessed with my new tank from Activate Apparel.

Here's todays, somewhat of a full body workout with bit of a focus on legs:

CRAZY 8s

all of these exercises (except those with a * are weighted), I list what I use, which may not work for you!

1) 8 deadlifts 60#

2) 8 burpies *

3) 8 squats 50#

4) 8 kettlebell swings 25#

5) 8 jump squats *

6) 8 walking lunges 40#

7) 8 box jumps *

8) 8 wood chops (kettle bell) 25#

REPEAT

2 min plank set

- 30sec plank on elbows

- 30sec plank on hands

- 30sec plank each side

+ 25 exercise ball crunches

+ 15 mins light elliptical/walk to cool down

Fix That Frump

In the process of un-fcking my closet. I came across some things that were so frumpy and sad that I wondered why I ever wore it. See exhibit A:

Soooo... Because it's summer I decided to do a little update. Things you need:

1) frump-city tank/tee

2) pair of scissors

3) 2-5 minutes

Cut from the centre bottom halfway up.

And boom surfer chic cool.

Easiest diy ever that probably didn't need a tutorial but you know some people need it (myself).

In the process of un-fcking my closet. I came across some things that were so frumpy and sad that I wondered why I ever wore it. See exhibit A:

Soooo... Because it's summer I decided to do a little update. Things you need:

1) frump-city tank/tee

2) pair of scissors

3) 2-5 minutes

Cut from the centre bottom halfway up.

And boom surfer chic cool.

Easiest diy ever that probably didn't need a tutorial but you know some people need it (myself).

8 ways to make yourself feel better.

Did you just get a bad mark? Break-up? Have a major fight? Get in trouble at work? Get a bad haircut? Or generally just feel crappy about yourself/life in general. It
happens, all you can do is try to feel better.

1) Girl, put on some lipstick. I'm not talking your fave nude, or everyday go-to, because clearly thats not cutting it today. You need something brighter and bolder. My FAVOURITES are NYX soft matte lip cream - they're only $6 my go-to shade is 'San Paulo', its a deep pink that I LOVE.

2) Get some comfort food. On a diet? TOO BAD. Guess its your cheat meal (which you should be doing anyways). For me its this delicious fry gravy and cheese magic called poutine. Im lucky enough to have a poutinerie that makes magic combinations including: butter chicken poutine, pizza poutine, pulled pork poutine, and even bacon cheeseburger poutine. Its the BEST. Yours might be fancy coffee and one of those giant cookies those coffee shops always have, a slice (or four) of pizza, some nachos maybe. Whatever is its, grab a book and go sit and EAT. 

3) Buy yourself something nice. I like to do this online because it keeps me from impulse buying everything on sale at the store. And if its makeup, electronics, etc. I like to research and compare the hell out of it. Also getting it shipped to you gives you something do look forward to! (who doesn't love getting something in the mail?!)

4) Cook something major. It could be a meal, or a dessert or both. Just get on pinterest, find yourself something that looks delicious, and get cooking. Only do this if you have, like, unlimited time (like the rest of the evening for example). Trying to cook something new at 5pm when you have to be somewhere at 6pm is a BAD IDEA. Give yourself a lot of time to figure it out, taste test, and enjoy it once its done! BONUS: if its nasty see #2.

5) Buy a scratch ticket pack. I do this every Friday, and I never, ever win big, but I usually win something (anywhere from $2 to my personal jackpot of $25). I spend $5 and get the pack of 3 cards and I think its darn fun, even if I only win $2 I get super excited. And hey, who knows when you'll kick that crossword of bingo card's ass and win like $100 or maybe even $10000 !

6) Work it, girl.  Exercise. Endorphins. "Happy people don't kill their husbands". Yeah. Go to the gym, go for a run, go to a class (Zumba and Yoga always do it for me). Even if you just hit the elliptical and watch TLC or HGTV ( full disclosure: sometimes I go to the gym solely to get my Toddlers in Tiaras and Love it or List it fixes) it will make you feel much better. 

7) Clean your fu@%*^$ room. Living in a mess can be one of the most frustrating and stressful things. Put on some great music ( 8tracks.com ) and get going. While your at it PURGE. Throw out anything and everything that you don't need or want anymore (especially clothes) . See diagram below for guide.

8) Do NOTHING(ish). And my nothing I mean be the laziest mother trucker around. Take a nice bath, make yourself some microwave popcorn and fire up the netflix or watch endless re-runs of friends. Then go to sleep and sleep until you don't feel like sleeping anymore. 

Did you just get a bad mark? Break-up? Have a major fight? Get in trouble at work? Get a bad haircut? Or generally just feel crappy about yourself/life in general. It
happens, all you can do is try to feel better.

1) Girl, put on some lipstick. I'm not talking your fave nude, or everyday go-to, because clearly thats not cutting it today. You need something brighter and bolder. My FAVOURITES are NYX soft matte lip cream - they're only $6 my go-to shade is 'San Paulo', its a deep pink that I LOVE.

2) Get some comfort food. On a diet? TOO BAD. Guess its your cheat meal (which you should be doing anyways). For me its this delicious fry gravy and cheese magic called poutine. Im lucky enough to have a poutinerie that makes magic combinations including: butter chicken poutine, pizza poutine, pulled pork poutine, and even bacon cheeseburger poutine. Its the BEST. Yours might be fancy coffee and one of those giant cookies those coffee shops always have, a slice (or four) of pizza, some nachos maybe. Whatever is its, grab a book and go sit and EAT. 

3) Buy yourself something nice. I like to do this online because it keeps me from impulse buying everything on sale at the store. And if its makeup, electronics, etc. I like to research and compare the hell out of it. Also getting it shipped to you gives you something do look forward to! (who doesn't love getting something in the mail?!)

4) Cook something major. It could be a meal, or a dessert or both. Just get on pinterest, find yourself something that looks delicious, and get cooking. Only do this if you have, like, unlimited time (like the rest of the evening for example). Trying to cook something new at 5pm when you have to be somewhere at 6pm is a BAD IDEA. Give yourself a lot of time to figure it out, taste test, and enjoy it once its done! BONUS: if its nasty see #2.

5) Buy a scratch ticket pack. I do this every Friday, and I never, ever win big, but I usually win something (anywhere from $2 to my personal jackpot of $25). I spend $5 and get the pack of 3 cards and I think its darn fun, even if I only win $2 I get super excited. And hey, who knows when you'll kick that crossword of bingo card's ass and win like $100 or maybe even $10000 !

6) Work it, girl.  Exercise. Endorphins. "Happy people don't kill their husbands". Yeah. Go to the gym, go for a run, go to a class (Zumba and Yoga always do it for me). Even if you just hit the elliptical and watch TLC or HGTV ( full disclosure: sometimes I go to the gym solely to get my Toddlers in Tiaras and Love it or List it fixes) it will make you feel much better. 

7) Clean your fu@%*^$ room. Living in a mess can be one of the most frustrating and stressful things. Put on some great music ( 8tracks.com ) and get going. While your at it PURGE. Throw out anything and everything that you don't need or want anymore (especially clothes) . See diagram below for guide.

8) Do NOTHING(ish). And my nothing I mean be the laziest mother trucker around. Take a nice bath, make yourself some microwave popcorn and fire up the netflix or watch endless re-runs of friends. Then go to sleep and sleep until you don't feel like sleeping anymore. 

Commandments of Fitness

So I'm sure that you've heard of the famous "THEY" (who are they anyways) saying that the elusive 6-pack you're bangin' out 1000's of crunches and hours of planks for is actually more diet than exercise, and this goes for weight loss/toning of the rest of your body as well. The thing is ... THEY might be ABSolutely right. 

This I have learned from experience. From waking up at 6am and going to the gym, then hitting it again either at lunch or in the evening and seeing no results. It is frustrating and it makes you want to quit. I didn't want to admit that the problem might have been the chocolate bar I ate at work, or the pizza pops I had for dinner. How could it be? I was working so hard! 

But then I read an article which I now cannot remember the name of or site. 

To get fit, or thin, although I'm not a huge supporter of the 'get skinny campaign' (maybe because I'm not ;) ) this is what you need to understand:

1) It is a LIFESTYLE change. Not a crash diet, not a magic pill or a one time juice cleanse. 

2) It truly is 80% diet , 20% exercise. So shop the perimeter of the grocery store (fruits & veggies, meat, fresh bread, dairy) and maybe venture into the depths of the aisles to grab some peanut butter. But its good for you to cheat sometimes, so you don't burn out and give up completely. Grab pizza with your friends, eat popcorn at the movies.. you get the picture. 1 or 2 cheats a week is ok. One bad meal won't make you fat , just like one good meal won't make you skinny.

3) You do need to exercise. A great rule is to do 30 mins or 3 miles, every. damn. day. More is great! but make sure you get one of those in.

4) For gods sake drink more water. It's like the easiest thing you can do. 

5) Lift some weights. Especially if you want a booty. Do some weighted squats, lunges, and dead lifts. Do some shoulder presses, and chest presses and curls.  

I PROMISE you will not look like this : 

< -- THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.

You have NO idea how much this gal does to get this. She is dedicated to an insane diet and a gym routine you probably can't even dream of. Lifting some weights will not make this magically happen to you. I promise. 

You may however find yourself looking like this: 

<-- This also does not happen by accident. But it is a more realistic representation of what will happen to your body if you start lifting some heavy(ish) weights to add to your cardio routine. (dat ass)

However you choose to go about it, I wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of fitness.

xo 

Mads

So I'm sure that you've heard of the famous "THEY" (who are they anyways) saying that the elusive 6-pack you're bangin' out 1000's of crunches and hours of planks for is actually more diet than exercise, and this goes for weight loss/toning of the rest of your body as well. The thing is ... THEY might be ABSolutely right. 

This I have learned from experience. From waking up at 6am and going to the gym, then hitting it again either at lunch or in the evening and seeing no results. It is frustrating and it makes you want to quit. I didn't want to admit that the problem might have been the chocolate bar I ate at work, or the pizza pops I had for dinner. How could it be? I was working so hard! 

But then I read an article which I now cannot remember the name of or site. 

To get fit, or thin, although I'm not a huge supporter of the 'get skinny campaign' (maybe because I'm not ;) ) this is what you need to understand:

1) It is a LIFESTYLE change. Not a crash diet, not a magic pill or a one time juice cleanse. 

2) It truly is 80% diet , 20% exercise. So shop the perimeter of the grocery store (fruits & veggies, meat, fresh bread, dairy) and maybe venture into the depths of the aisles to grab some peanut butter. But its good for you to cheat sometimes, so you don't burn out and give up completely. Grab pizza with your friends, eat popcorn at the movies.. you get the picture. 1 or 2 cheats a week is ok. One bad meal won't make you fat , just like one good meal won't make you skinny.

3) You do need to exercise. A great rule is to do 30 mins or 3 miles, every. damn. day. More is great! but make sure you get one of those in.

4) For gods sake drink more water. It's like the easiest thing you can do. 

5) Lift some weights. Especially if you want a booty. Do some weighted squats, lunges, and dead lifts. Do some shoulder presses, and chest presses and curls.  

I PROMISE you will not look like this : 

< -- THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT.

You have NO idea how much this gal does to get this. She is dedicated to an insane diet and a gym routine you probably can't even dream of. Lifting some weights will not make this magically happen to you. I promise. 

You may however find yourself looking like this: 

<-- This also does not happen by accident. But it is a more realistic representation of what will happen to your body if you start lifting some heavy(ish) weights to add to your cardio routine. (dat ass)

However you choose to go about it, I wish you the best of luck in your pursuit of fitness.

xo 

Mads

Tshirt upcycle : make er' fit

So i found this super cute XL tshirt at Valville. Im kind of a sucker for band T's so I bought it. (LIKE IT WAS 2.99) but then .... 6 months later I STILL hadnt worn it. So i was like : lets make this sucker stylish.

So heres what we started
with.

so first i needed something to help me with the shape, so i picked this black flowy top, that actually fits me and i love the shape of. so place it on top like so :

aaaaand pin around said top.

then sew around the pins !

then take out the pins

and fall in love with your new totally wearable top. #win. 

(For my top i also cut of the hem at the bottom top and arms to give it a flowy-er feel)

So i found this super cute XL tshirt at Valville. Im kind of a sucker for band T's so I bought it. (LIKE IT WAS 2.99) but then .... 6 months later I STILL hadnt worn it. So i was like : lets make this sucker stylish.

So heres what we started
with.

so first i needed something to help me with the shape, so i picked this black flowy top, that actually fits me and i love the shape of. so place it on top like so :

aaaaand pin around said top.

then sew around the pins !

then take out the pins

and fall in love with your new totally wearable top. #win. 

(For my top i also cut of the hem at the bottom top and arms to give it a flowy-er feel)