<3 <3 <3 My heart is full! On 3/24/16, after a long fun weekend fixing up our camper, we returned to Chicago and went out to the beach, where Peter asked me to marry him!! Apparently, he was going to ask the day before, but I had too much paint on my hands from painting cabinets ;) 

Camper Remodel: Painting Cabinets

Progress continues with the camper. This week we took the first step in replacing the floor that we had to take out due to severe rotting :(

While Peter was doing that, I got busy removing the cabinets, priming, and painting. I used the oil-based Zinsser primer, which I brushed on initially. After doing several of the cabinet pieces, I ended up buying the spray paint version which went on a million times faster.  I am interested and hopeful with how it will hold up on those lovely laminate cabinets!

(My station all set up as I primed)

I found a really nice shade of white/off white, which is White Dove by Benjamin Moore. This is the shade I am using on the cabinets, although I don't have pictures yet of them all finished with that shade. 

Finally, I laid out all of the hardware and primed and spray painted it with a nice oil-rubbed bronze.

Above is what the rusty/off colored brass handles looked like before spraying! 

Camper Remodel: Cleaning the Tent Ends

It is finally warm out in Illinois! We drove to my hometown for the weekend where we have the camper stored. My big task was to clean the grimy/moldy tent ends. Peter came in with no plan but ended up demolishing the floor (long story for another day). 

This is what we started with:

A few weeks ago we attempted to clean the canvas, and bought two different products. One was a mold cleaner from Lowes, and the other was a 3M mold/mildew boat cleaner from Gander Mountain. We had luck cleaning the outside canvas, but the inside was not budging at all. 

I read a bunch of reviews and decided to order two of the Bass Pro Shop Mildew Stain Remover sprays. This was the best decision ever.

We decided it would be easiest to take off the tent ends so I could spread them out and clean them outside. It was a bright warm sunny day which I think actually helped activate the bleach a bit (I could be totally wrong there).  We used the spray, a soft bristled brush, a sponge, and a bucket of water. 

The technique I used was to spray and let it sit for 1-2 minutes, then I dipped the brush in water and scrubbed the canvas, which created some suds, but definitely showed that the tent was getting clean. Afterward, I used a wet sponge to wipe down the fabric. I'm not sure if the sponge totally cleaned out all of the spray product, but it smelled clean and bleach-like, and I'm ok with some of that being left over in the fabric.

My patch test revealed that the spray worked awesomely. 

Below is a good picture showing how clean it makes the fabric (left) versus the side I hadn't sprayed or scrubbed (right).

(The final clean product. So pleased! It looks new!)

And now for a few pictures of my handsome boyfriend working on the inside with the camper airing out! 

Our little camper

Every summer, Peter's family goes to Salisbury Beach, MA on the New England Seacoast for a week of camping. Peter's parents and siblings (and their families) all have campers that they stay in, and it is a ton of fun to hang out and relax.

A few weeks ago, Peter and I bought a 1999 Forest River Shamrock camper.  The camper is 19 feet long and is a "hybrid," which means it has bunks that pop out like a pop up camper.

The camper is in working order, but we got it for a cheap price and therefore have a few fixes that we will need to make, including some cleaning, water damage, and decorating.  I hope to document this process on the blog. You can check the link bar at the top of the page for more posts about the camper.

Old Navy Active - Fit Review

I stopped in my local Old Navy today and was pleasantly surprised with the selection of activewear.  I have not purchased much activewear lately, and I finished Weeks 1-12 of the Kayla Itsines BBG last week, so I figured it was time to reward myself :) 

The first thing I tried on were the Women's Go-Dry Compression Leggings in blue (couldn't find picture in blue.)

This is what the color actually looked like, a heathered navy blue.

 

I tried on the XS, and they fit pretty well. The hip band was kind of tight. I did not end up buying them, but I am still thinking about them! 

Next up was the Women's Mesh-Back Tank.

The pictures aren't awesome but I really loved this tank. I tried it on in an XS. I liked that the back was a subtle mesh, and I can wear a cute sports bra and have that show through on the back. Verdict - purchased!

I tried on the Women's Semi-Fitted Power-Mesh Tank in XS.  "Semi-Fitted" must be a joke because I was swimming in it. I love a cute loose workout tank just as much as the next girl but this one might just fall off when doing burpees. :P Verdict - noooope. 

Next I tried on this Women's Tank in grey, size XS. It was on sale for under $6!!! Ahh. And I loved it. It really shows off my shoulders. In fact, I wish I would have purchased two. 

 

I saw this Women's Go-Dry Racerback Tank online and was excited to try it on, but again, it was huge... 

Not exactly fitting like an XS.

Finally, I tried on the Go-Dry Semi-Fitted Tank in grey in XS, and the Women's Running Tights in Maroon in XS. 

The tank was a bust, just too big for my petite frame, but the leggings were awesome. They were not too tight, and not too sheer. They felt like they would work well in the 30-45 degree temperature range (a "warm" winter day in Illinois). Unfortunately, the leggings were $42, and I was just not ready to spend that much! So, I did not purchase, but I will be keeping my eyes open for a sale. 

(Posing to show my guns the armpit fit)

Have you purchased anything recently from Old Navy Active? Any recommendations? Thanks!

Workout recap - Week of July 6

Sorry for the boring post, but I wanted to do a quick recap of last week's workouts. I am continuing with Kayla Itsines' BBG workouts, and finished Week 4 of 12.

Monday
AM: Legs/Cardio BBG Week 4

Tuesday

Wednesday
AM: Arms & Abs BBG Week 4

Thursday
AM: LISS - 2 mile speed walking, 26 minutes

Friday
Rest... Migraine :(

Saturday
AM: Total body BBG Week 4 + Bikini Buns & Thighs

Sunday
HIIT Running:
5 minute warmup slow jog
15 sets of --> 30 seconds sprint @ 9mph  + 30 seconds off
3 minute cooldown jog

WIAW (6-17-15)

Happy Wednesday! Today is my first exclusively food-related post, but likely the first of many now that I am focusing a lot more on nutrition.

(source)

I started my day by waking up at 5:15 a.m., stumbling around the house to get ready, and getting to the gym around 5:45 a.m. As I explained in this post, I am on Week 6 of the Tone It Up Bikini Series, and today's morning exercise was:
- 30 minute run
- Glute/Core workout

I ended up feeling some pain in my IT band, so I cut my run short to 25 minutes and did some stretching. I then came home and did the Bikini Buns and Thighs.


Breakfast, or Meal 1 ("M1"), was a Chocolate Sunrise protein smoothie. The recipe is available on the TIU website, but I have posted it here as well.

I got to work around 8:30 (I always always try to get there at 8am but that never happens. Oh well). Around 10:15 I had M2, which was a slice of ezekial bread with a tbs of natural peanut butter, and an apple. One of my favorite snacks. 

I ate lunch (M3) around 12:30 and had leftover spaghetti squash with organic pasta sauce (premade, about 3g sugar), and my boyfriend's homemade turkey spinach meatballs. They are awesome!

(when you are messy like me, you must tuck a napkin into your blouse!)

I worked some more and ate a late M4 around 4:45, still at work. I had arugula salad with grapes, feta, and a hard broiled egg. Dressing was about 2 tablespoons of oil and vinegar combined.  

Around 6pm, my friend Kayleigh came over and we did Week 1 arms/abs from the Kayla Itsines BBG. That was very hard. We brought the yoga mats outside and did the workout outside, which was a really nice change. I was supposed to do "Island Bikini Ready" video as my PMWO but I skipped that one. 

Afterward my boyfriend and I went on about a 1 mile total walk around the neighborhood. There was a city "garden walk" and one of my neighbors had their garden as part of it. I wish I took some pictures because this was an intense and awesome garden. I live in an old neighborhood and the houses are somewhat close together with small-ish yards. This person had an enormous yard which was at least 2 lots. We walked past the pool, past the garage, and into a garden wonderland with a giant coy pond, several pergolas, tents, sheds, food gardens, etc. 

Afterward, my boyfriend had bought some wood to make our own garden boxes. I think we are going to grow strawberries since we eat so many! 

(Hard at work)

I took on dinner while he was making the boxes.  I made this garlic shrimp and pineapple skewer recipe from Grill Girl for M5, and it did not disappoint. I added quinoa and steamed broccoli as a side. My boyfriend said it tasted like "restaurant food"-- whatever that means ;)

Now, I'm exhausted and heading to bed.  Hope you had a great Wednesday. Let me know what you ate/did/thought!