Santa Barbara Vaca

Tanner and I decided not to get Christmas gifts for each other this year and rather spend our money on a weekend get away. We decided on Santa Barbara and went over the weekend. We had SO much fun! We stayed right across from the beach and spent our days walking around downtown, trying new restaurants, and getting buzzed. ha! He was a dove and surprised me with a nice bottle of wine and made reservations at well known restaurant there. Since I am a gluten free vegetarian picky eater we had to cancel since there was only meat on the menu. We went to this unreal Italian place instead. What a nice guy for letting me pick! I seriously have never had better food in my life and my pants definitely got tighter on the last day. Of course it wouldn't be normal for me to not feel ILL at some point. Before we went wine tasting I was feeling like I was going to ralph from eating whatever I wanted. I was not about to stay in the room so we went anyways. We got in the cab and of course the driver had such bad BO that I was really going to barf. Tanner knew I was about it loose it and could tell I was getting white. I did survive the BO ride and ended up having such a great night! Since Tanner loves talking to people he found out all the cool spots to go to. We ended up at this bar where they were doing karaoke. Probably the highlight of the trip because there were these three old men there that thought they were famous singers and you could tell they lived for singing on stage. One looked like a molester, the other was so tall and had the highest voice, and the other thought he was a famous country singer. Even though they were terrible they had the best confidence. It was really hilarious! I hate when people talk about how great their boyfriends are, but I really do have the best boy in the world. My favorite thing about him is how he treats others. Whether its a bum on the streets, a weird taxi driver, or the waiter he really makes everyone feel special. He's the funniest, hottest, and biggest freak in the world and I love him! We are so bad at taking pics, but here's a few..

Recent pics of our girls!

Guilt Free Banana Pancakes

My new food obsession is Banana Pancakes and they are so good for you! All you need is two eggs, one banana, honey, and oatmeal or flax-seed (optional). Since I refuse to cook anything that requires more then a few ingredients, this is the perfect breakfast for me. It's super easy.

For one batch it's two eggs for every one banana. Beat the banana with a fork then crack the eggs into a bowl. Beat until its puree. Then add a smidgen of flax seed or oatmeal. Oh and I like to add some cinnamon too!

Make like a normal pancake on the stove. Skip the butter and sub honey instead of syrup for a healthier choice.

I sometimes skip the flax and oatmeal and it still tastes good. Since I am so used to eating like an anorexic I think they taste unreal! Thanks to my friend Justine at work sharing this recipe with me I've made all my sisters obsessed.

Try it..I swear you'll be so into it!

Love, Sunny

Counting Calories with SparkPeople

Well.. it's that time of year. The Christmas cookies are gone and it is time to eat healthy and exercise. We have what we call the "Gurell Metabolism". None of us can eat and drink without thinking of the consequences and we can no way match what our friends eat. The past four years I have motivated myself each year with a 21 day Liver Cleanse. It's gluten free, sugar free, dairy free, corn free, soy free, caffeine free and alcohol free(basically fun free), but I feel a million times better when I am done. When I am eating healthy and watching my calories I use an awesome website called SparkPeople.com. Below I have listed some things I love about this site and I am sure you will too!

1. This website helps you track EVERYTHING you eat. If a food isn't already in the data base it is super easy to add.

2. It also tracks exercise for the day(even if it is only walking or playing Wii). And it doesn't add the calories you burned to calories you can now eat.

3. The apps for phones and iPads are fantastic. You can even take a photo of the code on the food label and all the info is loaded automatically. And even more trackers, recipes, blogs, exercise videos and motivation are all available online.

4. I have calculated recipes I make at home using the calorie calculator and stored those so they are always easy to add to my food tracker and I know exactly the ingredients I used because I made it at home!

5. Something new I love is the route tracker. I can log my route on a map and then the site calculates length and calories burned. 

If you have the "Gurell Metabolism" or if you want to be healthy in 2013 check out SparkPeople.com.

Jonnie found a great idea on Free Peoples blog on how to make silverware look vintage so we had to try it! Below are steps we took to make our own vintage silverware...

 First we laid out our silverware on newspaper.

We picked our three fav colors of acrylic paint. Then we placed tape in random spots over sections of the silverware that we didn't want painted, so that some of the silver showed through.

Here's how they turned out! We are definitely not professional painters, but we were proud of ourselves. ha!

Proper way to clean your makeup brushes

Since a lot of girls don't realize how important it is to clean their make up brushes we thought it would be important to share with you the proper way to clean the brushes and  keep your face acne free! If you don't have time to clean them a couple times a week then definitely try to stick to once a week. All it takes is a few minuets and three easy steps...

Rinse brushes under warm water. Make sure it's not super hot. I have broken a few brushes from using boiling water. Then use shampoo or hand soap on the head of the brush pointing downwards. I'm not sure how great it is for your face, but I also will use dishwasher soap on the brushes before putting hand soap on them so they're extra clean. Then set them on a clean towel and wait for them to dry.

I know the cleaning process is pretty much common sense, but it is extremely important to help clear the bacteria from your brushes. When I notice acne coming on, I clean my brushes right away and it seems to help. Also your foundation will go on more evenly without the left over foundation getting mixed in. After your brushes are clean the application will be much easier and smoother on your face.

Our Labradoodles

It's hard to believe how fast time flies, our Labradoodles Brick and Breeze are already 10 months old! After the devastating month of December when we lost Ozzy and Tommy within 2 weeks of each other, it was the best idea ever for my dad and I to get brother and sister puppies.  It's so funny to see their different personalities. Breeze takes after her mom and is such a Ferris Bueller brat, where Brick the sweetest boy ever and only wants to please you! They have grown up so fast! Brick has the legs of a giraffe (still growing)  and has the jumps of a kangaroo and Breeze has the jumps of a grasshopper (all fours at once) and is a supermodel...you should see her eyelashes!  They love each other so much and are so excited every time they get to see each other. All I have to say is "where's Brick"? and Breeze goes and waits by the door for him! God, Tommy and Ozzy all worked together and  really sent us the perfect two! :)

We have had so much fun lately in their dog training classes at Whole Dog Sports. Just call me Cesar Millan... Both already graduated from the Modern Manners class believe it or not! Brick was the Super Star in the class and the teacher's pet. He loves school and wants to be the demonstater for everything! Breeze is typical and hates her teacher and only wants to do things if it is her idea.

A few weeks ago we started the Beginning Agility class. Before the first class we thought there was NO way they were going to be able to do any of that crazy stuff. Walking beams, jumping hurdles, climbing planks, tunnels...It is unbelievable how fast they have learned and how good they are! Our cheerleading days our coming back to us as we scream, clap, and practically toe touch when they do a good stunt!


Bethany is now in the obedience classes too. The untrainable Beth Gurell is starting to come around, although I don't think she has listened once. haha

If you are in the North County area, check out Wholedogsports.com. Our trainer Lyssa has been great, and the pups absolutely love it!

Summer