SOCIAL MEDIA

· · ·

Celebrity Fashion Spotlight: Jessica Simpson

Feb 23, 2014
Celebrity Fashion Spotlight: Jessica Simpson


Celebrities love to expand their resumes and ways to double their earnings  by slapping their names on perfumes, clothes, handbags, etc. Some celebrities fail while other flourish. A perfect example of that is Jessica Simpson. Gone are the days where she is just known as a singer because now her name can be seen in more than the CD aisle.
When she first came on to the scene I paid no mind because I had little faith in her designs but the more time passes the more I give her credit. Her fashion line is is great because not only is it reasonably priced (dresses are in the $60-150 range) but the cuts are perfect for someone looking to stay stylish and fun without trying too hard.

Her pieces can easily be mixed and matched. Mix them up with any of her fragrances from her Fancy line and you're ready to hit the town!

My favorite is the white cutout dress with the sheer detailing. What's yours?
Read More
di

Pamper Yourself!

Feb 20, 2014


This post is dedicated to my ladies in the Northeast who are suffering with blistering cold weather, icy sidewalks and slushy streets. I know that my current uniform of shorts, mini’s and tank tops leaves you all angry and jealous but you can combat that by pampering yourself and getting ready for spring. It won’t make you leave the house without a coat but it will make you feel better and hopefully. After all, spring comes every year, it’s just a matter of how long we can handle the wait. 

Here are the spots in NYC that I use the most to pamper myself and feel like a goddess. I highly recommend you try one, if not all, of these spots.

Hair

I adore getting my hair done by Dominicans. There’s something about the way they do hair that out of control good. Whenever I go to a Dominican hair salon I get a full service treatment without paying insane downtown prices. Plus my hair is an enigma that only my ladies at Hairmatics in Washington Heights can manage. For under $20 I get my hair washed, put in rollers, blow dried, get a straightener passed AND get my ends cut. If you don’t live in the area or are afraid of anything above 59th street because you’re an implant then it may be a bit of a trek but it’s definitely worth it.

Eyebrows

A few years ago I was speaking with a coworker and spaced out. I was mesmerized by her amazing eyebrows and had to just interrupt her to ask a million questions about them. She didn’t hesitate to invite me with her to her next threading appointment at Looks-Eyebrow Threading and I happily went. Unfortunately her lady, Jyoti, didn’t want to touch my eyebrows until they grew out a bit. Two weeks later I was back and have gone to her ever since. I don’t like anyone else touching my eyebrows but her. She offers a loyalty card where after 10 visits the 11th is free and the location on E. 14th St. Is perfect.


Hair Removal

I’m going to be really open here and share something a bunch of people would consider really personal with the masses: I hate hair. I think it only belong on the top of my head or eyebrows and nowhere else. Another thing I hate are razors. I don’t want anything to do with them and I cringe whenever I see one and I think everyone else should. While there are other things like depilatory creams and laser removal waxing has always been my favorite and the one method for hair removal that I recommend the most. 

 When you consider hair removal options the biggest factor is how long the hair will take to grow back. It’s an age old dilemma that we all face. When you shave, it’s back within the day and leaves razor burns. Creams last about a day longer and if left too long can cause major irritation and laser removal is expensive. The amount of money I’ve spend on waxing over the years could probably cover laser treatments but not everyone has all hat money to drop upfront and it’s way easier to just leave a spa with smooth hairless skin and no burns. The place I’ve gone to the most in NYC has been Dyanna Spa . I don’t mind getting my legs or underarms waxed at other locations but when it comes to a Brazilian Wax I have to make sure that it’s painless and doesn’t irritate me after and the ladies at this location do an amazing job!


There’s my list! It’s worth pampering yourself just a bit in order to mentally escape the bitter cold and see how close spring really is!

PS: Some of these places have deals on their Facebook, Yelp or website, don't forget to follow them. The only thing better than getting pampered is getting a deal for it :-)

Hairmatics: https://www.facebook.com/hairmaticssalon
Looks-Eyebrow Threading Salon: http://www.yelp.com/biz/looks-eyebrow-threading-salon-new-york
Dyanna Spa: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dyanna-Spa-NYC/109959332356031, https://twitter.com/DyannaSpaNYC
Read More
di

3 Day Cleanse: Day 1 Diary

Feb 18, 2014
And so it begins. I I completed Day 1 of my cleanse and I'm happy to report that I haven't passed out yet! I decided to keep track of every drink I consumed in order to give me a sense of purpose and to show how easy this is to do. I constantly mention how this super healthy lifestyle is new to me and I don't pretend to be a pro. I would have loved to have this kind of discipline back in 2009 but I'm glad I finally have it now. Better late than never, right?If you need a refresher on what each drink contains just click here. 

1. Absolutely Everything (10am)
I read everywhere that starting the day with a green juice on an empty stomach is the best thing to do during a cleanse so I will . This juice isn’t as chewy as I’m used to so I’ll make sure to not strain the next ones for the day as much. I need to start soaking my nuts for tonight nut milk because i’d rather they have a thicker consistency.

I weighed myself today and the scale read 153. I blame this on time spent away where I just ate and drank like it was nobody’s business. This shows that I still have a long way to go on this health journey. I normally don’t workout or diet while on vacation but being away from work is totally different and no excuse.



2. Skin Tonic (2pm)
This one was a bit lighter but chewy which I liked. I drank this one a bit slower but still faster than I wanted to. I felt hungry after this one and I think it was mental. Perhaps I didn't mentally prepare for this cleanse like I did last month. Argh!



3. Replenish (6pm)
Four hours between juices. Not bad. I got kind of busy re-doing my bedroom and bathroom which was a bit helpful. Getting my mind off of food is what I needed earlier today. This juice was my favorite of the day. It was really refreshing and I liked how it was a break from the heaviness. I cheated with this one by adding celery. It made a huge difference and added an extra bit of freshness that it didn't have the last time I made it. Two other people tasted this one and LOVED it. A plus is that It can def be mixed with vodka to be turned into a cocktail. But not until after I'm done cleansing. Aside from water the only other thing I will consume during this cleanse is chai tea. Speaking of which....



4. Nourish (10pm)
I had a chia tea in between the 3rd and 4th  juice which helped curb my appetite. I’m trying to not need 6 juices a day but if my body wants more I will submit. I refuse to be physically hungry. I put this one in the freezer for about an hour to get a bit slushy and it was a pretty fun drink. I can't believe I'm voluntarily swallowing beets!

I started to soak the nuts for the nightly nut "milk" earlier in the day because I thought I'd want it for a nightcap but I'm not hungry so I decided to save it for tomorrow. The longer nuts are soaked the thicker the milk will be which means I'll have an amazing vanilla or cacao nut milk to send me off into dream land tomorrow.



Final Notes on Day 1

So far I’ve felt a bit hungry on this cleanse, I’m not going to lie, but I think it’s because I’ve made them more juicy and less chewy. I’ll have to change that up tomorrow. I need to make them thick enough that I'm forced into taking my time with each juice to let myself get full. I also need to drink more water in between.

I don’t feel any changes yet. I did go to the bathroom a lot more than I wanted to thanks to the carrots so it’s safe to say that while the juices aren’t as thick they’re still doing what they’re supposed to!


One down, 2-6 to go!
Read More
di

February Cleanse

Feb 16, 2014
I mentioned last month that I wanted to do a cleanse once a month and tomorrow I will begin the one for February. I've labeled and bagged enough ingredients for 4 days but tomorrow I'm going to buy some more for days 5-7. I am determined to do a seven day cleanse and I'm pretty sure I can do it. Being off until Wednesday will be good because it'll let me start at home and let the consistency flow into the workweek.

The cleanse I did in January was only three days and includes six daily juices. I loved that the juices were filling enough to leave me satisfied at the end of the day having just consumed 4-5 of them which let me add a day to my cleanse. The cleanse make me feel energized, in total control of what I was putting into my body and it helped me lose some weight. I felt a sense of euphoria during those four days that I've never felt before. Instead of feeling sluggish, hungry or moody (due to hunger) I was upbeat, satiated and was more focused during my workouts. After the four days were up I continued to drink 1-2 healthy juices a day until I went away for work and that just threw my eating into a tailspin! EEK! Now that I'm back home I can get back on track with my eating habits and kick carbs, fatty foods and unprocessed junk to the curb.

I'd love for some of my readers to join me so I've written the ingredients of the juices but if you're not ready to jump into a full on cleanse just yet I highly recommend drinking at least one of these juices a day, mainly the green ones, to add a powerful dose of vitamins we all need in a form that's better than a pill.


Our 3 day cleanse. It can be mixed up and extended as long as only one of the 'milks' are use daily
Day one is tomorrow! I'll write throughout the process and will do a full write up when I'm all done. Now I've got to head to bed because I have to run in the morning before spending the rest of the day organizing and decorating.


Read More
di

12 Months of 30 Days: Month 2: Package Design

Feb 3, 2014
February is here and it's time for my second monthly challenge. This month only has 28 days but this one has been in the works for a while now. I'm coming out with my own eyeshadow collection and the goal for this month is to finalize my palette design. It's really exciting and I'm happy to finally discuss it on this site. I've been collaborating with my designer heavily over the last few weeks and we hope to have the final design done by the end of the month so I can use March to work on the finishing touches and hardcore mixing.

We have exactly four weeks in the month and my job on this end is to just push her to meet deadlines,  find a place to get the printing done right and make sure that the design fits with the different palette case colors. It's going to be a very fun month!  On top of this I plan keeping the momentum from last months challenge and will try to run at least 4 days a week. I'll be going away for about a week due to work and will bring my sneakers in hopes that I can at least run on the treadmill at the hotel instead of staying in the room, ordering tons of room service and consuming
Read More
di
·

12 Months of 30 Days: Month 1 Recap

Feb 2, 2014
For the past week everyone's been saying the same thing: can you believe the month is almost over? Yes, yes I can. Time flies and yesterday it was 2000 and tomorrow it'll be 2020! Having said that though I really can't believe my first 30 Day Challenge is done. Did I complete the challenge like I wanted to? Do I feel accomplished? Was enough effort put into it? I'll answer all the questions below.

Did I complete the challenge?  My challenge was about building my endurance up as much as possible. I wanted to run 7 miles without stopping and having good time. My plan to achieve this was to run every other day with doing the 30 Day Shred in between. I did really well during the first 10 days but then work got to me and I was working 14 hours a day for 5 days. Ouch! I did not work out at all during those days because I was on my feet and was mentally and physically exhausting.

When the 5 days were over I eased my way back into running because the weather was still amazing out here and managed to build up to 3 miles without stopping. I felt my stamina and endurance rise and I even started to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth instead of doing both from my mouth like an amateur. Doing the shred helped me avoid feeling weak whenever I had to lift my arms for a long period of time and I just felt stronger overall.

Do I feel accomplished? Absolutely. I feel accomplished because I was running more than I have in a long time and was pushing myself to try to reach my goal. Whenever I couldn't run because of work I didn't feel discouraged and didn't let one day off turn into two weeks off because I know I was trying my best.

Was enough effort put into it? Honestly I could've put a lot more. There were days that I didn't have to work until later on and only gave myself 30 minutes to run instead of an hour or I waited until the last possible minute to hit the track. Effort was put into it but I really could have put more.

The end result is that I ran more than I have in a long time, I am driven to run a bit more per week in the month of February as I did in January and it's giving me something to continue to do.  My run today was pretty amazing because I kept a really good pace and didn't feel like dying when I was done. I am happy with the mindset that I was in and think this will help me achieve the rest of my challenges for the year.









Read More
di
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)