Four Day Weekend, Three Day Tanner

A few weeks ago, I attempted to use last year’s leftover gradual tanning moisturizer with no luck. It just made my legs look slightly dirty; I guess that stuff expires. The few times I went out bare legged I’ve just dealt with being pale, but since it rained forever and ever, it didn’t really matter. I was wearing pants most of the time. Now that the hot weather has made a very dramatic entrance right at the unofficial (but kind of official) beginning of summer, I decided to put the hurry up on the faux tan. But I’m not ready for the serious tanner, because that has it’s own kind of drama, and it’s just not necessary yet. I found something somewhere in between, a fast-paced gradual tanner that works over three days.

Cut Loose!

Are you at the beginning of a three-day, or maybe even FOUR-day weekend? MEEE TOOO! Please enjoy this video of everyone, seriously, like EVERYONE, “cutting footloose.” Play it as the last thing you do on your computer today. Or, play it all day, over and over, until your boss suggests everyone go home early. Yay!

Sunscreen Powder is, Presumably, Better Than Nothing

Everyone knows you need to reapply sunscreen every few hours or after swimming. But it recently came to my attention that that goes for non-beach/pool related activities as well, such as walking around town on a sunny day. EEK! That’s my favorite kind of day to walk around town! I sort of just figured my SPF20 daily face lotion would take care of that, but really, that protection is gone after a few hours, just like regular sunscreen! Because it IS.

Paradise Lost: A Hissterical New Thing To Do To Your Nails

Here’s something for the “What Will They Think of Next?!” file, which shares an imaginary folder with my “OMG I Totally Want That!!!” file.

Schick Schaves The Day

After a few weeks of trying, I decided my leg epilation project was better left to the cooler months. When we get the rare treat of a beautiful spring day, the last thing I want to do is wear pants because I’m in-between sessions of yanking my leg hairs out. It really sucks that I put myself through the torture of the initial session without maintaining it, but next time, I’ll just go get a wax and then take it from there. A valuable, if painful, lesson learned. So for my legs, I’m back to shaving.

I Dropped My Plucking Tweezers. Again.

I don’t want to brag or anything, but I’m like, really, REALLY good at dropping tweezers. I could probably go pro, or at least semi-pro, if I didn’t spend so much time writing this blog. The problem is, much like a marathoner will likely wear out their knees, if you drop your tweezers on the bathroom tile enough times (or just once, really perfectly) you will damage them and they won’t work anymore. Just the tiniest nick in one of the blades will render them useless. It’s extra great if you do this after you’ve neglected your eyebrows for a while, and need to clean them up before you go out someplace nice. That’s really the best time to do it.

I Double Dog Dare Me

Last night I did something that I have never done before. I went to a party. Alone. Where I knew no one. At least not in real life.

Orange You Glad...

If you haven’t noticed, orange nail polish is everywhere. Watching you. Just kidding! But it is definitely everywhere. It’s the natural progression from the orangey-reds of last summer. It only makes sense that polish would get oranger and oranger and go all they way to the most orangey. There is a whole range of orange shades available now. Most are plain gloss, but some have a bit of shimmer. If orangey-orange is too orange for you, there are a lot of darker reddish oranges too, and even some “hot corals.” (Like hot pink, only more orange.) If orangey-orange is not orange enough, there is neon orange! Of course, maybe you’ve already been doing orange. In which case, orange you fashion forward!

Tracy Anderson, You Gotta Be Kidding Me!

You guys. Holy effing S. Tracy Anderson's 30-Day Method is sooo hard! Today is day ten, and it’s a good time to check in. I’m 1/3 of the way through. It’s been TOUGH. Also, I’m sort-of-almost getting to the point where I’m reevaluating.

Expensive Deodorant. So What?

Sometimes, when I return something, I end up buying something else that I normally wouldn’t have, because I feel like I have “free money”, which I definitely, definitely, do not have. Still, that’s how I ended up spending $18 for an antiperspirant.

Monthly Gift is Actually Gift-like

I was so excited I could hardly contain myself when I heard about Birchbox, a service that sends you samples of new stuff every month, for just $10. I heard about it in early April, so I was too late to get the April box, but I signed up and anxiously waited for May. My Birchbox arrived last week.

So. Cellulite.

 

I don’t have a serious amount of cellulite, but it’s pretty serious to me because it’s ON ME. And since I don’t want my body to dictate which clothes I can wear, I need to take care of that situation as soon as I can. I am, of course, going the diet and exercise route. (It’s not like I haven’t been talking about that FOR DAYS.) But I’m coming at it from all sides, and that means going topical too.

Tracy Anderson is Totally Not Kidding: Part 3

So, first of all, I must have jinxed myself raving about the food yesterday, because my dinner was very, very not exciting: Steamed Chicken & Kale. Also, I overcooked the chicken a bit because I was busy making some of the other food for today, so that made it even worse. And today’s breakfast, a veggie omelet roll-up thing, was a total fail. The omelet stuck to the “ungreased nonstick pan” and it turned out like more of a veggie scramble. I cheated and added a tiny bit of salt, because I really didn’t like it at all. (Not a huge fan of eggs to begin with.) On the plus side, I made 3 meals and a snack in 1.5 hrs last night! Also, yesterday I didn’t feel hungry, and actually never even ended up eating my snack. That’s probably bad though. You’re supposed to eat everything so you have the right amount of nutrition. Still, I think having the protein in the morning really helped with hunger throughout the day. Day 2 was much easier than Day 1, except for the exercise, which was harder because I was sore. Day 3 is kind of tough so far, because I didn’t finish my eggs this morning and my Chicken Protein Soup lunch was kind of bland. I am seriously thinking about sneaking in a little salt here and there, just so I don’t give up completely. But later, I get to have applesauce and blueberries, and I can’t wait!

And now, it’s time to tell you about the workouts. Tracy Anderson is adamant that you exercise while dieting, so you don’t end up “skinny fat.” And not just any exercise, specific exercises, and you have to do all of them. There are two exercise components in The Method: Muscle Design and Cardio Complement, and you need to do both. Every day. She says if you do the muscle work, but not the cardio, you’ll end up with a layer of fat on top of the muscle. AND she says if you do the cardio but don’t do the muscle work, you’ll end up with saggy skin! The idea is to do all three, diet, muscle design, and cardio, together.

Tracy Anderson is Totally Not Kidding: Part 2

Tracy Anderson considers the meal plan her third component, but for me, it gets priority because it requires the most time and attention. And also, because it’s food!

Tracy Anderson is Totally Not Kidding: Part 1

Remember when I told you about The Water Secret, and then we were all going to start eating better and working out once a week in March, and then twice a week in April, and then three times a week in May? Did you do that? Me neither. I really wanted to but…

Lighten Up

This post is all about SELTZER! Seltzer! Seltzer! SELLLTZERRRR!!! I was once banned from saying seltzer on a weekend trip with some of my sisters and cousins because they said I said it too much. Admittedly, I DID suggest it be added to pretty much every beverage we were drinking, except coffee. Seltzer is controversial among some members of my family because they “hate the taste of it.” They hate the taste of plain water with bubbles in it? Yes. I guess you can maybe taste the carbon or something a little TINY bit, but seriously. It’s not a strong taste and you can barely taste it when you add it to other things. Like tequila! I will add seltzer to pretty much anything. A glass of orange juice. A glass of wine. A glass of ice cubes. A glass.

Stop Hiding, Start Living!

Do you have feelings of inadequacy?

Do you suffer from shyness?

Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

Do you suffer exhaustion from the day to day grind?

Fun Zip

One of the great things about writing this blog is that people come to me with stuff they are excited about, in case I want to write about it. I recently got a particularly funny tip from my physical therapist. Not funny because of the item, but funny because my physical therapist is a guy. A straight guy. And he was all “Have you seen the new bags from Sephora?” LOL. Of course, he didn’t discover them himself. His fiancé is a fellow beauty junkie, and she found them. Still, it was pretty funny. And it’s a good product! Resealable travel bags, in a super-fun print.

Shattered!

I’ve finally tracked down some of OPI’s Shatter effect nail polish! Maybe not exactly tracked it down, but I finally found it in stock at one of the places I’ve been looking (for months), Ricky’s.

Bumps B Gone

I just learned that Tend Skin now comes in a roll-on! Great news if you need it for your pits, but also if you’re just lazy and don’t want to bother soaking a cotton pad before applying it. It’s only 2.5oz, so it’s good for airline travel, and extra good if you’re flying somewhere that you’ll be wearing a bathing suit.