Saturday, November 24, 2012

VoxBox

There's a new website that is getting quite a stir here on the internet. It's called influenster.com. Where you create a profile and this company sends you a box full of products to try and talk about. I recently go the college VoxBox. It came with 5 products that any college girl would love.
 If you click here you can see a picture of everything. (and follow me on instagram!)

-evergy sheets: these are a lot like the Listerine breath strips, which is good. But these have added B vitamins to give you a little boost. I tried them last night and I liked the pay off, but the consumption was not the greatest. They're thick so they don't melt right away, and the after taste isn't something I look forward to. But I will use them! (mainly when I need a pick-me-up before I go out at night)

-imPress nails- I've wanted to try these!! I got a super cute black and white with glitter pattern and I can't wait to try them! So easy, just clean your nails, pull off the backing and press hard! they're supposed to last for a week.

-Tropical Necco Wafers- I remember these from when I was a child. They have a bad rep about being an awful candy. These are not too bad. I like the new flavors (coconut, passion fruit, strawberry, lime, banana, mango) but yes, they are still the wafers.

-NYC show time glitter eye pencil: LOVE! Black glitter eyeliner pencil, can you ever have enough of these??? I don't think so either.

-Pantel EnerGel pen: as a student, I always need new pens so I actually like that they included one. Ill be using it starting on tuesday when I get back to classes!


If you haven't already signed up for influenster, I would recommend that you do! Its free and the boxes are free too! Such a cool way to get and try new products!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

What my father taught me

A couple of days ago I posted 'What my mother taught me', so now I'm doing what my father taught me. I don't think I have ever mentioned it, but I grew up in two homes. I have never known my parents together so it was normal for me to go back and forth between houses. They always lived in the same city (not anymore since I moved out), but my week was split up between two homes: my Mom's and my Dad's So, here's some things that my father taught me:

- You can do better: My father believes in doing your best no matter what. If your going to work, why not it be your best? He taught me to do my best and be proud of the work that I produce.

- Work for it: If I wanted something, my dad would usually ask what I am going to do in order to get there. He is a go-getter type person and has taught me that if you want something you need to go get it. No one is just going to hand it to you, that's lazy.

-Exercise is important: though I didn't understand as a child why my dad always recommended that I join a sports team so strongly, I understand now that not only does it form healthy habits, but develops important skills of working and winning as a group. It's also great for stress relief and keeping your head on right.

- Share with the ones you love, or even just like: My dad loves throwing dinners or parties that bring basically everyone he knows in the area together. He's all for "the more the merrier". My favorite has got to be his holiday party (which I now travel to Arizona to attend) where there's plenty of food and wine for almost his whole neighborhood. He taught me that a good thing is always better when shared with others (often referring to a bottle of wine, or when I cook up a batch of these nachos in the summer).

- responsibility: I HATED this as a child but it has indeed paid off now that I'm an adult (or that's what the government says I am). Me and my brother had weekly chores of cleaning our rooms, taking out the trash, and other things that we did anything to get out of. But now, I can easily keep my house in order with out the question of "someone else will do it". As my dad always told me "Just do it". I know, nike says that too...

- cooking (to survive): I'll be honest, as a kid my dad was not a very talented cook (sorry dad!). But my brother and I have a running joke about the only four things we had for dinner; chicken, fish, spaghetti, or hamburgers. I will say that sense then, my dad has broadened his cooking horizons. But If we wanted something else, we had to cook it. So that's what I did. I learned how to cook scrambled eggs in preschool and sense then I've been getting better and better. But, I still have a hard time eating spaghetti.


I have to say that I enjoyed these two posts. Parents play such a role in a child's life and I didn't quite realize it until I did this. I knew that they taught me things but you usually only recognize the small ones rather than the ongoing skills they secretly teach you (sneaky parents...)

What have your parents taught you that helped to shape the way you are today??????

Sunday, November 4, 2012

What my mother taught me

Ive been watching a interview series called "The Conversation" with Amanda de Cadenet and Demi Moore. Its a wonderful series where its more of a conversation rather than question and answer (hence the name). Well, they always talk about parenthood and what they want their kids to learn. So this is what my mother taught me, weather or not she meant to.

-Ask for what I want: I sometimes would hint at things and she would just stare at me and say "cool, but what are you trying to ask me" which would force me to say exactly what I want.

-You can always make a meal with things you have: I often stare at my fridge and say "I have nothing" and then 20 minutes later my mom would have a meal on the table. pure magic.

- Its usually not worth yelling about: Every kid and their mom gets upset at eachother, but she had always had a calm way of handling things.

- Just make it: My mom has the mentality of rather than buying it, just make it yourself. Every time I visit her she made something new. I'm not as crafty as her, but I often think when I see things "I can make that" or I tweek something to make it better for me.

- Work with it: When something happens, it happens. There's nothing you can do to take it back, the only thing you can do is move forward and work with the situation. Figure out what you are going to do next, not what you could have done.

- Do what makes you happy: My mom is an engineer with a masters. Some parents would expect their children to take on interest similar to theirs, but when I told her I want to go to school for fashion and then make up afterwards she thought it was fantastic because its something I want.

All parents teach their children SO many things its hard to even begin to count them, these are just some of the things that she taught me as I was growing up, as well as the secret to the best pumpkin pie ever (cook the pumpkin down to a deeper color before making the filling)

Things my father taught me are coming up next

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

My Milkshake brings all the boys to the yard

When did this become a health blog?? I'm not sure. Because Halloween is around the corner, and my favorite holiday, I will be posting make up looks soon!!
But the other day I got a couple of packages in the mail that made me very happy. I ordered the combat protein powder in vanilla and some more royal jelly vials. The size of my powder jug is nothing of a joking matter, its gigantic. I ordered the vanilla flavor because I figured I could do the most with that.
I love starting the day with a protein/nutrition shake of some sort. I usually do half scoop of powder and save the other half for after a work out. I made one this morning and it tasted  nothing short of a thick and creamy milkshake. Who knew health food could do that???!!? Along with protein, I pack in just about anything else that will fit to get my body off to a good start. Here is what I made this morning:


What's inside:
-1/2 scoop combat powder in vanilla
-1 scoop Green Superfood from AmaZing Grass (has all the nutrients from all the best plants. get the unflavored one and it will just tint your drink green, you wont be able to taste it)
-1 vial of Royal Jelly with Bee pollen (SOO many nutrients and really boosts your energy, I did a quick google search and found out it might be the best thing for you)
-1 tsp of Chia seeds (these are very trendy right now, they have fiber, omega, and protein in them)
-1/4 tsp cinnamon (just a little bit of this stuff can boost your metabolism by 20fold, yes please)
-mango chunks (to get a fruity flavor, and the orange pigment in the mango helps to fight off cancer causing cells, Dr Oz told me)
-Non-fat milk till 3/4 full (I use the magic bullet blender in the single serving cups)

This baby whips right up!! it turns into this thick dream of a shake and with the mango and cinnamon in there its just the best. I also added a couple strawberries in there to get a more fruity taste. MAN OH MAN. This packs one hell of a punch but its nothing you have to force down :)
To get a thinner shake, just use water instead of milk, it still tastes good and has less calories. I just like the filling aspect of using milk. (soy milk or almond milk would also be delicious with this)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Lets eat!

I've been making an effort to eat a little better  (see post before) and I was completely unaware that I eat just about everything. I have been going along thinking this is how everyone eats. The first time this came to my attention was when I visited a friend in Boston, we went grocery shopping together sense I was staying with her and I was grabbing what I like to buy. And she remarks "Man!! You eat everything!!!" I hope you can imagine my face was very confused. I eat asian food, I eat mexican food, I eat seafood, and euopean food, and mediteranian, and south american. I could probably eat my way around the world with no problem. I don't cook just one way either, but its less varied than my restaurant choices.
The second time it came up was with my trainer. He had me texting him what I eat (so if I didnt want to tell him, I didnt eat it. sounds weird, but worked!) and one day he shoots back "You have the most diverse diet Ive ever seen" EVER???? I doubt that. But I guess I do eat alot of things that alot of other people won't. Ah, the plus side of growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area....

But one meal that I don't think anything of, actually gets me alot of looks and awe. You know when you order a pizza or pop on in the oven and you get a little salad to go along with it? well, I plop mine right on top. Yep. Mixed greens, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar right on top of some thin crust pizza. If I have it I throw some shrimp up there too.

Next time try it, the vinegar and the cheese with the tomato and the slight crunch of the lettuce is just wonderful and a pretty well balanced meal!! way to spice up pizza night into a black tie affair :)


There's my lovely dinner right there, with a magazine to keep me company.




Friday, July 20, 2012

Health and Fitness

Hey! You thought I forgot about this. Nope. It sits at the back of my mind all the time about how I should keep posting. Today won't be about make up, but rather health and fitness so you feel beautiful on the inside. I used to play tennis for my school so during every season I would lose weight and feel fantastic, but once the season ended I would start to gain it back; not this time though. Last January I started to feel extra chubby, so I was thankful that tennis season was about to start. But I didn't want to wait until then to start my weight loss. I also recently purchased a fancy phone (the iPhone) that has helped me dramatically in staying fit and feeling great!! So I thought that today I'd share with you the things I use to help me stay healthy:

I downloaded a couple of apps that have seriously changed my life! The best thing about both of them is that they are absolutely free!! It shocks me that they have so much to offer with no charge. You may have heard of them before, but I cannot recommend them enough
        My Fitness Pal: This is a calorie counter that tracks what you eat. It sounds simple, but this is genius. You put in how much you weigh and how much you want to weigh along with your height, gender, and age. it then calculates how many calories you should be eating a day to reach your goal. When you eat, you enter your food in to the counter (you look up what you ate or you can scan the bar-code with your phone!) and when you exercise it takes off the calories you burned, so then you can eat more. This helped me SO much because it showed me how much I should be eating and made me aware of portion so I wouldn't over eat. You can also see what you eat and make modifications to your diet, like if you need to be eating more protein or more produce.
       Nike Workout Trainer: This is what I workout with a lot. I do belong to a gym but sometimes I'm just so bored with the elliptical and treadmill I can't even look at them. This app allows you to choose your fitness goal (slim down, tone up, get strong, or a quick focused workout) and your fitness level. Don't be fooled, these workouts make you SWEAT and I'm usually sore the next day. This app will never tell you to run for 10 minutes but rather have you do moves that involve the whole body. A lady guides you through a work out and there are videos of the moves to teach you each one, and there is a pause button (which I always have to hit at least once).


Besides these two apps, I try my best to eat healthy, but reasonably. I am a normal person and any one of my friends will tell you I love my mozzarella sticks or a cupcake. because life would be no fun if you deprived your self of yummy things. But I do make conscious decisions about what I eat. I'm always on the look out for things to add to my diet that have maximum impact for my health. Be real with yourself when setting limits about what you eat. For me, I don't eat meat except seafood and I watch my carb and protein intake, but it won't stop me from ordering a pasta dish while out, I just ask for extra veggies in it.
What is new to me is this green smoothie craze. I tried it though it looks beyond gross to me. I make them here at home and I put it in an opaque container so I can't see that it is green.

Here is my favorite recipe of the moment:


I use a magic bullet blender and just make it in one of the cups.

4 chunks of mango (the orange pigment in foods are extra good for you, or so 'the Drs' show told me)
3-4 strawberries
hand full of pineapple
teaspoon of chia seeds (good source of fiber, some protein, omega 3s and 6s, calcium, iron. these babies are a super food!)
teaspoon of coconut oil (so good for your skin and to help keep your body hydrated; and adds a tropical flair!)
lime juice from half a lime (to help cover the leafy taste)
hand full of Power Greens, from Trader Joe's (includes Kale, Chard, and Spinach. the most nutrients in any greens)
a vial of royal jelly (this adds sweetness as well as being a super food packed with just about everything. It helps with keeping the brain healthy and growing)
water to the top after adding everything.

Whip all that stuff together and your in the Bahamas and feeding your body so much good stuff. It does turn out green, but the fruit and royal jelly do a prime job covering that taste so all your tasting is tropical goodness!!