I can haz more candy? or motivation?

Seriously---I don’t need any more candy. Or cheese potatoes (although they were fabulous!).  I certainly enjoyed myself over the holiday weekend.  Hope you all did as well!

Now that my food fest is over (we still have leftovers but I’m hoping DH will take care of all of those), it’s really time for me to get myself back into my gym routine.  Not sure why I slacked off so much, but I do know how great I feel when I am finished with a great workout.  That’s what I have to do to push myself forward. 

Sometimes it’s so easy to blow off the gym and go home and relax. I did that all weekend.  DH even went to the gym on Saturday and I just lazed about at home.  I am lucky that I lost some weight at my WW weigh-in this past Wednesday.

Which leads me to the real topic for the post (see, I did really have one!).  How do you continue to stay motivated after you’ve met a goal?   What’s next?

I’ve been working on that since I met my goal in 2008. Then it was to reach Lifetime status at WW.  When I did that I kind of thought it was party time.  Then I came crashing back to reality when I had  bit of a gain.

Every so often at WW meetings, we have this discussion.  Our leader Jane has been at this around 20 years, so she knows what it’s like to lose motivation or to get bored.  And you already know I have ADD, so I get bored VERY quickly.  I will get into something (such as a workout program) and then a few months later I am over it. 

That’s kind of how I am feeling right now.  I need to get back to more structure in my working out, like setting a schedule.  That way I don’t have to think about it.  I can just show up and do what I have prepared.  I know that doesn’t work for everyone, but I prefer that kind of approach.  Us ADD people need to change it up so we aren’t bored. 

Some ways I like to get back on track:

• Try new recipes and foods.  When I feel like I’m in a rut, I will start online with Pinterest, All Recipes or Clean Eating to find some new recipes to try out.  I keep my old issues of Clean Eating and will browse back through them.  I also check out other blogs and the WW site for a mountain of recipes.  The local farmers markets will be opening soon as well.  I love to browse the veggies and fruits each week to try something I may not normally try.  Just wish DH liked eggplant!
• Change your environment.  Yes—this one sounds really easy and silly.  But we all get used to doing our thing and we don’t really like change, especially if we were successful in the past with something.  For example, I am going to do different cardio this week.  Instead of doing the treadmill for 30 minutes (fine but boring for me now), I am going to go back to Zumba on Tuesday and Thursday.  I enjoy the dancing and the music—constant stimulation.  I know I look like a dork, but I have fun and burn tons of calories!

• Get outside!  Now that it’s warming up, get yourself outdoors to do your walking/running.  DH and I will often walk around our neighborhood after work in the summer and I will make SJ walk in the park after WW when it gets warmer.  Feels less like work but you are burning some calories! 

• Focus on your feelings.  Sounds kinda hippie-ish right? What I mean by this is think about how you will feel when it’s over.  When I finish a great workout I feel like Superwoman.  Use those feelings to push yourself forward.  Visualize an end result, such as you wearing those smaller-sized jeans or showing off your toned arms in a new top.  Or try the reverse—think about how you felt when you were overweight.  That ALWAYS does the trick for me.  When I know I have to get myself going and I’m not in the mood I think about my former fat self and how unhealthy I felt.  I realize how much I DON’T want to be like that ever again and it gets me going.

• Plan ahead.  Also sounds simple right? I can be a very big procrastinator as DH will be the first to tell you.  If I really don’t want to do something, I will find a way to put it off or an excuse for something that ‘needs to be done’.  But I have learned to recognize this and either A-give myself a break and admit I need to be lazy or B- tell myself too bad.  Last week I gave myself permission to be a bit lazy as there were a few things going on at home and I just wanted to relax and enjoy my day off.  But come this morning, I had my gym bag packed with everything ready to go so I could head to the gym right after work and get my weights done for the day. I knew if I didn’t, I would just go home and veg.  Then I’d feel like crap about it too.   If you make exercise like any other appointment, you are more inclined to follow through rather than just saying “I want to work out.”

• Find a way to make yourself accountable.  For me it’s going to WW that keeps me accountable.  The scale doesn’t lie really---if you haven’t been working out or overeating, you will know it!  But there are other ways to keep accountable without using a scale.  Try giving yourself a reward (not food related) for completing X amount of workouts in a week.  Or for each workout you complete, put $1 in a jar and then use the money for a treat for yourself. 

The hardest thing for me to realize in this journey of weight loss is that it never really ends.  But I am human and not perfect.  I will make mistakes, get bored and procrastinate. But I will also get back up and shake my booty at Zumba again and I will hit those weights hard too!  I will enjoy my Easter candy and will go to the gym the next day. 

Have a great Monday!  What is your motivation for working out?

 

I can haz vintage? Or retro?

 

DH said something to me last week that surprised me.  We were on our way last week to the wine dinner and were talking about clothing in general in the car.  He said to me “At least you wore something from this decade instead of your retro stuff.” I was a bit miffed and replied that I wear a lot of modern things where he disagreed.  I thought he was rather misinformed about what exactly vintage or retro was until I gave a think of my own.

To me, vintage is really vintage.  Meaning, at least 10 years old.  And yes, I do have a good bit of vintage clothing that I have collected for many years and wear a lot of it.  Then you have vintage reproduction, which is a direct reproduction of vintage styles.  I have those as well.  Then you have retro, which to me is a loose interpretation styles gone by mixed with modern elements.  Again, these are just my definitions and I have no idea if they are ‘right’.  Just my thoughts.

The more I thought about, the more I realized that DH was right. I do tend to go for a more vintage or retro silhouette when choosing clothes.   Not only because I like the look, but they just look better on my body type.  I am an hourglass and I need dresses and skirts to have a defined waist or I look like a sack of potatoes, as my grandma would say.   I just look better in vintage/retro looking clothes!

But DH is not right that I wear that look all the time. There are many times when I don’t wear that look and I would consider the look a classic (like a pencil skirt and a cute top) where he would classify that as ‘retro’.  And ‘modern’ clothing constantly and almost always references past decades! So I guess I resent his trying to pigeon hole me into a style!

Below is a dress I just got from the Limited.  Polka dots are all over the place right now but I guess you could say the cut of the dress is vintage looking.  But I wouldn’t call it retro as it’s very on trend at the moment.  I plan on changing up the belt a bit (maybe yellow or mint green belt) and adding some funky jewelry and shoes.  You like?

Those of you who know me know that I love all clothes and all types of styles, not just one!  I know people and bloggers who live a true vintage lifestyle and dress and live vintage all the time.  Some of them even forgo modern technology (although most do not!).   (For some beautiful retro homes, please check out my fellow bloggers the Rockabilly Socialite and Welcome to Deluxeville.) I would kill to have a retro kitchen or furniture like these girls, especially an old stove!   However, DH is so NOT into that.  He goes REALLY retro, as in Renaissance looking retro.  Our living room has his collection of swords on the way, to my mother’s chagrin.  But DH aims to please.  When we redid our guest bathroom, he indulged me and kept the old tile on the wall.  We simply had it reglazed to white with black trim and he put in a black and white tile floor.  I really have to get some pics (when it’s all clean and shiny to show you).  I hung some vintage black and white Hollywood pics on the wall too! Below is a really cute vintage black and pink bathroom.  The house I lived in until I was 6 had tile like this but much smaller:

One of my ALL TIME fave InStyle issues was when Dita Von Teese’s home was featured.  It’s so girlie and chic. Check out the scans below:

And here are a few more of Dita herself.  Her wardrobe and style is just divine. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So this ended up being a really long rambling post.  Thanks for reading if you’ve kept up! 

(Note: Each of the dresses is hyperlinked to the site where you can check it out if you like!)

How do you feel about vintage clothing?  Do you like it? Or do you prefer modern clothing only?

 

I can haz makeup? Part 1

Do you ever go through a phase where all you want to do is buy or research (insert item here)?  I have gone through many phases that have become true interests like vintage clothing, decorating, and genealogy.  After the initial phase slowed, I still had an interest.  But one phase that never died is my love of all things beauty!

I realized last week that I am the ‘go to’ person for most of my friends and family when it comes to finding certain products. SJ asks me, DH asks, friends and even co-workers ask me my thoughts on makeup, hair etc.  I guess it’s pretty obvious that I’m into that sort of thing.   I started reading Vogue at 13 and was the girl who could watch the Oscars and know what designer the actresses were wearing before they were asked.  Yeah, I’m a geek like that. 

Liz and Dick at the Oscars, above.  They’ve always been one of my fave Hollywood couples. 

Which leads me to my post for today.  I thought I would do a little series on my staple items.  When I say staple I mean my ‘go to’ items.  Things that I will rarely stray from. It took my a long time to figure out what will work for me and my skin.  So for me to even consider trying something new, I have to read tons of raves for it.  (Note: these are really the products that I use every day on my face.  No one paid me for these comments—I’m telling you the whole truth!)

Today I’ll just focus on my all time fave products for face: primer, foundation, concealer, etc.   Next time I update this series I will do another product group.

So let’s take it away…..

Some background:  I have super annoying skin.  It’s finicky and likes to annoy me.  I had acne as a teen and I’m still fighting it today.  I never thought I would be this old fighting oily skin! I also have rosacea and battle redness daily as well.  If I don’t cover it, people usually ask me if I am sick because my nose looks red!  I would love to have the rosacea treated with a laser but am put off by the cost (unless any Pittsburghers know a reputable place that is reasonable!).  But I have found some products that help me look presentable enough to have gotten compliments on my skin. 

 

First thing for me in my routine (and I do have one which DH makes fun of) is primer.  I never really understood the need for primer until I tried it.  I’ve tried quite a few and my faves are LORAC aquaPRIME and Bare Escentuals Prime Time Oil Control.  I like both of these equally, but the LORAC is more expensive.  Both of these primers are silicon free, which is really important to know if the silicon fillers in most primers and/or foundations make you break out.  I found that out the hard way when I tried a new Revlon foundation on our vacation last year and broke out in little zits all over my forehead!  EW.  Anyway—aquaPRIME’s consistency is very water like and cool on the face, while the Prime Time’s is a bit thicker.  Both of them do a great job of filling in pores and helping to keep skin matte (at least for a little while). 

After I let the primer settle in, it’s time for under eye concealer.  I never realized how hard it is to find a great concealer for under your eyes.  One that doesn’t look cakey or crepey.  I had tried several, including some really expensive high end ones, but none worked.  When I was at Target a few years ago I randomly picked up Neutrogena’s 3-in-1 Concealer for eyes.  Very impressive for a drug store concealer!  This has SPF and eye cream rolled into the concealer.  I just pat this under my eyes lightly and it covers beautifully with no caking.  Seems to last forever too.  I’ve had my current tube for at least a year!

Then it’s on to the rest of my face.  As I said, I have redness on both my cheeks and my nose from rosacea so I need a little bit more coverage to even out my skin tone.  Enter Kevyn Aucoin’s Sensual Skin Enhancer.  I would consider this one of my ‘holy grail’ products and would NEVER be without it.  It gives AMAZING coverage and you only need a teeny bit.  I’ve had my little pot for well over 5 years and I’ve not even hit the bottom of the jar yet.  You really only need a speck of this to cover almost your entire face.  And it lasts all day long without changing color or sliding off of my oily skin. Plus, if you are having a bad skin day (as we all do), you can layer this to get more coverage. The price may seem high but how many products can you say last more than 5 years?  Probably none.  Kevyn Aucoin was a genius and still cannot believe he is gone.   For more info, please stop by my fellow blogger Daena’s site brightly colored person and her post on the SSE here.  She includes some great pics as well!

Are you still with me?  I guess DH is right, this is a long process.  But Dolly Parton did say in Steel Magnolias “It takes a lot of effort to look like this!”

Sadly, my next all time fave product has been discontinued.  *sad face*  Aromaleigh used to make this powder (actually marketed as an eye shadow) that was out of this world for concealing redness.  The shade was called flaxen and I have used it for 10 years.  Unfortunately the owner ending up selling her business (miss you Miss K!) and Flaxen was not brought back.  Before it sold out I was able to get my hands on five little pots of it and I’m down to my last pot.  If you’ve ever used minerals, you will know that their lasting power is second to none.  It just doesn’t move from your face!  I will shake a little of the Flaxen into the lid and apply with a taklon concealer brush to the redder areas of my face.  The yellow helps to cancel out the red.   I know green is supposed to as well, but I tried that and DH told me I looked like I was trying to attract Frankenstein!  Not a good look.   Since I’m down to my last pot I have started scouting out other replacements.  The top of my list to try is Meow Cosmetics Color Corrective Concealer (pic below).   This looks the closest to Flaxen plus I really dig their site and know some online friends who love them.  I will have to start out with a sample to make sure my skin agrees!

Okay---last step for now.  After all of this comes the actual foundation.  I have been a minerals convert for many years now. Even before they became such a rage with cosmetics companies.  My finicky skin really seems to love minerals so therefore I love you too minerals!  I have tried a few brands. Bare Escentuals (which Salsa Judy really likes) but has bismuth as an ingredient and made my pores look huge and made me too shiny.  No thank you!  Also tried MAC Mineralize which I still use on occasion.  But my winner winner chicken dinner is Lucy Minerals Oil Control foundation.  I read about this on a message board I frequent (waves to Blingers!) and ordered a sample to test out.  The thing that struck me is that the owner Annie is also a rosacea sufferer like me.  She showed pics on her site of her without her minerals (she has more redness than I do) and then with her minerals.  The coverage is astonishing!  Once I got some to try out I have to agree.  The coverage is outstanding. I just shake a little bit into the lid and apply with a taklon kabuki brush as pictured above.  Then I buff into my skin until I feel it’s blended seamlessly.  I only have to touch up to blot the oilies away with my Clean N Clear blotting sheets.  Otherwise the makeup stays put.  Annie also uses antioxidants in her minerals, which you can read more about on her site.  She always has a special going on as well.   

The next part in this series I’ll do fave eye makeup, which could even be longer! 

Thanks for reading and feel free to let me know what your fave products are or if you have any secrets for covering redness! 

I will be back soon with a post on another wine dinner at Casa Narcisi.  This time with pics!!!

 

 

A–Z Survey for Monday

I stole this survey from the lovely Christina @ Hungry Meets Healthy and figured I would give it my own spin.

A is for age: 34 and not ashamed to admit it.  Esp since a co-worker told me a few weeks ago she thought I was 27!  She is my new favorite person now! 

B is for breakfast today: During the week I usually eat the same thing: Kashi bar and then Chobani Greek yogurt a little later at work.  Today it was Dark Mocha Almond Kashi Bar and then Chobani Passion Fruit Greek yogurt.  mmmmmm

C is for currently craving: I think because Easter is around the corner and my grandma just had her birthday (which means candy for her since she loves it) I am craving Sarris Candies Peanutbutter Meltaways.  They are so yummy but I have to ration myself.

D is for dinner tonight: DH informed me (since he was off today) that dinner will be some type of steak.  Perfect since I am going to donate blood after work and that will help ‘beef’ up my iron.  *bad pun*  Sorry!

E is for favorite type of exercise: Zumba or weights.

F is for an irrational fear: Ever since my Aunt Sue’s dryer caught on fire, Salsa Judy has it ingrained in me to never run the dryer when I’m not home in case ‘it catches on fire like Aunt Sue’s did!’  Neither my brother or I run the dryer when we are not at home.  Thanks, Salsa Judy!

G is for gross food: Sushi that has eel or seaweed in it.  Cannot bring myself to even try it. 

H is for hometown: Pittsburgh—City of Champions!

 

I is for something important: Fitness—I have been slacking after being sick and need to get my ass back to the gym!

J is for current favorite jam: Anything by Bastard Bearded Irishmen.

Check them out!

We saw them on Saturday night and they were awesome!

K is for kids: I love other people’s kids, like my niece and nephew!

L is for current location: Pittsburgh!

M is for the most recent way you spent money: Makeup. Needed more minerals!

N is for something you need: I need a cute leopard scarf and haven’t found one I love yet.

O is for occupation: I am an Exec Asst for a large local corporation.

P is for pet peeve: People who don’t use their turn signals is a big one for me.  Also people who are mean to customer service employees.  Bad Manners don’t get you anywhere.

Q is for a quote: There is no strength without unity (Irish proverb) 

R is for random fact about you: I love Jeopardy.  Not Alex Trebek so much, but love the show and usually can get a lot of the answers!

S is for favorite healthy snack: Blueberries. Bananas, sweet potato chips

T is for favorite treat: Ice cream! Specifically a Blizzard with chocolate ice cream and Reese’s PB cups.

U is for something that makes you unique: I have a big scar on my back from falling through a glass table when I was 3. Don’t even know it’s there until someone asks about it.

V is for favorite vegetable: Broccoli, squash, spinach.

W is for today’s workout: I’m donating blood today so no working.  Tomorrow I will be going to Zumba!

X is for X-rays you’ve had: Never had one except for my teeth!

Y is for yesterday’s highlight: It was when I was talking to Salsa Judy on the phone and she realized she pulled into the wrong driveway and couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t get into the garage!  Wrong house!!!  LOL

Z is for your time zone: EST.

Whiter shade of pale…..

I’m pale and I like it. 

There! I said it!  I feel much better now. 

Seriously though—I didn’t realize there were so many pale-haters out there!  Since our spring has shown up early this year (my roses are starting to leaf out already!) I have already received 2 ‘suggestions’ to use self-tanner on my legs.  One of these was from Salsa Judy, who really should know better!

Now, contrary to what DH thinks, I don’t hate the sun.  But the sun doesn’t have a lot of love for me either

Background: I’m naturally white as a ghost, even have been called Casper. But this didn’t seem to be evident until I was an adult.  Because when I was a kid, we had a pool.  So every day in the summer I was in the pool swimming all day.  We would get up, eat breakfast (wait the requisite 30 minutes), then get in the water.   We would get out, eat lunch on the deck and then go back in.  This was every day in the summer.  We sure got our money’s worth with that pool.

So I was TAN.  Pretty brown for a pale Irish girl. Not tanorexic, like Lizzie Grubman above (EW) but a good bit of color.  And of course back in the day, Salsa Judy never made us wear sunblock unless we were at the beach.  Makes sense right?  LOL  Anyway—I spent many summers being tanned from swimming and enjoying the pool, they really only saw me paler in the winter.  And for a blonde, I tanned very well.  DH has seen pics of me as a kid and couldn’t believe how dark I was.

So what made me go from tan to Casper? Well, it may have been kind of a rebellious thing.  I remember seeing all of these girls who were going to the prom (which I refused to attend) go tanning and it kind of grossed me out.  It just wasn’t my thing I guess.  And being the voracious magazine reader I am, studies were starting to come out at that time just how bad the sun really was for you.  And Salsa Judy (who was an avowed sun worshipper) had started getting pre-cancerous moles that needed to be removed.  And the fact the hygienist at my orthodontist's office was super-duper tan and her skin looked like crepe paper and freaked me out.  But she always made comments about how she didn’t want to get ‘too light’.  So I decided I didn’t care about being tan and would just take care of my skin. 

People need to realize that sun damage is cumulative.  If you get a bad bun in childhood, that alone doubles your changes to get skin cancer.  I can remember getting so sunburned on a family vacation in Hilton Head that I couldn’t even sleep on my back. That and the fact that I never wore sunscreen in our pool made me realize that I would be happier to embrace my Pale Porcelain self. 

And I’ve been happily pale since.  And have you noticed that despite Jersey Shore’s attempt to popularize the tanorexic look, paleness seems to have its own little trend going on.  Dita Von Teese and Rooney Mara (both above) have been my fave pale girls lately.  I’ve always loved Dita’s style (I would kill to have access to her amazing vintage wardrobe!)  and she embraces her paleness as well, even using a parasol in the sun.  I tried that but DH said he wouldn’t be seen with me!  Rooney is also an Irish girl like myself and her skin is gorgeous. I would say she’s my skin twin in terms of color.  Can you honestly tell me that these 2 women aren’t beautiful with pale skin?  I couldn’t even imagine either of them with tan.

The are a few things I don’t like about being pale.  One is the comments from people who seem to think it is their duty to tell you that you need sun.  I just tell people that I like being pale and smile.  Plus, I’m not going to look like a wrinkly raisin later in my life!  I like my moon tan, thank you very much!

Another pain is makeup.  90% of the foundation shades out there are not light enough for my skin.  That’s one of the main reasons I use mineral makeup.  If the lightest shade isn’t pale enough, I have a little bit of white mineral powder I mix in to get my perfect pale shade.   Plus minerals have natural sunscreen built right in so your skin is already partially protected.

But it’s not to say that I don’t get a bit of tan every now and then.  You really can’t avoid the sun, unless you’re a vampire. DH and I go to a lot of outdoor festivals and he LOVES the sun (how is that for irony?).  I practically have to force him to put sunblock on since he wants a tan (yes, he’s Italian).   So I have gotten some tan/burn but rarely.  And on our last vacation to the Dominican Republic (pic above is one of the beaches *sigh*), I got a decent tan (for me anyway).  It wasn’t that I was lying in the sun, I was in the water really enjoying the beach and just happened to get a tan.  I love the water more than anything so the tan was side effect.

It’s interesting how times change. In addition to the Little Black dress and her amazing fashions, Coco Chanel was the person who made having a tan fashionable in the 20th century.  The legend says that she went on a long trip abroad with her latest love, the Duke of Westminster, she came back with a tan and started a trend.   Since Chanel was (and to me still is) the height of chic, everyone started to tan.  Before that, if you had a tan it meant you were poor and had to work in the sun.  If you were a lady of leisure, you were white as snow and never went in the sun for fear of freckling!   Soon after, tanning became associated with being healthy and doctors were saying the sun was great for you.    And 70 years later it’s all upside down again!

How do you feel about the sun?  Do you try to avoid it?  Or are you one of those who loves a great tan? 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!! ( bit early)  I will be celebrating with my family tomorrow and then DH and I are meeting up with friends to see some great bands.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get some good pics to post next week.

Happy weekend!