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Firstly, a PSA to all of my lovely and stylish Houston readers: Style expert Tim Gunn will be at The Galleria Mall this Saturday, March 27 to share his expertise as he hosts a Spring 2010 fashion show featuring Juicy Couture, Kate Spade New York and Lucky Brand Jeans. Guests will enjoy live style transformations, get invaluable fit and style tips and learn how to maximize their wardrobe for Spring. It's happening inside of the Galleria mall right near Ann Taylor (on the lower level right beside J. Crew.)
Because the event starts at 1 PM, I sadly won't be able to be there... and I love love love Tim Gunn ("Make it Work!")
Why, you ask? It's because I have my last color/trim with my wonderful hairdresser before he moves to Italy next month. I couldn't imagine not having one last color appointment with him (and uh, it's been months since I last had it colored...though, I'm pretty thankful I can let it go so long between visits.) I'm going to miss him (and so is my hair.)
Have you ever "lost" your hairdresser? What did you do? I'll probably remain at the same salon and just have another stylist take a shot at my hair, but I am terrified about trusting someone else. I just like really blended, low-maintenance color and I think it takes real skill and talent to do that properly.
If you can make it out to see Tim Gunn, please do! I'm sure the event will be fabulous!
I want to give a quick update on my fitness progress (or lack thereof.) I have been trying to "get back on track" for like 3 weeks now. I completely failed. But that's OK. I can't beat myself up about it forever. So today when I got home from work I so didn't want to work out. Like absolutely totally 100% didn't want to do it. But I forced myself to do one of my "Elle Make Better" workouts. I just pushed through it and told myself "it's just 30 minutes."
I seriously admire anyone who can stick with the P90X program. I just haven't been able to. It's too much for me. I think I need to work out more before I do the program on a daily basis.
Bikini season is just around the corner and I need to get toned up again! What do you do when you're in a rut and what is your summer workout plan? Let me know below!
Oh- and before I go- one more update: my skin has been really weird lately. Like super peel-y and uneven. I've been using the Clarisonic and haven't changed anything so I think the weather is what's making it act up. It's cold one day and warm the next. Very inconsistent. Does your skin freak out when the weather changes?
xoxo,
Veronika.
Today I wore my new ruffle sleeve top that I blogged about yesterday in my Forever 21 haul. I just love this top. It's a great top because it's comfortable like a tee, but when you take off your cardigan, it doesn't feel like just a plain ol' t-shirt. It still feels put together and pretty.
It was gross and rainy here today, so I wore my trusty Express "Editor" pants.
Top- Forever 21; Pants- Express "Editor" Pant; Necklace- Tiffany & Co. "Return to Tiffany" heart pendant and Forever 21 key pendant. On Nails- OPI "Lucky Lucky Lavender. Watch- Michael Kors. Shoes- Aldo.
I am actually blogging as I watch The Bachelor finale live. I just love this show. I've know who was going to "win" for several weeks now since Reality Steve broke the news. I get sucked in nearly every season, and every season I always find out who wins way before the finale because I just can't seem to keep away from the spoilers.
One of the reasons I love the show, of course, is because of the abundance of fashions, hairstyles and makeup looks. 25 women all on one show is bound to bring a lot of different styles together (not to mention personalities, drama!)
I stumbled upon a blog recently that has a lot of Bachelor fashion posts so I thought I would share it with you all. It's called The Possessonista. She has an interview with The Bachelor's Rozlyn and I even found a link to Corrie's blog from the show (she is a fashion stylist IRL- link to her personal website here.)
I've always thought it must be really fun to get chosen as a contestant for The Bachelor because think of all of the beautiful dresses you'd get to buy (and you'd have a place to wear them- hello rose ceremonies!) I always find myself buying all of these cute party dresses with no place to wear them since I'm not really into the whole club scene/going out and partying scene anymore. I'm going to make it my goal this summer to wear my fun dresses on date nights with my husband.
Speaking of The Bachelor, Jason and Molly from last season got married over the weekend. Their wedding will air on ABC next week, I believe, but here are photos from their big day in the meantime. You can see them here and here. I really loved Molly's Vera Wang gown. The skirt of it was just stunning.
Did you watch The Bachelor this season? Let me know what you think in the comments below. I am a Tenley fan, have been from the start.
Before I go, I'm going to give a few quick updates.
#1- P90X- After my food poisoning, I thought it was actually a blessing in disguise to cleanse my system before fulling embarking on the P90X journey. My husband and I took the nutrition guide with us when we went grocery shopping on Sunday, and although we are not following the diet to a "t," we are using it as a very strong guideline to make better choices.
Today, for example, I ate strawberries and peaches along with a string cheese stick for breakfast, with a cup of green tea. For lunch I had a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with one slice of cheese. I had a few more cups of green tea after lunch and also ate some almonds as a mid afternoon snack. For dinner we had whole grain rotini pasta with marinara sauce and shrimp (yum!). For dessert I had a 140 calorie ice cream cone (the Nestle lil' drums- I highly recommend them, it's a big payoff for very little calories.)
I am not big on diets. I think they are way to restrictive and I absolutely love sweets so I need to keep them in my diet or I feel completely deprived. I eat some form of ice cream, candy or cookies on a daily basis, I just try to keep my portions moderate.
We did day one of the classic program today (arms, back and chest.) I think we did well. Push ups are always hard for me. I can only do them on my knees right now, since my upper body strength is not very good. I'm really looking forward to toning my arms more.
#2- Clarisonic- I absolutely love my Clarisonic. I feel the cleaning power you get from a Calrisonic really does clean deeper, which is why my pores are smaller. I definitely can't imagine not washing my face with it before bed. It is a wonderful tool. I never experienced any breakouts and overall my skin has improved. I still get dry patches and red areas, but they have decreased since I've started to use it. I also notice I am not reaching for my facial self-tanner as often as I used to, which I guess it due to the more even-toned skin I'm experiencing after using the Clarisonic.
If you have any questions about P90X or the Clarisonic, or you'd just like to gossip about The Bachelor, please leave me a comment below.
xoxo,
Veronika.
I'd like to send a big thank-you hug to Ashley at The Thing about Daisies for her awesome contest package she sent to me in the mail today. It was packaged so sweetly I just had to take a shot of it!
I got a nail file, Sally Hansen HD nail polish in "opulent cloud" and a Burts Bees cuticle conditioner. Thank you so much! I can't wait to use them :) (you know I LOVE nail stuff!) Plus, I was super excited to win a contest because I never win anything!
Speaking of nails (and I know I talked about this in a previous post) but after wearing it for a few days, I am absolutely obsessed with OPI's "Lucky Lucky Lavender." Honestly, it is such a gorgeous color that I don't want to change my nail color for awhile! If you like purple shades, you must make this part of your collection!
I don't have a particular topic to write about today because I am super exhausted after our first P90X session. We did the arms, back and chest video and then a 20 minute ab ripper video. Phew! What a workout. I don't usually work out my upper body intensely very often so this was a good challenge for me.
We also took our "before" pictures tonight. It will be really cool to track and see our progress. I have to admit I was not happy with my backside after seeing these photos. I like how my body looks in clothes, but I definitely need to tone it up and get my body fat down a bit. That's my goal. I don't want to be crazy ripped, just noticeably toned with less body fat.
I hope everyone has an awesome evening! This weekend my goal is to try and use the Flip cam my husband got me for Christmas to film my first video for the blog. I'm not sure what I will do it on, but a lot of people have asked me to show how I do my eyeliner or a makeup collection video or something like that so I have a few ideas to work with. I think I'm scared to put myself out there in videos, but at the same time I know it will enhance a post if I can actually show how I do something. So we will see. If not this weekend, then next weekend.
xoxo,
Veronika.
Today, I froze my gym membership for 6 months (gasp!)
But but but...it's not because I'm not working out anymore, it's quite the opposite. I actually plan to work out more. Ever since January 1st, the 24 Hour Fitness I go to has been an absolute cluster. When I do attempt to go after work, I end up driving around the parking garage for 20 minutes circling around and around as me, and 20 other people look for parking spaces. Eventually I get frustrated and I leave.
Since I started doing Pilates at the studio I go to and seeing my personal trainer, I have found myself not missing the gym at all. I don't pay a ton for my monthly membership, but I thought it would be more productive to invest my fitness dollars into workouts I enjoy doing and that don't leave me circling a parking garage for 20 minutes only to not get a workout in anyways (because, trust me, driving in circles is not a workout no matter how many times you circle 'round.)
My husband started a new job, so he's also been finding it hard to get a workout in during the week. He ordered P90X and we are going to do it together at home. The DVD's arrived today and we did one of the UML workouts (and by "did" I mean "attempted to do 40% of it.)
We watched the P90X introduction DVD and I did some of my Pilates moves while I watched it, trying to be as productive as possible. Then we popped in the UML workout and like I said, tried to do about 40% of it. P90X has a lot of reps. Like 30. It was difficult.
To make the first workout even more difficult, the host (Tony Horton) is completely annoying. He has these stream of consciousness-type thoughts and expressions he spews out during the workouts. I don't know what the other videos are like, but the poor guy is kind of annoying, and I just want him to stop making random comments. He also likes to take jabs at people like "...and if you get fat, then you'll feel depressed, and then you'll eat bad foods and then you'll get fatter and die sooner." Thanks Tony.
Here's the other thing about P90X- it's definitely NOT for beginners. You definitely have to already be in somewhat decent shape (IMO) to start these videos. They are very challenging and fast-paced. It is an intense workout (I work out pretty regularly and I couldn't do the entire workout.) I guess you could try to do them as a beginner, but you'd probably feel like you were hit by a bus for several days after doing just the first workout.
Having said that, I think these workouts are great to have for that same reason- they are intense and you can do them at home. It's like learning all these great moves from a trainer but on your TV. I will give updates on how I'm doing with the P90X.
Keep in mind that I probably won't follow the workouts daily. I still want to do Pilates at least twice a week, so I might sub that in on the days I don't do P90X workouts.
I also wanted to provide a Clarisonic update for anyone who has been interested in my progress. I really enjoy the Clarisonic. Now that I've been using it for nearly a month, I am finding my skin if softer, smoother, makeup stays on better/longer, and pores look smaller. I also just find my face feels cleaner, like it's more deeply cleansed. The only thing it has not cured (but has improved) is occasional redness/blotchiness. I still get that sometimes in certain areas. I am happy I got this brush and love using it at night before bed. Is it a must-have? I'm not sure because it's so pricey. I think after having used it, I can't imagine cleansing without it...but if you don't use it, then I guess you don't really know what you're missing, right?
It is part of my routine now and I can't imagine cleansing without it (kind of like when you start to use an electric toothbrush- you can't ever go back to a manual, it's an inferior teeth-cleaning experience.)
Have you tried P90X? Do you find Tony Horton as annoying as I do? Let me know in the comments below (by the way, I don't mean he is annoying in a disrespectful way, I think he is talented and puts together great workouts. I could just go without his random comments...oh and one of the girls in the video is named "Veronica" so he's always saying my name too...ugh!)
xoxo,
Veronika.
P.S. - On Sunday at church, the sermon was so incredible that I had to share it with you all. Sometimes I really feel like God is listening to me and he knows exactly what I need to hear. Basically the sermon was about avoiding letting negative people into your life, and remaining positive no matter how negative someone is, day in, and day out. It also talked about blossoming (like a flower) even if you are amongst weeds. So keep positive, happy and be kind even if someone is not this way towards you. The pastor also said "some people just don't want to be happy" and I finally realized that was true.
As we all know, my P90X journey was a fail, so I'm hoping these videos are a little more manageable (plus they look FUN!). The trainer in these videos works with VS model Alessandra Ambrosio...and I think we can all agree she looks great!
Yeah, I wouldn't mind getting my butt whipped into shape by Alessandra's trainer.
