November Favorites

Holy cannoli, it’s December already?! I usually try to have my monthly favorites posted on the last day of the month, but November 30^th really snuck up on me, so it’s going up today tonight!

1. Orange Blossom Cloister Honey

For the past two years, I’ve been attending the annual Shopping Spree in Downtown Raleigh at the Convention Center as a start to Christmas shopping, and both years I’ve been, Cloister Honey from Charlotte has been there as a vendor. I bought honey from them both times, and without fail, they keep me wanting more. They are my favorite small business honey makers for sure. This year I purchased the Orange Blossom honey, and have been using it all month in my tea, and also on top of my pie crust cookies (the recipe I shared recently).

2. Archer Farms Skirt Steak

This was actually in 2 WIAW posts not too long ago. It is honestly one of the easiest dinners I’ve made in a long time. I put these skirt steaks in my Crockpot with a small amount of water, turn it on low before I leave for work, and when I get home, it’s done, and ready to serve! It’s so delicious and I love how easy it is to make.  They also have about 5 flavors to choose from and my 2 favorites are Garlic and Herb and Carne Asada.

3. Sugar Lip Serum Advanced Therapy

For about two weeks in November, my lips were so chapped that it felt like they were constantly burning. Nothing I had at home would make the burning stop, and sometimes at night, my lips would crack open when I was sleeping (lovely image, I know). In years past, my basic chap stick options would fix this, but not this year. I discovered the Sugar Lip Serum Advanced Therapy and began using it at morning and at night, and it worked wonders on my lips. No more super chapped lips. Yay!

4. NARS Blush in Orgasm

Gotta love the color names of NARS products. 🙂 I’m sure every beauty guru has mentioned this product at some point or another, and if you’re even somewhat obsessed with makeup, you either already have this product, or have seriously contemplated purchasing it. I only have one other blush that I use, and it’s a matte pink shade in a bronzer/highlighter/blush palette, so I finally made the plunge, and purchased this one, and have been wearing it every day since. It really is a great basic blush for all skin tones.

5. Hollywood Fashion Secrets Sweater Saver

I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have mentioned this thing to someone and raved about how awesome it is in the past month. Seriously. If your sweaters are pilling, go to Target or Ulta right now, and buy this bad boy. It’s a lifesaver. I mean sweater saver.

6. Mine Chalkboard Soy Message Ceramic Candle

I got this in my October Pop Sugar Must Have box and wasn’t sure about how excited I was about the scent. Lo and behold, I’ve burned the entire candle already! So now it’s an empty chalkboard jar that I’ll probably turn into a pen holder on my desk. Who knows…DIY project to come!

7. Madewell Sidney Boots in Pecan

I believe I purchased these boots in September, but I’ve probably chosen to wear them 3 out of 7 days of the week every week since. They are extremely comfortable if you’re on your feet all day, and they are also the perfect shaft width if you have no calf muscle whatsoever like me. The brown is also a great color as well and balances well even when wearing a lot of black.

8. Russell + Hazel Desk Calendar

I don’t know why I needed a new desk calendar a month and a half before the end of the year, but I did. I saw this one in The Container Store when I was shopping for Christmas presents, and I had to have it. It’s completely blank. You fill in the days, the month, and pretty much do whatever you want to it. No fancy designs or anything. Which to me, is awesome, because I love doodling and designing my own organizational calendar. There is also a section at the bottom for notes, and a section on the side with each day of the month in a “to-do” list form.

9. Sephora Pro Precision Smudge Brush #29

I needed a new eye shadow brush. I did. I needed it. Because the only other ones I have are by ELF (which for a very affordable brand, has some really good quality items), but the brushes I have from them have bristles that occasionally fall out. The brushes are also meant more for sweeping one color all over your eyelid, and not necessarily providing precision placement of shadows, and ya know, sometimes, I like putting multiple colors of shadow on my lids. This Sephora brush didn’t let me down! And it even comes with a brush cap, so it can stay safe and clean while traveling.

10. Merrick Natural Wet Dog Food

This one isn’t necessarily my favorite, but rather, one of Gabi’s favorites, but I’m putting it here for the world to see. The names and packaging of their wet dog food options are awesome, they are grain free, and they make little cans (which say they are for toy breeds, but really it’s just because of the size of the can) that I can feed to Gabi all at once mixed into her dry food. She’s kinda picky when it comes to wet dog food that has been sitting in the fridge. She even got a Thanksgiving Day Dinner flavor for Thanksgiving!  If you live in Raleigh, you can pick these cute little cans up at Phydeaux.

Let me know if any of you love any of these products as much as I do! And Happy December!

Bows and Arrows,

February Favorites

Since February is the shortest month of the year, I decided that my favorites list could stand to be a tad shorter as well.  So without further rambling on my part, here were my favorite things this month!

1.  Teavana Earl Grey Tea

Since it snowed around these parts twice this month, I’ve been really into my hot beverages more so than usual.  I love drinking this tea as it is, or with some vanilla syrup and skim milk added to it.  It’s so delicious, and smells amazing too!  If you’re interested, here is the link where you can purchase some for yourself!

2.  Malin + Goetz Detox Face Mask

This stuff came in my January Pop Sugar Must Have box, and I really like it!  I have been using it at night before bed.  It’s fun because you can feel it tingling on your face as it oxidizes.

3.  Cookie Dough Oreos

Image credit to Time website

Honestly, these things just speak for themselves.  Nom.  If you haven’t tried them, find them.  And try them.  And then become addicted as soon as they all disappear and you can’t find them anywhere anymore.

4.  Disney’s Frozen, more specifically the snowman character Olaf

If you haven’t yet seen this movie, stop whatever it is you’re doing right now (like reading this post) and go see it.  And no, I’m not saying this because of the “Let It Go” song that has gone viral, and plays on the radio, and is sung on the Oscars.  (It is a great song though!)  It’s just a great movie.  I love, love, love the snowman!!! “All good things, all good things!”  And yes, he is my screen saver on my computer currently.  It’s. Just. That. Good.

5.  EOS Lip Balm in Pomegranate Raspberry

I am just addicted to all of the EOS brand lip balms, but I have really liked this one for this month.  I think it’s because it’s kind of a wintery flavor, and it actually felt like winter in the month of February!

6.  Be Enchanted shower gel from Bath & Body Works

So I do this thing where I can never use an entire bottle of body wash without getting tired of the smell before it runs out.  So I have a few, and I keep two different scents in my shower at the same time.  I know…it’s weird.  Anyways, I had this scent for a while and it was hiding under my sink…and then I happened upon it when I was cleaning a couple of weeks ago, and stuck it back in the shower.   And now that I have, I’m glad I did.  I would describe it as one of those icy and chilled fruity scents, with an undertone of sandelwood.  It’s definitely been a rediscovered favorite of mine this month.  (Also, I think I have a thing for pomegranate this month, because pomegranate is definitely a main scent in this shower gel)  And if Elsa from Frozen used a shower gel, this would be the one I think she’d use.

7.  C9 by Champion Women’s Advanced Cold Weather Run Tights

I feel like it’s always colder in January and February in Raleigh than it is in the final months of the year.  I really love these athletic leggings from Target because they are fleece lined, so they are very warm on those cold winter mornings!  They also zip at the bottom and kind of seal themselves around your ankles, so they keep the air from going up your pants, because no one likes that.  And they also have one of those hidden zipper pockets on the back wasteband.  And even better, they are on sale online!  Here’s the link.

There you have it!  My favorites for this month!  Thanks for reading,

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

The Fitness Diaries: Week 6

Hello again! I’m back for my weekly fitness update and it may actually go up on the right day this time. Shocking, I know. It was a really good week of working out. I made out my workout schedule for this past week and I successfully completed every workout that I set out to complete! I also did a lot of walking with Rose this week, plus a little jogging. We walked/ran around 15 miles total for the week. I think I actually tired her out for once. I am tracking my walking/running distances now with the Nike plus Ipod thing. You know that little thingy you put in your Nike shoes. It seems to work pretty well. I have now completed 2 weeks of the second phase (6 weeks total) of the Drop Two Sizes DVD’s. The second phase is similar to the first, but some of the exercises are a little more challenging and utilize heavier weights and fewer repetitions. These workouts definitely make me feel like I’m working hard and using my time efficiently. Both strength workouts in this phase are challenging, but “Strength 2” is the most challenging in my opinion. I think that is mostly due to the fact that the workout starts off with “alternating clean to squat thrusts” and they pretty much suck. It gets your heart pumping and the sweat flowing pretty quickly.

No fun!

Because I ended the last update on Wednesday (Feb. 19th) I decided to start week 6 on the following Monday so I could get back into a better schedule. Here is what my workout schedule looked like starting with Thursday, February 20th.

Workout Schedule

Week 6:

Thursday(2/20): Rest

Friday: Time metabolic (technically this was the last workout for week 5)

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: Run/walk with Rose (~3.5 miles)

Monday: Strength 1 and a ~5.5 mile walk with Lynda, Rose, and Gabi (her doggy)

Tuesday: Walk with Rose (~3.2 miles)

Wednesday: Strength 2 and a ~2.5 mile walk with Lynda, Rose, and Gabi.

Thursday: Walk with Rose (~2.5 miles)

Friday: Strength 1

Saturday: Complex Metabolic workout

Sunday (today): Rest

Love this new tank top and leggings I picked up recently from Target. hehe

So, that’s my workouts for last week. I’m still really happy with this program and am motivated to keep going to finish it. I am about half way through, so that is exciting! I also wanted to mention that I have also been eating a lot “cleaner” lately. I mentioned in the last update that I was going to try to clean up my already sensible diet even more by using some of the meal plan suggestions from the Drop Two Sizes book. I did give myself a lot more freedom on the weekends, of course, but I did really well on all the other days. I ate some delicious veggie pizza from Marcos one night and I also had a bit of a chocolate craving/meltdown/emergency situation one night that resulted in my eating some chocolate covered pretzels… and okay maybe a Reese’s peanut butter cup too.

If I really want something, I usually eat it. I’m not going to beat myself up over it, and neither should you guys. There are times when I have eaten junk food out of boredom or sadness, but that is a different story and I am certainly not encouraging anyone to do that. But, if you focus on making sure that the majority of your food is healthy and doing your body good, then there is no reason why you cant eat something a little not-so-healthy every now and then. I aim for a diet that is 75-90% “healthy.” I’m not perfect and I’m not trying to be. I want to be fit and healthy, but I still want some Bojangles every now and then, okay. Is that too much to ask?!  😛

I hope you guys enjoyed my update and my rambling. I’ll be back next Sunday for another fun update. As always, thanks for reading.

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley