Monday, February 27, 2017

February 2017 Favorites


Jergens Moisturizer For Wet Skin - I tend to skip moisturizing after my showers because I hate that sticky feeling when you get dressed afterwards. This is a quick way to moisturize while still in the shower and my skin feels silky smooth by the time I towel off. 

Garnier Fructis Damage Eraser - This mask has come up in my March 2015 Empties, May 2015 Empties and June 2016 Empties  blog post. If you can't tell this is one of my most favorite hair masks! I did stop repurchasing it for a while as I was testing out some new ones but nothing compares to this. My hair always feel silky smooth after using it. This is getting more difficult to find so I bought a pack of 6 off of Amazon recently - so I'm good for a little while. 

Guerlain L'or Pure Radiance Face Primer - This primer was also in my November 2016 Favorites and yes this is still the same bottle. I still stand by this primer, it makes my skin look amazing and foundation just effortlessly glides over it. You only need a very small amount - as you can tell I haven't used a whole lot since November so even though it is expensive it will last you a while.  

Becca Aqua Luminous Perfecting Foundation - This has been my go to foundation recently. I'm not a fan of the packaging as it is a dropper application but the actual foundation in the bottle is amazing. It is a sheer foundation that looks very natural and dewy. I find the color doesn't match me exactly so I mix in some Cover FX drops with it and the result is amazing. I always use this foundation when I know I'm going to be taking pictures as my skin looks airbrushed. 

Drybar Triple Sec 3-in-1 - I've tried a lot of texture sprays and this one so far is my stand out product. It has just enough texture without leaving my hair feeling dirty and gritty. It does come out white but it doesn't leave a white cast in my darker roots. Plus it smells amazing!



Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Bear's 8 Month Update | Ms Pam Blam Life Update


Hard to believe but Bear will be 8 months in just 4 short days! I last posted Bear's update at 5 months and a lot has happen since then.


Bear now weights 62lbs and is still growing! Our vet did say to expect his final weight to be around 90lbs so he still has a lot of growing to do.

Bear is definitely a power chewer - we really have to be careful when Bear is out of his crate and roaming around. Bear does get the run of the house now as he is doing very well with our cat Max. But this little guy can get into so much trouble. He loves to chew so we make sure our house is stocked with lots of different bones and chew toys to keep his mouth occupied.


Bear is doing very well with his training. We are constantly taking him to different pet stores to practice walking on a loose leash, listening to us around distractions, sitting, staying, passing other people and dogs, recall, ect. For the most part Bear does really well and we are always complimented by lots of employees on how well behaved Bear is while in the store.





Bear's favorite place still has to be the off leash - he gets a long with every single dog he's met and plays so well with others. I also have to give Bear credit for how smart he is too - we have been at the dog park when dog fights have broken out and Bear is smart enough to avoid conflict and come to my side when this happens. I have to applaud him for that as I do see so many other dogs jumping in and adding to the dog fight and watching all the owners struggle to separate the dogs. I've been asked a lot how I trained him to do that and honestly I didn't...he just seems to know to stay out of it.

Bear has been bullied and picked on by a few dogs at the dog park. It really annoys me when other owners don't correct their dog when this happens so Bear and I either walk away and find another friend for him to play with or if I'm fearful of his safety (depends on how aggressive the dog is) we will go wait in the car until the dog leaves and then we return to the park.

I haven't ever packed up and left the dog park as I don't want Bear to think he's being punished for something - because so far he's never started a fight or conflict with another dog. Whenever we go to the dog park I always allow for a lot of time so if we do have to wait for an aggressive dog to clear out I have the time to do so.

With that being said we only make it out to the dog park once or twice a week - which I think is a lot for a pup that is still growing. My husband and I sometimes forget how little Bear still is and there are some weeks where I think we over exercise him and I know that's not good for his developing growth plates.





If you checked out any of my Friday Fitness Updates you would have seen that I have began to include Bear in some of my training runs. Technically our vet doesn't want Bear to start running with me until he's 10 months old but to be honest we don't go very far or very fast when he's with me. 

I've only been taking Bear out once a week - sometimes I skip a week if he's had a lot of visits to the dog park that week - and Bear only comes with me for either my warm up or cool down. I don't run very fast when I'm warming up or cooling down so Bear basically does a fast walk beside me while I jog. 

Mainly I've started including him in my training runs this early is because I want to get him trained on my hands free leash I bought. 


I have done so much research and testing of which belt, leash, harness combo works the best for our training runs and I have found the perfect combination!


The belt I finally settled on is the Squishy Face Studio Leash Belt. I bought the small/medium in Ocean Blue. The belt is 2" wide so it's very comfortable even if Bear pulls. This buckle is very heavy duty and I'm not worried about Bear pulling hard enough to break it.

I also think it's a huge plus that the leash attaches with a buckle closure, meaning you can use ANY leash you want with this belt...including a retractable leash (which I don't use as I want Bear close by me while running).


The leash I use is nothing special, it is also from Spuishy Face Studio. I decided to buy the belt/leash bundle off their website as it was only $6 more....so I thought why not! I can always use another leash around the house. When I first got it I thought it would be too short, it's 4' nylon leash,  but to be honest it's great for running.

The 4' means Bear has to learn to stay right by my side and watch for my cues. We do a combination of walking and running when he's with me so he's learning cues such as "running/lets go" and "walking/slow down."


Finally is Bear's harness. I only use this harness for running, I use a different harness for walking as he does still pull now and then. I find this back clip harness works the best for running because it keeps the leash from getting tangled under Bear's feet.

I tried to use his no pull front clip harness and it was a disaster! After every five steps I was having to untangle the leash and we didn't make it very far before I gave up and went home.

The back clip harness we use goes over his head and he steps his left paw through a hole and it closes with one buckle. I know there are different harness varies so pick which one seems to fit your dog best - I know there are some step in harness but they seems a little bulky to me and seems like it would be unconformable running. It didn't take Bear long to get used to his harness going over his head...just use some treats and make it a positive experience.



Other than that I just bought a few belt accessories that make our training trips out more enjoyable. First off is the Amphiod Endurance Plus Pouch. I had a hard time finding a pouch that would fit onto the 2" wide belt and hold my iPhone. This pouch is supposed to fit a iPhone plus - I don't have a plus iPhone but it does fit my iPhone 6 with the case and there is room to spare. You can also attach 4 gels to the outer slots. I also like to carry poop bags and a house key, everything fits with room to spare!

I also bought the Amphiod RunLite Xtech 10.5ox Modules 2 pack...careful when you buy these as there are two different lid options. I choose the normal one as I can pour water in my hand for Bear to drink out of...the other one is the Jett-Squeeze lid which would make it harder to give Bear water during our runs. 

We haven't actually used the water bottles yet but I thought this would be good for hot summer runs - and I only wanted to pay for shipping once so I bought the pouch and water bottles at the same time. 

This was my first time purchasing anything for Amphiod but they have some great belt accessories so I would highly recommended checking them out. Look under the section Customize-Your-Run to find exactly what you are interested in. 

Bear is always excited when I pull out my running shoes and his belt - he LOVES running and is going to be a great running companion down the road. I can't wait until he's 10 moths and I can start bring him on some of my training runs. 


On the days that I don't bring Bear for a run I come home to a very pissed off dog - but unfortunately he has to learn that he can't always come with me. 

Thanks for stopping by to check out Bear's 8 month update, make sure you are subscribed to get notifications on Bear's next update and more adorable puppy pictures.



Friday, February 17, 2017

Fitness Update | Coming Back From Being A Victim of Crime

 It's fitness update time!!! It has been a hot minuet since my last fitness update, if you want to check out my last post Fitness Update | Finished 21 Day Fix EXTREME | National Sprint Duathlon Women 25-29 Champion! If you did happen to read it you would know that I qualified to race in Duathlon Worlds this year in August.

I did take a few days off after the qualifying race in September to recover but now I'm back at it. I sat down and made a training plan that lasted to the end of December....which unfortunately I didn't finish and it's a long story...

 ....without going into too much detail as I'm still not sure how much of my experience I want to share I was the victim of crime in December. It was an absolutely gut wrenching experience that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I honestly lived most of December fearful to leave my house, sleep, anything! I basically sat locked up in my house armed and waiting for our attacker to come back....which he did several times.

It's hard to even put into words what happen, how I feel about the whole situation because I feel like I'm still processing what the hell happen!

My husband and I were so fortunate to have some many amazing family member's and friends that stepped in to help us. We were brought food every single day, people were coming over to my house to walk my dog - no I wasn't even leaving the house to walk my own dog! For me that's a big deal since our little pup usually goes for three walks a day....minimum. I even had people just come over and clean or sit with me to watch some TV to help get my mind off of what was happening.

So basically - as I'm sure you can imagine - my training came to a screeching halt.

Time seemed to just disappear...it honestly took me till about the beginning of February for me to get back to my normal routine - and even then it was hard to even think about how to get back to what was "normal".

If you've even been the victim of crime, you know it's hard to get back to your life. I was told by so many people that it's ok to be all over the place and that it was going to be a struggle trying to return to a "normal" life.

I do want to share a piece of my experience on my blog - my hope is it could possibly help someone who as been affected by a victim of crime...or just provide some support to know you are not alone. I found there wasn't a lot of public support for myself and my husband. Give me about another week or two...I'm going to have to sit down and put what happen into words which I already know is going to be difficult.

 To be honest my training really just started again this February - and yes my body could absolutely tell that I had taken a big chunk of time off. Since the plan that I made ended at the end of December I decided to make a new one instead of trying to finish off my old training plan.....sort of like a fresh start.

Currently I have a new training plan I'm following that includes three times a week of doing at home Beachbody workouts (Piyo, 21 Day Fix Extreme and T25), one interval running day, one tempo running day, one longer running day and spinning at home on my trainer.

It's a busy schedule but I've been loving the variety.

My favorite part of my whole training plan has to be including our puppy, Bear, in one of my training runs per week. If you haven't read about Bear you can read his last 5 month update post. Bear is now almost 8 months and technically he's not supposed to be running with me for another 2 months but he doesn't do my whole workout and I go so slow when he's with me all he does is quick walk beside me while I jog.

I'm planning on doing another update on how Bear is doing on Wednesday so make sure you are subscribe to my blog for notifications. I'll include what sort of training he does with me, how long he runs for and what equipment I use - this is so important! I've tested out so many different running belts, leashes and harness to get the perfect combination. It's not enjoyable if you have to keep stopping your run to untangle the dogs leash or if they are dragging you because they aren't trained properly to walk hands free.

I am so excited to share with you all Bear's update on Wednesday and make sure you are subscribe for to my blog to get notified on my next fitness update!


Monday, February 6, 2017

Product Empties February 2017




TreSemme Keratin Smooth Heat Protection Shine Spray - I am a stickler when it comes to heat protection sprays. My hair is color treated and very brittle so I always make sure to use a heat spray when using hot tools. This is a great drugstore option, it left my hair feel soft and smooth. I wont be repurchasing another one at this time as I probably have five other open bottles of different types of heat spray on to go at the moment but it is defiantly on my repurchase list for the future.

Ion Weekly Blonde-Boosting Treatment - This is an unnecessary product. I thought this would act like a toner to help with my blonde hair in between color treatments but to be honest it did nothing. I couldn't tell a difference in my hair when I was using it, just get yourself a good purple shampoo and skip this.

Sephora Instant Nail Polish Remover For Glitter - This stuff is amazing. Its a fast way to remove nail polish and it gets EVERYTHING off! Even polish that is darker and hard to remove, this will get it off no problem. It lasted a really long time and is very inexpensive. I've already repurchased another one.

GHD Heat Protect Spray - Another heat protector, this one smells amazing! But honestly it was very expensive and works just as good as cheaper heat sprays you can get at the drugstore so I wouldn't repurchase this again.

Prada Candy - This is my new signature scent! Highly recommend going into a store and trying it first, also I would get a sample to take home. In the store this has a different smell and I liked it more once I got home and had worn the scent for a few hours. It's very sweet and the smell lasts a long time.

Sephora Instant Moisturizer - If you are looking for some affordable skincare I've had a lot of luck with the Sephora brand. This is almost drugstore price but honestly I don't like any skincare products that I've tried at the drugstore. This was a great moisturizer for dry skin, it sits very well under makeup and I highly recommend trying this out.

Shiseido WrinkleResist 24 Eye Cream - This is my go to eye cream, I think I've gone through about three pots. I have very dark circles with very fine lines under my eyes. This helps cover and hydrate my under eye area. It preps it for makeup and I think it has improved my under eye area.

Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo - This used to be my go to dry shampoo but now I've found another that I love even better. This will leave a bit of a white cast in your hair so if you have dark roots like me you do have to be careful. This will leave your hair feeling clean and refreshed.

Josie Maran Whipped Mud Mask - These are amazing and if you haven't tried them yet you NEED to try them. My favorite scents are the Vanilla Apricot and Cucumber Aloe....but lets face it all the scents are amazing! These will leave your skin feeling hydrated and refreshed. I love to use these with an eye mask on a relaxing pamper night.

Caudalie Beauty Elixir - A staple for anyone with dry skin. This face mist is amazing and just gives you a refreshed feeling to dry skin. I will use this several different ways and it is always a must have in my makeup collection.