April Ipsy Bag review, May Ipsy Bag 1st impressions, and Hauls!

Hey guys!

If you haven't seen it already, I've posted 2 new videos to my YouTube channel. The first one is the April Ipsy bag review and the May Ipsy bag first impressions.

I really LOOOOOOVE the Ipsy bags. I've been a subscriber since they started in December of 2011. There HAVE been some duds, however, overall I've been really happy with their goodies. Totes worth the $10 a month. If you're interested in getting subscribed CLICK HERE to sign up!! You have the option to pay monthly or yearly. I do it monthly. If you're already apart of Ipsy, come show my page some love! I'll be sure to love your page, too. 

I've been trying to get a makeup look put together for the May bag, but I've been super sick since Friday and my poor face is red and blotchy from blowing my nose all weekend long. So my poor nose and mouth are SUUUUPER chapped. Not a fun look to show the world. 

The other video I did was for a haul. I've been on a lip craze lately, so I've picked up quite a few lip products lately that I wanted to show off. I also picked up a few fitness products. One thing that gets me excited about fitness (besides the weight loss--duh) is the SWEET digs! Of course because I'm still in a bigger size, it makes it more difficult to get some of the cuteness.  All the more reason to keep going!!!
I won't tell you about the big ticket item--watch the video and see the amazing-ness of the Sephora purchase I made!!!!

I know my video quality isn't top notch. I'm working on a better set-up, and possibly getting a stand/tri-pod for my iPhone for higher quality videos. If you have any suggestions for iPhone accessories for filming, or decent film editing software (free) comment below and let me know!!

Depending on how I feel tomorrow, I'll probably end up filming my May Ipsy bag look. But we'll see. 

Next week I'll be doing a fitness post--mostly an update of how the month went, etc. 

If you have questions, comments, etc--comment below or email me! Don't forget to follow me. :)

KaBoom! 2013 and Mother's Day Weekend

I've had a real lazy couple of days. Just throwin' that out there. I'm not terribly concerned about it at this point as I'm about to bust out some squats while I'm writing this (booyah) and will hopefully be getting my OWN bike in the next coming weeks. Yay! Hello riding to and from work everyday! I'd like to be a runner, but my ankle just isn't having that right now. Someday, I'll get there. But for now, I'm gonna BIIIIIIIKE.

This weekend was eventful. On Saturday I headed to the south side of Chicago to help build a playground for a school that has never had a playground. I hitched a ride with a co-worker and headed down there at 7am... on a Saturday. Ugh. BUT it was totally worth it. Even though I didn't stay the whole time, I had a lot of fun. I got to work with parents and teachers of the school and it was really rewarding to see how happy they were. I only wish I could have stayed long enough to see the kids faces once it was done. As odd as it sounds, I wanted to help with the mulch (there was a LOT) but there was a TON of people helping with mulch, most of which were standing on top of the pile waiting for people to come back for more mulch. So I ended up hooking up with another co-worker and helped assemble some benches. The rest of my Saturday was spent being a veggie. 

KaBoom 2013

Mother's Day was relaxing too. We were supposed to get up early to go to a gun show... buuuut I sorta, kinda, maybe, slept in. Hey, I'm entitled to sleep in damnit! Work is crazy, takes up 85% of my week and since I had to get up early on Saturday, my body decided it was going to sleep in. So we went and got my mother in law a planter of purple flowers and a card. I already got my card on Friday since my 2 year old is impatient and gave it to me as soon as I got in the car. Still cute though. While the munchkin was napping, the hubs, myself and his brother headed to Ikea to pick up some display cases for John's legos. Don't hate on grown men having legos! I still play with legos too. Moving on-- I'm an Ikea-a-holic. If I was rich, my whole house with be nothing but Ikea furniture. With the exception of my blue Lazy Boy and my grandmother's china hutch. I could spend hours in Ikea JUST getting decorating ideas. I've even started a Pinterest board JUST for Ikea.

So horse IS on the menu.

So after Ikea, we went back to the 'rents and had steak for dinner--nom nom nom-- then went back home to get ready for the week. While getting things ready, I decided to take my measurements since I hadn't in about a month. Here are my measurements:

April 4th:
38- chest above bust
41- bust
38- waist
40- biggest part of "gut"
44- hips
25- left mid thigh
15.5- left calf
13.4- right upper arm

May 11th
37.5- chest above bust
39- bust
35- waist
39- biggest part of "gut"
41- hips
23- left mid thigh
15- left calf
13.5- right upper arm

That's a 12" loss! AAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDD I woke up to this today:

#progress. 1/2 way to 1st BIG goal!

Narcissistic moment in 3...2...1...

I'm so proud of myself. I'm really doing this. This isn't just another go balls to the wall for a week or two. I've been doing this for over 2 months now, and I have a lot to show for it. It would be so stupid of me to turn back now. I just have to keep pushing. I've made LIFESTYLE changes, and will continue to make them as I progress. My portions are smaller, and because of that, I eat less for my bigger meals. Now when I go to Chip Chip (commonly known as Chipotle') it's like getting a 2 for 1 meal!

OH and guacamole!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!?! I'm seriously an addict. It's my banana replacement. I HATE bananas and avocados are a great source for potassium which is supposed to help recovery from hard workouts. So I'll now be buying avocados for snacks. 

I haven't been hitting the gym as much as I'd like to. To be honest, I've been super stressed with work. Ever since I fired my (ex) friend, the phones have been too crazy for me to even TRY to eat lunch at my desk. I would usually eat lunch at my desk AFTER I hit the gym. But I have 2 new people I'm trying to get on the phones, and once they're up and going, I'll head back to the gym to do more strength training. For now, I'll continue to bike and do squats. Maybe some push-ups. Maybe. 

My hubs said he's going to have to get me pepper-spray since the last 2 out of 3 times I've ridden home, I've almost gotten into a fight with some a-hole being a douche at the fact that I'm riding a bicycle. I just don't understand why people have to run their mouth about people on motorcycles and bicycles. It's ridiculous  I don't even ride on the street because I don't want to get hit. 

So my next post will be about the May Ipsy bag reveal and April Ipsy bag review--which will be a video review as well. I'll also go over my "Day and Night" nails too. Since I just got my May Ipsy bag today, I'll hopefully be doing the video for it tomorrow and have it up by the end of the week.

Day and Night Nails

Time for bed >.< zZzZzZz

Want to know more about Ipsy? Want an Ipsy bag? Click HERE for more information!

Personal Victory

Check out Skinny Meg's Blog! 

This weight-loss journey has been a long and bumpy road. But I'm seeing and feeling results. It drives me and keeps me going

Last year, I had made a goal to ride a bike to work. I failed miserably. When I rode from my in-laws to my condo, I was miserable. It was less than a mile and I was wiped. I gave up on trying to ride to work and just started riding around the neighborhood. That didn't last long either. I quickly became discouraged about not being able to ride to work and gave up after a few tries.

Since I've been doing some spinning at work, and consistently working out I decided I'd give it another try. So I went to Target and got some some new workout capris (haul coming via video!) a new water bottle and got together with my bestie. My husband purchased a Dahon folding bike a few weeks ago and threw out his piece of crap bike and the bestie went out and bought himself a new bike too.

So I hopped on the husband's Dahon and the bestie and I headed to my work. And to my surprise, it wasn't completely exhausting. I actually thoroughly enjoyed it. I had expected to get to work and have to take a long break before heading back, or possibly needing the husband to come and pick me up. But when I got there, I was greeted with this breathtaking view:

Pond behind my work

I could have turned right around and headed home, but I decided to stick around and enjoy the view. We managed to watch 5 deer cross the pond as well as a few beavers swimming in the water and some fish jumping out of the water. It was a nice break from the hustle of life. After a few minuets, we hoped back on the bikes and headed home. I wasn't sore or tired. I felt great! I didn't really feel anything until the next day.

Bike Beasts

I have some crap-tacular shoes, to say the least. And a bum ankle to go right along with it. So combine the two after a nearly 8 mile bike ride and an entire afternoon at Brookfield Zoo on my feet nearly the whole time make for a very sore me. I was hobbling by the end of the day. Not. Fun. The trip to the zoo was frustrating on top of that. I don't understand why in the world a-holes with $2,000+ cameras go to the zoo to take a million photos and block any decent view for all the kids that are they to see the animals. I seriously had to restrain myself from going off people. Plus not to mention all the rude people pushing to get closer and they manage to shove right past you. You try to be polite and let people pass, and all they do is walk all over you. I was glad to leave. Maybe next time we'll go during a crappy weekday so I don't have to deal with all the jerk-asses.

The booger

Moving on!

I did ride the bike home tonight. I have to say, I'm slowing becoming obsessed with biking. I'd love to get up and ride to work, but alas, the husband is off work tomorrow and plans on riding most of the day. Ow well. I get my hour lunch back and can hit the gym and spin for a little bit.

On a more makeup related note: I showed extreme restraint tonight going to the store. I have recently fallen in love with Nude lipsticks and almost walked out the door with 3 more lipsticks. And I just purchased 2 over the weekend. >.< I have a problem. Hahaha. But I put them back and picked up what I ACTUALLY went to the store for. Pull-ups. Glamorous, no?

Cute booger

There is also an April Ipsy bag review coming soon. I may pair that with my Target haul--or I may do that separate  I haven't decided yet. I'm just building up the courage to get in from of the camera and say something. I'd like to do more videos. Maybe do some tutorials someday. One thing at a time. I'll start with hauls and reviews. I also plan on doing an "opening" of my ipsy bags, and maybe even a look using the products. Just some ideas I've been tossing around.

Anyone doing any challenges this month? I've been doing the 30 day squat challenge and so far so good. My legs feel SUPER tight all the time, but definitely not painful anymore. It's got me excited to do more strength training. I think next month I want to try something for my arms. Since I have almost NO upper body strength.

Well I'm running out of gas and drifting to sleep as I sit here trying to type this, complete billing all while listening to my bestie play some Minecraft. I'm jealous.