CND Shellac in Rose Bud

I had to stay up past my bedtime and Shellac my nails for my work trip this week to HOT-lanta. I usually like to do light neutral colors for my visits, but I'm really feeling 'Spring-y' with this nice weather, so I went with a soft pinkish-mauve, Rose Bud.

Beautiful Change Challenge #1 - Eating Clean

For almost 2 years now I've been following a 'clean eating' diet. It's not counting calories or carbs or any kinda crazy cleanse, it's just making sure what you put into your body is healthy and good for you. No preservatives, excess fats and oils. Just clean, healthy goodness here. 



Reading and studying about this diet helped me to realize that some of the food I was putting in my body was horrible. Even a few changes to your diet can help clean it up a bit and you'll feel great. Here are a few changes you can make in your every day meal plan to help clean up your diet. 


Cut out foods with preservatives. If an item from the grocery store has a year of shelf life, just think of all the junk they put in it to help it stay 'good' that long. Yuck! Look for items with less than 3-4 ingredients. 
Cut out sugary drinks, like pop and sugary juices, and replace it with water. LOTS of water! 
Eat whole grains. Whole wheat bread, brown rice, whole grain pasta, etc. are all delicious and quite frankly, I like them more and I think they taste better than regular white carbs now.




Some of my favorite clean eating essentials: The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook by Tosca Reno, MaraNatha All Natural Roasted Almond Butter (you can find this at Costco), Dannon Oikos Green Nonfat Yogurt, Bob's Red Mill Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Spectrum Organic Coconut Oil)

Just to stress: Clean eating DOES NOT require you to starve yourself or count calories, it's all about eating good food. You can find tons of fun recipe books at your nearest book store (one of my favorites is The Eat-Clean Diet by Tosca Reno) or recipes online. 



Be kind to your body - it's the only you got! I challenge you to clean up your diet this Spring. Please comment and share your clean eating changes and/or recipes below!

New AVEENO® PURE RENEWAL™ lets you renew your hair to its naturally balanced state daily. Unlike ordinary shampoos, these sulphate-free formulas have Balancing Seaweed Extract; bringing hair back to its naturally healthy, most balanced state with each wash, for beautifully healthy-looking hair. Learn more here http://bit.ly/A1cjWg

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by AVEENO® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of AVEENO®

Soap & Glory Giveaway

Soap & Glory is giving away $500 worth of beauty products - all you have to do is 'like' them on Facebook. Good luck!

The Hunger Games "Colours from the Capitol"

Who else is excited for The Hunger Games tomorrow? I'm going to a 4:45pm showing with my friends and it can't get here fast enough!


Here are some swatches from the China Glaze "Colours from the Capitol" collection...which color should I wear to the movie?

Starting in the upper left corner and going clockwise (Fast Track, Dress Me Up, Riveting, Harvest Moon, Smoke and Ashes, & Hook and Line)

Full line up:

Dress Me Up – A stripped down dark rose pink crème
Foie Gras – Decadent dark crème taupe

Fast Track – Soft sandy brown with a gold metallic shimmer
Hook and Line –Pearlescent light grey
Stone Cold – Matte slate grey with shimmer
Smoke and Ashes – Black-based teal with multicolored shimmer
Agro – Moss green with gold shimmer
Mahogany Magic – Reddish-brown crème

Harvest Moon – Crystalized copper shimmer
Riveting – Bright orange shimmer
Electrify – High-wattage gold and ruby red glitter blend
Luxe and Lush – A high octane flaky overcoat

"May the odds be ever in your favor"

Groupon Scheduler

I'm a huge fan of the daily deal trend that has taken over the internet. Groupon, Living Social, Daily Candy Swirl...all good ones for beauty related deals. Sites like Groupon and Living Social make it fun and affordable to try out new restaurants, stores and of course, salons and spas!

Groupon announced a few days ago the launch of Groupon Scheduler, a free way to do online bookings 24/7 at spas, salons and other classes. It's super easy and sends you reminders of the bookings you make! Genius!  Check it out:  www.groupon.com/scheduler

Zoya Summer & Beach Summer 2012

I'm loving these colors, the beachy cream colors are beautiful!



Zoya BEACH Collection

• Reagan - deep cerise pink cream
• Lara - vivid cerise pink cream
• Shelby - soft pinky pink cream
• Arizona - soft coral orange cream
• Tracie - sea grass metallic
• Wednesday - soft aqua cream

Zoya SURF Collection

• Rory - lotus pink foil metallic
• Carly - thalia purple foil metallic
• Kimber - magenta pink foil metallic
• Myrta - coral orange foil metallic
• Meg - mermaid green foil metallic
• Zuza - aquamarine foil metallic

Available April 1 at zoya.com!

Bath & Body Works Celebrates National Fragrance Day

March 21st is National Fragrance Day...and Bath & Body Works is celebrating! LIKE them on Facebook and FOLLOW them on Twitter to get a sneak peak at their exclusive offerings!

• First 20 people at each store, who make Bath & Body Works their Facebook status update will receive a FREE Full Size Fragrance Mist w/$10 purchase

• Each hour Bath & Body Works will highlight one of our top 5 fragrances and giveaway 5 prizes on Twitter and 5 on Facebook (total of 10 each hour)!!!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bathandbodyworks?NAME=FaceBook&pageID=

Twitter: @LUVBBW

Simplify Your Life

Last week I posted about how to unwind and de-stress after a long day. Today, I’d like to share with you the simple changes I’ve made in my every day life, to help stress less during the week!

Plan your meals (my number one recommendation!) 

I like to eat healthy, and I’ve found I can do this best if I cook at home, using all healthy and fresh ingredients. To use ‘fresh’ ingredients requires a weekly trip to the grocery store. Every weekend before I head to the store I plan out my meals for the week, so I know exactly which ingredients I need to buy. This not only helps me to save money on groceries I don’t need or can’t use, but also makes for very fast and efficient grocery trips!

A sample ‘menu’ for this week looks like this:
Monday – Beef stew

Tuesday – Southwest Chicken Salad

Wednesday – Salmon

Thursday – Chicken sausages and whole wheat pasta

Friday – Slow cooker chicken tacos

I know exactly what I need to buy each weekend and I can also prep my meals the night before (example, chopping up veggies or mixing sauces) so I can make them that much faster the next day. I’ve also become a fan of my slow cooker. Nothing beats coming home from a long day at work and having dinner prepared already!

I keep a magnetic notepad on my fridge with the weekly menu, as well as an ongoing shopping list so I can add things as I run out through the week.

Family Calendar

My husband and I both use Google Calendar to help us keep up to date on events and each other’s schedules. I’m sure there are other free calendars that are available as well, but Google Calendar works well since we both use Gmail.

I place events on his calendar that he needs to plan around, for example, ‘Dinner with Mom and Dad on Sunday at 1pm.’ We both have smartphones, so it makes it easy to check our calendar on the go and make plans. It’s also helpful to add to each other’s calendar when we’ll be traveling for work, so I know not to cook dinner for him or he knows not to expect me to be home.

Plan your outfits

Don’t you hate when you get the feeling ‘ugh, I have nothing to wear!’ It happens to all of us, and I’m sure it’s just because we are searching for a last minute outfit. I like to pick my outfits out the night before. This way I can steam them if they have wrinkles, choose accessories, nail polish and makeup to match. This shaves off at least 15 minutes of my morning routine…15 more minutes I get to sleep!

What are things that you do to help simplify your life? Please share!

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Sprint via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Sprint.

Zoya Spring 2012

Loving Zoya Spring line!



TRUE 
'Honestly, Beautiful Color' A fresh bloom of dewy color, inspired by the runway looks of top designers, this collection features slightly muted and unexpected spring shades in six easy to wear full coverage creams and metallics.
Cho - full coverage, vanilla shimmer metallic
Farah - full coverage, latte beige cream (my favorite from the line)
Bevin - pale sage green cream
Skylar - silvered slate blue metallic
Tru - gilded purple orchid metallic
Lotus - light lotus purple metallic


FLECK EFFECT
'Mylar Fleck Top coats that can be worn alone or layered over other nail polishes. These have the coolest 3d effect I have ever seen. They are also not bulky like regular glitter, and it's more flesh with the nail bed. 
Maisie - blue tint with mylar green fleck effect
Opal - green tint with mylar green fleck effect
Chloe - pink tint with mylar green and gold fleck effect

Suggested Retail price: $8.00 bottle

Bath & Body Works Spring Scented Candles

New Bath & Body Works scents for Spring!

Green Grass: Refreshing as shaded grass on a warm, sunny day, this candle blends dewy greens and Meyer lemon, infused with Lily-of-the-Valley and a touch of jasmine




Spring: Like a dream of walking in a lush garden in full bloom, this candle combines sweet apple blossoms, yellow daisies and daffodils





Drenched Apple Flower: Invigorating as a walk through the orchard after a spring shower, this candle combines crisp Fuji apples with rain-soaked greens and pink lotus blossom

Available at Bath & Body Works Stores nationwide and www.bathandbodyworks.com

Cost: $19.50 for the 3 wick 14.5oz Candle