One Night in Atlanta

I was in Atlanta this week for a work event and enjoyed every second of the 80 degree weather. I always have fun when I’m in Atlanta, whether its for work or pleasure.  It’s a fun city filled with very nice people!

We stayed at the W Hotel in Midtown and it was super swanky! W Hotels never disappoint, but I was especially impressed with this one.

View from my room while I did a BodyRock.tv workout in the morning.

I love little toiletries! My mom is probably shaking her head right now, and my dad is probably so proud (I get my hoarding skills from my dad :)! I had to hold on to these Bliss mini bottles. So cute! Hand lotion (perfect for the purse), shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and a special treat…face wash! These make great travel companions and are terrific for gym bags. 

All in all it was a successful business trip and great time in the city. Next week - Chicago bound!

Frederic Fekkai Blow Outs at Ulta

To celebrate Spring, Frederic Fekkai is inviting consumer to ULTA Beauty stores nationwide on April 5th for a complimentary blow-out featuring two of Fekkai's best selling collections. 


Consumers will have a choice between two signature styles: Silky Straight or Full Blown Volume.  The Full Blown Volume utilizes products from the Fekkai Advanced collection for extra volume and added oomph! The Fekkai Silky Straight Ironless collection is a revolutionary four step system that makes hair look effortlessly  straight and chic.


In addition to complimentary blow-outs, consumers will be treated to a 1.6oz Brilliant Glossing Cream with the purchase of $25 in Fekkai products.

Where: The Salons at ULTA Beauty Stores Nationwide. To find the Ulta store nearest you – please visit www.ulta.com and click on the store locator. 

When:  Thursday, April 5^th, 1-8pm

How: For additional information about Fekkai National Blow Out, please visit Fekkai.com.

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!

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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.