What I’m Loving Wednesday 11.7.12

1. When my old roommate moved out, she sold her dining room table. Until I replace it, the dining room is empty. It has become the “Activity Room,” aka the place I do handstands.

In this space, we have enough room to exercise, blog, do arts & crafts, have dance parties, or maybe even play spin the bottle.

2. I was browsing through the Juvenile section of the library this week and stumbled upon this gem:

What kind of message are we trying to send our adolescent girls? Not all men are dogs! Just half of them. ;)

3. I used to never (ever!) drink Red Bull. Then I met Danielle, a Red Bull rep and enthusiast. Since then, I've learned the magic of having Red Bull wings from drinking RBVs. They make for incredible dance sessions. Today Danielle informed me that the sugar in red bull is produced from a sugar beet. No wonder why I love the drink!

4. If any of you were wondering if I had commitment issues, you are correct. I can’t even keep a cart for more than one aisle.

5. I secretly want to decorate the apartment like this for the holidays:

I call it “Pastels meet Winter Wonderland.” All of that glitz was at Marshall’s if you’re interested in glamming out your home, too.

6. Speaking of glamorous, I found this pretty nail polish in the clearance bin at Target. L’Oreal’s “Brit Invasion.”

7. Once a fan of hipsters, always a fan of hipsters.

Is that not great? It’s a totally different kind of hipster, but still, the look of pure joy on my face cracks me up. It is the exact same face I make after a shot of tequila, haha!!

I want to thank each and every one of you who commented on yesterday’s post about my half marathon training. You are all so sweet and I will remember that as I cross the finish line. Big hugs!

Scenes From The Weekend

A surprise birthday present from Nancy.

A(nother) new bikini top from, you guessed it, Target.

A takeout Greek salad from Olympik. Thanks for the rec, Megan! The salad was huge and very fresh. I’ll be going back.

Farm fresh eggs make for a healthy and delicious breakfast.

Reading poolside with Amanda. I’m only 100 pages in, but I really like it so far!

And then the obligatory cup of froyo from Tutti Frutti to “cool us down.” Soy peanut butter + strawberry = PB&J!

Housewarming party for Dane with my favorite coworkers. (excuse the crappy photo.)

…where I discovered a wine that must have been made for me. B. Flirty.

…and an X (for xtina) in his room! (No, Dane is not falling over – we were just in the middle of doing the prom pose.)

New lotion from Victoria’s Secret. Notes: White nectarine and peony.

Tell me about your weekend!

NYC Recap Days 1 & 2

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about my 3 NYC vacations in the past year, it’s not to plan anything. Why? Because every time I specifically plan something, it doesn’t happen. Ice skating? Didn’t happen. That museum? Nope. Pickles? Whoops forgot those too. My friends and I are too free-spirited for itineraries.

With that said, I sure had a lot of fun.

I arrived early afternoon and went straight to Kaye’s house before meeting Lucy at her new apartment. Reunion with my soul mate/old roommate/best friend? Check!! After catching up over some wine, we got ready for dinner at Sushi Samba. Enjoy the one and only group photo from the weekend. We seriously had too much fun to bother with snapping photos. Sad, but not really.

Kaye and I split two rolls: Green Envy - wasabi pea crust, tuna, salmon, asparagus, aji amarillo-key limo mayo and the Pacific king crab, avocado, asian pear, soy paper, wasabi-avocado crema.

Lucy and Ann shared a couple different rolls too.

The sushi was fine, but it didn’t wow me. I’ve had better here in Charleston. After dinner we walked over to Wilfie & Nell in the West Village for drinks. While there, I noticed some dude pouring green juice and squealed, “Is that pickle juice?!” A few minutes later, some random man and I were drinking picklebacks: shots of whiskey chased with pickle juice. WHISKEY. My body hated me in the morning.

The hangover cure, NYC style, was picking up precious little macarons from Maison Ladurée.

I got two flavors: pistachio and caramel with salted butter . They were very flavorful for being such delicate treats. I also had a bite of Kaye’s vanilla and it was by far the best. So darn delicious. Thank you, Anabel, for the recommendation!

After our “breakfast” of macarons, we had lunch at Le Pain Quotidien. Still maintaining my vegetarian status, I dined on an Organic Black Bean Hummus tartine with avocado and spicy tahini. It was very light and fresh.

Lucy’s lunch was my second choice: Rustic Tuna, Hummus & White Bean
tartine with diced tomatoes and basil pesto. I want to make this at home!

Saturday’s form of cardio was shopping. We ventured into H&M, Zara, Dylan’s Candy Bar, and Benefit Cosmetics. Out of all that, my only purchases were at Benefit. BADgal plum mascara and  It’s Potent! eye cream.

 

I went to dinner with my friend Ben who is a fitness blogger/marathon runner. (See what he’s up to on his blog, Motivate Your Ass.) For future references, he will be known as B Dawg. Apparently he thinks it is weird that I call myself Xtina, stating “That would be like if I called myself B Dawg.” So B Dawg it is.

We ate at Euzkadi, a Spanish tapas style restaurant in the East Village.

We tried a bunch of different plates:

• Goat cheese and honey croquettes
• White Beans & Chick Peas w/Mushrooms, tomato comfit & vegetables) (my favorite dish)
• Tortilla Vasca - Potato and egg omelet, w/chorizo, peppers and onions
• Seared Steak w/ Russian salad & scallion Chimichurre
• Roasted lamb in a mushroom raisin demi-glace

At first, I shied away from anything that wasn’t vegetarian but as I was noshing away on the Spanish tortilla, I realized there was ham in it. And that’s when it was decided that I would take a vacation from being a vegetarian and enjoy myself in NYC. I still didn’t want chicken, but the ham and lamb? Yeah, that happened. And then we talked about Shari Lewis & Lamchop’s Playalong while feeling (kind of) guilty.

To be continued…

PS: If you read all that, you’re ridiculous. And I love you.

Best Moments of the Weekend

*My healthy lunch from Ali Baba Deli: Pita bread, tabouli, fattoush salad, grilled vegetables, and pomegranate muhammara. Swing over to Daniel Island just for this muhammara. It’s one of the best things I’ve eaten.

I’m loving all the veggies I’ve been eating since I started being repulsed by stopped eating meat/poultry/eggs. It has been 5 full days and it’s so easy! I know I said I wouldn’t give myself a title, but if I did, I’d be a lacto-pesco-vegetarian, right? I’m eating some dairy and fish, but no meat, poultry, or eggs. Enlighten me.

*The lovely Starbuck’s cups.

*My facial from Facelogic. This was incredibly relaxing and my face now feels as soft as baby’s skin! I highly recommend Dina if you’re thinking about going to Facelogic.. I also purchased this Dermalogica starter kit that they used on me.

*A visit to TCBY for frozen yogurt! I had a strange, yet delicious combo. +

with

*The Vow. I thought the movie was really good, but not as passionate as, oh, say The Notebook? Does anything compare to that movie?  I shed no tears, but came close a couple times. Deep breaths and shoving gummy worms in my mouth fixed that.

*Winter decided to grace Charleston with its presence Saturday night. The cure for the blistering cold? Winter gear + beer.

Oh, and hot chocolate for good measure. I am unsure as to why I wore a hat, mittens, and a scarf, but no socks or real shoes. Clearly I was in a rush for the necessities. 

*Brunch with Rachel at Hall’s Chophouse. I love that before bartender Darryl handed me the menu, he asked me, “Beets, right?” Well, of course. I, for the 29862968th time, got the Blackened Salmon Salad with a side of beets.

*After brunch, Rachel and I went to HIP HOP CLASS. No joke. I didn’t fall! It was sooo much fun. Definitely worth laughing the whole time! Immediately after that, we did Body Pump. 2 hours of exercise on a Sunday? Heck yeah!

And just for giggles, let me tell you about the worst part of my weekend. On Saturday as I was leaning down to adjust my bike at the gym, I knocked my head into one of the handlebars. I smacked it so hard I gasped aloud and now have a bruise. Seriously, will I ever grow out of this clumsiness?!

What were the best moments of your weekend?

GIVEAWAY coming tomorrow! Hint: It’s going to be SWEET!

My Makeup Routine

Although my blog is primarily about healthy living, it is not always going to be about food and fitness. Part of healthy living is feeling beautiful inside and out. Since I have been asked by several times readers to post make up routine, I thought I’d finally do a post on beauty.

My makeup routine is very simple and takes under 10 minutes from start to finish. I don’t wear makeup every day either; I love giving my face “days off” even though I really don’t wear much anyway.

In the shower, I wash my face with Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Scrub. It’s very light and smells refreshing. There’s nothing fruity or frilly about it and I like that a lot.

After the shower, I remove excess makeup with these wipes by Pond’s. They’re also refreshing after a day at the beach.

To moisturize and protect from the sun, I use Olay Complete facial moisturizer for normal skin. I tend to have dry skin and this does a good job of keeping my face feel dewy.

As you can see, I’m not brand loyal with my skincare products. I am, however, very brand loyal with make up. MAC MAC MAC. I love their products SO much. Their products would stay on for days if I didn’t wash my face. I know that sounds gross, but if I don’t wash my face after going out one night, I will wake up in the morning looking like I did the day before! Well, I might need a touch up or two…ha.

I put on my make up in the same order, every time I apply. First, I start with MAC’s eye shadow primer in “Bare Study” (soft beige with gold pearl).

This gives a shimmery look and really sets your eyeshadow in place. I was skeptical before purchasing this product, but let me tell you, your eye shadow isn’t going ANYWHERE with this applied first.

Next, all over my lid, I apply MAC’s lustre eye shadow in “Retrospeck” (beached blonde).

On the outer corner of my lid, I apply MAC’s veluxe pearl eye shadow in “Woodwinked” (warm antique gold).

In the crease, I apply MAC’s lustre eye shadow in “Tempting” (sinfully rich coco).

I then blend the shadow in my crease with the rest of my eye. All three colors go really well together and provide a very subtle, yet shimmery look.

The rest of my face is so easy – powder and blush and I’m done! I don’t need/mess with foundation. That stuff just scares me. The powder I use is MAC’s sheer select powder in NW25, and NW30 in the Summer. MAC’s powder goes on very light, but builds really well for when you need more coverage.

To brighten my cheeks, I use MAC’s powder blush in “Fleur Power” (soft bright pinkish-coral). I love this color so much and have been using it for years.

Mascara my second-to-last step. I have also been using MAC’s Plush Lash for years. I have tried all of their other mascaras, but always go back to Plush Lash. The name says it all – it plumps, curls, and volumizes. It also builds really well and I probably put on 1095815 coats. The best part? It does not flake or smudge!

Lipstick just isn’t for me. I think it looks funny on me and always want to wipe it off. I do love gloss though! I tend to mix it up with different glosses from Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret, but I have found a new favorite. I’m currently loving Buxom’s pout plumper in “Dolly” (a sultry mauve luster).

This is my every day routine, and for special occasions, I’ll step it up a notch with different colored eye shadows, or eyeliner. I really like MAC’s fluidline gel liner in “Blacktrack.”

Pretty simple, right? This is pretty much what it looks like all done. Click to zoom!

And here’s an awesome shot of what the eye products look like. We were celebrating when I won Charleston’s Best Local Interest blog! Too much tequila!

Oh, and I could do a whole new post on nail polish. I’m a sucker for fun, seasonal colors. China Glaze, Essie, and O.P.I. are the only nail polishes I use. This is the color that’s currently on my nails. Slightly obnoxious, very fun!

Are you brand loyal with skincare/make up products?

Which skincare/make up products do you love? Anything you’ve tried and hated?

Any post requests? I’d love to hear some ideas!

XO!