Nike Training Club

Summer is coming a little faster than I would like considering how out of shape I let myself get over this winter. I've been using the Nike Training Club app for iPhone for a couple of weeks. I can't say enough good things about it! First, they are not playing around! These are tough workouts. Dare I say I work harder with this than I did with Jillian Michaels last spring/summer? Yep! Even the beginner level is difficult, the intermediate is where it surpasses JM workouts, and I can't get through an advanced one yet-- something to look forward to!


Here's what I love about it:


The app is FREE!
Can be used anywhere
No longer bored, chained to the tv for a workout outside of the gym
Video of each move to show you correct form
Can very easily be used AT the gym, with their equipment
Uses your music from your iPhone
Adds up minutes worked out and gives you rewards as you go
There are about 85 different workouts
Unlock new workouts as you progress
Workouts range from 15-45 minutes, you can customize
Minimal equipment. Just a set of light dumbbells are all you need for most workouts
Like having a trainer with you anywhere
With so many options, it's hard to get bored
Celeb/Athlete workouts -- Shawn Johnson, Hope Solo, Maria Sharapova, etc 
You FEEL it! I'm usually shaking and dripping with sweat 
You can go at your own pace
No more cheesy workout dvd music!


Here's what I don't love:
The cord from your phone gets in the way-- that's it. I can live with that.
It is a Nike Women product. But I think it could be very effective for a man too.


I can't tell you how much more I like this than running. I've always yo-yo'd as far as my weight goes. This seems like something I can stick with! I'll check back in a month and hopefully I'll still be going strong. GO GET THIS APP!


Here's the website with all the details:
http://www.nike.com/nikewomen/features/ntc?locale=en_US


If you have an iPad, you can download it on there as an iPhone app as well... It's less portable but might work well at home.


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Here's my current workout playlist-- So motivating!:


Cry (Just a Little) -- Bingo Players
Zero Gravity-- Kerli
Kick Out the Epic Motherf**ker-- Dada Life
Greyhound-- Swedish House Mafia
Express Yourself (feat. Nicky Da B)-- Diplo
We Found Love (Chuckie Extended Remix)-- Rihanna & Calvin Harris
Can't Stop Me (Club Mix)-- Afrojack & Shermanology *** MY FAVORITE***
Feel So Close-- Calvin Harris
Body Work-- Morgan Page with Tegan and Sara
We Are Young (Alvin Risk Remix)-- Fun. with Janelle Monae
Levels-- Avici
Turn Me On-- David Guetta and Nicki Minaj
Bangarang-- Skrillex feat. Sirah
Calling (Lose My Mind)-- Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso
Sunshine-- David Guetta & Avici


Enjoy! Let me know what you think if you start the workouts :)

Contouring Makeup

I've seen contouring in magazines and on Pinterest so much lately. I've always done it with my bronzer and concealer but wanted to give it a more in depth try and see if I could do it more often and with things I already have at home. I think it turned out pretty well..... Especially considering I have the task of hiding that I have a lazy eye and dealing with a crooked mouth.

First a pic of what I had to start with... No makeup. Yikes.

Next, with the light and dark contours. I used the BE concealer, Makeup Forever Aqua Cream and Rimmel Pressed Powder....  It's still unblended in this next photo so it's kind of scary! Lol. And you can REALLY notice my lazy eye!

Then I blended and put a mineral powder over it all. And did my eye makeup.

So that's the finished product! Though you'll have to forgive my bathroom lighting. It's orangey. I took one more by the balcony with natural light to show you that I'm not an oopa loompa :)

All done! :))))

Here's what I used:

Neutrogena Mineral Sheers in Natural Beige-- for setting and evening the whole face

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Sandstorm-- for the highlighting. I think it's important to use something matte. You an add shimmer, but you don't want to look greasy.

Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Dance-- for going over the dark areas where I used the Aqua Cream

Makeup Forever Aqua Cream in shade #14 -- for the dark contouring. I applied it with a disposable makeup sponge.

Bare Minerals Well Rested-- for under eye concealer. Keeping it a little lighter under your eyes makes you look younger and more awake.

Bare Minerals Eyecolor in Drama-- for all over eyeshadow.

Bare Minerals High Shine Color in Luster-- for the silver highlight below the brow.

Revlon Brow Fantasy pencil in Dark Brown-- for even ing out the brows.

Dior Show mascara in 6M (Black)

Yves Saint Laurent creme eyeliner in Cherry Black --- THIS IS MY FAVORITE MAKEUP PRODUCT EVERRRRRR!

Clinique Long Last Lipstick in Pink Spice

Tarina Tarantino Sparklicity in Pure Bronze-- for a little sparkle on the top of the cheekbones at the very end. :)

My Favorite Childhood Story. A Warning to Parents Everywhere.

When I was about 7 years old, my dad took me to Valleyfair for the first time. I was 48" right on the nose. That's how tall all of their candy-cane poles are that measure if a kid is tall enough to ride the adult rides. I walked around the park and everything I saw I thought I should have. In fact, I'm pretty sure my favorite sentence that day was, "I should have that." I didn't have much of a sense of humor and I talked like an adult at a young age. It was weird. Needless to say, my dad didn't buy me everything and I wasn't happy about it. I decided I wanted to go on the giant water slides, so my dad got me a pass to the water park. Once I got to the top of the slide, I decided I couldn't go. I was scared. However, I had already been such a brat that day that my dad was too sick of it to put up with my crap. He pushed me down the slide. I remember getting to the bottom and my suit gave me a massive wedgie, I swallowed the nasty chlorine water and started to cry. We were enemies from that point on. My brattiness kicked up a few notches. As the day went on, I complained about EVERYTHING. I went on the High Roller roller coaster with my dad and cried again because I felt like I was going to fly out of the thing. My fear took my brattiness up another notch. At this point I'm sure I was pretty intolerable. On our way out of the park, I got a green light up visor. I had been asking for it all day, but once it was mine I wasn't thrilled with it. I'm not quite sure what I said that pushed my dad over the edge, but he took me to a corner by the restrooms and gave me a spanking. It was nothing major, but from a young age I figured out that two could play at the game of being mean. I got loose of him and ran to the middle of the entry way. He chased after me. That's when I yelled "Somebody help me! I don't know this man!"

Can you believe it??? I guess in 1987, they didn't take kidnapping as serious, because he caught up with me and dragged me to the car. Or maybe nobody cared because I have always been his female twin... I look just like him. This story is so hilarious as an adult, but I can only imagine what a spectacle we were to everyone. I take great pride in the fact that I had such an amazing an devious mind at such a young age. (lol) So parents, beware, if your child is smart enough and resourceful-- they can throw you under the bus big time! ;)

Me.... Today, Anyway.

I'm a different kind of girl. I walk with my head held high, and I'm not ashamed to actually mean it. There are people that I miss and things I cannot change. Overall though, I am happy. I will never know myself. I am always changing. I just want to look in the mirror and see a girl I would want to be friends with if I met her randomly on the street. I want to have something to say, and not just agree. I learned a valuable lesson recently and that is not to apologize if I am not sorry. Along those same lines, it important for me to say 'I'm sorry' when it really do mean it. My goals and dreams are changing. I'm pretty far from conventional, and maybe that's ok. I was always a book smart girl. I'm the one who didn't live up to her potential. Well, maybe that's crazy. My focus isn't money or status or selfishness. I'm more concerned about love, friendships, family and creativity... and living. Really LIVING! I may not be what you consider successful. Think of what your goals are for when you're old and grey, and maybe I'm onto something! I am not bragging. I have a long way to go. I have a lot to learn. I have a lot to be sorry about. I have insecurities. I am only human. I am putting one foot in front of the other, and reaching out to people along the way. I am giving people the opportunity to know me. To like me or not to like me. To love me or to leave me alone. I have let go of grudges. I wish my enemies well, even if most of the time I don't even know who they are or why. I am above it and beyond it. Though sometimes it takes a while to get over it. I was once in true love. I've started to fall for people since then. It scared me. I made mistakes. I'm sorry. I have fantasies. I want a small apartment in a BIG city for me and Boo. It worries me a little that I'm alone in my fantasies. I have drifted apart from people I never intended to. I am trying to find my way back. It's ok to remind myself that I'm ok. It's ok to like my alone time. I am not perfect, but I am ok with myself. I have regrets. They belong to me. I own my regrets and I own my peace. I don't belong to anyone.

Sufficiently Breathless

While doing some spring cleaning today, I was listening to Cecil Otter. You wouldn't think hip-hop music would inspire deep thoughts, but he is very poetic. The song "Sufficiently Breathless" has a line in it that says 'There was love in the air, you should have took breaths', and it got me thinking about a  specific moment I had with a man I loved very much. We were laying in my bed and the world didn't exist. It was the most involved moment (for me) that I can remember in our entire relationship, and yet that's really all it was-- a moment. It was there and it was real, but then it was gone just as quickly. I remember that I felt love, and I felt loved. I was open to it, and that was enough. I would be crazy to think that things stayed like that, or that we belonged together, looking back on it. But part of the problem with life in general is the inability to realize those times. All too often we let the times when we could be feeling our best go by unnoticed because our senses for that kind of thing aren't what we focus on in daily life. I am over feeling bad about that relationship, because it was a long time ago and I've healed. However, I can honestly say that I haven't put myself into another moment like that since. I only have myself to blame. A lot of good things have happened to me since then (I was probably only 24 years old), but I haven't slowed down to actually FEEL a lot them. I'm not sure if it's fear that holds me back from that, or if it's just something that dulls a bit with age and experience, but I want it back. So, starting now I'm going to try to keep not only my mind open to experiences, but also my heart.... because what good is it to live your life if you aren't feeling that little spark that tells you you're alive? Memories are just a series of great moments.

Color Blocking Trend... For Your Fingernails

Color Blocking is everywhere. What started last year is now out in full force. I love it! Even if it's not for you, there is still a way to have some fun with it-- nail polish! My favorite outfit of all time is a pair of skinny jeans and a plain black or white shirt with motorcycle style boots. It will never go out of style, but it doesn't play into many trends either. So, I put the trend into my manicure :) I saw a few pics online of Beyonce, Rihanna, Vanessa Hudgens and Nicole Scherzinger sporting this trend, and decided to try it.... Success! I've seen it done with just a slightly lighter or darker color on one finger on each hand, and with glitter on top of the color on one finger. So there are more subtle ways to do it. But I'm not so subtle, so I decided to go with contrasting colors. I used two of the brand new Essie shades-- "go overboard" is the main color and "ole' caliente" is the ring finger color. I did both hands the same and used the orangey-red on both ring fingers. Love it? Hate it? Would you rock this look? 

Hockey Town

Today the MN State High School Hockey Tournament started. I secretly like to watch some of it, even though I claim to hate hockey. Don't tell anyone. High school hockey in MN is the epitome of the game. Those kids are out there giving all they have. They haven't developed the college hockey player ego yet, and it's far more exciting than the NHL. I'm rooting for Hermantown this year, to stay true to my northern roots. 


But enough about this year's tournament. Let's got back to 1998. My high school (The Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears) was in the class A tournament and I was a cheerleader. It was a pretty amazing run by a team that had a shaky start. If I remember right, we won something like 21 games in a row to finish the year as State Champs. The championship game was against Hermantown, and in between the 1st and 2nd period, we went out to do our school song and cheer as the players warmed back up. I was oblivious to anything going on around me and focused on the large crowd singing and cheering along with us, when out of nowhere, from my right side, I was hit from behind. I fell to me knees on the ice and was in immediate pain. It was probably only a split second but I remember watching people's faces in awe as it happened in slow motion for me. I went sliding on all fours towards the boards.I remember thinking that if I didn't get my hands off the ice, my fingers were going to get cut off by someone's skate. A mess of players were skating by very quickly. Book'em Heitzman helped me up and off the ice. I was crying. Partially the tears were out of pain, but a large part of it was embarrassment.


I spent the rest of the game cheering from the sidelines with an icepack on my knee. I watched my classmates and friends lead the team to a 4-2 victory, and the title of Champions. The pain went away a little with the happiness and pride that came from the win. I hobbled out onto the ice and celebrated with everyone. It seems like it was yesterday, not 14 years ago.


Years later I would go on to meet the guy who ran into me. His nickname was Moose. It was completely fitting, as he was a very large guy. We had mutual friends and would laugh about what happened. The funny thing was, we changed the HS Hockey rules in MN just a little bit. From that year on, all of the players weren't allowed to skate around in warm ups between periods anymore. Only the 5 starters could be out there, to make the situation safer for everyone.


That was the last time Eveleth-Gilbert won the tournament to date. I am proud to be from such a little town with so much rich history in the sport. Looking back on those years and the people I was lucky enough to cheer with and have classes with always makes me smile. I have to admit that it's a little bit cool to think that I have the tiniest little part in the Eveleth High School Hockey legacy.