Birchbox Review: April

I was a tad underwhelmed when I opened last month's Birchbox, but I ended up really liking most of the products.  Here's what I got!

(Malin + Goetz) | bergamot body wash
Birchbox description:  A natural antiseptic, the bergamot in this glycerin-packed cleanser keeps limbs soft & soothed.  Full-size, $18

My Review:  I was introduced to Malin + Goetz last year when John & I stayed at the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville & the bathroom was full of their products.  I meant to buy some of the stuff we used during our stay, but never did, so I was super excited when I received this bergamot body wash in my Birchbox.  I love it!  A lot of reviewers don't like the scent.  It's a light, unique scent, but I like it.  And it's very moisturizing, which surprised me.  I bought this!

Kiehl's | Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate
Birchbox description:  With a hefty 10.5 percent pure vitamin C, this targeted anti-aging serum brightens skin, protects against free radical damage, & softens wrinkles.  Full-size, $58

My Review:  I love Kiehl's & use a lot of their products, although I tend to stick to the basics & not their pricier anti-aging stuff.  I've used a sample of this product before - from the store, not Birchbox. I like it & it feels good on my skin, but I'm not at a point where I'm going to buy a $58 serum yet.  Yet...

Nexxus | Youth Renewal Rejuvenating Elixir
Birchbox description:  It's not just your skin that needs anti-aging help.  This new shine-boosting serum cures dry strands & reduces the odds of age-related breakage.  Full-size, $20.99

My Review:  This is a strange product.  Does my hair needs an anti-aging serum?  The first time I used this, it made my hair a little greasy, so I used less product the next time & it's okay.  It doesn't seem to do anything to my hair either way.  Pass.

Supergoop! | Daily Correct SPF 35 CC Cream
Birchbox description:  This  next-generation CC cream provides corrective coverage & triple protects against UVA, UVB, & infrared-A rays.  Full-size, $32

My Review:  I was excited to receive this because I've heard about it & people seem to love it, but it's not for me.  The main problem was that it was too dark for my skin, which I sadly didn't realize until I had slathered it all over my face.  So I went with it & wore it to work for a day.  I got used to the color, but afterwards, my face broke-out.  I think it's too thick for me.  I gave this sample away to a friend with a darker complexion.  Too heavy for me, especially this time of year.

Simple | Revitalizing Eye Roll-On
Birchbox description:  A complex of skin-loving ingredients gently revitalizes tired eyes.  Pro-vitamin B restores & softens your delicate skin, while cucumber extract & glycerin work together to hydrate & refresh.  Full-size, $10.99

My Review:  I like Simple products & use their face wipes after races & on nights I'm too tired to do anything more than swipe a wipe across my face, but this roll-on falls short.  At my age, I need a lot more from an eye cream.  This feels good as you roll it on, especially after swimming in goggles, but it doesn't moisturize AT ALL.  I'll keep the sample, but will not be buying this one.

Weekend Wrap Up: Memorial Day Edition

I spent Saturday morning enjoying a free birthday yoga class at my new favorite yoga studio, Shakti Yoga.  I haven't been a lot in the past month, but going on Saturday reminded me of how much I love yoga.  I don't know how I think I'm going to fit anymore work-outs into this schedule, but maybe I can squeeze in a class a week.  Maybe...

After yoga, I went to Headquarters to cash in my free birthday latte courtesy of my friend Melanie.  I had to install Square Wallet to use it.  Y'all, the future is now.

I took my free local honey latte (thank you, Melanie!) & went across the street to my friend Jaime's house to see the spoils of her recent Opry Mills shopping spree & help her put together outfits.  Jaime returned the favor on Sunday by picking up another Forever 21 bracelet that I was lusting over & putting it in my mailbox.  Friends who enable your gold, spiky bracelet addiction are the best!

I spent the rest of Saturday reading outside on our deck.  My free library kindle edition of I Want My MTV expired on Sunday, so I was frantically trying to finish it.  Spoiler alert:  I didn't.  But I love it!  I just need to buy it so I can finish it.

Since my family spent last weekend cheering me on during my triathlon, we pushed my birthday celebration to this weekend.  My mom knows how much I love Jeni's Ice Cream, so they drove up & met us for lunch at Rosepepper, then took us across the street for ice cream.

These J & K letters are bookends!  Made out of books!  My mom found the K & bought it, then had the shop teacher at her school make the J out of a book she bought at Goodwill.  Aren't they cute?!  I love them!

My dad took this picture of me, my mom & John eating our ice cream.  Afterwards, John & I went to Grimey's to buy Daft Punk & then we drove around all afternoon listening to it.  I was craving a hamburger, so John went to the store, got all the fixins & grilled us some hamburgers, which we ate while watching ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT!!!

I honestly spent the majority of yesterday lounging around the house & playing on the internet.  I spent HOURS organizing my Pinterest page - making new, more specific boards & deleting pins, etc.  After lunch, I pulled myself together & headed east for a Memorial Day East Nasty Splashdown.  Like all successful pool parties, inflatable Kim Kardashian was in attendance.  She says, "Hey, y'all!"

I rounded out my 3-day weekend by watching The Impossible last night.  That movie is INTENSE.  I'm pretty sure I broke my tear ducts.  Good movie though.

Race Recap: Cedars Of Lebanon Triathlon 2013

I completed my second triathlon over the weekend, the Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon.  Like the first triathlon I did last August, this one was also put on by Team Magic.  I wasn't nearly as nervous this time. This time I felt prepared, I knew what to pack, how to set up my transition area & I was ready to get there & go!

Y'all know I never race alone.  In addition to Heidi & Alicia, who I did my first tri with, this time we were joined by fellow East Nasties, Lana & Sara, & then my friends, Mary Katherine, Marshall, Katie & Dawn.  We had a pretty large cheering squad, too:  Kristine, Andy, Neil, Andrew, John, my parents, my sister & my four nieces, plus Season, Jim & Mike, who were race volunteers.  It was awesome!

Here's a breakdown of how the race went.

200 yard swim:  6:45 (3:41 per 100/m pace)

I'm beating myself up a little bit over the swim.  I still don't know what happened, but when I started the swim & came up from pushing off, I forgot what to do.  It was bizarre.  Heidi was swimming directly in front of me, so I tried to mirror her, but I couldn't get it.  I decided to swim breaststroke to the wall & then switch to freestyle when I pushed off for the second time.  Long story short, it didn't work & I swam breaststroke for the entire swim.  Luckily, I still did it pretty fast, but I lost at least a minute.  I don't even care about my time.  I'm more frustrated & confused over what happened in general.  All I can figure out is that it was the shock of the cold water, but who knows.  Moving on.

T1:  3:32

Heidi was # 612 & I was # 613, so we were directly beside each other for the first part of the race.  We finished the swim together & ran to the first transition together.  Last year, all of my transitions were over 5 minutes, so I was determined to do them faster this time, & thanks to some great tips from Allison, I did!

10 mile bike ride:  40:39 (14.8 mph pace)

This was my first race on my new road bike.  I was nervous because I didn't know the course & it had been raining, so the roads were wet.  In all of my time trials, it took me around 55-60 minutes to ride 10 miles.  But I totally did this in 40.  The race course was flatter than I practiced, so that obviously explains some of the time difference, but I was shocked when I got my results & saw that I was 15 minutes faster than all of my practice rides.  Y'all, I went HAM on that bike.

T2:  1:06

Holy crap, 1:06!  Thanks, Allison!  This is a direct result of me connecting everything to my race belt & grabbing it / putting it on as I ran back out of transition.  Yeah!

2 mile run:  25:42 (12:30/mile pace)

I did okay on the run.  I only did two brick practices & neither of them were recent.  In hindsight, I probably should have practiced the transition from bike to run more.  I did what I could, but my legs were dead.  I ran a steady 12 minute mile pace.  I easily lost a minute stopping for water & course directions.  This is my one critique of Team Magic.  They have got to get better at directing runners on the course.  This has been a cluster in both of the Team Magic races I've done.

Here is the iPhone video my mom took of me crossing the finish line:



Total time:  1:17:42

I finished way faster than I thought I would.  I put myself at around 1:30, so I couldn't believe it when I saw that I finished in 1:17.  If I had swam at my actual speed, I would have finished at 1:15, which kind of blows my mind.  In my division, I placed 7 out of 13.  Of all the women, I placed 118 out of 158.

Lessons Learned:

I'm still not 100% sure what happened in the swim, but I attended a tri clinic at Fleet Feet last year & I remember them saying to always get in the pool prior to the race.  I did that in my first race, but I did not do that this time.  Maybe that's what went wrong?  Regardless, I'm getting in the pool next time.  My transitions are great; I've got that down.  I need more practice on my bike.  I could stand to get a little faster & I need a lot more hill practice.  I can run in my sleep, but I need to practice transitioning from bike to run more.

Looking Ahead:

I had a blast doing this race & kind of can't wait to do another one.  Something about this sport aligns with the way my brain works.  I love the organization & logistics of triathlons.  And I'm good at it!  God, I wish someone had told me years ago that I could apply my insane organizational skills to athletics.

That being said, I've decided to keep going with this.  The two races I've done have been Sprints.  I'm interested in kicking it up a notch & trying an Olympic distance tri.  There's one in August that I've got my eye on.  Lana suggested we try an open water Sprint first, so we're going to do the Team Magic Old Hickory Lake Triathlon on June 22nd.  I have no idea if I can swim in open water.  Guess I'll find out!  Depending on how that goes, I may or may not do the Olympic distance Tri Fall Creek Falls Triathlon in August.

Full photostream on Facebook and Flickr.

Weekend Wrap Up: Birthday Triathlon Edition

On Saturday, I completed my second triathlon, the Cedars Of Lebanon Tri.  It was a 200 yard swim, 10 mile ride & 2 mile run.  My finish time was 1:17, which is way faster than I anticipated.  I messed up my swim & lost time there, but my transitions were super fast & my bike was 15 minutes faster than I thought it would be.  I'm pretty pleased!

I did this race with a whole mess of my friends.  Heidi & I were actually beside each other in the race.  She was 612 & I was 613, so we got to start the swim together & go through the first transition together, which was really nice & calming.  It helps your pre-race nerves to start side-by-side with your friend.

This was the first triathlon Mary Katherine & I did together & since her birthday was on Sunday & mine was yesterday, we dubbed ourselves Team Taurus.  To celebrate our birthdays & our race, Mary Katherine's sweet momma had us over for brunch after the race.  Thank you, Sonya!

As I continue to work on my "non-food rewards", I treated myself (treat yo self!) to a pedicure after my race on Saturday.  I could get used to this!

My friend Rebecca was in town this weekend & she & her husband Jay treated me to an early birthday brunch at Le Peep on Sunday.  Heart you, friend!  YLS

Later on Sunday, I invited my friends to join me for Birthday Sunday Funday!  Everyone in the world came & it was so awesome.  My friend Neil even jumped up on a table & got the entire bar to sing "Happy Birthday" to me, which was hilarious & amazing.

I had a blast.  It's one of the best birthdays I've had in forever.  And it technically wasn't even my birthday yet!  Thanks to everyone who came.  It was awesome!

Full triathlon photostream here.  Full birthday photostream here.

P.S. The running group I run with, East Nasty, named me their East Nasty of the Week (ENOW) yesterday, which is a huge honor.  Read the post here.  Thank you Sarah & thank you East Nasty!  ENFL!

I Like Big Books & I Cannot Lie!

Somehow this week I ended up with four library books, all due back in two weeks.  I don't know who I  think I am.  The last book I read was a 200 page YA novel & it still took me like 2 months to read.  I can't even read one book in two weeks, let alone four.  The book that you can't see is the ebook on my Kindle, I Want My MTV by Rob Tannenbaum.

Using the Nashville Public Library is new to me.  Clearly.  My friend Jenn told me about their app, which lets you check out books on your iPhone or Ipad & then choose which library branch to pick it up from.  They email you when it's there & they email you when it's due.  So easy!  And free!

So I went through & got on the waitlist for some books I've been wanting to read & they all came in at the same time.  Of course they did.  I think the ebook I actually have to read in two weeks, but everything else I can renew for extra time if needed.

I started reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened first & should finish it today, then I'll start my ebook since it's due back next week.  Then I'll tackle the other two.  I'm also still on the waitlist for Michael Pollan's new book, Cooked, but there are 30+ people ahead of me so surely I can finish these before I get that one.  Surely.

Books!

Weekend Wrap Up: I Cut Off My Hair Edition

I accidentally didn't cut my hair for two years & then this happened on Friday.  It was fun having long hair & y'all know how much I loved my top knot, but I was bored with it.  This new cut is going to be a lot of fun.

Cut & color by Jordan at Salon Nfuse.

Saturday = brick practice.  We (me, Dawn & Heidi) rode 10 miles, then immediately ran 2 miles.  The same distance as our tri this weekend.  Afterwards, we went to Barista Parlor for coffee & breakfast.  Loving Barista's new sign!

Later I hit the mall with Jaime to cash in some birthday month coupons.  Can we talk about the witchery that takes place at Soma?  Every time I go in there, I walk out $100 poorer.  Every time!  Witchery, I tell you.  Straight up, bra witchery.

Yesterday, John & I spent the day with my family for Mother's Day.  I hilariously realized that my seven year old niece & I have the exact same haircut, so...  that's awesome.  By the way, check out this picture of me & my parents from 1977.  I was 17 months old.  And yes, I was a baby model.  Not really.  But I totally could have been.

Tiffany's Baby Shower Wrap Up

Last weekend, Lauren & I hosted a baby shower for our friend Tiffany.  This was my second time hosting a baby shower.  I hosted my first one for my friend Jessica last year, & I'm happy to report that this time I did not send anyone into labor.  Also, this time I had a co-host.  Hosting with someone else is definitely the way to go.

Lauren & I started by creating a secret board on Pinterest (we've since made it a public board).  Tiff made deciding on what to eat easy.  She's been pinning all these crazy pregnancy foods, so we just re-pinned them to our secret board.  When it was time to decide on the menu for the shower, most of our choices were foods she had pinned.

Similar to what I did for Jessica, I got Tiffany's baby shower invite on Etsy.  I'm a huge fan of this process.  You pick out a design, email the designer the text, take the file to Kinko's & then grab some cute envelopes at Paper Source.  It's so easy!  And way cheaper than traditional invitations.  I used this invite from Splash Of Silver.  Highly recommend her!

Photo credit:  Jenn

A few months back, my friend Jenn posted a pic of a baby shower her sister-in-law hosted & I fell in love with the layout & decor.  So I decided to make a banner for Tiff's shower.  To know me is to know that I am utterly incapable of making crafts.  But I had a roll of Kraft paper & John had twine, so I was halfway there & I figured it can't be that hard.  Can it?

It should surprise no one that it took me two weeks to make this banner.  It's really hard to be un-crafty in a house where the only other occupant is an Eagle Scout.  John had to precisely measure everything & cut it out with an x-acto knife.  Then I messed up the letters because I traced them onto the pink scrapbook paper backwards.  But it turned out okay, especially since you were looking at it from afar.

Back to food.  Here is what we served (recipes hyperlinked):

Egg casserole
Cinnamon roll cupcakes
Cucumber slices with herbed cream cheese
Fruit kebabs
Hashbrown casserole
Mini ham & biscuits
Coffee, OJ, water & mimosas with Trader Joe's Italian Blood Orange Soda

Our baby shower was a brunch (11am - 1pm), so we decided on donuts in lieu of a cake.  Lauren went to her favorite bakery in Murfreesboro, Julia's HomeStyle Bakery, & ordered these donuts with white & pink glaze.  They were the best donuts I've ever had.  I probably ate 5 of them.  And by 5, I mean 10.

We didn't have to buy flowers because Lauren is a master gardener & just picked things from her yard. She also had delicious smelling candles burning all over her house.  Lauren is a natural hostess & has the perfect house for entertaining.

Tiff & Chris,

It was so great to see you!  Thank you for letting us do this for you.  We love you & can't wait to meet Baby Girl Kurtz!

XOXO,
Kim & Lauren

Full photostream here.

My Fitness Foe, Part Three

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Y'all.  Can I just say that even I'm starting to lose track of how many of these posts I've written.  Oy.

*Disclaimer:  I am not a medical professional, nor am I in a position to give medical advice.  This post is based solely on my experiences.  Please consult with a doctor before embarking on a training or meal plan.

In my last post, I was struggling with my daily calorie goal.  MyFitnessPal was giving me 1400 calories a day, but I was starving all the time (I believe my exact word was "hangry").  So I did some hard math & decided with all the exercise I do, I should be closer to 2000 calories a day.  I've been at 2000 calories a day for about a month & in news that will shock no one, I didn't lose weight.

Last week I finally bit the bullet & saw Mari-Etta Parrish, a board certified Registered Dietitian, Exercise Physiologist, & endurance athlete.  Mari-Etta is the only board certified sports specialist dietitian in Nashville.  She works with a large group of my friends, the same friends who have been trying to get me to go see her for oh, about 6 months.

Well, Mari-Etta blew my mind & probably changed my life.  In an effort to not spend the next two hours writing this post, I'm going to highlight the two biggest things I learned from my appointment:  1) I'm eating too much & 2) this way of life is not a punishment.

1.  I'm Eating Too Much

Mari-Etta said that in order for me to lose 1 lb a week, I do need to be at 1400 calories a day.  And yes, that is with all of my exercise.  We went through my road blocks (hello, binge snacking) & she gave me the most useful advice anyone has ever given me on emotional eating & breaking habits.  We even talked about my addiction to Sonic Blasts.  Contrary to what I was told in November, I am not carbohydrate deficient (I knew it!), I'm just a regular 'ole broad who thinks working out a lot begets the occasional 10oz cup of candy ice cream.  Apparently this is common in triathletes.

I've got to work on a couple of things.  I need to quit thinking of food as a reward.  And I've got to quit thinking that merely making it through the day means I can come home & eat Triscuits for two hours.  And THEN eat dinner.

During our meeting, I was resistant to going from 2000 to 1400 calories a day.  I was really resistant.  Mari-Etta turned on the tough love & told me I'm not ready to go down to 1400 a day.  She pointed out that contrary to how hard my work-outs & training are, I'm not ready to work that hard at losing weight.  Well, that stung.  But she's totally right.  I do want to eat whatever I want & magically still lose weight. Of course I do!

So instead of dropping down to 1400 calories a day, I'm at 1700.  She said that I'm not going to be happy with my results & that I'm going to get frustrated with how slow my progress is, & that when I'm ready to put the work in, I can drop down to 1400 a day.  This leads right into my second point, this way of life is not a punishment.

2.  This Way Of Life Is Not A Punishment

This is the most poignant thing anyone has ever said to me.  Until she said it, I didn't realize that I thought of this way of life as punishment, but I totally do!  I don't believe I think of working-out as punishment, but I do think of counting calories as punishment & I definitely think of not being able to eat whatever I want as punishment.  Granted, not being able to eat a Sonic Blast every day is common sense, but going to Porta Via with your friends & ordering the salmon, hold the pasta & double the veggies instead of the wood fired pizza FEELS LIKE PUNISHMENT.

I'm going to go out on a limb here & say that Mari-Etta knew I was trying not to cry.  She told me that I'm doing 90% of things right, mainly that I'm working out like a boss & that I'm tracking what I eat, including the things I know I shouldn't be eating.  I'm simply consuming too many calories a day.  She said that this isn't a diet, it's a way of life & furthermore, it's a way of life that most adults lead, regardless of weight or size.  It's not my punishment for being overweight, it's my responsibility as a healthy, functioning adult who wants to be alive.

I'm a week into this & I still feel like it's punishment, even though I'm trying to re-train my brain.  I know it'll switch at some point, but it hasn't yet.  I think we do each other a disservice by pretending that weight loss is easy.  People my size look at thin, single-digit-size people & think they've got it all figured out.  They can work-out, eat whatever they want & stay skinny.  They don't have to count calories or not order what they want at restaurants.  They get to live this magical, care-free life, where as I, on the other hand, am being punished for being overweight.  Because for whatever reason, I can't get a handle on this, I have to work-out harder, restrict my calories, track everything I eat, all to lose 15-20 pounds, which is STILL a good 30 pounds more than they weigh.

Sorry, that sounds like I'm mad at skinny people.  I'm not.  I'm mad at myself for failing to be skinny.  Oh, self love, you win again.  Who knew someone with such narcissistic tendencies could have such low self esteem?  It's a work in progress.

So that's it.  I'm currently at 1700 calories a day.  After my triathlon next week, I'm going to drop down to 1400.  If all goes to plan, I'll be invisible by fall.  Kidding, kidding.  Actually, my goal is Fabulous By Forty, which is three (gulp) years away.  So mark your calendars for my smoking hot Fabulous At Forty debut on May 20, 2016.

Mari-Etta, thank you.  I'm pretty sure you just changed my life, probably even more so as all of this continues to sink in.

More info on Mari-Etta Parrish & her Be A Healthlete! program here.

Weekend Wrap Up: Baby Shower Edition

On Friday night, my friend Lana treated me to an early birthday present:  tickets to The Black Keys.  Because all concerts in Nashville sell out in the same second they go on sale, Lana was only able to get "limited sight" seats.  We were pleasantly surprised when we sat down & could actually see the stage.  Apparently the backstage passes I'M SURE my friend Dan Auerbach secured for me got lost in the mail.

The Flaming Lips opened for The Black Keys, & as much as it pains me to say this, they were the highlight of the night.  Wayne Coyne BLEW MY MIND.  Obviously, I love The Black Keys, but their show paled in comparison to The Flaming Lips.  Something was wrong with The Black Keys live mix & we couldn't hear Dan's vocals, & Patrick's beat always seemed to be too fast.  We had a blast, but we were both a little disappointed with The Black Keys.  Tear...

On Saturday, Lauren & I hosted a baby shower for Tiffany & Chris, who drove down from New York for the weekend.  Tiffany's family from West Tennessee came & all of our friends & family came.  It was a great day.  Tiff & Chris made out like bandits on gifts from their registry & that's not even including all the loot they got later from Essex!

Tiff & Chris under the banner it took me 2 weeks to make.  Baby girl Kurtz is due in late June & I can't wait to meet the world's tallest, blue-est eyed baby!  Full baby shower photostream on Facebook & Flickr.

No rest for the wicked.  I wrapped up the baby shower, threw on some jeggings (because I ate ONE HUNDRED DONUTS) & headed to Brentwood for Melanie & Troy's Quatro de Mayo party.  I may have had a margarita & a bushwhacker, at the same time...

From left to right:  Lana, Jessica, moi & Melanie.

My triathlon is in like 5 minutes & I've only ridden my bike once.  BECAUSE IT'S RAINED EVERY DAY FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS.  Ugh.  Lana & I decided we were riding yesterday come hell or high water, literally on the high water part.  The greenways are all flooded, so we rode to the stadium & back & around Shelby until we hit 8 miles, then we hopped off & ran about 1.5 miles.  Lawd, I forgot how hard bricks are.

It wouldn't be a work-out unless I immediately consumed the same amount (or more) of calories that I just burned.  Hello, Barista Parlor!  I wish I could quit you, moto biscuit.

Back at home, I laid down on the couch & watched Skyfall.  I liked it, but I'm still processing Javier Bardem's weird character.  I'm so confused about his ethnicity!  I was supposed to go to a friend's birthday party last night, but John had to work & I fell asleep on the couch & never woke up.  I'm sorry!