Vegetables - Green Machine

I hate vegetables. As a child, the only vegetable I would eat was carrots; this meant that I had carrots every night in my mom's desperate attempt to add some "roughage" to my diet. As I've gotten older, my palette has expanded some. I will not be starting the raw food diet anytime soon, but my carb-loaded meals often feel incomplete without some greenery. This slight increase in vegetable consumption does not bring me anywhere close to the daily suggested amount. That is where the Naked Juice Green Machine comes in.

It is a horrible color. The first time I saw it, I could not believe anyone would want to buy it, much less consume it. The people at Naked Juice acknowledge this... less than appetizing appearance. The side of the bottle reads:

Somehow, this admission of an obvious truth convinced me to give it a try. And true to the confession on the bottle, it tastes great. It has a strong apple juice flavor, but the other fruit flavors come through as well. The thing that fascinated me the most was the list of ingredients.

Broccoli? Blue green algea? And what the hell is spirulina? Anything with all those ingredients, and that horrid color, should taste awful. Instead, it is actually a rather pleasant way to drink your vegetables. I am not saying that this should replace all greens; it takes the "rough" out of roughage, which is important too. But this is a great way to bridge the gap between daily suggested amount and actual consumption.

Snap. Crackle. SHATTER.

I'm sure you have heard about the new OPI shatter nail polish. It is being promoted with the Katy Perry Collection and people have been reviewing it like crazy. I have been desperately waiting for the release of this nail polish, but it was sold out everywhere. Finally, I snatched up at bottle at Ricky's. The manager informed me that the display had been restocked 2 hours prior and that they usually sell out in 6 hours. 6 hours! Of course, I could not wait to try it. Here is my first attempt, shown over Sally Hansen's Pedal to the Metal.

My first attempt at a Shatter manicure

OPI Shatter Nail Polish

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Pedal to the Metal

I really love these nail polishes. They are very pigmented, the brush is big and easy to use and it dries quickly.

I love that each nail is unique. My best advice is go for a thin coat if you want a lot of small shattered pieces with less color showing through or a thick coat if you want bigger breaks and more "background" color. And work fast, the shatter effect happens quickly and there is no time for second coats. 

Mats? Mascara?

Why Mats?

I used to think yoga and pilates were fancy forms of stretching. Boy, was I wrong. For the past two years, I have had an on-again off-again relationship with these mats. I love yoga class or a session at my nearby pilates studio, but when it comes to working out, consistency is my big issue. So for the "mats" section, I will truthfully describe my attempts at being healthy. With Bridget-Jones-style honesty. For example, I will not lie and say I ate my whole 250 calorie Thai rice noodle bowl for dinner. Instead, I will confess to giving up about a third of the way through and noshing on mini-Cadbury eggs (my biggest weakness). Hey, this is my first post. Things will get better. Right? Anyway, we are all busy and struggling against the temptations of Easter candy, among other things. Lets hope I can slowly change my ways and offer some advice (or perhaps give an example of what not to do) along the way.

Why Mascara?

Aside from the nice alliteration? I have a slight beauty addiction. Well, really a diagnosable obsession. The beauty community on YouTube has me hooked and now I am crazy for all things beauty, especially those boasting natural ingredients and free of parabens. Mascara is my absolute number one must have. It is that product that my face feels naked without. But more on that later. As well as my obsession with skin care and YouTube hauls. 

So welcome to my blog. Enjoy!