Quick Before and After

I'm in the process of packing for a vacation and I completely forgot my blog. This one is going to be a quick one, and admittedly, mainly for myself.

I've maintained the weight I've lost since June 2012. We went on vacation to Walt Disney World last November. I was looking through the pictures and was so proud of how different I looked from past vacations. As I was looking, I realized that I hadn't stopped with my weight loss at that point and I looked very different since our last trip.

On that note, how about a before and after, one year apart?

November 2012

October 2013

Not too shabby, eh? I was wearing size 14 jeans in the first photo, I'm in size 8 in the bottom. Woo hoo! I apologize, I know these kinds of blogs are self-serving, but I've come a long way, folks. I still see an ugly fat girl when I look in the mirror and sometimes I need to take a minute to see how far I've come. Make sense?

I haven't lost much weight in the past few months, but I've trying to simply maintain. Once I reach a size 6, I will be satisfied. I lost weight so quickly and cut back on so much, I lost a lot of my hair. I incorporated some healthy fats back into my diet (milk/almond milk, for example) and my hair has FINALLY quit coming out. Because of these fats, the weight isn't falling off like it was. That's ok, though. I am happy where I am now, and am just wanting to concentrate on keeping the weight off and working on some muscle definition.

So there you have it! Thanks for joining me in this journey!

Vacation Bag #2 (I think!)

We leave for Florida in 10 days (woo hoo!) and I thought I'd do a blog on what's in my makeup bag. This is just makeup products, not brushes.

• The makeup bag I use is the MAC softsac in medium. I love these bags because when they get dirty, you can turn them inside out and throw them in the washing machine.
• I take 2 MAC stackable travel jars and pack:

         -Laura Mercier Broad Spectrum Oil-free Tinted Moisturizer
         -Smashbox Liquid Halo HD foundation 

• You can never forget a travel size of Urban Decay Primer Potion. Whether or not I wear any eyeshadow, I ALWAYS put primer on. When you have oily eyelids, it's a must!
• I take a MAC Pro Palette x4 and fill it with the following MAC shadows:

         -Shroom
         -Brule
         -Soft Brown
         -Sable

Here's bad photo:

Top left to right: Shroom & Brule

Bottom left to right: Soft Brown & Sable

• I pack a few eyeliners for the times I want to make my makeup quick:

        -Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof Kohl Liner in Sumatra
        -Rimmel Scandeleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in Brown
        -Makeupgeek eyeshadow in Corrupt
                 -This is THE best black eyeshadow on the market and I use it as liner for a dramatic look.

• Maybelline The Rocket Mascara in black and waterproof brown 

        -I also pack an eyelash curler

• MAC Cream Colour Base in Pearl as a cheek highlighter
• NARS cheek color in Dolce Vita
• MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural in Light Plus for my shiny t-zone 

• These are in my purse, not my makeup bag, but I thought I'd add the lipstick/gloss I'm taking:                  

         -YSL Rouge Couture Glossy Stains in Anarchist and Naughty Mauve (Russell, you are a bad, bad boy!!!)
       

         -MAC Viva Glam VI

        -MAC Knight Divine Cremesheen Glass in Prepare for Pleasure

       
I know this seems like a ridiculous amount of makeup, but it only takes me about 5 minutes to get ready and I'm very thankful I take the time to do it when I look at the vacation pictures :-)

Ta-da!

So I cheated this week and decided to do a video instead of an article. A lot of people are curious as to how I get in and out of my car, how I drive, and what I do with my wheelchair. So I took a few minutes and did a demonstration. If you have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to ask!!!

A quick thanks to Scott for filming this for me. :-)

*I forgot to add that anyone can drive my car. The pedals aren't blocked by the hand control mounts at all. There is also a lock on the hand controls, but I don't use them.

Also, I failed to mention the company I purchase the controls from and install them. It is North Georgia Mobility. They are located in Ringgold, just off the Costco exit.

NOTE: I have some funny annotations in the video that, for some reason, will not play on mobile devices. I have no idea why. So if you want the full effect, watch it from your laptop or desktop.

My Mane Care

I've been asked about my haircare routine. There are a few products I switch up every couple of months, but I'm pretty consistent with how I care for my hair. It's pretty long now*, so it takes some work to keep healthy.

Let's get crackin'!

I wash my hair every day. I desperately wish I had the kind of hair that I could get away with washing every other day, but I don't. I change my shampoo and conditioner every six months or so, but currently I'm using Suave Shine Shampoo and Conditioner with Moroccan Argan Oil.

I usually wash it twice. Once I apply the conditioner, I usually leave it on for 2-3 minutes. I then rinse it with cool water.

Once a week I use Pantene Hair Moisture Mask, usually on the weekend, instead of conditioner. And again, I rinse it with cool water.

 

Once I get out of the shower, I comb through my hair with a wide-tooth comb. 

My hair absorbs water like a sponge, so after I shower, I let my hair air dry for a little while before I dry it. If I am in a hurry, I towel dry it some, but I don't like to do that very often. I then add about a quarter-sized amount of Suave Moroccan Argan Oil. 

Just as a side note, I used to use the Official Moroccan Oil. It worked really well but was very expensive. I got a sample of the Suave oil with a shampoo purchase and felt it did the job just as well for a fraction of the price. Anyway, I rub this in my hands and comb it through my hair, then brush it through.

Now onto what I hate the most: blow drying. Thanks to a perm I had as a teenager, if I don't dry my hair, I look like Eddie Vedder, and not in a good way.

I dry my hair using a Hot Tools Ionic Dryer.

I dry it for a few minutes and then section it off, top and bottom layer. I then start drying it using a round brush.

And there you have it! Hair is clean and dry!

Depending on my mood, the weather (rain/humidity), and what I'm wearing that day, I will either flat iron my hair-

 Or curl it using a 1 1/2 inch curling iron, also by Hot Tools.

As I've mentioned before, I color my hair because it's extremely gray. I get it touched up every 5 weeks. The color my stylist uses on me is Goldwell 6NN with 6G. I also get my hair cut in long layers every other visit, so approximately every 10 weeks. Regardless of whether I get it cut, I always get my bangs trimmed up.  My stylist is the lovely and talented Jessica Mundy at Beke Salon here in Cleveland. :-)

On the days when I have showered and washed my hair the night before (usually when I'm stinky from a workout), I use  Batiste dry shampoo to freshen up my hair.

And there you have it! More than you ever wanted to know about my hair :-)

* Just a little note, from the start of my hairline at the back of my head to the ends is approximately 18 inches. That's a lot of hair, right? ;-)