“Me Time” at Hotel Valley Ho – VH Spa

Every person needs some “me” time, whether it be a mom, dad, a significant other or even teenager!  You work all day, deal with people and just need a little time to yourself.  Rob’s “me time” is cycling or Mountain Biking, mine is painting (which I haven’t done in forever), Reading (which is impossible sometimes) and going to the Spa Happy Hours that the Spa at Hotel Valley Ho puts on. Let me explain:

So, about every month or two the Spa will showcase one of the product lines they carry – some have included Moroccan Oil, Priori, PinoNatural Spa Therapy and the one that happened yesterday was FarmHouse Fresh.

FarmHouse Fresh is a company that carries a line of beauty products that are 90-99% all natural and smell amazing. Most of their stuff is Vegan/Gluten Free and Paraben & Sulfate Free.  You really need to try them out! I own Fluffy Bunny, and it smells like marshmallows! 

The Spa Parties are 3 mini sessions that you can choose from (out of 5 or 6 options)  on the HotelsSpa reservation site, or by calling. The choices can be things like: facial, foot scrubs, arm scrubs, arm massage, scalp massage, paraffin treatments, Polish changes or makeup applications.  I usually go with facials and arm treatments- they are my favorite =)

The best part of the whole thing is that it is super affordable! It’s 25$ for the mini sessions, plus you get a 20$ gift certificate to the spa shop where you can purchase one of the showcased products, plus you get a goody bag filled with awesome samples and treat AAANNNDDDD you get cocktails! Who doesn’t love cocktails?

Everyone should sign up next time, it is awesome to hang out, chat and mingle! When you get the email blast you better hurry because there are only 40 spots each time and they fill-up in like a day!  Let me know if you are interested and I will let you know when the next one is. 

Here are some of FarmHouse Freshs' products! They were voted Oprah's Favorite things 2007!

more products! 

Drink of the night: Tea forte infused Vodka with Watermelon Juice and a splash of Basil! It was so good

This was my splurge with the 20$ certificate! I already had some of the FHF products! I love Butter London Nail Polish! 

Jenn's Favorite Things......

 Oprah has a "Favorite Things" list, so I figured I could as well! No you are not getting a car or a Humpback Whale..........

So I told myself I would give it a month of taking my thyroid pills and getting used to them first before trying anything crazy to help me loose weight. The month is up and I have some exciting things that I have been doing. 

First, I want to thank Instagram (even though my husband might say otherwise since I have been on there so much) for letting me stalk, follow and “research” some awesome ideas during that month hiatus. I have found so much inspiration through that site, along with Pinterest! (if you want to follow me   and the people I follow click on the links on the side)  She might not know it, but my friend Gigi’s advice all those years ago still resonates with me today and when I do my meal planning I think of her, because she gave me great food advise and told me that planning was the best thing to keep me in check. She also have me YUNS of work out advice that I will be implementing as well. The best part about her is that she is also a beauty blogger (besides the best hair/makeup/clothes stylist in the world) ! Read her Beauty blog HERE and her professional website HERE!

Secondly, here are some of the staple items I am using right now to help me lose weight, get in shape and stay on track!

•        I got myself one of these bad boys!

 I LOVE my 6 Pack Bag!! Do you see how much stuff fits in there??? I am trying to figure out how I can use this as a purse as well lol, so I am not lugging so much around to work. You can get your very own HERE! Look for coupon codes like on Retailmenot.com, because I found one there for 15% off, which saves you pretty much the shipping. 

•      Yes I take all of these pills a day!

   The breakdown will be from top left to bottom right….

•     Folic Acid –So many beniefits some are Muscular degeneration, helps prevent cervical cancer         and heart disease, helps with anemia, muscle pain, sleep problems etc.
•     Spirulina - (which is in a bag because it smells like fish pond water)- too many to list, google it lol 
•     CLA- some benefits are reduction of body fat, stomach fat loss, cancer, obesity, Increase                metabolic rate, especially helps people who are HypoThyroid
•     Calcium - I was low so I am taking more
•     More CLA
•     Gum….. for hunger lol
•     5000 iu’s of Vitamin D- so important for everything

•      Here is a sample of my meal planning!

 Its pretty simple for now, because I am working on the basics of eating clean.  Lean protein,  veggies and a carb 3 times a day. I also eat a QuestBar for breakfast! This is something else Gigi advised me on. I HATE breakfast and need to eat something to start my day, so I eat half of one in the morning and then have been eating the other half after working out. Seems to be doing pretty well! They are so good, especially in the microwave for 10-20 seconds.

• Joined the GYM!
•       So I have a new JOB!!!! Yay! I am going to be so much happier now, because not only is it 5 min from work, but the people are nice and the employee benefits are awesome.  They give you a stipend of 60$ a month on a gym membership! Awesome, Right? So Rob and I signed up at MountainSide Fitness and really the only out of pocket we will have is the kids drop off, which is peanuts. It has been so nice going to the gym and having ZERO excuse to workout. I forgot how good it feels just to at least do 30 min or cardio without a two year old running around like crazy!

• WATER!

      I HATE water, or having to drink it I should say. However, I have decided I have no other choice since it is part of losing weight and flushing out your system. I have a water retention problem that is pretty bad, and I know that ironically drinking more water helps get rid of the excess bloat. Yuck! But I will do it! That’s all I have to say about that! In the picture are two of my favorite things: Jillian Michaels and an electric Espresso Machine! I mean who DOESN’t have one!

       That is it for now! I am working on another post that has to do with skin care (the moms might like this one.... or anyone that is losing a lot of weight)

       x.o.x.o jenn

Positivity all the Way around!

493 Days Left!

Sorry that I have been silent the last couple of days. Literally since I posted the “I give myself 500 days” comment, that same day Rob got some awesome news and I got some two days later. We (well I can’t) can’t really talk about it, because of certain reasons but, hopefully if I keep my fingers crossed there will be some major changes next month!

Another positive that happened today was that my old manager told me she could tell I was losing weight. I was super happy because I am super bloated and de not feel well. Trying to see the positives can be a hard thing to do, especially when you don’t always feel good about yourself. I did do a little self tanning for the first time in YEARS with tanning lotion (melanoma approved lol). So that makes me feel good. I like looking a little tan!

I am super tired, because Lena has decided that she is going to continue this phase of waking up in the middle of the night (waaayyyy less now since we got her the twin bed) and want us to cuddle with her. She is going to really hate me this weekend since I have 4 days off and we are doing the following: 1.Potty Training and 2. Sleeping in our own bed no matter what!

Hopefully it will go well! 

My Little Lena! 

Fuel the Hatred

Meh. Pretty much sums up today. I am so tired and just really out of if. I really could use a long vacation or a hot bath , by myself. It the little things in life you forget to appreciate in life before you have children. I wanted to take a bath last night and just relax, but a 22 month old does not understand “mama needs alone time”, no she proceeds to strip down and get in.  ugh… I just want a bath. Oh well.

So in my new Fitness Magazine, with Jillian Michaels on the cover, there was this great 45 min walker/fat burn workout. I could def do it, because the speeds are manageable, but the 45 min is not just right now. I can commit to 30 min max at night, so I calculated the difference in the minutes and broke it down, then multiplied the remaining minutes and calculated the average between them: ET VOILA! I broke it down to 30 min! NERD ALERT! God I felt like my brother for a second!  Anyway so here is the picture for all you fat burning fools! Wanna do it with me?

I am still going to do the Jillian Michaels’ Get Ripped in 30 (RIP30)… umm I am starting to see a trend….She is pretty hot. Anyway, I was looking through old pictures of me in college and I started getting sad! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO MYSELF?

I legitimately hate myself. And at this point it is a good thing! Because like Fat Amy from Pitch Perfect (Favorite Movie), I am going to keep something behind my ear to “fuel the hatred” . JK well I will keep a picture everywhere! Ugh I just want to be pretty again, and healthy. Even if I don’t get to that weight! I did some pretty dangerous stuff to get that thin and stay that thin. (like not eating at all, rice and just Gatorade just to name a few) I am going to motivate myself with the people around me like,  by big Sis (from Chio) Kell! She has always been fit and really has been pushing herself, and I want to be like that. I am trying so hard not to get discouraged, but sometimes it just sucks. 

Neon Anyone??

So I am pretty excited. I committed to run with an old sorority sister in the Neon Run on May 11^th at the Salt River Talking Stick Fields. This is exciting two fold because 1. This would be the first time running/slothing without Rob and 2. I haven’t seen her in like 10 years! So that’s super fun! I follow her two blogs (1. and 2.) and she is pretty awesome and has really changed her whole body and attitude, all while keeping it real!  She like me is married and also has a almost two year old, named Emma. (Lena and Emma are only a month apart) So I am pretty nervous! I hope she will have fun, and I plan on making a it a goal to run the whole thing.

I have a couple of health things going on, that I am putting at the back of my mind until I actually get results, but I hope it gets better. Soon! They have kind of really demotivated me from how I was doing, and even my co-works have noticed me “stress” eating, which I am apparently a huge fan of. Lisa said she will take sneaky pics everyday and show me weekly PowerPoint presentations to disgust me and tell me I suck.  The health issues suck as well as some work stuff that I really cannot take anymore, but have to power through.

I have decided to do two a day workouts. Yeah, that’s right TWO-A-DAY’s. I am going to do Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 in the AM with Robbie Rob (yeah babe get ready) and then while he gives Lena a bath at night do a quick 25 min session with the Treadmill, or they can both watch, that way we can watch Whitney (that is why I said 25 min, because that’s Hulu time).

This day has really been dragging, and I am not the only one who thinks so. I need to go shopping tonight due to family coming over for dinner tomorrow.

OH and PS. My brother is now DIV 2National NCAA champion of the 1000m freestyle! Pretty kick to the ASS! So proud of that little shit!