A steal

About a month ago, my manager told me about a Groupon deal where she got a beautiful pearl necklace for $80.  


Well she texted me last night and said Groupon has the deal again!  For $80 you get an "18-inch pearl necklaces in eight color choices with pouch, shipping, certificate of authenticity & two $50 vouchers for future purchases" 


I feel like I should mention this 18" necklace is regularly priced at $450!?!  Crazy - who in the world would pay that?  So $80 for the necklace and $100 towards another purchase is a STEAL.  


I think I am going to get the multi-colored strand with white, lilac and peach pearls. 

From My Pacific Pearls

I also have my eye on this lovely: 

White Floating Pearls

Definitely head over to Groupon.  If not for this deal, there are bunches of others.  

...it ended up being great

Husband and I headed to the Charlottesville Pavilion to see the Trey Anastasio Band play.  After a disappointing dinner we were looking forward to musical awesomeness.  =)  

After a drink or two, we were definitely in a better mood.  

When Trey and the band came out, the crowd roared with excitement.  As soon as they started playing, suddenly everyone was on their feet.  Husband describes them as a 'jam band' with lots of solos and improv and I think it's a great description.  The band's talent was very impressive.  Such incredible control and understanding of instruments and music.  I couldn't help but sway and dance with the music.  

I LOVED that the band had a pianist, trumpet and trombone player!  On top of being showered with fun, upbeat music there was a killer light show.  Lots of pinks, purples and greens.  Oh my!

That's Trey!  SO talented! 

Something I love about music, is how it brings people together.  It's a common thing people can talk about and relate to each other about.  As usual, I made friends while standing in line for the ladies' room.  

It turned out to be an awesome night.  During intermission we met up with Husband's cousins who were at the concert.  We danced, we laughed, and just enjoyed the evening.  

It can't always be perfect

This past weekend Husband and I had a quick trip to Charlottesville.  We were in town to see the Trey Anastasio Band play downtown.  Some of you may not be familiar but he is the lead singer of Phish and incredibly talented.

Anyways we got to our friend's house Saturday afternoon with just enough time for the boys to play a game of chess and drink a few beers.

{my iPhone pic}

Early afternoon, 4:30pm or so, we headed downtown looking for food and drinks before our concert.  We  stumbled into this little Italian restaurant, Sal's Italian cafe/diner.  We looked at the menu, then looked at each other and immediately wondered, 'do you think we can get up and leave?'  The menu was over priced and we weren't impressed with their offerings.  But for some reason we stayed.

Husband ordered mushroom ravioli and I ordered pomodoro fresco.  The Caesar salads - not great...their homemade dressing was poor.  We hoped our entres would be better, but our hopes were trampled.  My pasta needed to be cooked 2 minutes longer, the garlic bits were still bitter, and the tomatoes were no saving grace.  The mushroom ravioli didn't look any better.  We ate quickly and left as soon as we could.  If you find yourself in Charlottesville, steer clear of this place.

Sal's left us with a bad taste in our mouths...literally.  Feeling cheated and deceived, we looked for a bar in hopes of washing away the failure we just ate.  We ended up at Commonwealth Restaurant & Skybar - an open, second floor bar over looking the main strip of the downtown mall.  Thankfully yummy beers helped.  We snagged a corner seat and ordered fries.  Strike 2 of the night.  Our "fries" were not potato as we assumed, they were yuca; a "starchy tuberous root." It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't what we wanted.

We laughed and realized every place has its ups and downs, and we were experiencing the "other" side of Charlottesville that day.

Around 6pm or so we headed to the pavilion and found seats.  We hung out waiting anxiously for the concert.  I hoped this would not be a third strike for the night...

hiatus

Dear Running,

I never thought you and I would become so intertwined.  That my sanity, let alone my health, would rely so heavily on you on such a daily basis.  You allow me to process my thoughts at my own speed without interruption.  You help me to free myself from the emotions that sometimes feel like they are choking me.  You have strengthened my body and my mind.  You're a tricky S.O.B. with the mind games you play, but I have to admit I love it.

Unfortunately you have worn me a bit ragged, specifically my shins.  The sweet, endearing feelings I have for you will never change.  I will always want you.  But right now my shin scream, plead and beg for me to stop.  For about 10+ years they have worked so hard, and I think they need a hiatus. I'm sorry I cannot ignore their burning any longer.

So I'm incredibly saddened that we need some space.

This weekend, I thought I could squeak in a 6k race.  I had hoped that I would be able to run with you, but my shins won and I resorted to being a walker.  I can happily say I finished the race.  I got that cute reddish pink shirt and I even made a friend during the race.

But I can't lie.  I felt a bit of resentment toward all the other running ladies.  It was nothing against them, and I'm sure they too have experienced this struggle, but for the first time in my life I really feel like you were doing more harm than good.  It's been a lot tougher than I thought, staying away from you.  But I think it's for the best.

Please don't forget me, and do not by any means, think you have won.  Because I will be back.  I will be back with a vengeance, strong and healthy and ready to make even more progress than I ever have.

Until next time,
Peach



{photo}

Scatter the dew

The person who doesn't scatter the morning dew will not comb gray hairs.
Hunter S. Thompson

Seize your day.

Believe the hype

I was skeptical.  I had seen the commercials and celebrity endorsements but it seemed too good to be true. It wasn't until a good friend of mine told me to believe the hype...Proactiv works.

She didn't have "bad" skin.  In fact I thought she had pretty good skin, not many break outs,  and her skin tone was fairly even; I didn't think she really needed much improvement.  But when she told me instead of wearing full coverage foundation (like I have always known her to do) that she was only wearing concealer and powder, I knew I had to give it a try.

EarlyAugust is when I got the Proactiv 30 day starter pack: the cleanser, toner, and repairing treatment.  With my pack came a little refining mask.  Like I said I was skeptical.

Pinky swear, I saw a difference within 1-2 weeks.  That is lightening fast when you are talking about skin.  My rosacea has calmed down.  I have not had any break outs.  My skin tone is more even than it has ever been.  And my skin is softer than ever!

My initial questions were answered immediately.

Isn't this line really harsh? No.  Not at all.  The cleanser has teeny tiny micro scrubbers.  We're talking the smallest exfoliators I have ever used.  I think the small granules make this cleanser much less irritating compared to other exfoliating cleansers.

What about drying out your skin?  No, this line does not do that either.  The cleanser and toner is much gentler than I expected.  Honestly I was expecting the toner to sting after washing my face (because I know it happens to us all), but it didn't at all.

I do have a few caveats to add.

I do use make-up remover before washing my face.  I hate to admit this, but I wasn't using make up remover and I think that was part of the problem.  I really needed to get all of my make up off in order for any cleanser to really do it's job well.

I only use Proactiv once a day partnered with a non-exfoliating cleanser.

So this is my routine (and this is probably over-share but I'm going to do it anyways.)

Mornings:  I use Clinique's Liquid Facial soap in the mornings, followed by Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion.  I've been using a combination of these two products for years and I didn't want to completely surprise my face with too many changes, so I'm keeping them in my routine.

Evenings:  I remove my make up and then use a little bit of Clinique's face wash to get rid of the oily residue the make up remover leaves on my face.  Then I use the Proactiv cleanser.  I probably don't need that pre-cleanser cleanser, but it works for me.

So after washing, I use the Proactiv toner to clean up anything the make up remover and cleanser left behind.  This is when I feel really clean.  My skin is not tight or overly dry at this point, as you might expect.  I feel like my skin looks really good too, clean and happy.  

Then after washing and toning, I use the repairing treatment.  I think of it as a protecting layer between my skin and the rest of the world.

Another plus of Practive - $20 for a 30 day supply.   Since I'm only using it once a day, It's early October and I am still a couple weeks away from needed to re-purchase anything.

I don't need nearly as much make up as I used to.  Instead of wearing a solid layer of full coverage foundation, I now only use a sheer layer of liquid foundation for work days.  On the weekends or after work, I only use powder.  It's a truly wonderful feeling not to stress about my face anymore.

I was skeptical, but believe me, it works.  And if you have questions, let me know.  I am happy to answer!