Gift Guide for the Fitness Focused Gal

As we move into the new year, everyone's got health resolutions. Now that I'm personally more fitness focused, here are a few products that I highly recommend for the fitness geared gals.

Gurin Professional Digital Kitchen Scale: I received this free for review and absolutely love it. It's about the size of a small tablet, wipes down easy and converts to various measurements. Between Eat to Live, If It Fits Your Macros, and other diet plans, this digital kitchen scale is a must have.

Orla Kiely Bamboo Glass Waterbottle: I adore this waterbottle, and I have a large collection of waterbottles. It's just so pretty even if the opening is not convenient.

Dragonfly Hot Yoga Mat: I haven't tested this mat yet but it's the mat I'm planning on picking up so I can start taking hot yoga classes. It's very highly rated and coordinates with my yoga clothes.

SodaStream Soda Maker: To up my water intake and combat boredom, I've picked up a SodaStream which has resulting in much more hydration. Health win.

Masterlock Precision Dial: For gym rats, a combination lock is necessary. One where the user can set their own combination is much better than having to memorize a random combination of numbers.

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Old Factory Candle Gift Set and Giveaway

There are few things I love more than lighting a candle up after cleaning the house to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I love those clean scented candles so when Old Factory (get it, olfactory?! I love a good pun) reached out to me to let me try their candle sets, I immediately jumped at the Fresh and Clean line. It's lemongrass, olive blossom and fresh linen.

Let's talk soy candles for a second. If you're going to buy any candles and care about being eco friendly, soy candles are the way to go. They are a highly renewable energy source that burns at a cooler temperature resulting in a long burn than traditional paraffin candles. That means it costs our planet less in resources to make and costs the user less per use. And it burns clean, which means little to no black soot.

Old Factor candles are made in the USA, eco friendly, and come in the perfect package for Holiday gifts. The scents are as strong and pleasant as a Bath and Body Works or Yankee Candle (two of my other favorite candle retailers). Each candle has a single scent, allowing me to only smell one scent at a time or light them up to smell them in harmony. Can you tell how excited I am about these candles?!

But, you don't have to take my word for it, you can pick up 3 candles for yourself, currently on sale for $25 on Amazon.com or maybe win one by entering my giveaway below:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Instanatural Facial Skin Tone and Texture Serums

I've been starting to stress out about my skin. The lack of sleep and nutrient drain from pregnancy, followed by 14 months of breastfeeding, stress from being a working mom and running after a toddler has left my skin lifeless. Fine lines are emerging, my skin is thinning. It's just a mess. Luckily, I received these awesome Instanatural facial products to try.

Hyaluronic Acid Serum: I use this in the morning after cleansing, rose water face toning and before applying argan oil and sunscreen. It has really improved my skin tone and skin texture. Everything feels tighter and my coloring has evened out. This is a really great value for Hyaluronic Acid and having it in a separate bottle allows me to use as little or as much as I feel necessary, which I like better than using products that already have Hyaluronic acid in it.

Rose Water Face Toner: Rose water face toner is a great right after cleansing. This rose water smells great but is not overly floral while being more moisturizing than other chemical toners. The size is also a great value as the bottle is enough to use on hair in addition to use as facial toner. The smell is also very calming as it reminds me of past visits to Hindu temples.

Anti-Aging Skin Clearing Serum: I used this product at night, after cleansing and toning, before moisturizing. After giving birth, I went through periods of having mini breakouts. Since using this serum, my skin is clear and I've seen a reduction in fine lines. I also really like how the product feels and smells, which really encourages me to use it, making it even more effective.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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FlavFusion Infuser Water Bottle Review

In an effort to #getfitordietrying, I have been upping my hydration game. Before, I used glass bottles in silicon sleeves, cycling bottles and even disposable plastic bottles. When I received the FlavFusion Infuser Water Bottle, I was thrilled with the design.

1. Light weight and durable. Lugging around the glass bottles is fine but they tend to be heavy and I worry about dropping it, even with the silicon sleeve at the gym.

2. Wide mouth opening. The most frustrating thing about many water bottles is the inability to add large ice cubes to it. I had to buy these ice cube trays that froze the ice into sticks that melted very quickly. This takes my large ice cubes that are long lasting.

3. Easy open and close spout.  The spout as easy to use and more secure than a cycling bottle. It opens with the pull of a finger and closes up tight so it doesn't leak.

4. Easy to clean. It comes apart in 4 different pieces so it's easy to clean all the nooks and crannies that might gather up food bits from the infusing process.

5. Infuses water efficiently. The aforementioned 4 part system infuses water but keeps the particles contained so they don't make their way up the spout. The reservoir holds just the right amount fruit and herbs to infuse the quantity of water in the bottle.

6. Great for kids. My toddler loves to drink out of this thing. I've used it to infuse water with various flavors that I'm trying to teach him to enjoy and he'll happily drink the water.


The foodie in me also likes coming up with different flavors to add. A few of my favorite combinations are mint and lime which was refreshing like a mojito, strawberry and basil, and spinach and pineapple.

I highly recommend this bottle which can be purchased on Amazon. Use this discount code to get $2 off: 9WMNBVTM.


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Homemade Bath Salts

 I've had a few people ask me for my bath salt recipes after I've mentioned how easy they are to make. It almost doesn't require a blog post because it's so easy but here it goes for those this can help.

Bath salts are pretty simple. At its core, it's a base salt, a moisturizing or carrier oil, an essential oil or extract and, if one is feeling particularly ambitious, add-ins like herbs, dried petals, fruit rinds.  Here's a quick rundown.

Salt: Epsom salt because a natural anti-inflammation remedy and is so inexpensive and easy to find. Adding exotic or Dead Sea salt can also add beneficial minerals to a homemade bath salt also. Even table salt can be used but it doesn't make for a very attractive end product.

Oil: The best value in oils, in my opinion, is olive oil. It's a natural remedy for dry skin, anti-inflammatory and high in antioxidants. Any shelf stable edible oil can be used, however, even vegetable oil. Jojoba oil is also a very popular oil to use as it has many skin benefits.

Essential Oil or Extracts: Picking an essential oil or extract to use really depends on the purpose of the user. Each essential oil has health benefits and a particular smell. For instance, lavender oil is good for a relaxing bath salt but peppermint oil is good for an energizing bath salt. Food extracts, like vanilla or coffee can also be used to add fragrance.

Add-ins: Many things can be added to bath salts to add fragrance, health benefits or just for aesthetic purposes. Just keep in mind that anything you put into the bath salt must be able to go down the drain or remember to use a drain strain when emptying the tub after use.

Alright, on to the recipes. Keep in mind that these can be scaled up but for ease of ratios, I have used 1 cup salt as the anchor measurement.

Bath Salt Base
Ingredients:
1 cup epsom salt (or salt of choosing)
2 tablespoons of olive oil (or oil of choosing)
5+ drops of essential oil or extract
1+ teaspoon of add-ins

Lavender from the garden, lavender essential oil, vanilla extract.

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, mix salt and oil until thoroughly mixed.
2. Add 5 drops of essential oil to the salt mixture and stir until incorporated. Continue to add essential oil until desired intensity of smell is reached.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of each add-in until desired smell and look is acheived.
4. When the mixture is thoroughly blended, it can be stored in an airtight container or ziploc bag.
 
Suggested Combinations
Lavender: Lavender essential oil, vanilla extract, lavender leaves and buds.
Coffee: Coffee extract, coffee grounds. (Use spent coffee grounds instead of new because coffee can stain skin, bathtubs, towels, etc.)
Citrus: Orange essential oil, orange rind and lemon rind.
Rosemary Vanilla: Vanilla extract, rosemary and lemon rind.

Rosemary from my garden, lemon rind and vanilla extract.

Isn't that so easy? Just a few things around the house and "Boom!" Bath salt time.

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Emile Noël Pumpkin Seed Oil Review

Let's talk Pumpkin Seed Oil. I posted a recipe here at the beginning of the month and shared this oil with all my foodie friends. Pumpkin Seed Oil has been a well hidden secret to all of us up to this point and based off their responses, the secret is about to be shared.

I started to look around to find out how this is typically served. It has such a lovely fatty mouth feel with an intense nuttiness I haven't experienced from any other oil. Emile Noël, creates their artisanal oils using a cold press, which is so critical in the production of nut oils because heat can dramatically change the flavor and quality of an extracted oil. Further, their oils are organic non-GMO fair trade so I consider them the standard by which all other oil millers are judged.

Popular ways to serve PSO is over vanilla ice cream which creates a delicious nuttiness. Think: the essense of nuts, a silky mouth liquid mouth feel accompanied by the creamy sweetness of ice cream. Another popular way to serve this is over greek yogurt. It is rumored to turn a delightful green color.

Aside from those ideas, PSO can be used in a similar method to truffle oil. It's not to be heated, as the health benefits dissolve with heat and the nutty flavor quickly turns to burnt. But it can be used to dress anything up with a subtle taste of the fall harvest.

Here's a quick recipe that required virtually no cooking but really impressed many of my dinner party and brunch guests. Some noted that it gave them a holistic feeling having pumpkin soup, eating the seeds and tasting pumpkin seed oil in the same bite.

Seeded Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients:
2 boxes Trader Joe's Pumpkin Soup or make your own using this recipe (do not double).
4 tablespoon greek yogurt
4 teaspoon pumpkin seed oil
4 teaspoons pumpkin seeds

Directions:
1. Heat pumpkin soup in a saucepan. When heated to simmering, pour into 4 bowls.
2. Dollop each bowl with 1 tablespoon of greek yogurt. For a more formal presentation, place yogurt in a ziploc bag, cut a small hole in the corner tip of the bag, and squeeze out the yogurt in swirls.
3. Drizzle each bowl with 1 teaspoon of pumpkin seed oil over the yogurt.
4. Garnish the center of the bowl with pumpkin seeds.
5. Serve immediately.

This recipe, along with the earlier bruschetta recipe, has really made me fond of using PSO during the fall. I can imagine drizzling this over a homemade pumpkin pie ice cream, mixing with cream cheese to put into a holiday cheese ball, or just garnishing a plate of scrambled eggs.

I highly recommend adding Emile Noël's Pumpkin Seed Oil to every foodie's holiday pantry because it's such an interesting add to Thanksgiving and dishes. I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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The Outlets at Orange

 It used to be that one of the rare places to score a Marc Jacobs at outlet prices, anywhere near Southern California, was a drive to the Nevada State Line outlets. Then, sometime in the past decade, The Block at Orange became the Outlets at Orange and up popped a Saks Off 5th and a Neiman Marcus Last Call. 

Thank goodness because I just can't make that drive like I used to! When I was invited to the Outlets at Orange Tweetup, I gathered my posse, which now consists of my 13 month old, my mom and my sister and we went to see what OAO had to offer.

The main event consisted of a mixer in front of the AMC theater where we tried appetizers and drinks from a few of the OAO eateries, saw numerous fall looks from the various retailers. As a special treat, a local fashion school was challenged with creating a dress made from the bags available at the outlet stores. 

Here are a few of my favorite Outlets at Orange offerings:

Neiman Marcus Last Call

Last Call has a huge, almost overwhelming, selection of clothes, household goods and accessories. A huge selection of classic fashions that will be wearable season after season. They had an impressive selection of Diane Von Furstenburg and Herve Leger, which I will definitely be revisiting when Project Get Fit is a success. (Not an official project, just what I like to call my health efforts in my head.)

Here are a few of my finds: Quilted gold toe flats are perfect for holiday parties and office wear. This leather motorcycle jacket by Vakko Leather has non-leather inlays on the sleeves and the sides making it more breathable than the typical leather jacket and more forgiving with holiday weight gain. Drink dispensers and silver tierred platters are perfect for holiday entertaining. Quilted sweaters and woven leather clutches are perfect for casual but luxe fall dress. 

Cafe Tu Tu Tango

This has been one of my favorite restaurants at the Outlets at Orange since it was called the Block at Orange. I celebrated birthdays and had my fair share of sangria at this wonderful gem. Imagine my delight when the #OAOTweetup featured Cafe Tu Tu Tango's wonderful sangria! They also had their beef skewers, which, quite obviously, my little one loved. 

Before: Beef Skewers.

After: Toddler demolished.

Market Broiler

There is only so much shopping, cocktails and appetizers I can handle before I need an actual meal. You'd think the appetizers were enough to fill us up but really, they just really whet our appetites. I know, #firstworldproblems

But what's a gal to do when watching her weight and looking for a family friendly establishment? Enter Market Broiler with their delicious fresh baked sourdough, kid friendly offerings and healthy options. The #OAOTweeup goodie bags included a coupon for a free appetizer so we ended up returning this generosity by ordering everything that caught our eyes. We tried everything from the Mahi Mahi to the trout, calamari, steak, shrimp and salmon. The service was terrific and the waitstaff was Oh. So. Understanding.

I cannot express how important that is when dealing with a very active toddler. Thank you Market Broiler, you shall see me again.

Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth

The idea of discounted Marc Jacobs, Jimmy Choos, Calvin Klein, Rebecca Minkoff and Sperry makes me weak in the knees. Literally, I was floored at the number of high end designer labels that exist in this store to the extent that I just started shouting out labels to my mom. She was understandably confused.

Hands down, Saks has the best selection of designer handbags. When other stores talk about their designer handbags, they almost never mean the designers that Saks has. It is unreal.

Here are a few of my finds for this fall:

Calvin Klein houndstooth coat to go from the office to date night without missing a stylish beat. Metallic Jimmy Choo stilettos because despite my mommy life, I still associate my most memorable nights on the town to a pair of unnecessarily high heels in an eye catching design. Those who know preppy casual know that Sperry Top-Siders are the end all be all of weekend footwear. This is the sneaker alternative for the 1%. And of course, purse after swoon worthy purse, Saks delivers the handbag goods.

Now excuse me, I'm just going to go and drop some hints to my husband about what I might want for Christmas.

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Mozzarella Arugula Pumpkin Seed Bruschetta Recipe

What one word, when spoken as the summer heat starts to fade, immediately reminds you that Fall is coming? Pumpkin, of course. From lattes to microbrews, when the pumpkin is upon us, Fall has arrived.

Pumpkin Seed Oil, however, is a new one for me. Nutty in flavor, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, pumpkin oil is big on flavor and health. Why had no Fall season before informed me of this product?!

When Emile Noel offered to send me one of their non-GMO, organic, fair trade bottles of oil, I chose PSO because I had never seen it on shelves before! (Recently, I saw it at Trader Joe's, however, during the great pumpkin wave.)

Then I went to the farmer's market and the bread guy had loaves of Gilroy garlic bread. My favorite greens purveyor had beautiful arugula. My fridge had some leftover fresh mozzarella from a pizza we made the night before. A recent health kick provided some pumpkin seeds tucked away in my pantry.

This, my dear friends, is the result.

Mozzarella Arugula Pumpkin Seed Bruschetta

Ingredients:

8 slices of garlic sourdough

1/4 cup of olive oil

2 cups of arugula

8 slices of fresh mozarella

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons pumpkin seed oil

2 tablespoons of honey

1/2 tablespoon of mustard

3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds 

Look at that garlicky goodness.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a grill pan on high heat. Slice garlic sourdough in roughly the same size as the mozzarella slice. Brush each side with olive oil. When the pan is hot, place as many slices as will fit onto the grill pan. When desired darkness of grill marks is reached, about 3-5 minutes each side depending on the heat of the pan, flip each slice over and repeat. Continue until all the slices have pretty grill marks on each side. 

Grill marks for days.

2. Place all slices of garlic sourdough on a cookie sheet or baking pan. Layer mozzarella slices on each of the bread slices. When oven reaches 350 degrees, place the cookie sheet in the oven. Leave in the oven for 10 minutes or until the mozzarella is slightly melted but not bubbling. 

3. While the mozzarella is melthing, whisk together the white wine vinegar, pumpkin seed oil, honey and mustard into a dressing. Throughly coat the arugula in the dressing. Top the melted mozzarella slices with the dressed arugula. 

4. Garnish the top of the toast with pumpkin seeds. Serve immediately.

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Happy Halloween

We celebrated our son's first trick-or-treating experience with a low key dinner at our place. Happy Halloween!

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Leather Nova Leather Conditioner Review

This is a supplemental product to the Leather Nova review I previously posted here. Because Leather Nova sent me the products separately, I am reviewing them separately but really, this works best with the Leather Cleaner. It can, however, be used alone with good results, unlike the Leather Cleaner. 

Regardless, I cannot say enough good things about this leather conditioner & restorer. It is a must use after deep cleaning leather. It truly creates a supple, almost new feeling leather without the expected greasiness many other leather conditioners leave behind. It is also non-toxic and environmentally friendly!

I do have to note that if you are looking for something that will restore well worn leather, this will not get your leather item back to a well finished or buffed looked. Once the leather takes on a worn, almost suede like consistency, the Leather Nova line, nor likely any leather cleaning/conditioning product will restore it to new. I didn't lower the rating based on this but it's an important point to know about leather care. 

I recently learned how important it is to maintain leather goods to get the most out of high end leather handbags and this is a perfect product for that purpose. Also, it is great on car interiors. My leather seats have taken a beating in the California sun and this leather conditioner has been amazing at giving those seats new life!

Rating: 5/5.

Before pictures can be found here.

After: Leather Nova Leather Conditioner

Cleaned and Conditioned

Looking vintage in style but not in age. 

Deep luster and color restored to areas of the shoes not completely worn down.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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Leather Nova Cleaner and Conditioner & Cleaner Review

Something about becoming a mom flipped this cleaning switch in my head. All of a sudden, I've been buying all kinds of cleaners and cleaning products. Maybe it's that now there's a little person making sticky little messes in places I didn't even know could get sticky. How does a toddler manage to create so many glue like substances?

When the nice people at Leather Nova offered to send me their entire line of products to try, I jumped at the chance. If you saw the interior of my car or the milk stains on the little clutch I put in my diaper bag, you would too. 

But wait, you can. I took a few different leather items from around the house to test out the cleaners.

Before Any Cleaning or Conditioning

Scuffed Vintage Envelope Clutch

Worn in the Rain Rockports

Milk Stained Coach Wristlet

After: Leather Nova Conditioner & Cleaner


This is a great product for monthly leather maintenence for well finished leather. I tried it on a dirt stained pebbled leather Michael Kors bag (not pictured), a milk spotted Coach leather wristlet, and a scuffed vintage leather envelope clutch. I recommend it on smooth, untextured leather because it really takes out stains and scuffing perfectly on these types of surfaces. It makes well finished smooth leather supple and new. On brown leather, it brought back the deep color that fades as the leather dries. 

It's not as effective at removing stains on pebbled textured leather but if I had maintained the bag with monthly cleanings instead of trying it on aged stains, I think it would have prevented a lot of staining issues. I wish I could get a clear picture of the before and after of the pebbled leather but it just didn't display the differences very well.

Overall, I am very pleased with how easy and effective the 3 in 1 is and will be using it regularly on my handbags, leather ottoman and leather car interior as it can be applied and left. The product is one of the few leather conditioners that doesn't leave an oily finish (very important when dealing with leather seating and accessories because oil stains are a nightmare on clothes) and is advertised as non-toxic environmentally friendly!

Rating: 5/5 

After: Supple and clean!

After: Removed a lot of scuffing and put back dark leather luster.

After: Leather Nova Cleaner


This is a great product for deep cleaning leather. I would recommend spot testing the product on a part of whatever leather item you are cleaning because it can be tougher on very soft leather. Also, the product label recommends spraying directly on the item but I found applying the solution to the included microfiber towel and then rubbing it in a circular motion on the item you are trying to clean to be more gentle on the leather.

The reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because I tried it on grey pebbled leather and it caused some discoloration in the test area. But when I tried it on Coach leather and vintage leather, it worked incredibly well, especially in combination with Leather Conditioner & Restorer from Leather Nova.

Also, this is not a stand alone product. To get desired clean, supple, new looking leather, the Leather Conditioner & Restorer is a MUST. Otherwise, this is a FANTASTIC deep leather cleaner. It's non-toxic, which is very important to me since I have a toddler at home and often put my leather goods in my baby bag.

It's also superior to Armor All for cleaning car interiors. It is exactly what I was looking for to clean handbags, shoes, furniture and leather car seats!

Rating: 4/5

After Cleaner, Before Conditioner. Must use the conditioner!!

After Cleaner. Clean but dry. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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