Hi loves! I am here with my August City Life post. August flew by for me thankfully and we had lots of rainy days and thunderstorms which made me want to sleep the days away! Luckily, I made time to go out and explore during the day and at night. I had some interesting collaborations this month so I hope you all enjoy! Only a few more weeks left of Summer!!!
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| New dresses for the babies! |
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| Smoothie c/o Daily Harvest |
This month I have partnered with a local company to bring you all a candle review.
Seventh Avenue Apothecary is located on the East end of Ybor City on Seventh Ave. clearly, and they are now opening another store in Hyde Park Village from now until the end of the year. The owners sent me their most popular signature glass candle which is lavender and black pepper. These candles are handmade and are made from American soy beans and if you get the glass candle that is a drinking glass so don't throw it away! No one told me that, and I threw out two of them back in June that I got from an event.
All I did to clean the glass was scrape out the cotton wicks that will burn all the way to the end and a little bit of wax. I threw the glass in the dishwasher and there you go, you have a screen printed drinking glass. This candle smelled great and is very slow burning for about 60 hours. I did take note that the wax will burn almost completely down to the bottom of the glass; I don't even get with Bath and Bodyworks candles. You can use my code
Airie20 to save 20% off on their website
here. It is a local company, but they have national distribution and are available in four other countries so don't be shy!
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| Armature Works- Aperol Spritz |
So, I am probably late with this one, but I just started drinking Aperol Spritzers and they are quite enjoyable. It's like an Italian wine that is a blend of herbs mixed with rose and a little sugar.
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| NIMA tests at Armature Works- BBQ ribs and pulled pork |
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| NIMA tests at Armature Works- Graze - chicken salad |
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| My second purchase of local art for my condo |
I partnered with Tribe Beauty this month to unbox their beauty box with over $100 worth of goodies. This by far is one of the best beauty boxes I have ever used. As you can see the items are well known brands, they are full sized, and they are a great quality. My favorite items were the makeup brushes, the makeup remover, and the NARS lip stain.
The makeup remover is electronically charged and it draws the makeup from your face to the cloth. The cloths are a bit small (about half the size of a normal makeup remover cloth), but they work better than any other makeup remover cloth I have ever used. They get most of my mascara off that is water proof and it doesn't leave a residue on my skin.
Nars Lip Glide
Makeup Geek Signature Eyeshadow
Crown Trio Brush set
Vasaanti Cosmetics Makeup Magnet Wipes
So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil
This month I got some Fall inspired sets from
Adore Me. I took photos with the flash and without the flash so you can accurately see how the color is in person.
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| No flash |
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| No flash |
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| Products c/o Avon |
I have been a beauty Insider for Avon for almost two years now which is pretty much the same as a brand ambassador. I don't work for them or sell anything for them, but they send me items to show on my social media and try out. In the past I was an Avon rep for a short time and like other brands I found their products to be exceptional. All month I have been using the face masks that they sent me in June/July (in last months CL post) and my skin is thriving! I was taught never to mix skin products and keep everything from the same line, but honestly I have three different lines I use and now the Avon Anew Face Masks.
So, this month they sent me this new Dynamic Duo set which is supposed to make your eyelashes (and if applied eyebrows) longer and fuller in eight weeks. I am just starting to use it now at the end of this month because I just got it so I will do an update in eight weeks.
Shown: Anew Clinical Unlimited Lashes Lash & Eyebrow Activated Serum $60.00
Avon True Color Love at 1st Lash Mascara $12.00
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| Kendra Scott Elton bangles in goldstone and |
I completely forgot to mail back my Rocksbox this month so I have my Kendra Scott Haul instead. They had a sale on sale event about two weeks ago and I got two bangles for a relatively check price. Goldstone is one of my favorite natural stones to wear during the Fall months and this will go well with my earrings and Rayne necklace.
Rainforest Gardenia: Gardenia's are my favorite and when I lit this candle up I lit in conjunction with my White Barn gardenia melt wax and it had my condo smelling amazing! The only thing that sucked was that the smell seemed to change as it burned down and reminded me more of the blue agave candle which I reviewed last month.
Aloha Passionfruit: Tropical passionfruit, radiant kiwi, juicy pineapple, fresh coconut, with essential oils. This not only smelled amazing, but the smell permitted the hallway outside my condo unit. I would buy this one again!
White Gardenia: This pretty much smelled exactly like the Rainforest Gardenia so I have nothing to add.
IN THE CITY: We started off the month with a trip to the local zoo and it was just too hot to see everything so we did three exhibits and plan to return in the Fall when it is less hot.
DATE NIGHTS:
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| Castille Restaurant at Hôtel Zamora St. Pete |
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| Hotel Zamora's Rooftop 360 |
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| Hotel Zamora's Rooftop 360 St. Pete Beach |
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| Edison Food Lab |
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| Roy's Tampa |
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| Bar Asia SoHo |
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| Ocean Prime Tampa |
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| Terra Gaucha- Tampa |
FITNESS: Alrighty guys. So, I started doing my "belly blast" workout in June (the full workout sequence is in that City Life post. I added the ketal bell in June also. When I left for vacation my joints and body did what it always does, it went crazy with joint pain, swelling, burning, etc because of rheumatoid arthritis. I was sure that if I got a massage on the first day of my vacation and if I left from my home port of Tampa I would have an easier time with my RA. That was a big old NOPE. My joints started hurting and swelling within about 5 minutes of me getting on board the ship. Many of you may ask why is this happening? Stress. I always feel stress and excitement when I am about to go on vacation, who doesn't? But my body just triggers these reactions. So I swelled up more than I ever have on this trip, my ankles were even swollen and that was a first for me! Even though I walked constantly while in Cuba and ate very little I still came back super bloated and nothing was really helping with it.
So, this month I got my butt in gear and went harder than ever with my fitness. I worked out 2-3 times a week instead of the one day I usually do and I made sure to do an even amount of yoga, pilates, and lifting with the ketal bell. It really helped because I joined a yoga challenge for 12 days on Instagram and started late so I had to work hard to catch up.
For the first time ever I feel like I may have this right and I won't have to go for a run. When I got back from Cuba my belly completely popped out and I was like I am going to have to run, I have no choice. Right now my lower abdomen is flatter than it has been in three years because I have never been able to work out that area well with just yoga and pilates. Part of my use of the ketal bell is working out my back because my arms and back are actually where I store the most fat. So, I am hoping maybe just
maybe by the end of September I can have my back looking more toned.
Below are the photos from the Instagram yoga challenge I participated in. It took me a week to catch up- they were on day eight when I started. After working out several days out of the week I felt really energized so I have been trying to maintain that momentum.
* ALL GLUTEN FREE FOODS COOKED BY MYSELF: RECIPES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST IF NOT LISTED
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| meal prep for hubby... ahi tuna steak with veggie stir fry and cauliflower rice |
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| Baked egg patty for one |
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Fingerling potato and chive egg patty with parmigiana reggiano for one
This month I am trying out the third Harvest Bowl c/o Daily Harvest. I have all of my ingredients here at the top. This harvest bowl looks like it is more on the leaner side being more veggies than grains so I decided to add some extras to boost the proteins and healthy fats.
The instructions on this Harvest Bowl call for 2 cups of water or broth. I always use chicken broth, but you only need one cup of water not two.
I sautéed some shrimp in a separate cast iron pan along with broccolini, fried egg, and hubby's bowl also has avocado. I would say pair this with rice or quinoa because it is a little soupy, but if you are avoiding carbs then this was my take on the meal.
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my plate is on the left and hubby's is on the right. He always has more food and avocado- I hate avocado.
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| Deconstructed turkey burger- gluten free and keto friendly. Mine is on the left with the ketchup |
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| Jamaican style curry with bone in chicken thighs- keto friendly version for hubby had cauliflower rice |
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| Stew beef- gluten free and keto friendly |
This is a dish that I grew up eating as a child. My husband said that he has only had beef stew and I feel that stew beef is not the same. When I make it he is always amazed at how great it is (probably because he grew up eating beef stew). This meal is a must to eat with egg noodles. I had mine with gluten free egg noodles, but I made his with zoodles so that it would be Keto friendly- and it was prettier to photograph. This meal is inexpensive and easy to make. For us it makes about 7 to 8 servings.
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| Thai styled curry with asparagus and broccolini with shrimp |
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| Mine has basmati rice and quinoa and hubby's had cauliflower rice |
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