New Release Tuesday

I've never really been a fan of the Red Hot Chili Peppers....I mean....I've liked a couple of their songs but I'm not anxiously awaiting the release of their new music....

With that said, the band has planted a seed of "Maybe I like this band" in my head with this song....

Enjoy!

Forgive Me...

Before I get into the reason that I need forgiveness, let's chat about a few things first!

I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Jason Adams from the Promoting Real Women blog. I've always  thought the blog is a great way to learn about the different ladies that compete and Jason puts a lot of hard work into the blog. My interview isn't ridiculously exciting or enlightening but if you're interested in reading it, you can find it here!

My sister Reecie has always been in LOVE with Buffalo Exchange while I've never really been a fan. That has changed since I've started visiting the Buffalo Exchange location that is a few blocks from my work. In the last two months, I have purchased clothing and shoes for less than $50!! Remember the cute white wedges I showed you a couple of weeks ago...yep...got them from there! Yesterday, I had some time off desk so I decided to take a walk and I ended up at the store. Upon walking in, I saw it. The one thing I KNEW had to leave with me. Feast your eyes upon the newest addition to my collection:

It NEEDED to come home with me ;)

I have NO frickin' idea why I bought such a large purse....I don't have anything to put into it...but that's not the point....it needed a home and I gave it one....the end :)

When I was younger, my mom would sometimes treat us to a drink from Orange Julius when we went to one of the malls here in Tucson. My order was always an "orange julius" and I would swear that I was sipping a little piece of heaven when I was enjoying my drink. I've tried so many times to recreate the drink but I have failed miserably each time. You just can't recreate perfection. Anyway, I have discovered my Plan B when I can't drive to the mall to get an Orange Julius.....

This gum is so tasty that I've already finished the pack in the picture above....and I just bought it two days ago!! I'm addicted!!!

I had Wednesday off so I met one of my best friends for lunch and catching up. She & I haven't seen each other since I left my old job but we do talk or text every day. It was so nice to see her and just be able to talk to her face-to-face! After lunch, I treated myself to a manicure because my manly hands were in desperate need of some TLC!!

I normally pick really dark colors but decided to do something different. I figured a little red & glitter never hurt anyone ;)

So....onto the reason I need forgiveness....

Folks, I have been half-assin' it. Excuse my language but it's true. I haven't been giving 100% to my prep and truth be told, I can't really say that I'm bothered by that.

What I look like after a lunch date with the StairMill

I have been doing cardio....I've even had lunch dates with the StairMill....not consistently...but it's been happening. One thing I have been doing consistently is lifting. My back workouts have been awesome and the other day, I killed my shoulder workout. I'm still sore today from that workout! I'm not supposed to be lifting heavy but my mind says, "You're already breaking the other prep rules so just do it!". Not good! My diet has been fairly clean but let's just say that I'm not turning down the chocolate covered almonds & crepes my co-workers have offered me. There are days when I do what needs to be done and there are other days where I haven't done one damn thing someone in prep should be doing.

I talked about the fact that I have had Jessie J's cd on repeat for that past couple of weeks and there is one song that made me cry the first time I heard it. While listening to it, I realized that I'm a little tired of picking myself apart and magnifying what I feel are my physical shortcomings. I need to focus on doing what I am physically capable of and just being myself. I need to be in the moment and enjoy the changes that I have made and enjoy being me. Here's the song that I've sort of adopted as my personal theme song:

There is a Japanese proverb that states, "Fall seven times, stand up eight". I'm not sure what number this fall is but I can guarantee you that I'm definitely getting back up!

That's What's Up Thursday

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There's something to be said about a woman
who is determined to improve her physique
and continues to strive for perfection
while ignoring the haters.

At the Europa Super Show, this woman proved
she has what it takes to be a top
contender in the Figure "game".

IFBB Figure Pro Ava Cowan - now that's what's up!!

New Release Tuesday

I took the Adele cd out of my car's cd player and replaced it with Jessie J's Who You Are cd. Yep...I haven't listened to anything else but this woman's INCREDIBLE voice for the past week!

Is there something in the water in England that makes everyone have a great voice?!?! :)

I highly recommend you checking out her cd - you won't be sorry!

What's In My Makeup Bag

You may know this already but I am, what I call, a MAC whore :) I love love love their makeup and am like a kid in a candy store when I walk into MAC. Tom knows that if I say I'm going into MAC, there will be some serious damage done to our bank account but it's part of the Tenecia package so he doesn't complain or argue :)

 Truth be told, I wasn't always into makeup. When I started my previous job in Human Resources, my daily makeup routine consisted of mascara and Carmex! At the time, I was planning my wedding and was freaking out about what I was going to do with my makeup. One of my co-workers turned out to be a MAC Freelance Makeup Artist so she told me to come to the store when she was working and we would "play" with looks. From that playdate on, I've been a slave to MAC!

Yes, this is my every day makeup bag. I have about 3 layers of eyeshadows, eyebrow pencils, shadesticks, mascara, brushes, and more in this bag. Despite having all of this makeup, I still go to the experts when it comes to my "show face". My "every day" face consists of eyeshadow, mascara, and lip gloss. I don't use foundation, blush, etc every day and these are essential to making your face pop while on stage.

My makeup for the April show

Before my last show, I made an appointment at MAC to work with an artist on my "show face". The look that I did for my show in April turned out really well but I wanted to change it up for the July show. At the beginning of my appointment, the artist and I spent some time discussing what my look in April consisted of and what type of looks I wanted to go for at the next show. I did tell him that I wanted to use some type of blue eyeshadow and I wanted to change my lipstick because I felt the other color I had been using was a tad too pink for my skin tone.

The look we came up with

As my makeup was being done, Tony (the artist) showed me each color he used and explained why he had chosen that particular color.  Since I have a large assortment of colors at home, I would ask him if a certain color I already owned would work in place of the color he had chosen. We briefly discussed how I should apply my foundation and he gave me a great recommendation for a mineralize finisher. My appointment was about an hour long and I was very very happy with the look we came up.

A great thing about having doing a practice run of my "show face" was Tony sent me home with this cheat sheet. It's the face he created with the product names & colors labeled on the specific area it was placed. And guess what??? I didn't have to pay extra for it! That day I left with, not only my new look, but two new eyeshadows, a lip liner, and a lipstick.

My makeup the day of the NPC Terminator did not turn out exactly the same as the look I left the MAC store with but I was still very happy with it! I received many compliments on my makeup and some of the girls who complimented me were very surprised when I told them that I had done my own makeup. Just goes to show that YOU can definitely create an incredible look for the day of your show!

Here are the specific items I used:

Foundation - Studio Sculpt NW 50 with Mineralize Skinfinish in Warm Blend on top
Eyeshadows - Carbon, Honesty, Freshwater, Brown Script, Silver Ring
Mascara - L'oreal Voluminous Mascara in Blackest Black
Eyelashes -  Ardell "Lacies"
Lips - 80% lip liner, Fetish lipstick

Oh....before I go....one MAC product that I highly recommend you try is their Blot Pressed Powder. You use it when your face is oily and it will absorb the excess oils on your skin and reduce shine. It's safe to use even if you're wearing foundation! I can't live without this on show day...heck...I can't live without it every day!!

That's What's Up Thursday

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This woman is STUNNING!!! I saw her pictures
and immediately became a fan!

She's muscular, beautiful, has poise, and guess what???
She is 49 years old!
That's right!! You heard me! 49!!
I pray that I look that good when I hit that age.

IFBB Figure Pro Ella Horton - now that's what's up!!

Mind Right Monday

I have been following Dani at Ok, Dani for quite some time and have always enjoyed reading her posts, especially those on Mondays. She makes it a point to make goals for the week ahead as well as share what she is grateful for. I've decided to join her in doing a "Mind Right Monday" post today!

Here it goes!

Goals:

• Lunch date with StairMonster StairMill 3 times this week
• Eat my 6 egg whites meal instead of having a protein shake at least 4 times this week
• Write my show makeup post
• Manicure night for The Princess and I
• Study my business research materials for work
• Watch Blue Bloods with Tom (we seriously have the whole season recorded on our dvr! Ridiculous!!!)

Grateful:

• Operation Build-A-Back is off to a good start!
• The Princess had a great first week of school! She's in love with the 5th grade and her teacher!
• Blueberry pecan pancakes from Bobo's....'nuff said!
• For last night's reminder that marriage is W-O-R-K and despite arguing with my spouse, I know that we not only love, but like each other (even if we wanted to smack the crap outta one another...lol)

What about you? What are your goals? What are you grateful for?

A "Normal" Weekend

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Today marks 11 weeks from my final show for this year. I have noticed that a lot of competitors are planning on competing at this show and I will be honest, I have felt some fear & self-doubt!! I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens on October 29th!! I took some "progress" pictures this morning but can't bring myself to look at them....lol....

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Moving along....I was able to spend most of yesterday with my mom and sister...a ladies day out, if you will :) We had breakfast at the most incredible restaurant and I thoroughly enjoyed my blueberry pecan pancakes, home fries, and bacon without one ounce of guilt!! After breakfast, the three of us went to see the movie The Help. My sister and I both read the book so we couldn't wait to see if the movie would do it justice. I stick by my belief that the book is always better than the movie but the movie was really good! I highly remind that you, not only see the movie, but read the book as well! 

 

Donloree! The wonderful, inspirational woman of
Bikini or Bust and the leader of The BoBettes!

I had the opportunity to write a guest blog post for Donloree of Bikini or Bust last week Donloree (or D!!! as I like to call her) writes an incredible blog so I was a bit afraid that I wouldn't quite measure up! However, I had been thinking about a particular topic for quite some time and writing this guest post gave me the perfect opportunity to finally write my thoughts down. I hope that you will head over to D's blog and check out my "The Tan Rule" post.

I leave you with some of motivation I will be using for the upcoming week! I hope that whatever your goals are, you are moving towards and not away from them! Work hard and let's pursue our greatness!!!

*all images were found at pinterest

They Never Let Me Down!

When prepping, I often find myself getting frustrated that clothes that once fit no longer do. I can understand if some of you think that I'm crazy but it's really annoying when you put on the dress pants that fit just fine a week ago, only to find that this week they make you look frumpy. It's a bit ridiculous to put on your favorite pair of Lucky jeans and then listen to your husband & sister make fun of you because you look like you have a saggy booty! (true story!)

I hate buying new clothes, especially while prepping. It requires going into a dressing room, seeing your body under those "High Beams on Your Every Flaw" lights, and critiquing yourself in those "It Looked Better on the Hanger" mirrors. Ummm....no thanks....I'll pass!!!

The one thing that I can count on fitting, no matter what point in prep I'm in, are my shoes! I love shoes!! Tom & I have an agreement - he cannot say one word about me buying shoes and I will keep my mouth shut about him buying parts for his Raptor :)

I would like to share with you the new loves of my life....my new wedges...because what girl doesn't need a pair of wedges that make her almost 6'1"?!?!? :)

Does your public librarian rock fierce wedges?!?! Cuz this one does :)

Enjoy your Friday!!!

That's What's Up Thursday

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Here's a lesson that I need to learn PRONTO!!!

Despite what I tell myself, food does NOT always make things better.

#epiphany -  now that's what's up!

New Release Tuesday

Trust me when I say that I don't like Jennifer Lopez....her musical talent is minimal, at best....I've always thought to myself, "Really?!?! Does she actually think she's singing?!?!"

The first time this song came on the radio, I liked it...I even wanted to download it...so imagine my shock & horror...I mean surprise...when I found out the song was sung by none other than Ms. J-Lo herself. I instantly thought, "Are you frickin' kidding me?!?!? I like a song from Jennifer Lopez?!?!" :)

The guy in the video is smokin' hot so enjoy the eye candy! Jennifer looks gorgeous (even though it pains me to type that! lol). Lil Wayne is my thug boyfriend and he can do no wrong in my eyes ;)

Enjoy!!!

Hit the Reset Button!!!!!

Today marks 12 weeks until my next show and I have done absolutely NADA in terms of preparation. Wait...scratch that....I've done one back workout...2 cardio sessions....registered for the show...purchased tickets for the show....yep...that's it. Not much "prepping" going on, right?

Here's the deal - for some reason I can't get my shit stuff together. I have a tendency of going hard or not going at all. The freedom to eat what makes me smile has been almost too tough for me to give up. My mind keeps telling me, "Just say no to ground turkey and yes to the carne asada tacos!" Racing to the gym during my lunch hour to knock out a cardio session or work out has dropped off my priority list. It's almost like my motivation has shriveled up & died!!

I know what needs to be done. It's simple really. I need to hit the reset button. Let me explain. Have you ever been making copies and about half way through the job you realize that you need double-sided copies and the copies coming out of the machine are single-sided? What do you do? You hit the reset button and you start over.

So, that's what I'm doing. I'm hitting the reset button and I'm starting this prep over.

Riddle Me This

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When Erin Stern woke up and saw that this was how her body looked on show day,
do you think she said to herself,
"Those other heifas don't stand a chance!!"

Ok...maybe she didn't say or  think that....but I would have walked into the venue and
told all the other competitors they could go home!!!

I worship at the feet of Erin Stern.

She is the Goddess of Figure.

That.is.all.

That's What's Up Thursday

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Have you ever seen a picture and all you

could say to yourself was "Damn!"?

That was my reaction when I saw this woman's pictures

from last weekend's Europa show. I am

so happy she decided to leave bikini behind and return

to figure.

If I could only figure out the secret to her kick ass abs..... :)

IFBB Pro Jelena Abbou - now that's what's up!!

New Release Tuesday

First, I have to say that the girl is this video is GORGEOUS!!! Her hair is ON POINT - it makes me want to go cut my hair right now :)

Moving onto the song.....LOVE...LOVE....LOVE it!!!! I really like Chris Richardson's voice and Tyga is s pretty good lyricist!

Enjoy the video - have some tissue ready!