Just say NO to meggings

New trends are constantly hitting the streets. Especially in a fashion conscious city like NYC where anything goes. You see people wearing all kinds of clothes, accessories, and styles on the street everyday. Trendy or not, people wear what they please around here. As they should. But when a trend hits, you see it in most places, especially around these parts. Some of these trends look really good and some not so much at all. There are some wacky trends that actually do look good on certain people and on others looks absolutely ridic. Some people can just pull stuff off and it works. I however, am not one of those people and that's okay. I don't mind. Especially for trends that I straight up don't understand. For me, trendy does not always equal cute. Not on me. And not on anyone. Like the following...

1) Duck feet nails. Now nail trends are big these days. People are doing crazy things to their nails and most of them I can get behind. Even though I rarely paint my nails, I know what's in style. But one nail trend I can't get behind is duck feet nails. (Click HERE. For reals.) I first saw these on Tracy on Jerseylicious and was totally aghast. I wondered how she could style hair, heck even do such everyday tasks as texting, typing, picking her nose, etc... These nails not only look awful, but they are clearly not very functional. Stereotypically they are very "Jersey" or "Long Island" and therefore I occasionally see them on women in NYC. Not a good look chicas.

I'll keep it to myself

There are a lot of things that cross my crazy mind day in and day out. Most of them I either keep to myself because they are beyond ridiculous and silly, while others are plain mean. I can't help it that these things come across my brain. (Most of these things seem to occur to me while on the train. Shocking, right?) I don't want to hurt someone's feelings or get jacked in the face if I say these things out loud so I keep my mouth shut. I would never think of saying them directly to the person. My judgemental tendencies can often be a little embarrassing so I just refrain from speaking. I am not proud of it, but it happens.

While I am a very open book a majority of the time either with my words (or my facial expressions), I do have a filter and know what is and is not appropriate to say. Most of the time. Somethings are just better left unsaid. So with that actually being said, here are some things that people (hopefully not just me) think but don't say out loud...

1. Invest in some Spanx. There are many woman that wear unflattering clothes for their body type. And it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. Their clothes might be too tight or just not fit well because of bulges or other imperfections which are all totally normal. We are human and don't all have the body of Victoria Secret models, but we can damn well still look good in a tight dress if we want to. One way to solve part of this problem is for the woman to get some Spanx.  Spanx are magic. Invest in some. They will suck you in where you need to be sucked in and even you out and make you look a few pounds thinner. Trust me, I own quite a few pairs. 

The joys of yoga pants

If you know me, you know that I love to wear sweatpants and yoga pants. Basically, I love a good elastic waist pant. I am not a fan of jeans at all. They are too restricting and I am just not comfortable in them. However, yoga pants are my jam. I love them. If I could wear them to work everyday, I would. I usually try to get away with wearing them once or twice a week as it is, but usually with a cute sweater as to take away from the casualness that yoga pants are. After all, I am a professional. Blah.

So why do I love yoga pants so much? I can tell you it's not for the yoga. In fact, I have never done yoga in yoga pants. Ever. (But I do wear yoga crops for yoga. And so much more. They are also incredible.) I wear them as "everyday" pants. There are just so many reasons I love a good pair of yoga pants, so let me count the ways...

Yoga...its more than just the pants!

One of my goals this summer was to begin to take yoga. For both my physical and mental health, many of my family and friends, and even when I was in the hospital, my ER nurse suggested it. I mean, really, yoga couldn't really hurt me, but I really did want to get some benefits from it. I was hoping it would increase my flexibility, help with my upper body strength, lessen my anxiety and basically just mellow me out.

There were many reasons that I didn't do yoga before. I thought it would be too slow. Too boring. Not good enough of a workout. Too expensive. So many excuses. But this summer I vowed to give it a go because I thought I owed it to myself and my friends and family that really thought it would be beneficial to me.  Now that I have been doing yoga for a month now, there are quite a few things I appreciate it about it now.

Take me out to the ball game...

I am a huge sports fan. Always have been and always will be. I love both playing and watching sports. I am super athletic and grew up playing all sorts of sports.  And doing it well if I must say so myself. Also, growing up, my brother wasn't really into sports so my dad and I would watch many games together. Bulls. Bears. Illini. YES! I was the son he never had in that sense. Until of course, my brother actually became interested in watching games with him also.

Since I love watching sports so much, I rarely turn down the opportunity of going to a game live. Whether it's football, basketball or baseball, going to a collegiate or professional sporting event is such a blast. I don't go that often, but when I do, I like to take it all in. The people. The food (and the beer). The athletes themselves. And the actual competition. There are just so many great things about going to a sporting event.

Working Out...My Wallet

Most people who know me, know that my life often revolves around my workouts, my food, and my sleep. However, sometimes I get stuck in a little rut with my workouts and my food. I will do the same workout over and over again and eat the same foods over and over. And sometimes, I want a change. However, most of the time my wallet doesn't permit these changes. I know what you may be thinking "All you really need for a good workout is a good pair of shoes." And you know what, to them I say "You can only run so many times before getting bored." I like to try and mix things up as best as I can so my body and my mind don't get use to them. So there are some things that just aren't in the budget for me that I wish I could do on a very regular basis.

1) At least twice a week at Barry's Bootcamp. This bootcamp is supposed to be pretty awesome and really chisel and tone your body. I love bootcamp style workouts because they vary so many different activities and workout so many different muscles. I also enjoy being yelled at during workouts which I assume they do here. I am the type of person that enjoys an instructor yelling at me in order to motivate me. Growing up an athlete, this was always a way to get me fired up.

Hello Again Central Park!

Now that I am back on the healthy track, I have started my morning routine of running in Central Park again before work. Yes! There is just something so therapeutic and refreshing about starting out my day with a nice run in the park. It energizes me for the day and gives my body the endorphins that it craves. Really, my body craves these. On days where I don't work out, I am a little more irritable and have a hard time sleeping. And I don't have that little pep in my step that makes me me. My body needs to burn off this extra energy. I tend to be a little hyper so my workouts mellow me out for the day and get rid of that built up of energy.

Because I am a woman of habit, I go at pretty much the exact time every morning and go the same route to the park and in the park. Sometimes I get wild and crazy and go the opposite direction while running the loop. Woohoo. I really live it up. But because I do go practically the same time and route every morning I see the a lot of the same faces.

I don't get it!

I have spoken before about my distaste for certain fashion choices that people make, but there also happen to be some habits that adults should not partake it. When I see/hear them, they really irritate me for some reason. Once again, I am sure there are certain things that I may do/say that irritate the hell out of others, but because I am so perfect, they obvi are awesome. Duh.

Unacceptable

1. Adults that wear pigtails. Anyone over the age of 6 should NOT wear pigtails. It's just so juvenile. And don't even think about adding ribbons. I don't get the look. It's not cute and its always bothered me.

Acceptable

***Exception to the rule: Double French Braid. Its sporty and cute.

2. Adults who speak in baby talk. Unless you are talking to a baby or to a dog, this voice in not okay. Period. Most women do this when talking to guys because they seem to think it makes them more attractive. What? Really? I beg to differ. Who are these creeps that like it when a girl talks to them like a baby? Eeew. Its straight up weird. I have had friends who did this because they thought it made them sound adorable and I would literally yell at them to stop. How is this attractive? Someone explain this to me. I don't understand. And frankly, its its annoying.

Getting My Workout On

It's that time of year again when all those people make New Years resolutions to hit the gym more often. It's pretty irritating. But the good thing is it only lasts about a month and then everything gets back to normal again and myself and the other regulars get our space back.

As you know, I like to get my workout on and I frequent the gym quite often now that the weather has gotten colder. Everyone at the gym pretty much has the same goals: Get healthy, lose weight, and/or feel good. I go to achieve all of these things and just love the energy and confidence a good workout gives me. Gotta love those endorphins. Since I am a creature of habit, I often go at the same time during the week so I see most of the same faces. On the weekends, I am a little more flexible so go whenever. This is when I get to see many of the different faces that I don't come into contact with during the week. There is quite a motley crue that go to my gym because of the neighborhood it is located it, however most gyms have a lot of the same types of people. These are the different types of people I have come across at the gym over the years.

1) Anorexic Girl. (Let me preface this by saying this might be a sensitive subject, but the fact remains these girls exist.) I don't know whether to be jealous of you (is that wrong?) or to feel sorry for you. I think about 10% of me is jealous of you for actually having the self-control to not eat and/or overexercise and 90% of me just feels bad for you. I feel bad because you probably look in the mirror and don't see what I am looking at and that is just plain sad. (And if that's the case, what do I look like in your eyes?) You spend all your time probably obsessing over what you are eating or not eating, and how much time you will spend at the gym. I also do that, but not to the extent that you do. I wonder how you have the energy to workout as much at you do, let alone at all. Please get some help (if you aren't already) because it really is painful for me to watch you continue to work out.

2) Man in spandex. I am sure you might have nice shapely legs and maybe even a tight ass, but I am sorry because when you are dude in spandex, all eyes goes directly to your junk. And you are lying if you say your eyes don't jolt their first. But guess what? I don't even want to see your junk, but in those spandex, you are putting it right on display and I can't help it. Then I giggle like a little immature girl. Let me focus on my workout please.

3) Grunting Man or Woohoo Lady in Spin Class. We get it. You are really getting it in. And maybe even working extra hard. But no one is impressed. Nor do I think you are working any harder than us. I kind of find it annoying actually.

I. Must. Have. This.

I have said it many times before. I watch a lot of TV. Usually I don't watch it live and fast forward commercials. However, usually Saturday and Sunday mornings I have nothing left on my DVR so I watch live TV.  Since I am an early riser, I usually catch some interesting commercials, especially the infomercials. Now I have never ordered off one of these before, but they are always so tempting. I mean, who didn't want a Ginsu knife back in the day? They freaking cut cans!

Walgreens now even has a "As Seen on TV" section and there is as "As Seen on TV" store at one of the Flea Markets in Boca Raton where you can buy this stuff. (I will admit I bought the Perfect Pancake from Walgreens....and a Snuggie. Okay, and Bump-It which I later returned because it didn't work. Shocking.) Infomercials are also just like a live version of SkyMall magazine on airplanes and everything looks so awesome. Who orders from that magazine anyway? Besides Barney Stinson, that is.

Anyway, there are some infomercials that are straight-up ridiculous and some that are seriously awesome. And then there are straight-up-ridiculously-awesome infomercials, like the ones I've listed below. These are ones that I find so mind-blowing, that I seriously considered ordering even though I totally have no use or space for them. Good thing I have a little self-control.

1. Forever Lazy My new favorite. This new lounge gear might give the Snuggie some competition. They are like feetsie pajamas without the feet. Game on.

2. Pajama Jeans. Why yes, I love stylish sexy jeans AND comfy pajama bottoms. So apparently this is just up my alley. However, these look like they'd be unflattering on everyone and I would never actually wear them in public, but I love the concept. But are they really actually different from jeggings (which I do own!)?

3. Flex Seal. I don't own a home nor do I have anything that needs to be repaired. But for some reason, I find that I need this in my life. This commercial was that convincing. I mean, it's a handy man in a can. What can be bad? I want to experiment on so many things with it.

 

4. Swivel Store Organizer. I only have like 6 spices in my kitchen so this is totally unnecessary for me, but I really want it. I love organizational tools. They make everything look so tidy. What I do find hard to believe about this product though is the fact that its super easy to set up.

5. Slushy Magic. I just recently saw this and it looks pretty incredible. I love slushies, smoothies, milkshakes...basically most things blended. If I could make most of my beverages that way (think Four Loko slushie!!), it would be pretty awesome. This product seems to do the trick. I. Must. Have. This.

All of these are pretty awesome and there is so much more out there that I would love to buy (Shake Weight, anyone?). If I had unlimited funding and space, I feel I would probably own a lot of these things plus SkyMall stuff too. They are just so darn convincing in these infomercials. I mean, everything looks so life-changing. But do they really work and do as promised? I guess there's only way to find out.... Pick up that phone and of course you will get yours for a very special price. And if there is buy one, get one free, you know I call dibs on the second one!

Fashion Don'ts From a Non-Fashionista

I am not, by any means, a fashionista. I don't claim to be one either. I am a jeans and T-shirt type of girl. Okay, okay...More like sweatpants and hoody type of girl. I dress for comfort over style 90% of the time. But when its time to get dressed up, I must admit that I do clean up well.

Although I may not follow all the trends, I am very aware of what trends are in style, what looks good and what doesn't.  I read enough fashion/style/gossip magazines to know what looks are popular and should be worn and what looks never look good on anyone no matter how skinny or pretty they are. While there are some styles that some models or celebrities can actually pull off that us real people could never do, there are some that NO ONE looks good in. Ever.

1. Clear Bra Straps. I clearly don't get it (pun intended!) You can still see them. They are clear, not invisible. They make you look cheap, and trashy. You aren't fooling anyone. Either just wear a regular bra and look equally ridiculous or go out and buy yourself a good strapless.
 
2. Denim on Denim.  I keep reading that this trend is back making a comeback. I cannot get on board with this one. I was always taught that you wear one item that is denim. Either just jeans. Or JUST a jean jacket. Not both together.

3. Ed Hardy/Christian Audigier/Smet. This apparel is usually worn by the bridge and tunnel crowd. If you are a dude and wearing this you are probably the gorilla-juicehead type (or a wannabe). You might as well just wear a nametag that says "Hello my name is Douchebag." Blech. I also find it humorous that these men pay so much money for a T-shirt with so much rhinestones, sequins, and glitter. Mucho effeminate.

4. Bikinis and high heels. This look seems to happening more and more at pool parties and beaches. If you are in a bathing suit, wear flip flops or be barefoot. Heels just make you look like you are trying too hard. Even if you have a smokin' body, wearing heels with your bikini just makes you look like a you are in a pageant or you are a stripper. Keep it classy, ladies. Courtney from Most Eligible Dallas was basically reading my mind when she gave her opinion on the issue. I was laughing hysterically when she gave her confessional about it on a recent episode. (Def click that link.)

5. Belly Chains. Kim Kardashian, Beyonce, and Rihanna wear these occasionally when photographed on the beach. And each time I see these I think how absolutely tacky they look.  I don't understand people that wear a lot of jewelery when at the beach or the pool, let alone a chain...on your belly. What's the point? I can't handle it. If a celeb looks ridic in this, a real person is going to look plain redonk. Don't do it. Please.

  6. Summer scarves. I know scarves are a fashion trend. And I like scarves. They are a necessity in the the winter and are cute in the fall and early spring as an accessory. But when it's 90 degrees out, the last thing I want on my body is extra fabric, let alone cotton, silk, linen, or whatever material it is around my neck. I understand people wanting to look cute in extreme heat, but you just look nonsensical wearing a scarf in a heat wave. Everyone knows you're hot. You aren't fooling anyone. When I look at you, I sweat more and you make me feel like I am suffocating. So basically, me not liking this trend is kind of selfish, but I also want you to be more comfortable. I got your back. When its that hot out, you can take one for the team, and just not be super fashionable for one day. I think society will understand.

One trend you'd probably be surprised that I am not against is animal prints. For some reason I am a fan of the leopard and zebra print, but not together. That is just plain unacceptable in my book. Regardless of what I think looks good, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just know, I am judging you. And if you see me walking down the street in legit sweatpants and a hoody, feel free to snicker if you want to. I won't be offended.

Scrunch those socks

I was a child of the 80's which means I was in junior high in the 90's. I remember it all. The clothes... the TV shows....the music...the trends. I was in junior high from 1993-1996 and I still have vivid memories of the fads from that VERY awkward time in my life. I mean, I had bangs. Curly, gross, frizzy bangs. And braces. Although these weren't my most attractive years, I still have some really fun memories. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking, and others I miss quite fondly. Below are some of my favorite trends from those wonderfully awkward years.

Slap bracelets These were the shit. Then rumors began to swirl that some kid slit his wrists from the metal in the bracelet and parents freaked and companies pulled them off the shelves. Travesty. I never believed the rumors anyway, but still stopped wearing mine because everyone else did. Duh.  Interesting enough, I think they are making a comeback. I saw them for sale this summer in Walgreens. I could not contain my excitement. I did not purchase them though because I still own two of my originals. Leopard and zebra print. Damn right!
  
Scrunch Socks. They had to be made by Wigwam. They were usually worn with your Doc Martin's and a skirt or a dress. And they were a go-to on the Bar/Bat Mitzvah scene. Once the music starting playing, you ditched your dress shoes, put on your socks, and scrunched them down. Now you were ready to party. Champagne Snowball, bee-yatch.

 
TGIF lineup on ABC. Every Friday night you had to watch these: Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step, Just the Ten of Us, Perfect Strangers, Boy Meets World, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Mr. Belvidere. Over the course of a few years, four of these were on the line-up from 7-9 (CST) every Friday. I couldn't wait. And my parents usually let me have friends over, order pizza, and watch these shows. We really rocked out on Friday nights.  

Spice Girls. Duh. Girl Power.  They were all so different yet were one magnificent group. I knew all the words to "Wannabe" and can still sing over 90% of it today. You know you can too!
 

Overalls. I mean, really? Was I a farmer? Was I painting houses? Nope. I was just so high fashion back then. And I of course wore a baby T under my overalls which I obvi had in the pant and shorts version.

Also during this time period was my Bat Mitzvah, my first period, and the infamous OJ Trial. Such a stressful three years. But I survived and even thrived. Although junior high seems so far away, I can still close my eyes and still picture myself walking down the halls of my school. And thanks to Facebook, I can still keep tabs on some of my best junior high friends (and crushes).