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My Facialist’s Recommendations

Tonight, after a crazier than expected start to my week, I enjoyed a spur of the moment indulgence on a facial, thanks to a birthday gift certificate. I love Equinox for their wonderful personal trainers, quality gym classes, and their spa. I have been especially pleased with the spa at their 54th and 2nd location, managed by Schuyler Manhattan. Now, while I can’t confirm whether that is the spa manager’s birth name, I can confirm that he has taken this spa and turned into an amazing beauty and wellness destination for Midtown Manhattan.

011This evening I took advantage of their winter special, the 50 minute facial for $90 versus the usual $110. My facialist, Shelly, was very friendly and more than happy to provide suggestions for my blog readers. Since I realize a facial isn’t something that can fit in everyone’s budget, especially during this time of year, I wanted to provide you with some inexpensive tips and tricks to keep your skin glowing all winter long.

0131. Remember that water’s primary purpose and role is to flush toxins out of the body and support organs. While your skin is an organ, it gains very little moisture from the water you drink daily. Therefore, a serum and daily moisturizer routine is crucial during the harsh winter months.

2. A serum will penetrate your skin better than a moisturizer due to the molecule size. I did some research while trying to understand the difference between these two products and it’s pretty interesting.

  • Serums give added moisturizer and allows nutrients to penetrate into your skin in a way that moisturizers can’t due to the molecule size. For this same reason, many serums can offer anti-aging and brightening affects that moisturizers can’t. Always apply a serum before a moisturizer!
  • Due to moisturizers larger molecule sizes, it can’t penetrate the skin as far as a serum will. While serums deposit nutrients, moisturizers are meant to hydrate your skin and create a barrier from the elements. 3. Serums nor moisturizers need to be expensive in order to be affective. Below are her top recommendations for both drugstore and department store brands.

Serum Pick:

Olay Regenerist Moisturizing Serum

    Drug Store Moisturizer Picks:
        Department Store or Beauty Boutique Moisturizer Picks:
        4. Your hands and body require very different hydration than your face due to the difference in skin texture and thickness. Therefore, a glycerin based moisturizer is better for your hands, especially areas which become extremely rough and chapped during the winter months.  My facialist recommends Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion. 

            I hope these tips and tricks help you keep your skin glowing all season long! Feel free to leave a comment with questions for Shelly as she’s more than happy to help by answering your questions.

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            A Day Late and a Dollar Short

            Yesterday was one of those perfect days where I didn’t think anything could go wrong.

            After enjoying a delicious birthday dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab and a few birthday drinks at Twist and Score, two gay clubs in Miami, with my co-worker and manager, both of whom are gay, I slept until 8am, ready to conquer the day.

            Marc, my co-worker, and I were able to catch earlier flights to New York City which meant that we only enjoyed breakfast and a few hours of work before arriving at Miami International for our flights.

            Due to my Delta status, I was able to change flights within 3 hours of flight time, for no charge!

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            I grabbed a quick lunch before boarding the plane in an emergency row, ready for 3 hours of reading and relaxation.

            002  By Miami, it was fun but I’m ready to see my friends and husband in New York City!

            009 In between reading, I enjoyed a delicious Quizno’s salad, Sun Chips, and a mini bag of peanut M&Ms.

            013 216 pages later, I finally figured out why so many people love the book, Girl With A Dragon Tattoo!

            014 The weather was clear and cool when we landed at JFK, thirty minutes ahead of our planned arrival time.

            017 Since the painters weren’t supposed to finish in our apartment until around 6pm, I headed to Equinox for a quick workout to kill time. I rode on the spin bike for 45 minutes and enjoyed a 15 minute run on the treadmill to burn off some of the previous night’s drinks and food. Since it was only 5:30 when I finished I had the perfect excuse to treat myself to a pedicure. I mean what else could I do to kill time?

            Since my normal nail salon, QQ Nails, had a 30 minute wait, I tried a new neighborhood spa, Blooming Nails at 20th and Park Avenue in Gramercy. There were about 15 patrons in there when I arrived but since most of them were having manicures, they were able to usher me back for a pedicure immediately. The space is beautiful and very spa like, unlike many small New York City nail spas.

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            Forty five minutes later I had very happy feet and calves that felt like butter after the 10 minute deep tissue massage, included with the pedicure.

            024 But, upon meeting Bo at home, we were met with the bad that finally came during this better than expected day. Our painters had left us high and dry, without any explanation on why our house was still in disarray. The painting company we used, Cheap Painters NYC, had great reviews on Craigslist and was fully bonded and insured. Therefore, upon meeting them and signing the contract, we had no worries that they would finish in the promised 3 days for the quoted price which was $500 less than any other painters we contacted.

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            Three days later, our apartment was only 2/3 done and none of the furniture, paintings, or hardware has been replaced. In fact, we don’t have one completely finished room. Therefore, our plans of decorating the house for Christmas and starting on our holiday cooking in preparation for next weeks annual Christmas party, is history. We definitely learned our lesson in that when trusting laborers in your home, it’s best to go with someone is personally recommended by friends or family. Trying to save money on things like painting and construction isn’t the best route. I guess sometimes bad things happen to good people!

            We spent the evening venting on the phone with our parents and drowning our sorrows in some delicious wine and Chipotle. As my dad pointed out, the good news is that we love the two colors our interior designer chose, Camelback and Oyster Bay. 026027

            Luckily, we woke up this morning to a phone call from the painter, promising to finish the job Monday since our building doesn’t allow any painters or construction on the weekends. While that’s great, it is definitely a day late and a dollar short. They will not be receiving full payment when the job is done!

            Instead of sulking around the house, I headed to Equinox for a six mile treadmill run before an hour training session. The run went better than normal due to lots of ESPN Game Day, which is live from Atlanta for my alma mater’s SEC Championship appearance this afternoon! 

            After a quick salad lunch, Bo and I decided to make the best of the day and the nice weather with a relaxing walk through the city and some Christmas shopping before my birthday dinner tonight at the Hurricane Club. 002

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            Pancake Fail and Yoga Win

            Happy Sunday! I hope you’ve enjoyed the weekend thus far! Yesterday, after a personal training session and afternoon movie date, Bo and I headed over to the UGA bar, The Village PourHouse, for an evening of football watching, beer, bar food, and catching up with college friends!

            We arrived early enough to score an amazing window side table which meant we were able to greet everyone as they walked through the door and enjoy some epic people watching!

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            Bo, a Georgia Tech alum, even got into the spirit of things with a new NYC Dawgs t-shirt!

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            None of my teams (Notre Dame and UGA) won yesterday but we still had a blast with everyone! Talking with friends and game watching took the place of picture taking but I promise I enjoyed more than one cold, delicious beer and a grilled chicken sandwich along with a few pita triangles, hummus, and wings!

            This morning, I woke up after eight lovely hours of sleep craving one thing: pancakes!

            I don’t know where this craving came from but I was immediately referenced my favorite blogs, cookbooks, and the internet for a whole wheat banana pancake recipe for which I had all the ingredients.

              Within minutes, I gathered all the products and Bo’s iPad so I could quickly reference the recipe.
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            I read the recipe three times through in order to ensure I didn’t miss a step.

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            These were a flip, flop, fail!

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            I couldn’t figure out what I did wrong or whether my products were out dated. As Bo heard me groan and whine, he offered to make me his “no fail” pancake recipe.

            “Only if you can make it banana and whole wheat.”

            Really, I didn’t want him to make the Joy of Cooking recipe because I wanted my recipe to work. But, when you’re craving pancakes and someone offers to make them for you, saying no is just dumb. IMG_4272 (478x640)

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            The only real difference between this recipe and mine was the addition of butter, a little extra sifting of the flour, and more baking soda. I also threw in a few dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg for extra flavor.

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            Flip, Flop, Win!

            These were everything whole wheat pancakes should be! Light, fluffy, and bursting with a healthy flavor! The bananas didn’t make it into the actual mix as Bo was fearful it’d affect their height but having them on top was just as delicious.

            After my tummy was filled with whole wheat goodness, I headed out for one of my favorite activities, 60 minute Vinyasa. I really, really do not like 90 minute yoga classes. I’ve forced myself to take them time after time but I end up spending the final 20 minutes staring at the clock or wall in boredom.

            I enjoyed the 60 minute Vinyasa at the 17th street Equinox which was a welcome treat in itself. I forgot how beautiful this location is! The gym is adjacent to The High Line which means you can watch people walk by during your workout and enjoy amazing sun filled views!

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            The above is the view from the yoga studio!

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            The yoga studio was spacious with floor to ceiling windows and soft bamboo floors. In addition, the temperature was warmer than most Equinox studios which meant we actually enjoyed “warm” yoga by the end of class!

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            The instructor, Narween Otto, just returned to NYC after a stint in Miami. Her voice was a peaceful Australian accent which immediately calmed my mind. She started class off by describing her style which is fluid and fun.

            From her website,

            Her clear, detailed style and playful perspective are unique. Narween believes in cross-training for the body and mind to avoid injury and boredom and has zero interest in show-off-pretzel shapes in yoga-asana and believes Pilates should be fun, fluid and not too serious. Narween wants to help people stretch and strengthen their bodies and minds as they make their way on their own unique journey towards the sublime.

            The class was very leg and hip focused, perfect for my runner legs and tight hips! I really can’t say enough wonderful things about this class. Everything was perfect including the location, the number of attendees, her attention to adjustments, the length, music, and her calming guidance.

            If you’re in NYC, I highly recommend you check out her schedule! My goal is practice yoga every Sunday that I’m in town so I hope her new schedule will be posted soon!

            Question: What is your favorite yoga or Pilates pose? If you’ve never practiced, what is your favorite stretch?

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