April Showers Bring...

I love April for many reasons:

• The weather starts to turn.
• We get those occasional OVER seasonal temperatures where you can get away with wearing only a t-shirt and jeans.
• I don’t have to run on the treadmill anymore – I can FINALLY hit the streets. 
• It’s the first time of the year where we get to see some greens and gorgeous flowers starting to perk up from a dreadful winter. 
• April always makes me think about my Loyola girls and how we were finishing up spring season and that meant the end of the semester was quickly approaching.

But my all-time favorite thing about April – it’s my birthday month which means one thing: FREE BIRTHDAY COUPONS AND CASH!!!

Starting on April 1st the snail mail and email just blow up – some things pointless, some things awesome.  I get to use them whenever throughout the entire month – enough time to strategically plan purchases for items that are already on sale PLUS my birthday bonus. #winning

For instance, it’s only April 3 and so far I’ve gotten love from: Loft | Lens Crafters | Victoria Secret | The Rally House | McGillin's Olde Ale House

I’m anxiously awaiting my free Dairy Queen treat -- you guys would be SOOOO proud, in seven months I have only had two scoops of ice cream in a waffle cone ONE TIME in Savannah. NO ICE CREAM, WHATTTT?! A lot different than when I was crushing the 12 scooper at Friendly’s! Any other birthday favors from stores will be an added bonus to my mouth.

So cheers to April -- I hope everyone has a great month, you deserve it!

PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH -- I Applaud You, CVS

I've been seeing a lot of posts online lately that have given me the urge to write a blog post based on its contents. I've been pushing it off, saying I don't have enough time. Well enough is enough, I need to stop being lazy and bring my writing side back out. I've been in hiding way to long!!

So on this icy, snowy, horrible day I'm getting back at it. 

I saw this post on Facebook this morning and something trigged inside me that I knew I had to do a quick post. 

WOONSOCKET, R.I., Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) announced today that it will stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products at its more than 7,600 CVS/pharmacy stores across the U.S. by October 1, 2014, making CVS/pharmacy the first national pharmacy chain to take this step in support of the health and well-being of its patients and customers.

CVS- I applaud you on many levels for this:

It's great to see that a chain that supports health is taking positive steps in not supplying items that kill nearly 443,000 individuals every year. Hopefully after seeing success from your chain, others like Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc. will follow in your footsteps. Way to go CVS...as always, I'll continue to be a dedicated customer. 

Thanks Coach - It's Okay To Ask For Help

Today I wanted to write a quick post giving a shout out to one of my great friends and current health and wellness coach, Emily. It was three months ago I decided I needed to make a lifestyle change and get serious about myself physically and mentally.  While we all know what you should eat, how much you should exercise and how you should mentally prepare yourself for this life challenge, it’s not always easy to do alone. That’s when I decided I needed Emily. Emily is a certified Health and Wellness Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and she is the owner of Nextdoor Wellness. Each and every week she is my mentor and motivator, offering me support by educating me on foods and wellness, providing knowledge on what foods I should be eating, what foods are healthiest for my body and what works best for ME. I am at my halfway point with Emily and I’m beyond thankful to have her with me along this journey. With the new year coming and goals of losing weight/feeling better about yourself, you should absolutely sign up for your free health consultation with her. I know we all want to not admit to needing someone to guide you, but it’s okay to ask for help. Even if you don’t want to chat with her, she gives great advice on her Facebook page.

Here is where I would REALLY like to brag about her accomplishments – Em is also a certified Spin instructor, teaching at several locations throughout the week on top of a full time job AND finishing up her MBA (god Em, make us all look awful.) But this weekend Emily had the opportunity to try out for a position at Body Cycle in Center City. With nine total individuals trying out for ONE spot I could easily see Emily was nervous during our FaceTime bi-weekly meeting (we wanted to experience not in person if it would work out just as well!!). She knew they may cut her off short during the try out and she wanted to stand out with her music selection. I was dying to know how she did and talked to her after and she was skeptical on how she did….well, pish posh she found out yesterday SHE GOT THE SPOT! So instead of you motivating and congratulating ME, it’s my turn to give it back to you.  CONGRATS EM, you deserve every bit of it!!! xo

P.S. – Check out my sister’s latest blog post: Single Mom Survival Guide – Surviving the Holidays. Keep killin' it Missy! So proud of you and I know your kids are as well!