Chick Update - Education Tuesday!

21 Days Later and the answer is...... NO CHICKENS!

I had zero chicks hatch and I am completely upset about this. I did everything that I was supposed to do and stressed about this for 21 days and not a single chicken. I broke down and cracked open the eggs to see how far the chicks grew, it was still yoke so they didn't make it past day one which makes me think that I got BAD eggs. I am going to try butterflies next time... and will probably do the chicks again because I never fail at anything.

Until next time...

Porefect by Derma Doctor

DermaDoctor Picture Porefect Serum
Ulta
Amazon - Travel & Duo
Product Website

I have look at the review online about this product. It has received very mixed reviews. Some people love it, others hate it. I have not seen any in the middle reactions to this product.

Personally, I have it in my skin care routine every day, I never forget to use it in the morning. My need for this product is on my nose and the skin right next to my nose under my eyes. I have huge pores in this area. I have tried everything, exfoliating, scrubbing, etc, nothing has really shown a difference, until I started using this product. I bought it at Ulta in the store on the recommendation from one of the people who work there. 

I notice a significant difference since I have been using this product, I would say I have been using it for 6 months. I still have pores, they are just not as large and the blackheads on my nose pop out if that makes sense making them easier to pop and scrap on my own so my nose looks very clean and pimple free. 

This product does have an "oily" look to it when you put it on your fingers, but it does not leave an oily feel to your skin. I put it on and then wait a few minutes before applying makeup, giving the product plenty of time to be absorbed into my skin. 

Needless to say, I am extremely happy with this product.

Until next time...

When do you kiss? - Dating Update - Sunday

This above picture is from a google search. But wow does this girl get good kisses or what?

Okay so I have gone on a couple of dates with a couple of different people. And I am wondering how long I have until the expectation is that I am going to kiss them. I did a google search and various forums and articles came up. I have to say I hate when on the forums people say, "When it feels right" or "It is up to you". That doesn't make me feel better. I am trying to figure this dating thing out now that I am "old" on the dating world standards. 

Not to mention, am I supposed to be practicing my kissing skills or is it like riding a bike. It has been 9 years since I have kissed a new person, this is extremely scary. I feel that the first kiss tells a lot. Are we compatible? Do we have chemistry? Are they sloppy? No one likes tons of spit. 

Plus, this kissing thing is like the first stage of your relationship I feel, determining if you want to be exclusive with the person. And that brings up another scary question, "Am I ready to be exclusive with someone again?" I know in my heart I want marriage and a family, but when you have been hurt before and twice in a row, it makes it difficult to jump right back into it.

Your advice is always welcome! As you can tell I have NO idea what I am doing and going with the flow is sometimes hard to do :) I'll keep you posted.

Until next time...

  

Nats Game & Ugly Mug

Last night, I went to the National's Game. I'm a sports girl, very competitive and likes to have "goals" in mind for what I am doing. Although, I have to say, nothing is like watching baseball live. I don't personally watch it at home on the TV when my teams are on. But some friends got free tickets so when in Rome right? I won't lie I watched all of 15 minutes, the score was only 1-0, they won WAHOO! The Reds were alright. I very much enjoyed talking to all of the interesting people, that place was full of interesting people. 

We started out at the Ugly Mug which has cute golf carts that take you to and from the game every 15-20 minutes so you don't have to pay the crazy amounts of money to park at the Nationals Parking. The food is typical bar food, we had the nachos and pepperoni roll - which was AWESOME. I went with some special education teachers from my school and split a bottle of wine that supports Autism - who knew you could enjoy a good drink and support my favorite students at the school. 

After the game, we came back and enjoyed some dancing and drinks. The music was a range of everything and again awesome people to talk to, from all different part of the DC area and looking to mingle. Like I said I'm a talker. I cannot tell a lie though, I'm old now and can't stay out all night, I had to sleep the entire next day. Even though I didn't drink a ton - I hate when people do that, although those are some of the funniest things to watch.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Until next time...

Bonefish Grill Review

Bonefish Grill 
5920 Kingstowne Center
Alexandria, VA 22315
703-971-3202

I got to go here on a date with Brett. This is our third date, this is also scavenger hunt date guy. He was going out of town so we wanted to make sure we would see each other before he left. 

Our appetizer we tried was the Singapore Calamari with a special sauce that I wouldn't have though to put with Calamari because I am used to marinara sauce, but I liked it. It was nice to try something new. He isn't really a fish person, but was willing to try something new which I LOVED about him. I think the calamari that look like octopus are scary, but he got me to try one with him, so big points for him.

For dinner, I had the burger with all of the fixings with avocado. I had it medium rare, it had so much flavor and was really great. You get a side with it. I had steamed veggies. They were fabulous, not too much butter or fatty stuff on it. I couldn't find a picture of it online and of course forgot to take a picture of it because I was having such a good time.

What an awesome place for a date. The food was great. The server seemed to want to get us out of the restaurant as soon as possible. She also seemed worried because we weren't eating fast and enjoying each others company, that she was afraid we weren't liking the food. It was a little annoying.

Until next time...

Gym Joined!

XSport Fitness - 4300 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302
Class Schedule
Get your free 7 Day Guest Pass

I had a co-worker turn me on to this gym. It is a special through our school system. I get the membership for $35/month. This includes a gym that is open 24 hours a day/7 days a week. It also has a full locker room, towel service, smoothies available, personal trainers, full spa, tanning, and classes.

The classes are what got me back into working out. I was always a swimmer and never knew how to go to the gym. So far I have done the following classes:

Body Pump
This class is all about making your arms look amazing, but also does lots of squats to make your butt and legs look awesome. It is an hour class and def hard work.
Body Attack
This is a modern aerobics class and I swear by it. This helped me get ready for my 5K, you do a lot of intervals and def sweat a ton. I love it.

Classes I am hoping to take in the next few weeks:
Body Combat
Cycle
Body Jam
Yoga
Zumba
Ultimate Abs

I will post reviews as I go to them. Here is a photo of what it looks like inside. 

Until next time...

My Assistants Bridal Shower!

My assistant is amazing! She deserves the most special Bridal Shower ever especially because she puts up with me. Her wedding colors are coral and grey, although she has been talking for weeks how bored she is with these colors. So I decided on a different set of colors and theme.

Theme: Glitz and Glamour  Colors: Sparkles with black

To help with the planning since I as everyone else is busy, we asked numerous people bring food. We had amazing dips, desserts, and finger foods.

My favorite decoration is the Mr and Mrs Signs we put up on the wall, that we gave to them to put on the chair for their sweetheart table.

 Etsy

I bought a lot of my supplies from the Dollar Tree they always have amazing stuff and I don't feel bad throwing it away when I'm done.

I did Black of the following items:

Table Cloth

Balloon

The items I got in Silver include:

Balloon

Balloon Holders

Cups

Silverware

Plates

Desserts: I went for cupcakes with a cute accent.

Etsy

Until next time...

Dinners for my sweet children

So this is a post that I hold close to my heart. I LOVE my students, all 1,000 of them. They are diverse - we speak 48 languages and come from 80 countries. 85% of the student population so 850 students receive free breakfast and lunch from the school. They are extremely poor and their parents/families are working hard, at whatever job they can get, which means they are hungry. 

Through the after-school program that I run, we are going out into our community and getting different churches, volunteer groups, and businesses involved in feeding our children each afternoon. So far we have three days a week. My goal is to offer dinner to students every night of the week. Now I know my students will not be hungry and be able to perform academically and socially the best they can!

I have been lucky enough to grow up in the DC area and have a job that allows me to give back to this area where I was given so much. Each and every day it is important to remember even in America, even in the Nations capital, people are without and we don't have to leave our neighborhood to give back! Love you my wonderful students. Keep learning.

Until next time...

Conditioner Review - Big Sexy Hair

Conditioner Review - Big Sexy Hair
From Amazon From Ulta

This conditioner I found about three years ago and have been using since then. I LOVE the smell of this conditioner, the way it makes my hair voluminousness,  and does not weight it down or make it Oily at all! This partnered with my Paul Mitchell Shampoo (Review), my hair is fabulous, lasts clean not oily for at least a day. Before I started using these two products I would feel the need to take a shower at least twice a day or my hair would be SUPER oily when I woke up in the morning after 24 hours. This Conditioner is awesome. I am so happy with my results. 

Until next time...

Sunday Dating Update

Today I need to talk about dating rules. It has been 9 years since I have dated and I have no idea what is acceptable or what is going on in the dating world. Plus I was 18 when I last dated, things are very different now that I am 27.

I got inspired when I started watching of course another reality tv show, "Ready for Love" which is on NBC. It is awesome and done with matchmakers which is unlike Bachelor/Bachelorette that just pick random people. 

The male matchmaker made a statement that rang home to me. He said, "Girls ask me all the time, I keep attracting the wrong men, why?" His answer seems so simple, "For the guys you aren't interested in, you do not waiver on your morals and standards, for the guy you find attractive, you want to be close to them, so you will bend your morals and standards to get them to like you. You don't need to do this. Guys find you attractive when you are confident."

Things I have learned not to do:

• Don't respond to text messages right away, take your time with your responses
• You don't always have to say yes to everything they want to do or every date they want to take you on
• You do NOT need to see the guy every day
• If your gut is telling you RUN or it doesn't feel right, do not push it, politely say thank you and run the other direction
• Be myself, I'm not here to play games, I'm here to learn about someone and hopefully fall in love.
• It is okay to go out with someone who doesn't look like Channing Tatum. Sometimes I forget not everyone looks like him. haha - I know very shallow, but that is what I am attracted to.

Any advice from you is always welcome! Believe you me, I need it.

Until next time...

Glo Run 5K - Another 30 before 30!!!

Glo Run 5K

So I completed another 30 before 30 mission! This was the perfect first 5K run for me to do. It was full of people who did not want to run, they walked, and it was very low key on the competitive nature. I cannot lie, if you are nervous about running a race but are an okay runner, this will help with your confidence as everyone is extremely supportive. I was able to run the entire thing in 35 minutes. I was extremely proud of myself.It was the perfect night in National Harbor as well. Beautiful weather! Everyone had on fun shirts, glow sticks, glow paint, etc. Plus afterwards they have a huge party with a DJ. Tons of people are cheering you on and encouraging you. The celebration party afterwards is fabulous, DJ was great, they provided snacks and water when you finished, plus of course free glo sticks. If you sign up early enough you get glo glasses.

Negative part of the run, well any run or event you do at National Harbor: leave at least 2 hours before your event. We spent an hour and half trying to get off the highway to the parking lot. Parking was NOT free for this event and expensive. 

FIND YOUR CITY!

If you are looking to knock one off your list, I definitely recommend this run. Here are some other runs I found that I am going to sign up for. I'm looking to run 1 a month to keep me going. Still looking for August & October. 

Color Run - May 19
Disco Dash - June 23
Biggest Loser 5K - July 14
Divas 5K - Women Only - September 14
Urban Dare - November 2

***I'm going to find a Teens Run event to go with my students, we have an after school running club. Very cool website that I found for teens to run in the area.

Until next time.... Happy Running!

Friday - Hospital Day

So my original post is on the wait. I had an interesting incident happen today at school. All of the sudden, I hear I am needed in the gym. The student nicely tells me he thinks he needs a band-aid. I look at his leg, oh no, he needed stitches, I could see the inside of his leg.

We immediately called 911 and started bandaging the wound. We went to the nearby hospital and the student needed 11 stitches. He had been playing basketball and the metal part of the electrical socket had been knocked loose and had been sticking out. The student had been playing and came down on the item cutting himself. 

Luckily I was able to get a hold of the student's parents and they met us at the hospital. He is going to be just fine and has a pretty cool scare to show off to his friends on Monday.

Until next time...

Lavagna Restaurant Review

Lavagna
539 8th Street SE
Washington DC 20003
Menu
Yelp
Open Table

So my girl friend and I went to an endless Mimosa Brunch at Lavagna. The link is for the brunch menu. I had the eggs any style - I did egg whites scrambled as I am trying to be more healthy with spicy Italian Sausage and the Potatoes. The food was really awesome. The portion size was perfect for brunch and the mimosa's made the event even better. 

We sat outside as my friend brought her dog. If you want to sit outside, make sure you make a reservation as people sat outside as long as they could with their pets and endless mimosas. The server was FABULOUS. She was very attentive, funny, helpful with food choices, yet she let us chat and enjoy ourselves, she definitely wasn't annoying, which I appreciate.

I haven't had any other food at this restaurant so I can only recommend their awesome brunch! I went home and had a nap afterwards as it was so much fun. They have lots of great stores to go to right around this area. 

Until next time...

Movie Review - The Place Beyond the Pines

IMDb Review

I went and saw this movie at the new Angelika Theatre (Yelp Review). As of 4/17, the website for the theatre wasn't working, if this changes, I will add the link. This theatre is in the new Merrifield shopping center also known as the Mosaic, which is BRAND new and beautiful. It has a very modern, clean, and as it states: "urban" feel to it. The shops are great and they have FREE parking, plus a TARGET. I could happily spend my days here.

The theatre looks like this:

found from a google search

From the inside you can of course see out and they have lots of waterfalls walking up which are a beautiful touch. It makes the place look very classy. The movie tickets are similar in price to all the movie theatres in the area. You are able to get BETTER treats, although they are expensive. You can get a custom topping popcorn but it is $10 for what a normal small popcorn would be at Tysons. I did have wine which was a nice relaxing touch, it was $10 a glass. 

Now on to the movie...

I have to give this movie an awesome rating. The reason it isn't fantastic is because I assumed their would be more action in the movie considering the actors/actress in this flick. The story is interesting, yet a little predictable. If you are a movie watcher like I am, you will see what I mean. I do not like the ruin the endings, so you will have to see for yourself but you will find yourself guessing what is going to happen next and you will be correct. I agree with the "riveting crime drama" from the poster. It definitely has the drama and yes some crime. I have to say that Ryan Gosling doesn't look as beautiful in this movie as he has in others. Bradley Cooper does a great job, I really liked his character in this movie. 

Until next time...

Educate Me Tuesday - Start Smart!

We did the Yovaso Program (Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety) during my after-school program, Start Smart. "Respect the Driver, be a good rider" but they have tons of awesome programs to do with your kids, check the above link. We received a FREE box of stuff - a poster, wrist bands, pens, packet of what to do, and flyers to advertise the program. 

I highly recommend this program for you kids, whether you are in Virginia or not. The concept of being a good passenger is essential to the safety of our children. I am so happy we could be apart of the movement to keep our children safe while driving with their families or friends.

Until next time...

Shampoo Review - Paul Mitchell

Paul Mitchell - Strength Shampoo Review
From Amazon 

I have been using this shampoo for about two years now. It is my FAVORITE shampoo ever. As you know I am an oily person. This shampoo always makes my hair feel clean and lasts for at LEAST 24 hours of clean depending on how well I work the shampoo into my hair. It smells wonderful, I am always getting compliments and I usually get it from amazon - link above, or Ulta when they are having a sale or I have points to use. I love getting a good bargain. I do feel like my hair is less breakable and my split ends when I don't feel like getting my hair cut are not as noticeable. This huge bottle of shampoo lasts me at least 2 months and I wash my hair EVERY day.

Until next time...