Black Friday Week sales are here! I'm not exactly a fan of the Black Friday starting on Thanksgiving idea but I do love a good sale. Luckily, most stores start offering deals online a week ahead of time so you can save and grab some Christmas gifts without having to get stuck in a crowd. I've linked a few of my favorite stores and items below. I will be updating through Cyber Monday. On Black Friday, most of these deals are the same in stores!
American Eagle
40% off and free ship, no code and 50% off sweaters.. It's really bugging me that you can't see these images below but I'm leaving them here for you to click because they're too good!!
Express
50% off everything and free ship, my favorite jeans are from here- great for curves!
Since I am traveling today, I figured I would share some of my favorite travel items from Sephora that will be on sale this weekend! Sephora rarely has big sales so I usually take advantage of this time to stock up. All VIB members can get 20% off with code VIBBONUS from November 9th-12th. Any beauty insider can shop 20% off using BIBONUS from November 16th-19th.
You guys know I love sharing item reviews so I was VERY excited to test out and share my review of the cariPro Electric Toothbrush, especially because I've only used a regular toothbrush.
I always thought I was diligent about my oral health up until I was pregnant with Mia and had gum issues (common with pregnancy but unpleasant). My dentist told me I needed to floss more and probably needed to invest in an electric toothbrush. I did start flossing more often (you're welcome, dentist) BUT I had a hard time coming to terms with buying/using an electric toothbrush. Most of the electric toothbrushes out now are over $150 and the replacement heads can be up to $50. When reviewing the cariPRO, the first thing I liked was the $119 price point with $13 replacement heads. Hello budget friendly! The $119 package is their individual package with the cariPRO toothbrush, charging dock, and two electric toothbrush heads. Then you can order two, four, or eight piece packages of replacement heads up to $43 (yes, under $50). Also, my observation before trying the toothbrush, was that I loved the look of it since it would be sitting out charging in my bathroom. Minor, but aesthetically important things.
This last week I used the cariPRO all week long twice a day to get a good feel for it and I can say that I will never go back to a manual toothbrush! My plaque build up between brushings was very minimal and the toothbrush was very easy to use. My dentist was right, you get a much better cleaning from an electric toothbrush and you can feel it! I love that the cariPRO has five modes: clean, white, massage, gum care, and sensitive. I need all of the above but I really like the gum care one, because that is often forgotten about when brushing. The cariPRO is also completely waterproof and has a 30 day battery life which I love for traveling. It's also very light weight, which again, makes it great for traveling.
I am so glad that I was able to team up with Smile Brilliant to review the cariPRO and my dentist will be equally as glad that I'll never use a manual toothbrush again. I would also like to share a coupon code for 20% off with my readers, just use the code: breakfastatkatielynns20 -you can find the shopping links below. AND you can enter to win your own cariPRO here.
If you have any questions you can read their FAQ here, or you can reach out to me :) Happy brushing!
I have a few favorite, affordable stores and Old Navy is one of them!! They've been having some pretty good sales lately so I stopped in and did a little try on for ya'll! I'm also tagging some of my other favorite items at the bottom. Enjoy!
Same top, so many good colors! TTS
Love a good henley, size up
I'm obsessed with this dress and would probably wear it with tall brown boots, TTS
It's finally fall and the weather here in the Southwest is 100% unpredictable. Last week felt like winter and today it's close to 70. So, I wanted to share some fun fall transition pieces for those of you still in this bipolar weather. Some of these are old pieces, and some I found in my sisters closet (thanks Jessica!). Most of the items I've tagged here are on sale too!
Love, love these dresses from Old Navy
Switching it up with a jean vest or a jacket works too!
Comfy outfits are my favorite and this top is light weight
Dresses and boots are a great way to mix warm weather and fall
My all time favorite summer to fall piece is a sleeveless sweater!!
Clearly, Leo wanted to be featured as well.. Happy fall!!
I'm a little late (Mia's birthday was 9/18) but that's the first thing I learned as a mom.. I was often late before and now I'm often twice as late. Whoops.. At least I have a legit excuse now, right?
On a serious note, I remember being so scared to become a mom because I felt like I wouldn't know what I was doing. In the past year, one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that you'll figure it out and it truly is like an instinct. Yes, I have days where I question if I'm doing this whole thing right but I feel like we all do and that's okay.
Another thing I've learned is to ignore any mom shaming or worries of mom shaming. It's easy for people to voice their opinions on what's right and what's wrong but you just have to do what works for you. On the same note, I had to learn to go with the flow instead of planning everything out. I had lots of plans for Mia before she was born.. like making her baby food instead of buying, HAHA. I have no idea where I thought I would have the time for that, but it was a cool idea.
I also never listened when people told me how fast kids grow up. I always felt like that was just a small talk comment but it is no joke. I can't believe all of the milestones that happen in just one year of a child's life. Mia went from being so fragile and small to walking across the kitchen and it still blows my mind. Cherish all the moments! Sometimes I just want to take a million pictures of Mia but I have to remind myself to put the phone down and just live in the moment. I want to cherish every single stage she goes through.
For all of you new or future moms out there, I hope this alleviates some of your fears and gets you excited for all the wonderful things to come. At the end of the day, being a mom is the best thing you could ever imagine!
Sadly, I've been so busy I haven't had much blogging time lately but I really enjoy it and would like to keep up with it as best as I can. Fall is here and it's my favorite season! It's full of holiday fun and family time. It's also a time to start gift shopping (which means saving money FOR gift shopping in the long run) and that means we're all on a budget. I love all the cute boots I've been seeing but I'm not loving a lot of the price tags! So I rounded up a few of my favorite fall booties under $40 from Target and Walmart! Walmart is stepping up their shoe game. Fun post, enjoy!
Hi all! Gosh, working and being a mom is no joke! I've been so busy with normal day to day life and on top of that I'm working on a few exciting new things, but man does it make for a busy schedule. I can't believe Mia is already 7 months old and I'm 7 months postpartum. I'm trying my best to keep up a good fitness routine and I've been aiming for 6 days of workouts but probably getting about 4 per week. This is what my weekly workouts look like:
-Two days of 30 minutes of cardio consisting of whatever I feel like doing, cycling, running, maybe the stair master (hate that thing). I'm only doing cardio because it just feels good to me lately, getting a good sweat in and getting my heart rate up.
-Two days (aiming for four) of weights. I would like to be doing two days of arms and two days of legs but it's been about one per week. I'm slowly working on building my lifting weight back up but I'm doing a lot plyo work to try and get my core strength back. I'm using a lot of bands, the bosu ball for balance (think core), hanging leg lifts, etc. My arm days are just general upper body and my leg days are either quad and glute focused or hamstring and glute focused. Let me know if you ever want to see examples of my lifting days!
-I'm also using the sauna as much as I can (but only once per day) because it feels so refreshing and I like to use the warmth to get a good stretch in.
-I'm packing my meals almost all the time for work and I'm eating a relaxed diet, mostly healthy foods with the occasional treat. I'm trying to find other ways to get my protein because my tastes are completely different after the baby and I'm still not into lean meats. Also, post baby and my body HATES sweets so it's been good to be able to cut that out just because I'm not enjoying them. Sugar wreaks havoc on my body! I'm also trying to drink at least 72 ounces of water per day.
-The last part of my fitness routine that I think a lot of people don't think about, is I'm trying to get adequate sleep! Mia still wakes up from time to time at night for a few minutes but for the most part I'm getting to bed early to try and get as much sleep as possible. Sleepless nights don't help with any kind of fitness schedule.
My goals over the next few months are to continue to up my lifting weight and my endurance! By the time Mia is 10 months, I can take her to the gym and then hopefully start hitting those six day per week workouts. I don't have any set weight goals, just want to be healthy and feel my best!
Life is full of all new challenges this year with balancing work, family, friends, baby, and working out. I get tired just thinking about it! But I love it and I've actually become better at staying organized. This summer I found the best planner ever and I keep it handy at all times. It's a Day Designer planner, and without it I would probably lose my mind. Not only does it have your typical planner layout, but it also helps you goal set for the year, has a section for daily to-do's, and a section for gratitude which I think is really important to keep in mind when you're busy. I also love that these planners are really cute (which is why I picked it out and just got lucky that it was so amazing!).
I have a few tips on how I use it to stay organized.
-I list all of our bill dates out ahead of time so we don't forget to pay anything
-I list birthday's so we also don't forget those
-Each week I make a cleaning section on Saturday and list what house chores we need to do that week
-I list daily to-do's like if I'm planning a blog post, have to go to the store, etc.
-Then I list out anything else that is scheduled like work, appointments, social events
Doing this not only helps to keep me organized but it also holds me accountable. If I made a certain cleaning chore for myself and wrote it down then I know I'll stick to it and can stay caught up on the house work. I finish my week's with the gratitude section and I actually write down what I'm grateful for. I think that is my favorite part of these planners!
I am finally adjusting between work, working out, Mia, and everything else life throws at me and I'm ready to be posting more frequently again. I always love this time of year because a lot of people set out on their New Years fitness goals and resolutions and even though the gym is packed, it's filled with positive mindsets. However, a lot of people also give up on these goals mid way through the year and I think it has to do with unrealistic expectations. I STRONGLY believe that there is no quick way to reach your fitness goals except for hard work. So I wanted to share my top ten fitness tips of all time to help you stick to your goals this year.
1. Fad diets are just that, a FAD. All of these weird "get fit quick" diets out there are such bogus and I know this because I've tried a few. Google the military diet and see just how ridiculous that is. Yes, you may initially lose some weight but once you eat normally and skip the new diet, you usually gain all the weight back and some. I've never seen one that is realistic to stick to. Just eat a balanced diet and your metabolism won't bounce all over the place causing eventual weight gain and lack of energy during your workouts. I see a lot of people go through the yoyo dieting and then they give up because their results are all over the place.
2. Stay hydrated. I'm still bad at this sometimes because I get so busy and forget my water. However, staying hydrated helps you to flush toxins out and it is just so important for your overall health. It helps you lose weight, keeps your skin clear, etc. Go buy one of those hydro flasks so your water stays cold and get to drinking!
3. Get plenty of sleep. I'm also still working on this one personally lol (new baby problems) but I know just how vital it is. I perform better in the gym with the right amount of sleep and my body is less stressed helping me to achieve my goals faster.
4. Love yourself through every stage of your fitness journey. This one was a hard one for me to learn but once I did, I realized I hit my fitness goals much faster. I didn't stress out over how I looked and I promise you that less stress=further goal progression. If you're really hard on yourself then you end up getting discouraged easily and that's when a lot of people give up. Don't give up! Try to find that positivity always!
5. Set realistic but tough goals. You want to push yourself but you don't want to set such an unrealistic goal that you can't achieve it and you get discouraged. Personally, I enjoy a good solid hour workout with a sauna session afterwards but right now it's hard for me to get that workout because I'm so busy and a new mom. So my goal is to workout 4-5 times per week minimum and if it's only thirty minutes then I work as hard as I can in those thirty minutes. Setting my usual goal of six days of working out at an hour each minimum, just isn't going to happen right now.
6. Pack your food. I can't tell you how many times I've made poor food choices because I wasn't prepared and if I was prepared, I wouldn't have made that poor food choice. If you're super busy then at least have a list of places you can get healthy meals from. Also, this always saves you money!!!!
7. Work hard, play hard. I love setting goals and achieving them but you also have to have a healthy balance in your life. Whether that means taking a rest day so your body can recover or eating that donut you always crave so you don't binge on something later. Take a rest day and eat your donut because that is good for your mental health.
8. Don't give yourself excuses. On the opposite spectrum, don't let your rest day turn into a rest week. I have PLENTY of days where I don't want to work out but honestly, the hardest part is getting there. Don't give yourself excuses, just get in the gym. Once I get to the gym I usually have the best workouts on my worst days.
9. Find something you like to do. I talk about this a lot but if you hate weight lifting and that's all that you do, you will NOT stick to it. Find a workout that you like, regardless of what it is because then you will stick to it. There are tons of activities out there you just have to find the right one for you.
10. Document your progress. Sometimes we are our own worst critic and it's hard to see your own progression. If you document your progress you can see just how far you've come and that is the biggest motivation in itself.
I know these are ten simple tips but they are ten golden tips for your fitness success. These tips will never change or go out of style and they will lead you to success. After Mia, I didn't do any crazy diets or workouts, I just stuck to these tips and I've made progress that I'm really happy with. I hope you stick to all your goals this year and maybe my transformation below will give you some motivation! I was 39 weeks pregnant in the first picture and almost 4 months postpartum in the second. :)
Happy New Year! I figured I would kick off the new year with 20 fun facts about myself for those of you who are new to my blog. Enjoy!
1. I use to ride horses and I really miss it
2. I was a cheerleader and ran track in high school
3. I danced for nine years and I keep thinking I want to start again
4. My favorite color is Tiffany teal
5. My favorite food is steak.. and french fries
6. I love diet coke, yes I know it's bad blah blah
7. My dream job is a wedding planner
8. I have a really hard time getting rid of clothes (forever telling myself, "what if I wear that again?") but things always come back in style!!
9. I definitely have some OCD
10. I've battled and come back from a binge eating disorder and if you want to know more you can read my first ever blog post here
11. I love the fall!!
12. I have a baby girl named Mia and I loveeee being her mom
13. I graduated with my MBA from ASU last year
14. I work a full time job and I love being a career woman
15. I love to lift weights and sometimes do cardio.. sometimes
16. Breakfast at Tiffany's is my favorite movie and Audrey Hepburn is my favorite actress.. hence the blog name
17. My other two favorite movies are Casino and Goodfellas.. the movie posters are in my house and I refuse to take them down
18. I'm on the Board of Directors for a major women's networking group I'm in through work
19. I love to write and connect with people through this blog
20. I aim to always live my life positively and promote self love, hopefully I'm a positive female role model for someone out there
