VitaMelts Relax Review

VitaMelts - Relax

Complimentary product provided for review. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases. Beeb-Log is not affiliated with Pharmavite.

A few months ago, I mentioned trying VitaMelts by Nature Made during FitBloggin’. Well, I’ve gotten a chance to sample these a little more in-depth, thanks to the package of VitaMelts Relax that arrived at my door. I could always benefit from more relaxation, so I was game to give this a go. 😉

VitaMelts are meant to be a line of chewable vitamins with a pleasant flavor. VitaMelts Relax come in a “Green Tea Mint” flavor, but I must admit, I was not a fan of the taste. This definitely heavier on the herbal taste than the other VitaMelts flavors that I’ve tried. I got used to the taste, but I’m still not crazy about it.

I’ve tried this on multiple occasions when I was really stressed out. Did it help? I don’t know. On a few of these occasions, I did feel a little less stressed an hour or two after chewing these, but was that from the tablets or the fact that I made an effort to do things to soothe my nerves, like listen to favorite music? I did do a little research into L-Theanine, which VitaMelts Relax is made of, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that there has been some research into L-Theanine’s effect on stress reduction. Interesting! I can use all the help I can get in this department, so I’ll certainly finish the bottle. 😉

For more on these products, visit NatureMade.com.

Not-so-Wordless Wednesday: My First DSLR Camera

Leaves

Amazon Associates link ahoy!

Last Friday, I bought my first DSLR camera: A Canon Rebel T3 with a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5.5.6 IS II lens; this is one of the first outdoor test shots I took after turning it on. The photo itself is nothing special, but I thought it was worth documenting as a milestone!

I have plenty to learn, but the difference in my photos is already night and day and I’ve barely even gotten a chance to use it. I’m so excited to dig in and learn my way around everything this camera can do!

Total Gym XLS: Week 6 Recap

Total Gym Bicep Curl

We received a complimentary Total Gym XLS for the purposes of this series; this post also contains affiliate links. This article is an account of our personal experience only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any medical condition. Always consult with physician before embarking on any fitness program.

We’ve been using the Total Gym XLS for 6 weeks now. Here is our progress from last week:

Total Gym Week 6 Measurements

Last week was a blur between the cat-astrophes and late night in Portland. I can quite confidently say that there is no way I would have time to visit my local gym right now, so I am very thankful to have a quick solution in the home. The more we use the XLS, the more we see its versatility. Jai told me this morning that he thought there were a few exercises he wouldn’t be able to replicate on this – he’s more into building muscle and I’m more into toning, so we have slightly different goals and approaches, although there’s a lot of overlap – but he discovered yesterday that he could do those very exercises just by modifying his posture and kneeling on the board rather than sitting. Unlike other home workout equipment that I’ve used, such as dumbbells or ab rollers, this gives me the ability to work every muscle group the way I would at the gym, on one piece of equipment.

Jai moved the incline level up to 6 last week, which is the maximum incline, while I’ve been working on Level 2. I think it’s pretty cool that we can both challenge ourselves with the same piece of equipment and adjust it quickly for our individual needs!




Do you work out with your significant other? How do your routines differ?

M by Staples Arc Customizable Notebooks

M by Staples Customizable Notebook System

Product provided for review purposes.

I’m very much a pen-and-paper kind of girl when it comes to organizing. Although I utilize many high-tech systems for getting things done, when it comes to planning my schedule and keeping track of work projects, notepads and a pen are just what feels right and makes sense to me. I have a big stack of notebooks on my desk that just seems to get bigger ever year!

If you’re like me, then you might like the new M by Staples Arc line. This is a series of customizable notebooks and accessories, which can help you create the perfect organizational system for your needs. I received the following products:

I actually decided to gift this to a friend who is a teacher. She uses these type of dividers and page flags in her work, and was happy to get these. We all know how teachers are always needing a slew of paper supplies!

Check out more from M by Staples Customizable Notebook System in stores or by visiting Staples.com!

Abandonded Kittens And Other Cat-astrophes

The last few months have been so chaotic, and just when I think that I might be able to get on slightly a more sane schedule, something totally random happens. On Wednesday afternoon, I heard this little “Meow” outside and saw a tiny little kitten. There was no sign of mama cat or other kittens anywhere, so I was concerned that it was abandoned, but it disappeared after a lengthy and fruitless attempt to coax it out from the bushes. I did some research and read that lone kittens are usually being moved by their mother, so I was hopeful that the kitten’s mom had come back for it since it vanished. Fast forward a few hours to 10 pm. I was getting ready for bed and what do I hear outside my bedroom window? Pitiful mewling. Yep, kitty was still out there and mom definitely wasn’t coming back. Fortunately, Jai was home at this point which made it much easier to catch the little kitten in a box and bring him inside.

Now, I’ve never owned a cat before, so I had no supplies on hand. We created a litterbox out of a shoebox, lined a second box with lots of blankies and got kitty nice and warm. I know absolutely nothing about cats, so between all the research I had to do to make sure I was caring for the kitten properly, buying supplies, taking care of the kitty and cleaning the house up after it, I had to take most of Thursday off work to deal with Operation Kitten Rescue. I also spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I would do with kitty on Friday, since we had to be out of town all day for work – quite literally, we left at about 9:30 in the morning and didn’t get home from Portland until after 1 AM – and we couldn’t just leave the little guy by itself all day.

Kitten

Photo by Kim

Fortunately, aunt Kim saved the day by taking the kitty in on Thursday afternoon. She found a loving home to adopt him almost right away, so this story has a very happy ending! The kitten was not only super adorable, but also very friendly and sweet, so it’s going to make a great pet. Yay!

LEGO® KidsFest Portland: Recap

LEGO Indiana Jones

Media passes provided for this event.

Jai and I spent Friday afternoon at LEGO® KidsFest Portland at the Oregon Convention Center. This event is a LEGO lover’s dream, with all kinds of exhibits and activities for the whole family! There were all kinds of hands-on activities, from a station where you could build and race LEGO cars to a LEGO art gallery where you can let your inner Michelangelo out. (If you want to let your inner Jackson Pollock out, just dump a box of LEGO bricks on the floor. ;))

LEGO Art Gallery

There was also a giant LEGO replica of the US map, and attendees were invited to build cityscapes to fill in the map, which LEGO staffers then fit into place. It was fun to watch the map grow over the course of the evening, and see LEGO replicas of things like the “Hollywood” sign pop up!

LEGO US Map

Kids could compete in several competitions, from building the largest tower to creating LEGO Krabby Patties just like SpongeBob. Many of these contests gave out little LEGO toys as a prize to everyone who participated, which I thought was neat for the kids.

LEGO SpongeBob Poster

There were lots of little LEGO comics and posters dotted around to take home as free souvenirs, a raffle for LEGO prizes at 6:30 (Which drew a crush of people!), and a store to buy LEGO playsets at. There were also a few vendors providing samples for grown-ups, from free pens and frisbees from Connections Academy to tea samples and upcycled bracelets from Honest Tea.

Bissell were also on hand with some fun activities for kids and a demo of their Perfect Sweep Turbo, which can suck up LEGO bricks. Impressive!

There were tons of fun LEGO statues on hand for visitors to marvel at. Here’s Jai striking a pose with Gandalf and Bilbo:

LEGO Hobbit

We saw Batman and hung out with Superman:

LEGO Batman

LEGO Superman

The Star Wars gang made an appearance:

LEGO Darth Maul

LEGO R2D2 & C3PO

Even Johnny Depp showed up:

LEGO Johnny Depp

And of course, I had to get my photo with SpongeBob!

Posing with LEGO SpongeBob

There was a surprising variety of things to do at this event – kids could choose between everything from watching a show about how LEGO statues are made to getting their picture taken at the LEGO Friends photobooth. For all of the unique activity stations they had at the event, some of the most popular seemed to simply be the gigantic piles of LEGO blocks! Two friends I ran into both said that their kids were having so much fun playing on the huge pile of bricks that they had been there for an hour or more and hadn’t even seen the rest of the displays.

Huge LEGO Pile

Many local bloggers were in attendance, so it was great fun getting a chance to catch up and chat with my PDX pals!

LEGO Bloggers

From left to right: Crystal of Eccentric Eclectic Woman, Mary Ann of A Cloth Life, Carol of All Mommy Wants and myself.

In all, I think LEGO KidsFest is a great night of fun for families. All the kids seemed to be losing their minds with excitement, and I know I would have gone nuts for this when I was little! All the attractions were super cute, and there was more going on than I had really expected. You definitely won’t be at a loss for things to do while you are there! There were a TON of people there, so you might prepare for it they way you would for taking your kids to a super popular amusement park: Make sure everybody stays fed and watered, take a break to sit down if you need to, and be prepared for a big nap when you’re done! The event does not allow food and drink to be brought in, so you may want to prepare for this. There is a full food court on site, which Jai and I hit up since we had a packed day and hadn’t gotten a chance to eat. The selections were high in price, but not necessarily taste.

LEGO KidsFest is going on all weekend, and tickets are still available for Sunday, October 13th: Session 1 runs from 9 AM to 1:30 PM and has limited ticket availability, and session 2 runs from 3 PM to 7:30 PM and has normal ticket availability as of this writing. Tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for children and seniors with free admission for children 2 and under – click here to buy now!

Bob’s Blog: Merrick Jerky Strips For Dogs

Merrick Jerky Strips

Bob was given jerky to chew on for this post!

Grammy’s dog Bob goes through a lot of jerky treats, so when our pals at Chewy.com offered up a bag of Merrick Natural Beef Real Cuts Jerky Strips Dog Treats for review, it was a no-brainer. Jai took the bag over during a day that he planned to walk Bob so that he could give him a little treat and see what he thought!

Bob Tastes Merrick Jerky Strips

Bob was a little lukewarm about this one. Jai gave him one strip, Bob chewed on it and then set it down. Jai gave him a second one, not realizing that he had yet to finish the first half-chewed one. (To be fair, Bob tends to work on the chewier treats for a while!) The Merrick Jerky Strips actually have a crunchier texture, rather than chewy, so Bob was a little thrown off, but once he realized that it was a crunchy treat, he finished it off. And when we say “Crunchy”, we mean very crunchy – you can hear a loud CRUNCH while Bob’s chewing on these. These treats smelled like jerky, but with different texture – very crispy rather than soft or flexy. I think Bob didn’t quite know what to make of it because of the chewy appearance yet crunchy texture, but I have a feeling he’ll enjoy them more now that he knows what to expect.

Merrick’s Jerky Strips come in beef, chicken, liver & sausage – check out the full line here.

Stylish Shades From Foster Grant Sunglasses

Stylish Shades

Sunglasses provided by Foster Grant.

I wear sunglasses every time I go out, even on cloudy days. They’re one of my favorite fashion accessories! I love big, glam, Hollywood-style specs. I recently received a box full of sunnies from Foster Grant, and I had a field day trying them all on! I was immediately drawn to these big, round frames. In fact, you may have noticed me wearing them in other pictures!

Beeb Wearing Foster Grant

My New Shades

The box I received contained everything from fashion to active sunglasses. One of my BFFs was celebrating her birthday right after I got these, and she has a large sunglasses collection also – in fact, we have the same tastes and often bought matching pairs when we were teenagers! – so I knew I had to gift her one of these. I wasn’t sure which one she’d like best, so instead of just guessing, I handed her the whole box at her birthday party and said, “Happy birthday! Pick some sunglasses out for yourself!” We had the best time goofing around, trying on different shades and striking a pose. She found a pair that looked cute on her and decided on those.

Foster Grant Sunglasses

Yet another BFF had a birthday soon after, and since she lives out of state and couldn’t join us to try the shades on in person, I picked out the pair I thought she’d like best and tucked them into her birthday packet that I put in the mail. She just moved to California so she’s gonna need some shades in that sun!

And my box of Foster Grants came in handy at unexpected times: For example, I was talking to my aunt and somehow it came up in conversation that she didn’t own any sunglasses. “Oh! I have a box full that I got in the mail, come pick a pair out!” I told her. (My family know all about my blog, so they’re used to me having things like random boxes of sunglasses around ;)) She picked out a stylish brown pair that looked so cute on her. A week later, we were in the car while she was driving, and there was an awful patch of glare in the highway around dusk and she said, “I am SO GLAD you gave me these sunglasses, Beeb!”

Foster Grant sunglasses are cute, come in varieties to suit every style, and protect your peepers from the sun. The days may be getting chillier, but we’ll still have plenty of days where the sun shines through the Fall leaves, so make sure you’re not squinting your way through autumn! You can pick them up in stores and online – click here for purchasing info.

Total Gym XLS: Week 5 Recap

Our Total Gym XLS

We received a complimentary Total Gym XLS for the purposes of this series; this post also contains affiliate links. This article is an account of our personal experience only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any medical condition. Always consult with physician before embarking on any fitness program.

Can you believe that we’ve had our Total Gym XLS for over a month now? Here are mine and Jai’s measurements for the last week:

Total Gym Week 5 Measurements

Another great week with the XLS! I moved the incline up to Level 2 last night, so it’s neat to feel myself getting better and stronger with the exercises. I’m noticing a difference in my body tone and can see the beginning of improvement in my arms and waist particularly. It’s a little surprising to me how much I’ve been getting out relatively so little time – I’m spending a lot less time working out now that I have the Total Gym versus a brick-and-mortar gym membership, since it’s a much more efficient use of time, but I’m still seeing the benefits. I think having the Total Gym in my house helps me be more consistent, since I can do a little bit every day rather than a few intense workouts when I have bigger chunks of time available. For example, on days when I’m really toast and I really don’t want to exercise, the fact that I know I only have to spend 2 minutes on the Total Gym is enough encouragement for me to go through with it – especially since I don’t have to do any special preparations, wear special clothes, drive anywhere, put on makeup, or whatever. And surprise surprise, once I actually start doing the exercises, I usually feel good enough doing it that I want to continue for a few more minutes than I thought.

One thing that continues to impress me about this unit is the versatility and seemingly unlimited amount of workouts that can be done on it. I was concerned that a home gym setup would get old quickly because we might be limited in what we could do, but the Total Gym has so many options that Jai and I have barely even begun to scratch the surface. So far, we’ve been following the workout cards and watched part of the introductory DVD – I haven’t even looked at the entire deck of cards or the 6 other DVDs I received with the XLS. I’ve been getting SUCH a good workout just from these basic moves that I wanted to continue enjoying them and really get my form down well. Now that I’ve had a month to build confidence with the unit, I’ve also been able to start integrating more leg workouts on it – and that’s the great thing about this: You can adjust it to what your comfort level and physical capabilities are.

If you’re curious to see some examples of the kind of techniques illustrated on the workout cards that come with the unit, you can click here to download a sample workout PDF.




Have you had any fitness wins this week?

Book Review: Mindfulness Workbook For Dummies

Mindfulness Workbook For Dummies

A promotional copy of this book was provided for review. This post contains my Amazon Associates link.

I’ve been interested in meditation for several years, and although I’ve taken a few steps such as buying a deck of “Meditation Cards”, it’s not something I’ve made time for regularly. When I have meditated, I hit the same roadblocks most people do of having my mind wander to irrelevant topics and feeling like I was doing it “Wrong”. Earlier in the year, I watched a lecture that mentioned the benefits of mindfulness meditation and I found it to be very compelling. Both Jai and I have wanted to learn more about the topic of mindfulness meditation, and upon searching, it became clear that many of the books on the topic were pretty esoteric; I wanted something basic that would serve as a good introduction to mindfulness to those of us who have yet to go on a Zen retreat.

So when I got an offer to check out the Mindfulness Workbook For Dummies, I thought it was pretty serendipitous. After all, it couldn’t get much clearer than a “For Dummies” book, right? 😉 I was eager to check it out. The irony is that it was very hard to make the time to actually sit down and read it with everything that has been going on – that in itself should tell you that I most definitely need meditation in my life!

As the title suggests, this book is a how-to manual complete with worksheets containing suggested exercises to follow as you begin to learn the ropes of mindfulness. Beginners will be reassured to know that there is no “Wrong” way to meditate, and that in fact, having thoughts pop up in your head during meditation is the whole point. Mindfulness really is about a journey with no destination, because the journey is the destination.

The authors, Shamash Alidina and Joelle Jane Marshall, are both based out of London, so I found their thoroughly sensible British approach to mindfulness very comforting. Only in Britain would they recommend ending a meditation group with tea and biscuits – I love it!

The Mindfulness Workbook is very pragmatic and practical, which really appeals to me. It discusses the scientific studies which have been done illustrating the positive effects of mindfulness, as well as the proven effects that stress has on your body in addition to pointing out why the human brain tends to focus on the negative. (If you’re interested in learning more about the science behind stress, I highly recommend watching National Geographic’s “Stress: Portrait of a Killer” which is available on Netflix.) Because this workbook focuses on the mechanics of retraining your brain through mindfulness, it is compatible with whatever personal/spiritual/religious beliefs its readers have.

I read through this workbook at the end of a very exhausting week. The authors encourage you to skim through whatever parts of the book you feel are relevant to you, which makes it very accessible to the time-strapped, stress-saddled people that need it the most. I only skipped a couple of parts that didn’t apply to me, such as the chapter on teaching mindfulness to children. I found this to be quite a profound read that elicited very visceral reactions from me; I broke down in tears at one point. In addition to being an excellent, no-nonsense primer on meditation techniques, the workbook gave me some insights I didn’t necessarily expect. I’m a perfectionist and I have high expectations, but only of myself, not other people; and I will find myself expecting that I need to feel a certain way or have specific experiences, which then makes it impossible for me to fully enjoy a lot of things. It’s a hangup I’ve always had that annoys me, because it doesn’t make any sense, but I wasn’t sure how to change it; in fact, this is the first time I’ve ever really been able to articulate it. The Mindfulness Workbook talked about this type of thing in reference to the way we think about the future and experience the present, which was helpful to me.

If you’re new to meditation, you’ll be glad to know that this book makes it very easy to understand and approachable. The meditations are broken down into simple exercises, with a kind and reassuring approach. You can do whatever you feel comfortable with – so if the 8-week meditation course provided in the book sounds as overwhelming to you as it does to me, then you can choose to do something very easy and accessible such as a three-minute morning tea meditation, where all you have to do is make a cup of tea and actually pay attention as you do. Many of the meditations could really be done anywhere, which makes it a lot more realistic to actually do them. I’m not suggesting that you be so busy that all you do is rush around with no time to do anything more than meditate for 30 seconds – far from it. I just know what it’s like when you are stretched to your absolute maximum, so think of this book as throwing you a life preserver with some meditations that you can really do in your current situation. It’s like anything else; once it becomes a habit, it’s not so overwhelming, and you’ll be able to make more time for it. The book even suggests mindfulness exercises you can do while cleaning the house – not because they’re trying to get you to be a highly productive multitasker, but rather so that you can get more out of daily experiences, and to provide ways that you can fit meditation in without having to become a monk for 6 months.

Speaking of multitasking – there are dozens of gems in this book, but this one really made me laugh:

Multitasking: It's making us dumber than we think!

I want to frame this and hang it on a wall for everyone to see! As someone who really likes to focus and not have my concentration broken, multitasking does not always come naturally to me, but I accept it as unavoidable and necessary in my job since I work in social media. But what disturbs me is that with the advent of cell phone culture, people seem to expect everyone else to be available 24/7 – there’s an assumption that I will have my phone on me regardless of whether I’m working, sleeping, or in the shower, and no matter how mundane and non-urgent the call/text/email may be. I have no problem with responding to business queries very promptly when I’m in the office, and if someone in my personal life is hurting I will drop everything, including work, to go be with them and help. But the amount of pressure put on me to be constantly “On call” for matters that could easily wait adds a great deal of stress to my life. People actually get quite upset and panicky if they want to get through to me to chit chat about the weather and they don’t get an instantaneous response because I am, say, on the other line with a client; Louis C.K.’s recent skit about cell phones filling a void seems even more apt after reading this book! I think a lot of people could really benefit from the principles behind mindfulness in today’s fast-paced world.

If you have an interest in meditation or just general well-being and stress relief, I would recommend this book. It has a gentle, easy-to-understand approach that is compatible with any lifestyle and does not require any special training or a huge amount of time. You can pick up a copy on Dummies.com for $19.99, and it is also available on Amazon. The book also comes with a link where you can download guided audio meditations as an accompaniment, so it really covers a lot of ground for the beginner.

Do you meditate?