Contrary to my skincare junkie tendencies, I am very low maintenance when it comes to beauty regimes. I don’t like to get my hair done and I don’t like to get my nails done either. I don’t mind pedicures too much because I can read during the procedure, but I abhor manicures. I find it stressful sitting there, making idle chit chat with the nail technician, waiting for my nails to dry. And then the polish peels off a few days later! No thanks; too much work for too little return! Naked nails are fine with me.

But *sigh* every once in awhile a girl’s got to go against her minimalist nature and get her fancy on. And if I have to endure the torture of a manicure then I might as well do what I can to have it last as long as possible. I had heard about manicures lasting up to two weeks using a special gel polish and since I had several events looming that required painted nails, I decided to give it a try.

It was a long, involved (and expensive) process. After each coat (base coat, 2 coats of polish and top coat) I had to put my hands under an ultra-vilolet light for several minutes. Do you understand that I couldn’t read or use my phone during the entire manicure? I just sat there, watching paint dry. Literally, I watched nail paint dry. It was pure torture. It took forever. But in the end I had beautiful glossy nails that were guaranteed to last two weeks.

Let’s see what happened:

Day 1: Perfection!

Day 7: The polish is still on and looking good.

Day 14: My nails have grown out quite a bit, but the polish hasn’t chipped at all!

After two weeks of traveling and not being careful with my polished nails at all, I can report that the manicure lasted as promised. My nails looked as good on day 14 as they did on day 1. Sounds good, right? Not so fast; it wasn’t over.

Removing the polish was even more involved than the manicure! I returned to the nail salon where they soaked my nails in pure acetone for over 30 minutes–and although they neglected to tell me this during the initial manicure, I was charged for this service.

I haven’t gotten a gel manicure since; it’s just way too much work for me. However, I would do it again if I needed to get fancy and wanted the polish to last awhile. Next time I know to bring a friend to talk to or a movie to watch on my iPad.

How about you? Do you like salon treatments? Have you ever gotten a gel manicure?

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

Much to my surprise, lately I’ve been asked if I have lost weight.  I may have lost a few pounds, but really my body is just more toned and therefore I look better.  My eating habits haven’t changed that much, but I have been exercising extensively and it shows.   It took me a long time to find exercise that I like.   I think that is the key to exercising consistently–doing exercise that you like.  Over the last 12 months I have tried:

• Hooping (love it)
• Yoga (love it)
• Running (hate it)
• Pilates (love it)
• 30 Day Shred dvd by Jillian Michaels (like it okay, but boring doing the same thing)
• Wii EA Sports Active (love it)
• P90X (like it, but the workouts are so long, it’s like a full time job)
• Spin (hate it–okay, I’ve never even tried it, but it looks like I would hate it)
• Kettlebells (LOVE IT)

Out of all the exercises that I have tried, kettlebells are my absolute favorite.  Kettlebells are incredible!  In just 45 minutes (including warm-up and cool-down!) I get an intense cardio and strength workout that gets my heart pumping and works every muscle in my body.   My workouts are different every time, so I don’t get bored, but yet they are based on a handful of very basic and fundamental kettlebell moves that anyone can learn with instruction.  There are several kettlebell dvds for sell on Amazon, but the actual kettlebells can be quite expensive.  I bought one at Target to try at home with a dvd.  I did that for a couple of weeks, determined that I liked it, and then found a local kettlebell class.   After attending a workshop to learn proper technique and how to swing the kettlebell without hurting myself or anyone nearby, I signed up for a 3 month pass and attended faithfully 3 times a week.   I was hooked!   I am taking a break for the summer, but you can bet that I’ll be back in my kettlebell class in the fall because I miss it terribly.  I highly recommend exercising with kettlebells if you want to get fit, have fun and do it in a minimal amount of time.  I look and feel great.

Here’s a video that I made of a few basic kettlebell moves, just so you can get an idea of what’s involved.  I am not an exercise instructor and I suggest that you find a kettlebell class near you to learn proper form and technique.

What’s your favorite form of exercise?

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

This video is a re-post, but it’s perfect for Mama Kat’s prompt this week: 5.) Share a memorable road trip story! because it captures the essence of the Road Trip so well–the pain, the pleasure–but mostly the pain.   Have a good laugh and be thankful that this wasn’t you.

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.

If you know anything about my family, you know that we love food.  Our conversations, weekend activities and even vacations are heavily food-centric.   Last summer while living in Los Angeles for a bit, my family fell in love with food trucks.  We had rented an apartment in Venice, where many food trucks park at a local bar, The Brig, on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.  Not only was the food delicious and the prices reasonable, it was just fun eating dinner as we socialized with other patrons and enjoyed perfect California weather.

One of our favorite food trucks in LA, The Buttermilk Truck–maker of pancakes, waffles and other things buttermilk.  Yum!

Red velvet pancakes with cream cheese topping!

Back home in Atlanta we were delighted to follow a new show on The Food Network (one of our favorite channels, since we love food), The Great Food Truck Race.  A fun, adventurous reality tv show contest, The Great Food Truck Race was enthralling entertainment for my foodie family.   We were pleased to see the Nom Nom Truck on the show because we ate there often during our LA summer; the bahn mi sandwiches were delicious (and spicy)!

The Nom Nom Truck parked at The Brig during our LA summer.

Nom Nom Truck seemed to be the show front runner with their savvy marketing, but hard working Grill ‘Em All managed to hang on week after week and eventually won the entire the competition.  My family enjoyed watching the competition: the personalities, challenges and delicious looking food made for some good TV.

So when we heard that season 2 of The Great Food Truck Race was underway and the current competitors were in Atlanta for the weekend, we made it our business to hunt down the trucks and help them in the race.   There were 3 trucks left in the competition when they came to Atlanta: Hodge Podge, The Lime Truck and Roxy’s Grilled Cheese.   We didn’t get a chance to try Hodge Podge, but we ate at The Lime Truck and Roxy’s Grilled Cheese on 2 different days.

The Lime Truck was parked at Atlantic Station and even though we got there 10 minutes after the truck opened, the line was incredibly long.  This was the second day for the trucks in Atlanta, so by now the word had gotten out and everyone wanted a taste.   Also we found out that the challenge that day meant that the trucks were working with one less team member–that translated into slower food prep and slow-moving lines for the costumers.  Thankfully Atlantic Station was kind enough to put umbrellas along the line because it was over 90 degrees that day.   The menu looked interesting:

We settled on Ahi Tuna Poke Nachos, Ribeye Quesadilla, Blue Crab & Scallop Ceviche and Blood Orange Limeade.   The ceviche was my personal favorite of all the choices; I didn’t taste the quesadilla and I didn’t like the nachos.   Honestly the food overall was just not my thing, but my husband and son enjoyed everything we purchased and deemed The Lime Truck a success.

Of the two trucks we tasted during The Great Food Truck Race competition in Atlanta over Memorial Day weekend, Roxy’s Grilled Cheese was my favorite.

At first we balked at the prices–food trucks are usually quite reasonable and $13 for a grilled cheese sandwich was outrageous–but since it was a competition (and we were hungry!) we stayed and ordered almost everything off the limited menu: a grilled cheese sandwich of private stock cheddar, foie gras, applewood bacon and peach preserve, a grilled cheese sandwich of Vermont cremont cheese, prosciutto de parma and quince, Maple Sweet Fries, Mascarpone Peach Brulee and Sweet Tea Arnold Palmer drinks.

Both grilled cheese sandwiches were incredibly delicious and surprisingly big enough for my family of 4 to share.   My husband didn’t care for the sandwich with Vermont cremont cheese because he doesn’t like stinky cheese, but the rest of us loved it.

The sandwich with the foie gras was delectable and we all gobbled it down and fought over the last crumbs.   The sweet potato fries were cooked to perfection and the maple sauce was a nice compliment.

The Mascarpone Peach Brulee was my favorite!  It was a creamy brulee with a light, fresh peachy flavor and the sugar crust was torched properly to a thin crunchy shell.  Everyone in the family tasted a bit, but I tried to east most of it myself.

My only regret is that we didn’t try the oysters; we talked to several people later who said that the oysters were fantastic.  I hope Roxy’s did well during the weekend in Atlanta.  We heard that they had a rough go while parked at a obscure spot in Little Five Points and we found the truck near 12th and Peachtree–not the best location for maximum visibility.  The food was delicious–I just hope they had enough traffic all weekend to sustain their place in the competition.  I guess we’ll find out when the new season of The Great Food Truck Race begins August 14th!

*Look for me on the show; I was interviewed by the film crew after eating at Roxy’s.  Hopefully my interview will make it on the show and not the editing room floor !

© 2011, Funkidivagirl.com. All rights reserved. Republished only with permission.