Tag: healthy

#NationalGirlfriendsDay

National_Girlfriends_Day

Since I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) in 2012, it has been part of my life’s mission to help women become empowered to take care of their health by using preventative measures, like working out and eating healthily, and becoming the biggest advocate for themselves.

National Girlfriends’ Day {August 1st} is a day to celebrate friendship and to support one another as women to stay safe and to live a healthy life. Below, you’ll see an infographic from  Oscar Health Insurance Company that provides a helpful guideline of preventative measures that we can take to protect ourselves through routine screenings and possible early detection. Oscar has many tools and services that allow making these appointments easy and stress-free with their tech-based health insurance in NJ and NY.
Oscar Girlfriends DayLRG

 

Along with the suggested routine screenings, I also want to  personally encourage you to get tested for PCOS if you have any of the following symptoms:

  • Menstrual irregularities:
    • No menstrual periods—called amenorrhea (pronounced ey-men-uh-REE-uh)
    • Frequently missed periods—called oligomenorrhea (pronounced ol-i-goh-men-uh-REE-uh)
    • Very heavy periods
    • Bleeding but no ovulation—called anovulatory periods
  • Infertility
  • Excess hair growth on the face, chest, belly, or upper thighs—a condition called hirsutism (pronounced HUR-soo-tiz-uhm)
  • Severe, late-onset, or persistent acne that does not respond well to usual treatments
  • Obesity, weight gain, or trouble losing weight, especially around the waist
  • Pelvic pain
  • Oily skin
  • Patches of thickened, dark, velvety skin—a condition called acanthosis nigricans (pronounced ay-kan-THOE-sis NY-grih-kanz)

PCOS can lead to many serious medical conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and gynecological cancers if left untreated. To find out more information about PCOS testing and diagnosis, check out this article from the US National Library of Medicine.

When it comes to our health, the last thing we should want to do is put out fires. Preventative health is key to living a healthy life. For National Girlfriends’ Day, encourage your girlfriends to stay healthy by working out together, eating good nutritious foods together, and empower one another to advocate for their health through listening to their bodies and getting routine screenings to both prevent illness and/or detect potential illness early.

For more information about PCOS, check out www.pcosaa.org.

 

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Hey, Girl, Hay!

I know you’re probably…uh, where have you been? Well, I ‘been’ around. Sometimes you’ve got to get your priorities in order and refocus. I’ve been trucking away at finishing up cosmetology school. I’m over 2/3 of the way there and I can’t wait to finish. The last part of the previous sentence is THE understatement of the year.

I’ve also been writing quite a bit. I’m really enjoying the process of unpacking pieces of my life into songs.

I have an artistic temperament. In light of this, I’ve decided that I’m going to work in quarterly blog hiatuses in order to keep my thoughts and inspirations fresh. Over the last couple of years that I’ve been blogging, I’ve realized that one of the most important aspects of blogging is actually what happens when blogging isn’t going on. It’s the living. I have found that blogging is life giving for me when I’m living well, intentionally.

Here’s what I’ve been up to over the last few months:

I’ve been at cosmetology school doing’ thangs. The program is 1500 hours total and I’m almost finished. [Insert sky punch]

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I dyed a piece of my hair purple.

I started taking voice lessons to work on my craft.

I’ve been making lots of music that I’m so excited to share.

I’ve been doing photoshoots for my portfolio.

Hair + Makeup: Satoya Foster
Hair + Makeup: Satoya Foster

Kacie

We’ve been raising funds for our upcoming IVF procedure.

http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser-widget.aspx?frid=271243

I got my wisdom teeth removed.

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I hope that you all have had great closure to 2014 and that 2015 will be your absolute best year yet!

HUGS xoxo

Sweet 28

Birthday Tiramisu

My birthday recently passed on August 14th. Now that i’m in the 28th year of my life, I’ve been re-evaluating a lot of things. I’ve thinking about my life, goals, relationships, and truly living into my passions.

28th Birthday Outfit

One of the things that I strive to do is live unapologetically. The truth is, we will all make mistakes. We will all do or have done things that we are not proud of. But I’m finding that it is way more important to not live a life that is a continual apology, but to live a life of continual forgiveness of myself and others. The older I get, the more I begin to realize the importance of building fences with gates instead of walls.

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I’m letting go of the things that I can’t change. I’m letting go of the things that I don’t have control over. I am loving, believing in, affirming, and investing in myself. I am living the truth of my life, my experiences, and my beliefs in every present moment. These are things that I am choosing to do because they are life-giving to me. I am able to disagree, with love and respect. I am practicing living a life of authority and vulnerability.

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And I love these shoes. I digress. These are all things I’ve pondered, wrestled with, and decided to live out. I’m excited for what this 28th year is unveiling. A few of my other goals consist of sharing quite a bit more and allowing much more space to create in being the artist and creative that has always been. Sweet 28.

10 Signs You Need a New Nail Salon

Nail Salon

1. Bad customer service.
If they aren’t cordial and accommodating, they don’t care about your business. If they don’t care about having your business, chances are they don’t care about you. I, personally, cannot trust someone that doesn’t care about me with cuticle nippers.

2. Unprofessional.
Once, I went to the nail salon and the nail technician asked about how much my husband and I make. Excuse me? FAIL. Another time, I went to a nail salon and the nail technician was talking on the phone. So I said “OWWWW” loudly and he got off the phone. I told him, “that didn’t completely hurt, but it could’ve been avoided if you weren’t on the phone.” FAIL.

3. You’ve never seen them clean the pedicure bowls or sanitize their station.
Every person isn’t as clean as you are. I’m not being mean, it’s just true. And some people also have fungus’ and other ailments. Or let’s say, the nail technician cut someone by accident and they bled in the pedicure bowl. You never know. Makes sure they uphold sanitary practices.

4. If they use the same stick to apply wax over and over.
Some nail salons offers waxing services as well as nail services. If you are getting waxing services, make sure that they are using a different stick to apply the wax EVERY SINGLE TIME. Seriously. EVERY. TIME. Some people bleed a little bit during a waxing service and if they are using the same stick to apply the wax, that container of wax is contaminated. If they are doing this with each client, can you imagine the amount of disgustingness in that wax container??

5. If they aren’t respecting your wishes as their paying client.
If they continue to offer you services that you’ve already declined, they are not respecting you or the decision that you’ve made for yourself as a paying client.

Nail Salon

6. They use razors on your feet.
They aren’t legally allowed to use these. Period.

PedicureFootRazor

7. They use an electric file on your natural nail.
Technically, they can use an electric file on your natural nails, however, it’s not suppose to be lower than a 240 grit file. And this doesn’t usually happen because the truth is, the faster they get you in and out of the chair, the more money they make. So to avoid any damage or thinning to your natural nail when using acrylic enhancements, ask them to hand file.

8. You’ve never seen them sanitize their implements.
One word: Gross.

9. They use business cards to remove your old acrylic set.
Or if they use cuticle nippers to snap them off. Wrong. They should be soaking them off with pure acetone. Period.

10. You’ve never seen them cleanse or sanitize their hands.
They clearly don’t care about sanitation. If they aren’t even cleansing their own hands, they may not be sanitizing other things properly as well.

Do you have any nail salon horror stories? Any other tips you care to share? Do tell!