The Highs & Lows of Type 1 Diabetes: How I'm Getting Back on Track After a Not So Great A1C

It's been a little while since I have done any updates on The Highs & Lows of Type 1 Diabetes series and I decided now seemed like a good enough time for a post and an update since I started back on the CGM (continuous glucose monitoring system).

About 2 months ago I went in for my routine blood work where I got my A1C checked. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the A1C is a blood test that provides information about your average blood sugar levels over the past three months.  The lower the number the better.  My results came back not so great. Was I surprised?  Not really. I can be honest with myself and say that I had not been eating as good as I should and guessing when it came to corrections for my insulin pump.  I was basically not making my diabetes a priority and my test results reflected that.

I was on the CGM when I was pregnant with both boys and because of it I had the best A1Cs of my life. During my pregnancies my A1C average was 6, which is awesome.  The only problem with the CGM back then was I felt like after a couple days it wold give me inaccurate readings and the whole process of the insertion was super painful and left ugly marks when it was time to change it and take it out.  So after my pregnancies I got off of it.

My doctor recommended that I get back on the CGM and to be honest, I wasn't too excited about it.  BUT he told me the good news is the new updated Enlite Glucose Sensor is supposed to be wayyyy better than the old one in terms of accuracy, insertion process, longevity of each sensor and pain.  Plus the new sensor sets off alerts if you go too low and will shut off your pump if you remain unresponsive to the alarm, which I thought was another really great new feature.  So I decided to give it a try.

I have been on the sensor for 3 weeks now and it has been night and day in terms of managing my diabetes.  My blood sugars have been awesome and I feel so much better. I am pretty sure this is going to be a permeant thing for me until they come out with something even better.  I have been wearing the sensor on my outer thigh and it does not hurt nor is it irritating in the slightest bit. I don't notice it when I work out, do squats or any other physical activities.

I can't wait to re-do my A1C in the next month or so.

The Beauty Tester: Drybar Blowout

Week #2 for The Beauty Tester series and I am having way too much fun with this!

This week I visited a Dry Bar for the very first time.  For those of you who are wondering what the heck this is, a Dry Bar is a salon where there are no haircuts, no color, just amazing blow outs.  It's a brilliant yet simple concept.

My Expectations Before I tried it:  I have been hearing about this everywhere and every time I see a woman who has had this done I think, "WOW her hair looks so fabulous!"  So the first thing I thought was that it must cost a fortune for your hair to look that good.  After I made my appointment and briefly talked to the front desk gal where she went over the various styles they can do I was beyond excited.  Right before I walked into my appointment I imagined my hair to have those perfectly beachy waves that seem too good to have happened at a beach but too imperfect to have happened at a salon, if that makes any sense at all.

Cost: $30-$40.  A very reasonable price in my opinion and not what I was expecting at all when I first called to see how much it would be.

Prep or Directions: They told me that the service included a full shampoo/conditioning treatment and to come in however I felt comfortable. Well, I feel comfortable with my gym hair in a bun so that's how I arrived. Am I gross?  Am I normal? Who knows...When I arrived I was greeted by the nicest gal who immediately introduced herself as my stylist and took me back to the shampooing station.  For the next 10 or so minutes she gave me this mind blowing scalp massage and hair wash/conditioning treatment.  She towel dried my hair and we walked back to her station where we talked about what style I was going for.  Once we were both on the same page about my "boho/beachy/Sienna Miller waves style" she started her thing.  She began by spraying something in my hair to help lock in the waves and then started sectioning off little pieces with clips. For the next 30 minutes she worked her magic as she individually dried each section and did this curling technique thing with a round brush.  The entire process took about 35 minutes.

The Results:  After she was finished she turned my chair around to face the mirror. I loved my hair! I felt so glammed up and it was exactly how I had described it to her.  I could not believe that all I had done was a blow dry, it felt like I had done so much more.

My Rating: I give the Dry Bar blowout an A.  This was affordable, relaxing and made my hair look amazing.  This would be such a fun thing to do with a bunch of your girlfriends before a fun event or before a date out with your man.  You know that feeling when you leave the salon and you want to take a selfie because you just can't contain your excitement with how great your hair feels?! Haha maybe that's just me but this gives you that feeling at a fraction of the cost compared to having a full service hair appointment.

Horrible picture quality because I took it with my computer but this is how my hair looked the second night.  It was still so full and bouncy!

Have you done this before?  Is this something you would try? I would love to hear.

Also, if you are feeling inspired and want to try out any of the beauty treatments/products that I post about I would love to see your results! So if you want to share with me, upload a picture on Instagram and tag it with #thebeautytester so I can see!

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

Max at his Kindergarten physical this week. And UM I can't even believe that my little man is going to be in Kindergarten this year!  I am most likely going to be a complete wreck when he starts, not gonna lie.

Sliders and the best fries ever at our favorite little spot in town.  Once a week I like to enjoy foods that I do not normally eat and this was totally worth it. 

Molly is getting so big and her little ears are starting to stand up and I think it's just about the cutest thing ever.  Okay dog mom brag moment...but she is seriously so smart! She can sit, stay, shake, fetch and walk on a leash like a total pro.  We all love her so much. 

The invites to my cousin's shower had this inside and I thought it was such a great idea! 

An original oil painting of Twin Lakes, California that I found on a recent thrifting trip.  It's one of my husband's favorite fishing spots and I thought it would be perfect for his office, which we are finally getting around to decorating. 

And on a side note: I am so pumped about my new series and I can't wait to share what I am testing out today (follow along on Instagram for a sneak peak) with you all on Monday!  Have an awesome weekend! 

*A New Series* The Beauty Tester: Eyelash Extensions

I am starting a new series on my blog called the Beauty Tester.  Over the course of the series I will be testing the latest beauty products, trends and treatments and coming back here to report and give it a grade, A-F.  Nothing is off limits when it comes to this series and I will be stepping out of my comfort zone to try new things.  With each post I will include my expectations before I tried it, cost, the prep and directions for the product/treatment, my end result and finally my beauty grade.

Consider me your beauty guinea pig.  I am starting off this series with something that I have been wanting to try out forever, eyelash extensions.

Here is me with no makeup on right before I went in for my appointment...

So ya as you can see my eyelashes look pretty non existent ha!

My Expectations Before I Tried it:  I would say that my eyelashes are average in length and nothing special.  With extensions, I wanted my eyes to pop and have that va va voomy feeling that you have when you have your makeup is on point.  So my expectations were pretty much that I wanted to walk out feeling like Kim Kardashian. Ha!  So maybe I set my expectations a little high... but for the price  I wanted to see and feel something drastic.

Cost: Eyelash extensions can range from $99-$200+ for first time clients.  If you decide to keep them up you will need fills every 2-4 weeks which range from $30-$70 dollars. Not a cheap beauty treatment by any means so make sure you REALLY explain what you want on your first visit.

Prep or Directions:  I was told to come to my appointment with no eye makeup on and to limit caffeine consumption since it can make you jittery and harder for you to keep your eyelids still and closed.  I arrived with zero makeup whatsoever but I am not gonna lie I did have my usual 2 cups of coffee because I NEED IT. Plus I figured I am a total pro at acting calm under mass amounts of caffeine consumption so I had that under control.  The technician was super sweet and had me lay down on a facial bed.  She asked me what "look" I was going for and that is where my original plan went array.  I told her I wanted them to look "natural and like I am not wearing crazy extensions."  Okay it is true I wear minimal makeup on a daily basis and I tend to lean more towards the natural look when it comes to things but...WHO AM I?!.. I am a confused lady thats who!!  So my plan of looking va va voomy and all Kim K went out the window when I gave that description.  So I remained there for the next hour with my eyes closed while we chatted about all kinds of things as she applied natural looking "J Shaped" lashes to each existing lash.  The whole process was completely painless and easy.

The Results:  After she was finished she handed me the mirror....drumroll please! Okay so I LOVED them, I had dark beautiful lashes that looked oh so natural just like I had explained.  BUT... at that very moment I realized I had been too conservative (like usual UGHHHH) with my original explanation and my result was exactly what I had asked for.  This is a pretty pricy treatment to keep up with so I think I will only do this again if I have a special occasion planned.

My Rating: I give my eyelash extensions an A because my technician gave me exactly what I asked for to a T.  But next time I would go a little more drastic and be a little more brave with the length and volume.

I would love to hear your feedback on this series and if there is any crazy (non crazy is totally cool too ha) beauty treatments or products that you have been curious about and would like me to test out I would love to hear about it in the comment section below.

Things That Make Me Say Yeay

The Wubble Bubble Ball, which has become the boy's latest obsession.  It inflates into this huge giant crazy bubble thing that is so much fun to play with!

After school paint sesh in the backyard.  I love how much these boys dig their creative time and I am so happy that the days are finally starting to get a little longer so we are able to do things like this outside when Max gets out of school.

We made our favorite snickerdoodle muffins this week, which were all eaten in a flash.

My simple styled mantel.  It felt good to get it back to normal after the holidays and my style is always less is more when it comes to this spot.

Some of my favorite flowers brighting up our room...and reminding me that spring is just around the corner. Yeay for that!

This week really has been awesome.  I have been making a conscious effort to slow down and make my life simpler (you can read more about that here) and it has been so refreshing.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Slowing Down and Not Rushing

I saw this quote the other day and it really hit home. Lately I feel like I have been rushing through all my days. Rushing to get the boys up, rushing through breakfast and our morning routine, rushing to get Max to school on time, rushing through those three hours while he is there to get all my errands done and then rushing home to play with Molly/do our night time routine and then rushing to get the boys to bed so my husband and I can finally get a few words in without interruption. And to be honest it's exhausting.  I mean weren't you exhausted just reading that?  Sometimes I wonder if I create all this in my head or if others feel the same way.

I would love to be one of the few that can look back and say time did not fly by as fast as everyone says.  And I know in order for that to happen I have to slow down.  I need to enjoy my days and the little moments where we eat cereal and watch cartoons and soak it all up instead of just trying to get  through the next moment like it's a task.  So starting this very moment I am making a change...

And that's all for today :) 

The New Anti-Resolution Movement and Why I Won't Join It

On New Year's Eve it snowed in my hometown.  It NEVER ever snows here!  Think Palm trees (you gotta see this picture) and 100 degree weather almost year round.  The boy's Grandparents live about 10 minutes from us up in the wine country and this was taken on the way to their house. We bundled the boys up and headed out for a morning of snow play.  I took this snow phenomenon as a sign that the New Year is going to be unpredictable and awesome.

So anywhoo...

I feel like the new cool thing is to say you're not making New Year's resolutions.  Maybe it's because most people who make them don't end up keeping them (I mean I am more than guilty of that) and those people are just tired of letting themselves down or setting themselves up for failure.  Or maybe some people just find it pointless and would rather just start something new when they feel like it, not just at the beginning of a new year. Who knows...

So call me old fashioned but I love and will always love making resolutions at the beginning of the year.  I love the idea of getting a fresh start or an excuse to make changes.  I think as a person you can always strive to be a little better and by writing down goals or things I would like to work on, it helps hold me accountable and more likely to make changes.

So here are a few things that I plan to work on in 2015:

• Get dressed more.  I want to make an effort to put on actual outfits and get ready opposed to just staying in my sweaty gym clothes all day, which is pretty awesome I know.  It's all about time management for me and I know I can make it happen if I just do a little less dilly dallying in the mid morning after the gym and get my butt moving and in gear. 

• Make date night with my husband a priority and establish a day once a week where we can have someone watch the kids even if it's for a couple hours just so we can get out and talk and re-connect. 

• Get back on the continuous glucose monitoring system for my diabetes (I have an appointment to do so this Friday) and get my blood sugars in better control.  I feel like I have been slacking big time in this very important department lately. 

• Say yes more and say no more.  Are you confused?  Ha!  What I mean is this year I want to say yes more to the things that I enjoy and look forward to and say no more to the things that ultimately stress me out and overwhelm me.  Maybe that's verging on selfish but I'm okay with that. 

And there is my list!  Are you a resolution or goal maker?  If so, I would love to hear a few things that are on your list this year as well.