Monthly Archives

May 2016

10 Easy Life Hacks You Need In Your Life

by Nellie May 31, 2016

HACKS AND TIPS TO BE MORE RESOURCEFUL IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a Scotch Products event, I always keep scotch tape handy because–children–but I was absolutely blown away by the things I learned and how lived without this information all my life.

Here are 10 amazing life hacks that you NEED to know! You’re Welcome. 🙂

Nail Art: After painting your nails, and making sure they are completely dry, you can cut a small segment of scotch tape and place it over your nail in a desired pattern. Then you can paint the nail a different color–and remove the tape for design perfection.
Flower arrangements: Have you ever gotten a beautiful bouquet of flowers only for them to fall lazily in the vase when you got home? Taking scotch tape and making a criss cross pattern makes the perfect slots for flowers! They also magically stay upright and pretty. 🙂
Labels: Has anybody else joined the mason jar craze? I sure have. A nice way to keep track of who’s mason jar belongs to who is to put scotch tape on it and label your jars/wine glasses and remove them super easily afterwards!
Laminate all the things: The easiest and most USEFUL product is a laminator–who would have thought right? All you need in this life is a laminator and a dry erase marker (and maybe a few other things). You can laminate a menu for weekly changes, place settings, artwork and SO much more! Plus the little machine is less that $25!
Scotch Tape for cleaning? YES! Keep dust from building in between keys on your keyboard by using tape to pick up crumbs. Just brilliant.
More Laminator fun! Personalize bedroom décor using the Scotch™ Thermal Laminator to protect kids artwork, photos and posters. Create a gallery wall, interchanging textures and photos to bring dimension to your room décor.
Going nuts? Never misplace a screw or bolt again by taping all nuts and bolts together or to the products of which they belong.
Red Eye Problems on the camera? Perfect the selfie by placing tape over a camera flash to avoid red eye.
Keep those flowers forever: Personalize bedroom décor using the Scotch™ Thermal Laminator to protect dried flowers and add them to decorative paper and frame it for a beautiful piece of art!
Need a personalized bookmark? You can use the laminator to create your own personalized bookmark which come in super handy for people like me who try to remember page numbers instead of using actual bookmarks!

Hope you found this list useful! For more about Scotch Brands check out the website!

[Tweet “Did you know about these 10 Simple #lifehacks from @scotchproducts?! #HandsOnWithScotch”]

Did you know about these hacks? Did any of them surprise you? How do you use your Scotch tape?

11 comments

races

AirBNB Brooklyn Half Marathon 2016 Recap!

by Nellie May 27, 2016

This year wasn’t nearly as emotional as last year’s race but it was great in different ways. It’s funny it’s funny how you can run the same miles yet experience an entirely different race.

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I'm volunteering at the men's tshirts!! If you are around come see me!! ?? #brooklynbaby #airbnbbkhalf #brooklyn

A post shared by Nellie @ Brooklyn Active Mama (@glamnellie) on May 19, 2016 at 2:55pm PDT

The days leading up to the race were easy enough, this year I got t-shirt distribution and it was BUSY! I can’t even tell you how many shirts I distributed but I was completely wiped afterwards. It was actually a ton of fun though, the excitement for the race was palpable and it was a pretty great party to be a part of.

Race morning

I got up at about 6 and was out the door by 6:40. This was my first time wearing a running skirt from Skirt Sports–did I mention that I’m officially an ambassador? Yes! I am now officially a part of the #skirtsisters tribe and I have discounts for you, but more on that later!!

After a quick ride to the start line, I checked in with the bestie who was running her first half marathon! Then I met a few peeps from my running group in my corral. It was nice to chat with them before the official race started.

Running Brooklyn

The race started off innocent enough, weather was perfect, no rain etc. Around mile 3 I started feeling weird in my right foot. It was going numb slowly. Trying to keep it together and not freak all the way out, I tried to adjust my laces and compression socks. Before you know it my walk run turned into an all out walk with a ton of pain, and a fear creeping in. Not sure of what to do next I already started planning in my head to visit a physical therapist because there was no way I was finishing this race.

Every time I started to run my left foot felt like a block of lead. Just completely numb. Not sure what to do next I started to run/limp in prospect park. It was really intense.

I came up on a water station and drank some of the Gatorade…and just like that feeling started to return to my foot. It was a miracle! I could run again!! I’m not sure if it was a dehydration thing but I was so grateful to have feeling in my foot again!!

The route

After that I felt amazing, like I had a second chance at this thing. My goal was a sub 3. I felt strong throughout, way stronger than the NYC Half. I was having fun. Saw my fellow skirt sports ambassador Jillian and BGR! sis Liv and we had a good time pushing through the park and the bridge.

I knew ocean parkway was going to be hard so I put on my favorite Soca mix and pushed right through. I finished in 2:58:15. I’m happy with that!!

Afterwards my babies came to dance with me at the after party. Seeing them there and getting to hang with them afterwards was really the icing on the cake!

I’m pretty sure I’ll run this race every year. It’s like the only race I can cab to the start line. It’s super hippy and insanely large but there is something really special about this race. Something that makes you feel like you are apart of one huge family.

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Shoutout to my best friend, my wifey @diggens for completing her first half marathon #likeaboss!! #airbnbbkhalf I think she finally caught the bug and hopefully she will be running #rnrbrooklyn with me in October!! #rocknblog #medalmonday #realwomenmove

A post shared by Nellie @ Brooklyn Active Mama (@glamnellie) on May 23, 2016 at 9:06am PDT

For 20% off your www.skirtsports.com purchase use code BAM20SS! I have a full review coming up of all my favorite Skirt Sports pieces so stay tuned!

[Tweet “A full recap of the #airbnbbkhalf plus a #discount to @SkirtSports! #runchat #bibchat”]

How was your fitness and health week? What’s the closest to home race you have ever run?

12 comments

Uncategorized

NYC Event Alert: Culinary Council Chef Nancy Silverton at Macy’s! (Free)

by Nellie May 26, 2016

I am so excited to share with you guys another amazing even happening at Macy’s! You guys know I love attending Macy’s events because they are always so well done and so fancy! Next Friday, June 3rd, the amazing Chef Nancy Silverton will be showing us how to impress our friends with food for the season with a live cooking demo! We even get to try samples of the delish menu items!!

Did I mention this was a free event?

Next Friday, June 3rd, at the Herald Square location of Macy’s join Macy’s Culinary Council Chef Nancy Silverton as we celebrate the joys of summer; American Icons with some of her favorite award-winning dishes! The best part is that there will be samples for everyone to try!

Plus there is so much swag to be had! With any purchase of $35* or more in the Home department, receive a special music gift and a copy of The Mozza Cookbook, which she will sign for you! All you need to do is RSVP and you can possibly receive a $10 Macy’s gift card** at the event: nancysilvertonatmacyshsq.eventbrite.com

Again: Tickets are FREE! Friday, June 3rd at 1pm. Learn how to make some amazing dishes while sampling some amazing food. It’s a win/win!

Learn more about the Culinary Council and upcoming events by logging on to macys.com/culinarycouncil and follow us on Twitter @culinarycouncil.

Have you ever been to a live cooking demo? Will you stop by the event for some delish samples?

3 comments

fitness fun

5 Easy Injury Prevention Tips For Runners

by Nellie May 25, 2016

I’ve been blessed in my short but exciting running career to have no major running injuries. (Knock on all the wood ever made) even throughout marathon training last year I’d be really beat up but nothing really stopped me from completing my next training run.

Today I’m linking up with my favorite runner bloggers for another installment in Workouts For Runners. The popularity of the first three posts has been overwhelming! I suppose that is what happens when great minds collaborate for awesome content!

Today I’m going to share with you 5 easy tips for injury prevention.

Stretching/foam rolling: I am the queen of stretching. I do it in the morning, at night before I go to bed, during the day (especially when things get rough in the office) stretching is so key for easy recovery and simply getting your muscles to work in the way that you need them to.
Crosstraining: it’s only a matter of time before your body becomes used to the movement of running. I am a huge fan of strength training because there are so many different ways to strength train that you can make sure you are using different muscles during different workouts.
Pay attention: I know this sounds insanely obvious but if any of you are like me there could be a lot going on in your life and you might want to go out on a run to figure things out. You Putin your music and you are in the zone and just like that you trip over an object that seemingly came out of no where. Paying attention (especially when running in urban areas!) is so so important. Beware of debris and other items that could potentially trip you up!
Don’t ignore: so you have an ache from last weeks run that won’t go away. Yet, every time you run, you feel it a little bit more. Sometimes, the nagging feeling goes away and we can run pain free again. Sometimes the pain doesn’t stop and it’s time to see a doc. Ignoring the pain could make things so much worse than addressing the issue head on.
Warm up: now this is something I’ve been working on a lot since I’ve started running. Getting up, going to the park, and just running as fast as you can in the easiest way to get your body in trouble. Take your time, start of slow then run when fully warmed up.

Check out 4 more awesome injury prevention tips and workouts below:

Sarah @ Run Far Girl

Laura @ This Runner’s Recipes

Angela @ Happy Fit Mama

Carly @ Fine Fit Day

[Tweet “Here are some easy injury prevention tips for runners! #runchat #bibchat #runners”]

Have you ever suffered from a running injury?

9 comments

healthy living

How Fitness Helps Manage Anxiety

by Nellie May 23, 2016

I’ve had anxiety for a few years now. Not really sure where or when it started but I deal with it on a daily basis. On some days it is barely there, and on some days it’s almost crippling.

My anxiety stems from several things but mainly just life. I worry about my children (a lot), their health, their social adaptation to school. I worry also about my job, if I’m in the right place or do I need more? Let’s just put it this way, if I am emotionally connected to it, I likely have anxiety over it.

As I haven’t visited a doctor to discuss (yet), I’ve been using fitness to help me calm the worry. To be completely honest most days I am so tired (or lazy) that working out seems like the biggest task ever. The excuses begin coming in like rapid fire and all of a sudden I’ve convinced myself to skip a workout. Then I remember that exercise not only calms my anxiety it wears my body out so that I can sleep at night.

A few months ago when my anxiety was at its worst, I’d get up at 2am and worry about significant and insignificant things. The worst part was that I never went back to bed–with an early wake up call of 5am, this would only compound the problem and led to very tired work days.

As an African American woman I am not ashamed to say that I suffer from anxiety. Mental illness is very rarely discussed in our community and we need to start talking about it–like yesterday.

This is all brand new for my husband who has been with me 18 years. I try to give him warning on bad days by telling him my “anxiety is on fleek” so he knows that I will likely be trying to fix all the problems that ever existed in about 30 minutes. On those days there are three things that really help me to relax and regain control of the situation.

Here are three tips to help manage anxiety

Going for a run/walk. Fresh air, for me, is a very natural drug. Being inside, cooped up is enough to make you crazy without even realizing it. Since I can’t leave the building every hour at work I simply walk over to a window and just take a deep breath. It does wonders.
Stretching: stretching before bed almost always means I am going to sleep better. Basic stretches like getting the tension out of your neck with neck rolls or reaching up to the sky as tall as you can have made a BIG difference in the way I sleep.
Write: I have tons of private notes that help me through tough moments. When I start worrying about something I either write a plan to make it better or simple poetry to share how I’m feeling at the moment. It’s super helpful and therapeutic.

Have you or someone you know ever had anxiety? How does fitness help you daily?

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