My New Fitness Toy: Garmin Vivoactive

This is my new toy, a gift from The Mr. for our anniversary:
the Garmin Vivoactive

I'm in love!

For my entire life I've been a techie.  While everyone else was rolling their eyes, snoring, or dying of boredom, my dad and I would be talking form, tech, mechanics, and constantly finding ways to improve every activity from water skiing and downhill skiing.  

Good thing I married right: we still can talk tech till the cows come home.

For an incredibly in-depth review, follow this link to DC Rainmaker.  He's an athlete who buys every fitness tech and tests it extensively.  I like his review because he actually buys every item, rather than getting things for free from manufacturers, which allows him to give completely unbiased and truthful reviews on every product on his site.

I'll give you my little rundown of my experience based on the three days I've had mine.

I love the white.  It's cute and wearable at all times.  Except to church, where it looks a little...meh...like I'm trying too hard.

The touch screen is fantastic; highly sensitive, but I'm getting the feel.  I like that there are only two side buttons.

I adore the steps and "move" reminders.  I get stuck on the computer (I've been prompted twice as I madly try to get some content on this blog) and I like to remember to stop being a stump and get up and walk.  I walked 13,000+ steps yesterday!  Take that...

I ran for the first time with it yesterday, and it was spectacularly fun.  I wore my Garmin heart rate chest strap, and it made my 800m repeats slick and brainless.  I could keep track of my pace and keep it up even when I thought I was going to die, which I wasn't even close to doing based on my heart rate.  Yay!

As far as heart rate monitors go, Garmin invented ANT+ technology, so while there are now many Bluetooth HRMs out there, Garmin is going to promote its own, so for now Garmin devices only pair with ANT+.  There are some wrist strap HRMs that are nice if you don't like the chest strap.  The Vivoactive does NOT read heart rate by itself.  This is my ONE negative mark thus far. 

I love that it pairs with my phone via the Garmin Connect app, and it syncs with My Fitness Pal to keep all my fitness related information on once screen on my phone.  This is huge for me.  All visible in one place.  

Another beautiful feature of the Bluetooth pairing is that I can get notifications from my phone on my watch face.  So when my phone is tightly tucked in to the waistband of my workout pants, and is not easily coming out, I can check my watch to see if the text or call I'm getting is vital enough to stop and remove the phone.  Handy!

And the final icing on the cake is that I can also control the music on my phone from the watch face.  No more struggling through the slow song that came at a most in-opportune moment, I can quickly skip to something more inspiring.  Ahhhh!

I have enjoyed getting data on my sleep patterns.  I am having sleep-performance-anxiety: I have never slept with a watch and it is going to take some getting used to.  I don't flat-line as much as I thought I did.  Why do I feel competitive in this aspect of my life?  I want the stillest sleep of everyone I know.  How do I train for this...?  

The Mr., in a gesture of helpfulness, downloaded an IQ app:  an added sugar tracker.  Just tap the screen to add a gram of added sugar.  After 12 taps and reaching 52% of my daily allowance by 10 am, I have probably given up on this particularly unhelpful and anger inducing reminder of how naughty I am.  Any programmer can create an app for Garmin watches, for many activities and generally fun and useless purposes that aren't on the freshly-unboxed watch.  You can explore them on the Garmin Connect site.  I am excited to do so.

I also love the customized nature of all the screens.  I can pick and choose which telemetries I want displayed and how deep I have to scroll to view them.  I can also set alarms to remind me to drink water and eat, create my own run/walk program, choose which notifications I get on the watch during an activity so I can have less distraction, set alarms based on low or high pace or heart rate.  All this will help me reach the goals I have and spend my workouts focused on working out, not changing music, checking my phone, and keeping track of minutes and performance.  Quality, people.  If you're going to spend the time, make it quality.

So far I'm sold.  I have yet to get out on the bike with it, and I'm excited to do so.  I do like to have my cycle-computer on my handlebars so I don't have to take my hand off to read my data, but luckily Garmin makes a bike mount that I can hook the watch to, so I can have it just the way I like it.

If you haven't seen TIME magazine for July 6-13, 2015, it is called the "Answers Issue", and here's a link to the good bits. Eeeek!  I am a TIME magazine groupie. (Why don't we get heart cancer?  The answer is fascinating!) I saw it at the dentist and was so engrossed that I made them sit me up every chance I could so I could read, and I very nearly stuffed it into my purse to take home, thought about asking, then left it on the table with a sigh of regret and a wave goodbye, with a promise to run to Walgreens and see if I can still buy it.  Let's hope.  The main idea of this issue is that it is possible to have too much information, and I wholeheartedly agree, in some cases.  I removed one screen of telemetrics from my running activity because really, who needs that much info during a run?  How much info is too much?  With the Vivoactive you are grown-up enough to decide for yourself.

I am perfectly content with my new toy, and madly collecting data about my everyday life that really no one cares much about.  But it makes me feel empowered and knowledgeable, and that helps me improve.

Here's to improvement and drowning in data!

The Time I Made a Tulle Wedding Dress

By far my most daring sewing project of all time, I was approached my my husband's darling youngest sister in 2010 to make her wedding dress.  Based off a blog entry in Swedish.  So of course, I said yes.

The idea came from Joanna Goddard's post on Bliss: All About Weddings.  A few link-throughs and we found more detailed pics.  Katrina said it was love at first sight.  It was the only one that would do.

Loved: the subtle hints of color throughout the skirt.

Loved: the lace accents in between the tulle layers.

Loved: the black ribbon belt and plain top (must add sleeves).

The process began.  It was a paced, planned, scheduled project; my only one of it's kind, really. We found two patterns: one for the bodice that fit so perfectly she couldn't comfortably raise her hands above her head, and another for the underskirt. I made a mock-up out of cheap fabric, then the real one out of satin.

Then the craziness of tulle began: layer after layer after layer of gathered tulle, an entire bolt of white.

I was awash in it.

And it really started coming together.  The tulle was pretty forgiving, and we trimmed the shape after all the layers were on.

We had weekly fittings to make sure everything was still perfect.

The colored and lace pieces were a bit of ingenious engineering on my part.  To get married in an LDS Temple your dress must be all white, and Katrina wanted to be married in this dress.  I added the pieces of color with hooks & eyes, sewn onto lengths of double fold bias tape.  I numbered them in tiny black marker in between the layers and on the bias tape.  I wish I had a picture or video of all us sisters holding the pieces after the ceremony in the bride's room, me calling out numbers like wedding-dress bingo, and placing them all.  It was something I'll never forget, and neither will the cute temple matrons!

The wedding was in California at the Newport Beach LDS Temple.

You can see she wowed everyone!

It was an amazing experience to create this wedding dress for someone I love, and have it worn in the temple.  The most rewarding thing about it is that she adored it so much!  I was so happy to help her have the day she wanted.  She really was such a beautiful bride!

Since this dress my girls have been sure I'm going to be sewing their wedding dresses.  I told them to make sure they give me enough notice.  Think they will?

Spring Fashion Tips & My Favorite Crops

I am really looking forward to consistent spring weather for many reasons.  One of them is the shedding of heavy layers and letting my skin breathe and see the sun!  Even though I'm cold blooded and wear sweaters well into June.  My new favorite clothing item is the Old Navy Pixie Ankle pant.  You can find it here.  It comes in a gazillion patterns and colors.  I'm partial to patterns and color because they elevate normal into something interesting.  And they pair nicely with plain shirts, button downs, even dressing up a plain tee.

My Favorite Crops

Old Navy's Pixie Pant came out last spring, so I pounced as soon as I had a good coupon.  Never shop without a coupon.  Old Navy is almost always running an online promo.  I chose a nice, classic black.

I Looooovvve them!  They fit like a dream, just enough stretch to flatter, pockets to break up the rear-view, perfect length to pair with flats, sandals, keds, or heels even.  They are getting a little woe-be-gone because I wear and wash them so much.  I've been planning on replacing them this year.

In January I happened to go into the Old Navy store during a clearance event and found 4 more pair in just my size!  I scored them for $11 a pair.  That's about an $18 savings right there.  This is very thrilling for me, saving money on clothing!

I wore the plaid pair just a few days ago. My 14-year-old said "whoa. what's with your pants" by which I could tell she meant she was totally jealous.  Paired with a denim button down and some fancy shoes it's as easy as slipping on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt but 200% times more put-together looking.

I also really love the Old Navy Boyfriend Skinny Khaki, found here.  Last spring they had a ton of fun patterns and colors in the store.  I picked light blue, which is like a dressy jean.  I also got brave and got a green camo pair.  Surprisingly they go with tons of tops, and don't look duck-hunter at all!  I pair them also with button downs in denim & black, or bright tops as well.  With my Chucks on and my blue crops I gotta kiss myself I'm so pretty! (you, too, can be your own fashion photographer. ha!  I need a selfie stick!)

A current trend right now is to mix patterns, as you can see with these dotted pants and subtly striped white button down.  And the heels add a little sass and femininity.

Fuchsia trouser pants elevate a white tee, blazer, and salt-water sandals.  What would look overly casual with just jeans, now looks dinner-date appropriate.  Don't forget to paint those toenails!

This wild pattern makes it look like you have accessorized, when all you did was slip on a pair of pants.  Genius.  (I finally got a photographer. Thanks, Clever Girl!)

This is from Easter and has nothing to do with pants.  Can you tell I'm totally digging these glittery gold vans?  Find similar here.

Wardrobe Tips

I'm a jeans-and-running shoes gal 80% of the time, but some days it's nice to dress my age.  When I do my girls say things like "are we going somewhere?".  I love looking snazzy and I love when my clothes have a little pop!  Be brave and experiment with color and patterns.

One wardrobe practice I try to adhere to is to buy coordinating items.  These are things that can be worn in many combinations with many other items in your wardrobe.  I get one non-coordinating clothing item per year, from Mr.  It's usually not practical, not cheap, and not everyday!  Other than that I stick to my Rockstar Jeans in low-rise or mid-rise, my Gap Favorite crew neck tees, classic button downs like this, & cardis like this.

Another tip I've adopted is this: every woman should have one nice white button-down shirt, and you should buy a new one every year.  Just one, once a year.  This keeps your white looking fresh and the style and cut updated.  Same thing goes for white tees.  But buy a couple, not just one.  Yellow pits are icky and white tees get stained really easy.  It's nice to look fresh!

The last thing about wardrobe is that sometimes having lots of options is NOT better.  If you find yourself wearing denim button downs, white long sleeved tees, or crew neck sweaters a lot, have several of the style you love.  Don't buy items thinking you're expanding your horizons; chances are they'll just sit in your closet and make you feel guilty for not wearing something you bought. I have three denim button downs because they are my go-to dress shirt.  I also have three black gauzy tops, because they are my other go-to item.  They pair with skirts, crops, jeans, and look nice all day.  Buy what you'll wear.  That being said, try something new if you love it, if you can picture when and where you'll wear it, and someone you trust is with you to confirm that it looks nice on you. We'll call her your shopping wing-man!

Look on my Pinterest board "My Style" for more ideas.  The pins for today are the "16 Pieces 40 Outifts" the mixed patterns pin, & the "15 Outfits at Target" idea.  I can't spend $1600 in one shopping trip, but the idea is to expand your brain into thinking outside the box.

Have fun dressing for Spring!

Tulle Skirts

I think they turned out well, don't you?  The gals were eager to put them on and were preening like peacocks all afternoon.  Success.

I am unhappy with the waistbands.  I mean, why am I pinning elastic on a custom-made skirt?

Perhaps because I was sick, short on patience, and time?  I plan on taking some time this week to fix that little problem.

One of the things that made this weekend even more meaningful were the amazing and inspiring messages we heard in LDS General Conference, combined with the celebration of the Resurrection of our Savior.  Every talk that was given is so applicable and timely, counsel that we can all use in our lives to better our homes, families, relationships, communities, and world.  We heard from living prophets & apostles what our focus should be for the next six months.  How lucky are we?!  Check out #ldsconf #becuasehelives #embark #sharegoodness to see some amazing things about this weekend.

You can listen to, read, or watch any of the LDS Conference addresses here.

This is a quote from one of my favorite talks, by Elder Wilford W. Andersen:

I loved the analogy of family life to an orchestra, and the gospel to the music we dance to.  Dancing without music is awkward and hard to understand, but when we hear and feel the music, the dancing comes naturally.  My girls and I love to dance, spontaneously and with great energy!  We love music and rhythm.  My deep desire is for my family to feel and hear the music & rhythm of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so their dancing will come naturally, spontaneously, and with great enthusiasm.  And I have determined to play the gospel tune more loudly and consistently in our home, so that their ears will be trained to hear, love, appreciate, & yearn for it.

Another Easter with my beautiful family.  How the years do fly by!

Easter Dresses: Tulle Skirts

Easter is tomorrow, so yep, that means I'm neck-deep in a sewing project and cutting corners like mad.  I've started Easter dresses after a 3 day vacation & a 3 days-and-counting cold.  Why do I do this to myself, you ask?  I have no idea.  I let the girls choose this year, and style themselves.  Which I totally trust, but then I totally have to do the work.  It'll be a good change of pace for us.  When I say Easter dresses I really mean Summer dresses, that they'll wear until Christmas.  But somehow this time they wrangled me into tulle skirts, which I know are highly popular and super fashionable, but really, so very wardrobe specific.  I just do not see them donning these mini wedding poof-balls in July to head to church.  I'll let you know if it happens.

Anyway. 35 yards of tulle & 12 yards of satin later, I'm up to my eyeballs in gathering threads and static electricity.  Also coughing up a lung, because yes, the cold's still here.  I started with this pattern, but found it overly complicated, and so struck out on my own.  I like my method, but the waistband is a tad bunchy & thick.  Which is why the pattern is better.  I found the waist yoke slightly confusing and ended up shortening it so it didn't show as much.  The idea is that the yoke diffuses the poofy-ness from the waisband and disperses it evenly down the hips.

So after sewing two, I think I'll finally get the third right.  Now I just need some photos, because being sick tends to remove entirely my already slumbering penchant for photography.

Happy Easter!