Colgate Optic White Regimen Review

As an Influenster, I am honored to receive perks like the Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox :)

Taken from my Instagram

What's inside the box?

Vaseline Spray & Go Moisturizer Total Moisture

NECTRESSE All Natural Sweetener

Dickinson's Original Witch Hazel Oil Controlling Towelettes

belVita Breakfast Biscuits

Colgate Optic White Regimen (toothpaste, toothbrush, & mouthwash)

Who doesn't love having a bright smile? I was so excited to receive the Colgate Optic White Regimen in toothpaste, mouthwash, and a toothbrush. (read my review on Influenster here)

As an avid coffee and tea drinker, I really need some help in the bright smile department. To me, it's very important to keep teeth cleaned. That's one of the first thing people notice about you, your smile.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash.

Toothbrush
I absolutely love the toothbrush. It feels really nice on my teeth and gums. It has great bristles, and the tongue cleaner helps to massage the cheeks while brushing the teeth. I really helps to clean those hard to reach spots. Love it!

Like I said, love this toothbrush!

Toothpaste
Much like the brush, I really liked this toothpaste as well. Some toothpaste are severely overpowering with the mint flavor, especially those that claim to whiten your teeth, so I was hesitant on this one. I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted great and I really liked the way my mouth felt afterwards. Thumbs up to this toothpaste as well.

Mouthwash
The mouthwash was a different story. I did not like using that one bit. I did, to go a long with the regimen, and I definitely think it works, but I think it could definitely taste a lot better. Other than that, it's ok.

So here is my before picture..

It's really weird to me to post such a close up of my mouth. Oh well..

And here is my after one week using this regimen twice a day..

In my opinion, it works! It's worth it to try this regimen out.

**Disclaimer: I received NO compensation for reviewing these products. I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. All opinions of this review are my own personal and honest based on my experience with these products.**

Thanks so much Influenster for sending me these products to try out! Stay tuned for more product reviews from the Sugar 'N Spice Voxbox.

Weeks 4-6 Training Recap {vlog}

I know, I know, I'm slacking on the recaps. Here are weeks four through six of my Hibiscus Half Marathon training.

Stay tuned for a "night before" recap!

I have one week until the big race day! Getting more and more excited :)

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Tawny is a former beauty queen/half marathoner (well almost) like I am. She talks a lot about recipes and fitness. I love when she talked about her adventure spelunking - it looked like she had a blast! She just started a brand new link up to showcase your favorites from Instagram. Tawny is the one who turned me onto the PaceDJ app (if you're a runner you should totally download it!). She also gives us a rundown of her first half marathon. She's really sweet and has some great qualities about her. I really think you'll love her blog :)

Enter for a chance to win $750!

Did you join us for Monday Mingling?

Monday Mingling

Welcome to the sixteenth week of Monday Mingling! Please take the time to introduce yourselves to our co-hosts! If you are new to this blog hop, please leave us a comment letting us know you are following and we would be happy to follow you back. We have co-host options available. If you are interested in co-hosting, sign up here and I will email you with a date. Thank you for joining us this week, and don't forget to link back to us by grabbing our button. Happy Mingling!

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Britney @ The Princess and Her Cowboys

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I started this blog a few months ago to give me motivation to get some procrastinated projects done and have really enjoyed getting to know other people through blogs. I like to show crafts, recipes and write about different things that are on my mind. Plus, I'm starting to get my husband on board with these projects which makes it even more fun :).
Amanda @ Rhyme and Ribbons

Blog | Bloglovin' | Twitter | Facebook I came to England from America to be an actress and found love instead. Here, you'll read about baking, cooking, DIY, life abroad, and traveling. (With the *occasional* shout out to Diet Coke, fashion, Oreos, colourful things, trash tv, pandas, polka dots, literature and all my other favourites!) I only own two pairs of socks and I can never eat just one cookie.

Rules:

1. Follow both of your hosts via GFC or Bloglovin'.

(first 2 links below)

2. Follow your co-hosts via GFC or Bloglovin'
(next two links)

3. Link up your main blog URL, not a specific post.

4. Link back to us by grabbing our button.

5. Tweet, Facebook, and Pin this blog hop. The more you spread the word the more people will link up, and the more success you will have! 

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6. Be sure to visit other blogs! Don't just link up and wait for others to find you. 

Let's get this party started!!...

Enter this giveaway for a chance to win some serious cash!

Life Lately {giveaway}

So today I am just giving an update of life. I still need to record my weeks 4 & 5 of training recap. I will do that tonight :)

Training
I've taken an entire week off of running, but I've kept up with workouts and cardio in different ways. I just started week 3 of the Ripped in 30 by Jillian Michaels and let me tell you, it is definitely the hardest workout from her that I've done thus far. I'm still feeling the soreness.

I'm getting more and more excited about my half marathon. I've got some great product reviews in the works that I really think you fitness and running gurus will enjoy. I'll talk more about that on the vlog tonight so be on the look out :)

via

I'll see ya there :)

Work

Finally back to a normal schedule after a couple weeks of rearranging it. Feels nice to have a steady flow in work again. Saving up for traveling the world, going home to visit, and finally working towards my degree. :)

Life
This weekend is a big swell for the South Shore so the boys are stoked and we plan to beach it all day today.

I think I'll watch from the sidelines :)

Here are a few pictures taken from my Instagram (follow me if you like :P)

Running in the mornings makes for great photo ops. 

Poolside drinks with my girl for an early celebration for her graduation from Hawaii Pacific University. 

Treated myself to a pair of shorts perfect for summer. Thanks so much to Mayra for making them for me :) (check out her shop!)

Today I will just be doing a lot of..

Almost done with book three!

And while I'm doing a whole bunch of relaxing, I'm leaving y'all with an awesome chance to win some serious cash! Take it away Jean...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Aloha Friday y'all!

Not Quite There Yet

Welcome back to the link up unlike any other...

Not Quite There Yet!

This link up is specifically for non-mommy and/ or unmarried bloggers.

(We still love all you married with kids folks!)

This will be a weekly link up rotating through different social media outlets for us to connect through. I hope that this link up will facilitate the making of many new friendships and partnerships. We are all in the same boat, let's get to know each other and support each other through life's twists and turns.

Alright, let's kick this thing off!

We will be linking up our Facebook fan pages this week.

You know the drill...

1. Follow your host. :D

2. Follow your co-host, please and thank you!

Tarole from One Haole Girl

3. Link up your Facebook fan page.

Next week we will be linking up our Twitter accounts!

4. Find some other great bloggers and follow along. And be sure to leave us a comment so we can all follow you back!

5. Button up and spread the word! Share this post on Twitter & Facebook!

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If you are interested in co-hosting email dalayna {dot} dillon {at} gmail {dot} com.

Did you join us for Monday Mingling?

Monday Mingling

Welcome to the fifteenth week of Monday Mingling! Please take the time to introduce yourselves to our co-hosts! If you are new to this blog hop, please leave us a comment letting us know you are following and we would be happy to follow you back. We have co-host options available. If you are interested in co-hosting, sign up here and I will email you with a date. Thank you for joining us this week, and don't forget to link back to us by grabbing our button. Happy Mingling!

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Samantha @ Designer in Teal

Blog | Twitter| Facebook | Pinterest 
I'm Samantha and I blog over at Designer in Teal about Interior Design, wedding inspiration, and my every day life. You will find everything from mood boards to what I did over the weekend! Can't wait to meet you!

Rules:

1. Follow both of your hosts via GFC or Bloglovin'.

(first 2 links below)

2. Follow your co-hosts via GFC or Bloglovin'
(next two links)

3. Link up your main blog URL, not a specific post.

4. Link back to us by grabbing our button.

5. Tweet, Facebook, and Pin this blog hop. The more you spread the word the more people will link up, and the more success you will have! 

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6. Be sure to visit other blogs! Don't just link up and wait for others to find you. 

Let's get this party started!!...

Vegetarian Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

This should actually be called, "Oh, I have three bell peppers and a bunch of other stuff so I will throw it together and voila." I basically just kept adding stuff as I went along :)

I'm bring you another healthy recipe. With my half marathon training, I am trying to fuel my body with nothing but good (obviously I'm not perfect). To be honest, I didn't even mean to make this vegetarian, it just so happened that I didn't have any meat to throw in there. I usually use ground beef, but I haven't been a fan of that much of late - so next time I'll put in some ground turkey. I also have never used quinoa as a filler, I usually use rice. But I'm obsessed and will use quinoa every time from now on!

I always loved when my mom would make stuffed bell peppers at home, so I decided to make it for the boys the other night, using what I had available in my fridge.

**Disclaimer: All photos were taken by Mike with my Nikon Cool Pix L120. Please do not copy, crop, or use as your own.**

Ingredients:
3 green bell peppers
1 c cooked quinoa
1/2 can whole sweet corn
1 c black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 small handful baby spinach, chopped
1/2 can Chunky Ragu (you can use fresh tomatoes, tomato sauce, or what have you)
Desired amount of olive oil
Desired amount of cheese (optional)

Always remember to rinse your veggies. Even if you get them from an organic market like me, you can never be too careful.

First, Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I put the peppers in some water heating up to boil, just to soften them a tad.

Take them out, cut off the tops, and gut the peppers, seeds and all Chop the remaining. Start the quinoa (I cook mine in a rice cooker so it's a lot easier and takes up less cooking space. Let the quinoa cook while preparing the rest of the meal.

Put peppers back into boiling water, leave for 3-6 minutes, or until peppers are mildly soft.

Meanwhile, chop onion, garlic, and spinach.

Warm up some olive oil in a small skillet, add the chopped veggies and corn. Hold the spinach until the veggies are tender.

After the quinoa is finished, add the black beans and tomato sauce (I had some leftover sauce I used with spaghetti earlier this week, so I finished it off and added more plain tomato sauce).

Once the veggies are tender, add the spinach.

Once the veggies are cooked to your liking, remove them from heat and add them to quinoa and bean mix.

Mix together and start filling the peppers about 1/3 of the way full.

Add desired amount of cheese, which is optional (it calls for shredded, but I didn't have any, so I used sliced :P ).

Fill the rest of the way, place in a 9x9 (or what have you) pan and use the remaining quinoa mix to cover the bottom and around the peppers. Cover with foil and prepare to bake.

Bake for about 20 minutes. Uncover, bake for another 10-15 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

Of course you can change it up as you want. But that is my version. It turned out really tasty :)

What would you change about this recipe?