Tooth Fact Tuesday

When you can't brush.....chew! 

Xylitol is found in sugarless gum and can help reduce cavities when chewed after meals. Tooth decay happens when bacteria in your mouth consume the sugars we eat. 

When you eat food containing ordinary sugar (sucrose), it gives bacteria on your teeth energy, allowing them to multiply and start making acids that can eat away the enamel on the teeth. This "acid attack" causes tooth decay and cavities to begin to form. 

Xylitol is a natural sweetener derived from the fibrous parts of plants. It does not break down like sugar and can help keep a neutral pH level in the mouth. Xylitol also prevents bacteria from sticking to the teeth. This is how it protects the teeth from tooth decay. With Xylitol, the acid attack that would otherwise last for over half an hour is stopped. So keep that gum handy and chew away!! When you can't brush.....chew! Xylitol is found in sugarless gum and can help reduce cavities when chewed after meals.

~Kim

What a Steal

So at the recommendations of many other bloggers out there, I joined the crowd and ordered the knock off JCREW necklace and I am very pleased I did! I got some good use out of this past weekend and now I am  tempted to order it in many other colors. 

~Kim

It's a Chili Day!

For some reason I was really in the mood for chili today. This is usually a fall and winter staple but with my in laws coming over for a dinner I thought this would be an easy and delicious meal to make. Here is my go-to chili recipe:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion
• 2 bell peppers (any color)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 package lean ground turkey breast
• 2 chicken sausages, removed from casing and ground up (any flavor you like, I always use spicy jalapeno)
• 1-2 jars of marinara sauce (my favorite is Rinaldi heart healthy spicy marinara)
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can cannelloni beans
• 1 can of corn or fresh corn removed from the cob
• 1 package reduced sodium chili seasoning

Melt the butter over medium high heat and sauté chopped onions, peppers and garlic until soft. Crumble in turkey and sausages and continue cooking. Once fully cooked pour into a crock pot and add in the remaining ingredients and cook over low heat 2-3 hours. 

This is such an easy and tasty recipe hope you enjoy!

Happy Weekend
~Kim xoxo

Beach Bag Essentials

So I have probably been to the beach about 34,872 times already this summer so I decided to fill you in on what I pack for a day of fun in the sun. 

1. a good read. For me I like to bring trashy magazines rather than a book, that way I don't care if it gets all sandy // 2. sunglasses are a must // 3. Snacks are ESSENTIAL. Laying in the sun always works up an appetite // 4. a hat is good for when you need a break from the rays // 5. These portable speakers are my favorite. It clips right to your beach chair // 6. Water- enough said // 7. Sun block, specifically the spray // 8. Separate sun block for your lips. I have had a sun burn on my lips before and I will NEVER let that happen again. 

Happy Beaching!!! 

~Kim

Tooth Fact Tuesday

Hope you enjoy today's video, "Teach me how to Brushy"

Happy Tuesday everyone!


~Kim

Kitchen Disaster

So when we moved into our house this is what our kitchen looked like. Talk about WAY too much white. 

The first thing we did was replace the appliances with stainless steel (except for the stove because I am waiting to have this converted to gas when we replace the floors) but at least this broke up the whiteness

I also added my giant stainless steel fork which I think might be one of my favorite pieces in my house ........and the one my husband hates the most! But it is just so much fun.

Well we have finally decided to start the process of re-doing parts of our kitchen, including granite counters, new hardware on the cabinets, gas stove, and hallelujah NEW FLOORS! When we lived in our last apartment, we had white tile kitchen floors and I made a promise to never have white floors again. Well of course when we bought our place it came with no other but, white tile, add in a 3rd dog and it is just a recipe for disaster. 

Here are a few pictures of what I am thinking for updates and will be sure to post pictures once the process is finally complete. 

~Love the idea of big tile mixed with smaller tile~

~I love this granite and think it looks great with the white, this is also the kind of drawer pulls that I want~

~Love the counters and the tile~

~Granite Idea~

Hopefully we can get this process started sooner rather than later. I cannot wait to get rid of white tile on my floor and my counter!

~Kim xoxo

Turn up the Tunes

Why is it always hard to get out of bed on the weekends? We all slept in this morning until 9 and it felt amazing. After being super rested I hit the road to run to the gym for some kickboxing. It is amazing how new music can really give you more energy (or was it the 10 hours of sleep?) either way I ran at an average of 9 min/mile which is the fastest I have ever gone. Some of my new downloads which kept me moving included:

1. Fun.- Some Nights
2. Flo Rida- Whistle
3. Nicki Minaj- Pound the Alarm
4. David Guetta & Sia- Titanium

Well unfortunately when I got to the gym I realized that the usual instructor was not in and I always hate leaving a class when a sub comes, but I really had no choice. So instead I supplemented some of my own Tabata Training, which was just as good as class. 

An hour and 15 minute workout, 835 calories burned = dessert tonight!! 


A workout is not complete without a smoothie! My favorite at the moment is the soy smooth. Which includes; vanilla soy milk, vanilla yogurt, strawberries, raspberries, banana, ice and a little vanilla protein powder, yum! 

I also scored these new tops from Marshall's for only $9.99 each. I'm in love and may go buy a few more.

Happy Weekend!! ~Kim

Cheers to the Weekend

This week sure did seem to fly by. I am looking forward to the weekend, relaxing and spending time with friends. I will be going out to dinner Friday, Saturday and Sunday so that means 3 nights of not having to cook! Although I am determined to try and cook more meals next week. Sometimes I find it so hard trying to cook for just 2 people. 

Sunday will be spent on the beach. One of girlfriends has a beach house for 2 weeks so I will be taking full advantage of that.

And I am even working all day on Monday. This should be interesting. My first 8 hour day of full hygiene. 

Enjoy your weekend friends! ~Kim

Blast from the Past

I am super excited for this weekend so I thought I would share why. It's been almost 3 years since my wedding and my amazing honeymoon and a few times a year we get together with a couple that we met in St. Lucia, awesome right? It was our first night and we ended up meeting a few couples, one of which only lives only an hour away from us! Throughout the past few years we have become great friends and they recently had a baby girl who I CANNOT wait to meet this Saturday. In honor of our little reunion this weekend, I figured I would share some pictures from our wonderful trip to St. Lucia.  

{The "Peter Special" was the drink of the week}

{Our honeymoon friends!!}

{I could stare at this view everyday}

{Why can't every day be a tropical vacation?}

 {Breakfast delivered daily to our balcony=heaven}

 {The girls!}

 {It is awesome we all share the same anniversary}

I hope you enjoyed a look into my honeymoon. It was a week filled with frozen drinks, snorkeling, jungle trips, sunset cruises, and Phil Collins, yes for some reason the Island people loved Phil. I could not have imagined a better way to celebrate the fact that I married the one I love. Looking over these pictures is tempting me to book another island vacation so I think it is time for me to step away from the computer!!


Enjoy your day! ~Kim xoxo

Skin Care Favorites

So I decided to share some of my favorite skin care products with you that I use on a daily basis.
1. Strawberry Face Scrub- This is such a great face scrub that I try and use at least twice a week. I really feel that it helps to keep my pores clean
2. Seaweed Night Cream- I love to use this cream at night, especially in the winter when my skin is extra dry. I always wake up and it is nice and smooth
3. Hydro Moisturizer With Vitamin C- I use this cream in the morning and it has a great light weight feel
4. Daily Resurfacer- these little things are amazing! It is a little scrub that you put over your finger and rub it all over your face after cleansing. It is amazing how much dirt still comes off even AFTER I cleanse. They are a bit pricey so I try not to use them everyday and I also get 2 uses out of each pad (front and back)  I have sensitive skin and at first thought that these would bother me but after reading everyone's rave reviews on them I gave them a try and I am very pleased!
5. Cucumber Tonic Mask- Every girl needs a mask right? I try and use this one at least once a week
6. Drying Lotion- This was just voted one of 2012 best beauty buys by InStyle. It helps to shrink pimples over night, however it is not very attractive! You basically dot it on your pimple but it stays pink (almost like calamine lotion) so you are left with spots on your face. But it is definitely worth it!
7. Purity Face Wash- This face wash was recently suggested to me by a friend and I started using it a few months ago and I love it. It is worth every penny!
8. Ceramide Eye Gel- This little jar of gel is great for the early mornings when your eyes are showing al the signs that you did not get enough sleep. It also feels great when you leave it in the fridge it has a nice cooling effect.

Hope you enjoyed a few of my favorite products! ~Kim

Tooth Fact Tuesday

So for today's tooth fact Tuesday I thought I would respond to a recent segment that was posted on "The View" Last week the show had an "expert reporter" on who was listing off the top jobs that do not require a college education. 

As you can see above, a Dental Hygienist is listed first with an annual salary of $45,000. Well I am hear to say that this is absolutely false and the hell that I went through for the previous two years proves this. A dental hygienist is the second highest trained professional in a dental office underneath the dentist. They are also a preventative oral health care provider who must have graduated from an accredited dental hygiene program in order to even take board exams(5 separate exams) and must be licensed in the state in which they practice. After the segment aired, the American Dental Hygienists' Association reached out to "The View" in order to inform them of this misinformation and that the average salary of a hygienist is $68,250. Today the show did finally confess to their mistake in a comment on their webpage, but please keep in mind that the hygienist cleaning your teeth is in fact a graduate of a very vigorous program who does care for each of their patients well being! I will get off my soap box now but I am hoping that "The View" will look more into the information that they provide in the future. 

Thanks for stopping by! ~Kim

Monday Already?

Why must the weekends always fly by? This weekend was overall a really great time. Saturday I started my new job which I was apparently much more nervous than I thought. It was strange not having my friends and professors near by and to have it be just me and my patient. But I made it through the day and am hoping that I will continue to just keep getting better and more comfortable from here on out. 

Following work I packed up and headed down to MGM at Foxwoods to celebrate a good friends bachelorette party! I think that night definitely made me realize that I am not as young as I think anymore. I was hoping to get in some gambling while I was there but that unfortunately did not happen but we did have a good time and celebrated Jen's last fling before the ring! 

This weekend I also got to spend some time at one of may favorite places, our family lake house which is only 20 minutes away! It is such a relaxing place to go to just float around and cool off in the heat of summer. The house has been in my family since my great grandfather built it 65 years ago. I have many memories here as a kid being out on our boat and spending the summers with my extended family. Unfortunately no one has been living in the house since my grandfather passed away. I am hoping that one day my husband and I will be able to have our own place on the water and that my children will be able to share in some of the same memories that I have. 

{Coop loves a trip to the lake}

Hope you all had a great weekend!

xoxo ~Kim

To Fry or Not to Fry?

Has anyone ever tried making fried zucchini blossoms? I have quite a lot of these beauties out in my garden and I am very tempted to fry them up because I hear that they are delicious. My local news station did a special story on them and also posted this recipe which includes the blossoms being stuffed with cheese. Cheese and fried, I'm in! I have posted the recipe below and am hoping to try and make these soon.

Ingredients:

-- 1/2 cup flour 

-- Tablespoon parmigiano-reggiano cheese 

-- Pinch of salt 

-- Pinch of pepper 

-- Pinch of garlic powder 

-- Pinch of paprika 

-- 1/2 bottle of Italian beer 

-- 1/8 pound goat cheese 

-- 6 Zucchini flowers 

-- 3 cups blended oil (1/2 vegetable1/2extra virgin)

Directions:

-- Blend the flour with the salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and cheese. 

-- Whisk the beer into the flour until it’s thick but still a little runny (almost like making pancake mix or crepes) 

-- Stuff flowers with goat cheese (try to use the same amount for all the flowers) 

-- Pre heat oil to 350 degrees and dip flowers in batter and fry on the both sides until they are golden brown on each side

Thanks for stopping by, xoxo ~Kim

Vacation Rewind

I just returned from a fabulous little get away up to Maine (York) with James' family. My mother in law with all of her sisters and brothers rent a very large house for the whole family to get together. It is great to spend time with everyone in such a relaxing atmosphere and the weather was absolutely perfect. We also indulged in lots of fried clams, ice cream, cocktails and card playing. That right there sums up a perfect beach vacation! I can't stress enough how lucky I am to have been married into such a great family.

Here is my sister in law and I before heading out to dinner. Check out the new purse. Cute huh? I paired it with my new seersucker Jessica Simpson dress from Lord and Taylor and I was quite a fan! 

Living in New England I cannot say that I have always loved clams but as I have gotten older I now love them, fried or steamed. During our trip I got to enjoy them both ways. If you have not had a fried clam I highly suggest you try them! 

Holy amazing ice cream! I might have visited this place 3 times during my short Maine stay but their coffee Oreo ice cream was to die for. Let's just say it was Oreos with a bit of ice cream. My only criticism to this place is that they did not have sprinkles! Now if you know me, you know I always order rainbow sprinkles for my ice cream on top of a sugar cone. I have run into a few places that do not have rainbow and have to default to chocolate, but no sprinkles at all? That is just wrong. But clearly it did not stop me from going back! 

Thanks for stopping by xoxo ~Kim

Tooth Fact Tuesday

For the first tooth fact Tuesday I thought I would explain my journey into this marvelous profession! I graduated from college in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in partying finance. After working for a financial company for 4 years where I basically sat at a computer and stared at the time slowly tick on by, I was tempted to do some inner sole searching and try and figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. I had always been interested in dental hygiene but never actually knew what it entailed to become a hygienist. So off I went, googling away and speaking with my hygienist when I decided that this was what I wanted to do. After being accepted to school on my first attempt I was extremely excited and anxious to embark on this journey. School was the most challenging, rewarding, and stressful experience I have ever had to go through but I am so glad that I did. My professors and classmates were amazing and could not have imagined going through this without them. Before school I never realized how medically trained a hygienist is but it is true that we are next in command following a dentist (although the dentist will never want to admit that). All through out this program I joked and said that if my marriage can make it through dental hygiene school, it can make it through anything! Luckily I had such an amazing and supportive husband who put up with my oh so horrible pleasant moods over the course of these past 2 years. So now that school and all my licensing exams are a thing of the past,  this week I will begin my next journey as Kimberly Augustus, registered dental hygienist and begin working. {Insert James excited face here}

{Congrats class of 2012, we did it!}

xoxo ~Kim

Wedding Wishes

Back in January we took a family trip out to Maui to celebrate my brother's wedding. It was such an amazing vacation and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. This private and intimate celebration could not have been any more perfect and I am so lucky to have Kayla as a sister in law/shopping partner! Her and my brother live out in California so we only get to see them a few times a year but I love her like a sister and I am so happy that she is officially part of our family. Yesterday my parents hosted a party for our extended family and friends to share in the joy of their marriage. Enjoy the pictures from Maui and the after party at the Tuscan Kitchen!

 {My wonderful parents, the heart and sole of this family}

{James and my Dad watching the whales in the distance}

 {Got our Christmas card out of the way!}

 {Of course my mom hired Hula dancers}

{My daddy giving his wonderful speech}

{For 92 and just having her hip replaced, my grammy certainly danced up a storm}

We had such a wonderful weekend and are now spending a few days up in Maine with James and his family before the real world of working has to begin.

xoxo ~Kim