Editions of Me

That moment when you #deadlift 385!!!!!! I can't even right now. What. Just. Happened. #powerlifting #pr #fitness #fitnamese #girlswholift #strongmoms @anchoredsc A video posted by Thu Ngo (@vivaglamr3d) on Mar 25, 2015 at 6:51pm PDT I'm like... I seriously can't even brain right now. I was shaking for a while after I did it. Still unable to wrap my mind around what I did.

While I have a Yelp account, I'm not really a Yelper, and I'm well aware that there are certain problematic elements of putting too much stock in the opnions of random people on the internet. But sometimes I feel so strongly about certain places that I really want to shout it from the rooftops. So here I am. I've alluded to my strength training a bit over the last few months here, but I haven't really talked much about it. Let me give you a fuller picture of what I've been up to, and why I'm penning this ode to my gym. I started training at Anchored Strength & Conditioning in November in preparation for the California International Marathon ( which I ran in December on my birthday ). At the time, I hadn't done any strength training or cross-training for quite a while (aside from the random yoga or Crossfit class), and I was eager to build on the good work I had been doing with my runs - I wanted to be strong enough to finish under 6 hours, which

Hoka One One shoes are kind of a big thing in running right now - it seems to me (and you can correct me if I'm wrong) that they are the opposite of the minimalist/barefoot running movement. I myself have never tried minimalist running (does it count that I would do Crossfit running workouts in my Chucks?), and I understand the concept that primal man ran barefoot and didn't need stability shoes to correct his form, but honey... I doubt there's been a single minute of my life that I've lived like primal man, and after 32 years of being raised a modern woman (on modern, most-likely-genetically-modified, highly-processed food), I'm pretty sure that trying to run even a mile on little-to-no cushioning would be a bad idea. So my curiosity was definitely piqued when I first heard about Hokas, which have a lot of cushioning and look realllllly ridiculous. When Active GearUP recently had a bunch of Hoka styles on sale, I jumped at the chance, and ordered myself a pair

I decided to start a separate blog for all things books: book reviews, book-to-movie adaptations, and other book-inspired fun! Check it out here . I also decided to start a separate blog for all things beauty: product reviews, makeup looks, swatches, etc. Check it out here . Everything that was already posted on this blog will remain here, for archival purposes.

I'll tell you how behind I am on my beauty blogging... ColourPop released a second type of Lippie Stix before I ever blogged about the first type! Ah, I've some ground to cover. Over the past couple of months, I purchased their Forget the Fruit Cake holiday box set as well as a handful of other colors individually. Initially they just had matte Lippies, but with this box set they introduced their new hyper glossy finish. (They've released a few more shades since the box set.) I'm actually going to share the hyper glossy shades I have first, since I have fewer of them, and I'll share the mattes I have in a different post :) So, all their Lippie Stix come in these sturdy plastic cases that are long and slim, and the endcaps as well as the top part of the inside tube matches the lip shade. The bullet is very narrow, but I like how much easier it is to control when I apply. The hyper glossy Lippies are, as you can guess, very glossy and slick, though suuuuuuup

Hey! I just realized that I haven't done a makeup post in a while (beyond sharing my Instagram photos), so I thought I'd do one now. It's not that I haven't been buying makeup - I've been swatching and photographing stuff, and then the pictures sit on my computer for a while. So, not too long ago, ColourPop Cosmetics added some mattes to their already superb line of kinda-cream-but-kinda-powder Super Shock eye shadows, and of course, I had to get me some: I promise, I didn't leave the lids off for long. I already have a bunch of their shadows (there are more I haven't swatched *hides!*), so I already know that the quality and pigmentation are excellent. The mattes were no different. Here are swatches for the ones I got: From L to R: Hustle - "burgundy violet" Fairfax - "black brown" Girl Crush - "mid-toned true gray" From L to R: Roulette - "true black" Tink - "true charcoal gray&quo

I did it! I completed my first triathlon! February was a rather inauspicious month, since I got really sick (for two whole weeks) and it pretty much derailed any sort of training I had planned to do for anything. That said, while I was super nervous going into it, I had faith that I could at least finish. This triathlon, put on by Almaden Valley Athletic Club, is what they call a super-sprint distance: 400yd lap swim 5mi stationary bike ride 2mi outdoor run So yeah, shorter than a sprint tri, but it was still my first triathlon of any sort, and as a result, I was super, super anxious. It's funny, because I know that I can handle each of those legs individually (especially with training), but put them all together and slap the word "triathlon" on it, and I was scared s**tless. AVAC is SUPER nice (as a facility), and all the people I met who work there were super nice too. So even though I was terrified, they definitely made me feel encouraged and welcomed. Th