Dove Dry Spray Review & Giveaway

Disclaimer: I received two cans of Dove Dry Spray in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated are my own.

Gel, spray, solid, roll-on, stick....when it comes to deodorants and antiperspirants, the list is almost endless! What's the best brand? Which option has a better overall coverage? Does one last longer than the other?

I've always used a solid deodorant, so when I was contacted and asked to do a product review on a dry spray, I decided to give it a try!

I was sent two cans - one in the scent "nourished beauty" (citrus/apple) and the other as "clear tone" (watermelon/pear). Of the two, my favorite was the clear tone scent.

With our recent trip to Walt Disney World in December, I was able to test these out on vacation. I also used them during several walk/run sessions and for work. I can happily say that both types of dry spray kept me dry during my workouts and completely did the trick! I plan to continue using them in the future!

I love how these truly do spray "dry" meaning they are dry to the touch within seconds after hitting your skin. It also means that neither one leaves a streaky white mess on your clothing while getting dressed for the day!

Both sprays claim to last 48 hours but let's be honest - I live an active lifestyle and take daily showers therefore I didn't test out that statement!

One of my favorite perks about Dove is the nourishing and soothing factor they give to the skin when applied! Dove Dry Spray is available for purchase at most food/drug/grocery stores and retails for $5.49 a can. If you sign up to be a Dove Insider, you'll receive all the latest and greatest tips and offers from Dove!

Want to win a prize pack of your own that includes a few favorite gym bag items from Dove, including a dry spray of your own? Enter below for a chance to win!

This giveaway will run for 1 week's time and will end on Friday, January 15th. Winner will be contacted via email. Good luck! :)

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KatieDid Productions Non-Slip Headbands Review & Giveaway

Several weeks ago, I was contacted by Katie of KatieDid Productions to do a review of her non-slip headbands and host a giveaway!

After browsing through her Etsy shop full of adorable designs, I decided on these two....Preppy Paisley and Red/White/Blue Anchors!

Preppy Paisley is a 1.5 inch headband (and is Lilly Pulitzer inspired...adorable, right?).....

....and Red, White, and Blue Anchors in a 1 inch headband. Isn't it so cute? I'm pretty sure I wore this headband every day during the 4th of July weekend!

Y'all know I love non-slip headbands and was curious to see how these held up when compared to others I've worn in the past. can honestly say I have no complaints!

I've worn these headbands during training runs, sweaty races, cross training, out to eat, just for fun, etc...and I love them! They stay put and don't move at all!

Who could beat the price, too? At $5 for a 1 inch headband and $7 for a 1.5 inch headband, it would be easy to stock up on a variety of styles/colors without overspending!

Want to stay up with Katie's latest designs? Check out her social media below:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Pinterest

Here's how you can get in on all the fun.......Katie is offering a giveaway for readers of Just Me & My Running Shoes! One winner will chose TWO headbands in their favorite designs and she will ship them directly to the winner.

Check out Rafflecopter instructions below for further details. Giveaway will run for 1 week's time and will end and midnight on Thursday, July 16th. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclaimer: I received these headbands from KatieDid Productions free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion/review. All opinions expressed are my own, no compensation was received.


Do you wear non-slip headbands while running/cross training/yoga,etc?

Journal Menu Review & Giveaway

Disclaimer: I received this journal from Journal Menu free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion/review. No compensation was received or exchanged.
Several weeks ago, the kind folks over at Journal Menu contacted me to host a review and giveaway of their customizable running and fitness journals!

I was so excited to see their mock-up design for me because they came up with this design on their own (without any input from myself)! I love it! 



These journals come in an assortment of styles and are available for many types fitness activities and levels! I love the cover material because it’s plastic and durable -  I can tote the journal around in my purse without any problem.

What sets this journal apart from other journals I’ve used in the past is the variety of information that’s kept inside. 

 

One of the first pages discusses SMART goals…anyone ever heard of them? We used them relentlessly in college! 



These pages give runners an area to log their goals and even a box to check when that goal has been achieved! 



The race planning and race review sections leave a lot of space to write out your thoughts from race day. 



There’s only four race review pages in this book and I do wish there were a few more. That’s the only drawback I’ve found to this journal so far! 



Along with goal setting, there’s also several “training planner” sections in this journal – ranging from 5K and intervals to Half Marathon and Marathon! 



My favorite section is the weekly journal where you can document your food intake and fitness activity all on the same page! 



A few additional sections to this journal include an area for listing personal records and a pace chart! 



Overall, I love this journal and thank Journal Menu for giving me the opportunity to review and enjoy their product!



Want the opportunity to own a Journal of your own?

Follow the Rafflecopter instructions below and you’ll be entered to win! Giveaway runs for 1 week’s time and will end at midnight on Thursday, May 28th.
JournalMENU has also offered a special promotion for readers of Just Me & My Running Shoes! Click here and enter code RUNNINGSHOES at checkout for 15% off your order!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Good luck!! :) Happy Running!

Pinterest Pins & A Giveaway

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been loving these Disney Wordless Wednesday posts because they really throw a fun element into the middle of the week!

Today’s theme is: Pinterest Pins
Host: Deb at Focused on the Magic
As another runDisney race weekend (Princess) draws closer, my Pinterest board has once again been over run with costume ideas, funny images, packing lists, etc! Here’s a few of my favorite Pinterest pins as of late….and you might find a giveaway here somewhere that’s perfect for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend, so stay tuned! :)

















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Speaking of runDisney and costumes, how about a giveaway? :) Amber of Chic by Amber recently reached out to me about her fun Princess themed costume tops that would be the perfect addition for any Princess Half Marathon/Enchanted 10K/Royal Family 5K costume (or any runDisney event for that matter)! She’s offering a giveaway for one top in the style/size of the winners choice between the four that she offers below:



Source

Aren’t they so cute? Enter via Rafflecopter below. One lucky winner will be chosen on Monday, February 2nd.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Good luck and happy running!
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Want to participate in an upcoming Wordless Wednesday? Click on the button below for more details!

Light Up The Lake (FitMas Giveaway #2)

This weekend, our city hosted a “Light Up The Lake” event where our Christmas light display and tree were officially switched on for the first time this year! They even had a light switch like the one at the Osborne Lights in Walt Disney World! :)



Before I left home, I couldn’t find Pixie. Where oh where could she be? She was camouflaged on the chair in my bedroom. I literally had to do a double take when I finally found her…silly girl!

Back to the Christmas event – so, the festivities were hosted all day (I missed the Christmas parade…whomp whomp).



Around 5 o'clock, several bands and a few singing groups gave entertainment until it was time to flip the switch on the lights. Even Gumbo the Gator was out to tell us the “Cajun Night Before Christmas”.



Our little festive crew! :)

After the lights came on (sorry, I have no pictures…isn’t that terrible?), we walked over to the water to watch the lighted boat parade and fireworks!



This was a lot of fun – we caught a lot of beads and a bunch of candy!




I spied a few friends on the back of this boat! :)



Lots of people came out for the event!



This was my favorite boat! I loved how Santa and his sleigh were “flying” over the crowd.



The fireworks were a lot of fun to watch! I want to be on a boat out on the water next year…wouldn’t that be a neat view?



A local radio station had trucks at the event  (playing Christmas music) so we could listen along while the fireworks were popping.

The only downer of the day - I was bummed because I missed Santa’s Hot Chocolate 5K that morning. How on earth didn’t I know about a Christmas 5K in my own hometown?? I have no clue…. Seriously, I was so bummed out when I found out about it after the fact. Oh well. Definitely next year! :)

Anyway, we all had a great time together at the event and enjoyed seafood for dinner afterwards! I’m already looking forward to next year! :)

Does your town hold any special Christmas events?

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Now for the fun part – week #2’s giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive:

• Yurbuds “Inspire” dry fit top (size medium only)
• Road ID Head Sweats hat
• Running Warehouse arm warmers
• Sweat Pink shoelaces

This is the back of the Yurbuds shirt. Again, it’s a size medium only (the next two week’s giveaways will not include anything that is size specific so stay tuned….sorry about that!).

Enter through Rafflecopter below. This giveaway will run for one week’s time and will end next Sunday evening.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to Margaret, the winner of FitMas Week 1 Santa Dry Fit shirt! Send your info to kren2700@gmail.com and I’ll ship out your shirt this week! :)

Merry Christmas and good luck!

The 5K That…Wasn’t. (FitMas Giveaway #1)

Happy December! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It’s officially the Christmas season, my favorite time of the year!  I’m excited to announce a special Christmas treat for you guys! In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I am going to host a few giveaways – one every week through the week of Christmas (that’s four giveaways total).

Today’s giveaway will follow this post, so stay tuned to find out what it’s all about – it’s a good one, you won’t want to miss it!

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Several weeks ago, I travelled to College Station, Texas with my sister-in-law and a few friends to participate in Santa’s Wonderland 5K and Fun Run.

We knew the weather forecast for the evening was TERRIBLE (rainy, wind, strong thunderstorms), AND we knew the possibility of the race being postponed to Sunday evening per the race directors emails prior to race day.

We were driving 3+ hours out of town for this event and weren’t staying overnight – plus, running the race on Sunday night would have put us home incredibly late, then up for work the following day – no way.



Instead, we decided to adopt my “When Life Hands You Rain, Play In It” philosophy, and that’s exactly what we did!

The monsoon rain began as we neared College Station. The weather was so crazy, Kayla’s GPS thought we were driving through the Texas A&M Golf Course!



We were about 2 hours out from College Station when the official word was made about the race being postponed to Sunday evening. We were bummed but instead of letting the rain get us down, we made the decision to continue driving and make the best of the situation, no matter what.



We finally made it!

My first impression on entering Santa’s Wonderland was literally “WOW!”…and that was just the gift shop!

For starters, EVERYONE was super nice….like Disney World nice. I couldn’t get over how overly kind and accommodating (almost) all of the workers were.



After picking up our shirts and race packets, we changed into our race “outfits” (we had shirts especially made for this race) and that’s when all the fun began!

Our first task was to take a picture with Santa!



Notice that we are all “Kayla’s Children”!



I love the way our picture turned out!



We also said a quick “hello” to Rudolph :)



The workers inside Santa’s Wonderland loved our outfits and were all so sympathetic about the weather/the fact that the race was postponed.



After taking every combination of photos available inside the gift shop, we decided to try our luck on the hay ride. When we first arrived to pick up our packets, we were told that 5K participants could receive 1/2 off the price of the hayride per the Race Texas workers. We didn’t pre-purchase tickets and looking back, I’m so glad we didn’t.

You see, the entire point of this race was to run through Santa’s Wonderland Christmas light display. Me + millions of Christmas lights (think Osborne Lights level here) = a very happy Karen and my entire reason for driving 3+ hours for a 5K. Since the race was postponed, our chances of running through the lights was taken away. They also weren’t allowing anyone to drive through the display area in their personal vehicles because of the crazy rain/weather. Basically, a hayride was our only option to see the lights.



Whomp Whomp. Crazy rain. It literally felt like the Wine & Dine Half ALL over again!

As we attempted to purchase 1/2 price hayride tickets, we were told no – apparently we were given false information about runners receiving discounted tickets for the hayride. When questioned who else we could speak with, we were told “I’m it”.
Not taking no for an answer, one of the girls in our group sought out a manager on her own. Again, let me reiterate…(almost) everyone at Santa’s Wonderland was AMAZING and incredibly helpful and really helped us have a great time despite the circumstances.

We found a manager and explained our situation. Basically, this is how I felt – We drove for 3+ hours to run a 5K that we paid $60 to run. No, the rain was not Santa’s Wonderland’s fault. However, we were not able to make Sunday night’s event and deferment to next year’s event wasn’t being offered. So basically, we drove 3+ hours and paid $60 to receive a t-shirt and have the opportunity to enter few gift shops where we could spend more money on Christmas trinkets and gifts if we wanted to do so. Oh, and if we wanted to see the lights that we already paid to see, we could pay an additional fee to ride a hayride and see them.

Needless to say, the manager was super understanding and told us to stay put so he could work on solving our problem right away.



While everyone else stayed put, I ventured off in search of a cup of coffee! I loved this deal – for a set fee, I purchased a mug and received free refills of coffee all night long! Score!




Yummy treats!



Before long, we were granted four hayride tickets at no cost! We couldn’t believe it and were so grateful for the manager’s help!




One of my favorite part of the lights display was the fact that festive music was piped in throughout the whole route!



Although it rained on us the entire time, we managed to enjoy ourselves and laughed through most of the 25 minute hayride!



I could honestly say I’d never ridden a hay ride through a large Christmas lights display in the pouring rain before! It’s been added to and crossed off my bucket list all at the same time!




The lights were beautiful – I would definitely go again to see them on a non-rainy day!



Wouldn’t you know – as soon as we were finished with the hayride, it stopped raining (of course).



THIS guy is awesome! He’s the one who helped us out with the hayride situation and we stopped to thank him as soon as the hayride was over!



We enjoyed a bit of the nighttime musical entertainment and bonfire before saying goodnight.



Thanks so much, Race Texas and Santa’s Wonderland for helping us have a great time that night, despite the circumstances! I’ll definitely visit again and hope to run Santa’s Wonderland 5K (for real this time) one day soon!



Now for the fun part – week #1’s giveaway!

Like the shirts we wore for this event? Interested in a shirt of your own? Well, here’s your chance!

One lucky winner will receive:

• “He sees you when you’re running, he knows when you lift weights” – 1 dry fit shirt
• Size Medium (8-10) – although I found that it fits small (Only a size medium is available)
  

Enter through Rafflecopter below. This giveaway will run for one week’s time and will end next Sunday evening.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Merry Christmas and good luck!

Have you ever had a race cancelled or postponed due to rain?