Happy lungs, happy life

Living in a 700 square foot apartment with two adults and a Pomeranian can sometimes feel congested. Literally and figuratively.

Our dog sheds invisible hairs that gets stuck on your eyeballs. I freak and run to the closest mirror thinking it’s just an eyelash, but I’m oh-so brought to reality when I can’t see an eyelash laying on my eyeball. So I’m rooting around for these darn pomeranian nearly invisible hairs! I’m sure some pet-owners can relate.

Thankfully he’s a cutie…alfie-side-onTwinsies! He told me he wanted to look like me, so I dressed to match, with his little red Canada Pooch jacket.

Let me tell you something, there needs to be a bit of circulation in the indoor air for everyone’s lungs. No one wants to breathe in stale air in the winter, so that’s where air filters come in handy. I never really thought about getting one until the Boyfriend explained its benefits. Air filters help reduce allergies like rag weed and pet dander, dust and even bacteria that cause colds. That boy is an encyclopedia that I will never try to understand. How does he store so much information in his brain?

It’s difficult to get a bit of fresh air during the winter months in the apartment, especially since it’s so bitter cold outside, and there’s no way I will open a window open a crack. Some days I’m wrapped up in a scarf. Indoors! I’m cold-blooded.Bionaire-Allergen-RemoverWe have a few air filters in our place. We purchased quite a large one in the “movie room”, and recently received a Bionaire® Allergen Remover Mini Tower Air Purifier (available at Wal-Mart; MSRP $99.99) that has true HEPA filtration. HEPA basically means it’s a very fine filter.  Switching-on-the-Bionaire-AIt has three speed settings and a digital timer.

It also has an optional ionizer, which helps assist in particle removal. When you turn that on, though, you can smell it. It’s weird.  I’m not sure if it’s the case for this one or not, but I’ve heard some ionizing air filters can give off small amounts of ozone that you can smell.air-filter-on-my-dresserWe have the filter in our bedroom, and though it’s recommended for small size rooms (up to 80 square feet), our room is quite large at about 150 square feet. I don’t leave it running during the night since we like it really quiet when we sleep. It’s not that the filter is loud, but it is noticeable.

To be honest, it’s hard to review an air filter. I have no idea if the thing is working or not (we aren’t trying to filter cigarette smoke or strong smells), but it gives me peace of mind knowing we have two running in the house, cleaning our air for the two of us and Alfie,  who’s home all day long. Plus, with me having (exercise induced) asthma, I’m sure my lungs appreciate a little fresh air during the winter. Happy lungs happy life, you know.Bionaire-Air-FilterYou’ll notice the two extra air filters shown in the above photo. This is the first air purifier filter that is customizable. They have filters specifically for cold and flu season, for total air wellness, for odor control and for allergy suffers. It has all kinds of neat tricks!  I’ll get a better idea of the good it is doing when I change the filter and see everything it has picked up in a couple of month’s time.

I received the Bionaire® Allergen Remover  Mini Tower Air Purifier in exchange for a blog post. All opinions are my own.

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Golden Globes nails

I’m a little late on the Golden Globes blog post, but that’s because I don’t have cable TV and I missed out on it. That didn’t stop me from tuning in. Social media works its wonders and by the end of the night I knew who was stylish, who was wearing rugs, and who looked orange. The next morning I woke up and knew exactly who to google-image.

What isn’t really documented much, is the painted nails that are styled with the dresses and expensive accessories that the actresses wear. I don’t doubt that a lot of the stylists use expensive products but what kind of nail polish are they wearing? Who knows, right? Unless people like Jessica Alba were instagramming while they were getting ready, we’d never know!

JessicaAlbaInstagramBy the way, Jessica Alba did instagram that photo.

As for the Golden Globes, manicurists turned to Sally Hansen to create some of the nail looks for the red carpet for Adele and Jennifer Lawerence!

AdeleAdele’s nail look was created using both Sally Hansen colors in ‘So Much Fawn’, with two ‘Copper Penny’ layered on top.  The top coat was finished off with an exclusive just for the Golden Globes. It had gold in it to help enhance the color in Copper Penny. Crazy hey? Wonder if that last coat is available in stores.

Jennifer LawrenceJennifer Lawrence, wore Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Sheer Ecstasy. Lawrence’s nails were shaped “sqound” giving both a square and round look. Betcha never heard that term before! Knew to me, too. Sqound…I like that.

This color reminds me a lot of my favorite nail polish of all time; Pink Slip by Sally Hansen.

Sally-Hansen-Pink-SlipI picked up a bottle of it in Target when I went to California two summer’s ago. It’s still my favorite polish color. I found out about it at the hair salon I used to go to. I asked the receptionist if her nails were acrylics or shellac but it wasn’t. It was good ol’ Sally.

What is your favorite nail polish color?
For my fingernails, I’ve already answered but for my toes I love China Glaze’s Flip Flop Fantasy for summer, and OPI An Affair In Red Square for Christmas.

Not a sponsored post!
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OOTWW & TFF #14

It’s going to take me years to get used to this new camera of mine. YEARS.

The OOTWW still looks the same as it did last week. I got fed up fiddling with the white balance, and the flash intensity that I just said screw it, for now.

ootwwAs for the weekly Triple F Friday feature I’ve submitted Fun, Fit and/or Fashionable people to be on my blog! Check them out :)

Morgan, always hilarious with her blog posts. She doesn’t update as often any more but when she does — I wait until I have a quiet moment to myself to thoroughly read her posts. Not a post goes by that I don’t crack a smile, or even let out an embarrassingly loud “HA HA”. Tuesday she wrote why she doesn’t make new years resolutions.

Sarah, a fellow FitFluential blogger teaches us how to “un-sick” yourself with her home remedy.

Josephine, another FitFluential ambassador has a great post up this week: “Don’t be that runner

Clare is making the most of long distance relationships. A cool gift she got the BF to keep it exciting! (Side note: The Boyf and I did long distance for a full year before I moved here to Ontario.)

Submit yourself to my weekly Fun, Fit, Fashionable posts. You can certainly submit your own, next week. Just shoot me an e-mail to spiffykerms@gmail.com. Just include any of the following:

  • Your name
  • Your URL, if you have a blog
  • Description of you being Fun, Fit or Fashionable
  • A photo, which is optional of course
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