John, My sister is really into spinning and recently became an instructor so I was browsing online to find resources to help her out in developing her mixes. Unfortunately I wasn't able to read all of your content because I'm not a paying member but from what I saw in the blog previews it looks pretty solid so I've forwarded my find on to her. What I really wanted to share with you was a song that you can use for your next mix. Full disclosure – this is my band's song – but I really think it'll fit for your spinning classes. Just take a quick listen and feel free to ignore if you don't think it's a match: https://soundcloud.com/almost-legendary/tonight-becomes-tomorrow Thanks for at least reading this far and keep up the excellent work on the site. Cheers, Brian
Almost Legendary's song is great! John and I used it in our New Year's Day 90 minute ride and our group loved it. At 73 rpm's and 3:41 it's a great climb. I inserted it in our profile after we assessed P2 and P1. We climbed in between these two thresholds.
I asked Brian more about Almost Legendary. The band was formed in 2009 in Atlanta Georgia. Brian is the only one in the band that rides and his sister is a Spinning instructor in London :). To learn more about the band, please visit their website: http://www.almostlegendarymusic.com/.
Here's the free download of Tonight Becomes Tomorrow:
I think they sound a bit like Fall Out Boy. What do you think?
Usually PRO/STYLE pops up on Wednesdays, but I wanted to get this to you early so you can take advantage of the great deals out in retail land for your New Year's Eve festivities.
I did a little shopping for you today, hoping that either:
-You received a bit of money as a present over the holidays, or
-You made a couple returns and now have a little money burning a hole in your pocket!
Either way, at holiday time, cosmetic manufacturers have gift sets that are always a great deal. The only better deal is after the holidays, when a few manufacturers discount them even further :).
Too Faced, Bare Minerals, Smash Box and Lorac are the specific discounted gift sets I looked for today and saw in stock at Ulta Cosmetics. Nordstrom (my focus store for the last six months) blew out of the Bare Minerals and Smash Box gift sets- so it's pretty great that Ulta still has some at the further discounted price!
Here are a few I especially liked this season and thought you might too:
Too Faced ‘All I Want For Christmas': Pre-Christmas $45 now $36. Lip cream, full sized shadow insurance, blush, eye-shadow trio compact, eyeliner, mascara.
Secret Radiance All-Over Face Color (golden candlelit sheen) 0.03 oz
Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Rebel (pink mauve) 0.15 oz
Round the Clock Waterproof Eyeliner in Midnight (blackout) 0.04 oz
Flawless Definition Volumizing Mascara in Black 0.33 oz
Double-Ended Tapered Blush & Shadow Brush
Smashbox ‘Wondervision' sets:
Eyes: Pre-Christmas $32 now $24. Each set has 6 gorgeous eye shadows a full sized liner and full sized mascara. Three color sets to choose from. These are GONE at Nordstrom!
Lips: Pre-Christmas $24 now $19. 5 full sized glosses. Gone as well at Nordies.
Are you thinking about trying out red lips for the new year? No need to spend a lot of money! NYX has great lipstick for $3.99 and right now, it's buy one, get one 50% off at Ulta. I'm wearing NYX Chaos tomorrow night and I bought Blush for 50% off (I just couldn't go without buying that second one…they got me!)
Happy New Year! Thanks for a great 2013 and here's to a fabulous 2014.
Let me know what you bought for yourself 🙂 and please feel free to contact me:amyjo@groupfitnessradio.com. I'd love to hear from you.
*I receive no compensation for writing PRO/STYLE. If I do, I'll let you know
We started watching “The Voice” because a friend of our daughter's got a ‘4 chair turn' in the auditions. (She didn't make it to the live shows). We continued watching “The Voice” because the talent was amazing.
The three finalists were all very different. My personal favorite, and the ultimate winner announced last night, is Tessanne Chin. Tessanne is from Jamaica. Jamaica is so loyal and devoted to their competitors. While John and I were there last week, we heard Tessanne's songs played over and over as the country cheered her on. We fell in love with her song ‘Hideaway' from the 2007 Reggae Gold album. Don't be fooled by the soft start and 86 bpm reggae jam, because this 5:00 flat road song really breaks out at 3:00. I'll be using this in the middle of my class as a break away flat.
She was a powerhouse then and is unstoppable now! Look for great things from Tessanne Chin.
Do you have a big day coming up? The kind of day you need your “A” game for.?
I like to call these game days. And a good rule of thumb to follow for game days is: Don't pull out a new play.
What I mean is, it's prudent to be your very best self on these days, without trying something new. Here's an example: I consult many brides regarding make up for their wedding. More often than not, they request false eyelashes for their wedding day. My very first question is, “Have you worn false eyelashes before?” and 99% of the time the answer is no. My advice to them is, wear false eyelashes at least 6 times before the wedding to see if they are something you can tolerate. False eyelashes are heavy, come un-glued easily, and the glue often causes an allergic reaction in the sensitive eye crowd. Can you imagine this happening throughout the wedding and in the pictures? It would ruin a very special day!
Job interview day? Not the best time to test out “I'm Not A Waitress Red” lipstick, or even nail polish, if you've never worn it before. You'll spend the entire interview worrying about lipstick on your teeth or in the corners of your mouth, rather than about the dreaded, “Tell me about your biggest weakness” question. You'll also be focused on how fabulous your nails look, instead of how fabulous the job sounds (or doesn't!) Also, a personal experience note here- test run new shoes prior to your game day. I had a great new pair of Calvin Klein pumps and wore them for the first time to a job interview that happened to be at a very funky cement floored office. As we were touring the office, they squeaked with EVERY step. Awkward! I finally acknowledged the squeaking elephant in the room and we went on, but I could have avoided the situation had I worn the pumps a bit first! Lesson learned, and no, I didn't get the job.
Wear make up and clothes you're completely comfortable with. If you feel like updating is in order, do it ahead of time and get comfortable with everything prior to game day.
Video taping for a review / photo shoot / demo, etc? If you're choosing your own clothes, and doing your own make up, be yourself. Make up is needed with camera lights, but usually not as much as you think. Take your natural lip shade and deepen it naturally (think mauve) two to three shades- without gloss. Save gloss and sparkle for non-camera events. Accentuate your eyes with some liner and remember to fill in your brows.
Test-run your clothes!!!! Bend over in front of a mirror and do everything you'll be doing in front of the camera. Is everything comfortable and can you move freely without concern? Are your revealing more than your gregarious teaching personality? Check out the rear view as well. I'll always remember the “Refrigerator repairman” view I got throughout one ENTIRE cycling class, as the instructor's tights were riding low and her top was riding high.
Have a great game everyone. Go and win it!
We'd love to hear your past game day / new play stories, or if you have questions, you can reach me: amyjo@groupfitnessradio.com
*I receive no compensation for writing PRO/STYLE. If I do in the future, I will happily let you know.
All the credit goes to John for finding this great tune. Although he gets to use it at the club (where we have many of the same people taking our classes), it's definitely going in my playlist for Jamaica- we'll be teaching cycle classes at the new Jewel Paradise Cove in Runaway Bay next week. At 4:45 and 68 rpm's, it makes a great climb with interesting ebbs and flows.
She looks a bit like Amy Winehouse (RIP), but her sound is more raw. We hope you enjoy Belgian born, soul/ funk fusion singer-songwriter Selah Sue and ‘This World ‘:
John received this e mail last week:
Usually PRO/STYLE pops up on Wednesdays, but I wanted to get this to you early so you can take advantage of the great deals out in retail land for your New Year's Eve festivities.