My favorite thing about Alaska is the dress code. Jeans, sweaters, and puffy coats are standard nearly nine months of the year. Even in the “warm” summer months shorts are rarely worn by anyone with any sense. Bathing suits are reserved  for indoor lane swimming. I’ve been here 3 1/2 years and have only put on a bathing suit a handful of times – usually within the confines of a dark indoor pool. Now that we are getting ready to head to The Peach State I need to get it in gear. There is lots of bathing suit wearing in my future.

Despite regular exercise and a diet that does not consist solely of popcorn and wine, I still feel a little flabby. That’s why I was excited to hear from Maria at It Works! a body wrap company. I’ve always wanted to try a wrap – just to see what if they actually worked. Maria sent me a few wraps and some ‘Greens’ which are mixed with water or juice to detoxify my body and promote the correct PH balance. It all sounded like exactly what I needed.

The first wrap I did around my right thigh – where a couple of cartons of cottage cheese reside. I’m not telling you what my thigh measured, but I will tell you that after 45 minutes with the wrap on it measured 2 inches less. The only downside was the miserable headache that kicked in shortly after I removed the wrap. This is when I decided to read the directions. I was supposed to load up on water before, during, and after wearing the wrap. That’s my first tip, if you decide to do a wrap – read the directions.

On the second try I decided to wrap my lower back. Again, I’m not telling you what I measured (I share a lot, but I’m not sharing that much) but I will show you a photo…

Those love handles are the problem. Also, those pajama pants – but that’s another blog. This is what wrapped love handles look like…

Here’s the skinny on It Wraps! They have a strong menthol smell that bothered me a little. I wore the wrap three times, for 45 minutes each time. I drank about 24 ounces of water. I didn’t get a headache once I started drinking while I wore the wrap. The directions say you can just rub the remaining lotion into your skin after you remove the wrap. I did that, but took a shower an hour later anyway because of the menthol smell. Each time I did the wrap I measured one inch less after I removed it.

The ‘Green’ drink mix in water was gross, I couldn’t choke it down. However, mixed with 8 ounces of orange juice it tasted fine – despite its unappealing look…

According to the label this stuff is packed with herbs, nutrients, and 8 servings of vegetables. That can’t be bad, right?

While I didn’t lose as much as I had hoped, I still think they’re an excellent tool, especially if you’re in need of a quick fix. They’d be great to use before a big event that required a form-fitting dress or in the week before heading out on a beach vacation. The ‘Green’ drink would be a good supplement to a healthy diet – especially if you’re looking for a quick and healthy energy boost.

If you want to learn more about It Wraps! click on either of the links above or visit Maria’s Body Wrap Party site.

*This is a sponsored post. I was compensated and provided products in exchange for this review. However, all views are expressly my own – I wouldn’t lie to you guys!

My family causes 99% of my headaches. Some days I feel like they’ve had a secret meeting to see how crazy they can make me behave. Then when I act crazy, they make fun of me and laugh. It’s like I’m their private sideshow. I try hard not to let them get under my skin, but it rarely works. Yesterday as John was leaving for school he told me he needed to stay after for about 45 minutes and asked if I would pick him up. I agreed. An hour before school got out I texted Taryn to let her know I was picking up her brother and if she didn’t mind waiting I could pick her up too. She texted back that she would wait. I ran a couple of errands then headed toward the school. At a stop light I heard my Facebook Messenger chirp and saw a message from John that said, “I don’t have a key and I’m locked out of the house.” Followed almost immediately by one that said, “are you going to be home soon?”

Um, no jerkface. I’m on my way to pick you up. At school, where you asked me to pick you up. I just answered “yes” and went to get Taryn. When we got home I asked him why he didn’t text me to tell me he didn’t need a ride. (They don’t have internet phones, he messaged me using the wi-fi on his iPod once he was within range of our house.) He said, “Oh, I left my phone at home. Sometimes I don’t have service at school, so I stopped taking it.”

See why I have headaches all the time?

The other night I asked Jackson to pick up the plastic dinosaurs that were scattered all over the stairs. Our house is split-level, he enjoys standing against the half-wall on the upper level and throwing things onto the steps that go upstairs. He complied with my request, I was pretty amazed that he did it without complaint. Until I went down the other set of stairs to the lower lever and found this…

I guess I need to be more clear, “Please pick up the dinosaurs on the steps, carry them to your bedroom, and place them in the toy box before you make the vein in Mommy’s head pop out.”

It might seem like I’m being particularly hard on my children, but my headaches aren’t always caused by them. Sometimes my husband is to blame. He has a terrible habit of leaving his bottle caps on the counter.

I know this seems like a small thing. It shouldn’t bother me. But when you look at the bigger picture you see how truly annoying this is…

I measured and it is 4 feet from that counter to the trash can. Given that he was not actually standing on the counter it was probably the same distance for him to throw the cap away as it was to throw it on the counter. Who does that? (I realize the time and effort it took for me to shoot these photos and measure the distance is much longer than it would have taken to just throw the cap away. Neither here nor there.)

I realize there is no magic cure for family induced headaches. I just want you all to know that when I say I have a headache, it’s not because I drank too much wine.