Psst, Let's Get Real for a Moment #Sponsored

Like super real.
We're talking that time of the month ladies. Men, if you're reading, you may want to come back tomorrow.

I've always bounced back and forth between brands of products to use during that time of the month but I'm happy to say that when Kotex brought out their line of U by Kotex tampons and panty liners, I found my holy grail products.

I'll admit, at first I was drawn in by the cute packaging. I mean really, it doesn't even scream tampon at me.

As a bonus, people usually aren't grossed out by seeing it in your bag or wallet.

Speaking of wallet, I like the click tampons the best because they are compact enough to fit in my Vera Bradley wallet or in my scrub pocket at work.

Plus, since they aren't full sized, I don't have to worry as much about the tampon falling out of my pocket and landing right on the floor or even worse, in my patient's bed. (Nightmare waiting to happen) Since they are so small, they usually find themselves a corner in my scrub pocket and stay there until I'm looking for it.

And that my friends, is worth something to me. I'm not sure what, but I know I'm sticking to this brand for as long as they sell it!

And if they ever announce it's going out of production, well, I'll just have to throw on my sweats and my hair in a bun and rush out to Target to load up.

They're that amazing.
To find out more, you can like them on facebook or follow them on twitter. You can also get your own free sample by clicking here. 
I wrote this review while participating in a content series through Clever Girls Collective on behalf of U by Kotex, and received products to facilitate my post and compensation for my time to participate.
Have you ever tried U by Kotex? Did you love it?

Brain Break (There's a VIDEO!)

Disclaimer: Wendy's wanted me to go buy a sandwich, because I love Wendy's I said "Uh, duh! Let me go get my keys!" so all opinions are my own and this story is completely true. So there.
So I have big news.
I passed my boards!!
Say hello to the newest nurse in the blogging world! :) Don't worry, I have plenty of nursing themed posts still coming your way and if you'd like to see any, please let me know what you want to see!
But, I'm on another topic today.
I'm a big fan of brain breaks. My favorite during school? Driving to Wendy's and getting my favorite meal, a cheeseburger without pickles with a sour cream and chive baked potato for the side and a large coke. 
From our old house, it took me 20 minutes to drive to Wendy's on almost all highway so I had plenty of time to blast some music and unwind and then eat my favorite comfort food.
So when Wendy's asked me if I wanted to try their flatbreads and make a video about it, I jumped all over it. A free trip to Wendy's in the middle of studying for boards? Sign me up! 
Cody had tried their flatbreads when they had them out last year some time, so I knew they'd be delicious. It was hard to give up my standard comfort food but I'm glad that I tried something new!
Plus, I got to take a break from studying and stressing to stretch my creative muscles and come up with a fun video. I hope you watch it!

So you might be wondering why I made a video. Well, Wendy's is having a #6secondsflat campaign in which you can win $6,000! Pretty cool huh?
As a bonus the videos were hilarious and were also great brain breaks! If you don't want to enter yourself, you should definitely head on over and watch the entries!
Here's all the details if you're still fuzzy on specifics:
6 seconds could win you $6,000 in Wendy’s #6SecondsFlat Flatbread Sweepstakes.
Tell Wendy’s what you think about their flatbreads in a Vine or Instagram video then send it @Wendys (through twitter, Instagram or Vine) with the #6SecondsFlat tag and my custom hashtag #DoseofPaige. Each week of September, one lucky winner will be randomly selected to receive a $6000 prize.
Visit the sweepstakes landing page for more information and view the “official rules” at the bottom of the page.
Now, I'm gonna go be nursey, aka lay in bed and watch youtube videos on my day off. Holla!
It's been forever since we talked! What have you been up to?

Once Upon A Time...

There's a little known fact about me, when I was younger, I always wanted to be a teacher. As a girl, I used to force my brother to play school with me while I made up lesson plans and schedules for our summer days. I'm sure it was a thrill for him to play school on his summer break, right?
By the time I graduated high school, my dream had changed quite a bit. I wanted to be a nurse practitioner. At the time, I don't think I really knew what a nurse did.
What does a nurse do? We teach. All the time. Sure, we don't do it in the traditional classroom setting but we teach our patients and our patient's families all about disease, health and so much more.
In nursing school, inevitably, my love of teaching came out even more and I can definitely say that I want to teach clinical groups one day. I'd love to teach students in their first adult health clinical as they learn how to care for a patient.
I had two teachers in nursing school that have helped me come to this realization.

One was my own first adult health clinical instructor. Boy, was she tough! She always expected our absolute best on the floor and now that I've graduated, I realize why. She was trying to impart to us that we were saving people's lives and that we should take that seriously.
The other teacher that made me realize that I wanted to be a clinical instructor was my maternal-newborn instructor. She was the first that treated me like a nurse. She realized that we all had a year under our belt and she asked us what we thought about certain things, all while guiding us when we looked at her like we were clueless. She was one of the most nurturing women I've ever met and I'd love to follow in her footsteps and be a clinical instructor one day.
And of course, I can't forget my two amazing preceptors. One made me do all the assessments and things like that on our patients, even on days I felt unsure of myself and the other quizzed me continuously and allowed me to try procedures all on my own.
All of these women made me realize that just because I went with a new dream, being a nurse, didn't mean I had to give up what I wanted as a child and I could still be a teacher, just a different kind of teachers.
Teachers come in all shapes and sizes but they definitely shape the way we live our lives, our values and even our hopes and dreams.
That's why when I found out about this amazing documentary called TEACH I knew I had to share it with all of you. 
"TEACH, Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim’s third documentary film about education in America asks the question: What Does It Take to Be A Great Teacher Today?
Following four dedicated teachers from different schools across the country over the course of one school year, TEACH gives viewers a window into the challenges, demands and rewards of teaching, with the purpose of elevating and promoting the profession, as well as engaging new teachers and supporting current teachers.  We see that for the best teachers, it’s not just a job but a mission. 
As intense as it is emotional, this year in the life of four public-school teachers illustrates how tenacity, passion and a belief in innovation drive these educators as they navigate the daily ups and downs of the 2012-2013 school year. These educators use conventional and unconventional methods and do whatever it takes to overcome obstacles and strive for success."

I'm so excited to be partnering with Participant Media to spread the word about the importance of good teachers! Did you ever want to be a teacher? What teachers have you had that impacted your life?

Straightening Your Hair With Misikko

Disclaimer: The flat iron was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

I just wanna say that before I cut my hair, it took a lot of work to get my hair to look like this:

It was compounded by the fact that I was using possibly the worst shampoo known to man, other than head and shoulders that is.

My hair was so bad that when I got my hair cut, my stylist was begging me to never use that shampoo again. She even told me, off the record, which drugstore shampoo to buy instead of buying the salon's brand of shampoo. It was that bad.

So in the midst of my hair woes, before I cut it off, Misikko approached me and offered to help out and send me the HANA Professional Flat Iron.

I'd heard good things about Misikko flat irons and I have their hair dryer, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

My first experience with Misikko and their shipping for my hair dryer was not that great. It took over a month for me to get it so I was prepared to wait around for a while for the flat iron. 

I was pleasantly surprised! The flat iron was on my doorstep within a week, with all the goodies that comes with a Misikko product:

The flat iron is thin with one inch plates, which I like. I don't like the wider plates because then it's hard to get near the top of my head, plus, a flat iron with smaller plates can work for long or short hair.

The plates are tourmaline ceramic which helps prevent frizz, which is something my hair needed desperately with that shampoo and the flat iron itself heats up to 450 and I cranked that baby up! 

It's very easy to use and actually has grips on it to allow it to fit in your hand which I really like. It also heats up really fast. I could turn it on, wait just a minute or so and then straighten my hair!

Here are the results:

Now my hair blow dried in the before picture may not look that bad, but I promise you, it was a built up mess with tangles if I moved my head at all and it was at least two times thicker than it should have been. This flat iron was definitely put to the test on this hair and I think it did a fantastic job! 

After I switched shampoos, I can really tell how the flat iron is working to decrease frizz and make my hair look great. You can see what it does to my new, cut hair with new shampoo in my post here.

I'm definitely glad I've got the Misikko flat iron because it beats most other flat irons I've tried!

What flat iron do you use? Better yet, what shampoo do you use?

There's a Method for Everything

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post and I was provided the product mentioned for free. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own. There are a lot of things in life that you just don't really care about until you're in that situation. I could easily think of a million examples but let's focus on one. Animal safe cleaning products. Seems random right? In the past, I would have said "oh neat" and then gotten my regular brand of cleaning products. Now that I have my sweet little puppy, I pay a bit more attention to things like that.

Let's face it. I have one of the cutest and smartest dogs on the face of the planet. But, even with as smart as he is, he still likes to lick and eat random things.

So, if I use a dangerous cleaning product on my floor and he decides the floor tastes good, then he's going to lick all those harsh chemicals up.

Same way with my hands. I don't want to use a nasty chemical-y product on my hands because Exo's mouth is around my hands alot, whether it's to grab a treat or because he thinks there might be food on them so he licks them.

I had seen Method in the store, especially at Target, before and always thought they had nice bottles but I hadn't ever really paid much attention. When they contacted me about trying out some of their products, when I read that they were animal friendly, I knew it would be a great fit!

They sent me two handsoaps to try. When I got my package, I was in love as soon as I opened it.

At the very top was an info card about Method Products and under that was a sheet of stickers! I love the stickers. They are adorable and say things like "I like big mutts and I cannot lie" and "Wag what you have."

After I took those out of the box, the prettiest handsoaps I've ever seen were resting on a bed of packing.

They sent me two scents: botanical garden and mimosa sun. We're using the botanical garden in our kitchen right now and I love it!

If I were you, I'd definitely put Method on my list of products to try out and the best part? If you buy your method products at soap.com you can save 20% using the code PAWPRINT if you are a first time soap.com customer.

It's definitely a great deal for some amazingly pretty and SAFE product for your pets! Not only is method never test on animals and animal friendly, they also use no animal by product in any of their products.

To further support the cause for prevention of animal cruelty, Method and Soap[dot]com are teaming up to donate 15% of Method product sales on Soap[dot]com in June to the ASPCA®, whose mission is to prevent animal cruelty to animals all over the US!

So essentially, YOU save 20% and then 15% of the sale is donated! Win win!

They are also running a photo contest right now! If you think you have the cutest pet in the world, read below to find out how to enter to win some awesome prizes!

Step 1: Take a photo of your adorable pet. 
Step 2: Choose how you want to enter the contest: Facebook or Instagram –
Facebook: Find the ‘pet photo contest’ tab on Method’s Facebook page and follow the instructions on the tab for uploading your photo.
Instagram: Post your pet’s photo to your Instagram account using the hashtag #methodcutepets. You must also follow @methodhome in order to be eligible to win. 

The contest will begin on June 11 and end June 30. Method will select one winner each week to receive the two “designed for good” soaps and a $50 gift card to Soap[dot]com. NOTE: Only residents of the US and Canada (excluding Quebec) are eligible to win.

If you are viewing this post on a cell phone, you can use this link for a mobile friendly version of the contest rules and how to enter!

Have you ever tried Method Products?

Would you now that you know they are animal cruelty free?

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post and I was provided the product mentioned for free. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Have you met this amazing blogger?

Brangelina are on the cover again...

Of PEOPLE Magazine that is.  After the issue on the 16th, the sexiest man alive issue you may remember me talking about here, I was upset. I mean sure, Channing is hot, but sexiest man alive...oh no. Not even close. 
PEOPLE magazine has picked some other faves in the past so I didn't write them off. And then I saw Brad on the cover, talking about Angelina and *gasp* their wedding.

Honey boo boo child, I grabbed that issue and a hershey bar and brought it home as fast as I could and then plopped it down, right on top of all my study materials for finals. #oops It was a great break from studying though. Seriously, if I have to read about this stuff anymore, my brain might explode. 

And then he didn't even admit that they were going to get married. He just said that it meant something to their kids. Come on Brad, you left the lovely Jennifer Aniston for Angelina and I expect a wedding, dammit!
Another plus in this issue? The timeline of brads... The only one I find sexy is 2004 Brad. What about you?

Another thing I loved was that there were some holiday giftguides sprinkled throughout this issue! And they featured some of my favorite ladies, Kristen Bell and Hayden Panettiere

And of course, how could you not love the magazine that features Harem pants? Since when is it a guy thing? Beibs, just stop now. Go home and change. Right now.

What do you read when you're ready to relax and sit back for a moment?

And the most important question,

what is up with harem pants?

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media

Group™, but all my opinions are my own http://cmp.ly/3/KqtZiE.

Have you met this amazing blogger?

Sexiest Man Alive

Let's talk about something that we, as women, all love.

Sexy men.

That's right.

And where can you see sexy men? In PEOPLE magazine.

Every year, PEOPLE magazine releases a PEOPLE Magazine’s Annual Sexiest Man Alive issue where they basically tell you who they think the sexiest man alive is. For, me, they've been pretty dead on. Check out these past issues:

Seriously, Bradley Cooper? I've loved him since before it was cool. Then just toss on Johnny Depp, who everyone knows is super sexy. To make it even better, let's just sprinkle on some Hugh Jackman.

Yay eye candy!

This year, the PEOPLE Magazine’s Annual Sexiest Man Alive issue is coming out on November 16, 2012. So, throw on some yoga pants, put that hair in a bun, and mosey on down to Kroger (I'll to get to why in a second) and buy yourself some eye candy. 

Who do you think it will be this year? And because we all know that us Americans are into voting lately, who would you vote for, if you could?

Other than the PEOPLE Magazine’s Annual Sexiest Man Alive issue, they also release other issues throughout the year. When do I read PEOPLE magazine? In the check out line at the grocery store. 

Seriously. I'm that girl.

I secretly love when we get a long line (unless I'm exhausted already) and we can load up the conveyor belt and I can grab that PEOPLE magazine and flip through it to find all the celebrity gossip. You know Cody is just thrilled when I then toss it on the conveyor belt because I found an article I just need to read later. 

I think that we all have enough seriousness in our lives, so why not read about celebrities and their gossip and drama. It's always so much better when it's not our own. 

Now, back to why I mentioned Kroger earlier. It's your lucky day! I'm giving my readers a $20 Kroger gift card, so enter! Then win and get your butt down to Kroger to buy some eye candy and maybe some actual candy!

Giveaway is closed

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™, but all my opinions are my own http://cmp.ly/3/KqtZiE.”

Have you met this amazing blogger?