Botox at Arkansas Family Dental

This blog post is sponsored by Arkansas Family Dental. The services mentioned in this post were comped as part of this partnership. 

Well, I went and finally did it... I got Botox! So here's the story: 

A few weeks ago I heard about Arkansas Family Dental in Little Rock offering Botox and my first question was, "Is it safe to get Botox from a dentist?" Being my first time and all, I wanted to make sure that I knew all of the facts before making the decision. The answer is, Yes, it is safe to receive Botox from a dentist. If you think about it, a good dentist like the ones at Arkansas Family Dental really understand facial muscles. 

Once I had the facts behind me that it was safe, I felt comfortable moving forward. 

Now, if you've known me long enough, then you know how I believe in high-quality skincare, and I believe that has what has kept me from hitting the Botox needle before now. Could I have waited a couple of more years? Sure, but I believe in prevention with any good regime, and even Botox at a young age (I'm 31) can be considered prevention. There were a few fine lines that were forming on the top of my forehead, not terribly noticeable but enough for me to look at them in the mirror for longer than one should. 

So here is a closer image that I took the afternoon before I went to Arkansas Family Dental for Botox. I am not wearing any makeup (except leftover mascara), and there is no filter. This is my naked as can be forehead. Now, you can better see the fine lines that I mentioned, again, not severe, but something I wanted to get taken care of sooner rather than later. 

Actually getting the Botox part is pretty easy, though it may sting for a second or two. I received nine units of Botox. Again, I wanted prevention and to be able to move my forehead still. As an expressive person, I'm not sure how it would work if I couldn't move my face at all. 

I always believe in being transparent and honest with anyone who reads my blog, and the truth is after Botox you will have a few red bumps where you received the injections. These don't last very long, they were gone within less than an hour. There was no after pain, my forehead was not sore in any way. The only side effect was that I had a bit of a headache, but that might or might not have been from the Botox. It takes about 7-10 days to see the full effect. 

So what is the end result?? 

It's remarkable! It's enough to make a difference, but still be able to move my face! Really the best of both worlds if you ask me. The staff at Arkansas Family Dental told me that Botox will last between 3-4 months and that you will be able to feel/tell when it starts to fade. There are no side effects to your muscles once the Botox does wear off, as in your muscles will go back to normal (as will your wrinkles). 

Click here to learn more about what you need to know before getting Botox.

So, that's it! It was easy, quick and pretty pain-free. Obviously, there are multiple areas you can receive Botox on your face, but I just wanted to start out with something simple to see how I liked it before doing more. 

What do you think? 

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Viva La France: Last Day in Nice

It was our last day in Nice, so we had to do a few last, favorite things. The whole group met for lunch together at 'Le Cocodile'. I had some sort of cute salmon slider and beef carpaccio. I have a thing for raw meat at this restaurant. It was a bittersweet lunch knowing that we were going home soon, but also knowing that we would be leaving Nice. 

The guys went to a beach club to hang out for the day and Amy and I went shopping. I will say, it was SO hot, and I was so tired that I almost passed out in H&M. I had to find the boyfriend chair to sit while Amy got a pair of pants. After a bit of shopping, we grabbed some incredibly big waters and I immediately felt better. 

Luckily, we were close by the I LOVE NICE sign and stopped for a bit of a photoshoot.

This is the view from the I LOVE NICE sign. You can see the beaches of Nice, lots of people watching and the beautiful water. It really was as beautiful as it is in the photo. So clear you can see fish!

We decided we need a bit of a break on the walk back and found a cute bar at the top of a building to have a glass of rosè. Once we felt refreshed, we headed back to our favorite bar in Nice, Le Truc. Before that though, we did stop at a pharmacy to get a few beauty products that are cheaper in France.

When we made it back to Le Truc, the guys had already beaten us to the bar. (Shocker.) Rich and I had one last cheese board, and I tried to savor the truffle cheese with every bite. Nice was so beautiful and so lovely, with the best cheese that I don't think I'll ever forget this trip. 

After a few hours at Le Truc, we headed back to our Airbnb to grab our suitcases, headed to the airport and flew back from Nice to Paris. We had a hotel booked close to the airport and the next morning flew back from Paris to the United States. 

Flying back on Condor was just as wonderful as flying to Paris. Those little pillows in the seats really make all the difference when you're in the plane for 8-10 hours. 

It's time travel the weirdest thing? You know that you're getting on the plane at like two in the afternoon, but then you arrive back in the United States at like 6 p.m. in the evening. It's so strange to me how that works. 

This is what it looks like when you're excited about getting home soon. Again, really bittersweet because I would have loved to spend more time in France, but I was also ready to sleep in my own bed. 

I did love the little gifts from Condor. They had this yellow case filled with a mini toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, eye mask, and earplugs. The eye mask came in handy on the flight because I knew I had to get sleep since we were driving from New Orleans back to Little Rock. Rich had to work on Thursday and had law school class Thursday night. 

Luckily, I didn't have to work the next day so I could drive more than others. 

The Condor flight had delicious food, once again. They even had the cutest salt and pepper shaker that I have ever seen. I watched the movie Moana, and I can see where it's inspiring to young girls. I enjoy these new Disney movies where the strong leads are women! 

The drive from New Orleans to Little Rock was ROUGH leaving at 7 p.m. We all took turns driving. First me, then Rich, then Bobby, then back to me. Luckily during Bobby's shift and my last shift, Amy was awake and able to play podcasts to keep everyone awake (Except Rich and Marcus who slept back the last four hours...) We got back to Little Rock around 3 a.m.! 

The next morning I got up (or like 11 a.m.), the first things I had to unpack were all of my finds! I love looking at my souvenirs back from trips. (Don't worry the copper pot made it back too!) 

So, that's our trip. It was fun, exhausting, memorable, life-changing, romantic, chaotic, amazing, and the best thing ever all wrapped up in one. Thanks for reading along this journey. Now, back to the regular blog post! 

Missed any of my posts from Viva La France? 
Catch up here: 

Click here for Paris Day 1

Click here for Paris Day 2

Click here for Paris Day 3
Click here for Nice Day 1
Click here for our Day trip to Monaco
Click here for Nice Day 3

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Viva La France: Nice

Part of our France trip was to visit Paris for a few days, then headed off to Nice for a few days as well! Since I had never been to the South of France, I was excited that we had booked the train from Paris to Nice.

 

I think I am a train person. I'm not much into flying because it gives me anxiety (even though I almost quit college at 19 to become a flight attendant). On a train, you can pack as much as you want, you can get up and walk around, you can carry on your own food, and there are no scary landings. 

AND... 

AND... you can even have a picnic on the train! What I have shown you here is what I am calling a French hot dog. It's a baguette, salami, and cheese. 

We all really enjoyed our train ride! Amy and I sat on one side of the train (heading towards Nice) and Rich and Bobby sat on the other side. I get major car/train/plane sick if I'm sitting on the wrong side and going backward. Though, I did pick up those motion sickness wrist bands from Walgreens and wore them a few times on the trip and never felt queazy! 

It's about 5 1/2 hours from Paris to Nice on the train. There are beautiful country sides to look at, beautiful ocean views, and a bar cart to get wine or snacks. It's really where I excel the best in terms of travel. 

After we arrived in Nice, we got an Uber to our Airbnb and had an AMAZING view! 

We had a balcony overlooking the water which was perfect! I really love a good balcony and a good view. Living in Arkansas, I can have terrible allergies and my allergies never bothered me once in France... maybe I should just live in France a few months of the year?

By this time it was dinner time and we were all a bit hungry. Don't worry though, I had already looked up several restaurants and found one in close walking distance to our Airbnb. 

We went to Auberge Saint Antoine where we had delicious pizza, salad, and gelato. It was such an easy dinner after an easy afternoon train ride. After our dinner, we walked by a market store to pick up some wine before some of us headed back to the Airbnb. 

Rich, Amy and I decided to go put our feet in the water to say we had been on the beach of the South of France. 

This is what being happy, full and tired all looks like at once. We only hung out for a bit before going back to our balcony to enjoy a little bit more of the evening. 

Saturday morning when we got up everyone split up a bit. Some went to go have a beach day, while Rich and I decided to go explore Old Town in Nice. 

Of course, before you can go explore anything in France I believe it's important to be well hydrated. We found a really delicious restaurant called, 'Le Cocodile'. It was on our way from our Airbnb to Old Town. 

Now, I ordered the steak tartare which is basically raw meat. Yes, to some this might be disgusting, but personally, I like it. When I ordered it, our waiter asked me, "Do you know what this is? This is raw meat." To which I replied, "Yes, I do. I like it." So he told me that he would make it special for me. 

I wasn't sure what special was until he brought it out... he meant he was going to shape it into a heart for me. So I had a big slab of raw meat shaped into a heart for me in France. It's really the little things in life that I appreciate the most, you know? 

Because it was Saturday in Old Town, it was the market day. There were tons and tons of booths with people selling lots of fun and interesting things. Rich really isn't the shopper type, but both of us enjoyed walking and seeing what the town had to offer.

I will say that the weather in Paris in August was really nice, but the weather in Nice was HOT. I mean, sweating from all of my body parts HOT. At one point we had to stop at a cafe so we could both get a little more hydrated. I remember I had a Coca-Cola at the cafe and it was the BEST tasting soda I have ever had in my entire life at that moment. 

Once we had a mini-break, we walked through the little streets of Old Town some more. Every street is full of shops, restaurants and so many cool things. We walked by one store that was just full of jelly beans but the store was Pirate themed. Another store was a cell phone case store but had animal statues in it. There was plenty to see and plenty to eat. 

After a few hours, we decided to head back to our Airbnb. Our plan was to go pick up cheese, meats, and wine and go have a picnic on the balcony of the Airbnb and just relax. It had been a long few days, and there were still a few days in front of us, we were just going to take it easy the rest of the evening. 

We were walking back when we passed by this fun man with a crown of horses. I have no idea what this man represents or what he is for (If I was that worried I could just Google it) but a family was taking a photo in front of it, so I offered to take it for them so that everyone could be in the picture. The nice family then offered to take our photo, which I appreciated because how many photos in life will you have in front of a naked man with a horse crown?

We had talked about finding some sort of cheese tour in Nice, but honestly, none of them were worth the money. So instead, I did my research and found a delicious cheese store where we could get a TON of cheese for around $20. 

So we went to Fromagerie du Carre d'Or where they do speak enough English to help you find the right cheeses. And they helped us pick out some of the most delicious cheese I have ever tried. What were they? No idea anymore, and I didn't take any photos of them, but I have the memories.

We had the cheese, we went and grabbed some prosciutto and salami from a local market and were headed to the Airbnb when we stumbled upon a bar called Le Truc. 

We were hot, we were tired and we were thirsty. We had just spent 30 minutes finding cheese and meats and were still a half mile away from the Airbnb. It just seemed like the right thing to do to stop at this bar for a glass of wine or several and cool off. 

Again. It was very hot outside. I already knew that I had some sort of sunburn so I was really protecting myself from more sun damage by having a glass of rosé. 

We also ordered a charcuterie board because why not? Yes, we had spent 30 minutes to make our own, but this one was already made and I needed a snack. Also, we were in France, why was I going to worry about a few calories? 

There was a peppery salami, a truffle cheese, some sort of black pepper cheese, and chorizo. There was also some fresh bread. We liked this place so much that we returned twice more during our trip. We hung out here for a long time actually. So long that the rest of the group came to meet up with us. Now, at this point, I was sunburned, exhausted and had had enough wine for me. So Rich and I left to go back to the Airbnb and the rest of the group went to get dinner. 

After a little rest and a shower, Rich and I did have our own picnic with the cheese and meats that we bought. So on this day, I ate raw meat, French fries, and a lot, a lot, a lot of cheese. 

Isn't vacation where you live your best life?? After we ate our own, let's call it dinner, it was time for bed for me. We were getting up the next day to go to Monaco so I wanted to feel 100%! 

Stay tuned - our day trip to Monaco is next on the blog! 

Missed any of our posts from Paris? Catch up here: 

Click here for Paris Day 1

Click here for Paris Day 2

Click here for Paris Day 3

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Vive La France: Traveling in Paris Day 3

We're on to day three in Paris! If you're not caught up, check out day one here and day two here. 

After a full day of the Catacombs, the cooking class and walking around 20,000 steps, I was ready for a 'relaxing' third day. And it would have been pretty easy if I didn't wake up with a fire in my belly to go buy a copper pot from the same store that Julia Child bought her copper pots. 

I got up early, got dressed and was about to go by myself when Rich decided to go with me. If you know me, when I am ready to go somewhere then I am ready to go RIGHT THEN. E. Dehillerin has been around for 200 hundred years, and that's how long it felt it took us to get there. 

After I was super antsy, we finally made it! This store was incredible, it's like the original Ikea. Everything they have is out on the shelf to look at, but if you want to know a price, you have to go look it up in a book. The store can be a bit of a workout though going from item to book from item to book. It's not like it stopped me at all from shopping, just slowed me down every so slightly. 

As someone who loves to cook, it was fun to be in such an iconic culinary shop. So, of course, I had to buy something or a lot of the things. All the things. I *wanted* to buy all the things. I did contain myself since I had to carry whatever I bought back to the states with me. 

That didn't stop me from buying the most beautiful copper pot I've ever seen. I had to buy one that 1) was a decent size to use 2) wasn't going to totally kill my budget. I think it was around $170 in the end, but it's heavy, it's nice, and as long as I take care of it then it will last a long time. 

Also, it's my money and I will spend it on the things that please me... like copper pots. 

After I left the store (Rich was across the street at a coffee shop), we headed to meet up with our friends for lunch... then we were headed to the Arc de Triomphe!

Travel tip: When we went to the Catacombs on our second day, we bought passes that let us in the Catacombs ahead of the line and then also gave us access to the Arc de Triomphe. If we hadn't bought these tickets, we would have been in line for the Catacombs for around two hours. So we got these tickets from Headout.  They were WORTH it! And, if you want, you can use my code MAEGAIQ on Headout and save $10!

To be honest, I wasn't really sure about the Arc de Triomphe... like I knew we were supposed to go there to do the touristy thing, but I wasn't 100% sold on it. I went along because it everyone else seemed excited about it so maybe I was missing something. Everyone was right, and I was wrong because it was really cool! 

There are just miles and miles of pretty views and to see how Paris is laid out around the Arc de Triomphe is really cool. I will say, it felt like we had to walk up about 300 steps to get to the top. My legs were BURNING. I was so tired that I had to give Rich my copper pot to carry, and Marcus my purse because I was feeling like I was about to pass out. 

Also, it didn't help that I was just overall tired from the trip at that point from not having the best sleep. It was SO WORTH the almost pass out moment! 

We hung out at the top for a bit, I really think they are missing an opportunity to sell water because I could have drunk a gallon of it after getting to the top. 

After we hung out, Rich and I were going to go back to our Airbnb to drop off my copper pot that felt like it weighed about 100 pounds, but we didn't have time because... we had to go on a champagne tour of the Seine River! 

This. Was. Me. Living. My. Best. LIFE.

Rich didn't even think he liked champagne that much, but, not to my surprise, that really seems to change during this excursion. 

Just a casual Thursday drinking champagne on the Seine River... 

Clearly, I had to take this photo even if it's the most basic photo to take. 

Look at this fun, loving group having the best time ever. If you notice, the sky was a bit dark while we were visiting the Arc de Triomphe but as soon as we sat foot on the boat, the sky cleared up and we had beautiful weather! 

All of my favorite things in one photo! This is one of my favorite moments on the trip! 

We tried three different champagnes on the tour, but I only took photos of two... I do not know why I forgot the third? Maybe because I didn't like it? These two were BOTH delicious. As someone who loves champagne, I loved learning all of the fun things about it. We went over how it was made, the types of grapes, the region of France, lots of fun details. 

They even made these cheesy photos for us when we got on the boat, none of us bought one, but I had to take a photo of one because the heart is coming out of Rich's head. He told me that he hates when people say, 'My heart is so full!' on social media and I think this is his karma. A FULL HEART on top of his head! 

AS SOON as we got off the boat (it was so sad to leave) the sky became dark and as soon as we stepped into the Uber it began to rain. The weather luck was on our side! 

Researching restaurants is one of my favorite things to do when in a new city, I will spend two hours just to find the perfect restaurant. After our champagne tour, I had found this place called, "Le Centre du Monde." It really felt like the right place because it had a great fixed menu with all of the French food that I had been wanting to have while in Paris... 

For starters, I had the French onion soup that I basically had to pick up the bowl to get every last drop. I LOVE soup, and this was perfect on a rainy night in Paris. It was also so, so good. French onion is one of my favorites and this made me really want to come home and make it more often. 

Secondly, it was time for the beef bourguignon! Now, chunks of meat do not photo well in dim light, and I understand that this photo is a little disgusting looking, but it was also DELICIOUS. I've never made it before, but I would like to make the Julia Child version. 

(A bit Julia Child obsessed right now.) 

Dessert was a chocolate mousse. I bet you can guess how it tasted... DELICIOUS. 

Though I am not that great at making desserts, I certainly should practice. Also, because we walked over 10,000 steps every day, sometimes closer to 15,000 or 20,000, I did not gain one pound this entire trip. 

After dinner, we were going to go to a fun bar, but once we got there it was so hot that we couldn't stay. We headed back to our Airbnb and hung out on the rooftop and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle. Even walking around how beautiful views day and night. 

Friday morning Rich and I got up to go find a post office to send my mom a postcard. Of course, we had to start out getting Rich an espresso first because he became a bit addicted. Then we walked around cluelessly until I found a postcard and then a post office. It was not an easy task. My mom may never get another postcard again from me after that debacle. After that, we went back to the Airbnb, grabbed our bags and were headed to the train station so we could hop on a train to head to Nice! 

Next up, our adventures in Nice and Monaco! 

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