nike – Page 2 – A Double Dose

The Softest Grey Hoodie You Need

March 9, 2017

Happy Thursday! Hope you all are having a great week! We have almost made it to Friday. Do you all have any fun plans this weekend?! We just got back into Dallas from El Paso (where our parents still live). We spent the week there, and if we are being honest, we worked the entire time #workaholics. What can we say, we are very passionate about what we do, haha. We had a great time, though! Always nice to be with family!

You all may have seen this hoodie quite a bit on our instagrams. It is seriously SO soft. We want to live in it. What we love about it is, yes, of course, it is grey, but also, you can wear it with workout clothes and stuff like jeans and shorts. It is a great casual layering piece, AND it has pockets and a hood, what else can you ask for?
These tennis shoes are another item we wear ALL of the time. They are super light, aka great for packing for vacations, and they look good with jeans and shorts as well. These are the ones we are wearing, and then these are the newer ones with black on them. This is a great outfit if you’re headed straight to brunch or errands after the gym (or if you just want to pretend you worked out ;))
This black tank is great for working out because it has a great cut to it, and is fitted in all the right areas, and loose in areas you want it to be looser.
These crops are the perfect combination of mesh because they have just the right amount of it! We love the band detailing at the bottom! This pair is also similar, in case they don’t have your size!
In case you missed yesterday’s workout post, you can check it out here! We shared several recipes we made last week that you all were asking about, plus an outdoor workout, and more!{ Grey Hoodie | Black Mesh Crops also Similar Here | Grey Tennis Shoes also Here | Black Tank also Similar Here | Sports Bra | Sunglasses| Nail Color | Lip Color “Life Of The Party” | BRACELETS: David Yurman Cable Bracelets here , here, and here and Pave Bangle and Cartier Love Bracelet | RINGS: David Yurman Ring here and here | Hamsa Necklace Similar Here | WATCH: Michele Deco Watch }

Fashion / Fitness / For the Gym

Our Fitness Must Haves

February 23, 2017

{ Black Hooded Pullover and Similar Here | Blue and Black Mesh Leggings | Tennis shoes | Sunglasses | Nail Color | Lip Color “Life Of The Party” | BRACELETS: David Yurman Cable Bracelets here , here, and here and Pave Bangle | RINGS: David Yurman Ring here and here | Lightening Bolt Necklace and Hamsa Necklace Similar Here | WATCH: Michele Deco Watch }

Happy Thursday! Hope you all are having a great week! It is almost Friday, so we are definitely looking forward to the weekend. It has been a crazy week for us, so we can’t even keep track of what day it is anymore, haha.

We are excited to share this black and blue athleisure outfit with y’all! One of us (Sam) actually saw these leggings originally on her trip to the Nike Headquarters, where they showed these leggings, and how they were going to start incorporating a lot more mesh in their pieces.
These leggings are amazing for so many reasons, but one of the main ones being they have a hidden pocket in the thigh area on the side. You can even put your phone in there while you’re at the gym, without the phone slipping out! Isn’t that crazy?! So cool, right? Not only do they look amazing, and can be worn to the gym, or just out for errands, they have great feature as well!
We don’t typically go for a black + blue color combo, but we kind of love the way they look together in this look! This black hoodie is only available in one color (black always is such a go-to color for us, and apparently for everyone else, too ;)), but we found this one that is almost identical and available in all sizes!These flyknit shoes are amazingly comfy! They come in a ton of colors (we own like 4 pairs, haha), and wear them with leggings, jeans, and shorts. They are super padded, so they’re great for running, cardio a the gym, and most workout classes! They’re on sale here as well!
And, now for our FITNESS MUST HAVES:

We often get asked what our “must-have” pieces are. We actually have a sidebar on the side of our homepage that has our current favorites, but we wanted to go into more detail here:

In case you missed yesterday’s weekly fitness post, you can check it out here!

Fashion

Lace Up Workout Leggings

January 30, 2017

{ Lace Up Leggings Crop Version (legging sold out) and Similar Here | Purple Tank | Black Bra Similar Here | Strap Tennis Shoes | Sunglasses | Nail Color | Lip Color “Life Of The Party” | BRACELETS: David Yurman Cable Bracelets here , here, and here and Pave Bangle | RINGS: David Yurman Ring here and here | Lightening Bolt Necklace and Hamsa Necklace Similar Here | WATCH: Apple Watch c/o | Hair: Hair by Viviana }

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend! We spent the weekend catching up on some pictures (I mean, can you ever really catch up, though?!) more on that in another post! We also went to see DNCE perform, which was so much fun!

This is the kind of outfit we pretty much live in, to be honest! We usually will put some cute, but comfy leggings on like these lace up ones in the morning, and then head to the gym for a workout.

After that, we will usually run some errands like get groceries, and then work the rest of the day on our computers, aka stay in these clothes all day! If we have meetings or appointments, we will head back home and shower and either change into the same type of outfit because comfort alway wins, or something cute and casual! I know we had actually gotten a few requests to do a post on what our schedule/routine is, so that is coming soon.Now, about this outfit! We are OBSESSED with this brand of leggings. You may remember this post with the bright red crops, and those are actually the same brand as these. They fit amazingly! These leggings are available in a crop version, and we also found a few similar pairs here and here.
These shoes are probably one of our top tennis shoes right now. It seems to be the pair we keep grabbing to put on each time we workout. At first, not going to lie, it is not the type of shoe we would typically go for, but now we LOVE them. They are great for working out, or just throwing on with leggings and a cute tee. They also come in a bunch of colors! This color is ON SALE!
How gorgeous is this purple tank? It is so simple, but a great overall tank!Also, in case you missed it we shared our weekly fitness post on Wednesday, and you can check it out here! Also, we shared our favorite snacks on the blog this past weekend in this post!
Check back Wednesday for a new fitness/workout post! Hope you all have a great week! Xo

Fashion / Fitness / For the Gym

Grey Mesh Leggings

January 9, 2017

{ Blue 1/2 Zip Jacket | Grey Mesh Leggings | Grey Sports Bra | Grey Mesh Sneakers and Similar Here| Sunglasses | Lip Color “Life Of The Party”| Nail Color- Fiji | BRACELETS: David Yurman Cable Bracelets here , here, and here | RINGS: David Yurman Ring here and here| Love Necklace and Curved Necklace Similar Here | WATCH: Michele Deco Watch }

Can we talk about these mesh leggings? How cute are these?! Y’all know we LOVE anything with mesh, and on top of that, they’re grey #yesplease. These are $64 and super soft! We love grey pieces because they go with everything! We are wearing an XXS in these for reference!

This 1/2 zip jacket is great for throwing over a workout tank after the gym, and is super soft, too! It has thumbholes, which always helps with the cooler temps to keep your hands warm. We live in these jackets and this one comes in a bunch of fun colors!

These kicks are the best! We have these in bright green, too, and LOVE how comfy they are! They are available in the white, and this pair is also available and similar to these!

This outfit is great for running, lifting, yoga, or even running errands. It is super comfy and flattering, but also put-together and fun! What more could you ask for?!

Don’t forget to check out our weekly workout post on Wednesday, and if you missed last week’s post, you can check it out here!

Speaking of that, here is another exercise video that is great for triceps!

Full tricep workout here:

We found this winter workout look at Nordstrom. We love shopping there for everything, especially all of the cozy winter gear we need to stay warm in these cooler temperatures we have had! Shop more winter piece here.

In collaboration with Nordstrom.

Fitness / Lifestyle / Travel

Nike World Headquarters

November 23, 2016

This past week I was fortunate enough to travel to Portland to experience the Nike World Headquarters. If I could sum it up in one word (okay, two) it would be Disney Land. It was incredible! I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but whatever it was, if you could imagine the coolest people (I mean, they design THE most innovative (and cool) products surrounded by most beautifully landscaped grounds, there you have the Nike campus!

During my two day trip to Portland, the program was focused on Nike Women. I remember my driver saying on the way to the hotel the first night, ‘Nike will have you busy from dawn to dusk,’ and boy was he right! I’m not complaining, though! I am all about fitting in as much as possible and experiencing the most you can. On the first day, there was an optional yoga class taught by the talented Krissy Jones bright and early (6:30 A.M.)—luckily, Portland is within the Pacific time zone, so it didn’t feel too early! After yoga, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our big day ahead!

We arrived on the gorgeous Nike Campus, and I had to laugh to myself because the driver (yes, same one) also told me that it’s so well manicured, that he swears Nike has little elves that come in at dark and make sure everything is perfect! First stop was the Tiger Woods Center. On our way there, we got to walk around the campus. We walked through the Nike Hall of Fame and even saw some Olympic athletes training. They had a delicious breakfast spread ( I could certainly get used the delicious AND healthy options they had displayed for me daily 😉 ), during which we heard from Amy Montagne, VP/GM of Global Nike Women, and saw a gorgeous display of shoes (it seriously looked like artwork!) and watched some super inspirational nike videos (you know the ones that make you just want to get after it and ‘just do it’)!We also heard from Martin Lotti, VP and Nike Global Category Creative Director, speak about his journey (so inspirational!). He also discussed how the intersection of performance, style, and soul is woven into every nike design.

After that, we walked to another space that featured different Nike designers’ takes on natural motion, specifically called, “Experiments in Natural Motion” collection. Nathan Jobe, Senior Design Director of NSW Footwear Innovation, showed us how each designer experimented with flyknit uppers and unique materials to create interesting shoes that were featured in a Nike exhibition at Milano Design Week 2016.

The space also featured artifacts and history from the start of what Nike came to be. It was so cool reading about how Geoff Hollister packed his VW van with running shoes and literally drove around to different high schools and colleges and sold the new line of shoes. It was interesting to learn about how the iconic Nike Waffle Trainer came to be.

Then, it was time to head to the Blue Ribbon Studio, a newly built creative space that designers at Nike can use to play around and create things. It was amazing to see machinery such as sewing machines, screen printing, and rolls and rolls of fabric (which I later saw on a shoe for Spring/Summer 2017—SO cool!).
Here, we each got to make our own tote bag with whatever we wanted! Everyone was so creative, and every single designer or employee I encountered was just so happy and more than willing to help! Having worked at a corporate job, it was SO refreshing to see!

Once we made our bags, we got to see hear from Georgina James, Design Director of NSW Women’s Footwear, Theo Wang, Concept Director of Women’s Training, and Helen Boucher, VP of Women’s Training. Of course, they were super stylish and so sweet! They gave a brief preview of the super hard work that goes goes into creating apparel and footwear. They also had beautiful models to show some of the new pieces from the 2017 collection. I specifically LOVED the new mesh legging that is coming out in 2017— the phone stayed in the mesh pocket, even during a workout!

After we had the most delicious lunch, we headed back the the Tiger Woods Center for our Nike Training Club workout! Before the workout, we went to our very own personalized lockers that had some super cute kicks and a full outfit! It was fun because everybody was dressed in some variation of the same pieces!We then met with our trainer, Ben Monk . He gave a killer workout and he wasn’t bad to look at either 😉

We did a bunch of drills and also partnered off, which was fun to get to know the other girls. Having not done a ton of NTC workouts, I loved it, and will definitely by doing them more often! Following the workout, we headed back to the hotel and had a delicious dinner that evening.
We definitely got our sweat on! The next morning began with another great yoga class (loved starting my day off that way!) and then another busy day at Nike! We also started in the Nike Lab, which is super secure, so I was so psyched we got to see it! They had an entire wall of every pair of Nikes that have been made starting from the 1970’s until present. It was so cool to see the progression and how the styles and colors have evolved. We also got to hear from Julie Igarashi, VP and Creative Director for Nike Running and NikeWomen, and Martin Lotti, who showed some of the pieces that Maria Sharipova and Serena wore during the US Open and how Nike caters to each athlete individually.

Additionally, we also had the opportunity to hear about the progression of Nike Air engineering. First Nike Air model

It was so cool to learn about the technology and how much it’s evolved from the start to present. They are releasing the Nike Air VaporMax, which are the lightest pair they’ve made and 100% sustainable. The other incredible shoe we got to learn about was the Nike Hyperadapt from Tiffany Beers, Senior Innovator—think Back to the Future shoes! They sense your foot and auto lace for you! I got to try on a pair later that day, and they were SO cool! Felt like it was a magic shoe! I shared them at work on my snapchat that day!Following that we headed back to the Tiger Woods Center, where they had the same gorgeous display of shoes they had the first day, EXCEPT this time, we couldn’t take any photos because they were previewing the new kicks for Spring and Summer ’17. Let me just say that I am utterly obsessed with every single one of them! I can already kiss my bank account goodbye!Andrea Corradini, Senior Product Director of NSW Women, talked about some the inspiration behind the new lines for next year: innovation, modern comfort, and obsessing about the materials. As a result of these fundamentals, classics like the ‘Cortez’ and ‘Blazer’ are going to be released in gorgeous fabrics like satin leather, and velvet. Got these in the black, and I’m so psyched to wear them!Most definitely getting these in the spring!

Cortez in satin, yes please!

Additionally, portions of the classics like the ‘Air Flow’ and ‘Air Presto’ were taken together and molded to form the most gorgeous shoe, ‘Lunarcharge’. Ya’ll I’m obsessed! Some of the colors have been released just now, and they will continue releasing more into 2017. She also went further into the color scheme for 2017—expanding to neutrals and then to pale pinks and lavenders to fit under the theme ‘from dawn to dusk’. They will also be releasing the new Air Max in the summer that has a rainbow bottom that fits under the ‘#BeTrue’ collection.

During the rest of the day, we got to see a makeshift ‘store’ that housed most of the apparel and footwear for 2017. Again, such beautiful pieces! Most of the line focuses on proportion, bold color blocking and graphics, and nesting (layering pieces together through mesh and open backs). It also focused on reactive color mixed with black and white—LOVE!

After obsessing over every piece of clothing, we headed back to the Tiger Woods Center to sit down and have an open forum with several very empowering women, including olympic boxer, Marlen Esparza. We discussed the difficulties us, women, face, and specifically, how each of them have overcome obstacles. One thing that really stood out to me was when Marlen did not qualify for the 2016 Olympics, she still was super happy for her fellow competitors that did make it and were competing in Rio. Instead of being bitter, she watched them and cheered them on. Such a powerful statement. She talked about how women should lift each other up and be happy for competitors and friends and not to be jealous. I could not agree more! Such truth behind those powerful words!

Reflecting on this amazing experience, I was humbled to be surrounded not only by the INCREDIBLE designers at Nike, but by these incredible women that were on the journey with me. Most of them were some form of editor for a well known magazine (that I read on the regular)—think Glamour, Women’s Health, Elle, etc. These girls were clearly bright and successful, and yet so humble! Nobody was catty or rude, which made this trip that much better. Not only did I bring home some amazing Nike goods (obsessed with my Blazer kicks and Apple watch!), but I also took with me so much appreciation behind what I already knew was an awesome brand!

some photos courtesy of Nike

Fashion / Lifestyle / Travel

Nike Recap

July 4, 2016

If you follow us on snapchat (sbelbel; alexis.belbel) or Instagram (@samanthabelbel; @alexis.belbel), you may have seen that we recently went to NYC to for the Nike #Unlimited Innovation event. When we headed out there, we weren’t really sure what we were going to be seeing or doing, but it ended up being SO much fun and SO interesting!

In short, on Tuesday morning, we jetted of to NYC. We arrived in the afternoon, and checked into the Grand Soho Hotel (such a cool boutique hotel located right in the heart of Soho). Then we changed into workout gear (I know, best event ever!), and headed over to the Nike venue down the street. The venue space was super cool and bright (just what I would expect from Nike).

The coolest part..we got to sit down with track & field legend, Jackie Joyner Kersee! She was SO incredibly sweet and I loved what she talked about. She was so humble and talked about mentally preparing for the races. She also talked about how she had food allergies and how she had to worry about that when preparing for the races. My favorite part is when she talked about how fashion was important to her. She is all about ‘look good, feel good’. I am ALL about that! It’s the same idea as buying new workout gear and getting motivation to kill a workout and just feeling baller. Of course, after we chatted a bit, Alexis and I had to ask for a photo! After meeting Jackie, we headed over to the cutest restaurant, Gilligan’s. It’s all nautical themed and had the yummiest food! The table got watermelon margaritas in mason jars (I know, so cute!), margarita pizza, pita and avocado, and Alexis and I got the Branizno, which was amazing!After dinner and drinks, we all headed back to the Nike venue for the main event. The main focus of the event was to preview the brand new, never before seen, Team USA design and innovation for Rio this year. Within the venue, we saw the latest innovations within both equipment and apparel across all sports such as basketball, track & field, soccer, tennis, golf, and more. We were in such awe of all of the amazing products we saw! Everything from super rich and bright color palettes, material and technology that helps to reduce drag and weight and increase aerodynamics. By the time we had seen everything in the space, we truly knew why Nike is known for obsessing the athlete from head to toe. Photo c/o Nike

Within the space, there were several different rooms. The first room had all of the official USA Olympic uniforms for all sports. The second room was a room full of flyknit kicks all in the same bright neon yellow and pink hues (basically, heaven!). Of course, Alexis and I were completely obsessed with the colors Nike chose! The story behind it is pretty cool, too! Nike imagined athletes’ travel to tropical Brazil and thought about beetle shells. They took the bright and irqedsedent colors as inspiration to create Nike’s new signature unlimited colorway collection. In motion, the bright colors illustrate a glowing path that represents both the athlete’s unlimited abilities and how Nike views the world, “bursting with unlimited inspiration and design possibilities. Even cooler, did you know that FlyKnit technology delivers maximum performance with 60% less waste! More here! Upstairs, they had all of the throwback basketball kicks and gear, and wait for it…basketball legend, Scottie Pippin. So cool, right?! We also got to see the designer collections such as NikeLab + Gyakusou and Nikelab + . After browsing through the venue and eating some delicious appetizers, we listened to an interview with Jackie Joyner Kersee, Scottie Pippin, and Michael Johnson. They were all so humble and super interesting to listen to!Photo c/o Nike

After the event, Mai Lyn from Deep Fried Fit, Alexis, and I headed over to Bubbys and got a yummy salad. We were craving some greens after not having that many all day. We had intentions of going there for dessert, but what can we say, we like to eat healthy! Don’t worry, we had quest bars to cure that sweet tooth when we worked in our rooms that night!The next morning, Alexis and I headed to the hotel gym for a quick workout and then walked over to 12 Chairs (so yummy!). We loved that we could walk around to good restaurants! After that, we went back to the hotel to get ready and then walked back to the Nike venue for the Summer of Sport series and another look at the space (minus the huge crowd!). This time was super cool because we got to sit down with one of the Nike designers and got a one on one explanation of EVERYTHING! It was SO interesting! I could have listened all day! I will be completely honest, had I not learned about all of this, I would have just said ‘cute gear,’ but never realized all of the time and innovation behind it. First up, she talked about their most exiting innovation within track & field, track spikes. Besides looking super badass, they minimize weight via Nike Aeroswift technology featuring recycled polyester. The fabric is also super breathable with engineered mesh and integrates Nike AeroBlades (formed nodes that channel air around the athlete, resulting in the greatest drag reduction of any Nike track and field kit to date). Even better, in addition to the gear, Nike came out with leg and arm sleeves, and even adhesive patches with AeroBlades! This technology was in the making for quite some time. They used wind-tunnel testing on mannequins the same shape and size as the company’s various track and field athletes. Nike also used the same idea to create a breathable bib made out of perforated micro layer knit with tape instead of the traditional paper and safety pin bib. More on that here!

The designer also talked about some of the innovations within the basketball uniforms, such as an elastic waist minus the traditional drawstring for the first time! She then went into the medal uniforms that all athletes will wear on the stand. How cool do they look at night!?The NikeLab Dynamic Reveal Jacket is ribbed on the arms, which allows for breathability and mobility, and also shows ribbons of red and blue when in motion. The pants also have the same vertical ribbed zone that offers the same breathability and bright patriotic colors when moving. The jacket will be available for purchase later this month. More here!

After learning SO much about the innovation behind the Olympic gear, we were hangry (big surprise)! We walked around for a few hours and ate our favorite restaurant, Westville! Then, we headed back to the hotel and off to the airport! We had a blast! It was a quick but eventful trip! We hope to get back soon!