Monday, November 29, 2010

Dinner for All Four of Us!


Finally! A dinner that all four of the people who live in our house actually LOVED - and it's from Cooking Light, so the fat/calories/etc. are not too bad. It's Fettuccine Alfredo with Bacon (made with low fat milk and Applewood Bacon...I also subsituted whole wheat pasta in place of the fettuccine noodles). My little ones even asked for "seconds," which rarely happens! I am still shocked by dinner tonight...hope your family enjoys it, too.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001949744

Monday, November 22, 2010

Holiday Card Time!

What a great time to connect (or re-connect) with family and friends...with holiday cards! I realize some find this an old tradition, but we love to decorate our living space with the cards we receive each year, especially now that most of them have beautiful pictures on them! And those of you who have seen my house or office know that I love being surrounded by reminders of family and friends - and their smiling faces.

I also love carrying around pictures of Cole & Cass with me…and my most recent photo album creation is sitting happily in my purse as you read this. The latest cool thing I have noticed about Shutterfly is that you can select a bunch of pictures, tell it you want a photo album, and they will automatically group “like” pictures page-by-page! How cool is that?!? My entire last album was created by them, not me. Fantastic time-saver. I’ve started getting a new album every few months so I can avoid printing a ton of photos and having to file them myself. And the albums are really reasonably priced (the latest special is $10.39). Here's the link to their site:
http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books

Now I am testing out holiday cards…here is my favorite – what do you think?


Still working on it...but here's the site so you can make your own holiday cards:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
Looking forward to seeing and sharing some gorgeous cards this year!
: )

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Perfect Red!

This just about says it all...what a great, brief post on lipstick color! Thanks to City Girl for the review -
http://citygirlinredlipstick.com/2010/10/20/arbonne-cosmetics-2/

Friday, October 15, 2010

Don't Forget the Sunscreen!

I was out for a jog this morning, and the weather is gorgeous! As I was squinting in the beautiful sunshine, I realized I should have put on sunglasses and sunscreen...for some reason, it just slips the mind when it's not "summer"....has this happened to you?


With the long sleeves and long pants we are wearing, using suncreen on our hands and face isn't always top-of-mind. However, if you use a daily moisturizer with sunscreen, that helps. No extra step required! Remember, most of the signs of aging (80-90%) are externally driven (ie, environment, sun damage, smoking) - not genetics.

Squinting can lead to fine lines around the eyes, and going outside without sunscreen is just a bad idea...always. So take care of your skin this winter - lots of moisturizer, and keep the sunscreen on hand.

P.S. I read an article in the paper yesterday...did you know that sleeping on your side or stomach can also lead to more wrinkles?!?! All that pressure for so many hours is not good for the skin. So try your best to sleep on your back! Whew.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

A Tiny Bit of Color

Something I never quite understood was the emphasis on one particular cosmetics product - blush. There always seems to be a lot of commentary and worry over how to apply it just the right way.

Thinking about our "non-made-up" faces, though, do any of us naturally blush exactly the same way? Some of us have a little more color higher on our cheeks than others. Some of us get blotchy...and some of us barely show any color at all. So why try to re-create a natural blush with products in an unnatural way?

To me, one of the biggest concerns with blush application is when you can tell it exists on someone's face. For example, a streak of color slashed across the cheeks to create the illusion of cheekbones is not flattering (use bronzer in the hollow and a highlighter on the bone instead...not pink, rose, or sunset colors).

Blush should be a natural complement to your skin, not a primary focus.

And for many of us, our skin gets flushed in the heat regularly anyway. Not to mention a little color from the sun. So there's no need to make our faces even more pink!

For a quick and easy, non-stressful blush application:

*Try a "sunset" shade - it tends to work well with most skintones (similar to the middle of the top petals of the rose to the right)

*Lightly load your brush with product
*Smile, start at the apple of your cheeks, and blend towards hairline
*Stop. No need to double-layer blush.
*Repeat on the other side

Or, you could have someone tell you a really funny joke...laughter will cause your face to light up beautifully...
: )

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate

Over the past few months of makeup workshops, I've discovered how very versatile a beautiful brown eye shadow can be. If you find the right color (something close to actual chocolate...rich, deep, true-to-color and slightly shimmery) - here are some of the things you can do with it:

*Quick eyeliner: (see "stamping" technique in previous post) on top lashline only, add mascara = done

*Everyday eyeliner: apply to both upper and lower lashline (only halfway across lower lashline)

*Dramatic evening look: use chocolate on the lid, a smokey gray in the crease, then dot a white/shimmery shadow where your pupil would be when your eyes are closed = gorgeous!


*Darken another color: if you have a shadow that isn't quite dark enough (or when you apply it, is has no depth...and can barely be seen) - tap your eyeshadow brush into your brown first, then your other color. It will deepen the shadow without making it too harsh.

*Eyebrow fill: Using a slanted brush, and short strokes - you can create a beautiful eyebrow to frame your face. Of course, if you have light hair - use a lighter brown color

All these options, with just one color - that's smart spending!
: )

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Toxins in Cosmetics?


There seems to be a lot of press about this lately...it's pretty nerve-wracking to think about all the things that could be in the products we put on our faces and bodies every day. Yesterday, there was a story on ABCNews.com (here's the link to the video), and now this Jillian Michaels info.

http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fitness-and-diet-tips/are-there-toxins-in-your-cosmetics

Ahhhh!

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