Friday, April 27, 2012

April Birchbox 2012

I don't really do a lot of things just for myself but I do subscribe to Birchbox for $10 a month. (I've all but stopped eating out at all during the work week so I justify the money.)

The feeling I get when I see that hot pink box in the mail is probably more thrilling than it should be. It's like a little box of surprises!

Here's my April box
Now COME ON! Who wouldn't squeal just a bit when they see that?!

Every month has a theme, this time it was 'Natural Wonders' with all natural products for spring. Usually the paper inside is hot pink as well (Christmas was silver glitter) but this time it was lime green - cute!

#1 Juice Beauty Oil-Free Moisturizer:

This uses a 'blend of juices such as organic apple, grape & pomegranate' instead of water like most other moisturizers. It doesn't have any actual blemish clearing ingredients but the hyaluronic acid is a good replacement for oils. Retails $28/2oz

#2 Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine Petite Cologne Absolue:

That's a really long fancy name for something that smells like Orange Clean. Seriously, I wanted to polish my furniture with this stuff. Retails $55/30ml

#3 Erno Laszlo Active pHelityl Soap 

First of all, I know this is a SAMPLE box but that has to be the tiniest bar of soap I've ever seen! (Just ask Judd, I know my share of tiny/mini/travel sized products!) This claims to balance pH levels in the skin which should be great for uneven skin tone & blemishes. Audrey Hepburn was said to only use this on her face. Next time I plan to eat pastries outside Tiffany's I'll wash with this first to get the full Audrey effect. Retails $40/6oz bar (gulp!)

#4 Pur Minerals 4-in-1 Tinted Moisturizer

I'm not huge on tinted moisturizers. I mean, if I'm gonna take the time to shmear something on my face I want to see some results. This has a moisturizer, primer, tinted foundation & SPF 20 in it. It might be nice for the SPF factor. Retails $34/1.7oz

BONUS: MicrodermaMitt Body Mitt

When I first pulled this thing out I thought it was a little bag to store crap in. Let me just tell you now, when Hoarders comes to my house I'm gonna be the lady with a freaky amount of little bags & boxes. I love them! Can't get enough! Then my goober self read the card & saw that it was an exfoliating mitt! EEK! Perhaps second to my love of organizational bags & storage boxes is exfoliating! Seriously. When you see me rest assured you are gazing upon a fresh layer of skin. It totally grosses me out to have dry skin so I am a big fan of buffing, scrubbing, sand blasting, whatever it takes to get that mess off me! Retails $28.50/mitt

THOUGHTS: I'm ok with the moisturizer. I've been using it for about a week now & I like how light it is but doubt I'll switch from my Clean & Clear Dual Action Moisturizer. The cologne was horrible, made me think of citrus Pledge. I haven't used the little bar of soap yet but I'm kinda excited to try something my gal Audrey liked. The tinted moisturizer is just eh. I'll use it for the SPF and that's about it. The game-changer in this box was the mitt. A full-size $28 exfoliating mitt is a nice bonus in a $10 sample box.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I feel pretty

I'm cheap as hell thrifty.

I like drug store beauty products (stacked with a coupon & sale of course) but swoon over incredibly high end luxuries. I then scour the web & consult my army of beauty bloggers for dupes. It's like a game. Or war. Whatever.

Treating myself is something I don't normally do because of the guilt (seriously, like a Jewish Grandmother!) in my head so I decided a manicure is just the ticket. NOT a salon manicure where you can catch your death from a nail file these days (I warned you I have a Jewish Grandmother in my head) but one of my own design - FOR FREE!

This was my Easter manicure using Wet N Wild's Tickled Pink with an accent nail (yep, I'm 32 & doing an accent nail like the 20-somethings!) of Petite's Vintage Grey & Mary Kay's French White dots.


I was so excited to be all fancy that I posted it on my fav beauty guru's page & got so many sweet comments! Check it out HERE.

I'm thinking this should become a Sunday night thing. 

It makes me feel pretty.

And it's free.

And nice comments from people in the beauty world makes me feel special.

Don't judge.

Oy vey.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Our Date with Doogie Howser

I've heard of that maternal instinct phenomenon where mothers can sense their child is in danger but I experienced it in a different way with Judd.

NUGGET: For the slight few who venture to this blog (hi Mom) I will spare the details as you already know them but to nutshell: Judd had a seizure & collapsed outside of Walgreens filling his Rx after being diagnosed with bronchitis.

I had talked to him several times that day & he promised to call me after triple-checking with the pharmacist that the new Rx had NO adverse reactions to his current army of meds. So I waited 10 minutes forever!

Calls & texts were left unanswered so I began to panic like Def Con 4 slightly. I called Mom & told her I had a bad feeling (see intro sentence) and knew something was wrong.

When he answered the phone he was conscious & in the ER at Gadsden Regional without a soul on the planet there with him.

NUGGET: His parents were THANK HEAVENS already on their way back from visiting his sister Mary in Arkansas & I was in Fort Payne as usual just coming in from work.

As soon as he got the first sentence out of his mouth I started packing a bag & getting in the car. I cannot tell you the number of times I prayed - maybe it was one big honking prayer - but the Good Lord & I were having a serious chat then, rest assured.

The trip there was horrendous interesting. I decided to get off the labyrinth that has become I 59S & travel (read: speed like a Fast & Furious stunt driver) US 11 but somewhere along the way my nerves overtook my brain & I made a wrong turn. A WRONG TURN!?!?

I can honestly say I have no idea where all I was except a nice old man in Leesburg gave me wrong directions which led me to a tiny diner in Hokes Bluff. From there I followed a waitress (whose father was the Chief of Police) with flashers on & pedals to the metal.

In the parking lot I thanked Christy (kinda neat her name has CHRIST in it, no?), gave her all the cash in my wallet ($22), got her cell number & ran into the ER where Judd's room was empty.

I will pause here to let you insert your own version of the terror & hysterics that ensued.

Judd came back from CT & I think I chapped his face with kisses. My AWESOME parents were on their way to be of comfort to me, to fill in for Judd's parents until they got there, because they love Judd very much & their general aforementioned awesomeness.

The next tango was between the following cast of characters:
* Doogie-Howser-aged doctor popping in rather pushing for an OK on a spinal tap
* Judd's mother Dana (via cell phone) frantic in the car decidedly NOT wanting a spinal tap
* Mary (also via cell) calling upon her nursing education trying to guide Judd towards the right decision
* My parents (again, via cell) who had gone to KFC because it is now 10 p.m. & Dad's diabetic
* Most importantly: Judd who is being so strong despite his fears & patiently waiting for God's direction
* Lastly, little old me who is in constant contact with all of the above trying to stall the impatient Doogie, assure Dana we won't rush into anything, listen to facts & risks from Mary, implore my parents to suck down the chicken & get the heck back here & of course be there for Judd. It's his body so ultimately the decision is his so we prayed about it. Several times. Like, to the extent that I grabbed his hands & started, "Dear Lord" and Judd sweetly said, "Baby, do you know you've prayed like 3 times in the last 5 minutes?" Ha

NUGGET: Judd refers to the spinal tap as a lumbar puncture because it makes him think of the horrible band & equally horrible movie. :)

The spinal tap lumbar puncture went as well as it could but I can't imagine how much it hurt Judd. I was allowed to hold his hands & talk to him & I even understood the unspoken rule of not beating the snot out of Doogie for stabbing my love with a needle long enough to be in a horror movie.

Insert 45 minutes of waiting on the results where my parents got back, Judd's parents were almost there & by the Grace of God Judd drifted off to a very deep sleep.

By then my blood sugar had dropped & I was quite shaky so Mom convinced me to go in the waiting room & eat my chicken they had brought back for me. I sat down next to Dad & inhaled the food. Seriously. It was not attractive. There was a man sitting directly across from me who actually got up and left! I'm sure I looked like a tribute from the Hunger Games as I gnawed on the bones.

Doogie came back in with a big smile on his prepubescent face & told us there was no spinal meningitis, intracranial hemorrhaging, bacterial infection of the brain, swelling or several other so-freaky-it's-diarrhea-inducing possibilities.

PRAISE THE LORD!


By now his parents are here & hugged mine as they left so we all shared the good news together with much hugging & deep sighs following.

He was discharged with Doogie's "best educated guess" of a perfect storm of spiked fever, severe sinus infection and a possible underlying minor virus.

I watched this man drift to sleep all safe in his bed while still trying to wrap my mind around his abundant strength, God's Amazing Grace & the unbelievable odds that he actually picked me. :)

Monday, April 2, 2012

Goodness

Could I BE any further behind in posting little nuggets about myself on my blog so I feel important & interesting? I was totally not thinking and even hearing it in his voice Chandler Bing on the first part of that sentence.

Well now, where to begin?

Judd & I are freaking awesome. We've been dating a little over 17 months.

NUGGET: At what point to you switch months to year & fractions?

It's like a mom who says her kid is 24-months-old.

24 months? Why not just say 2 years? Why make me divide 24 by 12 & then question my math even though it's simple to figure out but I have arithmetic phobias?

Maybe it's a denial thing about kids growing up.

On second thought I'm probably going to be way over the top & only use days instead of months so when my walking, chatting, goldfish-cracker-eating toddler captures someones - ahem - every one's attention I will proudly say that he/she is a mere 730 days old. Then I will push my shopping cart into the next aisle whilst they fish for the calculator app on their smart phone which I STILL will probably not have because I cannot justify paying for the data package.

Anyway...I digress.

Judd is simply amazing. Feel free to gag. I shall go into a further nauseatingly loving post devoted to only him later. Then you can really gag.

Let's just go with the nugget thing & see where it takes us.

NUGGET: I'm still living with my precious grandmother (aka Bud) and although I don't remember praying for patience God has wisely seen fit to show me yet another area where I am lacking. It's interesting being a live-in caregiver to an 87-year-old.

When we're not pulling our hair out because one frustrated the crap out of the other, we get along famously. We really do have a lot of laughs & not just because I try to make time to watch Wipeout & Funniest Home Videos with her. It is still a blessing & privilege that I get to live with & take care of her.

NUGGET: My weight is up.

I got that from a friend & thought it was a much more ladylike phrase than,
"I'm getting a little heavy on the hoof," or
"Even my humongous granny panties are more snug than usual," or
"My butt & hips are getting so wide I could haul grain to market."

Sigh - the list could go on but I choose to demurely say that my weight is up as I fold my hands neatly in my lap & ignore the bag of peanut m&m's in my purse.

Since I refuse to buy clothes in a bigger size the lack of breathing ability will serve as motivation to get so super skinny that people mail eating disorder pamphlets to my house anonymously in shape.

NUGGET: I have a weird lip thing.

I'm not exactly sure what's going on but from the looks of things I'm having an allergic reaction to something.

This event has turned my family into a Sixteen Candles-esque group who thinks it's hysterical to say I'm allergic to kissing Judd. It's like I'm Molly Freaking Ringwold & someone is about to grab my chest & proclaim how my boobies are growing in nicely. Oy vay.

Well, since I'm trying to blog more I guess I should save some for later....