I’m late getting this posted, so I’ll keep it brief.

My new thing:

A tan.

Well, an orange-y glow.

I bought the Neutrogena Build-A-Tan at the recommendation of a coworker.

My thoughts:
* Orange-y
*  Faint self-tanning smell
*  Great if you need to control your color (which I do– I tend to look like I need a good scrubbin’ if I get too tan)
*  Lasts a long time
*  Not paraben-free (big bummer)
*  No “shimmer” (Yay!  I have a strict “no-sparkle” policy.)

Bottom line:  I prefer slightly streaky orange to pale.  Maybe those who have seen me out and about lately would disagree.  I’ll probably buy it again though, unless I find a “greener” (yet affordable) option.

Updated to add a picture.  Because Moriah heckled me.

The site is painful, I know.

I woke up on Monday morning still feeling an empty spot.  I have been blessed with an amazing family, a comfortable home, good health.  What could I be missing that other “grown-ups” had?

Then it occurred to me:

Ok, so that was a bit dramatic. My life was pretty complete without the Costco card, but it just so happened that at VBS last week, there was a whole lot of talk about Costco.  After voicing that I really didn’t see the need in paying to shop anywhere, I was quickly informed that with Executive Membership (ooh la la), one earned cash back and no one I spoke had actually had to pay for a yearly membership renewal due to all the cash back they’d earned.  Well, of course, my ears perked up at the sound of cash back, but there is also the fact that the ages, demands, and general contrary personalities of my kids right now have me at a place where I don’t really have the time to put into couponing and price-matching.  So, we’ll see if I can save some dough by bulk-buying for a while (now that I actually have a place to put eighty-seven rolls of toilet paper.) 

Now, I know that warehouse stores don’t always offer the best deals.  For example, Costco’s price on the baby wipes I use is almost double what I usually pay for them.  But they did offer a ginormous bag of avocados and with the daily avocado habit I’ve acquired– well, that sold me on the membership.  That, and the double buggy.  You know the regular buggys that can seat two kids in the front.  I cannot even begin to tell you the buggy struggles I have.  Most “kid” buggys are impossible to maneuver (especially for the uncoordinated).  If I get a regular buggy, Bug pitches a fit because whe wants to sit in the back with Wog.  Now that I think about it, she pitches a fit anyway when we shop, so I guess that’s irrelevant.  Still, a Wog in the back of the buggy doesn’t leave room for many groceries.  Now, I do love the easy-to-maneuver, but ever-elusive Publix helicopter buggy, but in the area of town I live in, a soccer mom will cut you in the bat of an over mascara’d eyelash if you try to take the last of the elusive helicopter buggy and smashed by Suburban isn’t exactly what I want listed on my death certificate.

So, um, yeah, I joined Costco.

What new did you do?

The color: No Room for the Blues (And, yes, I do need some practice staying inside the lines.)

I found this color to be quite hideous on my toes after I bought it last summer.  I was about to give it to my niece, but it matched my VBS shirt, so I threw a couple of coats on my fingernails.

I kinda like it.

I really really like having my nails painted.  It makes me feel pretty.  And these days… well, I’ll go to some lengths to feel pretty.  Did you see the amount of beauty products on my 52 New Things Catch Up post?!

I have to give a shout out to Angie, who’s nails looked so good the other night when we went to see Eclipse, that I found myself coveting them (you know, between my pining away for fictional vampires & shirtless werewolves.)

So what new did you do?

I realize I didn’t get my new thing posted on Thursday, as I had every intention of doing.  Then I realized that I forgot to do the new thing I’d planned.

Intention: out the window.

Fortunately, Thursday night did bring a new thing.  We took Wog to his first movie theater.  Any guess what movie?

He’s been looking forward to Toy Story 3 since I showed him the preview on YouTube over a year ago.  Those  three year-olds, they don’t forget so easily.  It probably didn’t help that I incorporated my new form of discipline (bribery) into the Toy Story 3 equation.  Wog had to earn the money for his ticket via good behavior (i.e. NOT hitting me and NOT yelling at HH and me – we’ve been having some issues lately).  So, let’s just say there was a smidge of hype involved.

The movie did not disappoint.  Wog was enthralled and well-behaved.   

SIDEBAR:  I wish I could say the same for the group of girls ages 13-15 that were sitting a few rows behind us.  No need to talk to Buzz Lightyear, ladies.  He. Can’t. Hear. You. 

As far as the movie goes, it did not disappoint.  The plot was the most sinister of the three.  Unlike Sid in Toy Story, who was a mischevious kid (and who makes an appearance in 3 if you know where to look for him– or his shirt) and Al from Toy Story 2 who was greedy, Lotso had real evil in his heart.  Most kids, I think, won’t even catch on to this.  It’s still bright and funny and silly and all the stuff that the first two movies.

Oh, and if you’re the least bit sappy about your kids growing up and leaving you, then you might want to take a tissue.  Or twenty. 

So, that’s my 25th new thing!  What new did you do?

I resolved to wear lipstick, everywhere, everyday.  I haven’t, but I’m doing a lot better.  Unfortunately, I only have so many hands and so many pockets and it’s all I can do to get out the door with a diaper in one hand and a sippy cup in the other. 

I resolved to send birthday cards… which I’ve bombed big time.  I’ve even had postage stamps aplenty (since the Christmas cards never got sent), unfortunately, my address book has been in storage for eight months.  Maybe next year.

Finally I resolved to do one new thing each week, for a total of 52 new things.  I even documented it here for the first fourteen weeks.  I haven’t been as intentional as I wanted to be here.  Instead of scheduling a new thing for each week, I’d sit down at my computer each Thursday and try to think of something new I’d done that week.  I think I was missing the spirit of the excercise.  Regardless, I’ve still been trying new things.  I’m even up to 24, which puts me right in line with where I should be.

15 -  New Facial Cleanser (Murad Time-Release Anti-Acne Cleanser) **good**
16 – New Facial Toner (100% Pure, Organic Peppermint Green Tea) **good**
17 – Another New Facial Cleanser (AAA Shea Butter Black Soap Bar) **love**
18 – New Shampoo/Conditioner (Matrix-Biolage Delicate Care Shampoo & Conditioner) **not a fan of the conditioner**
19 -  New Makeup (La Bella Donna)  **love** I need to write a whole post on this foundation.
20 – Buying avocados **love**  Now, I’m addicted.
21 – Chipotle  **love**  Go there. Now.
22 – Hired a Professional Photographer (Spindle Photography) **Love** I’ll probably never go to a “studio” again.  More on this later. 
23 – New Computer (Jasper.  Yes, named after the Jasper.) **Big Love**
And finally,
24 – WE BOUGHT OUR FIRST HOUSE.  **AND IT’S AWESOME**

I’ll resume posting my more intentional New Things on Thursday (complete with MckLinky.)

So, here’s my new thing this week:

From Whole Foods.

For $1.69.

Yum.

(For the record, they are loaded with fat & probably have little more nutritional value than chips, but there are peas in there, so I’m counting it as a healthy snack.)

So what about you?  What new did you do?

About two months ago, HH’s car crapped out on us.  It would cost us a small fortune to have someone remove the engine block to see if it could even be repaired.  We decided that was a pretty big if, so it was probably better to cut our losses and get him a new beater to drive around. 

Note:  this would have been a perfectly good opportunity for him to plead his case for any one of these that he’s been drooling over for-stinkin-ever.  He didn’t and I love him for that.

Within a couple of weeks, my dad noticed that a church member was driving a minivan with a FOR SALE sign in the window.  He asked about it and drove me to look at it that day.  That night HH and I met up with the gentleman and drove it.  We told him we’d take it.

Of course, nothing could be that simple for us.  The van belonged to the man’s son who lived out of town.  And the title had to be ordered.  And the DOT was severely backed up.  Which is why we didn’t actually purchase it until this past week. 

I could go on for days about how I was never going to drive a minivan.  I think they are ugly.  To be honest, I don’t care how convenient they are as far as room, it feels like I’m driving a tank.  I don’t feel like I can run a quick errand, since it’ll take me roughly twenty hours to park the darn thing.  But I cannot deny that it became available to us at the right time and, most importantly, it was the right price.

You see, we don’t do debt.  (Obviously, we are hoping to get into some house debt soon– and, after being debt free for so long,  the thought of that makes me queasy.)  So, when the old car punked out, it took me about twenty minutes to figure out how much cash we had to spend (not much).  We were even having trouble finding beaters in our price range.  So, when this van with pretty high mileage and some hail damage, but a whole year newer than our main vehicle  fell into our laps at exactly our price point, we kind of felt like it was meant to be.

So, I bought a van.  Not so exciting.

And I paid for it with C-A-S-H.  So very exciting.

What about you?  What new did you do?

It wasn’t pretty, but I tried a few new things this week.

To understand the logic, one must understand that for the past six months, no matter what color I put on my hair, it turns out reddish.  I  had finally found a color that seemed to be pretty tolerable.  It was a little dark for me, but I’d received several compliments, so I was happy.  Until the grays started popping out.  All over.  Days after I’d colored it.  So, I decided that if I went a shade lighter, maybe the gray wouldn’t be so noticeable.  And I was right.

Until I saw the pictures my in-laws took at the zoo.  Ugh!  It turns out my hair looked pretty orange in natural light.  I turned to twitter with my concerns.  A couple of trusted tweeps suggested I try a toner and/or “purple” shampoo.

So off to Sally, I went.  The associate took me right to the toner, but once she asked me if the “blue” on the bottle meant that it’d would turn my hair blue, I knew I was on my own.  (Though I must admit I was flattered that she perceived I was hip enough to put some blue in my hair!)

First I applied this toner.  Results: ORANGE hair that was both smelly and sticky.  I chose not to photograph this look.  It was pretty ugly.  My attitude about it was much uglier.  (Many apologies to HH and the kids.)

So, I washed twice with this purple shampoo.  Results:  Much less orange, much less smelly, much better texture.

(Holy forehead wrinkles!)
(And, how come this skin color only looks good on Nicole Kidman?)

Obviously, it was an ok-enough color to get me to work, but I knew I needed an intervention.  It was time to stop the vicious cycle of at-home hair coloring and seek professional help.

*Gulp*

I called up my new go-to dl Salon.  Lindsie, of course, was on maternity leave.  Happily, Debbie was available that very afternoon.  (Seriously, click over and look at her picture– is she not THE CUTEST EVER?)  After two hours of foiling, fashion magazines, hair dryers, scalp massage, and New Moon on the giant flatscreen, I emerged with this:

Better, no?

While professional hair color is not BRAND new to me.  I haven’t had it done in almost four years, when, right after Wog’s birth, I told my stylist to take me back to my natural color because diapers alone would wipe out my hair color budget.  Four years is a long time, though, so I’m kind of counting it as new.

And, yes, its WILDLY expensive.  I’m having a hard time stomaching it.  I’m adding it to our budget though.  Beauty is expensive, I guess.

So, I tried a toner, purple shampoo, and rushed back to the safety of a professional colorist.

What about you?  What new did you do?

I am so excited about my new thing this week, that it’s been killing me to not publish this post sooner.  But, before I get to the actual new thing, let me rewind a few years to the early days of WBFS.

The year was 2007, the month was March.  My husband had finally talked me into starting a blog.  It just so happened to coincide with 5 Minutes for Mom’s Ultimate Blog Party (which is coming around again VERY soon), so I joined in the fun.  On my rounds, I left a comment on a blog (whose author was a Arbonne representative) mentioning that I might like to give Arbonne products a try.  Within hours, Stacey had emailed me and asked for my address.  Days later, a wonderful package full of Arbonne sample-y goodness arrived at my door. 

It was the beginning of something beautiful.  Really.

Stacey and I have continued to read each other’s blog in the years since.  We’ve emailed and facebooked.  She even sent me a homemade burp cloth for Bug when whe was born (along with some more Arbonne products and samples that made packing my hospital bag a cinch!)  She even included goodies for Wog. 

In return for all of her kindness and bloggy friendship, I bought a very special gift for her new addition, which is still sitting on my nightstand.  Her sweet B man is now over 9 months old.

Now you want to be my bloggy friend, too.  Right?

So on to the new thing.  On Friday of last week, I get an email from Stacey regarding an Arbonne order.  She sarcastically mentioned that I could call her with my payment information.  Since we’ve been “tight” for about three years, I could read the implied “yeah, right”  between the lines.

So what did I do? 

I called her.

On the phone.

Severe people & phone anxiety be darned.

We talked for sixteen whole minutes and I did not spontaneously combust from the pressure.  As a matter of fact, I laughed.  A lot.  And smiled.  A lot.

I was stupid excited over my accomplishment.  HH almost passed out when I told him that night.  I am still pretty giddy.  I love making that connection.  You know the one that turns bloggy friends into real-life friends.  Not that I love Stacey anymore today than I did a week ago, it just feels more legit.

We’re even talking about taking our relationship to the next level– a real visit.  I’m not terribly far from some pretty beaches, and one day soon, we hope to get our families there at the same time. 

Of course, a face-to-face meeting with swimwear involved.  I’m not sure I’m ready for that!

What what new did you do this week?

Not only is this week’s new thing something I love (BREAD), but it also involves two things I am very passionate about:  my city (Birmingham, AL) and real food (you know, ingredients that you can pronounce).

For years, I drove right past Big Sky Bread Company every day without stopping.  Sitting here, picking poppyseeds out of my teeth, I wonder why it took me standing in a Piggly Wiggly way across town to finally try it. 

After, literally, carrying two kids–one whiny, one rambunctious, both sleepy–through four prospective homes, they’d fallen asleep in their carseats.  We needed juice at home and I needed a treat.  HH stayed in the car with the sleeping kids, while I meandered through the aisles at the Pig and found myself staring at a bag of four large cookies.  I saw the price (over five dollars!!!) and almost walked away, but decided instead to read the ingredients:
                     Freshly Ground 100% Whole Wheat, Whole Oats,
                     Chocolate Chips, Pure Butter, Brown Sugar,
                     Water, Eggs, Molasses, Baking Powder, and Salt

Where were the “monoglutoids“?  (Ok that’s a made up word, but you get what I’m saying.) 

I had placed them in my basket, when a customer with questionable hair (sorry, it had to be said) walked up and grabbed a loaf of their Three Seed Bread.  She turned to me and said, “This is the best bread in the world.  I know it’s expensive, but it’s the only thing I buy now.”  There really isn’t a more ringing endorsement of a product than that of a random grocery store  patron (even one with questionable hair).  So, I placed a loaf of it my basket and headed to the checkout line (where I just about choked on my total bill). 

Once home, it took me about five seconds to decide that I would have toast for supper.  And after two bites, I was sold.  The Three Seed Bread made the best toast!  It was so good that it’s now gone.  I didn’t even get a chance to try a sandwich out of it.  Oh well, guess its off to the bakery to pick up some more.  Maybe this time I’ll try the Honey Whole Wheat bread  and pick up some granola for HH.

I know at least five of the eight folks who read my posts aren’t in Birmingham (or even Alabama), so I feel kind of rude touting all this goodness here in my neck of the woods.  But,if you clicked over to their site to drool over all the carbolicious goodness (really, “good”ness) and the REAL ingredients in each of their products, you probably noticed that you can order it and have it shipped straight to you , wherever you are.  Now I don’t feel so bad after all.

But, wait, do you hate to pay shipping for something that you’re not even sure you’ll like?  I do.  Actually, I hate to pay shipping for something that I know I’ll love.  So, I might be inclined to choose a random commenter for a nice little choose-your-own prize pack on me.

Here’s how you enter:
1.  LEAVE A COMMENT.  That’s all.  I like to keep things simple.  If you’re feeling froggy, though, you can jump over to their site and let me know in your comment what item you’d most like to try.

I don’t want to leave out my fellow “Fifty-Two”-ers.  So, if you link up with your Fifty-Two New post this week, you’ll be entered into a separate drawing for an item of your choice from Big Sky Bread Company.

I’ll draw winners one week from today, March 18th, and will contact them via email.

Now for the small print:   *sigh*  I have received no compensation for this post, nor have I been in contact with Big Sky Bread Company about this post.  I tried it.  I liked it.  I’m going to give some away at my own expense.
*sigh*

So what’s New with you this week? Link up!