Fifty-Two New, Week Eight: Oh! The! Clogged! Pores!

February 25, 2010 3 comments »

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What?! Another beauty product?!

No, TWO!  Ha!

Clogged pores, forehead zits, and blackheads, meet your match.

Or at least I hope.

My two new new weapons:

2012820BotMoistDeepCleanseFoamBotanicsOrganicsToner

 Moisturizing Deep Cleansing Foam and Organic Rosewater Toner.

Both are from the Boots line, which I’ve been drawn to for some time, having read so many good things about the brand.  Plus, the  packaging speaks to me. I think it looks very upscale (told you I was shallow), but at 6.99 (cleanser) and 7.99 (toner), it’s far from expensive.

I’m only a few days into using them, but so far so good.  My skin has been giving me fits lately, so I’ve been looking for  a line of products that I can stick with long-term.  I’m kind of picky because I want something gentle and fairly natural, but I am also price sensitive cheap.  I will say, though, if these don’t work for me, I’m going to have to cough up the dough and go for Arbonne (I love you, Stacey!) because I know its good.  My frugal self had to give this line a shot, first!

So what’s new with you?

What I’m Going to Do (A Few Things You Might Should Do, Too)

February 23, 2010 15 comments »

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Living with one’s parents can be a bit of a minefield as far as territory (who’s cooking, who’s buying groceries), schedule, address, etc.  Since we’ve been hanging onto the hope of moving into our house ”any day now”,  I’ve been putting so many things on hold to avoid the stress.  However, living life “on hold” brings about it’s own kind of stress.  So, here are some things that I’m going to do:

1. Make my OB check up appointment (five months overdue)
2. Make my six-month dental checkup (four months overdue)
3. Unpack (This does not make me happy in the least, but I think the not looking at all the boxes shoved into each corner of my parents’ upstairs will give me a little peace.)
4. Buy organic milk
5. Join Grow Alabama
6. Take a {little} trip (I just won four passes to the Tennessee Aquarium, Children’s Museum, and IMAX– thankyouverymuchBirminghamMommy– and I’m thinking we’ll make a few days out of it.  Chatty is one of our favorite places!)
7. Work on my marriage (No, we are not having problems, but I know I am not being very intentional with my relationship with HH.  Our life is in a period of upheaval and we’ve been putting off  things like a couple’s Bible study and date night, but I cannot think of a more crucial time to work at it!)
8. Snatch up some bargains (Our goal has been not to acquire any more “stuff” while all of ours is in storage, so I’ve avoided a lot of sales and markdown aisles.  Since I’m still kicking myself for not buying this when I saw if marked down to under $6, I think I might need to loosen up on this rule a little.)
9. Getting a family membership to McWane Science Center
10. Lose 15 pounds (This is going to be the toughest.  Not only do my parents keep a ton of junk food in stock, my mom is an amazing cook.  My goal when I moved in was to lose about eight pounds, it’s grown– as I have– to about fifteen.  But the longer I wait the higher that number is going to get and the harder I’ll have to work.  And I’m all about not working hard!)

For some more Top Ten Tuesday lists, check out Oh Amanda!

Fifty-Two New, Week Seven: The Salon

February 18, 2010 12 comments »

This is my favorite new thing so far.  I had the opportunity to try a new hair stylist at a new (to me) salon.  A few weeks ago, Amanda tweeted that she had a few FREE haircut cards from her stylist to give out.  (cue birds singing)  She was sweet enough to mail me one of the cards and I wasted no time making an appointment.

I was a smidge giddy when Saturday arrived and I left hubby and kids at home and drove to the salon.  Well, I drove all around Vestavia Hills first, then drove to the salon.  (Attention Business Owners:  If you change locations, the first thing you should do is change it on your website.  Just saying.)

The Salon: dL Salon, Vestavia Hills

The Stylist: Lindsie  Lindsie was so nice.  I had no clue how to describe what I wanted my hair to look like, so I ended up just rambling on and on about how I didn’t want boring.  I’d like to think she was intuitive enough to see my inner edgy, rock goddess-ness and ran with it.  Lindsie is also weeks away from giving birth to her first child, which gave us lots to talk about.  She also didn’t try to sell me hair product, which I love.  The downside of that, though, is that I have no clue what she put on my hair that made it look so awesome, so now I don’t know what to go buy.

The experience:  Obviously, I was late, so it did feel kind of hurried.  And Lindsie cut my hair dry, so I did miss the shampooing, which is my favorite part of a salon visit.  (I could let someone else shampoo my hair for DAYS on end.)  She did ask if it needed shampooing, which is didn’t since I’d done it that morning, so I couldn’t very well lie to someone I just met.  Now, whether she did a dry cut because I was late or because I wasn’t a paying customer I can’t say.  But I cannot argue with the fact that it is a GREAT cut.  Great, I tell you.

The Cut:

I really don’t do before and after pics well because I am so unphotogenic, but HH snapped this shot of me and Wog playing with his new clown disguise and you can kind of see the choppy, layery, rock-n-roll goodness that was my hair when she fixed it.  Well, you really can’t see it much at all since it was taken with his phone.  But aren’t we entertaining?

Bottom line:  I had a really good experience even though I was late and not a paying customer.  I got an awesome cut that I can easily style.  After she gets back from maternity leave, Lindsie has a new regular.  Happy hair = happy Brandi!

Big big thanks to Amanda for the freebie!  (Which if you are not reading her blog or following her on Twitter, you should.  She’s hilarious!)  ** SEE AMANDA’S COMMENT BELOW (it’s the first one)– GREAT CHANCE FOR ANY BIRMINGHAM-AREA READERS TO GIVE LINDSIE A TRY FOR FREE, TOO!

Now, what new did you do?

She Is…

February 16, 2010 15 comments »

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1.  Madame Poopypants
(Several. Times. A. Day.)
2.  Helga (If she likes something, she deems it “goot”.)
3.  Maltilda (My mom calls her this.  It just fits.)
4.  Boodle (Short for Buggyboodle, sister of Woggiewoodle)
5.  Little Lady (She just is.)

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6.  Sassypants (Yeah. We’re pretty much in trouble for the next 20 or so years.)
7.  Butternut (As in the squash)
8.  Punkin Pie (This one just flows?)
9.  Little Angie (Angie is my mom. They are too much a lot alike.
10.  Bug

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Check out more Top Ten Tuesday posts, over at Oh Amanda.

Monday Must-Reads: The Ambien Edition

February 15, 2010 3 comments »

Here are a few posts that made me have to go my internet history to make sure I wasn’t participating in some wee hour, Ambien-induced, ghost blogging.

And, no I’m not taking Ambien.

But I’ve heard it makes you so some WACKY stuff in your “sleep”.

So, if you have any send it over.

I kid.

Now on the posts that I could have written myself. You know if I were a talented writer and all.

How to Bless Your Children @ Impress Your Kids
(written by Candace of Twiggie Makes, who I’ve actually met for real & will be hanging out with again very soon.  So.  Excited.)  Not only do Candace and I have a lot in common as moms since our children are only months apart, but we have some of the same “baggage” as well.  One of us has dealt with it, the other has developed a sort of late-in-life scoliosis from carrying it around on her shoulder.  Read her post, and I’ll let you guess which one of us is which.

The Ultimate Perspective @ Fried Okra
It’s really a follow up to this post, which is an awesome read too. (Don’t forget to read the comments– wow!)  All I can say is  PREACH IT, MEGAN!

Just Move the Rug, Idiot @ The Gremlin Wrangler
Insightful.  Awesomeness.

Fifty-Two New, Week 6: Nothing

February 11, 2010 3 comments »

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I’m so very disappointed to tell you that I did/bought/said/thought nothing new this week.

The problem is that each week  I keep thinking that my new thing is going to be buying a house.  That post is already written.  And each Thursday,  without fail, I am disappointed again.  I’m not sure how I keep leaving myself open to the heartbreak of it week after week.  You’d think after almost five months, I’d be a little numb to it.  With each passing week, though, it still feels like a punch in the gut. And, with each passing week I feel like I might just come apart.  But I handle it.  As burdensome as all of this uncertainty is, I know that it will come to an end.  Eventually.  And Monday comes with hope renewed.

Hmmm… maybe under all this glass-half empty exterior, I’m an optimist.

Maybe that’s my new thing.

So what about you?  Can you cheer me up with your new thing? Link up!

Fifty-Two New, Week 5: Some Order

February 5, 2010 5 comments »

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While frantically packing up the family to head north to our church’s Family Life Retreat, it occurred to me that I had not posted this week’s new thing!  Let me be honest, while I LOVE my new thing this week, I was really hoping for it to be something else.  There are a couple of big things on the horizon, but keeping true to the norm for our family, things are “held up”.

So, on to what I did actually do this week.

Remember when I showed you my make up bag?  What I didn’t share is how OVER the actual bag I am.  I do not really like pilfering through to find what I need.  For months and months, I’ve been pining away over this bag at Ulta.  At $28, it was a little more than I wanted to pay (hence all the waiting).  Last week, though, Ulta sent out a 20% off your ENTIRE purchase coupon and I figured it was time to get it.  When I got there I found the exact bag in a discontinued print marked down to $15.99 (and I still got the 20% off).

And, while I’m not crazy about the colors:

The inside makes me so very happy.  And calm.

So what about you?  Did you do something new?

Have I Ever Told You That I’m Shallow?

February 2, 2010 24 comments »

Well, believe it.

For years, I’ve struggled with feeling undervalued.  Very few people I interact with regularly knew me before my days consisted mostly of wiping behinds and watching Blue’s Clues.  So, I try not to hold a grudge when someone dismisses my opinion, or, even worse, doesn’t even care to ask for my opinion on some sort of an intellectual issue.  After all, I am not very well-spoken (never have been), I tend to make jokes (A LOT) and, chances are, if you engage me in conversation for any length of time, I’ll end up mentioning diapers or lipgloss before it’s over.  The thing is that I know I’m smart.  And I know I have intelligent thoughts on things other than Lego blocks and Glee.  I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve left church or dinner with friends and said to my husband “______ thinks I’m shallow.”  But I knew I wasn’t.

Or was I?

3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

18“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. (Matthew 13: 3-6, 18-21, NIV)

I, my friends, am that shallow, rocky soil.  I’ve spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself because I have these two kids that consume me in every way imaginable.  And, while I have been thankful for them everyday, I have been mired in my own inadequacies and have become too shallow  for anything fruitful to take root in me.  I have lost focus.  It’s not unusual.  It’s expected, actually.  You have kids, they become the center of your world.  You lose yourself a little, then you get in a rhthym and it all comes back together. You are no longer the you you were before marriage and kids, you are an enhanced you.  A better you.  What no one told me (or I was too busy wrapped up in how hard this whole wife/mom thing is to really hear) is that the rythym doesn’t come on its own.  You have to go get it.  You have to fight tooth and nail until you claim it as your own.  You have to earn it.

It’s not for the lazy. It’s not for the navel-gazer.  It’s not for the shallow.  It’s not for the martyr.  It’s for the determined.

I am determined. 

So, if you think you’ve sensed a different tone around the blog, you have.  I am pretty sure I’ll still feel compelled to go on and on about lotion or inundate you with Christmas picture outtakes.   It’s just that this blog is a tiny window into my heart.  And my heart’s changing a little.  I’m digging a little deeper. 

Tilling the soil,  if you will.

Monday Must-Reads

February 1, 2010 4 comments »

Here is a string of posts that had me glued to my computer.  And, don’t worry, singlets, though both blogs are marriage-related, I think the core of the “argument” can be applied to so much more.

The Post That Started It:
A Good Marriage is the Enemy of a Great Marriage @ SimpleMarriage

The Rebuttal Rant:
A Manifest for “Pretty OK” @ Project M

In the spirit of true bloggy harmony, Kathleen and Corey agreed to exchange guest posts on each others’ blogs.
He Said (On Her Blog):
A Manifesto for “Pretty OK Sucks”

She Said (On His Blog):
In Defense of Pretty OK

Both bloggers present very persuasive arguments.  Did you find yourself agreeing more with one than the other?  I’d love to know your thoughts.

Fifty-Two New, Week 4: Soup?

January 28, 2010 11 comments »

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So, if you saw my tweet earlier, you know that this week has been chock-full of uneventful.  Unfortunately, I’m left with this as my fourth new thing:

soup

Yeah.

It was good.  And convenient.

Whee.

Of course, the mediocrity of my 2010 venture may be inspiring you to remove me from your feed reader.

What?  You’ve already done that?

Understood.

I don’t even read my own posts.

Here’s a bloggity treat for you:

hummus

And, while it cannot count as new because I tasted it last year, I figured it might up my cool points some.

So, you’ll come back.

Right?

(And for the record, you don’t just happen upon photo quality like this.  An iPhone and an unsteady hand– my bloggy career is gonna take me places.)

Did you try something new this week?  Link up below and tell your friends!