Work to be Done

So, I’m back after a bit a hiatus. I’ve been working on stuff at home and taking care of me and mine. I’ve finally started to feel like I’m getting a handle on things again and I can find the energy for writing. It’s been crazy and only likely to get crazier with the holidays coming up, so it’s a good thing I’m feeling confident.

My list of things to do is a mile long and my pace is that of a determined tortoise. This is a vast improvement on my previous pace of sleepy sloth. It’s funny how your to do list can be a million things but when you look at it more broadly, it’s really only a few things. Take care of yourself, your home, your family, and maybe try to find some time to improve yourself. When you look throughout the world and history, this is everyone’s story, over and over.

Right now I’m starting to make plans for Christmas and Thanksgiving and New Year’s. We’re watching our budget this year more closely than last year, but that’s okay. It’s been a tough year, and I’m more interested in time with family and friends than with things anyway. I’m certain my kids have more than enough stuff, and I know I do too. Of course knowing that and deciding how to handle gifts this season are two different things and I’m still in research mode. I do know some ladies on my list will be getting some nice AVON stuff!

However, it’s not December yet, and I’d like to get through Thanksgiving before tackling another holiday. I’ll be spending time with my family at their little house on the orchard and we’re making big plans for playing cards and doing crafts. In the meantime I’ll continue to get my home in order, and try to show my kids that there is more to life and the holidays than video games. Even in a very bad year, there are things to be grateful for.

As always, I’ll end this with a coupon code for my eshop. Receive a free Woodland Retreat Candle with online order over $45, and as with all order over $40, free shipping! Ends tonight!

Birthday Celebrations Continue

October is a big month for birthdays in my life. Not only my own, but many of my friends and family. Most importantly, my husband’s birthday falls near the end of October. Because of that, we’ve gotten in the habit of having a little getaway about midway between the two to celebrate both of our birthdays. This may have to be the last time for awhile though, because I really didn’t like leaving my corgi on his own, with only daily check-ins.

Still, we had a great time. We went to the fascinating B&B in California known as Vision Quest B&B at the Monterey Zoo. The Monterey Zoo is an amazing facility that is kind of in the process of being turned into a Zoo. For years it was Wild Things Animal Rentals Inc which hired out exotic animals for photoshoots, movies and television. Now, it is home to many retired show business animals and they are shifting their focus to education and conservation. Although, truth be told, they have been working in animal education for many years. I seem to vaguely recall them coming to my school when I was a kid with a very large boa constrictor.

The B&B portion of the business is great, with safari-like bungalows and a great view of the big elephant playpen outside the window. The playpen is a large enclosure, I think they said 5 acre, where their four African Elephants hang out during the day with their friends who consist of two water buffalos, an ostrich and zebra. I don’t think I’ve ever come across such a unique business and facility. It is owned and operated by some of the most dedicated animal lovers I have ever seen, and it was a great experience to stay with them for two days.

I’ll include a link to their website, although be forewarned, that it is a bit outdated. The very friendly and knowledgeable staff told me that updating it with more current information is in the works, although she had no timeline for that. They also have a Facebook page, which is updated with events, pictures and videos occasionally.

Vision Quest B&B

As always, I will leave you with an AVON coupon code.

AVON Palette Preview

I just got this beautiful new palette from AVON. I haven’t really been too big on palettes for awhile. When I was younger they were all terrible quality. Then, the quality got better but I had no idea how to use them. Now, palettes are everywhere. They can be good quality, nice selections, easy to use, and affordable. AVON’s is all of the those.

First off, there is a nice big mirror. I tend to use a lighted makeup mirror, but who knows when I’ll need one so that’s a useful feature. Next, there is a variety of very wearable eye shadows in matte, shimmer and metallic. I tend to prefer mattes at this stage of the game, but a little shine is nice if I’m going out or it’s a special occasion. There are five beautiful glosses, that can be worn alone or layered over lipstick. Then, there are the face colors. There is a matte contour powder, a shimmer bronze, and a shimmer highlight. Three shimmer blushes in both cool and warm complete the set.

I was thinking I’d try swatching in on my arm, like I’ve seen so many make-up mavens do online. However, I’m pretty pale, so I don’t know if that’s a good idea of how a color would look on a normal human. Plus my arms are freckled with other scars and marks, and I just didn’t think it would look good. So, I swatched them on plain white paper to just see how the color looked, how pigmented, or how well it blended. I think this was a much better idea for me.

For reference, these were swatched on plain white printer paper, late afternoon. I did not use any filters during or after. I added a white border for contrast in editing. The first 3 pictures are the eye shadows, followed by the face powders, then the lip glosses. I have to say I was pretty surprised by this palette. I expected this to be one of those ones where I end up using 3 colors and never touch the others. However, I think all the colors are really pretty and wearable, and with occasional help from Youtube, I have every intention of finding ways to make every single one of them work for me. I apologize for how poorly the lighter shades showed up. The light neutral shades are so strange in that they are not exciting, but you tend to use them until they are gone because they are so great for blending, for base, for highlight, for just so many makeup uses.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful for those of you looking for a nice palette to round out your collections, or to experiment with. It’s only $19.99 right now, so it’s a great deal, and AVON does offer a money back guarantee.

Get yours here!

 

Happy Birthday to Me!

I have started and not finished several blog posts recently, as well as other projects. It is October 11th and school is in full swing, we’re gearing up for the big block of holidays and I turn 42 today. It is so easy to let things fall by the wayside when you’re hip deep in homework, school fund raisers, and of course, the inevitable school age problems of lunches, learning and bullies.

I’m very positive about the whole aging thing, even though this year I have no actual plans for my birthday. I am not one of those ‘Oh no! I’m old!’ people who obsess over younger people, my own lines or grey hairs, or even about how successful I feel I ought to be by now. No, I’m firmly in the ‘Yay! I made it another year!’ camp. Hey, life in uncertain at the best of times, and I have always been clumsy. So every year passing, still alive, with no broken bones, is kind of a miracle to my mind.

That said, I’m a little on the introverted side, and generally only enjoy parties which are short, or where I know every single person there personally. I also don’t really enjoy throwing parties, as I wear myself to a frazzle during planning and set up, then once people arrive, I just give up. I just throw my hands up with a ‘whatever’ attitude and let it go. Then afterwards I have to basically rest for 3 days. I’ve thrown parties, both at my home and in restaurants. I’ve had impromptu dinners at the last minute so that I can enjoy my friends without the planning. I’ve also had years where I just stayed in and ordered out.

This year it’s on a Tuesday and I’m a mom. This is a school week. Kids have to be taken to school and picked up, homework has to be done, baths and showers, lunches, laundry, and of course, dinner. I had thought to take them out and celebrate with just my little family, but wowza does that seem like a lot of work for a school night. I think I may just order in and try to relax as much as I can. My husband and I do have plans for a little getaway midway between our two birthdays as kind of a Just the Two of Us joint celebration.

All in all, I’m glad to be alive, proud to have made it to 42 and although it is to be quite low-key, I’m not sad about my birthday at all. I have things to do, so many things, and at the very least, when your to-do list is miles long you really never have a reason to be bored. If you’d like, comment and let me know what your favorite low-key ways to celbrate are!

Here’s a great AVON coupon code!