Christmas 2010

I'm always amazed at how fast Christmas comes around every year. Christmas 2010 has come and gone but Santa left me with some pretty excellent presents this year. Here's a short list of some of my favorite gifts this year:

1. Philosophy Gingerbread Girl

This body wash and lotion sincerely smell like gingerbread. Someone recently told me that their resolution for 2011 is to buy less things but of higher quality. This set makes me want to adopt that same resolution.





2. My very own picture book! Brian went to Lulu and made a picture book of our pets. The pictures are high quality and you can even add text. When I finally write that children's book, I can publish it myself at Lulu.

3. Garmin If you know me then you know I have the capability of getting lost in my own garage. I needed this badly. The interface is easy to use and you can choose the accent of the voice that gives the directions. I opted for the British voice. Surprise, surprise.


4. Manic Street Preachers book I love to read and I love the Manic Street Preachers so this is a perfect gift. Many of the pictures are new to me as are several of the accounts discussed in the book. I can spend hours trying to figure out Richey's mystery.

Your turn. What did you get for Christmas?

Ovens, candles, wire cutters... oh my!

I have a conflict: I love make-up but I don't like clutter. Too bad for me that the two often go hand-in-hand. Many cosmetic brands put their products in cute containers that often take up too much space. What's a girl to do?

A few years ago I decided to use empty CD cases as a means to organize my makeup. I popped the eyeshadows out of their original containers and hot glued them into the CD cases. This worked out pretty well but some of the shadows caused problems with the case closing; not to mention that the cases didn't necessarily fit into my bathroom counters easily.

Now all kinds of companies make very cute magnetic makeup cases. However, the suggestions on depotting the eyeshadows is kind of frightening. Any time ovens, candles, and wire cutters are involved I have to think twice.

Where Have I Been?

I haven't updated my little blog in a while. I am on vacation (well, almost...tomorrow is my last day!) so hopefully I will have more time to share with you all. My time has been filled up with grad school, work, baking, a cold that won't go away and Christmas!

I am excited to annouce that I have a new website for all of my baked goods here. The site just went up last night so there is more to come over there.

A rose by any other name

Everyone who knows me well knows that I'm cheap. I love a good bargain and if I have a coupon that's all the better. I'm also never one to hesitate to buy off brand. However I am learning that there are a few products that are better in their name brand form. Here's the short list:

1. Face foundation. In my opinion, most cosmetics work about the same. Sure, a $30 eyeshadow is probably better than a $7 eyeshadow but maybe not better enough to justify the price. Foundation is the exception. Better brands go on my face smoother, smell better (I'm scent sensitive), and are not as likely to break my face out. I suggest Clinique foundation.

2. Cooking sprays.  For as long as I have been living and cooking on my own I have been buying off brand cooking sprays. When I ran out of my Giant Eagle brand spray, I decided that since I am baking for hire I would try Pam cooking spray. I have to admit that I'm pretty blown away by the results. My cakes are popping right out of the pan and the pan looks so clean you can barely tell it was used. I will probably keep a can of the cheap spray around for day-to-day cooking but for baking it's Pam all the way.

3. Pop. I call it pop. You might call it soda but regardless what name it goes by, it needs to be the name brand. Off brand pop tastes flat and I think it has a weird spiciness.

4. Tennis shoes. Buying name brand shoes is probably smart in general but I know from lots of experience that you get what you pay for with tennis shoes. Good tennis shoes get broken in quickly and seldom will they give you blisters or rub your feet raw. Your feet hold your entire body up so treat them right and invest in a good pair of shoes. I also suggest you go to a shoe store that will help you find the right shoes. I like Front Runner. The sales person helped me pick out the right shoe by analyzing my shoe patterns and watching me run and walk. It was very helpful. My favorite running shoe is made by Asics.

What are some items you insist on buying name brand?

Product Review: Bath and Body Works Foam Soap

I take my soap seriously and I expect a lot from it. I expect it to smell good, get my hands clean, and not dry them out. Bath and Body Works foam soap does all of this but I don't think I'm buying it anymore and here is why:

The pump itself sucks. It's stiff and it goes all over the place. This is a new pump design and the sales person at the store told me they changed it because the old design wasn't letting you use as much of the product. Well, I'm not using as much now that most of it ends up in the sink.

My Diet Survived the Weekend

I have been on countless diets and I have always given up by the weekend. My latest diet, a low carb diet, survived the weekend and that's a huge step for me. Since last Monday I am down 10 pounds and I feel very successful. Here is why I think this time around has been easier for me:

1. I found a diet that works for me. There's a lot of mixed feelings on low carb diets. The diet that seems to receive the most accolades is the Weight Watchers diet. I have a friend who was extremely successful with Weight Watchers and I gave it a try last spring but it did not work for me. Weight Watchers is basically calorie counting in the form for points. As long as you don't go over your points you can allow yourself a sweet treat. This did not work for me because once I have one sweet treat, I want more and more. I have a major sweet tooth and a low carb diet is forcing me to break that nasty habit.

2. I'm ready for it. I finally got motivated enough to do something to lose weight. It takes a while. I've known for a while that I needed to lose weight but I was not quite motivated enough. Just like with any other addiction, and I do consider food to be an addiction for some of us, you have to be ready to break the habit. When you're ready, the whole process feels different that time around.

3. Head games. I approached my diet by psyching myself out. My dear friend is getting married at the end of October and I told myself that I would at least try this diet until her wedding. This provides me with a short term, doable goal.

4. Talk amongst yourselves. Talking about my diet is also helping me. By telling all of you out there that I'm trying to lose weight I feel accountable to do just that. The next time you see me or the next time I post a picture of myself I certainly do not want to have gained weight after telling everyone about my diet! But I promise not to turn this into diet central.

Day 2 on the Atkins Diet

I'm down 3 pounds today from yesterday! I'm sure it's water weight but you have to start somewhere, right? I'm still feeling highly motivated. Hopefully I can stay motivated through the weekend!