Thursday, October 31, 2019

Musings - October 2019

October is always a transitional month. It starts Q4 and is the run up to the holidays with a side of settling into school. I decided to settle into a "get moving" theme for the month with street named perfume, road called lipstick and some adventure.

Books: Travel month! So, in addition to finishing Buying Signals by Nikki Rausch,  I picked up a new book, Hello! My Name is Awesome by Alexandra Watkins. Both of which I ADORED as business books by smart women and am telling everyone about.

Kindle Unlimited. 
- All 3 of the Rosie O'Grady's Paranormal Bar and Grill books by B.R. Kingsolver
- Winter Hours by Mary Oliver

There were other books during the travel, but I didn't get them all finished. (Pictured but they don't count yet.) 

Gratitude: Couch snuggles. Local coffee shops that remember what you like. Kittens! (They are a year old now. Maybe I should call them "young cats"? They are big - over 9lb each - but have baby faces and are so cuddly. Kali especially likes to come talk to me about all her woes in the morning. It's so cute!) October blue skies. Dinners with friends. Orange trees. Discounts at nice hotels. Soda fountains with alcoholic drinks. Unexpected water and fire shows. Art and wine.  And buying yourself a bouquet because you just damn want flowers.

Listening: My own thoughts. They are B-I-G right now. And during a LONG driving trip, Dan Carlin's Hardcore History, which you can rock through at 1.5 speed and not miss a thing.

Perfume: It's October. Time for a change. I went with the new mini bottle of Magazine Street that Strange Invisible Perfume is offering. (And it became part of my weird travel theme.)

And I nearly forgot! I tried out perfumes! Skylar is the brand (clean perfume, made in the USA.) And... on me, it had ZERO sillage. I loved the easy packaging. I loved the fresh scents - and they were just as described. I loved the mix suggestions. (Arrow and Meadow were my two favorites   - possibly because they were the ones that stayed on - and I liked them better mixed.) But if it doesn't stay on my skin but 30 minutes - it's a bust as a fragrance.  
- Isle - Clean, Dewy, Fresh
- Coral - Fruity, Floral, Flirty
- Arrow - Spicy, warm, seductive
- Meadow - Floral, Chic, Beautiful
- Capri - Sparkling, Citrus, Sweet
- Willow - Woodsy, Cool, Lush
That said, I'm still tempted by the pricepoint on ordering Arrow and Meadow as a duo.....

Random: 
1) I now know the historical meaning of Bar and Grill - and it's not what you think it is. That meaning is also very well suited to the Kingsolver book.

2) I rented the cutest car for a business road trip. I wore Magazine Street perfume and Kismet's Country Roads lipstick on the trip to be on theme.

Recipes: Oatmeal cookie update! We've discovered I had inadvertently modified the standard recipe - and we like it more! (Here's the link to what we started with.) We've done it up with the blueberries and with chocolate chips. Both good.  

 Here's my recipe (and yes, use this order to put it together):
- 2 sticks butter, very soft 
- 2 cups packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 cups oats (old fashioned or quick cook)
- 3 eggs (beaten)
- nuts,  dried berries or chocolate chips to taste

 Mix well before you get in the eggs. (I mix after vanilla extract. I also mix after flour. And again after oats. I use a fork.) Add beaten eggs 1 at a time. Once throughly mixed, spoon onto parchment lined-pan in even amounts. (It makes about 18 cookies for me - but we make BIG cookies).

 Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. 

Self-Care Overview: 

 I've been wearing Country Roads lipstick the second half of the month. It's part of my travel theme. (See top image for color.)

 Soap of the month was Morning Dew. (The label says... lily of the valley. hyacinth. wisteria. spring blooms poking though the ground after a fresh soaking rain.) Very feminine and fresh. I took it with me on 3 trips (Philadelphia, Grand Rapids, St. Louis).
Keeping the Face Young Skincare...
Day - I killed off the Juice Beauty oil early in the month. So full switch for day to Mad Hippie's Vitamin C Serum then 100% Pure's Super Fruit Oil Nourishing Eye Cream and then top my whole face with light application of Pacifica's Super Flower Power Rapid Response Face Oil.  Seems to work well with either quick Bare Minerals powder or with full-on Juice Beauty CC Cream + finishing powder.

Night  - There was some travel. When I travel, I tend to use my DHC Beauty samples as night as lotions and to try different products. I also take my DHC Oilve Oil Cleanser and Face Wash during travel. (I love my various cleansing balms, but when I travel, I don't want to use the hotel washcloths on my face - who knows what those were laundered in?!? And balms need a face cloth wipe, for sure.) On non-travel days, at night, I've been using the African Botanics's Cell Recovery Serum all over plus African Botanics's Fleur d'Afrique Oil topped with either 1) Sweet Briar Hydrating Nectar by Heart of Gold that came in the Boxwalla box in August or 2) FlowerSpice Soothe and Repair Daily Moisturizer from the April box. Nearing the end of the the African Botanical Cell Recovery and I'm sad. (Not a pricepoint that's friendly to my current life.)

 Confession - I still haven't figured out how to use that Grommage Gel from the August box. Never seems to work for me.

 As always, we wait to see who says I look young. (I think the best was the Earthwise serums for that.) And NO! The Meijer store kid just clicked "over 40" as I bought my wine.

Stress: Big life things are in flux. Change is a wave you've got to learn to surf. Oddly, knowing that and making CHOICES (feeling empowered) helped a lot with my stress this month.

Things 13 Said: Did. She's become a tater-tot thief. To which she tells me "Who counts their tater-tots?" Me. The answer is me because you steal them.

 We went to visit her 19 year old sister at art school. We surprised her at work - and then stayed there as she works at a hotel! (Cute space, too and walking distance to lots of things.) 

 The 3 of us tried rock climbing as our fun adventure. The girls were naturals! (I'm more of a natural anchor. But I did give it a college try.) And if you have never done it - it's hauling your entire weight up by your arms while balancing on small stones, then trusting a rope to not drop you to your death. I'd do it again. 
Watching: Designing Women on Hulu! Blacklist on Netflix. (Is it weird I want to BE Reddington when I grow up?) Schitts Creek on Netflix. And my spirit animal, Jessica Wong, is back in play with Fresh off the Boat.

Take- away - Some times you have to set boundaries with other people. But, you get to define the boundaries of you. Maybe it's time for you to stretch those boundaries!
Original musings posts you may enjoy:


All photos by moi! And you can tell...

*Juice Beauty is a staple in my beauty cabinet. I stray, I try other things - but it's my favorite "foundation" (I used the CC Cream) and great skin care. If you like Juice Beauty too, here is a link. I do get a small commission (at no cost to you) when you use these links which helps support this blog.

- Skin Care by Juice Beauty
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