Musings - November 2019

November is a wind-up for the holidays. We've been planning for that and a trip at the end of the month. Plus I had some business travel (scenes from my hotel). It's been busy! (And the trip is the WHY of why this post is so very delayed)

Books: Kindle Unlimited is the bomb! I ran a full series on a new-to-me author, C.N. Crawford.
- C.N. Crawford's Shadow Fae series (7 books) - not for serious fantasy readers. When you world-build, the details matter. But it's got beach read fun vibe going for it.
- C.N. Crawfords's Dark King (1st book of the Sea Fae series)
- All 4 books of Elle Adam's Library Witch series
- Laura Thalassa's War and Pestilence books
- Rise of the Fae by Linsey Hall - finished out the Dragon's Gift: Dark Fae books
- The Selling Staircase by Nikki Rausch, which was the only physical book I read!

I did not finish 1000 White Women in November.


Gratitude: Time with friends. Fresh laundry. Holidays with people who love me. Girls night out. New recipes. Kitten purrs. (Despite how soft and cuddly they are, they will be 2 in March. I should start calling them cats.)

Listening: Halsey. And a lot of podcasts. Million Dollar Bad Ass. Dave Ramsey. Planet Money. Dan Carlin's HardCore History (which you can listen to at 1.5 speed to power through those long episodes.)  Don't Keep Your Day Job. Marketing Duct Tape.

Perfume: Still rocking that Magazine Street. It's a travel theme.


Random: We are spending some time away for the holidays and I'm very excited about that. It has involved many vaccinations.

Recipes: Nothing new but we had a hell of a Thanksgiving Day menu. Traditional favorites all the way around. Corn casserole. Green bean casserole*. Stuffing with apples. Stuffing with mushrooms. Deviled eggs. Pigs-in-blanket. (Latter two courtesy of 13 - it's her specialty). Home-made cranberry sauce. Zucchini bread. Berry cobbler. Pumpkin pie. Ham. And then his family brought rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turkey and a still warm apple pie.


*Let us discuss the green bean casserole. If you are American or Canadian and make it with canned beans - YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. Frozen green beans. Garlic cream of mushroom soup. Fresh shallots. (I will accept frozen pearl onions.) Fresh mushrooms. A bit of milk and pepper. Then, the French's onions on top. There is no other way to make it. Soggy canned green beans are why people hate it. Made properly - this is how it looks.

Self-Care Overview: 

I've been wearing Country Roads lipstick (Kismet, an Amercian brand) the second half of the month. It's part of my travel theme for this month, too.


"Keeping the Face Young" Skincare...
Day - 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 Le Masque Hydralift Intense (October Boxwalla box) all over plus African Botanics's Fleur d'Afrique Oil. 

Stress: Big. Family stuff. (Of which I've said before. But it's still tough simply not being invited to big holidays.) Work stuff. 

Things 13 Said: Did. She's kickboxing now and has become a very teen-age girl. Lots of time in her room.

Watching: Shameless. (Spoiler - really Fiona? $50K? Is that for your guilt so you don't see them again?) Bob Hearts Abishola. Mom. Finished The Blacklist. 

Take- away - Your life is built for choices. Make the ones that work for you. Because you are in charge of your choices- and your life.

Original musings posts you may enjoy:

- Musings - October 2019
- Musings - September 2019
- Musings - August 2019
- Musings - July 2019
- Musings - June 2019
- Musings - May 2019
- Musings - April 2019
- Musings - March 2019
- Musings - February 2019
- Musings - January 2019
- Musings - December 2018
- Musings - November 2018
- Musings - October 2018
- Musings - September 2018
- Musings - August 2018
- Musings - July 2018
- Musings - June 2018

- Musings - May 2018
- Musings - April 2018
- Musings - March 2018
- Musings - February 2018
- Musings - January 2018

- Musings - December 2017

- Musings - November 2017

- Musings - October 2017

- Musings - August 2017
- Musings - June 2017
- Where Did March Go?

- Musings - February 2017
- Musings - January 2017

- Message in a Bottle (2016)

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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Musings - March 2018

New things are good, right? (That is, after all, what spring is about, new beginnings and trying new things.) This was one of those months when I tried a bunch of new things. Some of them were awesome (Kismet Cosmetics) and some were "interesting*. This may be because next month is my birthday. And it may be because I'm trying to make some positive changes.

Books: I'm still doing the thing where I read 10 pages per book a night of 3 books - one history, one fiction, and one business. (Except the JR Ward book which I just read straight through because mind-candy!) Which means, I'm making slow going on some of the longer books - especially if I have to miss a night due to exhaustion. As noted, I finished out J.R. Ward's The Beast (which, if you haven't been reading her whole series is just too involved to jump in.) It was on sale at the store - and sometimes a girl needs a treat. I also, finished out Amber Hurdle's The Bombshell Business Woman. (I would have edited it differently to be a lot less personal upfront, but after about chapter 3 - it's filled with solid business advice and a ton of resources. This one should be a must buy for entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially those in the service sector. It now sits squarely on my business book shelf.) The Way of the Witch is actually 3 novels in one. And I'm through the first 2. And here's my thought - the author is in love with long and unusual words that get in the way of the story. Also, so far, the  first and third are the better books. The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn by Retha Warnicke is a very dense history book filled with superfluous names; this is one of the books that is benefiting from the 10 pages a day per book as it makes the information chunk very manageable. Local Dollars, Local Sense by Michael Shuman is an interesting premise of investing local that I started apres the Hurdle book.

Gratitude: So, I decided that I needed to re-align with a more pervasive spirit of gratitude. Which is why I re-connected with a gratitude journal a business friend wrote a few years ago. A nice nightly reminder to take 5 minutes and think about gratitude. And right now, I'm grateful for lilac buds, sunrises, beautiful skies, gracious friends, and the annual JC Penny dress sale.

Listening: The Bombshell Business Woman (podcast), Chalene Johnson (podcast), Susan Hyatt (podcast), Marketing Over Coffee (podcast) and tons of jazz. (Pandora is the best.)

Perfumes: This is the apex of my scented life. I've reached the point where I have upstairs perfume, downstairs perfume, purse perfume, and emergency office perfume. And that means I am certainly not sticking with any one scent! The emergency office perfume is a variety of DSH Perfume samples which I bought for that purpose. The current purse perfume is Pacifica's Tunisian Jasmine Lime roll-on. Upstairs is Paper Flowers. And, downstairs, I finished off the Magazine Street. Which was both sad, as I don't see a re-purchase in my near future due to pricepoint, and fun because now I get to try more stuff!

Recipes: One word for our recent late spring cold spell - casserole! I made the superfood, super nutritious quinoa casserole again. And folks, there is a secret to making quinoa. Rinse it first.  Here's the quinoa casserole recipe:
- Make quinoa according to package instructions. (I like red quinoa - which I rinse - and then make in the ratio of 1.5 cups quinoa to 3 cups of boiling water.)
- Cut and saute 1 sweet onion in a bit of olive oil (5-7 minutes)
- Cut the crowns off 2 heads of broccoli, rinse and separate the florets. Then throw them in the onion pan. After 2 minutes, add 1/4 cup of water and cover. Take off heat after 5 minutes.
- Add pre-cooked, butternut squash cut into squares to the onion/broccoli pan.
- In a large bowl - combine everything. Add 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
- Transfer everything to a very lightly greased (EVOO) casserole pan. Top with 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
- Bake it for 20 minutes or so at 350 degrees (until cheese is bubbly and melty)

This is nutritious, surprisingly delicious and stores well for about a week in the fridge. In total it takes about 1 hour to make this but it's an easy hour.

Self-care: A couple of my brands had sales for various holidays. My favorite was from Kismet Cosmetics. I've bought a few lipsticks from them and I really want to like them as a start up US brand. (Since last time I shopped them, they now have this really cool new service were you send your picture and they help you pick your best lipstick color.) They had this nifty idea about a surprise box. You set your $ of purchase and the box, depending on your amount, had between 2 and 5 new products to try. I ended up with Country Roads lipstick, which is not a color I would have tried but works for summer/fall. I'm trying out the new bronzer next week in Texas, too. (Midwest pale legs versus a warm weather climate!) We will see how that goes.

The other thing I tried is a new (to me) fashion line called Cabi. A business friend, Elisabeth, introduced me to the idea of personal styling for those of us who are regular working people. I got a few new (and awesome) cardigans and jackets. (See top picture for a bit of one of the pretty color cardigans.) The price point is higher than I usually go, but not by much, and with Elisabeth's help I've chosen things coordinate with what I currently have - extending my wardrobe and making my style more current with these flattering wardrobe additions.

Stress: Do you ever think about how much of your stress is from your own thoughts? Sometimes I do! And a recent article I read about negative thoughts has given me a good bit of food for thought on that line plus a few new tools for dealing with stress you make yourself. 

Things 11 Told Me: 
- Anything is travel sized (1 - she's not wrong; 2 - I guess the idea of travel sized is lost on 11 year olds as they grab the full-sized version for a sleep-over and forget to bring the item home)

Watching: Designated Survivor, Queen Sugar, Nikita. (Apparently I'm trying to channel Maggie Q. Maybe it will make me want to exercise more!)

Random: Adventure ahead. You just have to choose it.

*Take-away - Chinese fortune cookie definition - "May you live in interesting times". You get to decide how if it is meant well or as a mild curse.

Original musings posts you may enjoy:

- Musings - February 2018
- Musings - January 2018

- Musings - December 2017

- Musings - November 2017

- Musings - October 2017

- Musings - August 2017
- Musings - June 2017
- Where Did March Go?

- Musings - February 2017
- Musings - January 2017

- Message in a Bottle (2016)

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

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Three Lipsticks

On her dressertop, La Gram Russe had a filigreed golden holder for 3 lipsticks. The usual combo was a flattering pink for every day, a brown-pink alternative, and a reddish shade for special. I have a similar holder on my bathroom counter but it's a little more stuffed.

- Cabernet (Juice Beauty)
- Game Day (Pur Minerals)
- Toxic Cherry (Buxom)
- Cherry (Burts's Bees)
- Wild (Tarte)
- Glamour (Ulta)
- Daredevil (Pur Minerals)
- Crushed Coral (Kismet)
- Rhubarb (Burt's Bees)
- Wildflower (Kismet)
- Stardust (Lancome)
- Hawaiian Smolder (Burt's Bees)
- Hibiscus (Covergirl's Nature Lux line - which may now be defunct)
- Naked Gypsy (Kismet)

The funny part is I don't wear several of the colors; they just take up space on my counter. Naked Gypsy is too pale for my taste. Cabernet is weirdly dark and has a strange, thick, gritty texture. (My first clue I wouldn't like it should have been Gwyneth Paltrow as the Juice covergirl. Major disconnect for me. Not a Goop girl. I find Gwyneth quite out-of-touch with the real world.) The Stardust is a brand I don't buy and was a hand-me-down from my mother (she often receives freebies that are much too light for her Asiatic skin tones but work for the Russian/Irish paleness of my skin tone.) While Wildflower and Crushed Coral are brighter than my usual - they are American made and lovely. In truth, most days I grab one of the Pur Minerals or Burt's Bees and just do a quick swipe of color. I like that they are made with natural ingredients, easy to wear, and great colors.

But some days, I wonder if we aren't  - if I'm not - over complicating life. One of the beautiful things about La Gram Russe's 3 holder system is that it limited the number of morning decisions she had to make. (Much recent research has focused on our ability to make a limited number of decisions and that our best decision making happens in the morning.)  She didn't spend money frivolously on  extra options she wouldn't wear. And each of the choices was always "right" because she only kept 3 flattering shades. 

Take-away - It's your life and your choice. How simple or how complicated you make the choices are up to you. 

Photos by moi! (As usual, and you can tell.)

PS - I threw out the Cabernet and Naked Gypsy after taking this photo, despite the blow to my frugal soul. Down with clutter!

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PSS - for those of you who follow the comments in blogs, the awesome founder of Juice Beauty (Karen Behnke - who has a fantastic Michigan vibe)  reached out to me about trying a different Juice Beauty lip product. I'm currently loving the Photo-Pigments Luminous Lip Crayon in Zuma - texture is smooth and light while the color is present but subtle. (I see a purchase of Pebble in my future....) Because women ingest a scary amount of what they put ON their lips, you should always be as organic as possible with lip color. Juice Beauty fits that bill.

Other posts from me on self-care you might enjoy:

• Is it Kismet?
• The Eyes Have It
• Scents and Sensibility
• Scrubbed Up
• Scent and Memory 

Is it Kismet?

Naked Gypsy, Crushed Coral, Wildflower - Kismet Cosmetics

This is not a beauty blog by any means. But...I am a serial sharer. What I like. Ideas. Shortcuts. Happiness. And I'm also an experimenter. Sometimes it is food and recipes. Sometimes it is books. And, sometimes it is a bit of make up and skin care.  

The importance of self-care should not be under valued.  Good skin care. A nice perfume. A pretty lipstick. These things are pick-me-ups. 

"Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together." Elizabeth Taylor