Monday, September 30, 2019

Musings - September 2019

September felt like the start of a new year! It also felt a year long. I coped with books as self-care and a touch of skin-care changes. 

 Books: I've continued to kill it on the Kindle Unlimited. As I finish the new author binge on Linsey Hall ....
- The 5 books of the Dragon's Gift: The Huntress by Linsey Hall
- The 5 books of the Dragon's Gift: The Amazon by Linsey Hall
- The 3rd book of the Dragon's Gift: Queen of the Fae by Linsey Hall

 And then I went rouge from Kindle Unlimited and mixed physical with electronic on three books of JR Ward's Black Dagger series. (The King - electronic, The Shadows - electronic , and The Chosen - physical.) 

 Also, one of my Twitter friends wrote a grand book which I devoured in 2 days. The Bear's Wife. It's sci-fi. It's historical fiction. It's a romance. It's an adventure. It's ALL the THINGS, and I am in breathtaking awe of the world she created in her head to share with the rest of us. It's available on Kindle Unlimited!

 And then there was the clean up reading just getting a few things off my Kindle Unlimited since you can only have 10 things out at once:
- A Beautiful Poison by Lydia King
- The 2 books of the Southern Belles and Spells Matchmaker Mysteries by Amy Boyles
- All 6 of the Federal Bureau of Magic series by Annabel Chase
- Beaten at His Own Game (BackRoom Bookstore #9) by Susan Harper.
- Shadows and Souls (Eve Williams book 3) by Ashley Beasley

 In summary, it was an escapist reading month. #SorryNotSorry My reading challenge of 52 books is dust. I'm sitting right around 130 books for the year. 

Gratitude: Chubby kitties. New nail polish. New skin care. Brunch. Farmer's market. The beautiful sky (because dog has to go out with a person, I get to really see the sky - far from city lights - at all kinds of hours in all kinds of moods.). 

Listening: In addition to the Dave Ramsey Podcast, I've been very Ophelia by Natalie Merchant. Just that kind of a month. A little Dido, The Girl Who Got Away and Stevie Nicks, Trouble in Shangrai-La.

Perfume: Every day is Willow & Water from the Library of Flowers. Except the days I've been skipping it because I'm bored. Starting a new set soon!


Random: Green River (lemon and vanilla) and Blue Moon (almond and lemon) are the best flavors ever - despite being fake.

Recipes: Early in the month, I made a lively Indian curry - using only green and white veggies. But since the sauce was pre-made, I won't count it as a recipe. 

 It was an Indian curry kind of month. I made it several times with different combos of fresh veggies. I love my new tiny farmer's market and bought several awesome sets of mushrooms, okra and even paw-paw fruit!

 Something new - I added blueberries to oatmeal cookies. Delicious! The blueberries were starting to dry out just a bit and it was the perfect use for them.
Self-Care: Nails, Skincare and Soaps.
Ooh! I discovered a grand new nail polish - LBK. It's USA made and free from many nasty chemicals. And.... you can flick up the lid to see the color against your skin. Best bottle design ever!

 Skin...Day - On hot days, I'm stil using the 5Yina - the Lucent Beauty Duo  from the June  Boxwalla box . I'm still adding Farizad's Veil from Earthwise Beauty to the oil as my first line of sun protection and layer underneath my 100% Pure Eye Cream. On non-sun days, I've been using what my Juice Beauty serum and oil (again with the Farizad's Veil mixed-in, just in case.) I did, however, buy a new duo of mis-matched day wear.

Night  - After a cleanse with the Heart of Gold's "Sea Change Cleansing Balm" which came in the August Boxwalla box, followed with my DHC Cleansing Powder I've been mixing up the after-care.  I've been using the African Botanical's Cell Recovery Serum  all over plus Fleur d'Afrique Oil (same brand) around the eyes and at the neck + Plus a little of the Siam Seas Sai Clear Skin Serum on problem areas - until I killed it off mid-month. Alternatively, I picked up a Mad Hippie Vitamin C serum and a Pacifica Tansy Oil that I've used just a touch of. More next month!


Soaps. Alright. I finally figured out the deal with Cellar Door Soaps. They are wonderful. But they have a masculine vibe to me. Even this month's new soap - Dogwood Apple Blossom. The ginger in that just jumps up and bites you, overpowering any floral essence. And then, on Instagram, I caught that the owner, drum roll.... is a guy! His wife does the Instagram photos but the nose behind the soaps is masculine. It also explains the heavy coloration that lingers on your bathtub and requires an extra scrub. Villianess soaps (female creator) are also heavily scented but don't require extra tub clean-up. And the thank you gifts from Villianess extend the product line - cream and oils as well as extra soap bits. I highly recommend trying soaps NOT made by mass production. There are pricepoints for every budget (Cellar Door is about $7 each bar, while Villianess is about $11 - but the Zum Bar, lovely goatsmilk soaps, are just $6.50 and richly lathers) and so many scents.

Stress: Changes are hard, messy and I'm still waiting for the gorgeous part becasue right now I feel like I'm flying without a net.

Things 12 Said: 1) This was not said but done. She labeled the cookies.
2) We "shared" a container of gummy bears - she carefully doled out 2 at a time for me, but never the red or pale yellow, because those are her favorites.
3) She decided the dog's new haircut was "formal, like a butler." (They messed up his faux hawk.)  
4) At lunch we were thinking about vegetables she likes to eat - carrots, beets, potatoes - and she tells me she just basically likes "roots and fruits". She's not wrong.
5) For her 13th birthday - we did her first mani/pedi

Watching: I binged  Carnival Row. (I recognize so many actors in this.) A few episodes of Orange is the New Black but this last season is very dark so I get "tired" quickly. And guess what? Designing Women on Hulu!!! (I am Julia Sugarbaker, forever.) I had 13 watch a few episodes - she agreed.

Take- away - What are you willing to risk to get what you want? Something you are holding on to is holding you back. This month, I decided what I'm willing to risk. It's going to be an adventure from here!
September is a total start over month. As such, if you need a Boot Camp style re-start, check out my book with a 7 day kick starter. (Click here!)




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
Follow my blog with Bloglovin  - A new way to follow!
Labels: , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for commenting!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)