Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Showering and Happiness

I have to share something I found just last night at Target. I was looking at the lotion section for something for my hands which have been extra dry since painting my bathroom (I found some "Hand" lotion in a small tube and got it). But that is not what I wanted to blog about. While looking for this I found the new Vaseline Cocoa Butter lotion (it came in cream, body butter, lotion with a pump or without). I smelled it, squirted a dab on my hands and immediately threw it in my cart. I was excited to use it for the first time today and I do love it. Love. I love the smell of chocolate, vanilla and coconut and I can't tell for sure but it seems like a mix of them all. HA! Most of the shower gels, lotions, body butter I have been buying lately aren't necessarily cheap. This was super cheap (the whole bottle was like 6 bucks or something). Anyway, yum!

Next, I have to make it complete. I have been using the Secret Kuku Coco Butter deodorant for a while now and LOVE. IT. It says it is "a perfect combination of sweet chocolate and warm vanilla"... and it is!! Pair it with the new lotion I found and I couldn't be happier after my shower. Enjoy!

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The Best Stuff Ever!!!

As per Shannon's request to share our fave make-up product here is my favorite! It is Fluidline eyeliner from M-A-C. It comes in all sorts of different colors and is AWESOME. It last all day, in fact some shades are almost impossible to get off, and it goes on so smooth and nice. I love it! So next time you're at the mall, stop by the MAC counter and check out all the fun colors!!!

Yeah, I am a sucker...

Yup, I do it. I buy into the ads, the photos, the promises. I probably have about a dozen mascara's sitting in my make-up drawer. But this one takes the cake. I love this mascara and think it's such a great product for the price. Maybelline Define-a-lash. I think I'll buy a few of them just in case they discontinue it. I used to LOVE their Illegal Lengths, and then they canned it. Why? I would have bought them out!
So here's the blogging challenge: What's your favorite mascara? or Makeup Product?


Monday, September 24, 2007

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Who Loves the Pumpkin!!


This one is for Julie, and all lovers of pumpkin and/or the fall season!!!! Yahoo! I love fall! I love the colors, the crispy coolness of the morning breeze, corn stalks, crysanthimums, pumpkins, gourds, Halloween, hiking in the mountains, the disney cartoon "Sleepy Hallow". I just can't get enough. Did I mention I love fall??!! Okay, so to kick-start the whole fall thing I had to stop by the other morning and get a "Pumpkin-Spice" steamer from my favvvvvv place to get hot chocolate....Starbucks!! Some Starbucks don't call it a steamer, rather a latte. Just my little morning indulgence- you've gotta get one tomorrow :-) Bottoms up girls!!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Low Fat Pumpkin Cookies

Okay Ladies...its been a while since I've posted but I've been in "Fall" baking mode for the last week so here is one of my families faves.
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 box of spice cake mix
1 bag of chocolate chips (I prefer milk chocolate but whatever floats your boat)
Preheat oven to 400. Mix pumpkin, cake mix ( just the powder--you DO NOT prepare the cake mix) and chocolate chips together. Place spoonfuls on greased cookie sheet and cook 10-15 minutes depending on your oven and cookie sheet. ENJOY!
They also make great mini muffins.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Olive Garden Soup

Inspired by "Zupas" in Alysha's post, here is a recipe for my favorite soup ever - Olive Garden's Zuppa Tuscana. This recipe is so amazingly close that we hardly dine out for it anymore. I've got another recipe for their salad (dressing included), but I haven't tried it out yet. Hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
1-2 lbs spicy Italian sausage (not in the casings - found packaged like ground beef)
3/4 cups onions, diced
10 slices bacon
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. chicken bouillon powder (or 2 cubes, crushed)
2 quarts water
5-6 medium potatoes sliced up and then halve the slices
2 cups kale leaves sliced thinly (spinach can be substituted)
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (try fat free half and half)
parmesan cheese for garnish

Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Place sausage links on a sheet pan and bake 25 minutes or until done. Cool, then cut in slices, then halve the slices.
Put onions and bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until the onions are almost clear. Remove bacon and crumble.

Add garlic to onions and cook one minute. Add bouillon powder, water and potatoes. Simmer 15 minutes.

Add bacon, sausage, kale and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve. Garnish with parmesan cheese.

Buon appetito!

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Locks of Love

Hey All! Ego asked how much hair you need to donate to Locks of Love. Here's the link to all the guidelines for donating to L.O.L. http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html

Thursday, September 13, 2007

My friend Holly asked me to do this post on We Know the Good Stuff for her. This same post appears on Tutus & Turtles.blogspot. So if things don't work quite right or look funny, check out that sight. As a cancer survivor myself, I am a HUGE supporter of anything that has to do with cancer research and support. After going through it myself, I can't even imagine what it must be like to go through something so devastating as a child. Read through this and see what you can do to help. Also, there is an adorable picture of a little girl named Sadie on the Tutus & Turtles blog. She is only 17 months old and fighting cancer.
*Kids Get Cancer Too*
Cancer in children is more common than most people realize. Childhood cancers behave very differently than adult cancers and the survival statistics are not as promising. Furthermore, the incidence of childhood cancers seems to be increasing. Please join us in increasing awareness of childhood cancer facts and statistics.
-Cancer is the number one killer of children by disease. It is the second leading cause of all childhood deaths exceeded only by accidents.
-One in 330 children will develop cancer before the age of 20.
-On average, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer every day in the United States.
-Approximately 12,400 children were diagnoses with cancer in the year 2000.
-Each year about 3,000 children die from cancer. This is more than from asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and pediatric AIDS combined.
-Only about 20% of adults with cancer show evidence that the disease has spread to distant sites on the body at diagnosis, yet 80% of children are diagnosed with advanced disease.
-In the past 20 years only one new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use.
-Only 3% of the budget from the National Cancer Institute goes toward pediatric cancer research. That's 3% of all pediatric cancers combined.
-The incidence of childhood cancer is increasing. The cause of this is unknown.
-Pediatric cancer funding is nominal in comparison to other more publicized diseases such as pediatric AIDS or juvenile diabetes, which increases in awareness every year.
-Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and exposure to cancer-causing agents. The cause of most childhood cancers is unknown.
-Approximately 70% of children with cancer participate in research trials compared to only 3% of adult cancer patients. As a result, many of the advances in adult cancer treatments are due to breakthroughs in childhood cancer research.
-The government recently cut the budget for childhood cancer research.
-As a nation, we spend $14 billion dollars per year on the space program, but only $35 million on childhood cancer research per year.
How You Can Help
-The Symbol for childhood cancer is the gold ribbon.
-Wear a gold ribbon to show your support.
-Have a car wash, bake sale, or any special event and donate the proceeds to the childhood cancer organization of your choice.
-Go through old video tapes, DVDs, and CDs to donate to your local Children's Hospital.
-Ask your Student Council or PTA for help in getting your or your child's school involved.
-Get your church youth group involved.-Host an Alex's Lemonade Stand.
-Educate youth by having them donate their allowance earned for the month of September.
-Participate in Locks of Love.
-Donate Blood.
-Email Oprah requesting a pediatric cancer show.
-Copy, post, and circulate this information.
-Support the kids fighting cancer by leaving messages on their pages and keeping them in your prayers.
-Click on the Add to sk*rt button on the bottom of this post, log in or register a new account, and click on the Love It! button connected to this tutus and turtle's post to help increase awareness of childhood cancer. You may have to search for the post under tutus and turtles or childhood cancer.

Lick my lips!

Another great find! So these lip glosses are pretty cheap (only $6 bucks or so), and are so tasty. I tried the Guava one first (lighter pink on the left) and loved it. So I went back and got the Raspberry Splash (not pictured) and love it even more. Gonna try the Fig one next! They have 12 different shades and flavors, and the colors are awesome. They are light enough to wear with liner, but dark enough to wear alone. They aren't sticky, and have great shine power. Good job Cover Girl! Also on the website, you can have Cover Girl tell you what colors would look best with your hair, eye, and skin tone.


I have to brag...


Yup, it's mine. I got a Dyson. This is the one I got. It's fabulous. It's my early birthday present from my sweet hubby. So I vacuumed my living room with my old vacuum, and then went over it with my Dyson and all I have to say is, SICK SICK SICK. I had a whole CUPFULL of dirt and crap come out of my Dyson. I have been silently and falsely living in filth. I feel betrayed. Betrayed by my Hoover. At least now, I know I can trust again. Thank you Dyson.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Hello Calgary



Hey Louise, This one is for you!!! Sorry to all our US friends, I couldn't resist! This is a commercial that used to play over and over and over while we were growing up! Everyone in town knew the words to this song! I love the clothes people are wearing! Too Funny!!

Paul Brandt - Alberta Bound

Well ladies, at the risk of excluding some, I couldn't help but post this! It's a shout-out to all my fellow Canadian girls who contribute to WKTGS- there seem to be a lot of us! We love America too XOXOXO!!! This really takes me back to the times I drove up from Idaho and Utah as a college student! It was always so exciting to be in the homeland again! This video says it all!! Enjoy!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Help! I need some advice.

I know this is going to sound so totally gross, but here it goes. My oldest son Tyler started getting some little itchy spots around his ankles about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I figured it was some allergy to grass or something at school. Then the spots started showing up in other places. On Tuesday I had had enough and took him to the Dr. The Dr. informed me that he is being bitten by fleas. Totally disgusting!!! Well, I have been freaking out, my pest control guy sprayed the yard yesterday and is coming to spray the house next week, but everyone keeps telling me that if they are in the house we would all have bites. Oh ya, and we have NO pets, very rare to have fleas around with no pets, my pest control guy is baffled. NO one else has bites. So, my poor kid has these stupid bites all over his body and I can't figure out where they are coming from. The only think I can figure is from someone or something at school. So, I emailed his teacher and they are investigating on that end. Have any of you ever dealt with this? I am suspecting it is one of the kids he is sitting next to in class, should I asked if he be moved and see if that helps? I just don't know what to do. I am totally paranoid they are in my house - it so gross.

Recommended Read!

Alright Ladies I just finished the book I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis. It was really good. It is a good size book and not a super fast read, but really interesting. Basically it is about the lady in the picture Mona Lisa. It is a historical Fiction book you could say. Here is a little excerpt for you all. "My name is Lisa di Antonio Gheradini, though to acquaintances, I am known simply as Madonna Lisa. My story begins not with my birth but a murder, committed the year before I was born."

So, I would love you guys to read it and tell me what you think. Just as a side note there are a couple more adult parts, but nothing to risque. Happy Reading.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

My DIMR's just arrived!!

Oh my gosh!!! I am totally dieing!! My DIMR's just arrived and I am sooooo excited!!!! Louise what a FABULOUS find girlfriend! The packaging is cracking me up too! They come in a little purse (see Louise's post below) and on the back of the little purse it says "DIMR's....are a girl's BrEaST Friend". Hilarious!!! If you haven't ordered yours, you'd better do it now!!

A Great Show!!


Last night we took our three older kids to see the Little Mermaid Pre-Broadway show! It's only here for another week and then goes to Broadway! It was FABULOUS!!!! If you are in New York it's a MUST see. Kids or not! You'll love it! If NYC is not on your travel docket, wait til it tours and be sure to go. Disney never ceases to amaze me at the creativity they put into EVERYTHING!!!

http://disney.go.com/theatre/thelittlemermaid/

Monday, September 3, 2007

Has anyone read.....

Okay, so my friend gave me a book called I, Mona Lisa and I'm about half way through it. So far it has been good and very interesting. I am wondering if any of you wonderful women have read it and what you thought if you did! Let me know. I'll let you know if it was worth the read when I am all finished.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Forks, Washington

http://www.forkswa.com/index.html
The previous link will take you to a homepage that shows you Forks, Washington.
There is a link on the left side menu that says TWILIGHT POINTS OF INTEREST.
After clicking the link, a map of the actual places in Forks, WA are located that are spoken about in "Twilight." Kinda neat!