Thank a vet!

today’s post is short, sweet, and to the point:

If you love your 16-theatre movie megaplexes, sprawling shopping malls, and all-night fast food places, thank a vet. If you love disagreeing w/people who have political views that oppose your own (particularly if they happen to hold a government office), thank a vet. If you love waking up in the morning knowing — not hoping, but KNOWING without any doubt — that none of your loved ones “mysteriously” disappeared in the middle of the night, thank a vet.

To all of our men and women in uniform, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

 

Games people play

I’m one of those wacky people who plays “The Price Is Right” w/myself while I’m standing in line at the grocery store. I’ve done it for as long as I can remember, and honestly it’s a fond recollection of time spent as a child w/my maternal grandmother, watching people go completely bonkers b/c they guessed the right price of a bottle of wiper fluid. {G} over the years I’ve gotten quite good at guesstimating the value of the contents of my shopping cart (and no, I don’t add up purchase prices in my head, either) and usually guess within ~$5 of the actual total w/o going over (and any true TPIR fan knows how important that is). am I the only nutter who does this? lol

 

Purple passion

I’ve been looking for a new purse for a few months now after I wore out my old Nine West mini-shopper (loved it, used it every day, but it wasn’t in BAD condition so I donated it to DI, Utah’s version of Goodwill). I don’t usually care for hobo-style bags, but 2 things about this Kathy Van Zeeland Heartbeat Hobo sucked me in: 1) the price — I got it for more than 50% of retail on Amazon; and 2) the colour — for some reason I’ve been craving a rich purple w/a fun effect like patent or metallic, and this totally fit the bill. I also love the chunky hardware and the stud accents. I haven’t actually had to go anywhere yet today so I’ve yet to use it to comment on its functionality, but judging from the interior pockets and the lack of things to interfere w/access (like the chunky lock that flops over the top of my Chloe knock-off satchel — LOVE the bag, horribly inconvenient for everyday use), it looks like it’ll get a lot of use.

 

Dishwasher woes

our dishwasher is broken: dishwashers don’t like being left in disuse for very long, usually a couple of weeks MAX; I’ve no idea how long this one sat unused before we moved in, but it was long enough for an expensive part (why in heaven’s name isn’t it ever a cheap part??) to seize up and stop working. so I’ve been living w/o a dishwasher for 2+ wks now, and I have to admit this brief period of deprivation has made me a lot more appreciative of how very spoiled I am, not having to wash dishes by hand every night. the dishwasher repair guy is supposed to be here between 2-4pm today (he’s got 20 mins before he’s late, bah), and I solemnly promise that I will take good care of my dishwasher once she’s fixed, making sure she doesn’t feel neglected by giving her plenty to do every day (okay, every OTHER day — you have any idea how hard it is to dirty up an entire dishwasher-load of dishes w/just 3 people eating meals at home most of the time?). I’ll also buy a dishpan and a back-up pair of gloves. but don’t tell her I said that.

 

Halloween etiquette?

when I was growing up, trick or treating was limited to houses w/porch lights on: porch light = welcome, no porch light = don’t bother us. it was simple, straightforward, and easy to explain to even the littlest goblins. apparently in Utah that rule doesn’t apply, as I had trick or treaters ringing my doorbell starting at 6:10pm, when I was still finishing dinner preparations. I wasn’t going to answer the door — I was BUSY — but of course my kids couldn’t leave it alone, GRRR.

also, I was rather surprised that my doorbell rang at 10pm — more trick or treaters (older kids). aren’t there rules about 6-9pm kind of being the “normal” times for trick or treating? if you’re old enough to be out trick or treating at 10pm, you’re old enough to be out somewhere at a Halloween party, so go away and leave me and my doorbell alone.

am I the only person (at least in Utah) who thinks porch lights are visual cues for trick or treaters? do y’all have generally accepted time for trick or treating? are there any “common” rules where you live?

 

Soup weather!

t’would appear Fall has officially arrived in Utah, w/cool daytime temps and downright chilly nights (even frost in the mornings!), and for me that signals the opening of Soup Season. two of our family faves — Pumpkin & Broccoli Chowder, and Chicken Tortilla Soup — have been added to “My Favourite Recipes,” not only b/c they belong there, but b/c I’ve had requests for those recipes and figured this w/b the easiest way to share (pls remember that newest recipes are at the bottom of the page). if you do try these recipes, pls post a comment and LMK what you think — enjoy!

 

Life as a butterfly

so after my metamorphosis from “girl-next-door blonde w/eyes that practically disappeared into my face w/o makeup” to “edgy redhead w/lush lashes,” there’s definitely been a learning curve re: all of the maintenance that goes into this level of artifice (the many years I had artificial nails were a doddle compared to this, HA! I wonder how long it takes butterflies to get used to their wings… but I digress):

for starters, I used to rub my eyes a LOT, esp when not wearing makeup; had to break that habit PDQ so I didn’t start ripping out my lash extensions. also had to learn how to press water out of my eyelashes when I shower. to make things even more interesting, I’m a very light sleeper and the least little bit of light is very disruptive for me, so I have to sleep w/an eye mask: no problems there w/my lash extensions (thank goodness! me + sleep deprivation = SCARYBAD). oh, and taking eye makeup off is now a major production, almost as much as putting it on the first place, since I have to use q-tips to remove eye and under-eye makeup to avoid getting clumps of cotton tangled in my lashes from cotton balls; fortunately taking my makeup off is seldom as time-sensitive as putting it on. I still use my HG Victoria’s Secret makeup remover (sold only in their retail beauty stores) since it’s an oil-free makeup remover that won’t dissolve the lash adhesive — it’s a similar formulation to Clinique or Neutrogena, just w/different silicones. I’ve also discovered that, since my natural lashes are so light, I won’t be able to go more than ~2-1/2 weeks between fills b/c my lashes start looking really sparse. I was very grateful that my eyes seemed to recover very quickly this time from the irritation of having the lash extensions applied (I’m not sure if it’s the adhesive on the tape that’s used to keep my lower lashes out of the way or if it’s the lash adhesive itself).

as for the red hair, I know it’s a high-maintenance colour, and I knew I’d be in for a lot of work; there’s surprisingly less work involved than I thought there would be. I only wash my hair every 3 days now instead of every other day (washing it more frequently would dull the colour more quickly, not to mention strip my hair of its natural oils and make it look like straw, like so many other women I see w/processed hair — no thx!) I do use Aveda’s Madder Root Conditioner (I wash my hair FIRST now and then leave the conditioner in for the rest of my shower), but I haven’t shelled out yet for their Madder Root Shampoo b/c it’s only sold in 1L sizes anymore and that just seemed like an awful LOT of shampoo if I ended up not being crazy about the colour. as it is, I loved the almost burgundy colour I started out with, but my acting coach informed me that I risk pigeon-holing myself in certain types of roles if I go with an “artistic” colour vs a natural-looking colour — I guess in Hollywood nobody cares if your hair colour isn’t natural as long as it LOOKS natural (oh, the irony!)… anyway, since I’m having my colour touched up this weekend I’ll be going for more of a flaming Irish red, kind of Isla Fisher meets Maureen O’Hara. I also let my hair air dry whenever possible (used to do that before colouring my hair), but if I have to blow it dry I still spritz it pretty generously w/Aveda’s Brilliant Damage Control to help protect my hair and the colour from heat styling (esp since my WetLine Pro straightener heats up to ~400F). so the only things that have changed for my hair care routine are my conditioner (and probably my shampoo) and having to get the colour retouched every ~8-10 weeks. not so hard to manage, even for a total hair colour neophyte.

 

Metamorphosis

this is a REALLY big deal for me, as I’ve never done anything so dramatic w/my appearance before — the most I’ve ever done is gone from long hair (well past bra strap length) to short (a couple of inches below my chin) when I donated my hair to Locks of Love several years ago. this has actually been a whole week of firsts throughout my transformation: on Mon I got lash extensions (which I love! more on that in the next day or so); yesterday I enjoyed a microdermabrasion treatment at my skin spa, Simply Skin Laser (the tech there also does my laser hair removal — she’s very good, and her prices are fantastic!); today I went to my hair stylist at Azalea Day Spa and had her colour my hair a rich dark red, almost burgundy:

BEFORE

AFTER

I love how my new hair colour seems to really make my eyes POP, and in general the contrast now between my hair and my skin is more flattering than my natural dark blonde was IMO (light skin, light eyes, light hair — I looked pretty monochromatic). kinduva funny side note: when I first started toying w/the idea of colouring my hair NOW (as opposed to waiting until I start going grey, which could still be several years off for all I know) and told a few people I was thinking about going red, most of them quickly said that red hair would suit my personality better than blonde anyway. at any rate, we just did a demi today, since I’ve never coloured my hair before and my stylist suggested that demi colour would be the best way to kind of ease myself into hair colour — if I hated it (which I’m happy to say I don’t ) it would be much easier to go back to my natural hair colour than if we jumped in at the deep end w/a permanent colour. but I do think I may just have my stylist do a permanent colour next time and probably even go a bit more vibrant w/the colour. now the fun part will be seeing what I can do w/this transformation!

 

Valuable “mistakes”

I love Love LOVE the classic Grant/Hepburn movie Charade, and my absolute favourite scene in the film is w/the stamp dealer M. Felix, when Reggie learns the monetary value of the four rare stamps affixed to a torn envelope in her murdered husband’s personal effects. Felix’s love for these stamps is practically tangible, spoken in a hushed tone of almost reverent awe (IMO Paul Bonifas’ performance is ruddy brilliant).

I’m not a stamp connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, but I do find it fascinating that what are essentially tiny bits of coloured paper can be so extraordinarily valuable, often due to printing errors. misprints. MISTAKES. in a modern world seemingly obsessed w/physical perfection, it’s somehow…delightfully refreshing to know that it is in fact the physical FLAWS in rare stamps that actually makes them so precious and highly sought after.

remember that thing about yourself you think is a “flaw” when you look in the mirror? maybe it’s the freckles you never outgrew, or your nose that slants slightly to the left. maybe you think your hips are too big, or you don’t have “enough” curves. maybe your hair seems to have a mind of its own, or maybe your toes curve in and almost fold under each other. that “flaw” is what makes you, YOU; whatever it is, nobody else will ever have another exactly like it. embrace it. revel in it. celebrate it. you are a living, breathing “Treskilling Yellow,” the only one of its kind in existence and absolutely priceless.

 

Good-bye mascara!

I’ve wanted to get eyelash extensions for about a year now, and today I finally did! I have to admit, it was much more uncomfortable than I’d anticipated, and my eyes still look a little red and puffy (mostly underneath) from the irritation of having the extensions applied, even 2 hrs later. but I’m amazed at the difference these little beauties make! see for yourself:

BEFORE

AFTER

yes, the lighting in the “after” is different from the “before” — it’s quite dark and rainy this afternoon so I had to turn the bathroom lights on — but in both pix I’m not wearing a STITCH of makeup! what shocked me was that the tech said the lash extensions she used on me are only barely longer than my natural lashes, but my natural lashes are 1) very blonde and 2) very straight, so it’s just hard to see how long they really are; she said we could go down one lash size next time if I want to, but any shorter than that would make extensions pretty much pointless for me. who’da thunk?

there’s definitely some after-care that’s going to take some getting used to — have to use an oil-free makeup remover, no using eyelash crimpers or mascara (won’t take much to get used to that!), need to use q-tips instead of cotton balls to remove eye makeup (cotton strands from cotton balls are more likely to get tangled in the lashes and that’s not fun to pick out), can’t rub my eyes, etc. it took about 3 hrs to have a full set of lash extensions applied, and fills typically take about half that time every 3 wks; but considering the amount of time these babies will save me on a daily basis (not to mention not having to buy eyelash curlers, lash primer, or mascara for as long as I have extensions), I’m loving them! <3