Retro Beauty Products I love (Plus Giveaway!)

I don't know about you, but I love a good retro look when I see one.

A friend of mine recently posted some photos of herself at a 40s Hangar Dance, and she looked amazing:

It made me think about all the retro looks I am in love with, and the beauty products needed to get that perfect throwback look.

Here are some of my favorites that I'm sure you will love as well!

Red! Lips and nails, ladies. That's what I'm saying! I mean, what says retro like these classics from Revlon and L'oreal?

Luxe by Mr. Bubbles is hitting stores in December, just in time to make it onto your Christmas list! (Who doesn't remember wanting every bath to be a Mr. Bubbles bubble bath?) Melt your troubles away in a bath made with the Bubbletini Bath Bombs.

Hairspray that takes you back and can help you achieve that "big hair" look? Try L'oreal's Elnet Satin Hairspray. Not only does it do the trick, but the packaging with take you back!

If you ever need an excuse to use the phrase, "Let me go powder my nose first..." You have got to give Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder a try. Its container is seriously cute, and it covers beautifully. When I use this product, I am immediately transported to my childhood when my grandmother would let my sisters and me try on her makeup when we would visit her.

Smith's Rosebud Salve. I am always on the lookout for a fabulous lip balm...and this one hits the nail on the head! Formulated well over 100 years ago, this product has stood the test of time, and look at that cute tin it comes in. Another great choice is Luxe by Mr. Bubbles Shine On Lip Balm. So good.

But my favorite retro beauty products of all have got to be a pair of false eyelashes and a great liquid liner. This look is so glamorous and just screams of old Hollywood. Love, love, love this look for an extra something special. Here I used Younique's Moodstruck Precision Liquid Eyeliner and Ardell's Glamour Lashes. I also went for the "original Barbie" look and used Younique's Splurge Cream Shadow in Fickle and L'oreal's Color Riche in True Red.

(Twinsies!)

And yes, I am also channeling Cyndi Lauper and have a bit of pink on my tips! To get this look I used oVertone's Go Deep Vibrant Pink Weekly Treatment. It's fun, it makes me happy, and yes, I am probably too old to be coloring my hair pink...but I don't really care, I love it!

What are your favorite retro beauty products? Tell me in the comments below by my birthday (August 16th) for a chance to win a sampler pack of these body butter and fragrance mists from Luxe by Mr. Bubble!

A Year Off

Well, I guess it's been a whole year since I have posted on this blog. Yikes!

It has been quite the year too. I will resist the urge to try and recap. Just know a horrific divorce, a move back to Iowa, and adjusting to life as a single mom has left little time for keeping up with what has been next for me.

I have slowly been reemerging from the ashes of my old life. Learning about narcissistic personality disorders, all the different types of abuse I have survived, and connecting with others who share many of my experiences, has allowed me to understand and begin to clear a path for a much better future. I am excited about my new life and what is coming up for me. I have been subbing in the district where my kids attend school and am enjoying it quite a bit. I am involved in a wonderful church, I am volunteering again, I am taking care of my kids' and my health. Everything feels pretty good. Not everything is sunshine and roses, but I have found that I have developed much better coping skills when a certain someone tries to rattle my cage and bring me down to his level.

What's next is that I am healing, I feel it. I may even be whole again. I have survived The. Roughest. Year. Ever. Now, I want to help others. Single moms need support. I am proud to announce that I will be blogging for the Des Moines Moms Blog once a month and hopefully I can connect with and help single moms in this area to know that they are not alone. Big perk, the other contributors to the blog are amazing and I love getting to know them and all the things they are interested in! What fun this is going to be!

So, I had to have a "headshot" for my role
as a contributor. Big thanks to my sister, Karen, for snapping
this shot of me. (Moms are always taking
pictures, but never have any good ones of themselves!
Am I right?)

GMO Misconceptions...

I was told recently that I had misconceptions regarding my knowledge about GMOs. (Genetically Modified Organisms)

Ouch. That one hurt.

I have been reading any and all information regarding whole foods, organic foods, and overall getting back to eating foods that are as minimally processed as possible. I am concerned about the health of my family and of families in the U.S. in general. If you are concerned about you and your family, please read and share. Also, make sure you click on the links, this is SO important!

Actually, my concern began over nine years ago when I was trying to get pregnant and couldn't. Was it my diet? That was almost a silly notion a decade ago. I didn't go organic back then, I didn't have enough access and really didn't have all the information I have now.

But the more I have learned, the more I fear for the health of our nation. I am speaking both literally and figuratively. I may step on a few people's toes here, but I believe that the huge food companies who control what makes it to the grocery store's shelves are corrupt in their desire to make a profit and are not looking out for the health of the consumers. The government isn't going to help us either. There are many examples of Monsanto and FDA/government ties. There is a list of fifteen such individuals on this website. Click on Monsanto's Government Ties.

While browsing Monsanto's website I came across this quote, "There is no need for, or value in testing the safety of GM foods in humans." To me, that is simply scary. Browse yourself and see if you feel like I am taking things out of context, but as I was reading I felt that everything was written by an ex lawyer who was disbarred because of embezzlement and now worked as a used car salesman. I didn't buy it. I don't think you should either.

When I was told that I had misconceptions about GMO, I was told that genetic modifications to plants have been made for millennia. Look, NO they haven't. I feel this is what a majority of people think, but this is not what a GMO is. I am all for the NATURAL hybridization of plants and animals to make bigger and better products. But, alas, that is not what we are talking about here. 

If you want to know what exactly a GMO is, the Non-GMO Project website puts it best: "GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” are plants or animals created through the gene splicing techniques of biotechnology (also called genetic engineering, or GE). This experimental technology merges DNA from different species, creating unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding.

Some of the concerns with this technology are as follows:

Environmental Hazards:

• Unintended harm to other organisms
• Uncontrolled biological pollution
• Gene transfer to non-target species

Human Health Risks:

• Emerging health risks in human studies
• Documented health risks in animal studies
• Documented proof of modified genes surviving the digestion process
• Increase in food allergies
• Parallel increase in Type 2 Diabetes
• Parallel increase in autism

Economic Concerns:

• Agriculture subsidies for food that makes us sick
• Corporate profits outweigh public health
• Corporate patents control farming
• Corporate patents control nations
• Lawsuits force non-GMO farmers out of business

Please see GMO Awareness' website for explanation of each of these bullets along with graphs and all the research to back it.

Warning: This is really going to scare you. Check out what exactly is in the genes of 95% of corn grown in the USA. Think of how much food you (or America in general) consume that uses high fructose corn syrup or another form of corn syrup. You might not be able to sleep at night. 

I have this sickening feeling that all of this GMO stuff is going to blow up like the big tobacco did. With health warning reports coming out TOO late for WAY too many people. I have thought this for quite sometime about diet soda and the main ingredient, aspartame, which is a (you guessed it) genetically modified food.

People are starting to get it. Groups are out there are organizing. I care about this country and its people. I want my children to live out their lives not worrying about their health. Our family is not perfect about staying away from GMOs, but I strive to get better every day. I am consciously choosing organic foods and foods that are voluntarily labeling themselves Non-GMO. 

After California's Proposition 37 failed to pass, I think it's time to do more. (Take a look at how it was worded on the ballot and form your own opinion about why they voted no.) That is why I am trying to educate others. That's what this is all about. Knowledge. I'm not into conspiracy theories, I am not into coverups. I am into Truth.


I hope you will join me. Be careful about what you eat. Share this with the ones you love. Share this with people you may only like a little. Know it might make a difference in the choices they make and ultimately improve their health. Heck, share this with your enemies, you don't want to mess with Karma.

PiBoIdMo WHAT?

Man! How'd it get to be November???

I've got to pull it together, face the reality that my Christmas decorations are expected to be up soon and all my shopping done too. Nah! I'll probably just procrastinate that like I always do.

BUT one thing I will not procrastinate is registering for Tara Lazar's annual PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) She started the idea, the picture book equivalent to the novelists' challenge to write a novel start to finish in one month's time, in 2008 for herself. The year after that, she challenged others on her blog to participate with her. Now, with over 600 participants last year and cool picture-book-author-nerdy prizes, she hopes to inspire children's authors to get their creative juices flowing and jot down an idea per day to use when you just can't think of the next topic to write about.

If you'd like to take the challenge with us, click on her link above and register by commenting on her PiBoIdMo post.

Let the brainstorming begin!

Prepare to Eat Your Veggies!

I have a lot I could say on this topic. I have cut and edited this post several times and it still sounded too wordy. SO, I am going to try a different approach. LINKS AND A LIST!!! If you are a Link-Clicker and a List-Freak like me, you will love this blog! So here I go with my opinion on veggies:

The Problem:
Most people aren't eating enough vegetables in their diets these days.

The Causes:

• Produce (especially organic) prices are skyrocketing.
• Unless you buy the pre-cut/individual packs (again, expensive) vegetables are not a very convenient food to eat.
• Some people have aversions to "green stuff."
• Usually, people crave other foods and they are more easily accessible.

The Solutions: (That have worked for me and my family) 

• HAVE A PLAN! You do need to plan this out, folks! It takes a bit more time to make sure your family is consuming good foods, but the return on your time spent planning is SO worth it! There are plenty of menu planning services out there. I use eMeals because there was a Groupon for it and so far I love it! They have clean eating meal options as well as whole food, organic choices and more. Put your menu up on your wall!
• Accept no excuses. After you plan your healthy meals/snacks STICK TO IT! Don't alter your menu for picky kids and don't allow them not to try it. (This goes for picky adults as well!)
• Arrange your refrigerator so that you have easy access to "the good stuff" I have blogged about how to do that here.
• After you shop, cut and store all veggies (and melons) as well as vinegar wash your berries so you have easy access to them all week. Yes, this also takes extra time. I have to be honest. When I do my grocery shopping for the week, it usually takes me three to four hours to go shopping, unload the groceries and clean, chop and store everything. (And clean up my mess afterward) BUT, whipping up a healthy week is pretty speedy with all the prep work done!
• Juicing! (Or smoothie making!) I just got a new juicer for my birthday and I am hooked on drinking my veggies! Here is a link to some good "starter" juice recipes and this blog is definitely my favorite for whole food info as well as genius smoothie recipes. (Play around on that blog, it's seriously great!)

Here are some photos from after a typical trip to the grocery store:

Fruit basket and onions ready for the week! (Fruit is a whole lot
easier to grab and go!) I also have some onions sliced and chopped
in the fridge, too!

Refrigerator with veggies for juicing (That don't need chopped)
and other produce items.

Veggies that need prepped, out and ready!

Looking at your recipes, or snack needs, figure out how you
need to prepare the veggies. Chopped, sliced, cubed, etc.
I really like these Rubbermaid Produce Saver containers. Veggies
and berries last a LONG time in these!

Fully-stocked, organized refrigerator. Snacks and items needed first in front,
items for later in the week in the back! 

Compost material from the scraps! YAY for turning this into food
for my veggies in the garden! :)

Best Food Tip EVER!!!

Who out there, besides me, goes to the store only once a week, but can't keep berries longer than a few days? Problem: I want berries ALL week, everyday! But I don't want to go to the store more than once a week.

I found this tip on-line a while back. (Although, I don't remember now my original source, it was somewhere on Pinterest, I think. I googled 'washing berries in vinegar' to see if it was legit, and trust me, it is!) It has seriously rocked my world! I haven't had a single berry go bad since I started doing this. Hold on to your hats, this is going to be life changing!

Okay, so berries generally go bad because of mold spores. Eww. Vinegar apparently destroys the bacteria and mold spores, so...here's what you do:

1. Make sure you have a salad/berry spinner. If you don't have one, go get one: I use mine ALL the time!

2. Go to the store and buy all the berries you want! Really!!!

These are not really all the berries I want. :)

 3. When you get home, set all of your berries out. Get a large bowl and put in 40 oz of water (I use the filtered water from my fridge) and 4 oz of white vinegar. (You can actually use any 10:1 ratio)

4. Dunk the berries in the vinegar/water mixture. Make sure you dunk them all under the water. Oh, and I PROMISE you aren't going to taste the vinegar on the berries!

5. While the berries are taking their bath. I like to quickly wash and dry the container and line it with a paper towel. To me, it seems there may be bacteria and spores there too I want to get rid of. And the paper towel is to absorb any extra moisture, which is also bad for berries.

6. Transfer them to your spinner with your hands or a slotted spoon. (If you have more berries, you can use the same water. I suggest rinsing the strawberries last, they tend to leave behind little "hairs", if you will)

7. Spin the excess water out.

8. Return berries to the container (or another container of your choice) and stick in the fridge. Forever. That is until you eat them. :)

Seriously, NO berries have gone bad in my house since I've started doing this. And SOMEHOW these blueberries (pictured below) got pushed way under the deli meat drawer and I found them THREE weeks later...we still ate them! (I gotta admit, I was going to throw them out, but my dad tested them and said they were good, so we all finished them off!)

Really, we ate these three-plus-week-old berries. Yes. Yes we did.
Hey, there was no mold and they were good! :)
(Not sure how many nutrients were retained after that long, but ya know...)

Rearrange Your Refrigerator - NOW!

Okay, so I have a good tip for everyone! STOP putting your fruits and veggies in the bottom drawers! I know that's what they are designed for, but stop!

About four months ago I read this article about refrigerator makeovers and heeded their advice. Because of this rearrangement we have really upped our fruit and veggie intake at our house, as well as almost eliminated any spoilage! Seriously, ask my husband!

Basically, Here's the gist:

On the top of my fridge, I keep juice and some dairy products

middle shelves: Veggies, fruits, and some dairy overflow.
 (I usually keep eggs here as well)

Top Drawer is for leftovers and *treats*
I use the Jellos for my homemade frappucinos once in a while

Lowest drawer for thawing meats. Genius! I put a towel down
so if any juice spills, no yucky clean up!

Yay! An awesomely organized refrigerator that we
have easy access to the healthy stuff. I have to admit,
I usually have more fruits/veggies in my fridge
but I have another blog with ideas about that coming up soon!