What a Voice

OMG!

How does a guy out-sing Jennifer Hudson on this song?
And he's only 18!

If he doesn't win this thing, I'm gonna be bummed!

That Moment...

That moment, when you stay up reading Twilight under your sheets until 1a.m. by the light of your iPhone, and your baby wakes up ready to party at 6a.m...

That's the moment it hits you that you are old. Too old for all this nonsense!

Also, I cannot describe how embarrassing it was when Matt caught me engrossed in my book yesterday and asked what I was reading. The conversation went something like this:

M: So, what are you reading?

J: (In a voice that's almost a shriek) Do NOT look at what I am reading Matt. DO NOT LOOK!

M: (With the smirk) What? Oh no, you're not reading that stupid vampire book are you?

J: (Silence.)

M: Oh my gosh you are. (Smirk gets nastier.)

J: GO AWAY!

Sigh.

The moral of this story - get Twilight out of your system before you're married with children, and save some self respect. If that isn't possible, think preemptively and make a fake book jacket for your Twilight book.

And if you can't do any of that, all I can say is be prepared for some nasty smirks.

Pins & Needles

Both kiddos napped today (and AT THE SAME TIME!) So I had a rare chunk of time this afternoon to do something by myself. I made a nice cup of coffee and hand hemmed one of the dresses in my "too long/needs to be hemmed/it stinks to be short sometimes" pile. (It's a pretty big pile.)

I enjoy sewing by hand, even though it takes so much longer than machine sewing. For some reason, every time I sit at a sewing machine my blood starts to boil and within minutes I'm having an emotional breakdown. I wonder what a therapist would have to say about that?

I'm really enjoying getting back into the swing of blogging. Blogging forces me to think more creatively and that is so good for my brain. Being so busy with the kids and the house, I find it's easy to let go of all creative outlets and when I start doing that I end up depressed. Blogging makes me remember to use my camera more often, and to just think about what I'm thinking, (does that make sense to anyone?) It's good for me to organize what goes through my head and put it into actual sentences and phrases, even if no one reads it but me. And even if its something as trivial as what we're eating for dinner...or how after years of insisting I would NEVER read anything by Stephanie Meyers, I finally broke down in a very weak moment at the library yesterday when I saw they had a paperback copy of Twilight.

Because my brain so badly wants to relive the magic that was The Hunger Games trilogy, and the devil on my shoulder keeps insisting very loudly and annoyingly that Twilight may give me the same kick.

August Glam Bag Review

Subscription boxes are all the rage right now, and they come in all sorts of varieties. Paper goods, cosmetics, clothing, accessories.. I think the concept is cool. Getting a mystery box in the mail once a month filled with surprises for $10-$20 sounds ridiculously fun.

For my first try at subscription packages I decided to go with My Glam Bag - a cosmetics site that sends out a makeup bag full of sample sized (and a few full sized) goodies in a cute bag for $10 a month. I had read reviews about their company from a few other bloggers, who all had good things to say about them (everyone seemed to agree that the products included in the monthly bag almost always exceed $10 value.)

The experience was totally fun, from filling out the survey style questionaire on the My Glam site about what my cosmetic preferences were, to seeing the shiny purple package in my mailbox.

1. and 2. eclos Moisture Therapy Regenerative Cream and Cellular Activator Facial Serum

I was probably most disappointed by these products, not because they aren't good, but because I don't really use these types of anti-aging creams/moisturizers. Maybe I should? :) The products claim to use plant stem cells to help problematic skin regenerate cells better, improving firmness and dryness.

3. Demeter Roll on Perfume Oil in "Clean Skin" scent

I'm really picky about scents, I always have been. I hate fruity scents and only like certain kinds of florals. This perfume really didn't even smell like a typical perfume, which I kind of like. The smell reminds of me of fresh linen. It's really clean and simple. I liked that it's infused in an oil, rather than alcohol.

4. s.a.l.t.y. Glama-ZOiD Eye Shadow
I wear eye shadow some of the time, mostly in neutral shades that are conservative and easy to wear. (Basically, I love the idea of makeup but have no idea what to do with it or what works for me most of the time, so I stick with easy no-brainers that I know won't make me look like a clown!) This eye shadow appeared white and glittery in the box and I was sure I wouldn't like it, but I was surprised when I applied it that it actually shows up on your eyelid as slightly purple, and is very subtly shimmery and pretty. (Yay for a glittery product that doesn't look trampy!) :)

5. Circus [By Andrea's Choice} Nailpolish in "Spectacle" color

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a full sized nail polish! It's probably ridiculously juvenile for a mother of 2 to be such a nail polish junkie, but guys, I love the stuff. Wearing a pretty nail color just makes me feel pretty and put together, even on my worst days.

The color they sent me is a bit extreme. It's very, very orange. Like, traffic cone orange. I'm not sure I'm cool enough to pull off such a bright color but I'm going to give it a try. It came in such a cute box (I love pretty packaging.)

6. myglam glam gloss [that's a lot of glam.]

This was my favorite product, which is funny because I have never been a lip gloss girl. Not even when I was a teenager did I wear gloss. I never liked the oily feel on my lips, and I never felt comfortable with so much shine. So I was very skeptical of this super bright, Barbie pink gloss that they sent in my bag, but it's actually great. Applied, it's a very soft, subtle pink color and it feels comfortable and moisturizing to wear (not icky and oily.) For a lip gloss, I don't think it's too shiny and attention grabbing, AND it smells amazing. Did I mention this is a full size product? The cost of the lip gloss and nail polish most likely exceed $10 so I think the subscription price was probably a pretty good deal.

You have the option of cancelling your My Glam Bag subscription at any time, but I think I'm going to keep mine going for September. Over all I was impressed with the quality of the items I received and the experience was a whole lot of girly fun. Like I said before, I know so little about cosmetics and am always hesitant to try anything new or out of my comfort zone, so getting these samples is a good way to branch out and try new things without committing to full sized/full priced products.