¡Ombligo!

Ice Cube Chocolates have been my favorites since I was five. The elementary school I went to sold candy every day in a designated spot called the Snack Shack. It was literally a wooden shack that was locked up they'd open it up at lunch and after school.

I would also buy my other favorites Chick-O-Sticks and Sixlets.

Ice Cube chocolates taste like a truffle filling but better. They melt in your mouth and do give you a cool taste. They are very soft chocolates.

My Mom found some this weekend at a local shop for .50 each. I think I may have to splurge on a tub just to have on hand.

$23.04/100 pieces at Mike Feinberg Company.

I has turkey soup simmering all day yesterday. I made the turkey stock several days before but didn't feel much like making it until yesterday.

I added only the white turkey meat, the gravy, mashed potatoes, savory stuffing, dirty rice and corn to the recipe. I made way too much and had to freeze the majority of it in those individual Ziplock Snap 'n Seal bowls.

It's delicious and a great way to use up all those leftovers!

Turkey Soup from Saveur Magazine November 2003
Makes 10 cups.

1 turkey carcass, broken in pieces (optional)
11 1/2 cups cold water
2 1/2 cups leftover turkey stuffing
2 cups turkey gravy
3 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
3 ribs celery with leaves, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. dried thyme, crumbled
salt to taste.

Put all the ingredients with 10 cups of water into a large soup pot over medium head, bring to boil, and then reduce heat to simmer. Stir to break up all the clumps of stuffing and mix well. Let the soup simmer for about 1 1/2 hours. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of cold water and let simmer for 10 more minutes. Taste for salt and adjust the flavor if necessary. Serve hot.

I've altered this recipe to suit my own needs, what I do is I simmer the carcass in a slowcooker Thanksgiving day in water to make the turkey stock. I refrigerate it over night and skim off any fat. The next day I then add in not only the stuffing and gravy (I add less than called for) but also include leftover mashed potatoes and dirty rice (the sausage in the dirty rice adds so much flavor.)

I'll admit it, I was terrified to step on the scale today! While I didn't exactly stick to my points on Thanksgiving, I didn't go overboard either. But come on, everyone knows that butter and sausage aren't exactly low fat! I also didn't kill myself with exercise this week so I was expecting to have packed on a pound or two.

Stepped on the scale and I lost 1.8 lbs! I was happy at first, then skeptical - ten times later the number didn't change so that's it. So be it! I actually lost weight this week - the week of the turkey!

This is what I got when I logged in my weight:
WAY TO GO! You've just lost another 5 pounds. Keep up the awesome work!

Here's a special tip from another dieter that we thought you might enjoy:

"Instead of giving in to cravings, binges and unplanned eating, I ask myself, 'Do I want it?' No I don't. 'Will I eat it?' No I won't." Yvonne

We hope you have a great week.

I can't believe it, all those little points from the past weeks have added up to another five down. I'm inching my way to my goal which seemed impossible before but little by little I'm getting there.

I have a doctors appointment this week to see what's going on with my thyroid, just a check up. Here's hoping everything's working the way it should be.

One of my absolute favorite items to splurge on is body powders. These are some of my favorite body powders on the market.

Santa Maria Body Powders
As the popularity of the Santa Maria Novella body powders goes up, so does the price. That certainly won't stop me from ordering them again, these have a talcum powder base and are generously scented. My personal favorite from the line is Melograno (Pomegranate).

While the packaging is cute for gift giving and receiving, it doesn't really stand up to daily use. I instead transferred the powder into glass powder shakers which makes it much easier to use.

The line is available at LAFCO New York $36.00 for a 230ml/8.1 fl. oz. container. Melograno, gardenia and rose are available through Aedes.


Lush Body Powders

My two favorite from this line are Silky Underwear and Bare Naked Lady.

Silky Underwear is a cornstarch based powder which has tiny pieces of coco butter which melt into your skin leaving you feeling silky soft. It has a pale jasmine fragrance to it.

Bare Naked Lady named after the Canadian band, is a Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and calamine based powder which has tiny flecks of gold glitter mixed in it. It has a subtle rose scent to it.

Both powders are vegan friendly and retail for $7.95/3.5 oz container.

Looking for a powder puff? Caswell-Massey has nice and affordable one for $12/9" round. That's the one I have.

So how'd I do? Well, I didn't exactly stick within my Weight Watchers points yesterday but I didn't serve myself seconds or huge portions. I think I did okay and giving myself some leeway this week - just a little.

Escada Ibiza Hippie

What did I wear? Escada Ibiza Hippie! I wore this last year as well the notes in Ibiza Hippie are: Litchi, Pear, Blackberry, Cranberry, Water Hyacinth, Blue Freesia, Blond Sandalwood, Amber, Passion Flower, Musk.

Cranberry is the most predominant note on me which was just perfect. It's more of a fresh fruity scent, more like a drink. After a while the freesia comes out more, not enough to hide the fruityness of the fragrance however. A hint of musk rounds out the scent.

This is more of a summer fragrance but I love it as a Thanksgiving scent. With all the scents that mingle in the kitchen, this stands out. The staying power is really good on me and it lasts all day.

Escada Ibiza Hippie is discontinued but can be found online and through Ebay.

Black Friday

For years I'd go shopping on Black Friday but decided this year to stay in my pajamas and shop online instead.

So how much did I spend? Nothing! Well, technically nothing as I had a gift certificate which paid for my purchase. I bought a memory card for my camera which will be $9.99 after the rebate and I bought Cinderella on dvd for $8.99 through Circuit City.

I ordered it at 3:00 A.M. my time as it was already 5:00 in the Eastern time zone and the prices were only valid until noon. I was on the phone with my sister at the time and she ordered the same items and threw in Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow and Kanae West's new albums for $6.99 each.

About half an hour after we placed our orders, they had already sold out of the memory cards on the website!

When I was in high school a lot of stores would give out free stuff, like Target - they used to give out free coffee as well.

One year Target had too many free giftbags and not enough people so they were giving away two per person. We happened to go to another Target later that day and they were still giving away gift bags so I got three that day. In years past I got free gift wrap, stuffed animals, snow globes, a stocking, ornaments and a few other things.

Not too many stores give out free things anymore, not that they need to as the stores are now jam packed and people leave their manners at the door! Ugh, this is what I hate the most about the holidays! Some people are so rude, rude, rude!

I'm so lucky because I have so many things to be thankful for this year!

I finally finished up all my prepwork at 5:00 p.m. last night, I was exhausted! One dish notably missing is the famous green bean casserole. I love green beans, but that thing is disgusting!

Cooked rice and veggies for the dirty rice.


Dirty Rice before being baked.


The two stuffings, sweet one the left, savory on the right. They are not baked yet.

My Mom hasn't been feeling good and all her energy is drained because of her Thalassemia. My father's favorite holiday is Thanksgiving so when she mentioned buying takeout instead of our traditional meal, I offered to make everything but the turkey.

The cranberry sauce:


I have the cranberry sauce in the slowcooker right now on low, it's been cooking since seven this morning. I followed this recipe but added 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp ground cloves. I also substituted Splenda for the brown sugar as my Mom's diabetic.

Sausage for the Dirty Rice

This recipe has been in my family for decades, it was given to my mom by a co-worker of hers who was from Louisiana and had been a family favorite ever since. Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same without it.

Dirty Rice (or as my Mom calls it Rice and Sausage Casserole)

* The hotter it is, the better it is!*

Ingredients:
1 small package of rice - usually 2 cups white long grain rice dry rice, 4 cups cooked rice.
1 small green pepper
1 small onion
2 stalks of celery
1 Jalapeno - without the vein and seeds if you don't want it too hot.
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 C water
dash of worcester sauce
Tony Chachere's seasoning
1 package Hot Sausage - I use Jimmy Dean

Cook rice until done, set aside. Cook sausage, set aside. Cut up pepper, onion and celery and saute in butter or oil until done, set aside. Mix all ingredients together in a casserole dish adding the worcester sauce, water. Season to taste with Tony Chachere's seasoning or salt and pepper. Bake in casserole dish at 350 degrees for half an hour.

*I love Tony Chachere's seasoning! And I like it hot so I use the More Spice formula. If you don't have it in your kitchen it's a must have! It can be found at Walmart and at Cost Plus World Market among other supermarkets. You can also buy it online at cajunspice.com.

I still have much to do! *sobs*

2:30 p.m. Update: I just ate lunch, I hadn't had breakfast or lunch and was famished. I've done a lot so far but an not quite done. I still have to make the biscuit dough and finish up the Dirty Rice. Here's what I've done so far.

Stuffing prepwork

I'm making two different types of stuffing, savory and sweet. The savory one in the blue bowl contains: onion, celery, green onions, mushrooms and sausage. The sweet one in the white bowl contains: onion, celery, craisins, golden raisins and will have toasted pecans and apples. I don't dare cut the apples today as they'll change colors. I toasted the pecans but won't add them until tomorrow as they'll wilt in the fridge.

Toasted pecans and pumpkin pie

I made sugar free pumpkin pie using Splenda instead of sugar. I used a pre-made crust for the pie *gasp* I know, I know but a girl's gotta cut corners somehow. I do make an excellent pie crust from scratch but I have no time! I also used canned pumpkin over fresh - takes far too long to cook the pumpkin and all the jazz. Done it before and I'll never do it again!

I added more spices to the pumpkin pie than it called for, naturally! A little more cinnamon and added some nutmeg.

I've never really cared for the original Youth Dew. When I was twelve, my best friend had been given several different fragrances by her father and she gave me the ones she didn't care for. I took all of them except one, Youth Dew. We tried to get my sister to like it, she was then eight or nine and quickly passed on it as well.

Youth Dew Amber Nude is described on the Neiman Marcus website as:

Now, your skin and your senses are under the influence of Tom Ford.

Youth Dew Amber Nude is warm, sensual, intimate. A fragrance that invites you to get closer. Radiant florals, dark chocolate, spices and the blatant sensuality of a black rose beckon a woman to feel warm and sexy in her bare skin.

Tom Ford on his inspiration for Youth Dew Amber Nude:I took the original Youth-Dew fragrance, which is my favorite Estée Lauder fragrance, and changed it slightly. When you have a wonderful classic like this, you want to keep it pure and true to its heritage. Youth Dew Amber Nude does this in a way that will seduce a young contemporary woman. It's something that you want to be close to.

The notes according to Bois de Jasmin include tea, ginger, magnolia, grapefruit, black rose, carnations, jasmine, ylang-ylang, patchouli, amber, vetiver, chocolate, musk, vanilla.

So how does this smell?

Well, one of my favorite soups in the world is Hot & Sour soup which is rather basic and very easy to make but there are times where you don't get it quite right and it's either too spicy or too sour that's the case for me on Youth Dew Amber Nude.

When I first sprayed it on there seemed to be too much of something going on and it seemed somewhat sour on me. Carnation and jasmine seem to be the most predominant floral notes. There is some spicy goodness in here and this should be a fragrance I'd traditionally like, but I don't.

Not to say this fragrance totally sucks, I could see this being incredibly lovely on someone else - just not me. A little goes a long way with this one, one spray and you're good to go for hours.

Youth Dew Amber Nude retails for $65/2.5 oz at Neiman Marcus.

It seems like Red Flower Hammam Cardamom Amber Oil is all the rage these days and I couldn't wait to test it for myself!

According to SpaFeatures.com, Red flower hammam includes the following treatment steps and products:

• begin by purifying. to cleanse and release. Moroccan mint tea silt purifier
• intensely scrub. to deeply invigorate and enliven. lemon coffee blossom olive stone scrub
• slowly polish. to draw impurities out from within. jasmine rose rhassoul clay polish
• mist. to bring oxygen to the skin and recharge. orange quince steam room mist
• bless the body with oil. to warm, relax and scent. cardamom amber oil
• enrich. to penetrate deep moisture and illuminate. tangerine fig butter creme
• relax. to release and find rest. neroli cyprus high atlas bath soak

Red Flower Hammam - Cardamom Amber Oil is the fifth step in the traditional hammam sequence. This ritual succession has been practiced for nearly one thousand years to heal, detoxify and release the whole body.

Warm the whole body with this heady, intoxicating blend of cardamom, bergamot, rose, jasmine, litsea cubeba, ylang ylang, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, black pepper, sweet orange and apricot. this intensely-scented blend is high in vitamin e and fatty acid and leaves the skin calmed, nourished, glowing, relaxed and deeply scented.

Directions: Fill the palms with generous drops and blend over entire body. Blend over freshly steam-room misted skin or use as a warming massage oil. Penetrates deeply, absorbs quickly.

This is an act of devotion. Begin by purifying then vigorously scrub. Slowly polish, mist, bless the body with oil. Enrich. Relax.

So, what does it smell like?

It opens up with a bold cardamom scent, the amber seems rather soft in here as the citrus seems to burst out. The strongest floral fragrance is the jasmine and dries down to a tinge of patchouli. Lovely enough to be worn on it's own but I think I'll try layering it with TDC's Jasmine de Nuit next time. This is one item I have to include in my collection!

One thing I like to do with oils is run a tiny bit through my wet hair, the scent will last all day!

Red Flower Hammam - Cardamom Amber Oil retails for $44/2.4 oz. and is available through Beautyhabit or Spafeatures

As part of Sand's favorite things:

A lot of people would classify Thierry Mugler's Angel as a fragrance you either love or hate. It's been one that I can't wear myself but am always intrigued by the scent.

I was first introduced to Mark's Hollywood Pink Deluscious Shower Syrup through a contest win. I had heard that it was a chocolate scented and was surprised to find that it smelled a lot like a light version of Angel.

I find the scent of this shower syrup to be too harsh in the summer but perfect this time of year. The scent does linger for a bit on the skin but does fade away. You'll find the scent to last a lot longer in the shower where hours after having bathed, it's still detectable. I don't find this shower gel to be drying to my skin at all and the best thing about this is the price!

$6.00/8.5 fl. oz. available through your favorite Avon or Mark salesperson or through the Mark website.

If Oprah can have a list of favorite things why can't I? I present to you the first on my list of Sand's favorite things!

I had been eyeing this set for a while as I heard nothing but raves on Jaqua's shower gels and body butters so I decided to cave on this kit and I'm glad that I did!

Described as:

Jaqua French Bulldog Café Wake-Up Kit

For a full-body wake up. Set includes 8-ounce bottle Foaming Caramel Cappuccino Hydrating Shower Syrup, 6-ounce bottle Radiant Ritual Citrus Verbena Dry Oil Body Spray, 6-ounce jar Chocolate Sinfully Rich Body Butter and a Plush Terry Wash Mitt. Gather the girls for fresh baked treats for face, hands and feet! Includes a hexagon-shaped box whimsicallydesignedd to look like our favorite bakery.

Adorable!! Adorable!! Adorable!! I love the way it comes boxed up as we all know with a gift, presentation is everything! The Caramel Cappuccino Shower Syrup is divine! It smells just wonderful but doesn't linger on your skin so you don't have to worry about it clashing with your fragrance. I can't wait to try more of their shower gel scents. Did I mention that they don't dry out the skin which scores huge points in my book as my eczema flares up this time of year. (retails for $16)

The Citrus Verbena Dry Oil Spray is fantastic. It opens up with a lemon/lime scent then the verbena comes kicking around. Left my skin silky smooth. The scent does linger so this would be perfect to layer with a citrus fragrance but in all honestly, it's quite lovely on it's own. I wore this to bed the other day and the fragrance still lingered on my skin. (retails for $20)

The chocolate body butter is very rich, a little goes a long way with it which reallysurprisedd me as I mentioned me and my dry lizard skin before. Kept my skin supple all day. The fragrance on this lasted as well, it smells a lot like milk chocolate which would layer well with a number of gourmand fragrances and so many vanillas. I think I'll save this for days when I wear Piment et Chocolat.(retails for $20)

The Jaqua French Bulldog Café Wake-Up Kit retails for $39.50 which is a savings of $16.50 if you were to buy the items individually.

Available at:

Bath & Bodyworks

B-glowing 15% off with code: quick. Free shipping on orders over $75.

Jaqua

Sephora 12 free deluxe samples w/ $40 purchase with code: TREASURE05. Free shipping on orders over $75

I did really good this week and stayed within my points and exercised all week long. Last night I was on the treadmill for two straight hours, the first hour I had the incline set at five and was going fairly fast. The second hour I brought it all the way down. I took a shower, and went to sleep at 11 because I needed to wakeup early.

I had a nightmare and woke up at 4:00, then panicked because I thought my alarm didn't go off. Decided to get up at 5 and got on the treadmill for another hour - started off on the incline and then back to regular.

Had to get bloodwork done this morning and it was so cold so I think, maybe I'll lose a little weight with the shock of the bloodloss, facing my fears and having to drudge out in the cold not to mention the lack of sleep.

Get on the scale and it says I'm down .6 lbs! I was hoping for at least a pound! This is the message I got:

If you're feeling a little neutral about your weight-loss result, here's a little fact to make you smile: The rate you`re losing weight at is considered to be very safe and healthy. So you're seeing success! You're doing the right thing.

Remember this anonymous saying this week: "Feel pride in how far you've come and confidence in where you're going."

To make matters worse, they keep running Michael Bublé commercials over and over. This sucks!

My November Sampler came in yesterday and here are the contents:

A deer charm from One Good Bumblebee
A thank you card from Froy and Olo
A mini envelope from Wrong Number Distro
A button from Kept Fresh
A button from Button Arcade
A button and newspaper set from Warm-n-Fuzzy
A bare tree card from Heart Tattoo for The Sampler
An envelope from Heartbroke Hobbies
A foam pin from Bottles on the sill
Firework earrings from Champion
A stitch marker from Funky junkie
An incense leaf from Mother's Earth Incense
A Mary Beth Hughes button from Whammy Industries
A card from Miss Chief Production
A button from Sweet Candy Distro
A pumpkin pie dog treat from Lindsay Designs
A felt patch from Sini Puu
A rubber stamp from Asta Arts

I was disappointed with this sampler, I received five buttons. I mean I like buttons, but five? Oy! On a good note, Hope loved the pumpkin pie treat!

The price of the Sampler went up to $23/ 1 month or $53/3 months as postal rates are going up next year.

I was checking out The Carrotbox the other day and noticed that Alice, the owner has ventured out to creating her own glass rings and put up several of her prototype rings up for sale. I had given myself a budget of $25 to order some rings which was quickly blown as I kept seeing more and more that I had to have.

Prototype Rings
I ordered:
Prototype Ring #7
Prototype Ring #8 - Under lower lights it looks more like a silver than purple.
Prototype Ring #12
Prototype Ring #19
Prototype Ring #20
Prototype Ring #26
Prototype Ring #27 - Which isn't pictured. It's the purple with green craters.
Prototype Ring #28 - Looks exactly like #20 under lower lights.
Prototype Ring #30 - This is like a midnight blue and is my favorite so far.
Prototype Ring #33

I also ordered a Pink "Bobbie," Baby Pink "Taylor" and a Green "Taylor."



The total damage done was $64/13 rings. Plus, Alice threw in a bonus one!

I do love the original Lulu Guinness and couldn't wait to try out the newest one, Cast A Spell which I did because of the generosity of the fabulous and incredibly giving Trina!

The notes in Cast A Spell according to Sephora are: Dark Berries, Frosted Blackberry Pulp, Mulberry, Red Currant, Iced Lavender, Lilac Petals, Davana Blossoms, Black Velvet Fig, Amber, Bourbon, White Patchouli

But what does it smell like?

Well, it opens up with patchouli. Ah, patchouli - it's one of those notes that have the ability to make or break a scent. With fragrances that have noticeable patchouli I prefer to wear them in colder weather as the Texas heat makes them smell quite awful.

As the patchouli fades there is a mixed berry scent that comes into play. I love berries and always seem to adore fragrances that have berry notes in them. This is no exception. It smells divine, more of a cooked berry scent over fresh berries - think a mixed berry jam or sauce.

The floral notes really aren't evident on me, minor players if you will. I'm sure if I concentrated hard enough I'd find them but I'm too busy dancing in the land of the berry!

Once all is said and done, and I'm talking about hours and hours after initial application the only note I detect is fig.

This to me is so perfect for cold weather and the staying power is incredible. I was afraid at first that it may be too much when I first sprayed it but after letting it dry down it was just perfect. Very lovely, I think I prefer this over the original Lulu Guinness fragrance.

Cast A Spell retails for $38/1 oz., $58/1.7 oz., and $88/3.4 oz. at Sephora.

I really hate the commercials for StriVectin-SD®, thebackgroundd music spooks me out and the narrator annoys me.

You'd think they'd make a better commercial for a product that retails for $135!

This arrived the other day, it's a SnapStream Firefly PC Remote that I'd won but I don't know from where. I hate when they don't include a letter because I don't know where I'm winning these contests from.

I got a new computer this year which came with a PC remote but I've yet to set it up, this one looks like it has even more features than the one I have.

SnapStream Firefly PC Remote retails for $45.99 at Amazon.

So glad to report that I'm back on track! 1.4 lbs. lost this week so I'm where I was two weeks ago and a tiny bit less. I was incredibly frustrated with myself this week as I easily gave in to temptation and back down the road to nowhere.

Here was the usual quote from WW:
WAY TO GO! Congratulations for losing weight this week. We hope you're thrilled with the result.

Here's a quote by Aristotle that we thought might strike a chord with you: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."

Keep practicing your excellence and have a great week.

This holiday season is going to be the ultimate test for me as I clearly can't control being around so many temptations but I can control my choice to cave into them.

There are times when I question how much I really want this, especially after last week's fiasco. At times I get too focused on the numbers which I sometimes feel aren't good enough. I know it all adds up in the end but it frustrates me that the numbers aren't higher. I need to stop stepping on the scale mid-week because that frustrates me even more.

The highlight of the week was opening the bag of Whitman's Weight Watchers Toffee that my friend Ang sent me. They're only one point and are seriously good. I'd tried the Russell Stover Sugar Free Toffee before which was total crap in my opinion so I didn't have high expectations on Whitman's. They taste as good as regular toffee! Yay!

Oh, and 1 tsp of Craisins added to a mixed green salad adds so much flavor! During the summer I'd add in raspberries or strawberries.

I've been in an extreme funk lately and have been working to get back into the groove of things.

My new years resolution for this year was to not buy anything unsniffed why was quickly broken mid-year treasure hunting at Marshalls and then again with my subsequent orders through BPAL so I don't feel too bad buying Flowerbelle's Rouse unsniffed.

The main reason I bought this unsniffed was because Colombina just raves about it! I'd heard it compared to Un Zeste de Rose and Yuzu Rouge. I just adore Un Zeste de Rose but have yet to try Yuzu Rouge.

The notes in Flowerbelle's Rouse are:

top: orange, bergamot
middle: jasmine, rose, lily of the valley
bottom note: musk

It opens up with a crisp citrus scent which dries down over a very bold, fresh rose. The other floral notes seem rather soft in the bouquet, not really evident but still play a bit part. A hint of musk but by far more citrus and rose. It's a lot bolder and more robust than Un Zeste de Rose which gets major raves in my book!
Flowerbelle Rouse original packaging.


Another one of Flowerbelle's original packaging.

I'm sad to report that Flowerbelle is no longer in production, it seems that the line wasn't profitable. So sad as I just discovered the line this past summer! My other favorites from the line are Lielac and Oceane. Flowerbelle's Lielac is hands down my favorite lilac fragrance! I believe I have samples of the other scents but have yet to test them.

Flowerbelle's website is already down but you can still find the line online!

Nordstrom has the entire line still available for $28/1.7 oz and has $5 flat fee shipping.

B-glowing has all but Blanca for $28/1.7 oz. They have 15% off with code: quick and free shipping on orders over $75.

La Creme Beauty only has Koral and Oceane left for $19.60/1.7 oz.

Maybe I should have Colombina choose all of my fragrances from now on? She can be my fragrance guru or something like that as I know she loves Parfum DelRae's Bois De Paradis which I am so in love with!

Then again maybe not, I hear she can't wear People of the Labyrinths' Luctor et Emergo which is one of my favorite fragrances! Such a shame! Maybe she's not putting forth enough effort? What kind of guru is that?!?!

UPS dropped off Lipstick Jungle audiobook by Candace Bushnell, there wasn't a letter attached but the return address is listed as Time Warner Book Group which her publisher.

I haven't read Lipstick Jungle yet but I did read Four Blondes a while back.

Lipstick Jungle audiobook retails for $19.79 at Amazon.com, it's the abridged version which is kinda sad but beggars can't be choosers!

I had received prior notice of this win but had forgotten all about it. This was the e-mail they sent me to notify me of the win:

Dear Valued Customer:

Thank you for participating in the Elle.com and Prescriptives Online Moonbeam Reflective Gloss Giveaway. We are happy to inform you that we will be shipping your Mini Moonbeam Quartet shortly. Congratulations on being selected as a winner of the Elle.com and Prescriptives Online Moonbeam Reflective Gloss Giveaway.

Warm regards,
Beth
Prescriptives Online Customer Service

The Mini Moonbeam Quartet retails for $26.50.

Oguma was sending this set for the first 15,000 people who signed up. If you're used to using hydrating masks, this follows the same principle but lets you decide on how moisturizing you want it to be.

I'm rather iffy on hydrating masks as I find them to feel strange and while my face doesn't feel any more moisturizer, it does look better. I did try one to see how they compared to pre-moistened masks and actually preferred this method.

The paper masks are very thin, similar to blotting papers and it took several sprays to adhere it to my face. I have a oval shaped face and this mask is made more for rounder faces so it didn't fit me quite right. It dried in about twenty minutes and I then peeled it off.

While I liked this method better, I don't think I'd rush out to purchase this item.
The site mentions that this retails for $48 for 6 applications.

Bo & Hope


I think today may be one of the happiest days of my life. You see, last night I was channel surfing and stumbled across a new station on cable.

Oh but this isn't any ordinary station it's the one, the only station I've wanted for years and by magic it just happens to appear! What is this station you might ask, it's none other than SoapNet!

Sure, most people would probably laugh at my excitement but you see I was raised on Soap Operas! I grew up watching the NBC soaps: Search for Tomorrow, Days of our lives, Another World, Santa Barbara and Generations.

In high school, college and for a while after this expanded to General Hospital, All My Children, Sunset Beach and Passions.

I haven't followed them for about four or five years now but from time to time catch an episode or two. Plus Soapnet also airs Dallas and Knots Landing! I'm totally done for now!

On November 25th SoapNet will air six episodes of Days of Our Lives focusing on Bo and Hope's relationship over the years.

I have been in love with Peter Reckell since I was little! A bit of trivia for you, Hope is named after Hope Brady!

Arriving today was a surprise second prize win from the GQ - Remy Martin Step It Up With 1738 Sweepstakes, it's a Hype Williams - The Videos, Vol. 1 DVD.

Here's the breakdown of prizes from this sweepstakes:
Grand Prize (1) a trip for two to Los Angeles, tickets to a Hype Williams production and the opportunity to be selected as an extra in a Hype Williams production. First Prize (100) an autographed copy of "Hype Williams - The Videos Volume 1" on DVD. Second Prize (2,400) "Hype Williams - The Videos Volume 1" on DVD.

I was chosen as Ratkiss' October-ween contest winner and the prize was my choice of quirky clay earrings. All the earrings are handmade to order so I chose the Bumble Bee earrings for my sister who happens to love bees.

My second self also happens to love bees and along with my sister also lives in Denver, loves pickles and eats a lot of Subway. *cues the Twilight Zone theme song*

Anyhow, does anyone notice anything different about the bees? Ahem, those bees don't have stingers on them! They're dead bees! Even if they're dead, they're still adorable!

Nicole from Ratkiss enclosed a note which was signed "Hugs and ratkisses!" You gotta love that!

On Friday November 11th, Lifetime television will have a Golden Girls marathon starting at noon EST.

Over a year and a half ago a friend of mine, let's call him Stanley forwarded a politically incorrect e-mail. As it offended me, I told him so and asked him not to send me e-mails like that anymore. He responded that he understood and agreed not to send me such e-mails. So I thought that was the end of the story as the entire thing was between me and Stanley.

Until Stanley's wife, let's call her Dorothy started acting strange toward me. She stopped returning my phone calls and e-mails and when there was a group of us together she'd manage to play up the silent treatment when I was around.

I start questioning what her problem is and what she had against me, claims that nothing is wrong and lets it play on for several months. Meanwhile another friend let's call her Rose also acknowledges that clearly Dorothy is angry at me. After several attempts to contact Dorothy, I fired off an e-mail asking her what her problem was.

She e-mailed me back saying that she didn't like my "tone" in my e-mail response to Stanley's politically incorrect e-mail and that was the explanation for her behavior toward me for months and that she was expecting an apology.

I responded that the e-mail was between me and Stanley and I was over it after I asked him not to forward crap like that to me, it never involved her whatsoever! I even started off that e-mail as "I say this in friendship...."

Then she responded with a rather flip "Well, then I leave this in your hands to contact me regarding our friendship." She demanded an apology from me and then doesn't offer one up when it's clear that there was no reason for her to be mad and nothing to excuse her behavior toward me, especially after ten years of friendship. She was so quick to cast me aside as a friend, why should I bother trying to be hers!

Fast forward over a year and a half to Monday night when my caller id reads a phone call from Dorothy and Stanley's house, I of course refuse to pick up the phone. Rose left a message on my answering machine and I can hear Dorothy in the background. Rose called again ten minutes later and I again let the machine pick it up.

Yesterday, I talked to Rose who mentions that her and Dorothy called me yesterday to let me know that Dorothy is pregnant. She said that the night before while they were trying to call me Dorothy said "Blanche (that would be me) won't pick up the phone, she hates me!"

Rose asks me if I hate Dorothy which I don't of course but she isn't exactly my friend either. Rose then mentions "It's because of Stanley right, because he's an ass?" And I said "Oh no, this all falls on Dorothy."

Rose mentions that everyone is getting together on Friday and asked if I'd go. I tell her straight out that I'd feel incredibly uncomfortable going and would rather not.

Rose asks if I think things will ever be the same between me and Dorothy and I mention that things will never be the same which of course makes Rose sad. Rose asked if everything could be resolved if Dorothy were to call you an apologize. It's not that simple as I'm still angry about the whole thing and it angers me even more that everyone is trying to dismiss my feelings about it.

No, I don't want to get together with everyone on Friday and pretend that everything has blown over and is now okay! It's still not okay with me! I'd rather stay home and watch the Golden Girls Marathon, thank you very much!

Dorothy: "Hi, Blanche."
Blanche: "Eat dirt and die, trash!"

This arrived today, it's a metallic pink bag with an Allure tag inside. Inside that bag was a Rodan + Fields' ANTI-AGE multi-peptide treatment: eye cream with anti-oxidants.

I also included is the "I Voted" sticker I got at the polling station which really isn't a win but was still worth noting!

I went to go vote tonight and was wearing the exact same fragrance I wore this time last year to vote, Flora Napa Valley's Bohème! I of couse didn't remember this until after I had already voted not that I would have chosen a different one.

Anyhow, Bohème was inspired by Puccini's opera of the same name. Rent, the musical was based on Bohème and is going to be released as a later this month major motion picture.

I can't wait to see it! They've already released the movie version of Seasons of Love which is a song I just love! Another song I love is School House Rock's Sufferin' till Suffrage.

Here are they lyrics:



Sufferin' Till Suffrage

Now you have heard of Women's Rights,
And how we've tried to reach new heights.
If we're "all created equal"...That's us too!

(Yeah!)

But you will proba...bly not recall
That it's not been too...too long at all.
Since we even had the right to
Cast a vote.

(Well!)

Well, sure, some men bowed down
and called us "Mrs." (Yeah!)
Let us hand the was out and wash the dishes, (Huh!)
But when the time rolled around to elect a president...

What did they say, Sister, (What did they say?)

They said, uh, "See ya later, alligator,
And don't forget my...my mashed potatoes
'Cause I'm going downtown to cast
my vote for president."

Oh, we were suffering until suffrage,
Not a woman here could vote,
no matter what age,
Then the nineteenth amendment struck
down the restrictive rule. (Oh yeah!)

And now we pull down on the lever,
Cast our ballots and we endeavor
To improve our country, state, county,
town, and school.

(Tell 'em 'bout it!)

Those pilgrim women who...
who braved the boat
Could cook the turkey, but they...
they could not vote.
Even Betsy Ross who sewed the flag was left behind that first election day.

(What a shame, Sisters!)

Then Susan B. Anthony (Yeah!) and Julia Howe,
(Lucretia!) Lucretia Mott, (and others!) they showed us how;
They carried signs and marched in lines
Until at long last the law was passed.

Oh, we were suffering until suffrage,
Not a woman here could vote, no matter what age,
Then the nineteenth amendment struck down that restrictive rule (Oh yeah!)

And now we pull down on the lever,
Cast our ballots and we endeavor
To improve our country, state,
county, town, and school. (Right on! Right on!)

Yes, the nineteenth amendment
Struck down that restrictive rule. (Right on! Right on!)

Yes, the nineteenth amendment
Struck down that restrictive rule
Yeah
Yeah Yeah
Right on!
We got it now!

Since 1920
Sisters, unite!
Vote on!

Music: Bob Dorough
Lyrics: Tom Yohe
Sung by: Essra Mohawk

I started the week out excellent and stuck to my points. Even on Halloween, I stopped at after two pieces of candy - that's like a world record or something because when it comes to me and candy I'm like Takeru Kobayashi.

Then came the weekend and all hell broke loose. I for the most part have been staying away from bread since joining Weight Watchers but you wouldn't think it seeing me this weekend. I was like freakin' Kirby, inhaling it in!


On Friday alone I think I ate six pieces of bread. Not to mention I was eating pasta so it was like Carbfest 2005! You'd think I'd stop there with the overindulgence right?

Oh no, not so fast!

Dairy Queen started running it's promos on the blizzard of the month, the pumpkin pie blizzard! Are you freakin' kidding me! It's limited, delicious and has my name written all over it!

Me being ever so thrifty decided to get the largest one and saved half for the next day which I did! Suprise, surprise!

After all that I was terrified to step on the scale today expecting at least an additional five pounds added to my frame. Luckily it was just one pound! *Whew* But still, 4 sticks of butter = 1 lb!

There was an episode of According To Jim where the character of Andy (the brother in law) mentions his recipe of "Sin Sticks" where he took a stick of butter, rolled it in sugar and ate it.

I feel like a slug who feasts on sin sticks. Ugh, I'm so disappointed in myself as I'm exactly where I was two weeks ago. I can't stand myself today, I guarantee this won't be repeated ever again!

To tide me over until the next Sampler arrives, I bought a Sampler Sampler which arrived today. I think my last Sampler Sampler was better but this wasn't bad.

From the October Sampler:

A B-movie button from Whammy Industries.
A ribbon bookmark from Designed by RJ.

From the September Sampler:

A 1964 kid's workbook pin from melababy@hotmail.com - I got on of these in my September Sampler.
A seed bead necklace from Erin Elizabeth
A Cletus fetus from FeTO - I got on of these in my Summer Sampler
A character button from Yatta
A baggie of bath salts from Wrong Number Distro - I got one of these in my September Sampler.
Two hear shaped soaps from Fork 'n Spoon Mailorder.
An elephant pin from ohbara.com

From the June/July Sampler:

A monster bear button from Monster Fashion.

From the The Sampler Shop:

A sign language card from Heart Tattoo

The Sampler Sampler was $12 plus $2 for shipping. My favorite thing was the elephant pin which is so chic and soft. I think I may need more of those in different colors! The seed bead necklace is really cute as well. I'm probably going to send the sign language card to my sister as she knows how to sign. She started studying it in high school and took a few classes in college.

I'm rather expressive with my hands when I'm speaking and have been asked on occasion if I know sign language. I never realized how expressive I was until people pointed it out.

I couldn't find much on the Rosine's Rose D'argent as it's been long discontinued. I was able to find Luscious Cargo's description of it when it was available through the site:

The mysteries of anise and amber are gracefully coupled with absolutes of Turkish Rose, geranium and angelica. A heady rose with just the right touch of spice. Notes: Head - Green anise, pepper, geranium leaves. Heart - Turkish rose essence, Grasse rose absolute. Base - Ambrette seed, angel root. Created 2000.

I purchased a partially used bottle unsniffed due in part to it's rarity but also to the fact that it was described as a spicy rose and I'm a sucker for spicy roses! Plus, could I really pass it up after the description on An Alabaster Brow?

Very different from what I was expecting as most spicy rose fragrances are pepper heavy but this starts off with a lot of anise. I'm not usually a huge fan of anise fragrances but this I don't mind. The rose isn't evident right away and it seems a bit dry but it does come out as the day goes on. It dries down very earthy with a touch of amber. Very, very pretty and I have no regrets over this purchase.

The staying power is fairly good and this scent is perfect for this windy day with a high of 81°. I'm sorry they discontinued it as it's very unique, right down to the color. With this and the earrings, I'm having a bit of a purplelicious day!

As a Bonnin Designs' newsletter subscriber, I recently won these earrings which arrived today. Because I don't have much of a neck, I'm always leary of earrings that are too long but these are the perfect size.

I love the colors, especially the amethyst as I'm still on the hunt for the perfect bag that shade. I really love the way they capture the light!

There are a lot of different pieces on the site. Check out the flamenco earrings, aren't they fabulous! There is free shipping on the site and if you go to Buss Buss, there's a 15% off code!

If these boots (in brown) arrived in your sister's name and in your sister's size to your address wouldn't you naturally give them to your sister?

Note to Sar: The universe clearly wants me to own these shoes! Why else would they have come in my name!?!?

After such a hellish week, I treated myself to some retail therapy and hit my local Marshalls last Saturday. They had 25% off all clearance prices so I hit that section first and stumbled across a lone bottle of Shalimar Light. All the other boxes of Shalimar Light were still set at the normal price so I took it as a sign that this bottle was meant to go home with me. After all, it was only $11.25! I remember having tested Shalimar Light before but couldn't remember if I liked it or not. I hate when I buy things unsniffed as it usually more misses than hits so I did hesitate a bit before checking out.

Shalimar Light is described on Sephora as:

A new seduction ... Shalimar Light is a transparent, youthful, lighter incarnation of Guerlain's original, classic Shalimar fragrance. This softer blend of fresh, luminous floral notes and sensual vanilla, is the perfect casual, yet stylish accent.

Notes:
High Tech Bergamot, Jasmine Petals, Vanilla.

Style:
Fresh. Cheerful. Feminine.

It starts of rather citrusy, a lot of lemon. More of a lemon custard type fragrance over fresh cut lemon. The jasmine is the most predominant floral note in here, not to say that the jasmine is predominant because it's not. The sweetness of the vanilla seems to be cut with soft, pale amber and light incense.

The initial application doesn't blow me over but once it dries down and warms to the skin, it turns out to be a really pretty fragrance. While pretty, I don't know if I'd pay the retail price for it or even re-purchase this again but I really couldn't beat it for the price. They drydown seems somewhat similar to The Different Company's Jasmine de Nuit if you were to remove the lemon from Shalimar light.

I love this as a comfort fragrance as it has a very cozy vibe to it. I could see wearing this year round but not on days when the temperature's up in the hundreds - it would be far too cloying then. The staying power is really good and a little goes a long way, this is a fragrance I feel you have to apply with a light hand because it easily gets to be too much with more than one spray.

Shalimar Light retails for $50/1.7 oz. or $60/2.5 oz. at Sephora.

Ugh, for the past week and a half I have not been feeling good at all. As if my crazy cycle wasn't enough I found out some sad news on Friday which made matters worse as I got a migraine that evening. Glad that things are looking better, far better this week! As I hadn't been feeling good and had been trying to catch up with everything, I missed posting yesterday on Halloween which is one of my all time favorite holidays ever! :*(

I'm rather disappointed in myself as last month was both Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month and I didn't mention them once!

While I'm too young for annual mammograms I do frequently check my breasts for any changes. As I get older, I like the idea of mammogram on my birthday as it's a day I'm unlikely to forget. Early detection is key in breast cancer but in the even that cancer is found, it isn't an automatic death sentence as my beautiful and courageous friend Lucia has talked about her fight against it.

Victims of domestic violence is a huge cause for me. In college, I volunteered at the local women's shelter and came across women of all races, religions, economic backgrounds. It hits close to home as I've had many friends in abusive relationships. Thankfully, a lot of them have since left those relationships. There were times where situations had escalated to the point where we had to notify the authorities.

Nobody ever has the right to abuse you!!! (this was not always the case!) I'm not talking just about physical abuse but abuse of any kind. It would break my heart when my friends would tell me they felt that they deserved it.

Speaking of deserving things I loved yesterday's Oprah where she mentioned that we all deserve good things in our lives and she's trying to convince the world to stage their own reinvention! Everyone deserves to feel fabulous! Preach on Oprah, saving the world a person at a time!

Jumping on the bandwagon of reinvention are my mom and my oldest friend from high school. My mom has been plagued with a series of illnesses and is in really bad shape, I've been trying to convince her for some time now to join me on my journey and change her eating habits and start exercising. I'm happy to report she's on day three of daily exercise!!

As far as my oldest friend from high school, I saw her last month (she lives in a different city and we only see each other once a year) and was concerned as she seemed to be at a very unhappy place with herself, mainly physically but with other things as well. I reached out to her and shared with her my own journey and offered to be her personal motivator and I'm happy to report that today is her first day on joining Curves!!!

Fabulous! Yesterday while on the treadmill I was watching www.mtv.com
and saw the new www.madonna.com video. Props to Madonna for sampling ABBA's Gimme, Gimme, Gimme! That's my favorite ABBA song ever!

I also saw the video for www.blackeyedpeas.com video for "My Hump." Some of the lyrics to this song are:

"You love my lady lumps,
My hump, my hump, my hump"

and

"They say I'm really sexy,
The boys they wanna sex me.
They always standing next to me,
Always dancing next to me,
Tryin' a feel my hump, hump.
Lookin' at my lump, lump."

When I hear "hump" I think of either Quasimoto or Osteoporosis! And lady lumps sounds so incredibly gross!



I lost 1.2 lbs this week which isn't bad but not exactly the best either. This was the quote WW gave me:

WAY TO GO! Congratulations for losing weight this week. We hope you're thrilled with the result. Here's a quote by Aristotle that we thought might strike a chord with you: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." Keep practicing your excellence and have a great week.

They ALWAYS give me that quote! Bastards! I feel so cheated!

Oh well, by the end of today I plan on responding to e-mails from a week ago and including more blog links on this site. I'm so far behind on everything but hope to be caught up by the end of this week. It's a new day, a new month - I'm going to reinvent myself....and my hump!