¡Ombligo!

So how'd I do this week? Well, I ate more veggies and denied myself the pleasure of Nutella. I ate well, but not perfectly. It was a fairly good week but I wasn't expecting much when I stepped on the scale this morning.

So, how did I do? I lost 1.6 lbs this week and got the usual Weight Watchers message: 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.

You'd think they'd be original after a while and change the messages up! It's sort of like reaching into a bowl of fortune cookies and getting the same message over and over. Some of those fortunes are wicked crazy however and I wouldn't mind getting those again.

Speaking of fortune cookies, I had some Chinese this past week and got the following fortune: Your present plans are going to succeed.

Why, thank you very much fortune cookie stuffer person!

Looks like the year of the dog is going to be good to me! In your face rooster! Anyone ever notice that the Cashmere Mist bottle resembles a rooster?

Going to try and incorporate more vegetables this week. I'm finding out that I'm getting fuller much faster by eating them first.

If 2006 has been a major suckfest don't worry, just declare that you celebrate the lunar year so this is the start of the new year for you!

Yay!

Celebrate and let this year be the best year ever for you and your crew!

Aren't you excited?

It's the year of the dog!


Year of the dog seems to be a transitional year for me:

1982: Was the year where I decided to change my career path to paleontology and would go out fossil hunting. I used an old coffee container to hold whatever I discovered on my digs.

1994: I graduated high school and started college. I joined a sorority and managed to kick a little ass.

If history repeats itself, there will be new and exciting opportunities for me!

This year, be fierce like a dog! Be loyal, be protective, be unafraid, take a chance! Declare this as your year! Grrr, the year of the dog!

I'm subscribed to JennyLou's newsletter and was the winner of the December drawing. She sent me two Chocolate Truffle Bath Meltaways and soy tea light candles in Chocolate Truffle and in an apple scent.

The candles have a lot of throw and melt very cleanly. I already used up the apple scent and will burn the chocolate one tomorrow.

I used a bath meltaway which has a lovely milk chocolate scent. It really left my skin moisturized and lightly scented which went away after I applied my unscented lotion. Melting half was more than enough for me and I actually let it melt on my skin in the shower and after it melted, I then rubbed it into my skin.
Why?

Because I misplaced my tub stopper.....or someone stole it?!?

You know, I've heard that tub thievery is big in some circles!

Both products can be purchased through jennyLou's!
Chocolate Truffle Bath Meltaways are $8/package of 3.
Chocolate Truffle Soy Candle $8/4 oz tin

There is also a huge sale going on at jennyLous, up to 70% off select items.

I saw Crash (not to be confused with Crash the movie about freaks who get off on car crashes) which was good, but wasn't as good as I expected.

I had been hearing about the movie and it's all star cast for some time.

ALL STAR CAST right?

All star.........until Tony Danza comes into the picture!

And guess what?

He doesn't play a guy named Tony in this movie!

All star my ass!

I don't know why the scarf looks dirty in the picture because it's not! Maybe I was thinking dirty thoughts when I took the picture and those dirty thoughts diminished the purity of the scarf? Can a girl help it if she lusts in her heart?

I went to Marshalls yesterday and was checking out the scarves and saw the one shown above and thought: "That's really cute, if only they had a matching hat!"

Then I go around to another section and sure enough there's the matching hat!

The gods and goddesses of chic scaves and hats decided to bestow upon me a fabulous set, or maybe everything I wish will come true?

*Thinks really hard*
I wish for world peace!
I wish I was at my goal weight!
I wish cupcakes were fat free!
I wish I had a collection of every fragrance ever made!
I wish....

you get the idea!

Anyhow, the set only set me back a mere $37! $25 for the scarf which is 10" wide and 6' long and the hat was only $12.

They are made by Portolano and made of cashmere which it isn't the best quality but they are rather soft and not bad for the price!

So my cousin's wife is in town and she had car trouble. She had to spend the night along with her two kids - a girl who's two and a boy who's three. While I'm pretty much a kid myself, I'm not really into kids. I can deal with them for an hour or two and then I can't take it anymore.

I didn't understand what they were saying and basically needed a translator to talk to them, they want to touch everything and the only thing that entertains them is cartoons. I've never seen so many cartoons since I was a kid myself!

And what's up with the crying? Crying while they are going to sleep, crying when they wake up? All the time crying! How hard is life when you're two?!?!

I made sure the little girl knew there was only room for one drama queen in this house!

Last night, I covered them with stickers and sprayed the little girl with Serendipitous and this morning I taught had her to layer Starlights with Demeter's Hot Toddy.

I tried to serve them healthy snacks like popcorn and applesauce but they really weren't interested until I pulled out the container of Nutella. I got the kids hooked on Nutella and crackers.

I was very good and didn't eat any myself - thank you very much.

I certainly hope I haven't opened the pathway to childhood obesity for them!

Safe to say I don't want kids anytime soon. Can I count running after them as my workout for today? I'm seriously exhausted!

I'd been hearing about Fifi by Fifi Chachnil for a while now and had been wanting to test it but obtaining a sample was all but impossible then all the sudden I get not just one but two samples of the famous Fifi in less than a week!

Fifi is described on the Fifi Chachnil site as: The perfume "Fifi" is an essence of pure femininity with all the contradictions it implies. So fanciful and light, with deep almost masculine notes, insolence and tenderness. Imaginative, it starts gently with sharp notes of citrus and coriander mingled with the sweetness of the rose that gives it a powdery tone. The amber gives its oriental touch but enhanced by the tobacco, it takes and insolent character. In the tradition of the great classics, it's amazing harmonies seem to ring naturally like transparencies.

The notes are described as: Oriental harmony both insolent (amber, coriander, tobacco) and tender (powdered rose, mandarin, lily of the valley)

I could see the comparisons to Anne Pliska (especially in the top notes) but Fifi is much sexier. Fifi is slightly sweeter when first applied as the orange and lemon mix with the vanilla and the not so sweet amber. For some reason I was expecting this to be sweeter and I'm really glad it's not.

After it dries down I get a whole lot of amber and not so much vanilla - the two really compliment each other well a it dries down, at first I really wasn't that impressed. Once the tobacco comes through it's really sexy. I get a tinge of anise in here - it could just be my body chemistry but I swear I can smell a bit of it along with a hint of leather which is probably just my imagination and a naughty one at that. It's one of those fragrances that makes you want to spank someone....hard.

Does anyone remember that Saturday Night Live Skit where Miranda Richardson was the host and there was a Dieter skit where she's dressed up as both a whore and a nun anyhow I looked it up via Internet Movie Database:

Dieter: What is your name?
Exclamation Point: I do not have a formal Christian name. I am called Exclamation Point.
Dieter: Greetings Exclamation Point. I have always wanted to make love to a woman with punctuational nomenclature.

Exclamation Point: I am a whore. I am a nun. I am a whore.
Dieter: Nun.
Exclamation Point: Whore.
Dieter: Nun.
Exclamation Point, Dieter: Whorenun.

Pictures of that skit can be found here.

The bottle doesn't seem to fit the fragrance but it totally appeals to me. This to me is a "good girl gone bad" fragrance, total whorenun if you will. Staying power is fabulous and I found a little went a long way with it. Total vamp fragrance and perfect on a cold winter day, or night!

I think I need to add this to my collection, I wasn't too keen on it when I first applied it but once the tobacco kicks in it's very sexy and purrable.

Want,
Need,
Wantneed!

Want to read a better review? Check this one out on Perfume-Smellin' Things!

Fifi is available direct through Fifi Chachnil or through Cherie Boutique.

Flipped over


Flipped over again!

This is my latest win from Marie Claire. This is the first actual win of the year because all the other wins were actually won last year but arrived this year.

I've been craving lentil soup for a while and decided to make a spicier tomato based one. This is what I added in:

Clamato Lentil Soup, serves 12

32 FL OZ (1 Qt) Clamato Picante
1 pound dry lentils
4 large carrots chopped
1 cup chopped squash
1 small onion chopped
3 Tbsp salsa
2 Tbsp cilantro
64 OZ water - I just refilled the Clamato container twice.
Pepper to taste.

Mix the water and Clamato into your soup pot and cook those with the carrots, squash, onions and salsa for an hour. After an hour, I pureed the broth and vegetables with a stick blender then added in the lentils. I cooked them for half an hour and added in chopped cilantro to taste the last five minutes of cooking. I wouldn't add additional salt as the Clamato is really salty so I just added pepper.

It came out really good and complimented the cauliflower cakes very nicely. According to Weight Watchers recipe builder this was 2 points per serving.

I comes out really thick and hearty so I'm going to add more water when I re-heat this which makes the serving stretch a bit.

I used this recipe from Vegetarian Times:

CAULIFLOWER CAKES
Serves 6 - Vegan

These little patties are soft in the middle and crispy outside. People who claim they don’t like cauliflower have been known to eat them with gusto! For extra crunch, use a bread that has sunflower or other seeds in it. These patties are delicious served plain or with a tomato or cheese sauce. Accompany them with a green salad.

1 medium-sized cauliflower (about One and 1/2 lb.), cut into florets
2 cups whole-grain breadcrumbs, or as needed
1/3 cup crunchy cashew butter
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1 to 2 Tbs. olive oil.

1. Steam cauliflower florets 10 minutes, or until very tender. Transfer to mixing bowl, and mash with potato masher until only small lumps remain.

2. Stir in 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs, cashew butter and green onions, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add more breadcrumbs, if necessary, to make mixture hold together.

3. Shape into 12 patties, about 1/2-inch thick. Spread remaining breadcrumbs on sheet of wax paper. Coat patties on both sides with breadcrumbs.

4. Heat 1 Tbs. oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add half of patties, and cook 5 minutes on each side, or until browned. Transfer to paper towel–lined plate. Repeat with remaining patties and oil. Serve immediately.

PER SERVING: 170 CAL; 6G PROT; 10G TOTAL FAT (1.5G SAT. FAT); 16G CARB; 0MG CHOL; 370MG SOD; 4G FIBER; 4G SUGARS

I put the recipe in Weight Watchers recipe builder and it came out to 6 points per serving of two. I decided to bake my instead of frying them which lowers the serving of two by a point. I baked them on a pizza stone at 450 F degrees for 10 minutes, flipped them over and cooked them an additional 10 minutes. As my lentil soup was tomato based, I just ate them without any sauce. I actually made more than twelve but didn't photograph them all.

Instead of salt and pepper, I seasoned them with Tony Chachere's Seasoning. They were still a bit bland for my liking so next time I'd add a bit of salsa or something to liven them up.

*sobs* I only lost .4 lbs this week! That's a bit crap considering I stuck to my points and exercised more this week than last! This was the message that Weight Watchers gave me:

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."

Then they went on and on about motivation. Oh well, I'm not letting it frustrate me however, it makes me a bit more determined.

Although I would like to shove a Hostess cupcake in my mouth right about now! I don't dare venture to see how many points are in one of those as I'd try to find a way to fit it into my diet.

It seems like I'm losing weight at a turtle's pace so I'm going to try more vegetarian recipes this week and incorporate them into my diet. I'm not much of a meat eater as it is so it won't be too hard to eat vegetarian meals. I cooked some yesterday, cauliflower cakes and lentil soup which were both really good and filling.

We'll see if my weight shifts any this week! It better shift a little more than this week or else I'll be forced to kick some ass! Some turtle ass?


Turtles in a half shell, turtle power! Christopher the "thug" turtle.

I've been a subscriber to Daily Candy for several years now and I just love it!

Being a bargain shopper I was so excited when they started their Weekly Deals program late last year.

In case you haven't heard, one of this week's weekly deals is 25% off at B-glowing with code: DCGLOW which is good through February 16th!

My friend Lisa is the owner of B-glowing where they sell all independent products at fabulous prices as there is always something going on at B-glowing!

Lisa is such a gem and believes strongly in helping other women along the way. She has really worked hard to attain and excel at her goals and dreams and deserves every single bit of happiness!

Isn't it wonderful! This is the first of many great things in store for both B-glowing and Lisa this year!

Click here to Subscribe to Daily Candy. In addition to weekly deals they have a daily issue for certain cities.

Because my eczema flares up in the winter I'm always on the hunt for effective creams and lotions. Since I was placing an order through Lush, I added in a container of Dream Cream with the buy one get one free coupon.

Dream Cream is described on the site as:
Those of us with skin that gives us severe problems sometimes (or all of the time) could spend our lives dreaming of a beautiful, clear, trouble free epidermis. We try many beauty creams and pharmaceuticals, you name it, we've used it, but still our bothersome skin won't behave. Give Dream Cream a try; we get loads of letters about how well it works (see below). Why? Because it is made with every calming plant we can get our hands on: oats have been used on the skin as far back as Celtic times, softening rose water, calming lavender and chamomile, olive oil to moisturize and loads more (see above). The scent sometimes takes a bit of getting used to as it's not your average floral thing, more of a herbal approach. Get some. There's no point in having a dream unless you're going to have a decent crack at making it come true. Hey, this also works well after shaving!

The packaging isn't the best and one of the containers arrived leaking. It's an incredibly thick cream that starts off with a strong lavender scent with a hint of rose which tapers down after it's applied. I think I may use this more as bedtime hand cream instead of a body lotion as I don't like my lotion to overwhelm my fragrance choice. Once the lotion absorbs into the skin, the fragrance isn't so heavy but I apply fragrance right after I apply my lotion.

Also, it does leave your hands a bit greasy for a while so I'd suggest using this with cotton gloves if you do have to touch things immediately after application.

Would I purchase this again? Yes! It leaves my skin silky smooth and doesn't seem to irritate my eczema.

The people at Lush are so strange! The day after I ordered Hard, Lush increased the prices on their website so the price of Hard went up by $1.50. Dream Cream however went down in price by .05!

Dream Cream retails for $18.90/8.4 oz. through Lush.

From now until March 31, 2006 if you buy any of these items: Honey I washed the kids, Avobath, Big Shampoo, Dream Cream or Ocean Salt you'll get a second one for free (same item). Only one free item per purchase with code:FREETOP5

Picture from the Visions of Eden website.

Ooh lavender! If you like lavender and love soap you have to try Pre de Provence Lavender Soap. I was given a bar in my secret santa package and it is fabulous!

This is a really huge bar of soap that's relatively gentle on my super sensitive skin. It's got bits of lavender throughout the bar which could be used as a mild exfoliant if you rub the bar of soap direct on your skin. I instead rub the bar on a washmit and apply that to my skin.

It's quite fragrant but not overly fragrant where the scent lingers on your skin and it washes away very nicely.

The soap retails for $5.99/8.8 oz. at Visions of Eden. That maple wood soap dish retails for $9.99 at the same site.

On Monday I was reading my best friend's fabulous blog, Blogdorf Goodman and happen across an adorable picture and continue to read the following news.
It took a moment to figure that she was referring to me and my first thought was "Oh my god, I'm going to die!"

Not to be confused with "This is so fabulous I'm going to die!" But rather, things are going too good so something bad is going to happen which is going to mean sudden death for me!

Doom and gloom!

I know, I know, it's not a normal response but I'm not a normal girl! Plus this isn't the first time I've instantly thought I was going to die, when I was six my parents didn't tell me about baby teeth falling out and what have you. We were eating lunch and I opened up my small bag of Doritos (hmm...wonder why I'm on Weight Watchers) with my teeth and a baby tooth fell out onto the table and I looked at it, ran screaming to the couch and rolled around shouting "I'm going to die! I'm going to die!"

Yeah total drama queen right? Bet you didn't know I'm a certified drama queen! Two years ago Pinkie Swear held a Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen contest where you had to write an essay explaining why you were a drama queen and surprise, surprise I was one of ten winners.

Anyhow, it took me four days to take this all in and accept the fact that this may not exactly be the cause of my death.

While I win a lot of contests, this is the first time in my life that I've ever been nominated for anything so I think I handled the news quite well...for a drama queen!

♥

I accounted for every single point this week and measured everything that I ate. One thing I really need to work on is portion control, I don't quite understand how much I'm serving myself and what I thought was one cup of pasta was actually more like two cups.

I also don't realize how filling one cup of pasta can really be because to me it doesn't look like a portion for one, it looks more like something you'd serve a child but having been a fat child I was already eating bigger portions so of course I don't know what a proper serving is.

I also have to understand that I'm going to have to eat like this for the rest of my life, not just until I reach my goal weight. The second I don't pay attention to how much I'm eating, I'm going to gain it all back which is evident with what happened with holiday overindulgence!

Oh and it's not diet or exercise, it's both! I may have accounted for every single point but at the end of the week I had only logged in three hours on the treadmill and two of those hours were put in last night!

Okay, okay enough with the rambling - so how much did I lose this week..........3.6lbs!

Which means I've almost lost almost all the weight I put on during holiday overindulgence!

That's fantastic news right, down 3.6 lbs? Um, no! Not according to Weight Watchers here's the message I got:

WELL DONE! You've recorded a loss this week. That's great news!

However, we notice that you've lost more than an average of 2 pounds per week over three or more weeks. This rate is too rapid — it may be unsafe or unhealthy.While we're proud of your achievements and pleased you're making changes in your life, we need you to concentrate on one more thing: You should slow the pace of your weight loss to no more than 2 pounds per week.

Have a great week!

Are you freakin' serious! I only exercised for three hours this week, I stuck to my points and I even dipped into my weekly points, so I have no idea how I lost so much this week!

I seriously wish I could lose 3.6 lbs every week, especially on the weeks where I'm really working hard and I lose point nothing points or even gain!

This is crap, and they left me without a quote! Bastards!

Oh, I forgot to mention I had to buy some underwear this week and I bought a size down from the ones I've been wearing. I was thinking if they don't fit, they will eventually - but they actually fit right now! So I'm down one size in underwear!

I spent the last of my Christmas money on cupcakes and ice cream!

Okay, okay, these aren't exactly edible - but they are adorable!

I've had my eye on iHotto's vanilla cupcake necklace and earrings for over two years and decided to cave on them as Fred Flare had a 25% off code through Lucky.



I ordered the strawberry ice cream necklace to round off my ice cream necklace collection. The strawberry cone is smaller in comparison to the other two which makes sense as the other two are chock full of sugar and strawberries aren't, they're dainty! DAINTY!



I debated on ordering a pair of strawberry earrings but felt that may be a bit over the top, so I ordered the chocolate cupcake necklace instead!



These are going to be motivators as well so I can't wear them yet, I have to earn them first! *sobs*

Motto for the year: "Don't eat cupcakes and ice cream, wear them!"

Two months ago I won a $10 gift certificate to Disney Shopping after all the holiday shopping I'm totally broke but I hated to see it expire so I looked for something cute and cheap.

On Mondays, they have free shipping on certain pins and they had added some Mulan pins. Mulan happens to be one of my favorite movies ever, especially this specific scene.

As it was only $10.95 with free shipping, I ordered it and only had to pay .95!

Actually since I ordered through Ebates, I get back .44!

I'm so thrifty, it hurts!

I won this Rebecka Boyd Annie Handbag charm through a Chic Blvd giveaway. This is something I probably wouldn't have purchased for myself but it's really cute.

The Rebecka Boyd - Annie Handbag Charm retails for $28.

This is totally my "mom" minus the accent. It's from Angry Little Girls

*sobs* As if this day didn't already suck, my sister just called to tell me she tested positive for Thalassemia which is a genetic disease that my mom was diagnosed with two years ago.

So now I have to get tested for it!

Ugh!! Thissucksasshardcoremotherfuckingsonofabitchfuckingasscrapgenesfromhell!

The bright side: Only 3-8% of the Chinese population has Thalassemia and I'm not even 100% Chinese so the odds are slim right?

Nevermind the fact that both my mom and sister have it!

I'll pretend that I was switched at birth! I don't even look like my mom or sister so that means I'm not Asian at all - being switched at birth!

That means I can't possibly have it!

Update: So now it's Saturday, I'm watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent and one of the suspects has........Thalassemia! What the hell?!?!

I woke up really early this morning and there was nothing to watch so I ended up watching Alexander. This is my reasoning at 3:00 in the morning: "How bad can it really be?"

Ugh! The narrator of the whole story is a creepy looking Anthony Hopkins.

The story opens up with Angelina Jolie speaking in a funny accent and playing with snakes while talking to young Alexander. Then you're introduced to a chunky Val Kilmer who's got a cycloptic drunk thing going on.

Then we see Christopher Plummer teaching young Alex and his chums. I love Christopher Plummer, I really do - but silver fox? Not so much!

We see young Alex tames a horse - that's about all the taming that goes on in the movie.

He grows up and we see Colin Farrell as Alex. Colin Farrell with dyed blond hair and eyebrows - that's right his eyebrows are dyed blond. Not a light blond but a dirty blond kinda like when you squish yellow Playdoh over brown you get a ugly looking color that you never use and you have to end up throwing it away - that's the color that's going on with his brows!

Alex has several lovers among them Jared Leto and Rosario Dawson. Both Colin and Rosario appear nude but Jared does not!

I kept watching expecting it to get better, then we get to flashbacks that really should have been told in the beginning of the story but in all honestly don't really make much of a difference as by this time you're bored out of your mind!

Then we get back to Alexander conquering land and people turning against him...blah, blah, blah! Typical story. Not seeing any greatness here!

Finally he dies, the end!

By far the worst movie I've seen all year! Don't bother watching this unless you really want to torture yourself.

If you want to pretend you saw this just say things like "I was too distracted by (fill in the blank with *Colin's eyebrows*/*the accents*/*the snakes*/*Val's eye*/etc..) to take in the movie"

Maybe Colin should stick to home movies instead?

.


Having never been to New York City, I've not yet had the pleasure to go to Serendipity 3 but I have had their famous Frrrozen Hot Chocolate, I bought the mixes last year from La Creme Beauty which they sadly no longer have in stock, they do however have the Vosages Hot Cocoa Mixes which are beyond divine!

I had tried Serendipitous before but wasn't too impressed as they staying power was fairly lousy on me. As I've been flocking to comfort gourmand fragrances, I decided to give Serendipitous a second chance and decided to order myself a bottle this past Sunday (right after watching *surprise, surprise* Serendpity).

Serendipitous is described as: Serendipitous is the sophisticated new unisex chocolate scent with exotic hints of Tahitian vanilla and blood orange. From the restaurant that brought the world Frrrozen Hot Chocolate!

I can only detect the blood orange when I first spray it, it's more of a chocolate and vanilla fragrance on me. Not really a melted milk chocolate though. If you like Comptoir Sud Pacifique Amour de Cacao, you'd like this. I find them rather similar but I get more vanilla from CSP's fragrance.

I've heard Serendipitous described as a marshmallowy chocolate which is really the best description for it. I layered it with Jaqua's Chocolate Body Butter which I felt was a mistake at first but grew to like it after having worn it for an hour.

The staying power is rather poor on me but it's a wonderful fragrance while it lasts. I think that the Jaqua body butter overpowers the fragrance once it dries down as the chocolate in there is stronger than Serendipitous. This is a cozy comfort fragrance. Perfect for days when you need a little pick-me-up. :)

I ordered my bottle from Sugar Daisy which has it for $25/1.7oz / 50 mL
Get an additional 20% off with code: xjk54p98
Plus they have free shipping with orders over $45.

You can also find it at Luckyscent for $36/50ml .

You can find the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate mix at Sugar Daisy or Fred Flare.

photo taken from La Maison de la Vanille website

I never much fancied myself as a lover of gourmand fragrances. I have a few in my collection that I wear on a rare occasion.

I've feeling rather emotional lately (Thank you PMS!) and have been wanting to wear comfort fragrances and the first thing that comes to mind are gourmand ones!

The first being La Maison de la Vanille's Noire du Mexique which is described on their site as: The Powdery accent. A sparkling top note to sharpen the mystery, a rose and jasmin heart note to seduce you gently.

The notes are: vanilla, rose, jasmine, iris, tonka bean, patchouli and bergamot.

When I first spray it I get a burst of jasmine and subtle rose scent under the vanilla. Those floral notes are overtaken by the iris for a bit and once it dries down, I get a subtle spiced patchouli mixed with vanilla.

When I read that patchouli was a note in this fragrance, I was afraid that the patchouli would overwhelm the entire scent but this isn't your typical patchouli. Very, very pretty.

La Maison de la Vanille fragrances always have excellent staying power on me, I can detect it on my skin well into the next day. The main thing I like about this fragrance is that it isn't overly sweet so for me it won't be limited to just a comfort fragrance.

La Maison de la Vanille Noire du Mexique sells for:
$30/100 ml at B-glowing
$32/100 ml at Beautyhabit
$32/100 ml at Luckyscent

Six bottles of Vaseline Intensive Care Renewel Lotion arrived today from the Moisture Obsessive Instant Win Game.

I only lost .8 lbs this week which at least is something but it's not enough. I was feeling a bit frustrated this morning but it's obvious that I still have a lot to learn especially as far as portion control and planning out what I eat.

Last week I was playing it by ear with my WW points and not really paying attention to exactly what I was eating . The first couple of weeks that I was on Weight Watchers I would pre-plan my day to see exactly what I'd eat, how much, etc...

Decided to go back to that this week as it will make it easier for me and I can always substitute foods if I change my mind through the day.

I'm feeling a bit frustrated but also more motivated!

taken from the Holly Cruise site.

The cupcake rings are $175 each, the birthday cake rings are $195 each and the
cake slice ring is $195.

Purchasing the entire sweety cakes collection would set you back $935 which is equal to purchasing the Hello Kitty Tiara, three bottles of Regina Harris and two iHotto cupcake necklaces. Ouch!

Perhaps it's wise to just want one! *sobs*

.

My eczema is at it's worst during winter months. The cold air makes my hands crack so I go through a lot of hand creams and lotions to help alleviate the problem. I really loved the Jaqua French Bulldog Cafe Wake-Up Kit and couldn't wait to try out more of their products.

Pink Buttercream Frosting Hand Creme with Meadowfoam Seed Oil is described on the Jaqua site as: Formulated with Meadowfoam Seed Oil, Herbal Extracts, and vitamins A & E to keep hands sexy soft all day!

It literally smells like buttercream! The cream is very concentrated so you don't have to use a lot and the scent starts off mild and ends up soft. You can smell it if you put your hands up to your nose, but it won't overwhelm the scent you're wearing.

I like this a lot and wouldn't hesitate to purchase it again as it left my hands very soft and isn't sticky at all.

Jaqua Pink Buttercream Frosting Hand Creme with Meadowfoam Seed Oil sells for $8/2 oz. tube.

Taken from the Wikipedia site.

Based after the famous Vitruvian Man, I of course found the Vitruvian LegoMan Necklace incredibly adorable!

I loved playing with Legos as a kid so I had to have it naturally! It's also going to be used as a motivator and I can't wait to wear it!

It's an actual Lego piece and you're given the choice on the color of back (translucent blue, translucent orange, opaque white, or black Lego.) I went with the blue!

The color of the Vitruvian LegoMan is a darker blue, (as shown below) different from the baby blue shown on the sale page. That's a result of flash because when I took a picture of the necklace it looked much lighter with the flash.

The picture below was taken in sunlight and shows the actual color which I actually prefer over the baby blue.



Vitruvian LegoMan Necklace was only $13.00 including shipping! There is also a Yellow Submarine Lego Necklace for the same price.

Photo from the iHotto Website.

As I had Christmas money to burn last week I ordered iHotto ice cream necklaces from Target at 50% off. I ordered the last bubble gum necklace (shown above) that they had on the site and the mint chip necklace. I had my eye on iHotto jewelry for a while so finding them on sale was a total score!

I'm going to save them and use them as motivators for my weight loss. I'll earn them after reaching certain small term goals. They'll be more meaningful that way, plus they'll look nicer on a healthy body!



Total cost for these motivators was only $34.75! That's a little more than the original price of one!

Mint Chip is still on sale for $14.99. You can find the bubble gum through iHotto or Fred Flare for $30.

Of all the fragrances from the L'aromarine line, Vanille seems to get the most raves. Universally described as a toasted vanilla that's not too sweet, this is a slightly smoky vanilla that seems to be a bit nutty. L'aromarine Vanille is a vanilla that would please both gourmand and non-gourmand lovers alike.

On it's own it's a beautiful fragrance but I was curious to see how it would layer with other fragrances. I chose to wear this and Jaqua Citrus Verbena Dry Oil Body Spray. The two together created an amazing fragrance, both really mesh well together. I can't wait to try other combinations, the possibilities are endless! It's got really great staying power and is perfect to wear year round!

B-glowing has it for $16.00/1.6 oz. or $23.00/3.3 oz.
Code: Kai gives you a free full size bottle of Kai with any order over $100.
Code: MUA give you 10% off any order.
Free shipping with orders over $75.

Beautyhabit has it for $16.00/1.6 oz.
Code: Toutie for a FREE Ganache for Lips lip balmwith $65. purchase!
Code: AGATHA for a free lip balm.
Free shipping with orders over $100.

I won a pair of earrings from Bonnin Designs back in October. They soon became one of my favorite pairs so the other day I was checking out the site as there was an after holiday sale going on.

For as long as I can remember I've had wrist issues! I hate when people grab my wrists and I haven't worn watches or bracelets in years. Yet, I was somewhat taken in by the bracelet shown above. Plus, it was on sale so I bought it!

The morning after I placed my order, I was checking out the Thrifty Boutique Gossip page where they were holding a contest and gave clues to a mystery celebrity.

Being a pop culture junkie I guess right away that the answer was Brittany Murphy and won!

Guess what my prize was? Halla Earrings (shown below) from......Bonnin Designs!



This totally like the Kanye West thing! Freaky Deaky Fabulous!

The bracelet called Zoe set me back a mere $13.92. It's no longer on the site so I believe it's one of a kind. The Halla earrings sell for $42.00. Both are even more amazing in person than pictured!

There are several sales going on at Bonnin Designs:
50% off Flamenco Earrings
50% off Flamenco Accessories
40% off Necklaces
40% off Bracelets

Over the years I've come to accept the fact that I have fairly shitty hair! It's dull, limp, thin and is currently sporting three different colors. I've tried various types of shampoos but nothing seems to work. I wanted to see if my shampoo isn't to blame but rather my water. I was sent a sample of Hard through my Candy Cane and couldn't wait to try it as the water out here is very hard.

Lush describes Hard as:

It's full name is Hard Water Shampoo Bar. In some places, like London, the water is so hard it could almost get up and take a rottweiler for a walk. It's good for your teeth but makes your hair dull and it never feels really clean. Wash it with Hard to get it clean, shiny and easy to manage. Hard doesn't look hard; it's a softie pink with flower petals on top but don't be fooled, it works hard! It smells all soft and pink and flowery too. Incidentally, the sodium sesquicarbonate helps counter the effect of the hard water. We knew you'd want to know that.

In middle and high school my hair was so dry that I'd try treatments of mayonnaise, oil oil, coffee and banana. Chunks of banana is very hard to wash o ut of your hair so I was a bit apprehensive over the dried flowers in Hard.

I think the trick to Hard is to work up a bit of lather in your hands and then apply it to your wet hair. Once in the hair, it doesn't lather much but once you rinse it out it feels noticeably different. I finished my hair off with conditioner, I then run a wide tooth comb though my hair as my hair is thin and tangles easily. When I did that, any dried flowers came out of my hair.

Pros: It's a rather soft floral scent that wasn't detectable one my hair was dry. My hair felt so much softer and is much shinier than usual.

One drawback is that it seemed to take a bit longer to wash my hair than usual but the results are worth it! After having tested this on four different days, I decided to cave and ordered two bars of Hard.

Hard retails for $8.45/3.5 oz. direct from Lush.

From now until March 31, 2006 if you buy any of these items: Honey I washed the kids, Avobath, Big Shampoo, Dream Cream or Ocean Salt you'll get a second one for free (same item). Only one free item per purchase with code:
FREETOP5

I've tried Bliss soaps before but had never really tried much of anything else in the line. A bottle of Vanilla + Bergamot Body Butter was given to me by my Candy Cane in Fragrance Friend's version of "Secret Santa."

The site describes this body butter as:

This tenderly blended aromatic moisture mix puts the "thrilla" back in vanilla. After a shower or bath (while your skin is still damp) apply half-a-handful of bliss vanilla + bergamot body butter from your shoulders to your shins. Repeated use will leave your skin silky, soft, supple, and mouth-wateringly moist.

This is a thick cream which rubs right into your skin. You know how most thick creams leave your palms feeling sticky? Not here! This is perfect for hands because you don't have to worry about getting it everywhere.

It really makes your skin soft and a little goes a long way! I get more of a bergamot scent than vanilla. The fragrance in here isn't strong enough to be worn on it's own but it would be lovely to layer it with a bergamot fragrance.

Thumbs up on this one!

Bliss Vanilla + Bergamot Maximum Moisture Cream retails for $$32/8.5 oz direct from Bliss.

Not only do I love woods in fragrances but I'm also drawn to things carved out of wood. As I was given some money for Christmas, I decided to spend a bit of it on some wood! (Dirty girls, get your mind out of the gutter!)

As my ring collection grows, I'm running out of room to store them so I bought the Dew Drop Jewelry Box (shown above). It's even better in person as the top swings to the side and it seals shut with magnets! It's currently storing my MoMA diamond rings.


The Hope Box is big enough to hold a small bottle of perfume or maybe some decants! Hmm, the possibilities are endless really. But it'll probably store some more rings!

Speaking of rings:

Can you believe that I didn't own a wooden ring until now?

I bought this Wood Ring Birch Promise Ring and Box (shown above) but asked the seller if he could substitute the Wooden Oak Ring (shown below) instead of the birch one.

I love oak and I loved the description that went with it!


All this wood set me back a mere $51.85 including shipping!

Similar items can be found through Gustav Studios or Chicago Joinery.

I bought these Jane*Dean earrings from Etsy before the holidays and forgot to mention them.

Aren't they chic?

Want to know the best thing about them?

The price! They were only $10 including shipping!

The good news is, I haven't gained any weight since last week! The bad news is, I haven't lost any weight since last week - including what was packed on during holiday overindulgence. *sobs*

Getting back to healthy eating is rather welcome but somewhat tiring. I am so full of mixed green salad I'm surprised my skin isn't turning colors!

I hate working out! I hate exercising! But I have to do it! I'm starting to see results and I like what I see!

You know how people stand in front of the mirror and suck in their gut? I'm not that type of person!

But I do suck in my cheeks (facial, not buttocks) just to see how I'd look.

Cheek Sucker!