Ups and Downs

Ups

- TGIF of course
- Johnsons and Johnsons baby wash. Its superior to all other body washes without question
- Bunco is over, and my menu was a hit. What a relief. I literally have nightmares when its my turn to host
- I learned how to make sangria. Sometimes 'winging it' is fun !
- Watching Yo Gabba Gabba ! with my daughter. What a cute educational show.
- the prospect of going to the Irvine Spectrum today. A friend wants a CP of MAC's Perfect Topping, I wonder if it will prove elusive.
- the weather, its finally nice.
- my gorgeous daughter Harper..and of course those other 2 kids I have too..
- my SLEEK eye palette that Magpie Sparkles sent me, I just love it so much
- L'Oreal HIP eye kohls, black. Its my favorite black liner
- Milani Luminous blush - how gorgeous is this ?
- Barry M lip paint in #132
- GOSH cool lip jams


Downs

- C's broken heart :(
- the very good prospect of seeing people I REALLY despise this weekend
- being a 'golf widow' every Friday
- the broken heart of my other good friend Ryan, betrayal is unforgiveable, as is lying :(
- no more NEW episodes of 'What not to Wear'. :( what's the deal with that ?

Ups and Downs

Ups

- Watching the new season of 'The Hills', I am glad its ending though, its monotonous
- The new season of ' Housewives of New Jersey' BOO YOW ! can't wait !
- Finally getting into the SAHM 'groove'. Didn't think it would happen, really
- Watching Harper grow, and getting close to crawling, she is truly a joy
- Warmer BEACH weather is a-coming.


Downs

-Not having the bod for the aforementioned beach weather :( I can't even blame it on pregnancy, I think I look about the same as I did before I was PG.
- Not knowing how to run this blog properly - post pics etc.. I'm learning.
- Stressing out about my turn at hosting bunco. I am love / hate with bunco right now.
- I didn't get the REALLY good strawberries this year, for the 1st time in about 3 yrs :(

TUESDAYS Ups and Downs - 'stolen' from Magpie Sparkles :D

UPS

- Going to Vega$ tomorrow. I can't wait. I wonder if taking my 5 month old to Vega$ is a big mistake.

- Getting back into Yoga. I wish I hadn't stopped.

- Anticipating a swap package from Ireland. Very exciting. I am swapping with BeautyJunky86 on YouTube. Check out her channel : http://www.youtube.com/user/beautyjunky86

- My daughter smiling at me constantly, how did I get so lucky ?

- We bought 2 day tickets to Disneyland a week ago, greatly anticipating the next trip to be better than the 1st one.



DOWNS

- The weather in Vega$ is going to be miserable. I hate April.

- Not having time to do make up / hair anymore. Its so difficult with the baby.

- Regretting not having planted my daffodil bulbs last fall :(

- Faulty diapers suddenly not containing ANYTHING ( TMI TMI )

Make Up reviews, Product Reviews and Reviews in general....

I am a long time member of Makeupalley.com, since 1991. Initially the only thing I did on this site is look at reviews. Its the consumer reports of all make up / hair /skin products and has proven invaluable. I have very few, if any regrettable purchases.

In looking for baby products for my newborn, the reviews of products on babiesrus.com and amazon.com have been invaluable as well. Foodnetwork.com - same thing. I like the rating system of food - easy, intermediate, difficult.. I am food challenged and I like EASY and I like to read others reviews first to learn of their pitfalls before I have my own. HELPFUL right ?

What made me think of this is that we are travelling to Vegas this week. We typically eat at restaurants on the strip, and my signficant other is quite picky. We are looking to expand our repetoire and find a new mexican place. Googling the restaurant and looking at the menu is not enough.. what to do ???

Go to YELP.COM. I love this website. The search engine alone is AMAZING. You want mexican food in Vegas ? search it.. Just put in 'mexican food' and 'Las Vegas'...if you forget the name of a restaurant you want to revisit ? as long as you know the food type and what city its in, chances are you can find it on YELP.COM. I am a member of YELP.com - Yelp Elite to be exact :P and it is ALL member reviews. And these people are hard core foodies, and I find that the reviews are pretty accurate and exacting. Not only are restaurants 'yelped', but retail stores, grocery stores, doctors, dentists, schools, nail shops etc... I myself have 'yelped' my OBGYN, my dentist, oral surgeon, high school, favorite retail stores, hair salon, nail salon and restaurants, not only in California where I live but places I visit - Georgia, Colorado etc...

If you haven't checked it out, do so, join and YELP. The more people that write reviews, the better it is. There are also YELP events, a message board and other fun things available.

Here is my profile : http://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=2N692MSW2fVTGiWB-793FQ

Also note, Yelpers are VERY helpful, if you have a question about a specific review they wrote - message them. They are pretty fanatical ( similar to MUA ) about their YELPS and will get back to you. :D

C= 10 favorite drugstore items.

#1.) Rimmel lipstick= Crush.

A creamy apricot shade, with a little bit of shimmer.










#2.) Chapstick brand Naturals chapstick= Lip Butter w/ Avocado and raspberry.

Very smooth and healing!










#3.) Almay smart shade foundation= light/medium.

This is the BEST foundation I've EVER used. It's not really even like a foundation. It's so light and sheer, it's more like just a tinted moisturizer. I love that it has SPF!








#4.) Jergens Faces cold cream= (GONE!)

My grandmother has used this all her life and she is nearly 80 years old! I promise you she does NOT look at day over 50. She has the most wonderful skin and I asked her what her secret was and I've been using THIS tub since I was 15. I'm 18 now!! It's much gentler than most cold creams which tend to tingle my skin and make an almost burning sensation. I haven't been able to find it ANYWHERE again so I'm making this tub last as long as I can!




#5.) AcneFree Black Head TERMINATOR.

This is really similar to that weird chamomile "pimple drying" solution. It is basically just concentrated benzoyl peroxide, and it works very quickly. It brings the pimple or black head out but reduces redness and the occasional swelling.








#6.) Shinylicious lipgloss= Raiz'n Razzle.

These lipglosses are the best. I've had several of them in almost every flavor.









#7.) Dream Mousse Blush= Soft Plum.

I actually have 4 of these blushes but this one is my favorite. The dream mousse products are so soft and smooth, and very long wearing.










#8.) Milani Power Lash mascara= Jet black.

I absolutely LOVE this mascara. This is my 3rd tube of this particular one too! I have really long, curly lashes so I tend to look for mascara with a very large brush because it spreads the mascara over my lashes so much better than others. I hate clumps!





#9.) WetnWild Ultimate Expressions palette= Sand Castle.












#10.) Prestige eyeliner= Lightening.

I also have about 5 of these eyeliners and I love them. They go on smooth, and stay put all day. The each are seemingly waterproof also. I am not a huge fan of eyeliner but if I'm going to purchase some at all I only buy Prestige.

Jamba Juice secret!

Today MC dropped by a Vons graced with an inside Jamba Juice on their way to Irvine Spectrum. The lovely woman at the stand casually mentioned that she could save C about 2 or 3 dollars with a little tip, BUT she also mentioned that she wouldn't say this is her "manager" was present....

Instead of buy two 16 size smoothies, (Jamba goes by ounces not small or medium or large), you can buy one POWER size, which is 30 Oz. Then they can divide into the two smaller 16 oz cups! It's nearly 3 bucks cheaper and you even have a bit left over! Two 16 oz. sizes would cost about 7 dollars but the one power size is 4.90! She also told C about a motorcycle accident her son was just in while out in the desert riding with some friends and that's why she needed to obtain the JJ job. Sweet isn't she?

<3 MC

M= 10 favorite drugstore items.

#1.) Rimmel lipstick= Airy Fairy and Birthday Suit.













(The one closest to the camera is Birthday Suit, a creamy nude. Airy Fairy is a nice sheer pink with a little bit of shimmer.)












#2.) Maybelline Mascara= Colossal Volum' Express and Lash Stilletto. I love both, but if I had to pick ONE, its Colossal. I have tried LashBlast, and I loved it, until I tried this. Neither of these smudge or flake, and they are easy to remove.













The yelllow tube is Glam Black and the black tube is Very Black. (C says, "Mom. Black is BLACK. Why buy two?)











#3.) Loreal Kohl Eyeliner= Burgundy, Teal and Black. I love these. I have the 'original', the Guerlain eye kohl in brown, these are just as good if not better for a LOT less $$. I use them to line with the 'eastern method'. They are very pigmented and the only down side is the 'fall out'. Tap the stylus lightly before using and it helps a little.












#4.) NYC lipstick= Cafe. This is a very nice frosty mocha. For $1, its a great neutral lipstick. Not too matte or gloss, its long lasting and doesn't taste bad. I really like it.














(Cafe is a really nice, shimmer mocha color. Wears very smooth.)












#5.) WetNWild Ultimate Expressions palette= Sand Castle. (M and C have this palette, C uses it in most of her FOTD's.) This has 8 shadows for $4.99, you can't beat it. The shadows are nicely pigmented and very soft and easy to blend. They also have blue and purple palette available.











#6.) Milani shadow quad= Earthly Delights. The top right color is a gorgeous olive green that is an HG for me. When applied with a damp brush as eyeliner, it is gorgeous. It has wonderful sparkle, these are highly pigmented and blend very nicely.














#7.) CoverGirl Wetslicks Fruit Spritzer= Fig Splash. This creates a beautiful glossy nude lip. It has a slight chocolate taste.

#8.) Maybelline Shinylicious gloss= Cola Float. These glosses are my favorite, this one in particular. It is highly pigmented ( where not all of these are ) it is a beautiful bronze color. Not sticky, long lasting and has a pleasant cola taste.










#9.) makeup from Kohl's, Flirt! brand Plushious gloss= (left to right) Fire and Spice, Purple Passion, (Unknown), Nude Envy. These are not drugstore per se, they are available at Kohls for $12 each. No one ever talks about these, I guess they are easy to miss. They are the PERFECT mix of a gloss and a lipstick. Very nicely pigmented, not sticky, LONG lasting and they don't taste bad. The 2nd from the left is my perfect mauve, and the 3rd from the left is an HG. Its a soft berry color with gold shimmer, it also makes a very nice stain.

#10.) Milani mineral powder blush= Luminous.

(color match to NARS Orgasm.) I love this product, its very soft and easy to blend. It comes with a small brush in a storage compartment under the actual blush, its not a brush I would use but the packaging is nice.