Bring On The Sparkle: Sundance Jewelry & Stuff

One of my favorite blogs is Cheap Chic (cheapchic.com). On it, blogger Reichel shows two versions of the same home decor item, say a coffee table. Both items are chic but only one is cheap. Usually, you can hardly tell the difference between the two, except by the price tag. 

When I opened the latest "Sundance" catalogue, I was gobsmacked, in much the same manner Reichel must be when she finds these great items that are lookalikes for high end versions. 

I was gobsmacked because I have the necklace Sundance proudly showed on pg. 84. And no, I did not pay twelve hundred dollars for it.

No, that is not a typo. Twelve hundred dollars. The movie star lifestyle ain't cheap. Robert Redford's gotta represent, and he's using your necklace dollars to do so. 

I got my fabulous lookalike necklace from my fabulous jewelry designing friend Shawna. I love it, and it looks almost exactly the same as the Sundance one. Plus I get to brag that I know the designer! 

For your jewelry needs, find a jewelry designing friend near you. Or borrow mine. Shawna would kill me for publicizing her email address on the blog, but if you're in the market for some baubles, send me a note, and I'll give you her contact info offline. 

I'm circling all the necklaces I really like in Sundance, then I'm giving the catalogue to Shawna to use as inspiration for the necklaces she'll design -- and my fella will give me -- for the whole next year. 

It's a win-win-win. Mr. Guru Guy doesn't have to shop or pay big bucks to Sundance, and I get to be a girl who says Robert Redfordy things like, "Send the pic over to my designer. I'm sure she can whip it up for you."

Bring on the sparkle, guru girls! 

NyQuil, Napping & Power Tools: How Not To Move Like A Pro

The only part of my house that is organized.

 

 

NyQuil, Napping & Power Tools: How Not To Move Like A Pro

I write a blog that often talks about home organization.

So how is it I am the kind of person who has called 1-800-GOT-JUNK twice in the last few years? This means I have paid money twice for the junk I have – once to buy it and again to have it taken away.

How is it I am also now on a first name basis with the guy who collects donations at Goodwill? A guy who knows my name, when I’m moving, where I’m moving and has opinions about all of it.

Well, except for my name. The only person I’ve ever met who had an opinion about my name was a student several years ago. He was from the United Arab Emirates, and he simply could not bring himself to call me “Susan” as this was apparently also the name of his family’s favorite camel.

Huh. Who knew? As Murphy is to American dogs, Susan is to Arabic camels. The Goodwill guy didn’t share this kind of information with me. But it’s about the only thing he hasn’t shared. Because I see him several times a day. Every time I drop off yet another load of stuff.

Moving day is Friday.

I think of myself as an organized, take charge, plan-out-the-strategy kind of girl. This move is proving otherwise.

This became apparent when the 1-800-GOT-JUNK man stood in our basement, scratching his head over the pool table.

We inherited the rickety pool table from the previous owner. Because apparently it’s too big to fit out any of the doors. This would have been good to know before we called GOT JUNK to take it away.

But I didn’t know this and, worse, had just taken a massive dose of NyQuil to clear up my cold-addled head. NyQuil doesn’t exactly help with critical thinking, which my next actions proved.

I sent the junk man away and immediately took a nap.

I now have a well-rested, cold-addled head, an enormous pool table stuck in the basement and a clock that’s ticking on the move.

Luckily, I also have the number of the best handyman in all of metro Denver. His name is Henry. Henry is 50. He has more tattoos than you can count and a truck with wheels taller than my 7 year old. Henry also makes house calls on short notice and owns every power tool known to man.

On home fixing matters, I try to not sweat it until Henry tells me I should. So we’ve got Henry coming over to deal with the pool table. And I’m pretty sure he can make it right. At least right-er than I could, armed with NyQuil and a power saw.

Henry is going on my thankful list this week. So are my mom friends who’ve volunteered to drive the Dynamic Duo places and sent encouraging texts. So is my mom herself who left a roasted chicken dinner warming in our oven last night, pretty much the only reason any of us got fed.

And my dad whose driven to more soccer games and birthday parties than you can count. And our honorary aunt and uncle who are young and hip and foolish enough to have volunteered to take the Dynamic Duo to a corn maze this weekend. Clearly, they have never experienced the autumnal joy of getting lost in a corn maze with sneezing children. But they will. While I experience the joy of unpacking… in a house… with a basement that doesn’t have a pool table stuck in it.

Thanks for the well wishes on the move, guru girls & guys! Hopefully I won't be radio-silent on the blog front -- but it might depend on Wi-Fi connections, about the only home item Henry can't help us with. (If you live in the metro area and want Henry's phone number, let me know. I will give it to you in exchange for opening only a few boxes.)

Kiss Under Eye Circles Goodbye: Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch

Kiss Under Eye Circles Goodbye: Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Radiant Touch

 

I love Ben Affleck as much as the next girl. Okay, probably more. Probably a lot more.

I think Ben Affleck is the bee’s knees. So it pains me to say the producers of the next “Batman” flick have made a mistake in casting Ben as Batman.

Ben Affleck can rock sideburns. He can rock a uniform. But I don’t think he can rock the Batman mask.

I think his essential Ben Affleck-ness is gonna shine through, and we’re going to spend the entire movie thinking,” Oh, there goes that cute Ben Affleck rescuing Gotham City from evil.”

Ben will not disappear into the skin of Bruce Wayne. Which is a problem. But here is something that does disappear into the skin -- something that solves a very big problem. That little something is called Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch concealer, and I love it almost as much as I love Ben Affleck.

Because undereye circles are a drag. So are many of the concealers meant to disguise them. Because some concealers are too light and don’t cover anything. Some are too heavy and make wrinkles stand out even more. Some are the wrong shade and make a gal look like female Batman, with an eye mask made of make up!

The Yves Saint Laurent concealer does none of these things. It provides just enough coverage to brighten but not so much that you’re in Batman territory. Plus, it comes in the shape of a pen so you get to paint it on, which makes application seem more like an art project and less like a manual labor slog.

I am almost as obsessive about testing eye makeup as I am about Ben Affleck so I’ve got some experience and, trust me, this stuff is good. At $40 per pen, it’s spendy but worth it. Also, you can get the concealer at Sephora so if you’re on the fence about it, ask them to give you a free sample so you can test it out before shelling out big bucks.

Have a great weekend – the kind that is so fun and jam-packed that you get even deeper undereye circles, from lack of sleep! Because what do you care? Gotham City has Ben Affleck, but you’ve got Yves Saint Laurent concealer to clean up the debauchery. (Click this link to go to nordstrom.com where you can buy Yves Saint Lauren Touche Eclat Radiant Touch concealer.)

4 Steps To Power Through Life Challenges

Yesterday it was reported that Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus broke off their engagement. Love is a fickle thing in Hollywood.

And heartbreak is hard for anyone, no matter if you’re an A list actor or twerking pop star. Here is my prescription to get through it (though Liam doesn’t look like the kind of guy who has etsy on his favorites list).

Liam needs to get himself some “thanks, wishes, wow” jars.

Life throws challenges at all of us and these jars are a great way to keep the challenges – and moves of the twerking fiancé – in perspective.

4 Steps To Power Through & Make “Thanks, Wishes, Wow” Jars: 

1.      Get some jelly jars. Available at Target, Walmart, any fine retailer.

2.    Order some labels from etsy. Your labels should read

“thanks”, “wishes” and “wow”.

3.    Get a pack of multi-colored post it notes to be placed next to the jelly jars.

4.    Each week, at a set time, think about the previous week and fill out 3 post it notes about it. Fold the notes up and put them in the appropriate jar.

- For the note that goes in the “thanks” jar, write one thing you’re grateful about that happened that week.

- For the “wishes” jar, write one thing that you’d like to do in the future.

- For the “wow” jar, write one thing you’ve done that week to make your community a better, more “wow” kind of place to live.

None of these items need to be huge and important, like “led a food drive” or “I wish to summit Mount Everest”. The practice should instead reflect the real you. Maybe your “wow” moment was planting some flowers, a project that makes your yard and neighborhood prettier. Totally counts.

This practice cultivates a spirit of gratitude and hope and community, all things that help power us through life’s messier moments. Plus the jars look really festive when they’re all filled up with the multi-colored notes, which you’re supposed to take out and read periodically.

So this project counts as inspiration and decorating all-in-one. You know how I love two-for-one deals! Also, these jars would be a fantastic gift for a favorite girlfriend or female relative. Liam Hemsworth’s phone number would be a better gift but remember this project is all about obtainable wishes, ladies.

Get out there and give thanks, make wishes, cause some wow. (Click this link to go to etsy.com where you can order the custom decal for around $25.)

3 Trends For A Healthier You*

3 Trends For A Healthier You * (*and environment)

Why is it that all my East Coast friends are early trend adopters? Is it because they live on the East Coast where trendiness pervades the very air? I don’t think so.

I lived on the East Coast for 12 years and was just as behind-the-times then as I am now. So even if I still lived there I don’t think I’d be like our friend Craig who is a trend oracle for the guru crew. Here are some of Craig’s latest recommendations. I shall call it:

Craig Says…

1)     Our next ride should be an electric Volt car.

2)   The desk we’re looking to buy should be one of those standing numbers.

Craig told my fella about his desk recommendation last week and then yesterday on msn.com -- my source of all things newsworthy --  there was a whole article devoted to the health benefits of the standing desk.

Because sitting at your desk all day long is a health no-no. Sedentary lifestyles encourage obesity and all kinds of other scientific and bad-sounding conditions.

MSN says it’s even better to get a desk that hovers over a treadmill. This way you’re walking as you do your desk job work. This seems extreme to me. Both extremely tiring and extremely embarrassing as I am not such a great multitasker when I get really into something.

I once became so engrossed in the show on the t.v. at the gym that I failed to pay attention to how fast I was going and ran straight into my treadmill’s front screen. This was embarrassing, painful and bad for my health because I was so mortified that I didn’t go back to the gym for several weeks.  

But you could offset this negative effect by adopting Craig’s last trend recommendation…

3)   Don’t eat carbs until after 6 p.m. This way you’re not eliminating them from your diet completely, thus triggering the kind of unstoppable carb urge that results in one inhaling an entire cheesecake.

 

This diet plan seems much more reasonable than other recent trends like that Paleo diet everyone was on last year. The one that had us eating like cavemen and acting like them too, so angry were we that we couldn’t eat any dairy, sugar, grains or processed oils.

 

The trend oracle has spoken. May it be so.

 

 

 

3 Reasons To Get Your Spy On

 

This admission may fall in the “day late, dollar short” category, but here goes: my latest obsession is “Homeland” the Showtime series starring Claire Danes.

I know this is not a new series but it is new-to-me. Last week we happened upon a few episodes being broadcast for free and now me and my fella are hooked. We’re talking go-to-Best-Buy-and-buy-the-series hooked.

We are 5 episodes in, and it’s pretty much all we talked about this weekend. This makes me happy for a number of reasons:

1  – We’re hooked on a series that’s cool. This hasn’t happened since we got really into “24” many years ago. Generally, we’re the ones committed to the reality series that’s awful, including fan favorite from days of yore: “Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire”.

2—“Homeland” is something me and my fella are both really into, which almost counts as a couples hobby, something experts say you gotta do to keep that bond strong.

It is doubly good this is happening right now because our other “couples hobby” these days is purging and packing our house of everything we own as we get ready to move in 3 weeks. This is not a fun or relaxing hobby as it involves lots of trips to Goodwill and peevish discussions about whether a girl’s many hair products and a guy’s stuffed frog collection from childhood make the cut.

3      -  “Homeland” is really a boy show, and yet I’m into it, so I’m earning lots of credit that I’m sure will pay off next time I want to monopolize the t.v. for a “House Hunters International” marathon.

“Homeland” appeals to a masculine audience. It’s a spy show that asks the question: Is the war hero marine, recently returned home, really a bad guy?

Sergeant Brody was captured in Iraq and held hostage for 8 years. After a daring rescue, he’s now home and celebrated as a war hero. But government spy Carrie has her doubts. She thinks Brody was “turned” by the bad guys and is now the biggest, baddest guy of all, a Marine with security clearance and a plan to attack America with his fellow terrorists.

It’s up to Carrie to prove it, and she has all sorts of tricks up her sleeve, some ethical and some not. This show is all about moral quandaries. The kind that make the moral quandaries behind packing for a big move seem a bit less important.

Who cares if I accidentally donate my fella’s high school letterman’s jacket? It’s not like we’ve got the fate of the free world riding on my mistake now, is it? 

Now if only I could broker these tricky packing negotiations, looking stylish, yet bad a$$, with hair half as good as Carrie’s.

Now that I think about it, I’ve just stumbled on a reason to keep all the hair products my fella wants me to throw out. Hair that’s CIA-good doesn’t just happen.

I challenge my fella to come up with a reason to keep the stuffed frogs. In military parlance, it’s G-as-in-golf, O-as-in-Oscar time, Mr. Guru Guy.

Over. (Click this link to go to showtime.com to order the "Homeland" series and all kinds of cool, spy gear.)

 

Get Spa-Like Sparkle At Home: Glam Glow Youthmud

 

Get Spa-Like Sparkle At Home: Glam Glow

My first job out of college was reporting for the Wakefield Observer, a hard hitting weekly newspaper in metro Boston. I covered the police beat and the city beat and the entertainment beat, basically every beat because I was the newspaper’s only reporter.

It was at this job that I got introduced to odd beauty rituals, when I interviewed a beauty book author named Dianne. Dianne must have had a Wakefield connection or my editor would never have let me do the story.

He would have insisted I cover a train accident or environmental issue or school scandal, all the hard news I studiously avoided. (I didn’t say I was a good reporter.)

It was this interview with Dianne that led me to indulge in all manner of food-as-facial hijinks. Dianne wrote an entire book about it! Based on her advice, I spent weeks slathering my face with egg white, avocado and honey. Then I would peer into the mirror, searching for that youthful glow.

There was no difference in my skin.

Because I had that youthful glow all the time.

Because I was 23.

Sadly, this is no longer the case. And it would take an entire carton of eggs to bring on the sparkle.

But here’s what does get me glimmering like Twilight’s Edward-in-the-meadow: Glam Glow Mud Mask.

It’s a mud mask that dissolves the layer of older skin, that one you’ve been abusing with sun worshipping all summer. You can feel the mask tingling, tightening and working. After just one try your skin looks noticeably brighter – pink, rosy. Dare I say it? It looks almost 23.

Recently, Glam Glow nabbed some big beauty product award so you know it’s good. And after you use it, you don’t smell like Eggs Benedicts or artichoke dip.

Keep your food in the fridge and the years off your face. Grab some Glam Glow and frighten your roommate &/or family members, one of whom shouted at me last night, “Get your green face away from me.”

Small price to pay for beauty nirvana. (Click this sephora.com link to find out more about Glam Glow Tingling & Exfoliating Mud Mask. It's available for $69.) It's spendy but worth it, and the Sephora folks will give you a free sample if you ask!

Rifle Paper Company: Cutest. Stationery. Ever.

Johannes Gutenberg would be fired up. I bet Gutenberg, who invented the printing press back in the day, never dreamed of the publishing advancements that are now routine.

3-D printers are already capable of producing a gun. Yes, a gun. One that can fire real bullets. Someone mentioned this to me at a cocktail party last year, and I thought he’d had one too many. But now I think I was the one who had one too many, since I totally failed to get his point.

I just read that 3-D printers have now gone a step further. They’re printing up body parts. Yes, body parts! I read it on the internet (msn.com), and I always believe what I read on the internet.

Here’s what scientists are doing: they’re using living cells as ink to try to print up body part tissue. In 10 years they think they’ll be able to print up new livers as quickly as newspapers.

Now it’s not a human pancreas or anything, but here’s the printing press product I’m psyched about these days: stationery with your doppelganger on it. Only it’s a miniature, stylized version of yourself, with great hair!

So cute! Who wouldn’t love to get a note in the mail on a card featuring a skinnier/more stylish/better hair-ed you?

If only you could size it up to wear as a mask for those bad hair/no time for makeup mornings! I think this should be the company’s next offering: Lifesized, Stylized, Doppelganger Masks. Almost as good as a photoshopped liver! (Click this link to go to riflepaperco.com to get more information &/or order.) The company also does custom portraits.