picky, picky, product rating

I am a picky person, and frugal too. So when I take a chance on a product and it's exactly what I'm looking for, I am a very happy girl!

Here's the deal. I have been using samples of moisturizers for years now. I get something in my stocking at Christmas from my grandma (I mean, from Santa), and I use it til it's gone. Or my mom or sister give me the samples from department store makeup counters and I use those too. Once in awhile, I'll buy a Target, Walgreens or Walmart generic brand product to see if it'll be a good fit. And it's usually not. Basically, I'm a scavenger for things I need but don't really want to spend our money on. Who wants to buy something just to have it not work?

So while these moisturizers haven't really worked for my skin, at least I didn't spend a ton of cash on them. But my shiny skin has definitely paid the price. Even the lotions that call themselves "oil free" have felt heavy and greasy on my skin. Or I'm dry in some places and then oily in the t-zone area. Any way you look at it, I haven't been happy with anything I've tried.

Until now...

It was by chance that my eyes fell on the Garnier Nutritioniste shelf at the store this morning. I usually scan the sections or shelves by price and ding, ding, ding ... the Moisture Rescue Refreshing Gel-Cream was the winner. Amidst all the higher priced items, this one stood out in price as well as in what it offered. So I decided to try it. For just over $6, it was well worth the try.

When I got home from work, I was excited to wash my face and try it out. (How sad is that - ha!) The gel sounded interesting but refreshing as the package stated. To my surprise, the stuff was fantastic! I keep touching my cheeks to feel how soft and smooth they are. There's a light scent to it when you open the jar and the grape water extract and vitamin e are welcome additions. There's no film or greasy feel to my face at all and I am definitely thrilled with this product. Which is why I decided to write to you all about it. (All one of you who read my blogs, haha.) The packaging also shows the exact size of the jar...and doesn't trick you with a huge box and a small container of product inside.

Nice job, Garnier! 

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magic eraser and television - an odd combination, no doubt

oh how my life has changed. i'm about to blog about...Magic Eraser!!! i found it in my cleaning supplies today and took it to my bath tiles. i am now in love with this product : ) i didn't know how dirty my shower and tub were until i used it - and now it sparkles.

i am really excited about fall tv! i can't wait for my old favorites like house and the mentalist to start back up...but also for some new ones that look pretty funny. up all night and last man standing are on my "to watch" list. i'm not a sit-in-front-of-the-tv kinda girl, but i do love watching shows at night while i'm doing laundry or work or working out. it's how i decompress! it's mindless and light or funny - most of the time.

i say most of the time, because i have this tendency to watch crap. negative, true crap. i don't know why i follow news stories of missing pregnant women or kidnapped children, but i do! 20/20 specials about murders and courtroom drama grab my attention and i can't turn away. tim thinks i'm crazy! i have sworn off criminal minds because it has made me a little paranoid at times. (especially when tim is out of town.)

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like an apple on a tree

like an apple on a tree, hiding out behind the leaves, i was really hard to reach, til you picked me ...
I love A Fine Frenzy! And this song and lyrics are a new favorite of mine. Have you heard it? I highly recommend One Cell in the Sea.

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Please don't feed the animals!

Our neighbor recently informed us that we have a groundhog living under our shed. Apparently, he's stealing their tomatoes. Funny thing - he's not stealing ours! Perhaps it's because we have a little wire fence wrapped around our mini-garden. Just thinkin' that may be the reason. Anyhow, we stepped it up and like good neighbors, called for the animal experts to come set up a trap. They came this morning as I was packing up the car to leave for work (of course). TJ is excited about catching an animal. I'm not so sure.

On a completely different note...

Sometimes when I drive without TJ, I forget to change the music playing in the car. I can drive for miles before realizing that I'm listening to Veggie Tales or singing along to Kids Worship songs. As much as I love our music together, I don't always want to listen to it on my own. My favorite station is 92.3 because, holy cow, they play freaking awesome music nonstop. Until today. I turned on the station (programmed as #1 in my car) and heard some guy arguing with another guy about topics surrounding Luke Fickle and Braxton Miller among others. I thought I must have hit the AM button by accident so I pushed it again. Umm, that wasn't the case. My ultimate favorite most perfect radio station ever, has been changed to 92.3 The Fan. Sports talk radio. Are you kidding me? I walked back into work in a bit of shock. How on earth can we be home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and not have an alternative rock radio station. Someone, please turn me on to something else. I do like 88.3 The Sting, which is B-W's station. But I already badly miss my 92.3. What is the deal? I tried to email the "new" station to ask about the switch but they didn't have an email address online. Seriously? Seriously. Oh I was given the option to "like" it on Facebook or Tweet about it or blah blah blah. But what happened to good old-fashioned email? It was nowhere to be found. I am old.

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i miss you, blog!

well, here i am...many months later...writing another blog. oh how i have missed you! i couldn't resist getting back to writing about the little things in my life. i should be folding laundry, working or at least killing the spider crawling across the floor in front of me. but alas, i'm typing words onto the computer. words that likely i will be the only one to read. or perhaps my husband. he told me he missed my blogging the other day. that, my friends, meant the world to me. made my heart flutter a bit. sigh.

to start, let's talk about monster. yes, my sweet little boy is growing up so quickly. i don't care how cliche it sounds - it's the freaking truth. and it hurts!

the other day we went around the block - monster on his bike and me hoofin' it. he found my old olympic kid cabbage patch doll in the guest room closet just before we left and wanted badly to bring her. so we did. monster held her in his lap while riding but he was unsteady on the bike. after some trial and error, he held her by her hair while gripping the handlebars. it was hilarious. i'm sure our older neighbors gasped when they saw this (especially because "little girl" wasn't wearing any pants or undies) but i didn't care. i just giggled at how he talked to her and cared for her.

this weekend was one of the greatest of my life. dare i say, it was the best 3 days in a row i've ever had. friday, tj got to sleep over at bondi and poppy's while we went to cedar point with friends. we had a fantastic time and also realized just how old we actually are. i couldn't believe how sick i felt after rides and how badly my lower back felt after awhile. i'll tell you what though - i was giddy with excitement and had an incredible time. it was fun just playing and not thinking.

saturday, we spent 3 hours at a fall fest just tim, monster and me. there was trick-or-treating, games and crafts, hay mazes and inflatables. the best! after two hours of fun, we started to head back to the car and stopped for a minute to watch a magician. a minute turned into 50 and we stayed until the end. it was funny and impressive - what a fun ending to a great afternoon! in the evening, we went to watch the ugly osu game with friends and tj was super! hyper ... but super! we really enjoyed ourselves and totally relaxed.

sunday, we skipped church (needed a morning in) and got our running in early. next, we headed out to the east side to spend the day with tim's sister and much of the family for another ugly game. but we had a great time!! it was my sister in law's birthday and we just relaxed. again, tj was a saint which really made it enjoyable. i had the greatest time playing with him in the driveway - rolling a pop-up hot wheels car back and forth. brilliant! seriously, i know this isn't a great 'read' but i want to remember how easy and fun this weekend was when i look back on this blog one day.

of course there is more fun to come. but lots of work travel for my husband and also a big knee surgery for him. i think i'm more disappointed for him than he is...but i'll save that story for my next blog. peace out!    

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i will no longer self destruct in 30 seconds

i left the house this evening around 9:30 pm for my run and, boy, did a lot happen. in my head, that is. i took off down the street while the heat of the day settled into the darkness. i made it through the park for a few miles before i was forced out by the night. with my ipod singing in one ear (oh yes, my left headphone is broken which makes the whole experience a little dizzying) i ran among the fireflies and just marveled at their glow. i couldn't help but fall in love with the night. the summertime heat. and while i was loving this night, i realized a lot. i realized that i'm tired of tearing myself down and disliking me. i've got 9,000 reasons to criticize myself but i won't be heading down that path any longer. my life is more than i ever dreamed and i am so lucky! that's nothing new - i've known that for quite some time. but i've decided to work on myself. to drop it all. all my negative thoughts and comments about myself will be squelched mid-thought or mid-sentence. i'm done and i plan to make this a clean break of the habit i've held onto for 32 years now. gross. goodbye self-destruction! hello somethin' else.

i plan to race a 5k this weekend. it'll be my first race since the marathon i bombed just over a month ago. i'm extremely nervous but looking forward to it too. yeah, i may run much slower than i hope to, but i'm elated to be out there right now. i may be my heaviest, my slowest. my most sleep-deprived. my most stressed. my least organized and my least confident. but i'm also my most fulfilled, most loved and most content in all my life. i live with the love of my life who takes care of me like no other. we share the greatest little human being of all time as well. our son is the light of both our lives and for that i am so very thankful. i could go on and on about my mom and my dad, my sister and my friends. but i'm going to leave it at this: i'm gonna like myself if it kills me. hehe. and i will no longer self destruct in 30 seconds...

whew. that felt good. well, here i go!      

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Continuation...

...and then I walked in the door and the craziness went away. I got a huge hug from my boy, a phone call from my love (in Scottsdale right now) and, after changing into sweatpants, walked right out the door for a walk down the street with Monster...poking sticks into the mud on the sidewalks. Bliss.

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