DIY

Christmas Vases 

Thanksgiving is over and we are moving into the most enjoyable holiday. Christmas has been my favorite holiday of the year since I was a little girl. I love all the decorations, the smells, snow, beautiful wrapping, and bows. Christmas is a great holiday for people who love to decorate. For a month or two, your home is redecorated with beautiful colors, that makes your home's atmosphere warm and cozy.

I decided to add some new decor for my dining room table. I tend to decorate my home for Christmas in the shades of white and silver. I love to add faux fir to give my home a comfortable, cozy feel.


I went to Hobby Lobby and purchased two glass vases for $39.99 each. I also purchased 10 Christmas bulbs that were silver for $1.99. Went home and cleaned out the vase, (Hobby Lobby items tend to be very dusty and grimy). I put my Christmas bulbs in the glass vases and then, "wa-lah". A new beautiful vase to put on your dining room table that looks classy and elegant. This vase can be used throughout the year, not just Christmas. Now, I will move on to decorating the Christmas tree hopefully this weekend.

Girl Talk

Getting My Nails Done

I have been rushing my boys early every morning to school.  Then rushing back home to clean the house, work, and hurry and get cleaned up so I can go pick them back up. Every evening is filled with sports, piano lessons, homework, and dinner.  I looked in the mirror today and noticed that I look awful and need some beauty time.  I decided to order my favorite tanning lotion, “St. Tropez Self Tan Dark Bronzing Mouse”, since it is winter and I am starting to look like an albino. Then I decided to go get my nails done.

I wanted my toenails to be painted with gel polish, no design, no pedicure just some color. After sitting for over 45 minutes watching a grouchy elder man paint my toenails, I finally could have someone work on my nails. I wanted to get an overlay of acrylic, pink gel color, with some rhinestones and design. I do not understand why the lady looked so unhappy doing my nails. However, after she finished filling my overlay I took a break from watching, “Ellen”, looked down and one of my finger nails were standing almost straight up. I asked the unhappy lady doing my fingernails,” why is my finger nail going up instead of down?”, and all she did was give me a dirty look and tried to file it down. At this point, I was starting to get upset after sitting in a chemical smelling building for what seemed forever and told her,” you need to redo that nail”.

 Well about 2 ½ hours of beauty time it was time to pay. My nails cost $50 and for painting my toenails with gel color the grouchy old man charged me $45. I walked out of the nail salon with a headache from the chemicals, tired from sitting 2 ½ hours and felt very broke after being ripped off. I do not understand why people who are in the business of service think that they can charge whatever they want, and treat you so poorly. Never less, my nails and toenails looked a little better.

Girly Talk

Tips to help control stress over the holidays

                                                                   

                                                     

 Exercise

 

Create menu

Make a check list

Prep dishes in advance

 Assign family members to help with some of the food entrees, drinks, and desserts

 Include the kids and husband (let them help you clean, bake, and decorate)

Last of all try to take a deep breath and enjoy the holidays, not everything has to be perfect!

Beauty

Taking Care Of Your Skin During The Cold Months

I love the feeling of coming home to a cozy warm house that smells of cinnamon from the pine cones sitting on the coffee table. The colder months tend to be busy with the holiday's approaching, that you often forget that the cold weather is taking a toll on your skin.

• We often forget that UVA and UVB rays are still just as harmful during the winter months.It is very important to put sunscreen on all the skin that is visible to the sun. This includes hands, necks, and of course your beautiful face. I love to use Neutrogena Sunscreens which you can find at neutrogena.com because I have very sensitive, oily prone skin. 

• You could also use makeup that has sunscreen in it too. Tarte is one of my favorite makeup lines which you can find at Tarte.com and Ulta. This foundation is made out of Amazonian clay, it has SPF15, it's oil-free and last around 12-hours. This foundation is perfect for oily skin and to keep your skin protected. 

• Cranking up the heater, taking hot showers and playing out in the snow are things we do during the winter months, that dry out our skin. The winter air lacks moisture, this cold air goes into our homes and causes our skin to dry out. It is very important to use a humidifier, drink more water and use moisturizing lotions. Andalou naturals Body Butter, which can be found at Andalou.com is one of my favorite lotions. This body butter is a very soothing, moisturizing and full of antioxidants.

So let's try not to forget to turn the humidifiers on before we  go snuggle in our warm beds. Apply sunscreen even though it's not warm outside, don't forget to apply it on your kiddo's too. Lather lotion after you take a luke warm shower and drink plenty of water throughout the day. All these steps can help keep your skin moisturized and healthy during the winter months.