I'm In The Wrinkles and Pimples Camp.....

Scary, right?

Well, Cutzi mentioned in her blog that she is having issues with her skin.

I am too.

I've never had the best of complexions. I firmly believe it's because I'm a big ol' bundle of hormones. My brothers? Both of them have beautiful skin. Beautiful skin. Small pores. Smooth texture. Nice coloring.

But not me.

I've never been able to go without makeup and look okay. Someone always asks me if I'm sick. Do you ever see those photos of stars "without makeup"?

COME ON. You know most of them have a little bit of make up on. They do.

Even though I look horrible without it, I still don't wear makeup most days unless I have to be somewhere. Because I'm lazy. And because nobody is looking at the chubby housewife. Nobody cares, right?

Right. I'm getting ahead of myself because what I really want to talk about is skincare, because I have a fairly recent problem: Pimples and wrinkles.

Actually, the wrinkles don't bother me all that much. I'm 38. I'm gonna get 'em.

It's the pimples that make me crazy, so I use this:

You already know this because I've mentioned it before. It works like a charm and I love it.

But here's the problem: I can't stop using it.

I've tried. I've tried to use something from Target. Something cheaper and more accessible.

Every time I run out? My face breaks out in the weirdest way: my pores get clogged, I get pimples and I can't extract what is in there. It's like a piece of rubber is clogging my pores and I can see it stuck in the pore. I can pull at it with a tweezers, but it snaps back into my pore and won't come out.

When I say "extract"? I mean "squeeze". Because I used to have this extractor:

I got it at Sephora. I have another one - it's a different style extractor, but I don't like it as much. Why don't I have this one anymore you ask? (If you're still here, that is, because I do realize this is getting a little too in-depth. And it's going to get worse in about ......oh? RIGHT NOW.)

Because I broke it. While I was extracting. Because I'm an enthusiastic extractor. I'll extract on anyone I can get my hands on.

Just ask poor Zuddy.

Okay- back to the Proactive. I love it, but I can't quit it.

It's like Crack for the skin. Which would make Doctors Rodan and Fields, Proactive's developers?

Pushers.

Proactive Pushers.Because if you don't use it as directed twice a day and use the mask twice a week? You will pay. In the currency of bad skin.

So a couple of months ago, I ran out of Proactive.

I don't sign up for it to come to my house continuously. Because they don't include the mask in every shipment. So if I go to the Rosedale Mall Proactive Kiosk, I get the whole shebang with the mask. And the mask is good. Even if it smells like sulfur. And now I found out that they have a Proactive vending machine at the airport and at Macy's in the Mall of America! And since I'm at the Airport all of the time? I got it out of that vending machine. I love that system, people. LOVE IT.

Anyway, my skin got so bad for the month I was without the Proactive that it's having a hard time recovering.

After two weeks? I still look like this (Scroll down. It's not pretty. If you have a sensitive stomach you may want to leave now):

I put a little of the mask on a big problem area on my nose.

Yep.

This is me.

What do you use on your skin?? Does anybody else use Proactive and have the same issues when you stop using it?

What about makeup? What are you using?

I use Bare Minerals. I love it. It doesn't feel like I'm wearing make-up and has pretty good coverage for my bad skin:

Next post? Hair.

I was watching an infomercial on Wen Cleansing Conditioner. I think it will make my life better. My hair will definitely be bouncier and hopefully my teeth will be whiter and my personality better.

Have you heard of it?? Have you seen the infomercial??

And why do I keep purchasing items in this manner? I want to find more accessible products to use, but I can't give up the Proactive and the Bare Minerals. They're too good.

Sheesh. Let's hear your story.....either in the comment section of my blog, or do a post on yours and let me know you've posted about it.

Please. From one chick to another.

MJ's Got A Blog!!!!

Here it is!!

And it sounds just like the way she talks, too! I love it!!!! Please go and visit her....

And while I'm on the subject of visiting blogs......I'm never taking another blog-reading hiatus. Ever. Again.

It took me 3 shifts to get through Cutzi's blog entries alone. I feel like I skipped a few college classes and now I'm behind in my homework. Waaayyyy behind.

So please don't be offended if I don't comment on your blog when I pop by for a visit.

You know what? Scratch that. It's rude not to comment. I will comment. It will just take me a while.

I just got back from another trip for work. A really quick one. I left Tuesday evening and got back Wednesday evening.

Whenever I get home from a trip, the Noodle is very tuned into me.

Very clingy.

She needs to be near me and can sense when I get up in the morning and will instantly wake up to be near me - even though it's hours before she normally gets up. It happened this morning. Noodle got right up at 5am when I did and insisted on sleeping on the sofa while I puttered around the house. At 8am (she is usually up at 7 am.) I had a heckuva time waking her up. I gathered all of her clothes and made her breakfast and still she had a tough time waking up.

Here's a photo of her all snuggled up under a blanket, oblivious to the fact that she has 15 minutes until the bus comes. Do you see the socks on her feet? I put them on her while she soundly slept:

Do you see Quinn the cat at the bottom of the photo? It's funny because Quinn is the same way. She follows me from room to room and plops her bod down whichever room I'm in. Here she is in the messy office/playroom on the dolly beds while I'm reading blogs:

So that's it - go and visit Miss MJ!

And tomorrow?

Tomorrow we're talking about what ya'll are doing for skin care.

Because I want to know.

And so does Cutzi.

The "Lady" On The Plane and Other Nonesense

I'm loud.

MJ is not.

I don't mean to be loud, but sometimes I am. And since I'm getting to be an old hag - oops! -I mean lady - my hearing probably isn't what it used to be.

Just a little background for you. Because MJ and I got scolded on the plane.

When we got on the plane, there was a woman already sitting in the aisle seat of our row, loudly talking on her cell phone. She looked a little irritated when we needed her to move so we could take our seats. We were sitting right next to each other - MJ in the middle of the row and me next to the window.

So, since I haven't seen MJ in forever, we chatted the whole time. Not loudly (I don't think, though I guess I'm wrong.) - we were sitting right next to each other. And we always have plenty to talk about.

About midway through the flight, the "lady" sitting in the aisle seat said, "Are you two going to talk the whole flight? Because I'm trying to sleep and the plane is full and I can't change seats - I've already asked."

MJ and I looked at her with our mouths hanging open. We were totally speechless (for once). Then I glanced at her iPod earbuds thinking, "Turn up the iPod, then, sister!" Well, she saw that look and read my mind and said, "I can even hear you through my iPod."

So MJ and I were embarrassed and we were somewhat quiet through the rest of the flight, but then we just started chatting again. You know why?

Because a plane is not a hotel room. It's a form of MASS TRANSPORTATION.

And we're not responsible for her not getting enough sleep the night before and forgetting to take her much-needed antidepressant (and for not washing her greasy hair. But I won't get into that here.).

And you know what? People talk on planes. And children cry. And people smell. That's the way it is.

Anyway, as people were smushed together trying to disembark the plane at the end of the flight, the "lady" was standing up at her seat and so was the guy across the aisle from her. The guy had his hand resting on the headrest of the seat in front of the "lady". Well, the "lady" didn't like this at all. She grabbed his hand and moved it from the seat!!!!

That made us feel a little better. Because maybe it was just her being a bee-otch, and not just us being loud.

So, then MJ and I went to get our car - which was not reserved due to a scheduling snafu. Well, apparently there weren't any cars available.

Because it was Graduation Weekend in Boston. And you know? Boston has some colleges. And people come from all over to see their loved one graduate. And they usually need a car. To get around.

So as we were waiting for the agent at the car rental place to help us (bail us out), we told her about the awful "lady" on the plane.

And she gave us a black Mustang convertible.

Just to be nice.

Beacon Hill, Baybee.......

Oh, Dudes.

I just got back from Boston. This time, I had work that I couldn't do alone so guess who ended up going with me?

That's right, friends! My dear pal MJ!!! How's that for a fun working trip??

We left early on Thursday morning and got there about noon and immediately had an outrageously expensive Lobster Roll for lunch.

Then? We were going to walk the Freedom Trail, but instead we stumbled upon a garden tour in Beacon Hill - OH YES WE DID!!!!

I wasn't about to fork over the $30 per person price tag of a walking tour, but MJ treated me. Wasn't that nice?

Yes, it most certainly was!

So...we got to see some adorable city gardens sporting high brick walls encrusted with wisteria in full bloom, tons of perfect hydrangeas and pretty little babbling fountains.

We even got to see small portions of a few of the houses. One of the houses had SUCH a great kitchen with a butler's pantry and marble subway tiles!! It was breathtaking.

HEY! Why don't we go for a little house tour in Beacon Hill??

Do you wanna? Sure you do! Come on!

Okay. This one? I'm not even going to show you the whole tour of this first one. Because quite frankly, its ridiculous - it really is. It's 15 million dollars and has something like 6 bedrooms and bathrooms. I can't even remember the details because they were too ridiculous for me to commit to memory. Even if I had the kind of money to live in a place like this, I probably wouldn't. It's just too much.

But here are a couple of my favorite rooms. And sorry - some of the photos are really small, but I couldn't fix that.

I can't figure out the deal with this room. It's either a second kitchen or a bar area:

This next one is the main kitchen:

I think this is another bar or butler's pantry:

A very small picture of a very large bathroom. Look at that shower!!! I think it's as big as my entire kitchen! I'm totally serious, too!!

The wine cellar:

The closet for the man of the house:

The super-awesome laundry room!!!!

Okay, so that's the crazy 15 million dollar house. I find it interesting that I only really like the rooms where a servant would spend the bulk of their time.

Hmmmm......maybe if I quit saying things like, "Duuuddde" I would quit thinking like a servant? Naaaah.

Okay, here's another house. It's somewhere in the 2-3 million dollar range I believe. Cute exterior, right?

The sweet kitchen:

I like the living room:

The office is my fave, though. Love that big houndstooth design for the carpet:

Here's the garden - very similar to all of the ones we saw on the tour. Not a ton of plants, but very neat and tidy:

The back patio:

The view from the roof of the house, I'm guessing:

Sorry I've been MIA, girlfriends. I've been busy with my Mom, working and just trying to get a few things organized around the house. You know how it is: reading blogs takes up a lot of time! Unless you're like Lisa from Coastal Nest - she's a robot and doesn't need to sleep. She probably just plugs herself in while she's blogging to recharge :)

I'll be catching up on my blog reading soon.