Once Upon A Time....

....there was a girl at work named Stephanie.

Stephanie had hair like mine - finely textured (and not in a good way, girls). But she also had hair that stayed-put but didn't look stiff.

So one day, I asked Stephanie what kind of hairspray she used.

And then I held my breath.

Because I was thinking Stephanie was going to tell me she used the La Mer of hairsprays. .



But she didn't!
She didn't tell me she used the La Mer of hairsprays! She told me she used this:


So I tried it!! And I liked it BETTER than what I was currently using:





Then I felt courageous.

I tell you - courage, bubbling out of my every clogged pore.

You see - months later? I ran out of my shampoo:



I had been using the same brand and formula of shampoo and conditioner for 15 years.

And I needed to buy more. And it was gonna cost me $60.

But I didn't have that much money leftover from my puny weekly budget after my pre-scheduled-every-six- weeks haircut and two-process color.

And - Ladies? What's more important? Fresh cut and color or expensive shampoo?



I know.
It's a toughie, isn't it? I'll give you a couple more seconds to think.............................................................................................................................................................................






THE COLOR! It's the COLOR, ladies. Sheesh! GAH!.




So I went to Target and bought some of this:

For about $3.
And I liked it as well as my regular shampoo and conditioner that I'd been using for 15 years!

And I am living happily ever after.
(Except I miss the scent and pretty packaging of the Aveda. I'm not gonna lie. It's all about the packaging, people.)

The End.


What are you using?


PS....update from Liz: Acne Free is her new lov-ah. She's been zit-free for 6 days now. However, it's drying out her skin a little bit.
I bought the Neutrogena acne stuff. I'm going to continue to use it 'til it's gone, but I don't like it as well as the Proactiv. It's working okay, but I like the way the Proactiv makes my skin feel. I'll ask Lynnie what she thinks.....

So, ummmm......

Yeah.

I've got nothin'.......nothing to talk about at all.

And once? Lisa from Coastal Nest said I could write about shampoo.

So I will. Well, not shampoo, but skin care.

Because I have no shame and will bore you to tears if that's what I have to do.

I'm not afraid to roll my sleeves up and talk about personal hygiene.

No SIR.

See - the girls and I always touch on this type of info when we get together....which is about once a month lately, thanks to Liz.

She's our event planner.

Our "Julie the Cruise Director", if you will.

You know from my last post that we just got together last weekend.

This time we were discussing how to save the world Proactiv knock-offs and wrinkles.

Lynnie and I are Proactiv users.

Well....we should be, but we've both run out and it's not exactly convenient to purchase.

( i.e. you can't get it at Target.)

((Since Target is the only place I ever go besides work and home? Any place else is out of my way.))

Now.

I've bored you all with my love of Proactiv before. It's not drying, it gets rid of my horrible 39-year-old pimples....yada, yada, yada.

But the basic set is $40 and not convenient to purchase.
And what with the economy the way it is, we're trying to economize all we can - Right, Girls?

So I mentioned the Neutrogena knock-off of Proactiv to the girls and Lynnie went right out to buy it:



That, my friends, is called "Takin' One For The Team".

Because I didn't want to try it and find out it wasn't as good as Proactiv. Then? I'm wasting $20 on it and still having to buy the Proactiv.

So Lynnie stepped right up and slapped some of this on her pretty, pretty face. I'll keep you updated, but so far she says it's working great (I think she bought it on Sunday.)

Now - on to Liz.

Liz went to Walgreens and looked for the Neutrogena, but found this instead:



And you know what she says?

She hasn't had any new breakouts!

Again! Taking one for the team.

Liz has been kind enough to give her girlfriends daily blemish updates via email. I'll keep you posted whether you want me to or not if you're interested.

Okay...the other thing we discussed: a collagen mask Liz found via her Mom - a skin care guru.

It's a package of 2 collagen face masks (for $5) by The Face Shop, which is a popular Korean brand.
Liz and her Mom swear by it and they have no wrinkles.
And they're Korean.
So I'm listening to them.

Lynnie already tried it and loves it, though she believes she looked like Hannibal Lechter during her treatment and pretty much scared her husband Brian to death. But - really. That's a small price to pay for supple skin, don't you think?

And don't worry: Brian's a cop. He's a tough guy. I'm sure he recovered in no time.

Next post: Shampoo. I'm sorry.

Nothing's Better......

....than your friend:

(This is Liz. I've known her since the 7th grade. She was with us when the Noodle was born, cheering me on in my pushing. )




emailing you to attend an impromptu Saturday morning coffee at her house:


(Lynnie. We've been together since the 8th grade. I heart her.)





So you can visit with her:

(Sal. Met her in 8th grade tennis. Zuddy's known her his entire life, I think.)


And her :
(Amy. Met her in the 1st grade!! Her Dad was our 10th grade biology teacher.)


And attend a talent show featuring the cutest spawn on earth:






It makes a girl remember how lucky she is.

Go call your oldest friend right now......you'll be glad you did!!

I Laugh Until I Cry......

.......every time I watch this:

Muffin Top

I've got one.

And it's not the delicious kind.

House Tour!

This one's for you, Miss Jilly!

I was going to pick a more reasonably priced one for you...but it was more of a fixer-upper - so I didn't choose it.

Here's the fixer-upper's better-looking, well-off twin:She was born in 1928 on 1 1/2 lots and has 3 bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms. There's 2200 sq. feet of living space and the asking price is 549,900. She's situated in just the right spot. We can walk to the grocery store from here, girls! Woo Hoo!



You had me at the entryway:
Man, I'd kill for an entryway like this. It looks like that door just past the stairs goes into the kitchen.





The living room: 24x13




Hello, sweet little dining room chandy! I heart you! Wanna come to my house?







The kitchen....nothing to write about here. It's small - 13x8 - but kinda cute.




Dang. The bathroom photo turned out small:
But it's been re-done and it's pretty cute. It looks like there's a separate shower across from the umm.......throne.



One of the 3 bedrooms:

There's a family room and 1/2 bath in the basement:



The backside of the old girl....

What do you think of her?

Okay, Okay....

Apparently Mrs. Coastal Nest needs some reading material. So I need to spout off about something.....anything. Well, Auntie Lees? Be careful what you wish for, sister! Here it goes:

1. Christmas around here was very stressful for me. Because I waited until the last minute to do all of our shopping - that's why.
You see, we are not using credit cards at our house. Which sucks at Christmas time because I like to give people stuff, but I can't. Well, not the way I WANT to.
Anyhoo....I didn't get to go crazy with the gifts, so that was a bummer. But we made it through and Santa was kind enough to bring the Noodle a Nintendo DS with the Nintendogs game:



and the American Girl: Julie Finds A Way game:


Which she never gets to play with because she doesn't "do it right".
Only I know how to "do it right".
Yep. I've been taking stellar care of our little puppies. And Julie, the 1974 American Girl? Well, she's thriving - despite her parents' divorce. And she's really making a difference in her community, no thanks to Noodle - who went back to school and totally abandoned Julie in her time of need.
Good thing I've been around to take care of everything.

2. The New Year's Resolutions:
A. I've decided to stick with the exercising 3x a week. It's workin' for me. I like it.
B. I've also decided to ditch all the other resolutions for the time being and I made a new one: To finish up projects that I've already started. It makes sense, right? I'm starting with the Noodle's furniture and the black hutch I've mostly painted but not finished.


3. It's reallyreally hard for me to finish things. Maybe because birth-order wise, I'm the youngest and people have always picked up my slack (Thanks Mom.). Unfortunately, I've also married another last-born. And he is NOT picking up my slack. In fact? He is worse than me at finishing stuff. And this makes for a whole houseful of unfinished projects.

4. I skipped my buddy Liz's New Years Eve party in favor of falling asleep at 8pm. When I woke up at the crack of dawn, there was a finished craft project on the dining room table:



These two stayed up until midnight and rang in the new year with a sissy butterfly craft project:

Ha. Just kidding. Isn't my Zuddy the best daddy?


4. Noodle also got an Easy Bake oven for Christmas:


She ate that little cake all by herself and felt so ill afterward that she had to go and lie down. Probably because we hadn't fed her since breakfast and put her (and ourselves) down for a nap in lieu of lunch. Because we're really good parents like that.

Let's see...where was I?

5. It's been cold here. I don't know why it seems colder than other years, but it just does.
And it makes me want to stay in the house and not leave to do things like: grocery shop.
You know - for food.
To make meals for my family.
Like any Mother worth her salt would do.
I know, I know......you're probably thinking: She tests recipes for a living! How hard can it be? Well, the Noodle is picky and Zuddy doesn't like chicken.
CHICKEN! Who in the world can object to chicken??
Those two totally suck the fun out of cooking for me.

6. I want to further my edumacation. I kind of want to go to culinary school or get a master's degree. I do not have the time or money for either of these ventures. For gawd's sake, I just finished paying off my undergrad degree! Plus? See #3. It's a miracle I got my undergrad.

7. The Container Store. Holy crap. I want to get a job at this place. They just opened a store here in October. I popped over there in November and nearly peed my pants.
Okay.
Fine.
I actually did pee my pants a little bit.
I actually do this alot. You know- since I've birthed a child and all.....
**shaking head**
ANYWAY.
The Container Store.
I've been trying to figure out a way to work there. Purely for the employee discount, of course. Because I want to buy these:


The Portofino Storage box collection.
Made of genuine imitation leather.
Lined in black nylon.
Stylish storage for your paper goods.
$34.99 for the document box.
Includes a delicious packet of silica gel.

I need a bunch of these for the Noodle's school and artwork that I've saved through the years. I thought I'd start with two of them. One for Noodle's stuff, one for all of the crafty stuff I bought for the clipboards I made (but never finished. Michelle...it's coming, I swear.)

Nope.
Couldn't do it.
Couldn't pay $70 for document storage. So I left with these instead:
The Translucent Office Storage document box.
$11.99.
Much more budget-friendly.
But no delicious packet of silica gel.


Mrs. Coastal Nest? Are you sorry yet? Did you REALLY want to hear all of this? Because I can keep it comin', sister. I've got more stupid stuff going through this noggin!