Eathan’s Meatballs

It’s Mother’s Day and I’d like to wish all of you a very Happy Mother’s day. Today is a very difficult day for me, I’m missing my little man so much and my mother in law who was like a mom to me. She was the sweetest, kindest woman I’ve ever met and I was blessed to have her as my mom in law. As promised I’m going to be posting a recipe my son came up with from watching Food Network. This is one he actually made for my mother in law and she loved it, so it’s to honor her as much as Eathan ❤

This isn’t a healthy recipe by any means, but I’m sure by changing up some of the ingredients like subbing ground turkey and turkey sausage for the meats would make it a little more healthy. I never change it. I just know when I make it, it’s a treat. I’ll leave the nutrition info at the bottom of the post 🙂

Ingredients

8 oz lean ground beef

8oz Italian pork sausage

8 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan romano cheese

Fresh basil leaves- approximately 15 leaves

Fresh Oregano to taste

4-5 cloves of fresh garlic chopped or crushed

8 tablespoons fresh shallots finely minced

2 large eggs

1/2 to 3/4 cups progresso Italian seasoned bread crumbs

salt and pepper are optional, remember there is a lot of sodium in the pork sausage.

Marinara sauce either homemade or jarred.

pasta of your choice or mini loaves of Italian bread

additional parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:

Break up the meat into smaller pieces with your hands. It’s important not to over mix because it’ll make the meatballs “tough”. Beat the eggs slightly before adding so you’re not working to mix them in. Roll the basil leaves up and chop to make ribbons, set aside about two tablespoons for garnish and continue chopping the rest to add to the mixture. Add remaining ingredients and mix with your hands until just combined. I like to form all the meatballs at once and brown them in canola oil and then put them in the oven with the marinara sauce over them. One and half inches is a good size. Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes at 300 degrees. When done garnish with the remaining basil and parmesan cheese.

These can be served over your favorite pasta or used for meatball sandwiches. If you decide on sandwiches choose a provolone or mozzarella cheese and fresh sliced Vidalia or red onions.

Eathan loved to cook and loved watching the Food network. He often came to me with grocery lists for things he discovered watching his favorite cooks Mario Botali and Emeril Lagasse. He even did the whole “bam” thing when we cooked together and then would giggle. I really hope you’ll all try this and love it as much as I do. I try to make it a few times a year along with several other recipes he left for us.

Nutrition info (for the meatballs only, I don’t include the sauce because I use different ones and expect most other will too.

4 servings

Calories per 443

carbs 17 grams

fat 26 grams

protein 32 grams

fiber 2 grams

sugar 4 grams

 

I’d love to hear if any of you decide to try it what you think. Thanks for reading and I’ll be back to regular blogging soon!!

 

Pictures of my mom in law and my little man Eathan ❤ I love you both and miss you terribly!!

 

 

 

 

About my Absence

I want to apologize for not responding to some of you and for not updating my blog since early March. This time of year is incredibly difficult for me, starting around March. Seven years ago this coming Wednesday I lost my only child Eathan. He was nine years old and it was completely unexpected and a cause has never been found. I found him unresponsive when I went to get him up for school and he never came back. That whole year was devastating for our family. My son, my dad, my mother in law and then my son’s best friend all passed away. Last year on March 14th my nephew was in a motorcycle accident and was killed instantly. My son’s birthday is in March as is my nephews, and the anniversaries of all of these deaths really, really takes it toll on me every year. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed for me, losing my son always feels like yesterday. He was my life, my heart and soul, my reason for smiling every day. One day I was Eathan’s mom and the next I was “that lady who lost her child”.  

I’ll likely do a post in the next few days or within the week and share some of his favorite recipes with you all. He loved watching The Food Network and then cooking the stuff he saw. He made his own little shopping lists and he even helped me create a few salad dressings from scratch. 

I will be back to regular blogging after this week has passed and I know I did get tagged/nominated for a blogging award and I will do that as well. I just wanted to apologize and let you all know what’s going on.

Thanks, Nancy

 

 

Men’s March Birchbox

It’s still the first week of March, but I have my husband’s March birch box for review today. His boxes always come early and I know he secretly loves them. He thought I opened it and peaked this month, you should have seen his face!!! Ok, onto the box!!!

This month I believe the theme is “Be Bold with your Pairings!”. I can’t be completely 100% sure because my husband was so excited he lost the card that came with it lol. So I’m winging this a bit.

First up is the Fragrance sample Clean shower fresh for men Full Size $74. I found this to be an exceptionally good smelling fragrance, I really like it. It’s not overpowering. It’s light, fresh and crisp. My husband uses me to choose his scents, so this is going on the buy list once he makes it through all the little bottles of samples he has (probably 20 lol).

Next is The Essentials Elements Rosemary Body Lotion Full size $19. This comes in this clever little bottle that reminds me of an old style apothecary, but sadly that is all I found to like about it. Both my husband and I were off put by the over powering smell of “vicks vapor rub” when we opened the bottle. Neither of us were able to detect any hint of a rosemary smell which is disappointing because it’s one of our favorite scents.

He received the matching Essential Elements Rosemary Shower gel Full Size $19 and it came in the same clever little bottle and it had the same vicks vapor rub smell to it. Sadly, neither of these products will be sampled by us. I’ll put them up to trade or gift them so they wont be a total waste, they just aren’t for us. They were both good sized samples, coming in at 1.5 fl oz.

And last, but NOT least, our favorite item in the box. The tie!!!! This tie is so neat and so out of the ordinary for my husband. We both just loved it instantly. First, we’re both dog lovers so the dog head and the bones on the tie were just a big hit. The tie is a really good quality made tie, the fabric is really soft and silky. It’s the perfect length for him and it’s fun. It retails for $49 so it’s in the affordable range. He’s really happy with this particular item 🙂 So I’m happy too!!!

In all, the men’s March birch box was a great box this month, even with the body lotion and shower gel not being what we’d like. When I told my husband his box was on it’s way I also asked him if he wanted to keep getting them. He got this look on his face when he thought I might be canceling it. It was priceless, he loves his birchbox. It’ll be coming every month for him because I love it when he’s happy!!!

If you want to sub to the men’s birch box I’ll leave the links below, one just a general link and one will be my referral link so you can skip the wait list. It’s $20 per month and I feel it’s completely worth it.

Thanks for reading!! Life is a gift, open it and live it beautifully ❤ Nancy

My February Birch box review

I have one of my February birch boxes for you today. Yes I know it’s rather late, but I was one of the unfortunate ones that received a damaged box and just received my replacement about a week ago. I actually had three birch boxes for February!!! What can I say, I was excited for the US weekly collaboration box!

The theme for February 2014 was Step, Pose and Repeat for Awards Season. I was pleasantly surprised with my box, although a little bit underwhelmed after all the hype for this collaboration. The products and sizes were still good, they just didn’t scream “Awards Season” to me.

First up is the Agave Healing oil treatment. Full size $24-$40 dollars for 2-4 oz respectively. I was over the moon happy with this sample. The smell is divine, it’s sugary sweet and a little bit goes a long way. I received this little gem in all three of my boxes. I got 4-5 uses out of one little package. I’ll be purchasing a full size when I get through all of my hair oils. That may take a while!

Next is The Caudalie Instant Foaming Cleanser. Full size, $28 The size of this was 1.69 fl oz (full size is 5 fl oz) so this is a pretty good sample size. I tried the cleanser and I do really like it, the scent reminds me of a really happy time in my life (I’ll be blogging about that later this month) so that’s a big plus!!! I don’t think I’ll be purchasing a full size however, but only because I have a cleanser that I love and that works very well for my skin type. This is a good straight forward cleanser, and would be good for sensitive skin as well.

Next up is the DDF Ultra Lite Oil Free Moisturizing Dew Full size $42. The size of this is amazing 1 fl oz and full size is 1.7 fl oz. I also received this in all three of my Feb birch boxes. What can I say about DDF, they have really great products that produce results and this is no exception. Some of their products are a little on the pricey side, but I feel like they’re worth it. This product definitely is. I’d say it’s going to be better for spring and summer time moisturizing and not for the dryness most of us experience with the cold winter months, so I’ll be putting this aside for a month or so. I do love how it feels on my skin. Two of them I’ll be sending to a lady in one of my groups, so she can try the goodness that is DDF.

Next up is OPI Sheer Tints in I Can Teal You LIke Me. Full Size $9. I’m on the fence with this polish. I love OPI in general, but I think they missed with this product. The sheer teal is super pretty and I tried it over several different colors of polish, but the formula leaves a lot to be desired. I found this one to be thick, goopy and stringy. The orange one I got in one of my other boxes worked perfectly, unfortunately the orange isn’t that great of a color. I’ll pass.

My lifestyle extra this month was tea. Harney and Sons Fine Teas, Wrapped Sachets, Full size $9.60. I’m generally more of a coffee drinker, but I do occasionally drink tea. It’s a special thing for me, I drink it when I want to feel close to my very special dear mom in law Ardeen. She was the best mother in law I could’ve asked for. So when I want to feel close, I make tea and cuddle under the beautiful quilt she made me and watch her old black and white movies. So the tea’s are usually a big plus for me ❤

 

In all, I’m very happy with my February birch boxes, even with all the issues they had. Birch box always has the best customer service and they go above and beyond to make their customers happy and satisfied. Do you get birch box? Did you love your box? Hate it? If you like to sign up I can leave a link to their site and also my own link if you’d like to skip the waiting list. I don’t mind which one you use if you decide to sign up. It’s worth it, $10 a month for lovely samples delivered right to your door!!

Thanks for reading!!  Life is a gift, open it and live it beautifully ❤ Nancy

Road Trip Beauty Essentials Blog Hop

Last minute road trip beauty essentials blog hop!!!

It’s that time again!!! Another blog hop with the beautiful ladies from The Beauty and Fashion Blog Community. This month we’re all talking about what 5 essential beauty items we’d take with

us on a last minute road trip!! Yes, a road trip!! I love those two words. They bring back so many great memories of when I was young and someone would yell road trip!!! Only back then it wasn’t

nearly as organized as we all are now, but it was still a lot of fun. To make this post even more fun we got to choose a destination, one we could drive to. So it needed to be close by. I live in California

so I have a lot of choices, but the one that kept sticking in my head was The City, San Francisco. Sung about in songs, where people had lost their hearts. It was often a destination of choice when

I was young, but I haven’t been back there in at least 7 years.

So, I’m packing my bags and heading to The City by the Bay. Join me on my Journey 🙂

My #1  must have beauty essential is my IPKN BB cream ($35), it offers superb coverage and an SPF of 45 which is so important. It moisturizes and leaves a semi matte finish, needing

only a light dusting of finishing powder to keep it in place, which brings me to my number 2.

My #2 must have beauty item is IT cosmetics bye bye pores finishing powder ($24) It’s free of talc, fragrance, parabens. It’s light as air and blends beautifully on my skin to leave a soft

focus, airbrushed finish. It doesn’t cake up and controls shine all day, especially in the T-zone reducing the need for blotting through out the day. I love it.

My #3 must have is Urban Decay’s revolution lipstick in obsessed ($22). I chose this because I can use it as a dual purpose beauty item and because I love all things pink in make up. The

color just looks so pretty on my skin, giving it a youthful like glow that I normally don’t have being in my forties now. Obsessed it a baby doll pink and is true to color. I just dab a little

on the apples of my cheeks and blend it in like I would with any cream blush. It gives the appearance of a lightly flushed cheek, like you’ve been out walking in the cold weather

for a bit.

My #4 must have is Too Faced Better than Sex mascara ($23). I was always a Benefit They’re Real girl, until I saw this. Not only did the name catch my eye, lol!! Who wouldn’t

wonder? This mascara truly does it all, it gives volume, curls and lengthens. It’s water resistant, but it does take a few more minutes to set than most mascara’s out there. I

likely will never use another mascara. I’ve found my holy grail ❤

My #5 must have is my naked 3 palette. To me this is the perfect palette, all gold and rosy and glowy, with the perfect amount of shimmer and matte. I can multi purpose with

this as well. By mixing strange and a small amount of dust together I can get a pretty good highlighter. Then of course you can do anything from just a light rosy, gold

eye to an all out smoky eye, or calm it down and use blackheart as a liner. In a pinch I’ve used just a little bit of blackheart mixed with darkside to lightly

define my brows. Not a lot of product, just a tiny bit dusted through to help give a little definition for me since I’m kind of sparse there. I’ve also used

dust mixed in with my obsessed to give it an extra shimmer when I’m going out at night, so naked 3 is a definite must have for me 🙂

 

So those are the five items I’d take with me on my trip to the City by the Bay, San Francisco.

 

The things I love to do when I visit one of my favorite places? The first thing I must do is go to pier 39 and have a bowl of fresh from the sea clam chowder, I always go

to the same place and sit at the same table. Pier 39, Pier Market Seafood Restaurant. This place has been there for as long as I can remember. As a child

my parents would take us there as we only lived across the bay from San Francisco. The clam chowder is always fresh, their sourdough bread is made fresh

and is simply amazing. You can’t find seafood like they serve hardly anywhere and it’s right on the bay. What’s better than watching the sea lions play and the

boats glide by while eating your favorite food and having a chilled glass of white wine.

I love to walk all through the piers and people watch, it’s a tourist destination so there are so many different types of people every where, the smell of the ocean, the

sounds of the waves, the calls of the sea lions and giggles of the children having their first time at the pier.  There are street entertainers everywhere, from singing to

people playing guitars to mimes and the occasional clown twisting balloons into every type of animal imaginable.

If you’ve never been to San Francisco, put it on your must see and visit destination, you’ll love it!!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading, I hope you enjoyed my journey back to the City. Remember

life is a gift, open it and live it beautifully, Nancy

 

Don’t forget to visit all the other beautiful bloggers who participated in our monthly blog hop, links below 🙂

 

      Michelle at Pretty in the East www.prettyintheeast.com

• Brittany at The Beauty Deputy www.thebeautydeputy.com
• Kristina from http://thefemininefiles.com
• Christine from http://www.simplystine.com
• Anna Belle from http://theannabelleblog.com/
• Jeni at Gracious Luck http://www.graciousluck.com
• Karen at Unpack the Box http://www.unpackthebox.net
• Kimberly From Socially Awkward Fashionista http://Sociallyawkwardfashionista.com
• Lisa from Subscription Therapy: http://subscriptiontherapy.com/
• Ashly at “Reviews / Ramblings & Randomness” from http://aeyler06.blogspot.com/
• Jenn at A Little Bit of Girl Geekery http://icedwavez.wordpress.com
• Jen at Jen Likes Polish: http://www.jenlikespolish.com/
• Heather from Coconut & Cotton www.coconutandcotton.com 
• Sammi at College Beauty Buff: http://www.collegebeautybuff.blogspot.com/
• Nancy at https://jumpingmouse9.wordpress.com/wp-admin/
• Angela at http://themakeupslashphotographywhisperer.wordpress

 

 

 

Shine on Award!!

I was nominated for the Shine on Award by an amazing lady and blogger Jen from http://graciousluck.com/ . Thank you so much!!

Some details and rules about the shine on award if you’d like to accept and forward it on:

1. Display the logo to your blog

2. Show appreciation by acknowledging the blogger who nominated you and linking back to them in your post.

3. Share seven random interesting things about yourself 🙂

4. nominate 15 bloggers you admire and pass this award on, make sure to link their blog in your post. (The 15 might be a little hard for me to begin with as I’m pretty new, but I’ll do my best!!)

5. Contact your bloggers to let them know 🙂

Ok, so seven things about me. This was harder than I thought!!!

1. I have never flown on an airplane. I’ve never even been inside the front doors of an airport. I’m terrified of it.

2. I loved school, from the minute I walked into my first class as a kindergartner I loved it. I remember I used to raise my hand in my second grade classroom to read out loud and I stunk at it. It was so bad that I ended up in what was called at the time a Title one reading program. It helped immensely and I got straight A’s all the way through school and college, I was the nerdy girl lol!!!

3. I love the rain, I love it so much I’ll walk in it on purpose and go puddle jumping/puddle stomping even now in my 40’s.

4. I didn’t start wearing make up until I was in my 20’s. My dad never allowed it.

5. I love animals of all kinds, including reptiles. I’ve owned three snakes in my life and two African bull frogs. I would drive my mom completely crazy with all the animals I brought home, there was a baby pig in there at one point too lol!!! I currently only have one dog, a Jack Russell Terrier named Skipper after Skipper from Gilligan’s Island.

6. I’m a complete nerd  and video game addict. I’ve been playing them my entire life, my dad introduced me to them and I still play to this day. It’s a toss up as to what I spend more money on….video games or make up. I love anything science fiction, too!!!

7. I worked for over 10 years as a nurse and it was my most loved and hated job. I didn’t protect my heart enough and that’s a must if you’re going to work in the medical field. I had some really great, wonderful experiences with patients, but also some truly heart breaking experiences. I may go back someday, as it was my first choice and my first love. I’ll just go back smarter 🙂

My nominations are:

Samantha at http://collegebeautybuff.blogspot.com/

Caitlyn at http://budgetbeautysite.wordpress.com/

Angela at http://themakeupslashphotographywhisperer.wordpress.com/

Michelle at http://beautifulgoodies.wordpress.com/

Brittany J at http://thebeautydeputy.com/

Christine at http://www.simplystine.com/

 

I’m leaving the rest open as Jen who nominated me did. I don’t want to double nominate someone or put undue pressure on any blogger who may have other blogs they’re writing or that are due. I hope you  enjoyed and learned some new facts about me, some of which might be embarrassing, but it’s all in fun!! Thank you Jen from http://graciousluck.com/ for nominating me!!

Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll join in on the Shine on Award, it’s all in fun 🙂

 

Above The Curve Diva P. and Aurora

I have two polishes for you today, both are absolutely beautiful just as I’ve come to expect from Above The Curve Indie Polish Company.

First a little bit about the company. It’s an indie nail polish company founded in 2012 by a husband and wife team Shawn and Angel, dedicated to making gorgeous polishes and giving back to charities through sales of their polishes ($1.00 of each bottle sold goes to Shriners Children’s Hospital). That isn’t the only charity they give to. They have a great face book page, a community where all are welcome and they interact with everyone and make it fun. Now on to the polishes!!! I was sent both of these at no cost to me for review.

First up is Diva P.

These pictures don’t do it justice. It’s a special effects holo topper filled with shimmer. I’ve sat and turned this bottle over and over in my hands and I’ve seen pinks, purples, blues, reds and gold’s. It reminds me of rainbows after a storm when the sky still has a hint of clouds. I have it layered over Aurora in the picture above and I love it. I’ve worn it over this, over black which is absolutely stunning, over a red and over a pink (unfortunately I failed to get pictures, it’s been a weird three weeks for me). It looks different over each color and I’ll do my best over the next week to get photo’s of it a different color so you can see just how pretty it is. ❤

Next is Aurora

This color has to be my favorite after the Truly, Madly Deeply I reviewed a few weeks back. It’s such a pretty, soft almost pastel color. It’s a purple holographic with what looks to be a pinkish tone/undertone to it and a pink, purple, and blue shimmer. I couldn’t decide between wearing the Aurora and the Truly, Madly Deeply so I compromised and wore a color on each hand (a little weird I know!!!), but that’s why I only have one hand pictured here 🙂

Both of these polishes applied very well and the wear time was really great. I’ve always had a really good experience with Above The Curve polishes and I think you all would too!!! I would definitely recommend you giving them a try. Remember, you’ll be giving back with any purchase you make. The polishes retail between $8.50-$9.00 per bottle and $1.00 goes to Shriners Children’s Hospital. You can find them here on face book https://www.facebook.com/AboveTheCurveNailPolish and their polishes here http://abovethecurve.bigcartel.com/ and here http://www.etsy.com/shop/AboveTheCurve. You can see my prior review of their Valentines Day Collection here https://jumpingmouse9.wordpress.com/2014/02/02/above-the-curve-valentines-nail-polish-collection/.

Thanks for reading!!!

Nancy….Life is a gift, Open it and live it beautifully ❤

 

Disclaimer…all opinions are my own. I was not paid for this review, but the polishes were sent at no charge. I was not asked to give a favorable review in exchange for product. All content is owned by me ©Jumpingmouse9 2/22/2014

Above The Curve Valentines Nail Polish Collection

I’m so excited to bring you this review of Above the Curve’s Valentine Day Collection. Above the Curve is an Indie nail polish company I’ve written about before. I found them last fall on facebook and completely fell in love with their product and their company. Their face book page is a really great place to visit, filled with a lot of fun stuff and great people. Their products are top notch, hand mixed and unique. One dollar from every sale goes to Shriner’s Children Hospital and that is something I totally love!! Now on to the polish. There are four in this collection and I bought all of them.

The first one, Truly Madly Deeply, is actually my wedding song so buying that one was a given. It’s a beautiful orchid shade with a purple/pink shimmer to it. It has this lovely glow to it in both natural outdoor lighting and indoor lighting. I’m in love with this one and I’ll likely go buy a back up.

All You Need Is Love..WINE! is next. This is a purple, plum shimmery holo, jelly based glitter. It has different sizes of red, lavender, bright pink, purple, fuschia, garnet, bronze and gold glitter. It’s absolutely gorgeous on. It’s not a rough texture at all like some multi glitter polishes can be. It goes on fairly smooth and any little rough patches you might have can be smooth down and covered with a good top coat. I used Seche Vite.

You Java Me Crazy is a really pretty raspberry brown with pink and purple shimmer. I don’t have this on in any photo’s yet, but I did use it and while it’s not my favorite I still love it and will definitely be using it when it’s time to change my polish.

Circle of Love has to be the most fun out of all four, but it does have a bit of a learning curve to it. It’s a glitter topper full of lavender, neon pink, red and pink holo hearts, fuchsia and silver circles in different sizes and finishes and a fine holo hex to add sparkle. It took me three or four applications to figure this one out. I finally got it lay down properly by just barely touching the brush to my nail bed and dragging it towards the tip. The polish laid down perfectly with all the pieces laying flat and looking so amazing and almost 3D. I layered this one over a black base, but I expect it would look quite beautiful over the other polishes in this collection or any other darker pink, purple or red polish. I think after Truly, Madly Deeply this is my favorite.

The polishes retail for $8.50 for a full size bottle and can be purchased here http://abovethecurve.bigcartel.com/ and here http://www.etsy.com/shop/AboveTheCurve

You can contact Above The Curve via face book here, they’re always interacting with their fans. They’re just all around great people. https://www.facebook.com/AboveTheCurveNailPolish

I hope you’ll go by and give them a look, maybe give their polish a try 🙂

Life is a gift, open it and live it beautifully ❤

Nancy

 

2014 February Skincare Blog Hop

Hi beauties, I’m so happy to be participating in another blog hop with all of these wonderful bloggers. This months theme is on skin care, something taught to me from a young age by my dad of all people. I was never allowed make up, but skin care was definitely ok and I’m so thankful for that!!! A few notes to start off, then I’ll go through what I do for my own routine daily/weekly for you. I hope you enjoy.

 

1. SPF is a must, it’s my number one thing I use. I never go without it, on my face or body.

2. Water, drink enough to keep you hydrated and to make up for any loss from exercise, caffiene, and salt and sugar intake. If you’re thirsty you’re already dehydrated.

3. Get your sleep and try to use a smooth pillowcase (satin, silk, or high thread count cotton) and wash them often.

4. Keep the air in your home moist, use a humidifier or if you have a woodstove use a heavy tea kettle filled with water.

5. Don’t forget your lips, ears and neck area. It’s easy to do 🙂

6. Clean your make up applicators frequently with an anitbacterial cleanser

7. Your skin shows what you eat, try to limit sugary foods, fast foods, soda and load up on whole leafy greens, fruits, good fats (salmon, avocado, coconut oil) and lean meats.

 

I never touch my face with dirty hands. Every time I wash my face, I wash my hands first with an antibacterial soap. I use luke warm water on my face. Extreme water temps (too hot or too cold) aren’t good for your skin, causing capillary breakage, redness and dryness. I was a clinique girl for many years and I still do love their products, but I stumbled across a glytone product and I’ve completely changed my mind. I use all of their products now and I love them. Some of them combine alpha and beta hydroxy acids together to help break down skin cells, helping regenerate new cells and collagen, basically exfoliating. I do still use a MILD exfoliator once or twice a week with micro beads. I never, ever use one with seeds in it like apricot or almond seeds etc. Those cause tiny tears in your skin, inviting bacteria, infection and break outs. My choice is one by Vasanti, or a homemade one with baking soda and water mixed to a paste.

 

I wash, rinse with the luke warm water and PAT my skin dry with a clean hand towel. I don’t use the hand towels that have been hanging in the bathroom all week. I keep a stack of clean ones on my vanity just for my face. It’s at this point that I use vitamin C serum and then my daily moisturizer. The Vitamin C serum I make myself and I’ll explain further down and leave links back to a wonderful lady. My moisturizer does change every few months because I subscribe to beauty boxes, but I keep a list of ones I love and I do repurchase the ones I feel are worth it, that list is very small. My SPF comes from my face primer and my foundation. My face primer is from Colorscience and the spf is 30, the spf in my foundation is 15 and then I follow with a mineral powder. The key to SPF is using enough to get the correct protection. You need at least a grape sized amount to cover your entire face; don’t forget your ears and neck 🙂 It’s going to seem  like I go on and on about SPF, but that is truly the number one thing to keep in mind when caring for your skin, protect it!!!!

 

I clean my face make up applicators; beauty blenders, blush brushes, powder brushes etc daily with an antibacterial soap I buy from BBW. Eye shadow brushes I let go a little longer only because I have more pigment brushes than I do others. I also have 5 or 6 pillow cases. That may seem a little over the top, but there are times I sleep with coconut oil in my hair and I also use a heavier cream at night. All of that gets caught in your pillow cases along with any dust, dog dander etc in the air. It’s important to keep them clean. I use a satin one for the pillow I sleep directly on because I’m a tummy sleeper and I can’t break that habit!!! So to keep lines from forming on my face from the cheaper cotton one’s I use satin and they work wonderfully. It doesn’t make for extra laundry, it’s just one more piece I toss in while I’m doing laundry.

Now for the vitamin C serum. I’ve used Vitamin C on my skin for years. Many years ago it was very difficult to find this heavy hitter in any skin care product, now it’s every where you look and unfortunately expensive. Some problems with this, Vitamin C is unstable and oxidizes when exposed to light, so if it’s not made and stored in the correct container it becomes ineffective after a short time and in a lot of products it’s listed way down the ingredient list meaning it’s not in a high enough percentage to really make a difference in your skin. After hundreds of dollars (maybe into thousands 😦 ) I went on an internet search because I knew there had to be an alternative and I found so many out there. It was tough choosing, but I found what I was looking for and I took it to my dermotologist and my health food store to find out if it was safe before continuing and I was told yes!!!! So here it is.

 

Some items you’ll need.

 

1. A dark bottle with a dropper

2. powdered L-ascorbic acid (available at your local health food store or on line)

3. A bottle of vegetable glycerin

4. A bottle of distilled water

5. A small funnel

6. A small glass bowl and measuring spoons

7. gloves

 

The solution goes by percentage’s and the lady I got the recipe from, my dermotologist and I all recommend if you’re new to pure vitamin C serum’s to start at the lowest percentage first and work your way up over weeks. Remember it’s an acid and does have the potential to burn. (keep away from your eyes)

 

Mix the L-ascorbic acid into the distilled water until completely disolved, once this is done add the vegetable glycerin and continue to mix. It’s that easy. I do add a couple of capsules of Vitamin E to mine. You also have the choice of not adding the vegetable glycerin and just applying the vitamin c/distilled water. I choose to add the glycerin because I like how it feels going on. Use the funnel to pour the solution from the bowl into the dark bottle and store in a cool dark place. I make mine weekly to every other week and I can’t tell you how much money it has saved me, not to mention how well it works. I do use it around my eyes, just not up under them close to my lashes.

 

Here are the recipes and the link back to the lovely lady where I got it from 🙂 This is the specific video I got the recipe from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVJWuC4z0jk, she has so many great video’s, check her out 🙂 You can also find her on facebook here https://www.facebook.com/Uppiesbeads59

 5% ¼ tsp powder, 4tsp water, ¾ tsp glycerin

 10% ¼ tsp powder, 2tsp water, 1/4tsp glycerin

 15% 3/8tsp powder, 2tsp water, 1/8 tsp glycerin

 20% ¼t tsp powder, ¾ tsp water, ¼ tsp glycerin

  For extras like face masks, most of the time you have what you’ll need right in your kitchen. I do have store bought face masks and most of them are wonderful (there are some that are losers, but you don’t know until you try), but for the most part I stick with what’s in my kitchen and that way I know what’s on my face. Some things I use are my favorite stand by coconut oil, pure natural honey (with honey, check the label or buy from a local bee keeper, some bottled honey is mostly corn syrup) greek yogurt, banana’s, mango’s and avocado’s. I also use these things in my hair. Two or three times a month when I can get some free time I mix up some or all of these and apply to my face, leaving it on for about 20 minutes. It always cracks my husband up to watch this, he’s never sure if I’m making a smoothie to eat or to wear lol!!

 Some links to my favorite moisturizers, bb cream, the foundation I use, the primer and of course the links to all the lovely ladies participating in this blog hop will be at the bottom of this post.

http://www.beautybar.com/p/ipkn-moist-firm-bb-spf-45-1-35-oz-40ml-934174,http://www.dermstore.com/product_Sunforgettable+Face+Primer+SPF+30_27143.htm, 

http://whttp://www.dermstore.com/product_Mild+Gel+Wash_363.htmww.dermstore.com/product_Ultimate+Youth+Power+Cream_50176.htm

Michelle at Pretty in the East www.prettyintheeast.com

• Brittany at The Beauty Deputy www.thebeautydeputy.com  
• Kristina at http://thefemininefiles.com
• Jeni at Gracious Luck – www.graciousluck.com
• Heather at Coconut & Cotton www.coconutandcotton.com
• Jenn at Little Bit of Girl Geekery www.icedwavez.wordpress.com
• Etta of Etta’s Threads www.ettasthreads.wordpress.com
• Kristy from Nailofatale : http://nailofatale.blogspot.com/
• Vivienne of Jolie Pagaille http://www.JoliePagaille.com
• Brittany at http://lipstickandyarn.blogspot.ca
• Nancy at  https://jumpingmouse9.wordpress.com
• Michelle at http://beautifulgoodies.wordpress.com
• Angela at http://themakeupslashphotographywhisperer.wordpress.com
• Bernice at http://www.darkbeautymakeup.com
• Christine at http://www.simplystine.com
• Sam at http://www.collegebeautybuff.blogspot.com
• Ashly Eyler at http://aeyler06.blogspot.com/

I hope this wasn’t too long and that you’ve enjoyed reading and even viewing in some cases other skin care routines. Maybe you’ll join in our next blog hop!!!

Life is a gift, open it and live it beautifully!!!

Nancy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like Mother, Like Daughter Hand Stamped Jewelry

Like Mother, Like Daughter is a family owned business based in Nashville TN and created in July of 2011. Karen and Kaitlin specialize in making beautiful, hand made, hand stamped jewelry and gifts. All of their products are original, no two pieces are alike.

I had the pleasure of winning a necklace from them back in November of 2013. It was really quite beautiful (picture above), with a blue wing and the words “To have faith is to have wings” stamped on it. It arrived in a round metal keepsake box, wrapped in a pink lace bag with ribbons. I already have an angel wing necklace I wear in memory of my son so I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with this. I thought about wearing it along with my angel wings, but as I was opening it I got a text from my Aunt. My cousin had been hospitalized and was very ill (she has ovarian cancer) and I knew who the necklace was meant for. I repacked it and mailed it out later that day. I’ll be forever thankful to this wonderful lady and her daughter for their company and this necklace that brought one of my very first friends comfort.

Their jewelry and their gifts are truly amazing and beautiful. I’ve spent a few hours here and there going through their etsy shop and they don’t just make jewelry for women. There are guitar picks, baby spoons, key chains, earrings, collar stays, money clips and bobby pins….something for everyone. I may buy a guitar pick for my husband, as he and my son used to play guitar together and I carry my son’s guitar pick with me now. It would be something very special that I know he would love to have.

They use sterling silver, silver, nugold, pewter, bronze, brass and aluminum discs to create their products. These metals can tarnish when exposed to air, they do use a protective coating to prevent this, but do state if tarnishing occurs you can use a polishing cloth and it will remove the tarnish. They ask that you store your piece in an air tight container and to not expose it harsh chemicals (just use a polishing cloth). Their prices are completely reasonable for an original hand made piece. I hope you’ll go by and check them out.

You can find them on face book here https://www.facebook.com/LikeMotherLikeDaughterJewelry and their etsy shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop/MotherDaughterJewel

Life is a gift, open it and live it beautifully!!!

Nancy