Archives for December 2010

TIL Tuesday: Olay Total Effects Body Wash

December 14, 2010 by sarah Leave a Comment

Last week, the folks at Procter & Gamble gave me the opportunity to talk to Rebekah George, a guru of skincare and prettyness, about how to care for your skin during the winter. She had a lot of tips – and one of them was to not necessarily moisturize more, but moisturize better.

And then I got this box in the mail. And in this box was one of the products that Rebekah recommended: 7-in-1 Advanced Anti-Aging Deep Penetrating Moisture Body Wash (Say that three times fast).

At first I was like, “Whoa, what? Anti-aging? Are they calling me… OLD?”

And then I was like, “Well, Sarah, you did just turn 34. You aren’t getting any younger. I don’t know if I’d call you OLD, but you’re hardly a spring chicken.”

And then I was like, “But, I suppose it couldn’t HURT to try this product. Maybe I can pretend that they really meant well, instead of as a subtle attempt to call me old.”

And then I told my inner selves to shut up and go run a bath.

This stuff?

It’s pretty nice.

Most importantly (to me, anyway) – it smells very good. I have priorities – and while this is indeed scented, it’s not overwhelming or gross.

Secondly, this stuff is thick, but rinses clean and doesn’t leave you yucky and filmy after you get out of the shower.

And? Happily, it IS moisturizing. Which is good, because… well, it SAYS it is. Always nice when a product does what it’s supposed to do.

As for the anti-aging part – I don’t know if I look or feel any younger, or if my body looks or feels any younger, but I’m just happy to get clean and moisturized, really. Oh, and I smell amazing.

The body wash was sent to me at no charge to me, but the opinions and the obsession about my age are purely my own.

Filed Under: Things I Love Tagged With: Olay Total Effects Body Wash, P&G

Thursday Ten: OH THERE’S MY CHRISTMAS SPIRIT edition

December 9, 2010 by sarah Leave a Comment

1. I think I’m slowly – oh so very slowly – finding my holiday spirit, and I’m glad about that. It’s been a difficult time of year for me because I LOVE CHRISTMAS and I have lacked the enthusiasm that I usually seem to have for the festivities. BUT, I’m finding it. And that’s a good thing – because coming up, I have to shop for the 12 Days of Christmas. And finish shopping for the family (My Mom is SO hard to shop for – usually she’s easier to shop for – this year, I’m roadblocked).

2. Tomorrow, I get to be the “Mystery Reader” at Pumpkin’s kindergarten class – which would be awesome but SOMEONE TOLD HER I’d be coming in. I’d hoped to be surprising her, and didn’t want her to know I was the reader until I walked in the door. I think the teacher’s aide spilled the beans. BOO TO HER, I say. I’ll be reading David Shannon’s Good Boy, Fergus! and Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Spoon. We love both of these books – though, I have to say, I’m pretty much a fan of all of AKR’s children’s books. “Spoon” is the one that Miss Amy (as we call her here in our house) read to The Princess over the phone on her seventh birthday.

3. None of the Christmas ornaments are where they were when we started. I’m not that fussy about the Christmas tree – to a degree. These ornament clumps drive me a little crazy, though. Want to know why? Silly but here’s why: It makes it hard to take pictures when they are all squished together. And I LIKE TO TAKE PICTURES OF ORNAMENTS.

4. I’ve lived in Michigan for twenty years and finally for the FIRST TIME bought a winter hat. I bought it at Target – it was three dollars. Figured the price was right since it won’t take long for the dog to find it and eat it. Or for me to decide it was making my hair too stick-uppy.

5. I am hoping to get to the movies this weekend because I desperately want to see “Black Swan” – the new ballet movie with Natalie Portman – it’s getting great reviews, and frankly I want to see something different than the slapstick-y holiday movies that seem to multiply endlessly this time of year.

6. I have had the worst time in guitar lessons the past two weeks – I think my brain has just been jelloed and not really fully functional (Shush. It’s not ALWAYS that way). I suppose actually PRACTICING might help, though. Need to do that more. Like, a lot more.

7. So, I was shopping for stocking stuffers for my mom for Christmas and ended up buying myself some nail polish. This is my MO when Christmas shopping. Last week, when shopping, I ordered for myself The Beauty of Different by Karen Walrond (@Chookooloonks on Twitter) – I’m still waiting for it to arrive. Last night, I finally ordered OPI’s Linkin Park After Dark – and that color is several seasons old – but I’ve always loved it and why shouldn’t I have pretty nails for Christmas? I think I may be doing this wrong. Or so very right.

8. As I type this, it’s nearly 2:30 in the afternoon and I’m finally getting around to eating lunch. A bowl of pasta. Like I’ll be running a marathon tomorrow. HUGE bowl of perfect al dente pasta. Do you have a favorite pasta shape? I do. I love penne – hate rotini. I don’t know why it even matters – the taste is the same, but somehow, I’ve tricked myself to thinking the shape is VERY IMPORTANT.

9. I was talking to my kids about the ballet, “The Nutcracker”. Since Barbie had her own little version of “Barbie and the Nutcracker”, I thought my kids would be a little more excited about it. But no go. Or as Pumpkin said, “There’s not even any good songs in it… like ‘Tik Tok’.” If you’re wondering whose five year old likes Ke$ha? I guess it’s mine.

10. Only one more full week of school before the kids are off for two weeks. Ack. {hold me} I love to get to spend time with my girls – but the work/life balance gets difficult during long holiday breaks. Going to have to schedule some activities, load up our Netflix Instant Streaming queue with some good kids movies, and arrange for some playdates (some at houses other than ours). Vacations are the most difficult times for me because I want to be a good mom and cruise director and keep being a good employee… Perhaps I’ll see how much vacation time I have left.

Filed Under: Mom Shtuff, Thursday Ten

No Longer Entirely Newbies

December 6, 2010 by sarah Leave a Comment

Now we know what to expect. Now we kind of know how things work. It’s not this huge mysterious thing that we don’t completely understand. It’s slightly less vague. Less daunting. Less panic inducing.

Yeah, I’m talking about gymnastics competitions.

(Overdramatic much? Yes. Yes I am)

The Princess made the team this spring and since she got accepted, it’s been a pretty straight shot of six hours of practice per week to get ready for these competitions. My living room has become a practice ground for handstands, I often hear roundoffs over my head as she thumps into a landing upstairs in the playroom. I’ve seen her floor routine so many times I’m pretty sure I can tell you where all the little dancey flourishes go.

And yet?

Seeing my daughter execute her floor routine, her beam routine, her bar routine and her vault in her shiny competition leotard with her competition hair do and her poise and her (where did that come from?) confidence – I was just stricken by awe at this eight year old child WHO IS MINE.

Blown away.

I had been extremely nervous going into the weekend – how would I feel about someone judging my daughter, what were their criteria, was she going to measure up? I kept my mouth shut and fortunately didn’t transfer any of my chaos to her.

She had been talking to me about which ribbons she wanted to earn in each event, and I kept thinking, “What if she doesn’t earn the ribbon she wants? Will she be devastated? And if she’s devastated, how do I let her know that this is totally okay – it’s not the end of the world, and that as she keeps practicing, her skills are going to keep sharpening and she’s going to get better?”

And none of that mattered because in the moment, she had the best time. She performed better than I’d seen her do before. I watched her on the balance beam – the musicality of her arms and the precision of her movements and thought to myself, When did she learn this?

And then I watched her do her floor routine – getting to see her round off back handspring (with a spotter) for the first time – as she’d only started mastering that stunt a few days prior.

I mean, shoot. A few months ago, her cartwheel was still kind of sloppy.

Before my eyes, I was getting to see just what The Princess could accomplish – what rewards her hard work would reap – the joy she had in a routine well performed.

It was SO EXCITING.

I didn’t expect it would be so exciting.

We drove home with four lovely ribbons and a readiness for the next one. Back at it in January.

Filed Under: Mom Shtuff Tagged With: gymnastics, gymnastics competition

Thursday Ten: “Winter Has Came” Edition

December 2, 2010 by sarah 5 Comments

1. For starters, I’m not (entirely) grammatically impaired – “winter has came” is from the movie Bambi. I can’t remember the last time I saw it, but I think of it when I see snow – and I thought of it when I took the puppy outside yesterday for his first glimpse of the snow. Yeah, we got a first snow of the year, and no, I’m not super enthused about it – but the dog likes it, so I guess that’s a good thing.

2. This week has been a busy one with trying to get some work stuff wrapped up as the end of the year (!!) gets closer. I admit, I got more than a little frazzled. I may have cried once or twice when I couldn’t quite get things done when I wanted them to. And I took time outs by making funny faces. Like you don’t?

3. I want to see “Black Swan” so badly – I haven’t been to a movie in a long while, and I generally like Natalie Portman. This movie looks pretty good to me. Are there any movies you want to see? (P.S. I’m still avoiding Harry Potter)

4. The Princess is mastering her round-off back handspring in gymnastics practice – and I’m so excited for her. In June, when she made the competitive team, she wasn’t nearly where she is now. It’s amazing how quickly these skills get mastered, how far ahead she is from where she was just months ago. It’s exciting to see the progress. And the confidence!

5. With these gray wintery days, I am reminding you all to be nice to yourselves, to treat yourselves kindly, and when you can, to infuse some color in your day. BUY YOURSELF SOME FLOWERS. They don’t have to be persnickety roses – a grocery store bouquet works the same magic. Trust me.

6. I think my sinus infection might almost be gone – which is good because for awhile there, things were not so pleasant. Especially that weird ramen noodle craving I was having. Where did THAT come from?

7. Guitar lesson went HORRIBLY this week. I hadn’t picked up my guitar in a week and basically, my mind went completely blank on everything. I just had to laugh – I mean, what else can you do at that point? I will practice this week (eventually). Next week’s lesson will go better.

8. Have you made much progress on your holiday shopping? My mission right now is finding toe socks for the girls – they both want them but I’ve only been able to find in adult sizes. I think I’m going to get them these funky pink striped socks. The Princess has been talking about getting “gloves for her feet” for a really long time now – I’d hate to disappoint.

9. In an attempt to not procrastinate the finishing of this post, I’ve had to pee for the past ten minutes – and I’ve held it all that time. You can remind me of this if I end up with a UTI in a few days. You can even do the “Told Ya So” dance.