Jan’s favorite things on the cheap, Day 4

I’ve alway had sensitive skin, and it was during a  visit to a dermatologist in the 80’s that I discovered Cetaphil.

You didn’t hear much about it in those days, they didn’t advertise in magazines like they do today.  Doctor’s recommended it to bathe infants in because it was so gentle.  I tried it because I was having a reaction to another product I was using on my face at the time, and I’ve used it ever since.

If you’re unfamiliar with Cetaphil, it can be used with or without water, I never use water, I just put it directly on my face, and remove it with a tissue,   it takes off eye makeup in one gentle swipe, and leaves your skin  feeling really soft with no stickiness, and it never irritates.  Beware of generic brands, though, they don’t work for me, I’ve found them to be  a lot harsher than the  real thing.

A large pump container of Cetaphil will cost about $8.99, but it lasts a really long time.  If you have never used it, try it, it’s a great product.

Tomorrow, rub-a-dub-dub, my faves in the tub….

One of the best Christmas commercials, ever….

Jan’s favorite things on the cheap, Day 3

I’m always trying new types of foundation,  usually courtesy of Angie, who tries them first and then tells me what I should buy…

I’ve been using Rimmel Lift and Renew Foundation since she told me about it last year.  I find it at Wally World, it costs $6.99, and I buy both the liquid and the mousse, and rotate them.  I have really sensitive skin, and have no problems with this.  It’s a good product, goes on smoothly, and more importantly, stays on all day.  Give it a try, it’s an inexpensive way to try something new.  Rimmel has blush, also – they come in small sizes, but they only cost $2.99.

Tomorrow, the best makeup remover, ever, I’ve used it for years, and never found anything that works better…

They’re finished…

Just in time for Christmas baking, Jan & Friends Christmas recipes are finished!  Just click on the Christmas Kids in the right sidebar.

I hope you all enjoy them, there are some great recipes in this collection, thanks to my  friends who so generously shared their family favorites.

~ jan

Jean lost her best friend, today…

He’s soaring with the angels, now.  Rest in peace, Sweet Albie…

Jan’s favorite things on the cheap, Day 2

I’ve used a lot of home hair color products over the years, Loreal, Clairol, Nutrisse, Revlon, you name it, if it’s blonde, it’s been on my head.  I even had a fiasco with strawberry blonde during a brain fart last year…

In my quest for the perfect golden shade, I’ve run the gamut from brassy to yellow, I’ve tried really light blonde, and as I look back in pictures, I realize my really light blonde was more like an off shade of platinum, YUCK!  At least I’ve always stayed away from ash, I realized from a friend’s faux pax that ash can give your hair a green hue.

I finally quit going for the gold and went to neutral, and it worked!  Who woulda thunk it, after all these years, I finally found a color that actually looks great!  It’s a nice, gentle blonde, not too pale, definitely not yellow, just a natural blonde.

It’s nice’ n easy Natural Light Neutral Blonde 103 – look for it in your drugstore, it’s a great color, and only costs $6.99, less when it’s one sale.

It’s a good thing…

Tomorrow, a really great foundation at a really great price…

Jan’s favorite things, on the cheap, Day 1…

I had really good intentions to publish Jan & Friends Favorite Things again this year, did I get it accomplished, no, just didn’t happen.  Instead, I’m going to do a mini version, every day from now until Christmas I’ll publish a favorite cosmetic, nothing over $15.00.  Yeah, I know Oprah did cheap things too this year, well mine are really cheap!!!

I’ve always been a drugstore cosmetic junkie, and found that a lot of it is as good as the pricier stuff, and since I have a huge stash, it will be easy to give all of you a favorite from now until Christmas.

This morning, I’ll start it off with a $1 item.  Yep, just a buck for moisturizer.  I used Clinique for years, spending $$$ on it, finally got smart and realized that I would rather save the big bucks for gorgeous  eye shadows and great blush instead of moisturizer when this does just as well as Clinique.  It’s light, smells great, glides on and gives you a great makeup base.

Johnson’s Softlotion, 24 Hour Moisturizer.  I buy 2 ounce tubes of this at Wally World in the lotion aisle for $1.00.

It’s good stuff, gentle, too, and it has that great Johnson’s smell. 

Tomorrow, I’m going to share the best  at home hair color I’ve ever found!  Trust me, my hair has been every shade of blonde imaginable over the years, but I’ve finally found a great color that works, it might just work for you, too…

If any of you have favorite things on the cheap you would like to add to this, it would be great, just click on the comments below and add it!

~ jan

a litte trip down memory lane….

 

This was the gingerbread village that we built last year, the cars and train were made from a spice cake mix that I baked in molded pans from Williams-Sonoma.  There are lots of pictures in last December archives if you are interested.  It was too cute to not post again..  Click here for a link to the pictures -

~ jan

In the middle of the night…

The clock said 1:30 a.m., a moonbeam was shining thru the bedroom window like a beacon on Maggie, bathing her in a soft glow.  I reached in her little bed and took her paw in my hand, she nestled closer to me and let out a big sigh.   I smiled and thought once again, it’s those simple things…

Jan’s helpful hint, this time it’s about Downy…

I happen to be lucky enough to be married to Mr. Fixit.  Hubby is one of those guys who really can fix anything.

I had been complaining about my washer’s Downy dispenser, it was all gunked up, and wasn’t working properly.  He disassembled it, did some research on Google, realized that Downy is made of animal fat, ugh, and that it just congeals and sits in that dispenser in your washing machine.  Apparently mine was barely working.

He spent a good hour cleaning the gobs of goo out of it and putting it back together.  When I asked him this morning if Joe Ordinary could have done it without problems, he said “It would be a challenge.”

So for those of you who live alone, or who doesn’t have a guy that’s handy, it’s a little heads-up.  Perhaps your dispenser is different than mine, I have a Whirlpool Washer, and it’s dispenses from the top of the agitator.

Our solution is to buy a Downy Ball, and forget that stupid dispenser.  He wasn’t a happy camper cleaning all that gooey, apparently “fatty” mess out of there.  I couldn’t have done it, and maybe I can help someone else from having the same problem.

The best Christmas present I can give you, energy…

I’ve blogged about this before, but we all get busy and forget, so once again I’m going to tell you how wonderful Meta Vitamin B Complex is.

It’s holiday time, and if you’re fatigued, really tired, do yourself a favor, pick up a bottle of these at your local drug store.

I’ve taken vitamins over the years, never felt “better” for doing so, but last fall when I was visiting Ry and Lindsay, I was talking to Ryan about overwhelming exhaustion.  He said, “Mom, get yourself a bottle of Mega Vitamin B Complex, it will help, really it will.”

So I listened to him, best thing I ever did, too.  Within a couple of weeks I had a noticable diference in my energy level.  The extreme fatigue was gone, simply put, I just felt better.

I spent a week at their house over Thanksgiving, normally I would have come home and just been zonked for a few days trying to recover.  Not this time, I came home, had a good night’s sleep and went right on with my regular routine, maybe a bit tired the next day, but not exhausted like I used to be.

Vitamin B is water soluable, your body will just expel what it doesn’t need, so give it a try.  If you’re deficient in vitamin B, it will help.  I’ve told several people about this, they’ve had good results ,too.  Be prepared for Gator-Ade pee, though, don’t let it shock you, it’s normal.

Many lie over books 'to impress'

The following was in the news this morning -

Nearly half of all men and one-third of women have lied about what they have read to try to impress friends or potential partners, a survey suggests.

Honor Wilson-Fletcher, director of the National Year of Reading campaign, said: "Reading is a brilliant tool for self-expression.

Isn’t this fascinating…  All this time that I’ve been telling all of you that I read trash, I’ve been lying?  I don’t think so, why would I fess up to being a lightweight in the reading department when I was really reading the heavy stuff…

However, if reading is a brilliant tool for self-expression, it doesn’t say a lot for your truly, does it?

It also doesn’t say a lot for the rest of you who read this silly blog regularly….  Haaa, gotcha this morning!!!

Whew, I can breathe a sigh of relief….

Yahoo News tonight said a lot of tv shows were being cancelled.  I did a quick scan, my favorite, Brothers and Sisters wasn’t on the list.  Thank goodness!!!  I do love that show!

Dirty, Sexy Money got the axe, *yawn*, big deal….

This is sooooo funny – great finish….

How cute is this???

My friend, Trish baby sat her granddaughter today, and Larkin had all of her stuffed animals lined up  on the sofa.  Obviously London wanted to be part of the action. 

That little imp, she’s had her picture taken so much, she’s a real pro…

Remember this, Hunts Pizza Flavored Ketchup? I was a huge fan in the day…

Beverly Garland, from My Three Sons, died this past weekend, at the age of 82. 

I grew up with that show, and always thought that Robbie (Don Grady) was so cute!

Here’s his website, he’s aged, like the rest of us.  I wouldn’t exactly call him ‘cute’ anymore.

 

 

Poor Oprah…

It’s all over the news this morning that Oprah is telling in the January edition of “O” that she has once again ballooned up to 200 lbs.

I’m must admit, I’m weary of Oprah, but I do feel sorry for her.  We all struggle with this, too much food, too little exercise, those horrid fast food restaurants beckoning us when we’re hungry and want to quell the hunger fast.

We’re all doomed, in this age of instant everything.  We don’t do physical labor, we’ve become lazy, and we’ve become a fat nation.

I’m doing Atkins again, which I hate worse than you can ever imagine and swore I would never do again. Do I have any hopes of really losing twenty pounds, of course not.  I have lost the same ten pounds over and over again for the last year now.  Not even venturing into the other ten pound zone.

I do have a barrier that most of you don’t.  It’s not that clothes won’t fit, if I gain too much, my prosthetic legs won’t fit.  Talk about a diet deterrent…  It’s either sit around with them off and munch on those Cheetos, which vanity would never permit me to do, or suck it up and diet…

My friends and I talk all the time about how sad it is, that at our age, we can’t just enjoy food.  Of course, what we enjoy, wonderful desserts and yummy breads, packs on the pounds.  We’re all carb addicts, that’s a lot of the problem…

I read the other day, this lady was complaining that her body looked like a fire hydrant.  Poor lady, but you know what’s even sadder, I get it, I really get it…

More about online coupons…

The other day I mentioned Googling discount coupon before buying online to get additional discounts.  I posted that entry on Monday when I ordered my Peticure Petite for the M&M’s.  It arrived Wednesday.  I was shocked to get it so fast.  And have I trimmed their little dawgie toenails?  Heck no, I’m scared, I’m going to wait until hubby can help me the first time….

But back to the coupons.  I linked to a great article that was on the Drudge Report tonight, apparently its a thriving business saving money online when you order.  It’s a good read for those of you who are buying via your computer this holiday season.

Here’s the link…

Southern Living Coconut-Almond Cream Cake for Christmas…

When I was a little girl we always had fresh coconut cake for Christmas. I was telling Lindsay about it  just last week, how Mother would buy a fresh coconut from the grocery store, I can see them, even now, a bushel basket heaped with fresh coconuts, sitting on the concrete floor of the produce section in the local Kroger.

Daddy would take a hammer and a nail and poke a hole in one of the ‘eyes’ and drain the liquid, then they would peel the flesh of the coconut and grate it for the cake.  They didn’t have an electric mixer, and I remember them taking turns beating the batter, as their hands would tire.

It was an absolutely wonderful cake!!! I haven’t had one since I was a child, but it was so special, and they always gave me shavings of the fresh coconut to eat. 

I was looking thru my Southern Living Magazine just now, and found this recipe for Coconut-Almond Cream Cake.  This is what I love about the internet.  I immediately Googled it, and the Southern Living recipe popped right up, along with the original picture.  I’m posting the recipe on Jan Can Cook, it looks fantastic and it’s one that I want to put in the Holiday Archives section so that we won’t lose it.  Magazines get thrown away, along with amazing recipes, but if I take the time to post and tag them, we’ll all have access to them whenever we want…

Here’s the quick CLICK – enjoy and if any of you make it, drop me an email and tell me how fantastic it is….

~ jan

It’s one of those days…

 

It’s a cold day in Heavensville, weather is in the 20’s,  and I’ve spent my day building the Christmas Munchie Business index page header, the cutey patooties have parked themselves in front of the fireplace for most of the day and  I’ve caught up on my Tivoed episodes of Y&R…  Life is good.

You can link to Munchie Business HERE…