Look who's turning 2 today!

Oh Lexi, what a joy you are.  This post is full of Grammie brags, but our Lexi is just such a special little girl.

She’s the happiest little child you will ever meet.  She has the sunniest disposition, full of giggles and smiles and seldom cries.  I always say about Lexi what Minnie Pearl always said about herself, “I’m just so proud to be here."

She’s such a precocious little girl.  She talks non-stop, we’ve been able to carry on a conversation with her for a few months now.  She talks to me on the phone, she FaceTimes me and says “Hiya Grammie” and it just melt my heart.,  She sings the ABC song, knows all her colors, can count to fifteen, and knows all the shapes, told you this was a Grammie brag.  Her mama works with her all the time, and at this age they soak it up like a sponge.

She’s an animal lover, too.  She just loves every animal she sees. She and her Cocker Spaniel, Izzie are besties, she scoops up cups of dog food from the pantry and transfers it to the dog bowl several times daily, to the delight of Izzie and the frustration of her parents.  It’s just the way she rolls.  Izzie loves Lexi, and is always by her side, sitting at her high chair at mealtime of course, just waiting for the bites of food to come her way.  No Dust Buster needed in their household, Izzie licks up every morsel that falls. She’s  a little worker bee, too.  She’s Mama's helper in the kitchen, and loves to transfer all the bottled water from it’s packaging to the refrigerator and she sits on the center island and helps Daddy make cookies.  She likes to help unload the dishwasher, she’s an organized little girl, lines all of her toys in rows and separates them into piles, it will be so much fun to watch her as she grows older to see if these traits stay with her.

Their family just got back from a trip to Florida.  Disney was a huge hit, this child is a Mickey groupie, and loves nothing better than dancing to the Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog Song.

She loves her Daddy and he is just crazy about her.  They have date nights, just the two of them every month when Mama has hair appointments, he’s done this since she was a month old.  He takes her out to dinner, and then to the park when the weather permits.  She goes down the big kid slide now, how can this be possible?  She loves water, and swimming pools and of course the ocean.  She’s just has the best time, regardless of what she is doing.  But oh, she’s growing up way too quickly.  If we could only freeze time...

We traveled to Nashville last weekend to celebrated her birthday, she loved every minute of it, especially the Mickey balloons and her little eyes lit up as she dug into her Mickey cupcake with gusto.  She says “Yummmmmm”  when she likes something and this child definitely has a sweet tooth.

Happy Birthday sweet little Granddaughter, you are just an absolute delight!

XXo ~ Grammie

Today is Daddy's Birthday

This is Daddy as a young man with his sister.  Today he would have been 102 years old.  What a fine man he was, he was the best father a girl could ever have.  I miss him...

Summer's Biggest Trend, Culottes

What goes around comes around, culottes were popular when I was a teenager.  They were cute then, mine were shorter and I loved the look.  People Magazine says culottes are “in" for spring. But this is one look yours truly won’t be rockin’.

Just not feelin’ the love ladies, baggy, saggy, no thanks, I’ll stick to my fat girl skinny capris.  Women really buy into that term “skinny.”  It’s the greatest marketing ploy of the decade.  Everybody says they’re wearing their “skinny” jeans, even when they wear a plus size.

Women, gotta love em...

You don't have to pluck or wax your eyebrows

 

Now don’t go freaking out on me, somehow the thought of shaving your eyebrows is a scary thought.  Okay, so I don’t shave my eyebrows, I  now shave under my eyebrows, and the first time I did it I was a little apprehensive, but it’s not a big deal and wow, it’s so much easier than plucking, which we’ve all been doing our entire life or going to a salon and coughing up the bucks for a wax.  I have used hot wax at home, I don’t really suggest this is you are slightly ditzy like yours truly, who one time had the wax drip on my eyelashes.  Oh, that was a fun look until they grew back out.  Who doesn’t like to go around with a chunk of missing eyebrows, not something I would suggest you do...

So, it’s another YouTube tip.  Quit rolling your eyes, I know you are, thinking, “here she goes again!”  These are such great ideas, and I always share the good stuff.  So order these little beauties from Amazon, only $4.39 Prime and in two days, you can have awesome results with just a few strokes of this little shaver.  I put a dab of foam on my eyelids, pull them taut, and carefully shave at a slight angle in an upward motion.  No pain, none, nada, no teary eyes either. Wipe off the foam, gel, lotion, whatever you use, but please use something to make your skin more pliable  and TADA, you have perfectly smooth underbrows.  I just touch up a bit directly under my brows with tweezers and I’m good for a few days.

Here’s Tammy’s original video, she shaves the peach fuzz off her entire face, oh the joys of post-menopausal women.  I don’t have to do that, but some of you might want to give it a go.

And I’m not finished yet, I have lots more ideas for you, I’ll be back in another post with more.  Oh, quit rolling your eyes.  Stop it right now!  You know I always give you great tips :-)

The Amazon link is below, now hop over there and order these pronto, these are cheaper than a trip to Starbucks!  They have other brands in your local drugstore, but according to Tammy, these are the best and this lady knows her stuff.

Here’s the click, go for it!

And here is Crazy Miss Tammy and her defuzzing video.   

I’m thinking I need a sign-off tag for these posts.  Tammy’s is “Be happy, be healthy, be beautiful, but most of all be lovable"  Mary Ellen’s is “It’s all good, it is ALL good”  So what could mine be, hmmmmm, how about “Old age is kicking us all in the ass, don’t go down without a fight.”  Uh, maybe I better work on that a bit.  Have a good day and give this a try, it’s a pinkie swear good tip.  ~ Jan

Anti Aging using Retin-A, Vitamin C Serum + More...

 Okay ladies, let’s talk skin care this morning.  My ongoing obsession with watching the Mature Ladies of YouTube has led me to Vitamin C Serum, and I ordered from Timeless, 20% Vitamin C + E + Ferulic Acid Serum, Hylauranic Acid and Hylauranic Acid Eye Cream.  I’ve used Retin A for the past 28 years, I’m going to link to Melissa55, one of my favorite YouTube ladies, she’s 61 and looks 35, and she’s also used it for the exact same time, 28 years.  I read about it years ago in Women’s Day, that’s why I asked my doctor for a prescription.  I often wonder what my skin would look like had I not used it, and now I’m going to add these Timeless products to help even skin tone, build collagen and brighten my face.

 Its hard to believe that Melissa is sixty-one years old, she is just the sweetest southern woman.   I enjoy watching her so much, she’s like a gentle breeze, flowing through your life.

I say often that the horse is outta the barn with me trying these new products, I’m sixty-six years old, but then I look at another one of my very favorite ladies, Mary Ellen from Mary Ellen After 60, and if you watch her skin care videos since she started using these products, you can see the improvement, her skin just keeps getting better and firmer.  She has a lovely complexion and often videos with no makeup, only her permanent eyeliner.  I’m just amazed at how clear and wrinkle free her skin is, she just glows.  No Mary Ellen, you glow, you don’t shine (after all, you use Mally’s Face Defender religiously for that shine) you glow from within :)

 Mary Ellen also uses The Clarisonic on her face, this did not work for me, my skin is too sensitive.  I think her skin looks lovely, it’s so smooth with no wrinkles or discoloration and she’s had no cosmetic procedures.  Go Mary Ellen!!!!!

The products from Timeless are very inexpensive, and there are coupon codes on their main page, I ordered three products and got 20% off.  Order four and you get 30% off.  Educate yourselves about the Vitamin C Serum, it’s sensitive to light and oxidizes after about 3 months, A lot of these ladies store half of the serum in a dark bottle in the fridge (some going so far as to wrap it all in aluminum foil in the fridge to keep out all of the light) and this extends the life of the serum, enabling you to use most of it, some women can use it all of it, before it oxidizes. Keep the bottle that you’re currently using in a drawer, so that it’s always in a dark environment to help keep it from oxidizing.  They all say, don’t be stingy when you use it, because it takes such a small amount, put it on your neck, your chest and the backs of your hands, Angie from Hot and Flashy also uses this serum from Timeless, others, like Tammy from UppiesBeads59 and Patti from rckstrmom make their own weekly, Elle from Elle is for Living makes her nightly.  So many women have had such good results with Timeless that I don’t want to bother with making it like some do.

They also say to always buy directly from Timeless, not Amazon, as it is fresher.

Here’s what I bought from Timeless, total cost was $43.08, including shipping using the coupon code 3bottles, since I ordered three products, I got a 20% discount.  These products will last for several months, so it’s very inexpensive.

Vitamin C Serum + Ferulic Acid 

Hylauranic Acid Serum 100% Pure 

Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream 

I would show you a before picture of my skin, but I’m not as gutsy as the other women, but I am going to take pictures, maybe in a few months if it looks better I will post a before and after update.

Don’t be scared of the word Hylauranic “Acid” - it’s very good for your skin and moisturizes it. Here are videos and several links.  If you’re interested in skincare, grab a cup of coffee or a cup of tea and watch these lovely women, they are all are seriously awesome.
 

 Angie also has a video about how to make your Vitamin C Serum last longer, her video for this is below.  Angie posts a lot of beauty videos and I’ve gotten lots of good tips from her, especially about brushes, she always seems to have a good buy with brushes.  I’ve bought several she suggested on eBay, and they’ve all been very good for the price.

 Angie gets these cobalt bottles from Specialty Bottle, I ordered from them as well, I had tried to find locally with no luck, it’s so much easier to sit here with Maggie on my lap and order than to drive all over town and get frustrated because I can’t find them.  Here’s the link, she ordered the 1/2 oz, one with a cap and the 1/2 oz one with a dropper, so of course I did the same.   

 Tammy from Uppiesbeads59, the very first Mature YouTuber I started watching,  makes her own every week, I just don’t want to do this, but some of you might.  However, she does use a facial scrub made of coconut oil and baking soda, I love this, and always use it before I shower.  So even if you don’t want to make your own serum, it’s worth watching the video to see how she makes the exfoliater.

 

 This is Patti from rckstrmom, she’s a lovely 72 years old, I enjoy watching her so much, and like Tammy she makes her own.  Check out her channel, she has some good videos.  I just have this thing for women with southern accents, it’s so charming...

 

 And finally, this is Elle from Elle is For Living, she makes her Vitamin C Serum daily,  Wow, I’m impressed that she takes the time to do this, I would never have that much discipline.  Check out some of Elle’s other videos, she uses a lot of drug store/dollar tree products and I’ve found several products from her site, one of which I’m going to post about soon.

So, watch these ladies, subscribe to their channels, they all have wonderful videos about life, health, cosmetics and skincare, and they’re all living proof that aging can be done with grace and beauty.  ~ Jan

 

Betty Crocker Lemon Drop Cake, It's Amazing!

I posted this recipe today on Jan Can Cook.  Super easy to make and absolutely yummy.  This is seriously good.

You might want to hop on over to that board and take a look at.  I made it for Easter, it was a huge hit!  ~ Jan

Click for recipe...

Dickinson's Original Witch Hazel Review

It’s time to share more good stuff. I’ve been on a kick lately, haven’t I? But every evening I watch the “mature’ ladies on YouTube and they have such good ideas, I want you all to share in the great things they’ve introduced me to.

Dickinson’s Original Witch Hazel.  It’s $5.59 at Walgreens for an 18 oz. bottle.  Don’t spend big bucks for a small bottle of toner from the department store, this is just as good.  It works absolutely wonderfully, not irritating, doesn’t burn, a squirt on a cotton pad and you will be amazed at the residue that you get off of your face.

I’ve been using this for a few weeks and it’s wonderful.  Just another one of those products that have been around for years that are as good as the pricey new stuff...

S'well Bottle Review

Okay, 

Okay, I did it, after contemplating over this for weeks, I coughed up the big bucks and bought this water bottle.  It was $35, way beyond my threshold of pain for a water bottle, but I have four friends that have it and it’s a hit with them, so I jumped on the band wagon, too.

S’well’s claim to fame is that it keeps cold drinks cold for 24 hours, and hot drinks hot for 12 hours.  And does it, yep, sure does.  If I put ice in one morning and don’t drink it all, it still has ice the next morning.

But, who doesn’t drink it all in one day, I refill it multiple times, and since I’m not a water drinker, I squirt liquid flavor enhancer in it.  My brand of choice is Crystal Light Liquid, favorite flavor seems to be Strawberry Lemonade.  I’ve tried them all and like them, but I reach for the Strawberry Lemonade more than the others.  I started with Mio, they’re both made by Kraft, the hype is Crystal Light appeals to the older generation, Mio, the younger.  Need I say more...

So once I made the monumental decision to spend $35 on a water bottle, for some reason that price just seemed excessive, next came color choice.  I got opinions from my girlfriends, waffled back and forth between this color, Blue DenimOpal Marble and Lily Wood were all in the running.  The problem is that they have a badzillion fifty-seven choices.  I finally decided on Birds of Paradise, pretty melon color, catchy name, I ordered it (free shipping, no tax) it arrived, I took it out of the box and whoa doggies, was it ever bright.  NEON MELON DAY GLO BRIGHT.  I was horrified at first and was going to return it for a more subdued color, but then I realized I was just being silly and the color is now growing on me.  It is definitely a summer color!

Would I purchase it if I had to do over?  Sure I would, I’m a bells and whistles girl and this meets all the necessary requirements.  In fact, I’m such a fan I’m thinking of ordering hubby one in Teak Woodgrain.  So that would be $70 dollars for two water bottles.  I just won’t think about the cost, seriously, it’s well worth the money, I’m a huge fan.

You interested?  Here’s the click, go for it, see if you can decide which color you want. :)

Overseas Prescriptions

 I saw this on the news and it’s certainly something to think about if the high cost of your prescriptions is a factor in your monthly budget.  Stacy Johnson from Moneytalks news suggests a site, Pharmacy Checker, for a list of reputable online pharmacies.

Here’s the link to Pharmacy Checker

Sharing the Good Stuff

 

 

Sometimes I’m a little late to the party, but thanks to the ladies of YouTube, I’m finding all sorts of things I’ve never tried before.  Case in point is this e.l.f. Smudge Brush from Target or e.l.f. online. It’s the best eyeliner brush I’ve ever used.  I was always a fan of the pricey little MAC angle brush, but this one beats it hands down.  It’s stubby, stiff, and it not only lines my eyes, but smudges and softens at the same time.  And the cost of this bad boy, $.99, yes, that’s right ninety-nine cents.  Crazy cheap, huh….

 

But I’m not finished yet.  See these baby wipes, they’re from Aldi’s and a pack of 72 costs $.85.  Yep, that’s right eighty-five cents.  You may be thinking that I’m using these to remove makeup, nope, I use baby oil on a warm washcloth for that, Martha Stewart shared that tip, but I may give these a try.  What I use them for is to clean my hands while I’m putting on makeup.  I always have foundation all over my hands, which transfers to drawers, door frames, you name it, I seem to smear it everywhere.  Sometimes I keep a wet washcloth at my makeup table, but I’m old(er), I forget and don’t want to get up and get the washcloth, so I wipe my hands on a Kleenex and that obviously doesn’t work.  But these do work, really well, and they’re in a little flexible pouch, handy dandy, right next to my makeup, unreal that they cost just a little over a penney each.  Great deals, huh...

I’m normally not this cheap, we don’t even want to discuss the pricey water bottle I’m going to buy if I can ever decide on the color, but that’s for another blog entry.  Just sharing the good stuff with you, that e.l.f. brush is so awesome and to think that I paid $32 for that MAC brush that doesn’t work nearly as well, and I bought two of them over the years.  Silly me…

I also just paid $3.50 + free shipping on eBay for a blush brush that Elle is for Living on YouTube recommended.  I’ll let you know about that if it’s a goodie.  Oh, I got another one, too, same brush they sell at Ulta, this little tip was from Hot and Flashy on YouTube, and I got it for under $5.00, too.  It's a big fluffy brush for loose powder, just waiting for both of these to arrive in the mail.  I also bought a great set of brushes for $25 to travel with, higher end than e.l.f. and they’re wonderful - I’ll tell you all about these products soon.

Here’s the link to the e.l.f. brush, I’m very surprised at all of their products, I’ve always been such a snob, thinking that you have to pay a lot of money for these things, but boy did those women ever enlighten me.  You wouldn’t think e.l.f. brushes could be good because they’re so inexpensive, but they are.  Lots and lots of videos on YouTube about e.l.f. products.  When you register, you get free shipping on your first order, you can get quite a haul for $20 with on their website.  Enjoy ~ Jan

http://www.elfcosmetics.com/p/smudge-brush

Boomstick Color

I’m a YouTube junkie these days.  Night after night, I watch “Mature Ladies” and their take on life, cosmetics, aging, these women talk about everything.

Yesterday I linked from Facebook to a product called Boomstick Color.  Initially it peaked my interested because Jennifer Aniston uses it.  I know, stupid, but it made me click through.  Then there is this older model that looks so much like my buddy V, it’s amazing the resemblance, but she developed this inexpensive product called Boomstick Color, it’s light, easy breezy, you use it on your cheeks, on your eyes, your lips, your neck, it’s very sheer and yours truly is very interested in this. The cost, $27 - not a huge tube, but not a huge cost either.

Here’s Cindy talking about her trio of products and applying them to an older model, and below it is another reviewer, KimTV, on YouTube talking about it.

If this interests you, here is a direct link to her website with videos for all her products.

 

 

 And this is totally off the subject, but here is a tour of of Cindy’s 115 year old Dutch Victorian house.  See what I  mean, you watch one of these videos and then you subscribe to the person’s channel and then you just keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny

 

YouTube videos are so much fun, especially on these cold winter nights.  I’m so over television, except for The Girlmore Girls on Netflix, I seldom even turn it on, instead I sit by the fireplace with Maggie tucked beside me and Boo-Boo Kitty on the back of my chair and watch the lovely older ladies of YouTube videos.

I have definite favorites, and every time they post new videos it’s like a chat with a girlfriend.  I’ll blog about this soon, this is enough for you to absorb today.

Enjoy and think spring, it won’t be long now.  XXo ~ Jan

 

 

Spanish Peanuts

You know how you forget about things, I go to the store buy the samo dry roasted nuts and then last weekend I had a flashback to Spanish peanuts, redskins.  Yep, I was one of those kids who put peanuts in her Coke, ummm, make that Pepsi.  I haven’t had Spanish peanuts in years, decided to pick them up at Walmart, WRONG, then I went to Target, looked there WRONG then CVS, WRONG, so now I’m on a mission, stopped by Walgreens to buy them WRONG.  What the heck, is there a Spanish peanut shortage???

Finally found a store brand in my local market, and yep, they’re as good as I remembered.  Maybe today’s younger generation doesn’t know about these little papery morsels of goodness, there has to be a reason nobody is selling them.  Hubby and I devoured a can in no time.  So I bought more today and now I’m on a quest for a cute dispenser.  You like this little squirrel one?  Me, too, I’ll just buy it WRONG - it’s nowhere to be found online.



Yes, I know it’s really cute, REALLY cute, but I’m tellin’ ya, you can’t find them.  Now they have bunnies, valentine hearts and Christmas trees on them.   The squirrels are long gone :(

I’m really bored, too - yet another snowy day.  I was watching Pioneer Woman at lunchtime, it was summer, the grass was green, they were tailgating, a breeze was blowing, I could have just cried!
I keep reminding myself that a few years ago my neighbor’s Mary Jane Magnolia was in full bloom on March 17th.  And mother always said, “Early Easter, Early Spring” and Easter is really early this year, so here’s to hopin...

A Woman President, my take...

 

The times, they are a changin’.  They say your life cycles every seven years, and apparently mine has, and let me tell you, it’s come as a shock!

It’s all about politics these days and I have a definite opinion, not about a candidate, or a political party, but about gender, and nobody is more surprised than yours truly.  But first I have to go back, way, way back to my formative years.  I remember being a young girl and thinking how wonderful it would be to see a woman president in my lifetime.  Fast forward to Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and I thought it was awesome that she was running for VP.  Then Sarah Palin was on the ticket for vice-president in 2008 and HIllary Clinton was running against Obama, once again I was excited about that because these were woman.

But I’m older now, the world has changed so rapidly in the past few years and this is what is so shocking to me, I now firmly believe that no woman should be president, regardless of who she is, and here’s why.  It’s the deterioration of society,  the dictators, terrorist groups, especially isis (which I refuse to capitalize), nuclear bombs in Korea, the list is long and it’s frightening, and our very survival is at stake.

Men are the strong sex, the protectors, they command respect from other men, not women, especially with leaders in the countries that are threatening us.  I’m not going to debate women’s rights, my feelings about this have nothing to do with women’s rights, it’s about power, and strength and respect, all the things that men receive because of their gender.  I believe we need a president that other countries not only respect but have a healthy fear of, and that is not going to be a woman, regardless of who she is. 

I’m old school, and the older I get the more I realize it, but for me to give voice to this is a life changing experience.  This isn’t living life through rose colored glasses, or fantasizing about progress and gender equality, this is about countries who hate us, who want to destroy us, and I believe that a strong man, whoever he may be, is our best chance for survival...

 

Pretty Woman

Funny, touching, a page turner, that’s the way I describe this book.  I’m a reader, thats what I do, every night I search for good books, and it’s been awhile since I enjoyed anything more than this one.  I only read women authors, I only read fun, lighthearted books and I only read fiction.  Shallow, yep, but it works for me and this book was worth telling you all about.  Here’s a synopsis, some of you might enjoy it, too.  ~ Jan

In Fern Michaels's extraordinary, inspiring New York Timesbestseller, an overweight woman sets out to improve her life by losing fifty-five pounds -- and ends up changing much more than her dress size! 

Rosie Gardener fell under the spell of handsome Kent Bliss, and not even her best friend Vickie could persuade her that her fiancé was a two-timing cad. Now it's her third wedding anniversary, and Rosie, fed up with Kent's mistreatment, realizes her estranged best friend was right. But the day after kicking Kent out and beginning a diet and exercise regime, Rosie experiences another life-changing event: she wins $302 million in the Wonderball lottery. Now with Kent lurking in the shadows to claim a share of her money, Rosie needs her friends more than ever. As she works out under the eye of sexy personal trainer Jack Silver, a stronger new Rosie emerges -- a woman who wants to learn to trust love once again. Can she keep her vow not to be stopped by Kent's bitterness and her own self-doubts and jump into life with a passion she didn't know she possessed?

 

 

Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl

The year was 2013, we were visiting John and Deanna in Nashville, Lexi was just in the planning stages at that time, Deanna looked lovely, the guys looked great and yours truly had on too dark of a shade of fake and bake, but anyway, it was a pretty summer afternoon and we decided to visit Loretta Lynn’s town of Hurricane Mills.  We didn’t know what to expect, I thought it would be touristy and hokey, but I was so wrong, it was just so much fun and you got a true feeling of what her life is like.   This picture was taken on the front porch of her home, we were the only people on the tour that afternoon and the guide was really “chatty” telling us all sorts of things about Miss Loretta.  She doesn’t live in this house now, she built a smaller home behind it and thats where she resides.

I’ve always been a fan, there wasn’t ever a better duo that Conway and Loretta and when I saw that PBS American Masters Series was going to have a documentary about her, I marked my calendar for March 4th pronto.  It says 9pm, but I don’t know if it’s central or eastern, so I set it for 8pm to be on the safe side.

Here’s a synopsis:

It's about time the PBS documentary series American Masters dedicated an episode to Loretta Lynn! During her 50-plus year career, the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient has sold more 45 million records worldwide and has been inducted into more music Halls of Fame than any other female singer.

American Masters – Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl will air in March, on the same day as the release of Full Circle, Lynn's first new studio album in over a decade. Lynn never dreamed of, nor planned on, international stardom, she explains in the new documentary: "Growing up in Butcher Hollow [Kentucky], that's where you'll stay, you thought." 

But the coal miner's daughter grew up surrounded by people who created their own music. This is easy, she learned. "So I threw the songbook down and wrote my own songs," Lynn, 83, recalls in the documentary, which features interviews with her family and industry admirers like Miranda Lambert and Sheryl Crow. 

Check out the preview below and tune into American Masters on PBS, Friday, March 4 at 9 p.m. 

 

 

Whine, Whine...

I’m not a fan of snow and the feeling of isolation that comes with it.  It’s totally irrational, too, we only got three inches as you can see from the picture looking out my front door and they scooped us out early this morning, but I just don’t like it!   I was never one of those kids that loved sledding or playing in the snow, I hate the red face and runny nose and windburn that comes with being outside in the cold.  I never had any desire to ski as an adult, either,  I just want to look at it for an hour or so and then for it to disappear.  

Today has been a total wipeout here in Heavensville.  I wasn’t productive, i watched a Netflix Movie, napped, tried not to tear the doors off the fridge, because when boredom strikes, I want to eat, preferably warm oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies, or homemade pizza or lemon pie.  But I didn’t, instead I paced. Poor hubby spent the day in the den, he’s a smart man.  Tomorrow we will start to thaw out, then Friday another blast.  It’s January, I’ve handled winter just fine until this darn snow arrived.

I saw this picture below posted on Facebook today.  Every year this woman posts the same picture and asks the question, “can you imagine being out in the middle of nowhere, alone, snowed in?”   It looks, idyllic, I’ll give it that, and could I do it?  Okay, here’s what it would take for me to enjoy this.

1.  No television, internet or cellphone, only electricity.
2.  A supply of books that are actually page turners, not the silly nonsense I normally read.
3.  Food, wonderful glorious food, with no dietary restrictions, everything homemade, and refrigerated or frozen to just heat and eat.
4.  Snuggly fleecy jammies, and no hot flashes.
5.  A huge fireplace and a supply of apple and cherry wood that smells divine, stacked on the porch to reach out and grab it.
6.  Maggie, always Maggie, she’s my little shadow.  My favorite dog of my lifetime.
7.  Hubby in a cabin across the way, close enough to visit, but I’m supposed to be alone here. 
8.  No music either, just the silence and the crackling fire.
9.  Most important, a four wheel drive vehicle with chains so I could escape!!!!!! 

Cause, get real, I couldn’t handle this for more than 24 hours, I would go stark raving mad!  What a silly idea this is anyway.  Fiddle De Dee, I’m Thinking Spring instead,  it’s only six weeks away!!!!

 

 

Stop Gaping Buttons!!!

There is nothing worse than a gaping blouse.  I’ve struggled with this since I was a teenager and remember Mother sewing snaps between my buttons to stop the gape.  It didn’t work very well, because then there was a small gape between the snaps.

Such is the plight of a busty woman, and the struggle continues.  I’ve tried a lot of quick fixes, including straight pins that always managed to stab me, but you can always tell that you’re trying to remedy the situation, it doesn’t look natural.  But thanks to the Internet, I might just be on to something.

The solution is Hollywood Tape.  Are you familiar with this product, it’s what celebrities use to tape their boobs to their low cut tops so they don’t fall out.

From what I’m reading this stuff works great, it’s double sided, you just cut off a piece, stick it between your shirt placket and buttons, smooth it down and it instantly stops the gape!

Worth a try isn’t it.  You can usually find Hollywood Tape at your local Steinmart in the accessories department.  Or you can order it on Amazon.  It’s worth a try… ~ jan

Ya, here's the click - go for it!  ~ Jan

Trump vs. Cruz

I’ve never been a politiclal animal, and have always loosely followed presidential campaigns, but never in my sixty-six years have I seen anything that even comes close to what’s happening now.  

And so, for the first time in my life, I have to admit, I’m totally engrossed in this election.  Love him or hate him, you have to admit that Donald Trump is the most fascinating, in your face candidate to come along in our lifetime.  He dominates the news day after day after day and goes after those who criticize him with a vengeance that we’ve never seen before.  He’s as rich as Croceous and can’t be bought, but what really fascinates me is his lack of filter.  

I have the most interesting conversations with my friends and family about his ideas and the things he says, and have to admit that sometimes my jaw just drops in disbelief at what comes out of his mouth.  But it’s refreshing to not hear the same old boring “politically correct” rhetoric that the establishment has crammed down our throats for years.  Now that Iowa is upon us, it certainly makes for an interesting, normally boring January.  It’s such a serious issue, we will be picking a person to lead our country.  People had such high hopes when Obama was elected that he would unite our country, instead we’ve seen a presidential train wreck and the worst racial tension that I’ve witnessed since I was a young girl.  And this comes from someone who always considered herself a Democrat.  Now I think both parties are a disgrace and I wish Trump could make America Great Again!  

If he and Hilary both go the distance, it’s going to be one helluva race to the finish folks.  And like the rest of the nation, I will be there, front row and center, watching it all unfold...

My Vitamix a year later...

An update to this pricey piece of equipment that Jan the Gadget Queen just had to have.  Was it just a flash in the pan or does it continue to be the most amazing piece of equipment ever.  Has it lived up to the hype, is the thrill gone???

Well, let me tell you, it’s not a flash in the pan, it is truly amazing and it was worth every single penny.  I use it all the time, not for smoothies, I prefer to eat my food rather than drink it, but I use it for all sorts of things, anything you would use a regular blender for, this one does it with gusto.  But my favorite thing to use it for is soup.  I make soup in it several times a week, and it’s so fast and easy, I precook raw ingredients, and then put all the ingredients in the Vitamix, set it to the soup setting, walk away, and a few minutes later it shuts itself off and I have hot, steaming soup with no effort.  That’s the key, no effort, so I tend to make more soup than I normally would.

Since we eat low carb, I make a lot of soup with vegetables and if I want it a bit chunky, I leave out a portion (I always precook my raw veggies) and pulse them in at the end.  When I first started making soup I had issues with it being foamy, but I quickly learned from the Vitamix Community to just adjust it to setting #1 and run it for a few seconds to finish it off and the foam dissipates.

I got mine at Williams Sonoma, they are less expensive now than they were a year ago, this model is now $599  instead of $750, but when I bought mine I got 20% off, so that helped.  It’s a huge decision buying a Vitamix, there are a lot of models to choose from, but since I only planned on doing this once I got the top of the line with all the presets and I’m glad I did.  It’s such a workhorse, rivaling my beloved Cuisinart DLC7 Food Processor that’s still going strong since 1978, my All-Clad Slow Cooker (a Christmas surprise a few years ago from my son, Ryan, another kindred foodie soul) and my WolfGang Puck Pressure Cooker.  I use all of these appliances multiple times weekly, they are my favorites and all are simply awesome.

I was a young bride when I bought my Cuisinart Food Processor, it was the first expensive piece of kitchen equipment I ever purchased.  It cost $175, that was a lot in 1978, but I obsessed over that food processor, and dear hubby coughed up the money and bought it for me.  I fell in love with it instantly, and still love it to this day.  I woudn’t dream of replacing it with a new model, he’s asked repeatedly if I would like a newer one, but this is the best model Cuisinart ever made and it works great, why would I want to update it?  That’s where my love of cooking and gadgets started, with that food processor and then when Silver Palate Cookbooks came out and Abby Mandel’s Cuisinart Cookbooks, that’s all it took for me to be a die hard foodie.  I’ve been obsessed with cooking and cooking gadgets ever since, and even though my way of cooking has changed dramatically since we no longer eat flour, sugar or processed foods, I still enjoy it tremendously and am always amazed at what I cook that is good for us.

So this morning hubby and I were out running errands, it’s rainy and chilly in Heavensville, perfect soup weather.  I came in the house, grabbed two cans of italian style diced tomatoes from the pantry, a block of cream cheese from the fridge, dumped them in the Vitamix, added a heaping teaspoon of sweet basil leaves, a teaspoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of onion powder, and turned it on.  It took me less than sixty seconds to make soup.  Then I made grilled cheese sandwiches (using Netrition Low Carb Bread Company Bread) and I used my friend Nish’s trick, combining slices of both Swiss and American cheese, and by the time the sandwiches had grilled the soup was ready.  See what I mean, so, so easy.  And I had to give credit to my buddy V, who is a tomato soup afficiado, this woman knows her soup.  I sent her home with a quart of my tomato soup this fall, asked her how she liked it, at that time I wasn’t adding the extra basil, onion and garlic powders, and she told me that it would be a solid “10” if I just tweaked it with these ingredients.  So I did, she was right and it’s just  delicious.

If you don’t have a Vitamix, you can presoften your cream cheese in the microwave, and then simmer it with the other ingredients on the stove.  Just be sure and get the cream cheese soft ahead of time so it doesn’t clump.  You can leave it chunky, or blend it with an immersion blender, or put it in your blender to puree - It’s wonderful soup, even if you’re not a tomato soup fan, you may just change your mind.

And that’s my Vitamix Update, actually I’ve had this for a year and a half now and I’m still as excited about it as the day I got it.

Do you think you might want one?  Buy the best, you’re worth it, and it will last forever.  Mine is Candy Apple Red, because I ‘m just that kinda girl :-)

 Here’s the link so you can see it for yourself...

~ Jan ~

Layering Fragrance

Yes, I know we all layer fragrance, but I have a new trick!  We cough up the big bucks for the parfum, then we spend even more for the lotion.  We’re women, we like to smell good, it’s what we do.

So, this holiday season I decided I needed something new, I’m tired of the samo, I was overdue for a change and I didn’t want to break the bank, so I tried on a lot of different scents, trying to find one that I really liked.  I misted myself until I would give myself a killer headache and couldn’t tell the smells apart, then I would give up and try it again another day!

But I tended to respray Jennifer Aniston’s fragrance, it was light, not overpowering, I really liked it.  I was at Kohl’s, I had a 30% off coupon, the price wasn’t hideous, it was $49, and I couldn’t decide if I liked her original fragrance or her newer J by Jennifer.  A nice little twelve year old clerk was helping me, she preferred Michael Kors, which did not smell good on me at all, she was twelve after all, she didn’t have a lot of life experience with perfume.  She was a cutey, but that Michael Kors she gushed about was really bad.  Anyway, she’s telling me that for $38 I could buy a gift set of full size bottles of both of the fragrances by Jennifer Aniston.  It was a deal, $38, instead of $100, minus 30% and I had Kohl’s cash, too.  I looked for the lotion to do the layering thing, but apparently they don’t make the lotion.

So I came home, went online, reviews were good for both scents except for the fact that the smell dissipated quickly, and since there wasn’t a lotion I was starting to rethink my good deal.  Then I stumbled upon a reviewer who said to just buy Vaseline Intensive Care Unscented Body Lotion, smear it on yourself, spray the perfume on top of the lotion and rub it in, and wahlaa, you have scented lotion and instant layering.

So I went further and sure enough, I read over and over again that this was a great trick, so I bought the Intensive Care Unscented Lotion for like $3.99, came home tore into the package, lubed up and put on the perfume.  And guess what, it works, it really works!

So there you go, I’m sharing the good stuff again, you can do this with any fragrance, it’s a really good thing ~ Jan