RSSArchive for December 2008
Christmas With Family
December 15, 2008
Why is it always right before a holiday that my weight is right where I want it? Back in September when I looked down at my body and wondered whose it was and how my head got attached to it, I thought I’d never feel my strength again. I believe there’s a 2 week setback headed our way.
And why is it that I handle stress so much better when my weight is in a decline, when I’m a little hungry all the time? I bet there’s a physiologic explanation but it eludes me. Kind of off topic, but still true. I wonder about it because the difference is dramatic.
Road trip!
In a van reeking of rose, which Bill won’t detect because his sense of smell only has 2 settings : Skunk / No Skunk , we’re driving to PEI. In a little minivan. With skates, snowsuits, gifts, and a lot of skin care products. If we get home without disease or accident, I consider family trips a fierce success.
The family is delighted with road trips. They eat junk food and watch movies for 20 hours. I am terribly bored. I try to do inner calming exercises. I listen to Josh’s Christmas CD. I’d go in the back and watch the movies but there’s no space. I’ve heard Star Wars Episode 3 eight times and never seen it once. The sounds are grotesque. This time, I bought The Golden Compass.
Once, ten years ago, we tried to drive all night. Oh, right. We were at the Ramada Inn by 10PM. The mother, the most pathetic one in the car, had her own room. Didn’t care if it cost $400 a night. And nobody was allowed in. We haven’t repeated that adventure. We try to not even talk about it.
I’ve Googled all the malls on the way. We’re driving through the US, you see. I love the USA. I’m so happy to be there. Even Wendy’s seems more fun. We usually drive through Canada but that Ottawa to Fredericton stretch is a nightmare of winter driving.
One thing about Christmas bugs me
I thought about what gets on my nerves about Christmas so as to deal with it. I’m a listmaker because it keeps my problems separated and they look more manageable.
Here is my list:
1. It costs too much.
Solution : The gift buying got pared down to the bare minimum. Nobody’s feelings were hurt. Everyone was relieved. We would all like to pare down our list. We live in a world where $20 gifts seem almost cheap and we’re expected to give $80 gifts. Every magazine says so. I give the gifts I sincerely want to give for the pleasure of choosing them and knowing they will be enjoyed. I don’t give a single thing that I have to give.
What kids learn at Christmas
I heard complaints from my offspring that “all my friends get 15 gifts” – ya, well , tough. Get over it. You got 5, less than $200 total. Be glad your parents live together and don’t fight. This is not a grab-all-you-can bonanza.
Being born into wealth is one of the worst things that can befall a child, I think. They are sloshing around in notions of entitlement and have very little sensitivity to anything else.
I don’t deny that the bred-in-the-bone belief that money comes easily has value because that’s the world they’ll reconstruct for themselves as adults. Hopefully they have the creative intelligence to learn what excess means and come to feel the pride that results from work.
I think a lot about what kind of human being I want to be. After all, it is my choice. It is not stamped on my DNA. I lived with a woman when I was in University 20 years ago. She showed me what it means to think about the other guy. People who understand the effect their behavior might have on others, and care enough to alter their actions without turning it into a big sacrifice, have my respect.
I’m sensitive to it in parenting skills also. Children are reared to achieve, to be confident, to express their individuality, to excel, whatever. Nobody has ever introduced the concept that their actions and words might have an effect on other people, nevermind what that effect might be. They’re entirely inwardly focused. They’re driven to be disciplined, to get certain marks, to own certain things so they can be part of certain groups – big deal.
Most of them are a pain to be around. Many, MANY, are outright cruel. They do what makes them feel good in the moment with nary a glimmer that their deeds could have any impact on another living being. Parents allow these little superstars to treat them so condescendingly, it’s embarrassing to watch. These kids certainly don’t deny themselves if they feel their needs must be met, with no hunch about what the greater good could possibly mean. They may be future success stories but they’ve never learned to release their tight grasp on their needs to accommodate someone else or take care with their feelings. They’re clever, but who cares? If they’re at your house, you’re counting the minutes till they go home.
Two Stories
I always say that if I had to choose again, I’d never be a veterinarian. I would be a cosmetic dermatologist. But that’s not true. I really am, or I’ve become, a cat and dog doctor. My mother showed me how to communicate with them. I don’t share too many stories from that world but these two, so opposite, are pertinent.
Muffin is a 10 year old Schnauzer. She’ll bite you if she doesn’t know you, and might try even if she does. That’s ok. Vets spend their first year out of school being eaten alive. After that, they develop faster reflexes than a Jedi. Her owner is an elderly gentleman who has no family. He is not expected to live 3 days. He has cancer. Muffin, who came to this man when her previous owner died of cancer, has been living with the neighbor for a month. Gradually, she has stopped eating. The last thing to go was her desire to play with her ball. There is no money to determine if she has an illness or has simply decided that there’s no point in living. Everything she cared about has been taken away, again – but this time, she’s older and she can’t cope. This isn’t an uncommon situation. Yesterday, it just got to me.
At the far other end of the spectrum, my wonderful colleague and I were discussing Christmas wish lists. Her entire family is coming for Christmas and some gifts in the exchange will be between near strangers. She commented on how hard she was finding it to write her list because “there’s nothing I want”.
She speaks for most of us. “There is nothing I want”. When in the history of the world have humans been able to say that? Our needs are so completely met that we actually would prefer not to receive more “stuff”. Christmas just makes me weepy. I thought about it all day.
Christmastime places an expectation that everyone should find everlasting joy. Easily. At Target. Many won’t. Muffin will probably not be alive.
Find the meaning
For those of you so overwhelmingly blessed that you will be with your family, eating well, sharing gifts that you don’t need, knowing that you have more than everything you want, take 10 minutes in solitude each day to be deeply grateful.
I’ll be back two weeks. I wish for you to find peace in your own thoughts. There’s no price tag worthy of it. Enjoy your families, however you feel about them the rest of the year. Every other thing in life is for sale.
-->In a van reeking of rose, which Bill won’t detect because his sense of smell only has 2 settings : Skunk / No Skunk , we’re driving to PEI. In a little minivan. With skates, snowsuits, gifts, and a lot of skin care products. If we get home without disease or accident, I consider family trips a fierce success.
Read moreHoliday Joy, Holiday Stress
December 13, 2008
It takes brutal honesty to see our limitations clearly enough to actually change them. After the article This Month In O December 2008 : Feed Your Right Brain, Holly commented candidly about what she’s learned about coping with stress. I know this self-knowledge didn’t arrive overnight.
If ever there’s a time of year that brings with it as much pressure as pleasure, it is now. Any physical relaxation is offset by mental and emotional tension.
This is part of what Holly said:
“I thought the reason that my mind was always racing was because I was a very busy person and that others were bothering me too much, or blocking me, or not understanding me. I thought I was handling stress because I exercised regularly. I didn’t understand how much mental chaos stress was causing me. …..
I am a true believer in the evils of stress. If I feel it sneaking into my mind/thinking I immediately have to stop what I am doing and clear my mind to get back on track of being mentally present and not stressing.”
Keep Your Worries Apart
Problems make a sucking sound. They’re strongly attracted to other problems. They look for things that aren’t nailed down to draw towards themselves so they can grow and look more important.
A stressed-to-the-limit woman has allowed her worries to connect to each other, like magnetic Lego. All those swirling negative energies recognize each other and and slide together telepathically. Ghosts sodder them into one gigantic molten lump of a problem so you can’t tell where one ends and the next begins.
Like stepping in quicksand, you’re there without realizing it. It happens effortlessly unless you’re careful. Life becomes overwhelming when problems joined forces.
Adrenal exhaustion
Most of us probably understand the link between stress and illness. Stress causes your adrenal glands to produce more cortisol which depletes the immune system, and poof, you’re down.
I had never taken my understanding further than that. In reading this very good article on adrenal health from WomenToWomen, I learned that the physiologic effects are much more widespread and specific.
Achieving calm
Holly found some effective advice in a couple of books. She learned that
“… being calmer allows me to not get as exhausted. I use less energy being crazy and stressing so I guess it only figures I wouldn’t be as tired. If you are going to write a segment on stress consider looking at adrenaline exhaustion. I have learned about it thorough a self-help workbook I use “The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook” by Edmund Bourne.”
Linked to their Amazon pages (the Look Inside text is an active link on the Amazon site only),
I also found that this article by Christianne Northrup, MD has some good suggestions at the end.
We only think we’re alone
Women don’t ask for help easily. We take on too much. We let ourselves become frenzied in our alone-ness. That’s not abundance, or it’s the wrong kind of abundance. That’s addiction. We appear feverish and hysterical. We insist on being our only resource.
Though we worry about our todays and our tomorrows, accept that this is a good moment. It doesn’t need to be more than just that.
Stop pushing so hard. That’s the male way of getting places.
Allow yourself to be lucky. Allow it all to happen by itself. Watch your life get easier.
It’s the new efficiency.
-->It takes brutal honesty to see our limitations clearly enough to actually change them. In the article This Month In O December 2008 : Feed Your Right Brain, Holly wrote candidly about what she’s learned about coping with stress. I know she didn’t find this overnight.
If ever there’s a time of year that brings with it as much pressure as pleasure, it is now. Any physical relaxation is offset by mental and emotional tension.
Gift Ideas For The Real World 5
December 10, 2008
How do I love shopping? I cannot count the ways.
1. A Flip MinoHD. A sleek pocket-size camcorder that creates high quality movies that can be downloaded into a computer. For quality, ease of use, and size of movies, these are hard to beat. Pricier than most of my gift suggestions, but you wouldn’t regret this. The High Def (HD) version costs more but is probably worth it. At The Flip Store, called MinoHD Camcorder.
You simply must go to this page to experience the design and pattern generators. Ships for free, in the US at least, for now at least.
2. Crème de Cassis. This is a blackcurrant liqueur. Drop a splash in the bottom of a glass of champagne, or wonderful sparkling white wine like Henkell Troken. Extreme elegance.
3. Laura Mercier Tinted Illuminating Moisturizer SPF 20
Feel like your skin looks flat by mid-winter? A little bronzer helps, but not enough. This product gives a real-looking glow but not a speck of glisten. You know the sheen on the dull side of foil ? It’s more like that. There’s no sparkle. Too much could certainly make you look like an ornament, but a light touch just looks polished, like the skin’s been buffed. A perfect amount of light reflection occurs and define the angles of the face.
I bought Natural Radiance (for light to medium skin tones, a medium beige).
There’s Bare Radiance (light beige, for fair to light)
and Warm Radiance (medium peach beige for medium skin with pink tones- that’s from Sephora, I’m not sure just what color it describes).
Is it just me or is the lighting in all Sephora stores very misleading? I tried Bare which looked chalky. I bought Natural which looked just right in the store but is quite a deep beige at home in daylight. Given the cost, this might not be one to buy without testing.
I used it on its own. Very sheer but there was no twinkling skin. It wasn’t even unbelievably ridiculously shiny, just very sheer. With a little concealer, it was great for a weekend. For work, mixed with my usual foundation at 50:50, it only warms and deepens it a bit because it blends out very sheer, and it looks AWESOME (if I say so myself).
This is a beeeyootiful tinted moisturizer. Your skin will look better, I promise. I am so impressed that I’m going to buy the Bare Radiance so I can create the perfect shade. I really love it.
4. Joy Tea by Tazo Tea at Starbucks. Their seasonal offering and it is lovely. There are no weird holiday flavor shots, no Jack-in-the-box that nobody likes. It’s just an unusual but nice mix of black teas. From the Starbucks site : “Tazo Joy is a delicate yet full cup, created with some of the finest varietal teas available. Rare Darjeelings and Formosa Oolongs are paired with light-bodied, fragrant Nuwara Eliya teas from Ceylon. Yunnan teas from the high plateaus of Southern China and Southern India Nilgiris add texture and complexity.”
5. L’Occitane en Provence Cherry Blossom Eau de Toilette. This is a gorgeous scent. You’ll recognize cherry but it’s not Lip Smackers. A light floral, yes, but miles from anything fussy and complicated. This scent is fresh and different. It is sweetish but galaxies away from the cloyingly horrid lily-of-the-valley. If I were buying a scent for someone whose taste I didn’t know, this would be it.
From Sephora, about L’Occitane Cherry Blossom:
?Cherry Blossom ?This feminine, floral fragrance pleasantly perfumes the skin with the fresh, soft fragrance of cherry blossom with cherry extract from the Luberon in Provence.
Notes:?Cherry, Freesia, Black Currant, Cherry Blossom, Lily of the Valley, Rosewood, Amber, Musk.?Style:?Fresh. Feminine. Unique.
L’Occitane is one of Leaping Bunny’s truly cruelty-free companies and they make nice stuff. I gladly support these companies.
6. L’Occitane Hand Indulgences : an ultimate hostess gift.
7. Tarte Purse your Lips Lip Gloss Clutch. Normally $106, on for $39, and the clutch is cute. If I don’t get this, I’m buying it for myself. Look at these colors! Be aware that the tubes are smaller than the full-size gloss. Too bad. Knowing the mark-up on cosmetics as we all do, what would it have cost them to be remarkable and make them full size? Hardly anything.
8. Ten Thousand Villages. Fair trade. In support of women becoming stronger. So many gorgeous items, so inexpensive.
The SO-cutest garland.
Lovely wall hangings. this is an embroidered Tree Of Life.
You could buy a whole pile of the stuffed trees and stars for last minute gifts. And this sweetest nativity ornament,
9. Bold Bean Coffees. Thanks to Kathryn for sending this great site. Artful blends, single origin, and organic choices. Fair trade and Rainforetst alliances (see the Tri-Pak page), and supporting some fine organizations and causes.
Are you Mellow Morning Half-Caf or Manic Morning Espresso for the upcoming day at the mall?
10. Planet Chocolate. The best shopping bag. Fill it with the best stuff. From Eve Chocolatier - where great chocolate (and fantastic spiced cocoa) can be found.
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The list of gift suggestions that real-life women can afford to give (and many that we’d like to receive) continues.
Read moreBotox for Christmas
December 7, 2008
More women I know want this than anything else. Would they really do it? Or are there still too many unknowns… like how do you know a good doctor when you see one, where do they inject exactly, and is it REALLY safe? A thousand questions. Now you can find answers.
Photo by EverJean
In Gift Ideas For The Real World 4 (items 9&10), I told you about this fantastic website called Skin Tour. How excellent to have found an authority site on anti-aging treatments for skin that we can count on.
To tell the truth
Skin Tour is the website of Seattle dermatologist, Dr. Brandith Irwin. It is dedicated to providing consumers with the facts about anti-aging skin products that work, be they cream or injection. I’m always looking for that. This field is desperate for some reality.
We need voices that will plough through all the rubbish and gimmicks and tell us what’s true. Skin Tour is full of informative articles that whittle the topic down to what you need to know. Specific products are shown but the anti-aging focus is more about cosmetic and enhancing procedures like Botox, peels, fillers, and the various types of lasers.
Under Resources >> Menopause and Your Skin, there is the most clear, concise article on what the options are for improving the skin - and there are loads of options !!. Love the comment about the greater confidence and self-acceptance that we finally have found. Yes, we have.
A learning site
I have an impression that the opinion of dermatologists is that every one of us (with normally aging skin) should be using RetinA or Renova afer age 35 or so. I’m not certain if that’s correct but Dr. Irwin seems to support the belief. I haven’t cared enough yet to see a Derm to get some. I was thrilled (not too strong a word) to find Skin Medica Retinol Complex.
Terrific products are recommended, many that I’d never seen before. There are moisturizers, sunscreens (look at them when you go to the site; most interesting), antioxidants, both costly and affordable options. Look at the very neat Booster Packs while you’re there. Cute gifts, matched to a person’s activities.
Video treatments
Dr. Irwin has totally demystifyied Botox/Restlylane injections for me. I get this now. Watch the video blogs. See the questions that were asked, how comfortably the doctor could adapt to the face of each woman to produce a natural look, and how relaxed the patients are. What I can see for sure is that you need someone who can handle a needle.
After all, a needle is a knife. This is far and away my biggest fear. How do you know how smooth a doctor will be as an injector? It takes huge left brain- knowledge and right brain- artistry to be that proficient at using a needle and syringe. It’s really a form of surgery. Conservative taste and a great eye for the end result as part of the entire face go a long way too. These procedures are as much art form as science.
If you’ve been thinking of finding a dermatologist but aren’t sure what to look for in technique or bedside manner, this woman sets a high standard.
Recovery
I wish there were more After pictures on the site. I know exactly what the before issues are. I see them in the mirror every day. What I’d love to understand is what it looks like after. My inkling about Botox is the wooden look. Restylane? I haven’t a clue what that can do when it’s done well, though I can well imagine what done poorly looks like (lopsided and bumpy). It worries me greatly.
I also wish there were some idea given of how the recovery looks. Am I wrong or does Restylane appear to have serious bruising potential? I’m sure it’s covered in depth in the consultation and each woman is different, but I’d like to see the average reaction.
Note the AntiAging Tour
Definitely do take The AntiAging Tour. Scroll down and key in your areas of interest. Mouse over the dots that come up on the face and your options appear in a table on the screen. What smooth and effective use of the internet this is.
To teach and provide information consumers can depend on is the best of what this medium can do. The 13 year old sitting in front of me looking at street level satellite pictures of Paris and finding the pizza place nearest to the Eiffel Tower is illustrating the same thing in a whole different way.
You and I can’t tell what’s in a skin cream by the feel of it. We sure don’t know Restylane from Juvederm from the many new options flooding the market. The next 20 years will be crowded with this stuff, which I personally am quite pleased about.
Photo by Julianne.hide
Feel better
What impresses me most is the Doctor’s desire to just send something good out into the world. Though commission is made on the sale of products, it probably just pays for the site. The time and work seems to be a labor of love and a sincere desire to help people. Since every single molecule of good energy (and bad energy) you send out there boomerangs back to you, I would say there’s some good stuff coming her way.
So yeah. Pretty soon, the face on both sides of my nose will cave in enough and the lines will be so deep that I’ll be glad to have this option. I can almost imagine having these injections with no more worry than getting a hair color. In good hands, it looks like there’s little to fear, especially if you start with temporary treatments.
PS: The purchasing is redirected to Skin Care Rx. Let me tell you, they’re worth a look. Based in Utah, you’ll find an amazing list of hard-to-find brands. If you buy, do link to it from inside Skin Tour. We want to support that site. It’s going to help us a lot over the next 30 years.
I couldn’t link to Skin Care Rx directly or through Skin Tour. I don’t know if it’s a Mac thing because the 3 Windows XP IE7 systems I tried were fine. Oh, the stress! I finally had to place the order by phone. They have terrific tech support at Skin Care Rx and they helped me find a bypass way into the site with the Mac. Let me know if you have any issues.
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More women I know want this than anything else. Would they really do it? Or are there still too many unknowns… like how do you know a good doctor when you see one, where do they inject exactly, and is it REALLY safe? A thousand questions. Now you can find answers.
Read moreSuper Healthy Banana Bread Most Kids Will Eat
December 5, 2008
The world already has too many Banana Bread recipes. This one is as healthy and low fat as it gets. So many foods have become nutritional and weight control booby traps. The assumptions we make about bran muffins, fruit smoothies, yogurt, or oatmeal cookies might be far off the mark in terms of their healthiness. Too often, they’re just diet ambushes waiting to strike.
Eat This, Not That
Have you seen the articles and features from the book Eat This, Not That ?The book is by David Zinczenko, editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine. The 3 books are about learning to make simple, leaner, healthier food substitutions at home and in restaurants. Weight loss foods, best drinks and restaurants for kids, supermarket selections … specific foods and menu items are identified. It’s not only about calories. I like this question that asks “Is this the worst drink on the planet?”
This banner is linked to the book site (not certain how long this offer is valid, and remember there is a third book on Supermarket Survival),
Avoiding prepared foods works better than anything. If I can make my own soups, salad dressings, and baked goods, I can control what’s in them. You can experiment by changing any recipe to contain less fat, less sugar, more fiber. Almost always, it still tastes fine.
The original version of this recipe appeared in Bonnie Sterns’ More Heartsmart Cooking but it’s been altered.
Stern’s simply fabulous Simply HeartSmart Cooking has the honor of being the cookbook from which I’ve made the most recipes, just about all of them in fact.
Only the die-hard junk-food-and-candy gang won’t eat this banana bread. Or those extremely suspicious and selective little souls out there, who will eat peanut butter, prawns, and not much else. I know two of these and love them dearly, but they wouldn’t find anything they could eat in my house. It would be stress city.
You can always mix in chocolate chips, nuts, or put honey, icing sugar, or jam on it. Let them choose a special jam (it would be Strawberry from the grocery store chez nous) and make sure this is the only thawed bread in the house they could put their special jam on. This is the bare bones recipe. In my house, if I add anything, I start registering complaints. If I try to make them eat the polluted version, I can expect notes like this.
Between my friend, Jan, and I, we’ve devised the lowest fat, lowest sugar, highest fiber, best tasting Banana Bread out there. Nutrition-packed. Takes 15 minutes to make if you try to go as slowly as possible. This is a great place to begin family food and lifestyle changes without rocking the boat so much that people fall out on the first trip.
Ingredients
- 3 bananas, mashed
- ½ c. buttermilk or plain yogurt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 Tbsp. oil ( I use a canola/olive blend)
- 1/2 c. dark brown sugar
- 1 ½ c. whole wheat flour (I use organic Spelt flour from the Bulk Barn for any baking that calls for whole wheat, and much that doesn’t)
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ c. freshly ground flax seed (buzz it in your coffee grinder ; you can see it at The Healthiest Smoothie )
- ¼ c. wheat germ
- ¼ c. wheat bran
Technique
Same as every recipe on this site, I believe : Fling it all in one bowl in approximately the order above. Mix it all up.
Pour it into loaf pans. I line the loaf pans with wax paper because it’s fastest.
Jan adds a delicious texture bonus. She greases the loaf pans (instead of using wax paper) and sprinkles the inside with whole flax seeds. That way, the crust of the bread is a little crunchy. It’s very good and the flax seeds are invisible against the color of the crust, in case the skeptical souls are looking for something to distrust.
Bake it for 50 min – 1 hour at 350 degrees.
Stock your freezer. The loaves are great to take to the beach or on family trips, and can be thawed quickly if people come over to visit. Got a houseful of kids? Slice a loaf, put it out on a plate so they can help themselves. Add a few slices of apple so it looks pretty. You’ll be cleaning crumbs. Even the white-bread disciples will eat it.
Banana Pumpkin Bread
I found this great recipe at allrecipes.com . I’m always looking for ways to get yellow vegetables into everyone. I made it just as it says, dumped in about 1/4 c. of wheat germ and wheat bran, and called it Pumpkin Pie Cake. Went over big. It looks like this:
Firecracker Cornbread
This recipe for cornbread comes from 101 Cookbooks. It is outstanding. The next time I make it, I’ll double the red pepper flakes so it has a real snap.
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The world already has too many Banana Bread recipes. This one is as healthy and low fat as it gets. So many foods have become nutritional and weight control booby traps. The assumptions we make about bran muffins, fruit smoothies, yogurt, or oatmeal cookies might be far off the mark in terms of their healthiness. Too often, they’re just be diet ambushes waiting to strike.
Read moreGift Ideas For The Real World 4
December 3, 2008
The last 10 suggestions:
1. A blender and a Smoothie recipe book. More Smoothies For Life:Satisfy, Energize, and Heal Your Body by Daniella Chace looks fabulous.
2. A Lighthouse print by Tony Diodati. These are prints of PEI, a place that really is as beautiful and relaxing as everything you’ve heard about it.
Tony’s paintings are interesting because they have unusual dimensions, often long and thin in one direction or another. I find them surprising and interesting in hallways or entryways where the effect is that of looking out a window. They are whimsical and peaceful over a buffet, with truly beautiful colors to decorate a room around.
I’m suggesting the lighthouses because I’m partial to them for their solid, quiet mood. They look cool and geometric as a mounted print, and since this time of year is expensive, these prints are a little smaller and less costly.
But DO look at some of the other paintings and prints. I love the pigs (at bottom of page) for a child’s room or bathroom. This scene of French Harbor, near Tony’s PEI studio is colorful and gorgeous. Since I’m truly happiest on a beach, here is my all-time favorite, Penderosa Dunes.
3. www.nhl.com outlet page. Say no more. My strategy is pretty clear now. Go to the good sites, skip all the New Arrivals, and head straight to sale/outlet/clearance.
This might also be a year with an excuse to delay your shopping. Anticipating a bad year, retailers seem like they’re going to pony up with some excellent sales before Christmas.
4. Diorshow mascara. We’ve all heard about it. Seems like those who love it absolutely OMG HOLY GRAIL LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Would we be one? Costs over $30 to find out.
BEFORE you buy, you must look at Beauty Addict’s Encyclopedia of Mascara. So maybe we should make it Lancome Fatale instead?
Wait a minute. This gift is not for everyone and that must include me. Christian Dior appears on too many lists of companies that test products on animals. L’Oreal, which owns Lancome, is not cruelty-free either. I don’t buy their claims about trying to phase it out. Others (Clarins, Clinique, Estee Lauder) have found alternatives and with all L’Oreal’s money, so can they.
There’s some controversy about Lancome, which appears on both Test and Do Not Test lists, but if there’s any doubt, I’ll buy from a company I trust. If you search “animal testing policy” on their site, you will get 0 hits. It’s time the onus were on the company to make their status clear on this issue. The consumer shouldn’t have to go all over the internet looking for this and wondering.
And the consumer doesn’t have to. If you’re buying for me, Estee Lauder Turbolash from Gift Ideas For The Real World 2 would be delightful.
5. Cool rainboots so I don’t have to walk the dog in my Canada Tire special gumboots
These red ones (Womens Zetta Tall, top R of page) at Target are cool and tall and nifty.
6. One very nice T shirt. I avoid clothes with logos as a rule. If they want me to advertise for them , they can pay me. But sometimes, the message, the fit, the color, and the price all come together. Like this one at Patagonia, from the Gifts Under $50 page.
I thought the O Web Belt was handsome too. Simple design, not fussed up, lets the outfit speak for itself, cool elegance.
7. The best boots are at The North Face. Expensive, but look at W Abby II in Moonlight Ivory/Tempest Brown. Fashiony boots are fine, but I’m too old to be frozen just to look good. I can be toasty and look superb all at once.
W Isabel II in Espresso Brown/Cigar Brown is also a doll of a boot.
8. More great slipper shoes. If I had money left after shopping at J. Crew, I’d spend the rest here. The clothes are terrific for active women. I’ve been told that Title Nine makes the best sports bras in existence. The origin of the company name is interesting and worthy. Any company that is against policy and pro-dessert deserves attention.
Look at these slipper/shoes.
This is a nice bag. It folds up to a messenger size or expands to backpack size. $34 on sale!
8. Skin Medica Retinol Complex.
Here’s a story : I was sent an email regarding Seattle dermatologist, Dr. Brandith Irwin’s book, The Surgery-Free Makeover. My favorite topic absolutely.
I looked around on the website, Skin Tour, for 30 minutes at least, almost a month in internet time. I was sitting up pretty straight.
When you look, take the Anti-Aging Tour. It is slick.
I went to Product Recommendations > Product Kits and Regimens, and found my skin type (Mature, Normal/Slight Oily). There are a number of products here that sound fantastic.
I followed up by looking for this product at Beautypedia. When Paula Begoun and Bryan Barron are using words like “ symphony”, I am REALLY paying attention.
Anyone thinking of buying this for me - you really shouldn’t. It is already whisking its way here. And, um, so is the next item. I found it in the same place.
9. Topix Replenix Cream with 90% Polyphenols. Not reviewed at Beautypedia, but I have faith.
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Gift suggestions 31-40 for those of us who cannot give $250 gifts and feel almost embarrassed to receive them.
Read moreGifts Ideas For The Real World 3
December 1, 2008
Have I gotten carried away with this?
Nah, of course not.
I’m noticing that almost every U.S. site has free shipping at the moment. Wow. You need only go to the crazed, packed mall if you want to. (I want to. The busier, the better).
10 more:
1. Great mirrors. Keep the energy inside the room. Groupings of interesting mirrors are cool. If you have some money to spend, these small Dubois mirrors at Crate and Barrel are appealing and would fit in with many decors.I’d do a line of 4 of them over a dresser or behind a couch, mixed in with other art.
And a Witch Ball to go with it. These balls were not meant to ward off bad witches. They were enchanted by the good witches to strengthen their ability to attract evil spirits with their lovely colors and then entrap the spirit in the threads within.
In some of the folklore, the witches are mischievous and the balls are designed to catch the witches. You can read the story at White Elk and purchase beautiful balls like the Healing Waters ball below. These are beautiful alone in windows and can be grouped in interesting ways.
2. A Key Finder of course !!!
3. Liqueurs. More interesting than wine, though a good red is never to be scoffed at. Benedictine if you’re buying for me, but there are so many. The Bailey’s always seems to be in highest demand. A very welcome gift.
4. Essential beauty tools. Always a reason to go to Sephora : Shu’s Eyelash Curler – Limited edition in gold! If you don’t own one of these yet, this is THE one to buy. It’s the cult classic for a reason. It does come in silver and is a little cheaper. Read the reviews to help you decide.
4. Customized original art. http://www.maryann.ca/2008Special.pdf . Mary Ann Archibald is a Halifax artist. For Christmas, Mary Ann is offering to create a framed original oil painting of a subject with special meaning for the gift recipient.
You purchase a certificate for an original still life painting. The recipient of the gift sends it to Mary Ann with a suggestion for the subject they’d like in their personalized oil painting. There are other arrangements that can be made with the artist as well. Follow this link to Mary Ann’s Christmas 2008 Special to enlarge the page below and learn the details. Now how great is this?
5. Beautiful BIG mugs. I know everyone has too many coffee cups in their cupboards. Being given a hot drink of mulled cider or frothy hot cocoa in a really big, beautifully painted mug is more special than in a regular sized mug. Only problem is that they’re hard to find.
There are some styles that are narrower on the bottom than the top but I think that’s dumb design because they tip over too easily and the liquid cools too fast. So if you know of some beauties, please tell me. I’m looking too.
6. Makeup brushes. Have a look at 3 Great Makeup Brushes by Lise Watier. Tied with a bow.
7. This sweater at American Eagle. Clothes are hard to buy for people, but this is such a great sweater at AE. Buy 1, get one 50% off! As dressed up or down as you want. On its own with a silky jewel-colored cami and something artsy and wonderful around your neck. Or with jeans and a graphic tee and a chunky bracelet.
White sweaters near the face are useless if you wear makeup, but this is so great. Enlarge it and look at the back. Also available in 1 other good color, to consider for women like me who don’t wear white well. Springs, Summers, Winters, all look great in white. We Autumns might wear white but it isn’t our best.
This is the Canada store . Same clothes, same deals. Oh, if only I hadn’t spent so much last month.
8. Traditional Medicinals teas. What makes these special is how strong and true the flavor is . Normally, I dislike herbal teas because they remind me of hayfield runoff, a soup of nondescript, grassy, watered-down sludge with some synthetic fruit or spice tastes mixed in.
These are not like that.
My favorites are GingerAid which is a pure potent ginger, and Spearmint which is fresh, pure, and surprisingly taste-saturated. Many herbal teas are either too watery or too much of a blend so they don’t taste like much of anything. The taste is so clean that you don’t even need honey.
The CranAid promotes urinary health with Uva Ursi, maybe not something for under the tree. But what about
I haven’t tried it, but I’d keep the box around just for the name.
9. What’s Christmas without some bath stuff? I’m not even going there because I defer to a master. Kristen at Beauty Addict is doing a series on gifts and the first post is all bath and body
Keep watching because there are 8 more gift guides coming, from perfume to men and kids.
10. The Allover Black Bead Necklace on Eddie Bauer’s Accessories page. Mouse over the picture (then click on the name of the item; ya gotta see it close, I think it has potential).
While there, look at the Men’s Sale page .I asked Bill what men want : sweatpants. He was wearing a pair at the time. I asked “How many do men want?” . Reply “Sweatpants”. Well, OK then. There’s a nice pair on this page. Some other very decent things as well.
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10 more gifts that real people can afford to give and would like to receive.
No end in sight.
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A Greener Tea
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