RSSGift 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 moreSites To Know : 101 Cookbooks
July 24, 2008
This site is a blog born of Heidi Swanson’s decision to stop buying cookbooks and explore some of the other recipes in all her books. I think we can all relate.
But listen to the focus of her book, SuperNatural Cooking : natural oils, natural sweeteners and alternatives, uncommon grains, cooking with color.These recipes are remarkable for being delicious and supernaturally healthy.This is how to eat to feel clean, light, and strong.
So Hard To Be True To Yourself
July 6, 2008
This is a guest post by my sister. Sonja writes about the conflict between who we really are, who we think we are, and who we want to be. She is 45 years old now and feels it’s time to finally get it resolved.
Do we not know who we are? Surely by the time you reach the ripe old age of 40, you have figured this out. And yet, many of us continue to struggle to become something which does not suit us physically or temperamentally.
Book Review : Cooking With Foods That Fight Cancer
June 11, 2008
While it’s true that some cancers can be cured nowadays, it still must figure among the most dreaded diagnoses. In Canada, 400 people are told they have cancer each day. Can you imagine being one of them?
Not a week goes by that I don’t have to tell an owner that their pet has cancer. Dogs get it a lot, especially the bigger breeds. Seeing the devastation in the family and the deterioration in the animal as this sickness claims its life makes me very aware of the hideous misery of it.
THIS IS NOT WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR
March 18, 2008
My salvation as a wife and mother of young children depended on talking with other women. That was how I knew that everyone’s life, house, and marriage were the same as mine. We shared survival strategies.
We had a laugh about the day we came out of the bathroom to find every sock in the house in use as a Barbie sleeping bag. We shed tears for one another, when we remembered what getting up every single hour for 2 days does to your spirit. We could relive the trauma of childbirth and child-raising, healing ourselves with an audience that cared. We did what women do. We processed thoughts by conversation and learned to be mothers.
Read moreANTI-AGING STRATEGY 2 : DAY OF MENTAL PURIFICATION
February 10, 2008
Day of Purification sounds somewhat fanatical. The title could equally well be Day Of Clearing-Out-Your-Head. Really, these are just updates from my life. I’m having a mental health day today to celebrate being alone in my home. That probably hasn’t happened since 2002.
1. The day began with a truly challenging workout. Mindy Mylrea [...]
MATCHA GREEN TEA TRUFFLES
October 29, 2007
Ingredients
35 % Cream 100 g
Matcha Green Tea 8 g
White Chocolate 175 g (Use the best quality chocolate you can afford)
White Chocolate 350 g for rolling.
Bring the cream to a boil and remove from the heat. Add the tea to the cream and infuse for 5 minutes. Pour the cream over the 175 g of chopped [...]
I LOVE CHOCOLATE
October 12, 2007
Chocolate is not really a food for me. It’s a drug experience. It’s a chemical holiday. Thai food falls into the same category. When I eat it, I feel as though I’ve gone to another place. Nothing else in the food realm has this effect on me
Try the High Test!
I’m a dark chocolate fan. I [...]
Read more-
A Greener Tea
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