Old School Favorite!

Okay Bloggers-this one goes back, way back to my College days...maybe even my High School days??? It is Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. It is an amazing mask for oily skin or it can be used as a spot treatment on a zit(or one of those terrible pre-zits that we all hate-where it hurts and you know a zit is going to pop up and it is just a matter of time? Uggg hate those!). It is a clay mask, so it is heavy and has mint in it so it feels nice and tingly. I used to use it 1-2 times a week in college and in my early 20s-but my skin has changed and I do not have oily skin anymore-so now I use this as a spot treatment. One of the best parts about this little gem is that it is super cheap-this entire tube is less than $3!! You can find it at drug stores and on Amazon!!

PSA: Last night I fell down my stairs and sprained my ankle :( Soooooo annoying bc I have all sorts of crap to get done in the next week or so. The baby is fine-but my ankle is the size of a tennis ball :( So the PSA is don't text and walk down/up stairs at the same time!!

Nursery Insanity and a Sign!!

Oh Bloggers-why am I being such a lunatic about my stupid nursery?? When I thought I was having a girl-I had the nursery 100% figured out (well-it was figured out in my head). Now that we know Baby B is a boy-I have been soooooo indecisive about the colors, his bedding, ect. I am normally very opinionated/decisive and make good solid decisions without much thought. But for some reason this one small task is KILLING me!! I spent less time choosing a husband that I have choosing this bedding...Definitely less time buying our 1st home than this...I mean, come on-I'm so wishy-washy that I'm annoying myself over this :) I have ordered fabric swatches from all of the usual suspects: Restoration Hardware Baby & Child, Serena & Lily, The Land of Nod, Pottery Barn Kids and Ive ordered and returned bedding from most of those places too :( Uggghhhhhh my issue with most baby boy bedding is that its so "theme-y". Like cars, boats, jungle theme, sports, etc and I hate that! I just want a sweet, cute, bright nursery that is a happy place to be in and that is comfy and safe for our little guy. So finally, some inspiration: A Sign. Literally and figuratively speaking. I found this darling vintage-y custom sign that has the sweet words from "You Are My Sunshine". This will serve as my starting ground to get the ball rolling...I love the aqua and the yellow and Baby B's room will be a vintage-y, beachy, happy cute room :) I think Ive also found the bedding I want(Serena & Lily-and will post on that later), my glider comes Thursday (Pottery Barn Kids Eco Glider in Stone), I need to order my crib and we already received the changing table (both PB kids) and then just order the fun stuff: our stroller and my diaper bag and I'm all set!! Well- almost, I of course need all the other baby stuff and need to actually deliver this baby-but both of those things are way less frightening than finally deciding on my nursery stuff!!

Monday Routine

Well, this one isn't too glamorous :) As I did my little Monday routine-I thought I may as well blog about it in case any of you are not as efficient as you'd like. So every Tuesday our garbage gets collected very early-which means Kevin's chore is to take our big trash cans/bins/toters(I mean what do you call those things-the big huge ones that are either trash, recycle or green waste?) and put them on the street on Monday. Sooooo that means that every Monday I clean out our fridge. I throw away anything that isn't going to get used (sadly its mainly produce since I still can't quite get great at planning our meals) and wipe down any mess that is in our fridge. This is the best day to do this bc then I wont have stinky food in our cans for very long. I also throw away my kitchen sponge every Monday and get a new one. During the week-when ever I run the dishwasher (which is very often) I put the sponge in the washer to sterilize it. I also clean our garbage disposal with this cute little product called a Plink. You can get these anywhere-I always see them at my grocery stores that I go to (Pavilions and Gelson's). They are a cleaner and deodorizer and works like a charm!! I read this book on cleaning and organization and the author was all about segmenting little tasks like these and doing them on the same day each week-I have to say, it really helps me get everything done!! Now if I could just figure out a way to deal with all of our mail we get....

Side note: I saw the movie "Ramona and Beezus" this weekend with a girlfriend and I have to say it was soooooo cute!!! I read all of the Ramona Quimby books as a child and the movie was happy and funny and I loved it :)

A Special Day and an AMAZING Sunscreen!!!

Happy Friday Bloggers!!! Is it just me or are the weeks just flying by?? Insane! I like it!!
A few weeks ago I had the privilege to walk in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Redondo Beach. Two of my fabulous friends (Heidi and Christina) organized a team and a booth and we seriously had the best time. There was walking (duh, it is a relay!), lots of talking(and catching up!), eating(BBQ-yum!), shopping(people sold things at booths), selling(we sold baked goods at our booth) and honoring loved ones. Here are pics from Christina's Blog:

http://www.christinadelyphotography.com/search/label/Specialty%20Items

She did an amazing job with these photos. I feel like Im there again when I see them. I can't wait for next year!!

Another great thing that came out of the Relay is I found what could be my #1 newest favorite product on the planet...Move over Clarins SPF 40, there is a new sunscreen in town!!! La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 is ridiculous. Like ridiculous in a good way. I remember hearing about this treasure about 7ish years ago when I worked in the plastic surgery business and the La Roche-Posay reps would talk about the most effective sunscreen-but it was only available in Europe. Well, its been in the states for a while-but I was so loyal to my beloved Clarins that I never thought to try it. At the Relay for Life-they had samples of it and I picked up a few and OMG it is fabulous!! Goes on so easily and doesn't leave my face white at all(that was the major downside of the Clarins). I think it is as good of a block as the Clarins-but time will have to tell with that. Its cheaper too!! And you can get it at CVS or Amazon!

Love this Moisturizer!!

They got me. I really thought I was just going in to buy my lip balm and I didn't even see them coming...they are fast, sneaky and very good at what they do...Cosmetic Sales People!! So I was just walking by the Philosophy counter and I must have looked weak bc next thing you know I'm swiping my card for $200+ worth of youth and beauty promising goodies. Good news is I like everything I bought! So I had to blog specifically about this fantastic anti aging moisturizer: Philosophy Miracle Worker. I love it!!! I use it at night after I wash my face and apply eye cream and it is both light and moisturizing. It instantly makes my cheeks super soft and gives my skin a nice glow! Even Kevin noticed and said he loves how soft my face is :) Love it when my hard work pays off!!! So it is $55 they have it at Nordies, Sephora and most places that sells Philosophy. I was very honest with the girls at the counter bc Ive tried another Philosophy Moisturizer and it sucked!! Hated it!! As soon I said it they knew which one I was talking about and promised that is one is a billion times better and they were right! It is terrific!

My AHA! Moment!!!

Alright. I am so happy to be preggo. I love this little bean inside of me more than life itself. I can't wait to meet him and see who he looks like. I can't wait to kiss his cute baby cheeks and spoil him rotten. That being said-there have been some hard parts to this pregnancy...I mean-not crazy hard, but it is definitely a life changing/body changing experience. My body has gotten a lot bigger and softer. My boobs need their own zip code. My hair has gotten much dryer (weird right?). My skin has been good to me (no stretchmarks yet knock on wood!!). But still lots of changes. So the one that really through me for a loop was that all of a sudden I have a lot of wrinkles around my eyes!! WTF???!!! I'm so good about always putting on eye cream, always wearing glasses and we all know I've dabbled in some Botox from time to time...so what is going on???!!!??? It is driving me crazy!! Well, I finally figured it out: At a certain point in your pregnancy, they advise you to sleep on your sides bc its better for your blood flow and for your baby. I have always been a back sleeper ever since I read that Heather Locklear swears this is her #1 stay young secret. But being paranoid and a directions follower, I have been snuggling up to Kevin or my body pillow and sleeping on my side...well that's the culprit! It smashes my face and pinches my wrinkles together and makes me look old!!! :( Whew-I'm glad I figured out what was the deal!! Another factor was I switched to these super cute brown glasses instead of my usual black ones and think I'll go back to darker bc I do find that I'm squinting quite a bit more in the brown ones. So for now I'll keep sleeping on my side but I'll try to not smush my face so much, I'll switch to darker glasses, I'm going to bump up my eye cream and after this baby boy gets here and I'm done breastfeeding him, I will march my butt to the closest dermatologist and get my face shot up with Botox galore!

Moven on Up

That's right!! Moving up to a bigger bra size!! The only thing growing faster than this belly are these boobies (or how they say on housewives on NJ "bubbies")!! I was kind of in size denial but it was time to upgrade. So while I was at Nordies Anniversary sale I got a few new/larger bras. Ive now entered into uncharted size territory for me...scary..and kind of fun!! So I got several different kinds-but i think the best, most comfy one is this DKNY Comfort Extreme Demi Bra. Its cheap too!! Was $36 and now during the sale (3 days left!) its only $23.90!! I've had martinis that cost more than that!! I'm not sure if this is such an amazing bra for my smaller chested bloggers-but for my fellow Ds and above-it feels like heaven :) Happy Friday!!

90 Calories of Delish!!!

Im soooooo happy my grocery store was out of the Skinny Cow Ice Cream that I usually get! Because of this I had to go out on a limb and try something new: Snickers Mini Ice Cream Bars and Twix Mini Ice Cream bars and OMG soooooo yummy!!
I personally like the snickers better, Kevin likes the Twix best-but we both agree that these are a great little treat! After dinner I always want a sweet, usually ice cream. One of these little guys does the trick and if Im feeling extra crazy I have 2 and it still hasn't done too much damage! Here is the nutritional info:

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 bar

Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 50Calories 90

% Daily Values*
Total Fat 6g 9%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 5mg 2%
Sodium 30mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 9g 3%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Sugars 8g
Protein 1g

And they taste so good!!! I still need to try the other 2 flavors-but you bet I will! Enjoy!

If you are Preggo or have a new Baby, You need this!!!

This book, Baby 411, is written by the same people who wrote "Baby Bargains". It is AWESOME!!! It has everything you would need to know about your baby and what to do now that he/she is here! I've already read the entire thing-but I'm going to keep it with me once Baby Boy gets here, because it is packed with info that I'm sure I will need. Everything from how to take care of a circumcised penis to how often your baby should poop/pee, to how often to breastfeed, how to swaddle, sleeping schedules, first aid info, vaccine info, pediatrician info, when to go to solids, growth charts,ect!!! I get a tad panicked from time to time thinking about the fact that I am going to be responsible for our little guy very soon and this book makes me feel like I can handle it-no biggie :)

Best Skin Secret Weapon

Alright Bloggers, Ive decided to bring out the big dogs today...Using these Studio Tools Facial Buff Sponges from Target is one of the easiest and most effective ways to give yourself gorgeous, glowing, clear, smooth skin. And a pack of 12 only cost $1.99!!! I came about these when I was still working in Pharmaceutical Sales. One of my favorite Doctors (Dr Jenny Li!), who is so adorable herself and she not only practices internal medicine-she also owns a medical spa! Well, Dr Li and I only talk about beauty stuff(ha-no wonder my numbers sucked!!). I was feeling frustrated bc I was always breaking out around my chin and below my mouth. No matter what I did-I would get zits and bumps in that area. Yuck. So she sat me down and gave me a lecture about the importance of exfoliating. She sent me right over to Target and told me I must buy these buff sponges and use with my face wash 3-4 times a week. I started and I have to say-I haven't looked back since! No more yucky breakouts!!! Not all exfoliating is equal and sorry to say St Ivves Apricot Scrub just doesn't cut it :) I use a puff a week and keep it in the shower. I put my face wash directly onto it and get it wet and get a good lather going (Im all about the lather). Then I scrub my face with it-not crazy hard-but the sponge is rough itself so it just leaves my skin squeaky clean, exfoliated and zit free!!! Now go buy some and kiss clogged pores goodbye!!