My First FOTD of the New Year

Having the kids out of school and home with me 24/7 for the past three weeks has really thrown me for a loop (how did I survive the summer?). Now that vacation is nearing an end, I decided to break out the camera and share my latest look. Today, I used colors I haven't used in a very long time. Although they are some of my favorites, they tend to get lost in the sea of 100's of neutral eye shadows in my drawer. I think using Tansy in the crease gave this look a little more "life."

Here's what I did on my eyes...

*All makeup in this look is by Aromaleigh except the lid color, which is by Meow Cosmetics and the mascara which is Max Factor.

• I applied Bare Necessity creme eyeshadow as a base from lashes to brows using a synthetic hair concealer brush.


• Then, using a small natural hair brush, I patted on Claws-trophobic (Meow Cosmetics) all over my lid.


• Using a duo-fiber crease brush, I applied Tansy into the crease and over the lid color in the outer corner to blend.


• I then applied Sunny Disposition from crease to brows and on the inner corner to highlight and blend out crease color.


• Magnestism indelible gel liner was applied to lower 3/4 and upper 1/2 of lash lines and then blended with a natural hair smudger brush. I also blended the liner toward the outer v for more depth in that area.


• Finally, I finished off with a coat of Max Factor waterproof 2000 Calorie mascara.

Color Descriptions:

• Sunny disposition - Palest buttercream yellow with a plush pearl finish
  
• Tansy - The deep golden color of closed flowerbuds, sparkling with blue highlight


• Claws-trophobic (Meow Cosmetics) - Platinum taupe


• Magnetism - Pearlized charcoal with golden glints
  

I appreciate you viewing my look!

Bird and nest love at Pottery Barn

You may know by now that I have a huge infatuation with bird paraphernalia. Pottery Barn must know that I do too because their most recent catalog arrived at my house today chock full of birdy awesomeness!

Here are some of the things that particularly struck my fancy.

Embroidered Bird and Nest pillow cover

Nest door mat

Bird salad plates

Nest sentiment lumbar pillow

Bronze bird wall art

Here are more bird and nest things at Pottery Barn. Etsy is another haven for fabulous bird items. If you know of other websites where I can get my hands on some more birdy goodness, please post the url in the comments section of this post. Thanks!

Black Bean Brownies

I joined Weight Watchers about 4 weeks ago to get rid of those pesky few extra pounds that don't seem to want to leave with my regular diet and exercise routine. I attend the weekly meetings and find lots of inspiration and new ideas there. The most unusual cooking tip I got at my last meeting was Black Bean Brownies. My leader, Teri, assured me that she had made them herself and they were very tasty. And, at only 110 calories and 1/2 gram of fat per brownie (compared to 190 calories and 9 grams of fat for the regular version), they are figure-friendly as well. They are also a fairly decent source of fiber (the beans added 5 grams of fiber for the entire batch).

Here's what you do:

1 box brownie mix (I used Betty Crocker Fudge Brownie mix)

1 can black beans

• Rinse/drain the beans. Put the beans back into the can and then fill it with water to the same level the liquid was at when you first opened the can. This is supposed to remove some of the "gas factor" from the beans.

• Puree the heck out of the beans/water in a blender until there are virtually no bits or chunks left. I tried using my Kitchen-Aid mixer first but it didn't get them as smooth as they needed to be so I finished them off in my blender.

• Mix the pureed beans with the powdered brownie mix and bake according to the package directions. I used a 9x13 pan and they came out about 1/2 thick and fairly dense. This was a good thing because we prefer our brownies more rich and moist and less cake-like.

There was no trace of bean smell or taste in either the batter (yes, I had to lick the batter just to check) or the finished brownies. Cameron ate 4 of them and said, "These are the best brownies ever!" And no, I did not tell him or Sierra that they were made with beans. I did tell Jason about the beans and he said they were delicious and he would never have known that there was anything different about them.

I hope you decide to try them for yourself. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I installed a new mail box!

For the 11 years we've owned our home, we've had a horrible little slot style mailbox. It's only horrible because the substitute mailcarrier doesn't take the time to insert each piece of mail into the slot so that it actually falls down into the box inside our house. Instead, he wraps all the bills/letters up in the junk mail and sticks it into the slot so the lid can't close down over it and where it is on full view to everyone passing by (not that we live in a high traffic area).


I must add that our regular mail carrier, Jim, kindly puts out junk mail in a basket on our porch out of view of passersby leaving the rest of the mail in the box with the lid down (much love to Jim !!!).


Jim suggested that I leave a note for his subs to drop the magazines and other junk in the basket but I don't like leaving an ugly note taped on my mail slot. So instead I curse the sub mail carrier who doesn't see the basket all on his own and continues shoving all the mail into that tiny slot.


Several months ago, I purchased a lovely bronze and nickel finish mail box to not only beautify the front of our house but to alleviate the exposed mail situation. After months of putting off the intallation (I had to drill into the brick facade of my house), I decided NOW was the time. I went to the hardware store and purchases the appropriate masonry drill bit and screws and installed that mailbox all by myself. It only took a short time. What was I waiting for all these month?


Job complete! It looks lovely if I say so myself. It also has a locking compartment on it to deter would-be thieves from pilfering our mail. Although we never had a problem with mail theives even when all of it was in full view before.


One drawback...Jim is on vacation and his sub mail carrier thought it would be really neat to leave the lid open after he deposited my mail. Come on! How hard is it to close the lid on the box after you insert the mail. DH told me to wait a day before leaving a note just in case the mail carrier needed a day to adjust to the new box (are you serious?).

Old mailbox slot.

New mailbox!

Thank you for viewing my most recent home improvement project!