♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Closet Case - I save pants hangers and use the clips to hang up bags and backpacks in the closet. It's a great space saver, and it keeps the clutter off the floor. (Sara Luna; Minneapolis, MN)
Ice Cube Tray Storage - Use colorful plastic ice cube trays to organize your daughter's tiny hair accessories. (Robyn's Nest)Two of Cameron's favorite art projects from last year are still hanging.
Hanging Art Gallery - Instead of cluttering up the entire side of your fridge with kid art, put up one special piece at a time in that prime location and display the rest in your child's room. I attached cup hooks high on my son's wall about 10 feet apart and then tied a piece of twine to each hook. When he brings art projects home from school, we attach it to the twine using clothes pins. After the end of each school year, the old art comes down (we save the special ones in a plastic storage bin) and it's all ready for next year's art. (Robyn's Nest)
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Heather of Heatheresque and Eye Couture Cosmetics, and also the owner of the now defunct online cosmetics company About Face Cosmetics (aka The She Space), has posted some of her About Face backstock on her Eye Couture web site. Here's what Miss Heather says about it:
"Well, if you didn't think I was crazy before, then this email will surely put you over the edge....but a girl's got to do, what a girl's got to do in order to find homes for eye colors! LOL!! So, when you have a second.....either visit our message board or click on this link http://www.eyecouturecosmetics.com/aboutfaceclearance.html to learn about how you can get former About Face eye colors for just $1.50. Yes....I keep trying to get them into new homes, but the insanity never seems to end, so for those who didn't love the grab-bag idea, this is a last ditched effort....just for you! I hope that this finally gives you the opportunity to get what you might have missed out on.....and gives me a little peace of mind in knowing that ALL of the colors are finally gone! LOL!!!"
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Congratulations, Victoria! I will be emailing you shortly for your address so I can send you your prize.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Next time your child gets upset about something that you as an adult find trivial, instead of dismissing it and telling your child why they shouldn't let it bother them, simply validate their feelings, give them a big hug and move on.
For example, if your child doesn't want to go to bed and starts whining about it. Instead of saying, "Oh, it's not that bad. Don't make such a fuss over it." Simply say, "Honey, I know it sucks to have to go to bed. Sometimes I don't like to go to bed either." Hug-hug. And go tuck them in. You might be surprised at how far that small amount of validation of their feelings as being real and important goes.
Last night, after I had already tucked Cameron in bed, he came to me and sat on my lap tearing eyed saying he wanted to "take a day off school" tomorrow. I asked him why, and in his own 6 year old way (but not in these exact words) he communicated to me that things were new and different and that he was scared of the changes. I hugged him closely and told him that I understood how he felt because I get nervous when I start something new too, that it may take a little time to get used to his new class, and that it would start being more fun as the days went on. I also reminded him of the good things that happened that day (like playing on the playground with his friends for two recesses). He found a lot of comfort in my words and he went right back to bed and slept through the night. It might not have ended so well had I just told him "It's okay honey, you'll be fine. Don't worry about it," before sending him back to bed. Knowing him, he probably would have kept getting up because he didn't feel heard or understood.
Now, I'm not a perfect mom by any means and I DO NOT have all the answers to every parenting dilemma. This is just something that has worked for our family. I try to remember that children see the world very differently than we do. Think about how devastated you are when you lose your cell phone, keys, or purse. That's how they might feel when they accidentally let go of their balloon or when they realize their mom forgot to put their blue folder in their backpack (oops). It's all in how the person views the world.
So the next time your child gets upset over something (no matter how silly it seems to you), take a moment to view things from their perspective before responding. The results might surprise you.
*If you have any tips for future Mommy's Helper posts, I'd love to hear them. Please email them to me. My email address in on my sidebar. Thank you.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Here's the look I did yesterday using both Meow and Aromaleigh eyeshadows.
Although I often pair a neutral with a bolder or brighter color, I don't usually (okay never) put the boldest color in the crease. I was inspired by a look from PalaFerry (formerly "girlgeek" on the Aromaleigh forum) that I saw on the Meow forum.
In her look, she paired a taupe color on her lid with a purple color in her crease. It looked so pretty that I decided to try a similar look using a mauve/burgundy color in my crease instead of purple. It wasn't too dramatic and out of my comfort zone that I wouldn't leave the house. And it was fun trying something new. I think I might even do other looks in the future using brighter colors in the crease.
Here's what I used in this look...
Claws-trophobic (Meow - Purrrls collection): lid
Malaga (Aromaleigh - Ciao Italia collection) crease/v
Fior Di Latte (Aromaleigh - Ciao Italia collection): above crease/highlight
Chocolate Mousse gel liner underneath bottom lashes
Black mascara
Here are my Ciao Italia swatches.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Throughout the week, I will be going through the comments on my giveaway post to verify links, following status, etc. to determine each person's number of valid entries. After all of the entries have been compiled, I will use a random number generator to select the winner. The winner will then be announced in a new blog post hopefully by the end of this week.
The giveaway entry deadline was August 13, 2010, at 11:59 p.m. If you placed a comment after that date/time, unfortunately your entry will not be included in the drawing.
INDELIBLE WATERPROOF CREME EYESHADOW:
INDELIBLE WATERPROOF GEL EYELINER: 
EYESHADOW PRIMER BASE (appear to be similar if not identical to AL):
MAD Minerals ($9.99/sale $6.50)
Spa Private Label ($16.95/sale $6.95)
PERFECT FINISH SETTING SPRAY:
Amazon ($14.00)
JW Cosmetics ($9.99)
MAD Minerals ($12.99/sale $8.99)
GLYCOLIC ACID 10% SERUM:
Action Skin Care (1/$29.95, 2/$55.00, 3/$66.00)
Ame Cosmetics ($25.95)
Beauty Sensation ($25.95)
JW Cosmetics ($24.99)
ACTION C SERUM:
Acne Doctor ($35.00/Sale $32.95)
Action Skin Care (1/$30, 2/$50, 3/$66)
Aura Skin Care ($29.95/Sale $22.46)
JW Cosmetics ($24.99)
ACTION C CREME:
Acne Doctor ($28.50/Sale $25.95)
Action Skin Care ($27.50, 2/$50.00, 3/$66.00)
JW Cosmetics ($19.99)
ACTION-C MASQUE:
Acne Doctor ($26.50/sale $22.95)
Action Skin Care (1/$26.50, 2/$47.00, 3/$65.00)
* DermaSoft.com, Indelibleliner.net, Ilovemylips.com, and ActionSkinCare.com (among other "dot com"names that lead to the same internet site) all appear to be the same company.
Edited to add: Indelibleliner.net was included in several of the lists for price comparison purposes even though they are more expensive in some of the categories. hen you enter "indelible liner" in a search engine, they are one of the first companies that appears. I wanted to let my readers know that the company whose name sounds most like the product isn't necessarily the manufacturer/creator of that product and they don't always offer the best price. :)
Last night, I made the final dish on this week's list of meals inspired by Lyndsey's blog, The Tiny Skillet.
I don't know what I was expecting chicken piccata to taste like but as my post title states...OMG! I guess I never really knew what the meaning of "piccata" was (hellooo, I read the list of ingredients, right?). Well now I do. And is it ever scrumptious!
To offset the tangy tasty of the piccata sauce, I used a raspberry vinaigrette on the salad. Everyone loved this dish and it's getting a spot in my regular meal rotation. But even if no one else ended up liking it, I would have cooked it for myself anyway--I love it that much. Thank you, Lyndsey.
From wisegeek.com:
"Chicken piccata or veal piccata is a traditional Italian dish, very often available in Italian restaurants. Piccata translates to piquant or piquancy, which in one definition means tart or zesty. Chicken piccata does have a tart sauce, with traditional additions of lemon juice, white wine and capers. It’s also quite easy to prepare, especially in small batches."
Ingredients:
I'm on day two of testing out my new Meow Simple and Guilty Pleasures eye shadow samples. In yesterday's look, I used Fried Chicken, Chocolate Truffle and Bubble Bath.
Here's what I used for today's look...
Color Descriptions:
Here is my first looking using Meow's Pleasures Collection. I think it's delicious!
Color Descriptions:
Yesterday, I received an order I placed for 32 samples from Meow Cosmetics. I purchased them on July 29, using a free shipping coupon and they arrived just in time for me to order full sizes of my favorites using a 30% off birthday coupon, which expired yesterday at midnight. Receiving an order within four days of ordering it is very fast, especially taking into consideration that Meow is on the east coast and I'm on the west coast and one of those days the post office was closed.
Here are photos of what I received, including two free samples from the Lost Rainforest collection. In addition, I swatched my samples of the new Pleasures Collection for you.
The Pleasures Collection
Morning Latte is my favorite color (I ordered a full size last night) in the Pleasures Collection. It's difficult to photograph (you can see it just looks like a light silvery taupe in the above photo), so I took additional photos to show the depth of the warm brown undertone. I'm in love with this color! Yesterday, I wore it on my lid/crease with bubble bath (my 2nd favorite--ordered a full size of this one last night too) as the highlight. I felt subtly sexy.
Sunrise isn't from the Pleasures Collection but it's one of my favorite neutrals so I swatched it to show you how pretty it is since the photo on the site doesn't do it justice. A full size of it wasn't in my budget this week but I really love it so I ordered 2 more samples of it.
My other favorites from the Pleasures Collection are: chocolate truffle, fried chicken, potato chips, chinese takeout and making love. I ordered 2 additional samples of each of these last night. I also ordered a sample of comfort food which I haven't tried yet but saw a swatch of it on someone's blog and it looked prettier than it did in the Meow photo.
If you've got photos on your blog of you wearing colors from the Pleasures Collection, please link to it in my comments section. I'd love to see them.
Robyn
