Accomplishing the “Impossible”

This morning I received a message from one of my personal heroes that included a quote from one of his. The quote is “It always seems impossible until it’s done,” said by Nelson Mandela. Sitting at my desk this morning, I started thinking about how that really is true. Every one of us has obstacles to overcome, goals to achieve and dreams that may come true one day, if and only if the stars align in such a way to make them possible.

As women, we are faced with obstacles every day of our lives. Depending on where you grew up, it may have been “women are supposed to…” or “you can’t do that because only BOYS do that” or even “nice girls don’t…” Maybe your messages were less about your gender and more about the color of your skin, your race, you wealth (or lack of) or sexuality. Think about all of the times that you didn’t listen to or heed those words. I know that the times I didn’t do “what I was supposed to do” resulted in success, some failure but overall, incredible learnings. And every single time I took my own path, I gained just a little bit more confidence that I was on the right path and that I could handle just about anything that came my way. Now I definitely benefit from a kind of privilege that not everyone enjoys so I KNOW that my path has been easier than that of many others. But what we all have in common is the doubt that we’ll be successful in the trails we’re blazing. It is only after we have tried that we can turn the “impossible” into the “possible.”  And if that attempt results in failure, we take what we learned and try again and again and again, making adjustments along the way.

So the next time you find yourself at a crossroad, feeling like you should give up or knowing what needs to be done but you are afraid to do it, jump forward--step out and take a leap of faith. Make that emotional investment in yourself and find the courage (even if it’s just a tiny bit) to move forward. One day you’ll look back with confidence and see all the impossible things that YOU have done.

Have a great day!!

Butterflies in Winter

It’s not Spring yet but wouldn’t it be great if we could import some signs of Spring into these cold days of Winter? Well, I stumbled upon a way of doing this as I was multitasking the other day---relaxing, doing a hobby that I love, learning a new technique and trying to enter a contest! I’ve written before about how I learned how to make soap last Spring and that I “soaped” as a way of dealing with my grief over losing Dad. Now, I’m taking it to a higher level and learning some advanced techniques.

Along the way, I discovered the Soap Challenge Club, hosted by Great Cakes Soapworks. For the third time, I entered the contest, which is designed to teach new soaping techniques but THIS TIME I actually finished my project in time to blog about it and upload the link for my entry! This month’s challenge is the Butterfly Swirl, an advanced technique that is very tricky and can be quite frustrating. The idea behind it is that the soaper (that would be me) creates a design in a loaf of soap using various colorants, a “hangar tool” which allows the swirling to happen and a technique that is just right. What’s supposed to happen is that once the soap is unmolded and cut into bars, two of the bars will fit together in such a way that the resulting image will be that of a butterfly. Sounds SO EASY right? WRONG!!! I tried this a couple of times before finding a couple of soaps that would give me the design. Here are a some pictures from my final effort.

This is what a (fancy) loaf of soap looks like once it has hardened in the mold and is ready to cut. I started out with all the raw ingredients to make the soap (in this case, coconut oil, shea butter, water, aloe, silk and sodium hydroxide) and then mixed in a gorgeous cherry fragrance oil called Black Cherry Bomb from Nature’s Garden. The swirl on the top is not the Butterfly Swirl but is a nice little decoration for the finished bar. Here are a couple of close ups of the top design:

I know it looks really fancy, but the top design was really easy. The inside design is the problem. Once I got the soap put together with all of the ingredients (not including the fragrance oil and the colors), I blended the soap until it got slightly thick. So far, so good. This is where a lot of things can go awry (and we haven’t even gotten to the design yet!). Normally, I wouldn’t use a fragrance oil that I had not yet tested in soap but I wanted to try something that wouldn’t discolor this particular soap (some fragrances change the soap color) AND that smelled like Spring to me. Since I have a LOT (and I mean A LOT!!!) of fragrance oils on hand, I researched each oil that interested me to see how it performed for others. I finally settled on the Black Cherry Bomb fragrance, which is strong and heavenly! The biggest risk, besides discoloration, is that a fragrance oil will harden the soap before I could get the swirling done. Fortunately, Black Cherry Bomb behaved beautifully!

Next is the color. I decided to do a white base color with four swirling colors. I used three colors from Nurture Soap Supplies (Pink Vibrance, Blue Vibrance and Yellow Vibrance) and then a smidgen of black (Brambleberry’s Black Mica). Once I got the colors mixed and incorporated into the various parts of the soap. I used my hangar tool to swirl away! For this particular recipe, I was able to unmold the soap after about 24 hours and then I cut it into bars. Now the trick of the Butterfly Swirl was to find two bars that I could put together to form a butterfly. Fortunately, I was able to find several combinations. I also took it a step further and put four bars together to form really huge butterflies!  Here are the results!

Two Bar butterfly

Four Bar Butterfly

Four Bar Butterfly

It may have taken me several tries, but I finally did it! Learning this technique was a lot of fun and I will definitely be doing more Butterfly Swirls in an attempt to perfect it. The great thing, though, is that not only do I have tons of soap (as in I have a whole separate batch of attempts that I didn’t even show) to give away within 4-6 weeks but my office smells just like cherries. That’s the way to get into Spring!

For the Love of Linen

This week has been crazy! Even though we had the day off on Monday, I spent plenty of time on a couple of work projects in preparation for the rest of the week. Fortunately, I was able to get some relaxation in as well.

As I've written about before, I am in love with bubble baths. A good bubble bath relaxes me and puts me in a great mood for the rest of the evening. I do have to say, though, I have definitely been re-thinking my stance on bath towels. It used to be that I'd reach for any one of the thick towels in my linen closet but I've become less enamored with them (too heavy, sometimes don't air dry well, etc). Well, at Christmas, my husband purchased two sets of linen towels for me and now I am hooked!

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"Why linen?" you ask? Here's the deal: linen is absorbent, dries quickly, feels luxurious and doesn't take up a ton of space on the closet shelf. It's also not heavy, which I really like. Hubby giifted me with the goodlinens Diamond Weave towels that he found on the website The Grommet (you MUST check it out!). I absolutely LOVE these towels and now they are all I use. I'm never caught with a damp towel because these dry so fast. And you know how those thick towels can sometimes smell not so good (like musty smells never leave them no matter how much you wash and dry them)? Yeah...that doesn't happen with my goodlinen towels. So check them out!

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Besides the natural color of the Diamond Weave, they also have a couple of other patterns which I will be sure to try out (and you should too). One of the other things I love about this towel is that it's made by a small business and I love supporting artisans. 

Love these towels! goodlinens, you have a new fan for life!!!

Ages of Beauty rating:: *****

The Love of a Dog

“Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.
It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.”
― John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog

The other day, as I was perusing Face Book, I noticed that a co-worker of mine had just adopted a golden retriever puppy. This was a big step for her as she had had to put down her beloved thirteen year old golden, who finally lost his battle with cancer. She told me that she was finally “ready” and I knew exactly what she meant. Losing a dog is like losing a friend or family member. The grief cuts deep and, at times, one feels like it will be impossible to get over. But, with time, the jagged edges are filed down and with those edges go the sorrow we feel for losing our best friends.

Josh

This year, in addition to losing my father, we also lost my parents’ dog, Josh. It was sudden and unexpected but at 13 years old, Josh had developed a fast moving cancer. He had his breakfast one morning as normal and within hours he was gone. We loved Josh and he loved us and our lives are better for knowing him.

Bentley

Bailey

These days, I count my dogs, Bentley and Bailey, among my best friends. They cheerfully greet me when I return from my trips, from journeys to the grocery store and even from the next room after leaving them for ten minutes---their excitement never wanes! And today, another friend of mine sent me a link to the You Tube video, below, “So God Made A Dog.” You owe it to yourself to view it. This video says all we need to know about Man’s Best Friend.”

Quick!!! What Would You Take?

Today I had an entirely different subject in mind for a blog post but due to a situation beyond my control last night, I thought I’d switch it up a little. My Mom, who has moved into assisted living nearby, got up in the middle of the night one evening last week and fell. She fractured her hip, which is a very serious injury for anyone, let alone an 86 year old. Mom has had some difficulty adjusting to living alone after Dad passed away (she’s never lived alone in her life), which is understandable, and the stress of it all has caused the “sundowners syndrome” to raise its ugly head. Mom’s last night in the hospital was last night and she was terrified so I ended up spending the night at her side.

The hospital staff was very accommodating and understanding. They had a lounge chair/recliner brought into the room and it was actually quite comfortable (a nice surprise!). Because I left the house quickly and had some work to do, I already had my iPhone, iPad and laptop with me (the hospital has free wireless internet).  I also was able to call my husband to quickly bring a few items before it was time to go to sleep, thus the inspiration for this post. My goal was to bring him the most important things that 1. he could easily find in the house; 2. would ensure my comfort and 3. could fit into a small bag. Here’s my list:

iPhone and iPad Power Cords

Let’s face it---who among us can live without our electronic devices? Enough said.

Ear Plugs

A must for any hospital stay! I already had a ton of them at home because I wear them every night. Anyone who sleeps next to a snorer knows what I mean (and even someone like me who sleeps with a cpap wearing reformed snorer). Hospitals are noisy places with alarms going off, machines vibrating and phones ringing.

Toothbrush and Toothpaste

These are pretty much a given. I hate morning breath and didn’t want to subject the public to mine so there you go.

Deoderant

Away from home with no available shower equals potential stink. Not only do I not want people to smell me, I don’t want to smell me either.

Comb

A comb or pick to brush out my thick head of hair works well when paired with the pony tail holder. It’s enough to get me out of the hospital in the morning and home without too much of a mess. At least that’s what I told myself this morning!

Salicylic Acid Toner and Cotton Pads

The hospital had some decent facial soap that I used in the last evening and this morning. An abbreviated routine had to contain my acid-based toner. My husband was able to pick out my home made toner among the various lotions and potions on my vanity. A little bit of home is nice to have at the hospital.

Pajamas

No hospital gowns for me!! My Karen Neuberger PJs kept me in comfort all night!

A Pair of Underwear

Obviously.

A Tshirt for tomorrow

I wear the Lands End long sleeve V neck t shirts year ‘round. They go with everything and are comfortable. My husband brought me a yellow one that I paired with the navy pants that I wore to the hospital. Comfort city!

Two Pain Killer Tablets for My Back

No matter how “comfortable” the recliner was, my back was killing me this morning. The two pain pills that my husband brought me left me as good as new!

So what would you pack in a hurry? Would any of my choices make your list?

Scenes From My Week

It's been quite a week for me with lots of change and opportunity. I thought I'd end the week with a peek into my week!

Two old friends.

My desk.

Trying out the Marc Jacobs 'Lolita' palette.

I never really get to unpack.

Another week, another flight

Looking Up!

A Room With A View

Travel Essentials

A New Company, A New Opportunity!

Lots of work!! 

Erik Weihenmayer---AMAZING!!

Happy 2014!!!

Happy 2014 everybody! Hope you had as great a New Year as I did! I celebrated with my family at our place in the Outer Banks with an oyster roast (traditionally hosted by my brother and sister in law), followed by a lot of playing with the dogs, then a trip out to a local restaurant for snacks and drinks, finished by watching the ball drop in Times Square. The next day, my husband cooked his traditional meal of pork roast, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, black eyed peas, stewed tomatoes and corn break. He’s been fine tuning the contents of this meal for years and has borrowed from the traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch, Southerners and Midwesterners. We also watched a “Hangover” marathon on TV as well as several other crazy movies. It was a relaxing and fun time and a great way to start off the new year!

As I think about all of the great things that happened in 2013 (as well as some of the not so great things), it prompted me to ponder some things I’d like to do or improve in 2014. Now, I’m not one to make resolutions, but here are a few things I’ll try to accomplish:

• Move more (as in exercise)
• Drink more water
• Learn more about beauty product formulation and ingredients
• Experiment with DIY beauty products
• Save more money
• Learn how to accessorize (I have a great wardrobe but accessorizing is not my strong point) to look more stylish

Yeah, I know, nothing earth shattering here but a couple of those things have life changing implications while the others are just for fun. In honor of the 1st anniversary of this  blog (which occurs this week!), I just HAD to add some beauty related “goals.”

How about you? What resolutions did you make and how did you spend New Years?

Thanks for supporting this blog over the past year. I’m looking forward to its further evolution!!

St. Thomas Frenchmen’s Reef

Last week, my husband and I attended a wonderful event in St. Thomas. One of the perks of my job is an incentive trip, which is earned by exceeding a certain percentage of quota. Our fiscal year ends in July and my team did very well, so I was fortunate to take part. We stayed at the Marriott at Frenchmen’s Reef and the picture above was taken right out my window. It was a lot of fun and I probably spent too much time in the sun (wearing St. Tropez Bronzing Mousse and SPF 70 thank you very much!) but it was a blast and I can’t wait for next year!

The flora and fauna in the Virgin Islands was amazing! Besides many species of flowers and trees, there were also tons of iguana at our hotel. This guy, above, was part of a trio that wandered onto one of the patios last Saturday afternoon. Every day, the local iguana community is apparently fed from one of the sidewalks and that day, I rounded a corner and met eight of them, waiting expectantly for a snack. We were warned that their tails could sting when whipped about so I cautiously passed by them, my eyes tracking their every move. Once I got used to them, they were actually pretty cute and quite docile.

Trunk Bay, St. John

St. John

We were able to take a day trip to St. John and got to spend the afternoon swimming at Trunk Bay. This gorgeous spot was so wonderful and I would absolutely love to go back there!

I spent most of the days in either a bathing suit or shorts but in the evenings, I usually wore a dress to dinner. For that reason, I stocked my “closet” at Gwynnie Bee with as many tropical dresses as I could (I’ve written about them before here, here, here and here). One day I wore the skirt above and on Saturday night, I wore the maxi dress to our awards dinner. My Gwynnie Bee finds were perfect for this trip!

We had a great time on the trip and and I have to say. i recommend the Virgin Islands to everyone!!!

Infidelity: Would You Want to Know?

Last month, The Huffington Post wrote an article called “Is Infidelity a Societal Problem?” (click on the title to see the article) where the author posited that maybe infidelity is really a problem that we need to look at differently as a society, with the possibility that the problem really isn’t infidelity---it’s monogamy! As someone who has entered into relationships in the past where monogamy was considered sacrosanct and expected, this article really got me thinking. Read on for more.

I understand that some people are absolutely 100% fine living in an open marriage, or they come to accept it after being together for years. No harm, no foul. What I’m interested in, though, is an answer to the question “would you want to know if your significant other was having an affair?” I’ve asked a couple of friends, colleagues and family members this question, which stemmed out of a real life situation.

A couple of months ago, a acquaintance of mine learned that a close friend had been carrying on multiple affairs, some with people whom this person did not even know. I won’t get into the details, but not only was the cheater put into physical and emotional danger but also everyone in the family. Apparently this escalated to a point where my acquaintance couldn’t take it anymore and informed the spouse that this was happening. The results are predictable—the cheater lies, the spouse apparently knows that something has been wrong for several years and my acquaintance is being blamed (by the cheater) for causing problems in the marriage. Knowing all the details of the situation, I believe that my acquaintance did the right thing and I would want to know if my husband was having an affair.

How about you? If you were friends with the cheater, the “cheatee” or both, what would you do? Would you want to know if your partner or spouse was cheating? Leave a comment in the comment  box or on FaceBook!

Family Weekend 2013

This past weekend, my family celebrated what’s become a “rite of passage” for college students all over—Family (or Parents’) Weekend! While many of you were running errands, having barbecues, cleaning the house and doing all the things that you didn’t get done during the week, my husband and I traveled to beautiful Harrisonburg, VA to visit our son at James Madison University. For us, Family Weekend is a time to get together, take Jesse out for meals, purchase things he needs for his dorm room, catch up on all of the goings on at college and catch a football game. It also gives my husband and me some much needed downtime!

On Friday night, we had a good dinner at Capital Ale House and dessert at Kline’s Dairy Bar (a Harrisonburg Institution!). On Saturday, we attended the JMU/Albany football game, where JMU won 40-13! Wooohoooo! It had been a loooong time since I have attended a college football game and I have to admit that I got little tingles up my back when the drum line started up and JMU’s marching band took to the field (yes, I’m proud to say I was a band geek)!

In addition to Jesse, we also had the pleasure of spending time with Jesse’s girlfriend, Mindy, whom we adore!

Of course, no Family Weekend would be complete without Family Weekend Fashion---purple, gold and all the trimmings (I need to do a better job next year!).

How about you? Did you do anything special this weekend?

The Procrastinating Beauty Blogger Tag

 

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The “Procrastinating Blogger Tag” is something I saw on Emily Eddington’s blog, Beauty Broadcast, and I thought it would be fun to do. It gives you a little bit of an idea about me over and above what I usually write on the blog. Check it out!

Name a Beauty routine that you rarely do

Hmmm…something I rarely do…I would have to sat that I rarely blow dry my hair. I know that sounds weird but it’s true. I absolutely HATE to use a blow dryer! Part of the reason is that I have a ton of hair. It is so thick that it takes forever to dry, even when I section it off and use a brush to straighten it. Normally, I just wash it and let it go for a few hours. Then, depending on whether I’ve recently had a keratin straightening treatment or if it’s towards the end of its life, I will either brush it straight or use a flat iron (again I have to section it off). I also don’t wash my hair every day and that keeps it from drying out.

Is washing your make-up brushes something you do regularly?

Yes. My general routine is to spot clean each brush with a home made brush cleaning solution after I use them. To do that, I spray a folded up paper towel with the brush cleaning solution and then I brush the brush (that I’ve already used) against the paper towel to do a quick clean. Once a week, I do a thorough washing of any brush I’ve used that week. For that, I take them all to my bathroom and use either shampoo or the Rainbath shower gel that I keep at the sink (I love how it smells!). When I’m done, I lay them on their sides at the edge of the sink to dry over night.

How long will you last with chipped nail polish?

Usually no more than a few hours. I absolutely HATE chipped polish! When I travel, I always take colored polish and top coat with me or I will do a shellac manicure before I leave. Sometimes, even when doing that, I’ll take a closely matched regular polish with me in case it break a nail (which I often do since I’m really hard on my nails when traveling).

How long will you put off buying/replacing a beauty product, even if you need it?

Generally I don’t although I will say that I rarely ever “need” anything (it’s more like a “want”). To be honest, I have so many beauty products that it’s kind of a scandal. I don’t even know how I can possibly ever run out of everything!

What is your worst beauty habit?

My worst beauty habit…other than buying too many products?? I really can’t think of anything! Let me keep thinking about this…

Name something non-beauty related that you put off doing all the time?

I’m always putting off returning things that I need to return like dupes of beauty products that I’ve purchased in error (usually from Mac’s website—I tend to have issues with that one). Sometimes it’s products that don’t work or foundation colors that I’ve chosen in error (I did just successfully send off a package today, though). For some reason, it’s like pulling teeth to get the item packaged up and sent off at the post office.

When going out somewhere, do you leave getting ready to the last minute?

Sometimes I do. If I’ve been working all day (I work out of a home office), and my husband and I decide to go out to dinner, I have no problem throwing on some real clothes, brushing my hair, putting on some mascara and lipstick and then going. For special, planned occasions, I will often take a couple of hours to get ready and go all out!

Can you commit to spending bans?

I did one earlier in the year (January, I think?) and it’s time to do another one!

How organized are your make up and nail polish collections?

I would say they are pretty well organized. My collection is housed in several rolling bins with drawers. There are drawers for foundation, lip colors (drawers separated by color family), eye products, bins with lip and eye pencils, a couple of drawers for eye palettes, blushes, bronzers, etc. My nail polishes are in plastic bins by color (and those are organized by brand). Every couple of weeks I grab a few to take to my office (I usually have about 20 on my desk in a basket) so that when I feel like changing my polish (usually while on a conference call), I can do it on a moment’s notice!

Well that was fun, and hopefully you enjoyed learning a little about me! How would you answer these questions?