An Engagement!

My son is getting married!! We are very happy and proud of him and his choice of bride. We wish them all the very best. The planning is not in high gear yet, but will go into high gear in the very near future no doubt with a sort of kind of June/July date in the works. I will post photos as soon as I get some:-) Life is Wonderful!

Removing WonderUnder™ from the Bottom of your Iron

I had WonderUnder™ stuck to my new, beautiful Rowenta iron - who's main purpose is for sewing...from my Christmas projects. I decided today, to get that gunk off. One sure way, is to go out and purchase this Hot Iron Cleaner from Faultless - available at Wal-Mart and probably elsewhere.I decided to try an internet learned trick first. Place an old towel on your ironing board, and lay out 2-3 dryer sheets (some websites say to use 'used' dryer sheets, some not - I used unused dryer sheets) on top of the towel. Run your hot iron over the first dryer sheet, then over the old towel, then back to another dryer sheet. I had to repeat this 3 times. I used 2 cheapo dryer sheets first, then a Bounce™ dryer sheet. It may have worked faster if I'd started with the Bounce™ sheet. It seemed to get the most off the fastest. After each swipe - again run over the old towel. This saved me a trip to Wal-Mart and some dough...and it worked very well. My iron looks like new again. The online community is so helpful!

Look What I Found - Easy Modesty

BlingIt On!

"Even in this economy, there is always money for modesty."~Tiffany

BlingIt!TM is giving women a better alternative to safety pinning 'hassles'. Not only are they perfect for adjusting clothes to fit properly, they are strong, safe, and beautiful.

Easy Modesty,designs ONLY with Imported Swarovski Crystals, allowing for the highest degree of clarity and quality available. Each BlingIt!TM has been handcrafted by a member of our design team. Website: www.goodbyesafetypins.com

All designs and patterns Copyright of EasyModesty Inc. Patent Pending.All Rights Reserved. 2008-2010

I saw these helpful little clips on Kandee Johnsons YouTube Channel. I ordered the Crystal ($5) and the black one ($8.99)

Mascara - Reviews

I normally don't post about Mascara either, see nails below, but for the love...I have two new mascaras, and I don't like either of them. I usually use Mac X, it is perfect in my opinion. The formula is smooth, not too wet, and it doesn't flake ever. A nice balance of natural color and volume. Not so much a lengthener.

The same cannot be said for the next mascaras, one flakes unbearably, and the other is too thin in consistency. The flaky Mascara is L'Oreal Double Extend. First prime, then go over the primed lashes with the black end of the tube. This mascara flakes over the day. Not good.

The next one is Rimmel Glam Eyes in Kohl Black 003. Also not good, it's a thin formula that leaves the lashes black, but wierdly skimpy. Both are disappointing. My policy with high end make up is to keep the packaging and receipt in a drawer until pronounced' wearable' by me. I didn't do that with these purchases b/c both of these mascaras are drug store - but at approx. $10 each - that's $20 down the drain, so lessoned learned. Keep the packaging/receipt for all purchases. Period.

Thanks for listening to this rant...hopefully I will have better luck next time. Two other great mascara labels that I have used up recently: Fresh and Victoria's Secret; both are excellent.

Nail Polish Obsessions

I normally don't care about nail polish - it's a bit of a commitment. I am not one that could wear it while it slowly chips off, it either has to be 'on' or 'off' because I can't abide it when it looks messy, so anyway, that means that I have to be willing to keep it up. Which I now am...so here are my current favorites:

Lincoln Park at Midnight - this is not as red as it looks here, more a dark plummy colour.

It's the one on the left, 'Particuliere' that I am in love with...such a pretty color!!!! LOVE.

My Private Jet - also a fab colour. Love it too.

New Alice in Wonderland...a really vivid, heavily glittered blue...perfect summer toes:-)

You may think that is one...'Metro Chic' is similar to the Chanel 'Particuliere', but au contraire. Metro Chic is also a perfect muted color that looks really good on the nails, but it is slightly mauvier than the Chanel - which is a kind of soft grey brown. I love them both.

These are the colours de jour.

Message Walls....

Kind of 'Wailing Walls' where people can leave special messages, requests, prayers etc. They are fascinating; peoples hearts have been poured out upon little bits of paper and fit into crevasses where they hope that the appropriate powers will see them.

This picture was taken in Tokyo

These were found...somewhere...I can't remember where!

This is my lovely sister-in-law in Turkey.

RockBand

I've blogged about this before, but I have to say it again, this is so fun! Mark and Mariah like to play with me, and I appreciate it. Mariah sings, thank goodness - b/c none of us can! Mark plays the guitar and I am the drummer. Need a fun game that you can play as a family? You do have to be a bit selective about the music...especially for youngsters, but my children are all adults, and we have a blast.

Help Haitians

First Presidency Appeals to Members to Help Haiti

In an official statement, the First Presidency has appealed to the worldwide membership of the Church to help relieve the suffering in Haiti. To make a donation, go to the Humanitarian Services Emergency Response donation form. Visit the Newsroom for updates on the Church’s relief efforts in Haiti.

(Just so you know, funds given through the LDS church will really make it to the people who need it - and will NOT be wasted on excessive administration.)

Relief Supplies Provided by the Church

Three air shipments of aid provided by the Church have arrived and are being used in Haiti. They include food, medical supplies, tents, water filtration bottles, blankets, newborn kits, wheelchairs, first aid kits and other items. Those three flights include a total of nearly 225,000 pounds of relief supplies. The Church provided the transportation for one of those flights, and CARE and United Airlines provided transport for the other two.

Two more flights are scheduled to leave from Miami by this weekend, and additional flights are planned from Chicago. United Airlines again is providing the transportation for the Chicago shipments, and Islamic Relief USA is providing part of the transportation costs for the Miami shipments. Plans are also being made for future shipments.

Additionally, three truckloads of relief supplies have arrived in Haiti with supplies the Church procured in the Dominican Republic.

Medical Relief

A team of five medical personnel coordinated by the Church arrived on Friday, 15 January, from the Dominican Republic to assist the injured. Another team of 16 medical professionals from the United States arrived on 18 January and are currently providing care for those who need it. “It means so much to these people to know that somebody knows that they are here,” said Brandon Hall, a doctor from Mapleton, Utah.

The Deseret News has been following the doctors and has published these stories on the work they are doing:

First Medical Team Sent by Mormon Church to Arrive in Haiti

Medical Team Finally Reaches Haiti

Church Meetinghouses as Shelters

All of the Church’s meetinghouses in Haiti have been left largely undamaged. Local Church leaders report that nine chapels in Haiti have been used to shelter as many as 5,000 people in local communities where the chapels are located. Several truckloads of food and other relief supplies have been shipped to the chapels, and doctors sent by the Church have provided treatment to injured individuals who are taking shelter there.

Church Member and Missionary Status

Among the millions of people affected by the earthquake in Haiti are thousands of Latter-day Saints. As reported last week on Newsroom.lds.org, all Latter-day Saint missionaries in Haiti are accounted for and safe. They are now participating in the relief efforts and have been helping unload relief supplies at the Church’s meetinghouses. At this point, 20 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have died as a result of the quake, and hundreds more have injuries.

Make -Up Birdies

This is just packaging, but I am partial to birds and Mac make-up. The March Give Me Liberty of London Launch is a combination of both. I am currently doing the Project 10 Pan challenge, which means that I have to finish 10 items before I can buy another, and I have thrown out a couple of items already with another 3-4 nearly done, but I will have to work a little harder in order to pick up a couple of these new items. Sarra is laughing in the aisles right now, because if I did Project 100 Pan, it still wouldn't clean this place out. When Royall said that her make up collection counted as 1 item, I sighed with relief! I have my eye on the nail polish (greeny blue) for sure. I will never, in my life time, finish a nail polish, so that's out - I'm not even going to try.

All I have to say is that while I was raising my family I didn't have the time, or actually at that time, the inclination, but now with gravity and all things aged lurking at my door, I am not going down without a fight.

Happy New Year!!

Anyone know how to shrink this image to fit?? My new years resolution, learn how to shrink images to fit my blog:-)

We're having a clean up day today - feels good. I love to clear Christmas stuff out! Don't know why - but the tree is always the first thing to get turfed... on boxing day:-) It's like moving all the farm animals out in the fable of the woman who's home was too small. Everything feels bigger and more spacious:-) What I do like to hold on to is the wonderful Christmas spirit...which is aided by removing the superficial clutter.