30 Lunches Left

  How can the school year almost be over already??  While it's nice to start having days with longer stretches of light and warmer weather to enjoy, and it makes me happy to think of summer vacation and more time with the kids, I can't help but to also reflect on how this is all in exchange for time that has flown by.  You want time to pass, and yet you have to be a bit wistful to realize that time has passed.  Now there are about 6 weeks left to make the most of- about 30 lunches left for me to make before we turn to the business of enjoying Summer.

 
 
 

TGIF

 

This is us a couple of years ago in front of Les Invalides in Paris.  I can't remember who did it first, but for the rest of the trip we had to get this shot in front of the landmarks we visited.

Karla Sugar

Online cosmetics shopping can be very tricky if you are considering trying something new.  Almost without exception I have ended up returning blushes or lipsticks that I have ordered online.  One day I came across a site that has made online experimentation much easier for me.  The site is Karla Sugar and you can find color swatches of tons of kinds of cosmetics from almost every cosmetics brand out there as well as video product reviews and an occasional giveaway. 

Now that Spring Has Sprung

 

 

I hope everyone had a happy Easter. My husband and I congratulated ourselves as we chalked up another year of successfully hiding the eggs in the yard for the Easter egg hunt before the kids woke up and exposed us as the Easter Bunny.  No small feat- this year we had a little more pressure because our kindergartner has been waking up early and we were in a controlled panic that she was going to appear at the kitchen door and ask us what was going on!

 

Now that Easter is over I want to concentrate on getting the yard ready for Spring and Summer.  I need to do some weeding and a bit of planting.  I want to work at adding a few bird (and butterfly) -enticing plants because the birds that visit the yard are one of my favorite things about Spring.   Birds make their nests in our hedge and later we get to watch as their little babies learn to fly and go to the feeder with their parents.  

 

My dog also likes the birds.  When he is inside he is glued to the window, barking at the birds, mesmerized by them.  When he is outside, he races over to the tree where their feeder is suspended, and you can almost read his mind:  "I'm going to get these birds!!!"  Sadly for him, the birds are decidedly unafraid of him. He is a little poodle mix and when he comes storming out the door they just look down at him from the tree branch. They don't even fly around or act even the tiniest bit bothered by him anymore.  But he's happy so I guess there is no harm.

 

Are you making any plans for Spring this year?

 

 

And Now There Are Four!

  The questions I get asked the most these days revolve around what it's like to have four children.  Is it hard?  Is it busy?  Is it fun?  Well, it is certainly full of happiness.  That's the best summary because it is what makes everything worthwhile- a new little sweetheart to join the rest of my dear children.  It's difficult to say if it's any harder than when I had three kids because I think once you have more than two, you have already created new routines and strategies to stay on track with all the things that make up your day as a mother so adding a fourth hasn't been too difficult overall.  It's been lots of fun, actually!

  The other kids have been super helpful and loving- having a teenager to snuggle the baby or empty the dishwasher or to go let the dog outside to play is nice.  Having two little girls chirping and entertaining the littlest sibling is priceless as well.  Clearly this little boy has an abundance of love and attention with three older ones to show him the ropes.

  There is a 15 year age gap between my oldest and youngest and I spend some of my time reflecting on the similarities of the experience when I was a new mother and now that I'm kind of a veteran at this whole Mom Gig.  The sentiment that I return to the most is how lucky I feel to get a bonus chance at raising a baby now that I know how quickly it goes and all the things that await us.

 

Melvita Natural Beauty

What a nice surprise to get these Melvita products in my mailbox!  I've gotten really interested in finding natural and organic beauty products lately.  It's a whole new world to discover and Melvita is a great ambassador for the organic cosmetics movement. I'm using the Orange Blossom Extraordinary Water and just love its orange scent.  The glass-vialed Geranium Argan Roll-on is very nice as well.  It has a metal roller that lets a manageable amount of oil out with no mess.  There is a Melvita store not far from me and I can't wait to check out more of the line.

Laura Mercier Exclusive Colour Collection from Sephora

As a consumer I like buying sets and palettes because I feel like it's better bang for my buck.  I do buy full-sized products, but when I feel like experimenting with something new I like the option of trying a smaller size and also getting a few other items in the same purchase.  This is how I came to buy the Laura Mercier Exclusive Colour Collection. 

 I have been wanting to try out bronzer and was considering the Urban Decay Bronzer in Baked. But at the same time I have been dreaming about the Laura Mercier Baked Eye Colour in Aquamarine. It looked so sparkly and pretty on my computer monitor...so I thought, well I could kill two birds with one stone and buy the Laura Mercier set and get not only a bronzer but also that eye shadow I've been waffling on for the last month AND mascara, lip gloss and so on for about the same price as a bronzer and eye shadow bought individually.

I'm really happy with this set because the colors are gorgeous and are so nice to apply.  The bronzer is full-sized "Second Skin Cheek Colour,"  which I also have in Rose Petal.  The powder is super fine, which I love.  The aquamarine color is really light, but you can amp up the color by applying it wet.  Regarding the rest of the set: The mascara glides on nicely and the lip gloss has a lot of staying power.  Once applied it's a light apricot color.  The foundation primer I've been using for several months and will save this one until I run out of the tube I am already using.  The cosmetic bag feels well-made with a pretty floral lining. 

There's also a card with directions for application.  The contents of this set, as listed on Sephora:

- 0.13 oz Sunsoaked Bronze Second Skin Cheek

- 0.06 oz Aquamarine Baked Eye Colour

- 0.2 oz Full Blown Volume Lash Building Mascara

- 0.1 oz Coral Diamond Lip Glacé

- 1.0 oz Foundation Primer

- Double-Ended Eye Colour/Crème Eye Detail Brush

- Zippered cosmetic bag  

This was delivered in the morning before I got ready for the day, so that was perfect- I got to try it out right away!

Essie in Geranium

We have had non-stop rain for the last week and a half. The forecast says we will have at least another week of the same. I needed something bright and cheery to cut the gray everywhere, so I turned to Geranium by Essie. The name makes me remember that at some point in the future there will be sunshine and flowers again!

Why Howdy, Isabel Marant !

I was clicking through fashion.Elle.com and was pleasantly surprised by this western-y collection by Isabel Marant for F/W 2012. There was a western-flavored collection by Derek Lam (I think) a couple of years ago that I really liked and this new collection from Isabel Marant made me reflect on why Western stands out so much. Is it because there is a potential of making an outfit too costume-y? I like it, but things like the embroidered shirts and pants in this collection could veer into the costume arena if not broken up a little, don't you think?

The little skirt with boots is a classic Isabel Marant look:

I love everything about these pants:

The boots!:

I love the lacy tops in this collection:

This look is what would happen if Isabel Marant and Azzedine Alaïa had a baby- the flouncy skirt reminds me a of his designs from the early 90s but the top is all Isabel Marant:

Have a great day!

PokePark 2: Wonders Beyond

When my son was younger he had a stuffed Pikachu with cheeks that lit up red and it would say Pika-Pika-Chuuuuu. He liked the Pokemon animated series alot and spent a fair amount of time analyzing which characters were most useful in a battle. I'm thinking about this because I see that there is a new Pokemon game coming out for the Wii called PokePark 2:Wonders Beyond.  It looks fun! This game is something I think my son would have get into playing because it harkens back to some good memories but it has been updated to fit into the type of game he likes now, with mini games built into each level. It still retains that critical thinking piece from the older days of Pokemon because the player has to decide character is right for a task, which I like. We have a XBox Kinnect system at home, so my kids can't play it at home, but my son is part of a video game club at school and he plays the Wii there (he is working his way through Super Mario Galaxy right now).

Here is a video from Nintendo about the game featuring Seth McMahill, who is in charge of Pokemon product localization in North America (which means he adapts the Japanese product to be relatable to the American playing audience).
It's a quick overview of the game with lots of peeks at the levels: