January Favorites

This whole month has been kind of a hard one. We've been sick with everything under the sun, all three of us. Add in a frozen pipe that burst and soaked my daycare floors, some money stresses, and a frustrating personal situation and we've had a pretty rough time of it. But we made it through, and I did discover some great new things this month . . . .


I feel bad including this one, because I just bought it three days ago but it's THAT GOOD.

Chocolate Rocket tea from David's tea. I had a gift certificate and wandered in to the store on Saturday to try some new teas. The sales girls there are always awesome but this time the girl was whipping down teas faster than I could smell them; I love getting to smell all the teas, but I feel bad standing there and asking over and over for them to bring tins down off the wall. LOVE it when the sales girl seems cheerful and keeps bringing me more! I bought this one because it smelled amazing and it tastes so good too! My new favorite tea for sure!


Gap Long and Lean jeans.

I am one of those girls who buys the $20 jeans at walmart because I'm trying to "save money", wears them for 2 months and they are worn out and destined for the trash. Lately I have been trying to give myself permission to buy quality clothing, because I seem to go through clothes so quickly (Mostly due to the fact that my job is pretty hard on clothes). I am beginning to learn that if a $60 pair of jeans will fit way better, make my butt look good, and last 4 times as long as that cheap $20 pair of jeans I am actually saving more money than buying all those pairs of cheap jeans.

I got a pair of Gap Long and Leans online, during a sale. I only paid $30 some dollars for them, which is a-ok in my book, and wow. I put them on and could not stop commenting about how soft they felt. "This fabric!" I kept saying, and rubbing my legs. My husband keeps laughing at me but this is the first pair of nice jeans I've owned since high school!



Lush snake oil.

I have such dry skin, and in the winter its so dry I can't even begin to describe it. My entire face flakes and gets red, I exfoliate daily and slather on thick face creams twice a day. It hurts when I smile or raise my eyebrows because the skin is so tight. But the worst part is it creates dandruff. It's not technically dandruff, since it's dry skin and not caused by a fungus..but it may as well be.
The skin around my hairline flakes like crazy, just like my face. But it's pretty hard to moisturize your scalp! I've tried dandruff shampoos, moisturizing shampoos, hair masks. I've tried hot oil treatments, mayonaise treatments, and once even pureed bananas. And yes, I spent an hour picking out chunks of banana from my hair and swore to never try that again.

My usual treatment is to slather the skin around my hairline with vaseline before bed and deal with having greasy hair framing my face as even shampoo can't get rid of the grease that stuff leaves behind. So when I went to my Lush store and saw Snake Oil, I grabbed it and prayed it would help.
And it does! It definitely has cut down on my itchiness and the flaking! Not 100%, but a lot! The only downside is it is really awkward to apply...I usually end up just taking the bar and scrubbing it into my hair all around my face, and then massage it in with my fingers.



Orzo.

Until this week I had never tried orzo before. I've heard of it, but never seen it at my grocery store and it's not something I've ever seen on a restaurant menu. What can I say? I eat out only on rare occasions, and even that is usually a piece of pizza at Costco or a sandwich at the local fast food restaurant. I happened to see it on my last trip to the grocery store - I'm not sure if they just started carrying it or if I have been blind for the last 7 years, but I got some. I made this recipe for dinner and it was really good! I still prefer risotto but this is definitely less fussy to make so I'll be keeping a bag in my pantry from now on.


An Adiot Abroad.

I was working on a project in the living room one Sunday evening, with the tv on for noise in the background. This strange travel documentary came on and I was about to change the channel when the guy said something so funny it made me laugh out loud. I looked at the program information to see just WHAT sort of weird show I was watching, and saw that Ricky Gervaise was producing it. I immediately turned it up and called my husband to come and watch, and for the rest of the show we sat on the couch howling with laughte and slapping our leg(me) and snorting (him). It's now been added to our PVR schedule and I look forward to it every week. We're a season behind on the channel we catch it on, but I've seen previews for the second season and it looks even better than this one!

If you haven't seen this show, here's a clip of the episode that got us hooked! It's definitely very irreverent and raw . . . just FYI.

December Favorites

1. Puppy Chow. I make it every year at Christmas, but this year I was trying to be cheap so I added popcorn to the bowl as the cereal was almost $6 for a small box! It was even better and I will definitely do it again next year!


2. David's Tea. I've been a fan for a long time but I received some of their holiday teas as a present and I am loving both Sleigh Ride and Snow Bunny. I also got Hot Toboggan but to be honest I'm sort of meh about it.

3. My burlap stockings from the Ruffled Daisy on Etsy. She was a pleasure to work with. My stockings were custom made for me and in the mail in only a couple of days, and they are beautifully made! I picked her in the first place because her burlap stockings were the only ones on Etsy not wayy overpriced but I think I was very lucky to have chosen her! Highly recommend this seller and I'm planning to order a burlap table runner from her next year!


4. Revlon Colorstay Foundation. I've been using this foundation for a few years and I have always liked it, but I never realized how truly great this foundation was until I strayed. It's almost $20 a bottle which seems like a lot for drugstore makeup so I cheaped out a while back and bought a $12 Covergirl foundation that had been a favorite in high school. It had almost no coverage and was so watery, I hated it and went back to my Revlon. I had a Maybelline foundation kicking around my purse from a while back and tried that one for a few days too and absolutely hated it. Nothing compares to my Revlon! It's thick and creamy which means it has wonderful full coverage which is great for me since I have a ruddy complexion. It has great staying power and doesn't have any weird smells or shimmer, which I hate more than anything in the world. Seriously why do they put shimmer into foundations now?

5. The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall. I got it for Christmas and I am only about halfway through but really enjoying it. The last few books I have read have been total duds and I was starved for something, anything well written.

6. Lush Ocean Salt and Lemony Flutter.
The staff used this combo on me last time I went to the store....I already use both products but have never used them together like this before. I got new pots of both products for Christmas, hooray! It's the BEST for dry chapped hands. You must try. Seriously. Next time you see a Lush store go in and ask them to do this for you and you will be in love! Here's a Youtube tutorial on the treatment.