Mascara Revolution

For years and years, I suppose as long as I've been wearing mascara, I've dealt with daily raccoon eyes. After every shower or at the end of a long day, there would be more mascara under my eyes than on my lashes. When first realizing this annoyance as a teen, I went to my mother for help and she opened my eyes (no pun intended) to the wonderful world of eye make-up remover. I used hers for a while (thanks Mom), but eventually began buying my own.....and have used it daily for years...I'm talking decades (OK not really). But I could probably own stock in this stuff.


My lifesaver

 Well.....I recently became the glad recipient of a sample size tube of Clinique mascara. I loved the color and the ease with which I could apply it, but the greatest and most exciting thing happened after a day of wear....NO dark circles. And after my shower....NO black streaks running down my face. I was flabbergasted! I even shrieked for Jameson to come quickly and observe the lack of dark, scary raccoon eyes. He of course was not as keyed up about this as I was.
But, I believed I have found my new lifesaver......better mascara!!!

Now the question is...does the prospect of never having to buy eye make-up remover again justify the pricier mascara? In the long run, is using higher quality mascara better for my eyes because I'm no longer subjecting the tender, under eye area to daily remover residue? Or do I just want a reason to buy nice mascara?
Thoughts??

Happy Birthday!!

Today is my mother-in-law Vickie's birthday!! We were sad to not be able to celebrate with her, but hope she is having a lovely day!

To a lady that does so much for so many, today I hope she does something for herself!!

Happy Birthday!!!

pancake party

Last Saturday Jameson and I stayed in our pajamas for a little longer than socially acceptable and made a fabulous brunch. The main course was sour cream pancakes from Pioneer Woman's cookbook (which I love). Jameson initially turned his nose up at the name of these pancakes, and watched me with very disapproving and judging eyes as I mixed the ingredients together. His doubt of the tastiness of these pancakes actually began to make me worried that I wouldn't like them either. Growing up I was quite picky, and sadly if I'm not careful, I feel those tendencies creeping up again. But thankfully they were fabulous....even better than that...they were incredible. We will be making them again!!

First taste....

What I love about this picture: his sleepy and puffy eyes, messed up bed hair, and utter confusion as to how to get the plastic off the syrup. Haha! Love it.

YUM!!!

Snow!!

 We aren't ready for this snowy season to end. Bring it on.....we want more snow!!!

My fashion critic

Monday night Laura and Sadie came over for a quick visit. I was already bundled in my comfy p.j. wear for the evening which included a long sleeve t-shirt, baggy pants, thick socks, my bathrobe (that I think is 100 years old but my absolute favorite), and....................... my glasses.
I have very poor vision. Very bad. I'm practically blind. The lenses in my glasses are quite thick.
Not many people have seen me in my glasses.
Sweet little Sadie walks in and her first words are:

OOOhhhhhh Aunt Meme, you have on such funny glasses.
Oh those are silly.
Don't have those on Aunt Meme!
You look like a monster. You have monster eyes.
Those are boy's glasses.
Those glasses are for boys!
You have funny eyes.

I believe I'll be wearing my contacts the next time she pays me a visit.

A little help from my friend

Heavy, exhausting, draining Monday, weighing on my shoulders.
I'm enjoying some quiet time with the husband; him reading Volquest at the kitchen table, me doing dishes.
Pandora streaming from his computer.
Joe Cocker's With A Little Help From My Friends begins playing.
Love this song. Bluesy, soulful, meaningful.
He says....."Let's dance!"
Me with soap covered hands, him with his workout clothes still on......dancing in the kitchen.
Uninhibited, pure emotion, dancing like no one else exists.
Dancing turns to impromptu lip-singing concert.
Laughter, smiles, heartfelt moment.
Memory to have forever.
My Monday melts away.
With a little help from my best friend.

Adventures in cooking

Last week I made a pasta dish from my best friend Ree's Tasty Kitchen site called Bacon Parmesan Pasta. YUM!! Just the name of it is appetizing; I mean what can be bad about bacon, Parmesan, and pasta....in one dish!?

The first step in making this is frying the bacon. I'm not very good at frying bacon. Quite frankly I'm not very good at frying anything (which maybe is some kind of innate or subconscious attribute to prevent me from eating unhealthy things) Or more likely, the reason I'm not skilled at frying is because I rarely do it....because I'm scared. I'm scared of the popping grease....terrified....petrified.....I hate it. But, I was determined to make this dish so I had to find a way to get through it. My solution??

Full coverage. No skin exposed.

Brilliant right??

Beautiful, tasty, wonderful bacon...without the pain!

The dish turned out OK but honestly it was not my favorite. The bacon was a little overpowering. I tried to combat that by adding triple the amount of crushed red pepper ( I love spicy stuff!), but it didn't really help.

Jameson on the other hand LOVED it, and so did the neighbors. The neighbors are both my guinea pigs and trash disposal. After cooking, I try to send them a serving to get their opinion and to prevent our fridge from being full of uneaten leftovers...it's a good relationship.
Hopefully this week's adventures will be better!