Cheap makeup for mom from the P&G estore...

Last Saturday night was Mike's annual Christmas party. This party is my one chance of the year to really dress up and look great. As usual, I was way overdressed, but it was really a lot of fun. I got to wear my very favorite tights, which are Christmas red. I really enjoy not looking like the boring housewife that I am in my day to day life.

One thing I wish I were able to do better though, is makeup. I've never been much of a makeup wearer, and have really never learned how to do eyeliner at all. I was thinking about all that when I saw the options for the P&G estore promotion in which I'm participating. CoverGirl has a whole set of stuff specifically set up to do smokey eyes (of course they do, right?) If I were buying, and I might be (see specials at end of post) I'd get the following:

CoverGirl Smokey ShadowBlast in Silver Sky
CoverGirl LashBlast 24HR Mascara in Very Black, tho I am curious about Black Gold
CoverGirl Liquiline Blast Eyeliner in Blackfire, for every day I'd want to try the brown one. And then pay someone to teach me how to use it.

Now why would I buy this stuff online instead of at Walmart?

FREE SHIPPING with a $25 purchase!
15% off your first purchase with code A9Z-MN5-KY3-ISA
FREE samples with every order!
FREE LashBlast 24HR mascara with $25 purchase with code LASHBLAST8
PLUS when you click through to some of them, there are coupons! Like a free Nail Gloss with the mascara if you check the box. Or $1 off your purchase.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that you don't want to buy $25 of makeup to get a free mascara. You don't have to! You know what else they sell? BATTERIES. And since it's Christmas, I KNOW you need batteries. AA for the Wii remotes? AAA for the Pillow Pets Dream Lites? I think we spend as much on batteries as we do on gifts some years.  So go buy some batteries, and while you're there, pick up some cheap makeup!

Matched by Ally Condie

Ok, so. Matched. I've checked this out of the library at least 3 times, and every time it goes back untouched because of the love triangle plot. It's not a subtle bit of the plot, it pretty much IS the plot.  Love triangles are pretty much my least favorite plot ever. (Ok, maybe child murders or something, but I don't pick those up at ALL.)  Here's the summary of Matched from Amazon.com:

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

See? So even though everyone on earth loved it, I kept sending it back.  Then BlogHer asked if I'd like to read it for the BlogHer book club and I decided to let them force me into finding out what happens. And what happens is that I ended up enjoying it (as usually happens).  Matched is one part The Giver (assigned careers) and a bit of Divergent (how you dress, how you live, your place in society) and a bit of Fahrenheit 451 (book burning!) If you're a fan of dystopian novels and you like a little romance you'll probably enjoy this. Especially if you live love triangles. (I admit to having a favorite here too, of course.) It's not my favorite book, but it is worth taking a look at. It is clearly the first part of a trilogy tho, so be prepared that it doesn't come to a neat tidy ending.

You can find Ally Condie online on Facebook, Twitter, and her blog.

I received this book from BlogHer in exchange for my review and participation in the BlogHer Book Club discussion of said book. All opinions are my own.

CoverGirl Blast Flipstick Lipcolor

I've recently been evaluating my hair and make up routine in an effort to look like I put a few minutes into it. I've admitted to myself that except for special occasions I'm just not likely to get up and put on my entire FIVE MINUTE LONG makeup routine. So I took the time (like, 10 seconds) to figure out which items had the most impact and decided I'd try to use them daily. In my case (and I suspect many women's) this turned out to be mascara and lip color. Then when BlogHer offered me the chance to talk about a P&G product, I thought it was the perfect excuse to spend my hard earned $8 (that's over an hour working at Kmart!) on a new lip gloss. 

The product that I chose was CoverGirl Blast Flipstick Lipcolor in "stunner", which is a coral/pink solid with a goldish/brown shimmer. The idea is that you can make it your own personal color by layering the two different ends. I tried it out in the car immediately and my first thought wasn't so favorable. It goes on a little gritty, which is unpleasant, and I didn't love the color. I had also bought a second, different, lip gloss, so I wiped it off and used the other. Then while I was at my mom's I decided to give the flipstick another chance and discovered that if you don't wipe it off immediately the grittiness goes away and it is fairly smooth feeling.  And perhaps it's the lighting difference between a car and her bathroom, or perhaps I got the right combination, but it was actually fairly flattering this time around. So, opinion revised and I would recommend the flipstick.

If you'd like to try one out, P&G is offering 10% off on all items purchased with the above link through August 31st and free shipping on orders over $25.  PLUS, if you buy though this link, I get a small commission, yay! And you don't have to buy $25 worth of lipgloss, so go ahead and take this chance to stock up on diapers and shaving cream and cold medicine! Please! (If you'd like to pass this deal on to your friends, please do so, but send them back to this post to click through, or I don't get the commission!)

New Clothes!

If you follow BlogHer's Life Well Lived series of posts, you know that this week they are asking the following question:

What are your favorite ways to dress well for your size and shape? How do you make your wardrobe work through transitions?

And you know, I've had transitions! I have three young kids and am perpetually broke, so I have some experience with making regular clothes work as maternity clothes, and then back again. I've finally gotten rid of all my maternity clothes and am slowly weeding out the elastic waist pants and baggy shirts and am replacing them with some other basics. I don't have much of a clothing budget at all, but I've found that by hitting the thrift store and the clearance racks and by being really picky, I've built up a solid core of a wardrobe. Granted, I don't work in an office, but I do like to not be sloppy all the time.  For me, the key is patience, not to get something just because it's a good deal. I like knowing that when I walk into my closet that I like almost everything in it, even if it's not totally full.

For example, I recently had to get a new pair of jeans. (I always end up blowing my out just above the knee. I don't wear tight jeans, and they don't rip elsewhere first. I can't for the life of me figure out how I do it.) So just before we went to Colorado we went down to a local store and I found a pair of straight leg, dark wash jeans. They aren't high rise, they aren't low rise. They don't have whiskers or bleaching or faded parts or rips in them. They are pretty much perfect with everything I own, except the most casual of tees. Oh, and I probably won't wear them to the lake. But for everything else? They look great and are flattering. This pair wasn't on the clearance rack, but because I don't care about the label and didn't want anything flashy on them, they were very reasonably priced. (I think they were $21.)



See? Versatile AND flattering.  The shirt was on clearance at JC Penney for $2, in case you're curious.
Head on over to the BlogHer website to see what other people had to say in answer to the question, and be sure to go enter the Life Well Lived Sweepstakes as well, they are giving away an iPod Touch and a $50 iTunes card!

Find new iPhone apps with appSmitten

Ok, so you know how I'm always asking for suggestions for great iPhone apps for kids? I think at least three times I've mentioned wanting to find better apps that my kids can use. They are obsessed with my iPhone.  Recently, BlogHer asked if I'd be interested in telling all of you about appSmitten, which is an website that suggests popular, useful, terrific apps for iPhone, iPad and Androids. They have an email newsletter that you can sign up for that sends you suggestions for the best apps out there.  If you're interested, you can use this link to sign up.  I just spent a good bit of time poking around on the website, so I was excited to sign up for the newletter. Now I can quit bugging you guys!

Here's what the newsletter says about itself:
About appSmitten:
*appSmitten hand-selects the best apps and sends recommendations directly to people's inboxes
*appSmitten focuses on finding the apps that are worth downloading - the ones that will keep you organized, entertained and productive
*There are over 1 million apps out there and finding the best ones is like finding a needle in a haystack so appSmitten is doing it for you.
*appSmitten is a free newsletter that covers the best apps for iPhone, iPad and Android
*appSmitten offers bite-sized app recommendations from a trusted source so you don't have to go hunting to find good apps.

I am really excited to have great suggestions coming to my inbox. So often I wish I could find something new and fun, but all I find are things with no good ratings or that let you get a free trial and then pay way too much for the full app. I hope this makes it easier.

If you're interested in signing up, just follow this link, enter your email address and set your preferences. Takes two seconds.

This is a sponsored post, and I am compensated for each person who signs up, but I'd have signed myself up anyway.

Life Well Lived: Fashion Resolutions

One of the things I constantly struggle with is my image as a Stay At Home Mom. I've blogged about it before, but I'm (apparently) obsessed with the idea that I might present myself as a sloppy stereotype. You'd think this means that I judge other moms, and I don't. (I DO, however, judge anyone over the age of 5 who is in any public area that is not an emergency room wearing printed fleece pajama pants. It's not playfully cute.) My point is that I don't want other people to think I'm a slob. I don't want to be a slob. 
Near the end of last year I found myself getting a bit lazy. Since I don't have to take the Pirate to school in the mornings I'd find myself still in my pajamas at pickup time. Now, I'm not so far gone that I left the house wearing them, but I will admit to wearing my slippers a time or two to go get him. I may have also forgone proper foundation garments. I am, frankly, horrified at myself. I don't expect a lot from myself, I don't think I'll ever be a cute mom wearing heels and makeup every day, but I thought maybe it was time to put set some rules. I mean resolutions.  I posted the beginning of my list over at the discussion on BlogHer, but I thought I'd refine it more here on my blog. Be sure to go check that post for other great ideas and add your own resolutions.

1. I will not wear slippers past my own mailbox. (Who are we kidding,  I WILL wear slippers to the mailbox!)
2. I will always wear proper foundation garments if I plan to exit my vehicle or talk to a person who is not in my immediate family. (Or, well, Bo Peep. She does get here at 7:30 in the morning.) (Or I guess her parents, cause she can't drive yet.)
3. At least once a week I will fix my hair in a style that does not require a rubber band. On a day that I am NOT going to work.
4. More skirts. (I wore skirts for almost three months straight last summer, then one day put on a pair of jeans and haven't worn one since.)
5. Continue to look for interesting basics at the thrift store. I've found some really great unworn shoes (Borns, Danskos, cowboy boots!) in the last few weeks, and I'd love to find a few more shirts. In fact, I'd like to make a list of missing things so I know specifically what to look for. I already keep a similar list of craft type things to look for.

PS. While you're over there at BlogHer, you might enter their giveaway for a Kindle Fire.

Faithful Place by Tana French

I finally got around to reading a book by Tana French, thanks to the BlogHer Book Club. There were parts of Faithful Place I really liked, and parts that I decided just weren't for me. You'll have to click over to my review to find out which parts were which!  To see what other people in the Book Club thought of the book, click through to this page, where you'll find links to all the reviews (so far, anyway!)