Confession Time

My trips to the grocery have not been going the way they should. I've been sucked into the abyss of temptation and sin. May the primal gods forgive me;)

For the past couple weeks I've been sinning in the worst ways when it comes to primal. I've been eating pizza, drinking chocolate milk, gorging on chocolate bars and chips, and even partaking of the evil fast food. I have no good excuses, not really. I could argue that it's cheaper to eat junk than it is to eat clean, but that's nothing more than an excuse. I don't want to do it, but it's as if there is some inner voice urging me on and telling me it's no big deal, after all I haven't put any weight back

on. Actually it might be the issue of weight that has pushed me in this direction. You see, my weight has been stalled for several weeks now and no matter what I do, it doesn't budge, so this makes sinning even easier. It seems that no matter what I eat, the weight just stays the same, no gain, no loss

There are bigger issues than weight this time around though. Bodily functions that were long dormant have returned with a vengeance. This is actually bothering me more than the weight stall right now. No one wants to walk around in a cloud of gas or stress over pimples at my age:( It seems to be having and effect on my sleep patterns too. I'm having trouble falling asleep easily and I find myself waking up several times in the night. All this is contributing to my less than friendly moods of late. It's tough to be a happy mom when your tired, gassy, and covered in zits.

Thankfully there is an easy solution to this situation. It's called willpower and a clean diet. So today I'm recommitting to the primal lifestyle and I'm cleaning up my diet once again. It won't be easy, especially since I'm in no mood to cook lately, but my health is more important. In anticipation of this change for the better, I have stocked up on my favorite cuts of meat from the butcher and I'm going to avoid the gas stations and grocery stores this week. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Wish me luck!

Toddler Nails

Whenever I get the nail polish out I know I'm going to have to paint toddler nails too, unless they are sleeping, which is rare:) The problem with painting nails on little people is that they can't hold still long enough for it to dry properly and we end up with polish stains on furniture and clothes. Enter the press-on nails....I found some cute Hello Kitty nails for little girls at Target one day and thought they might be perfect for Louise. They are a little longer than I'd like for them, but it's really just for fun and I'd rather pick up loose nails than worry about the polish stains everywhere.
Louise picked the kittie print with blue tips. She already has long nails anyway so she had no problems. She was super excited for her pretty new nails!
Of course we can't leave Xavier out. He doesn't care that pretty nails are a girl thing, if Louise is getting them, he wants them. Thankfully his will wear off pretty quickly and I'm sure he'll lose interest soon. He doesn't take care as much as Louise and his already started falling off;)

This was much easier than painting piggies on little bitty nails that never hold still!

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This Litttle Piggie;)

Not the best artwork I've ever done, but still cute and my kids love them. I got the idea for these from another blogger, but can't remember who, so if you recognise these and want credit please let me know! I don't have a large polish collection, so the green I used is a lovely iridescent shade that looks awesome on it's own, but not so awesome with the piggies. I also think I'll get some acrylic paints to do the pictures from now on, nail polish tends to be difficult to work with and takes an eon to dry when your putting it on thick and using a lot of different colors.

Colors Used:

Maybelline Express Finish - Go Go Green

Essie - Mod Square

Milani - Pink Hottie

NYC - Black Lace Cream

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Dotty Nails

Not my favorite manicure to date and I'll probably change it again tonight, but at least I got to practice making dots;)I am in dire need of some pinks and a turquoise that isn't a neon. So here's hoping Santa is listening! (If so, China Glaze - 'For Audrey' is a good turq;) I do like the base color, but it's not a great stand alone color and finding a color to compliment or coordinate with it is beyond my little collection right now. I never realized my polish collection was so heavy in the blue/purple spectrum:) Need more pink!
Anyhow, practice is good and it's always fun to wipe it all off and try again:)

China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise(Neon)

Milani - Pink Hottie

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Tights or Bodysuit?

Ever try shopping for pantyhose and tights and get confused by the size charts on the back? Happens to me all the time and I usually end up with too tight, constrictive tops I can't stand or I spend all day pulling them up as they creep down to my knees.

You see, my problem is that I seem to fall somewhere between sizes. Regular sizes tend to be tight and have problems staying put, plus sizes tend to be, well.........
Last week I ordered some thigh highs at We Love Colors hoping to avoid size issues. Unfortunately I had to send them back since they pretty much cut off all circulation. I went back to the size charts and tried to decide which size would work for me. My problem is the size chart seems to skip me. I'm 5'7" and 195lbs. So where am I on these charts?

Regular

size	height	weight
S/M	4'11" - 5'5"	90 - 135lbs
M/L	5'5" - 5'11"	135 - 168lbs

Plus Size

Size	A/B	C/D	E	EE
Height	4'11" - 5'5"	5'5" - 6'0"	5'5" - 6'0"	5'5" - 6'0"
Weight	160 - 220 lbs.	215 - 275 lbs.	270 - 325 lbs.	320 - 375 lbs

I ended up ordering the size C/D since A/B stopped at 5'5" and I didn't want them sagging around my knees. You just never know how much stretch there is going to be and these things are a bit pricey:( I now know I should have gone with the A/B. Sigh. Bodysuit anyone?

Maybe I can cut off the excess and sew the band back on lower. I do sew;)

Glitter Nails!

I love glitter! I think it runs in my veins or something;) Naturally I can't resist a glittery polish and since I picked up more than one this past weekend it's was a bit hard to choose which one to go with today.

As you can see, I chose a purple, shimmery color that is just a little hard to capture on my camera. It's really a nice shade that goes on the nail just as you see it in the bottle. I used two coats here and while it went on very smoothly, it did leave a rough finish, not surprising really. I added two coats of Poshe topcoat and will probably add another. I really like a glassy, smooth finish on my nails and I think it wears better.

It's a bright, snowy day here in North Dakota, perfect for bright colors and a lot of glitter and shine;)

Polish used: Nina Ultra Pro, Purple-Xing

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Urban Decay Micro Haul

I finally decided to try some Urban Decay products last week. I hear and see posts around the blogosphere all the time and wanted to try some, but they are a pricey company and I'm not what you'd call a big spender, so I signed up for their e-mail list and got a 10% off code to start:)

I looked around their site a bit, but didn't see anything that I just had to have to have for the prices listed, so I scanned the clearance section and picked a few items to try out. I chose a liquid eyeliner, a cream eyeshadow, and a lip gloss in an interesting rock star package. I also received a free lipstick sample which is pretty sweet. I love free samples!
The lip gloss is a nice consistency and the name is a winner;) It's called Jesse, so I had to have it for that reason alone. I'm not enamored of the color, it's supposed to be a blackberry sparkle, but looks more muted and brown on my naked lips. I'm hoping I can use it over a pink lipstick to add sheen and perhaps the color will come out better over a pink. I hope I can make it work because this is some the the yummiest smelling stuff ever. My son Danny and I finally decided it smells like waffles with butter and syrup. Seriously.
The liquid liner I chose is a nice purple color called Ecstasy. I've been wanting a purple eyeliner and I love the bottle this one comes in. Best eyeliner bottle ever! This stuff is extremely fluid and has a lovely pigment. I can't wait to use it, but as always, I need to practice, practice, practice before I glop it all over my eye lids.
The cream eye shadows on clearance were of pitiful selection, but I'm happy with the one I bought. It's called Moonshine and is a very sheer and shimmery white. You can blend this one right in until you just have a shimmery effect and a little goes a long way. Hard to see in the pic, but it does sparkle a lot.
The lippie sample is a nice size and color called Jilted, but tastes terrible. lol I wasn't even trying to taste it, but it just has a strong bitter taste that you can't avoid. Not sure if I'll use it for that reason alone but I was still thrilled for the freebie.

In all I was happy with my small purchase and I do love the packaging on their products. The quality seems good and they do have some unique stuff. The the price is a bit of a stickler, but I'd love to try some eye shadows and they have some great colors for eyeliners, so I'll keep a lookout for the next sale and possibly treat myself from time to time.

Red, Red Nails

I picked up some new polish colors this weekend along with a new topcoat by Poshe that works about a thousand times better than what I was using. Since he was paying I let Jesse choose a color too and of course he picked a red. The man loves red nails:)He chose a deep red called Salsa and it is a pretty nice color. It's a bit deeper than the picture shows. More proof I need a better camera and really need to remember to take pics during the day. It went on a bit thicker than China Glaze normally does, but dried pretty quickly so I was happy. I also really only would have needed one coat with this, which is pretty outstanding for a red I must say, but I can't hold still and always end up smudging them before they dry, so two coats help hide flaws;) Very nice color, definite keeper.

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Late Harvest

The kids and I finally got around to harvesting the rest of the carrots today. Nothing like waiting until the last minute:) We have been going out and harvesting one or two nearly every day since August but there were still a lot of them in the ground and I didn't want to let them go to waste and once the ground freezes, we wouldn't be able to get at them.

I was actually amazed at the amount of carrots still out there! I've been putting them in the kids' lunch boxes at least 2 or 3 times each week since school started and we barely made a dent it seems.
There were some whoppers in there too:) A lot of the really big ones cracked and split, but a few made it intact and they taste just as good as the small and normal sized ones.
Then of course there are the mutant carrots and the ones that managed to grow through bits of machinery that were hidden underground all this time. Those are always a kid favorite.

The bulk of them went into a large crate with peat moss and sand and will go into the basement for storage. Hopefully they will last several months this way. The rest go into another crate that sits in our closet to be used now. Our closet is quite cool and a good place to keep veggies.

Any other late harvesters out there?

My First Birchbox

And possibly my last:( I was really looking forward to this since I've been exploring different beauty products lately. I thought getting good quality samples every month would be fun and give me a chance to try new things. Well the first box arrived today and all I can say is meh, I'm not impressed.Birchbox sends you 4 to 5 'deluxe' beauty samples every month for $10/month. Sounds like a great deal if you want to try high-end cosmetics without spending big bucks for a full product. Unfortunately my very first box is pretty much a flop.
I got pitiful samples of lip gloss, a mud treatment, perfume, foot salve, and two ridiculous paper coasters. Paper coasters? Really? The best part of this box is the tissue paper and box itself. I love the tissue paper and can reuse the box.
The breakdown:

Borghese, Fango Brillant Brightening Mud. The only sample of decent size and I will use it. I use a mud mask once/week now and don't mind trying a new one. Especially an expensive Italian one;) I do love the way my face feels after a good mud treatment.

Anastasia Beverly Hill/HydraFull Gloss in Sugar Pink. I tried this right away and found it to be very sticky. Bad sticky, not good sticky. My lips actually stuck to my drinking glass enough to cause me to spill water down my chin, not really what I look for in lip gloss.

Guerlain/Shalimar Parfum Initial. I don't do perfumes of any kind. They give me headaches, bad headaches. I can't even sit next to someone with a strong perfume or cologne without feeling sick and I usually feel a headache starting within seconds. It was a risk I knew I'd have with these boxes, but I was hoping with the profile I filled out, they would leave these out. However if anyone would like to try this super expensive smelly stuff, let me know and I'll send it to you right away:) 40ml of this stuff is $67

J.R. Watkins/Foot Repair Salve. Really Birchbox? I can get Watkins at my local grocery store. This is not what I call a deluxe sample:(

Two Paper Dolls/Ampersand Coasters. Not even worth talking about.

To say I was disappointed would be an understatement, but I'm on the fence about cancelling. I am happy with the mud treatment, and the packaging itself. I'm thinking of giving them one more chance. If the December box is a bomb I'll cancel for good, but maybe it will turn out to have some real goodies and I'll have another nice box I can use for Christmas. Oh well.

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Fat Girls Can't Wear Horizontal Stripes?

I have lost a few pounds this year and at least 4 dress sizes, but I'm still a big, curvy girl. Now fashion wisdom says I should avoid wearing horizontal stripes because they will make me look wider.. I should go for vertical stripes or risk looking like a battleship. I don't like that advice much;)
I love stripes! And I love black and white horizontal stripes. I have no less than three black & white striped tops and a few colored ones as well. So for all those naysayers....................
I say kiss my ever shrinking, size 16 ass! I'm wearing what makes me happy, flattering or not. I really don't think it makes me look much bigger anyway and works with my hair, not many colors do. Something you should be aware of if you ever want to dye your hair pink;)

And oh my! I've even got a little black & white striped hair bow. Too matchy, matchy I'm sure. I'm just a big ole fashion don't today, and I'm pretty happy about that.

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Educators, Groceries, and One Bright Ass Day

I had meetings early this morning with two of my kids' education teams. I have 'special' children that require a lot of attention;) I had very little time to get it together before I needed to be out the door, but I did manage to apply a little makeup and of course I wore my Airborne Unicorn over a light pink lipstick to tone it down a bit, it ended up a soft violet color, perfect!
Next it was on to the shops for some mid-week essentials and a little picture taking. Bubby and I took lots of pictures around the store, which was quite a feat considering the army of stock persons wandering around. lol Maybe I should have said screw it and asked for their help;)
My outfit is mostly thrifted and I think it looks pretty good. I felt put together and happy, so it was a win for sure.
My best helper and fellow shopper. He also loves to model for the camera:)
On the way home I tried to get some outdoor shots since it was such a bright, pretty day, but the sun was a little too intense for my camera. lol I love this shot anyway, and yes, it is damn bright out here right now, but just wait for the snow glare.

Dress - thrifted

Sweater - thrifted

Shoes - thrifted

Tights - Wal-mart

Jewelry - gifted and thrifted:)

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My Favorite Lips

I've always been a fan of bold color, so when I found Lime Crime it was love at first sight! They have a great range of fun colors and I want them all. Too bad I don't have an endless budget for pretties:( Since their products are a bit pricey I only have three lip colors so far. I'd love to try some of their eye shadows soon, but choosing just one or two colors is going to be hard.You can't beat this great packaging, purple, unicorns, sparkly! Love:) Plus, this stuff smells like sugar cookies....no kidding. I've been wearing them nearly everyday since I got my purple box in the mail, but haven't taken many pictures, mostly due to the bad lighting around here and my inability to sit still for long. So tonight I took some quick pics, no make up other than the lippies, so not my best looks and my hair really is pink, not that weird shade of blonde, but....anyway.
Airborne Unicorn, this stuff is great and a bit brighter in person. Love this color and wear it the most.
Retrofuturist, a gorgeous shade of red that looks very vintage and glamorous. If I ever get the eye liner right I'll have the perfect pin-up lips to go with it.

My Beautiful Rocket, lovely shade of orange, but this picture sucks. I love it, but it doesn't go well with my pink hair, looked better when my hair was that brown/auburn shade, so I'll keep it around as I'm sure to change my hair again;)

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Cupcake Nails

I got the inspiration for these nails here, she always has really cute nails:) I did mine a bit different, but think they turned out ok for the first attempt. I do wish I'd used a different color as the base. For these I used a nude base and I think it doesn't make them pop out enough. I also haven't put on any topcoat yet. I have a Sally Hansen topcoat and it seems to shrink a lot and cause the polish under it to crack and craze, so I am on the hunt for a better solution.

Polish used:

Maybelline Express Finish - Blushing Bride

China Glaze - White on White

Wet N Wild - Tickled Pink

Then a bunch of cheapo polishes, that suck for actual nail painting, for the dots:)

Hope you like and have a great Wednesday!

Check Out This Giveaway!

I'm sure you all know by now that I love to color my hair, but if I can't have the color I want then I'm all about hair accessories! I have a ton of scarves, bands, and clips to embellish my hair with on any given day, but I'm always looking for more:) That is why I'm so excited for this great giveaway going on for a lovely hair fascinator over at Kalandra Jane's. It's perfect! Leopard print is one of my faves and the style is perfect. It ends tonight, so hurry up and enter!

Giveaway Link