Sequins and Sofas: I'm Blushing

Last week, I needed some new blush so headed to Ulta to pick up some 'Sunkissed'....that's my jam. The lady at the counter asked if I wanted a bag. 'No, that's ok. It's just one little blush container....pretty sure I can handle just carrying it.'

Fast forward one minute later as I was walking to my car...it totally slipped out of my clumsy little hand and landed on the ground! Noooooo! Did it break? I can't look....

I picked it up and it appeared as though there was just a small little crack in the corner. Maybe it was ok. I tossed it into my purse and went along with my day. The next morning, I went to retrieve my dear 'Sunkissed' from the purse....it was not good:

Cracked and crumbled to smithereens. Boo. Ok, I realize that this not a huge disaster in the grand scheme of life but I was still bummed...was there something I could do to save it?

A little Google search told me yes. Here's what I learned:

All you need to fix any pressed powder makeup product (eye shadow, blush, powder) are a few drops of rubbing alcohol, an eye dropper and 5 minutes:

You can take the product out of its container and place in a plastic baggie to crush it up more if it's a little chunky or just keep it right where it is if it falls under the 'smashed to smithereens' category. Add a few drops at a time and start to mix:

It gets a little messy but just keep mixing until it forms a paste...you can clean up the edges later! Smooth it out with a little knife or whatever you have around that can smooth things:

Let it dry for about an hour and then put a little piece of paper towel over it...find a flat round something-or-other to press into the blush to smooth a little more and soak up the excess alcohol:

Set aside to dry overnight and you will be ready to roll by morning! Just like new...Sunkissed is back in the game!

My new favorite thing....Skhoop.

I don't love winter. Being cold is not fun. Wearing snow pants is dumb and bulky. What if I want to wear a dress? Then what am I supposed to do to keep warm?

Well, a few weeks ago, I discovered something that makes me almost think that being outside in the cold, snowy tundra could possibly be survivable.

Skhoop. The original insulated skirt. AN INSULATED SKIRT! Things I do love- being warm and SKIRTS. This is the answer to all of my 'I have to take the toddlers outside on the playground every day but my legs feel cold and now I'm crabby' problems:

But what if a toddler is in need of some help and you have to run over to them? Can you move in that thing? Yes! Zippers on both sides zip up for your more active moments:

But where do you put your Chapstick and handful of tissues for all those runny toddler noses?? Pockets!

My heart feels happy to have been united with my Skhoop insulated skirt. I wear it on the playground every day and it has been a revolution in my attitude towards Old Man Winter. Skhoop for the win!

THE RED DOOR!!

Friends, family, people I don't know: The Red Door sale is coming in just one day! You are not going to want to miss a moment of this spectacular sale...so many talented local artists sharing their craft all in one cute little shop! 

Here's a sneak peek:

Wowza! Sale starts this Thursday and runs through Sunday. More details here:

The Red Door!!

See you there!

Crafty Corner: On the Wall

This past summer, my Small Group (i.e. Bible Study) wanted to get in the practice of memorizing scripture and followed along with a popular memorization plan put together by Bethlehem Baptist. It was (obviously) filled with great verses (ya know...because it's from the Bible) but for some of us hard to stick with and remain diligent.

Personally, it has always been a little challenging to memorize things (I could never be an actor...how do they do that??) but have had success with Bible verse retention when going through various life circumstances or if shared by a friend.

This fall...with that in mind, we shifted from the Fighter Verses to each small group member taking a turn on a monthly basis to share a verse that has been meaningful to them. Love.

Ok, here's where the 'Crafty Corner' comes into play. We needed (or I just wanted) a cute way to display these monthly verses for all to see and read. Since my home is the location of Small Group, and I have some walls, my brain started turning.

I'm thinking wood. Old wood. Some kind of hook or clip system to hold a big piece of tag board (where the person of the month would scribe their verse...with fun markers and stuff).

My pal B just happened to have some old wood from a fence that was taken down and she so graciously constructed a wall hanging to my exact specifications. And her son helped too...so many thanks:

Wowza, perfect. Now I needed to find the clip or something like a hook?? I took a little trip to Hobby Lobby for the first time with a friend to see what I could find. 

Also, pause. Hobby Lobby is AWESOME. Like really awesome. How did I not know of this magical land of everything you could ever want or dream of that you never knew you needed?

So I found this:

I attached it to the top/center of the wood piece along with some brackets on the back for hanging:

I also scored some twine from 'The Hob Lob' (that's what I call it now...cause we are best friends) and some little clips and made this:

Rope/clips hanging around the cool red knob, poster board slipped into a plastic poster holder attached to clips and done:

I'm liking this display a whole bunch. And I have the pleasure of reading the verse every time I sit down on my couch to take a load off...perfect time to reflect and meditate on the verse of the month and pray a prayer of thanks for the friend who shared it!

ZZZZZZZZZZ......

I'm tired. And busy. So this week I offer you the latest installment of "Mosby Sleeps"....as I long for the life that he lives....what a dude:

Happiest of Wednesdays to you...go take a nap.

Give to the Max!!!

Tomorrow (November 12th) is GiveMN's annual 'Give to the Max' day. GiveMN is a website that features Minnesota nonprofit organizations & schools and helps to facilitate donations and fundraisers. Each year, cool people like you are able to celebrate Give to the Max Day by making online donations and supporting local nonprofits who do amazing work within their communities. And the generosity of donors makes a difference far beyond the 24-hour giving event!

 

My preschool (Community Child Care Center- St. Paul) is one such business that would love your support! Join the donation party and help us continue to change lives by encouraging the development of the whole child through affordable, high-quality early childhood education. 

 

Last year, we were gifted with over $1000 in donations which made such a difference in purchasing needed supplies, classroom furniture, books and toys for the kiddos of the CCCC!

What's also super rad: Every donation to our school enters us into an hourly drawing to win additional money from the GiveMN Organization itself...anywhere from $1000 up to a grand prize of $10,000! WHAT?? Yep... Just think of all the learning and teaching that could happen with such things. If you are thinking of joining in on this awesome day of celebrating and supporting nonprofits, CCCC is the most stellar of choices for your generous funds. And the donating can start right now- until midnight on November 12th...Click on the link below and give, give, give!

CCCC- Give to the Max!!

Our Tropical Vacation...The Final Post!

Ok, I know this little vacation of ours happened many weeks ago. But I have to document...for nostalgia and for my future self to look back and reminisce with a happy smile.

So we continue. It's day 3. We have another amazing breakfast prepared by our pal Rick and head out for our final adventure to explore the most famous monument of all (in the city of Saint Louis..not the world). The ARCH. I had little previous knowledge of what was inside this monster of a structure. I drove past it once in college on the freeway with some pals on the way to a Music Festival in Tennessee, but that's about it. We, at that time, lovingly referred to it as 'The Freakin' Arch'....we were tired and cranky I think.

Let me tell you that the arch is a pretty amazing structure to behold...unless you are one who feels claustrophobic in small spaces. In that case, you should NEVER do this.

We got our tickets and were first in line for the 11:10am ride. We got our tram capsule cards (we called them time capsule cards instead, because you kind of feel like you are taking a trip back to the 1960's):

Then we were escorted down a concrete staircase (are we heading to a bomb shelter???) to a row of 8 little metal doors. Our pod was lucky number 7:

The metal door raised up and inside was the capsule...so tiny! For real? Yep, climb on in...I'm sure it will be fine:

It takes 4 minutes to reach the top and kind of sways as the arch bends. At the top is a little room (arch shaped because it's the top of the arch) with windows to look out at the world:

It's quite high:

Not too scary, but I did have a moment of internal panic as we waited for the 'Time Capsule' to return to bring us down:

We are, like, stuck up here until the little capsule returns to take us safely down (which takes 3 minutes if you wanted another fun factoid). What if it forgets to come get us? It came. It was all ok. We made it safely down. Super cool experience:

We only had a handful of hours left before it was time to head home so decided to spend it in 'The Loop'...it's where the cool college kids hang out. But first we stopped for some ice cream at Ted Drewes. Multiple people told us we HAD to go there, so we did. It was tasty:

Now the Loop. Lots of cute shops. I bought this:

And we made another perfect decision for lunch:

Black bean burgers, shoestring fries, ginger beer and SKEEBALL:

We totally did not do awesome but it was fun:

Ok, at this point it was probably 2pm and we had seen every store, walked up and down 'The Loop' and were getting a little weary in the legs. But our flight didn't leave for another 5.5 hours....so we went to a mall:)

More walking...some window shopping...and then we couldn't deny the obvious any longer. We had done ALL THE THINGS there are to do in a weekend getaway. And it was wonderful.

And we were exhausted. Was it lame to head to the airport and sit for 3.5 hours until our flight took off? Maybe. But that's just what we did. Also, we had snacks and played cards (Arch cards with fun facts on them that we bought at the airport for our friend D who was kind enough to pick us up from the airport later that evening...but we were bored so tried them out for her):

Time to head home:

What a trip! Short and sweet and perfect in every way. We plan to take more trips in the future...to where, we do not know. But the plan is to pick a city we have never been to and see where the wind takes us. Until next time ❤️!