Just For Fun

Hell-to-the-Yah! #1: Blue and Green Eyeshadow

Why did it take me so long to get on the blue and green eyeshadow train? I can’t believe I lived through my 20s only wearing beige, brown and taupe on my lids. Although I still love those neutral shades, in the last few months I’ve become obsessed with blues and greens! They set my heart a-flutter. 🙂

Hell-to-the-Yah! #2: Indian Summer in the Ess Eff Bay Area

Fall sunset in Tiburon, California

‘Twas a balmy 70 degrees today in the San Francisco Bay Area. I went for a long run around my neighborhood wearing a t-shirt and shorts — no jacket required! The sun on my skin felt heavenly.

Hell-to-the-Yah! #3: Girl Power Workout Songs

During the toughest part of my run, I listened to a playlist on my iPod named “Girl Power Workout Songs,” LOL. Totally cheesy, I know, but the songs on that list always give me an extra boost. I blasted Nelly Furtado’s Maneater during that last grueling hill and charged up it like a woman on a mission. I guarantee that if you crank this song you’ll push through that last part of your workout with everything you’ve got left.

Hell-to-the-Yah! #4: Weird Holiday Catalogues

When the holidays roll around my mailbox gets flooded with a plethora of weird catalogues! I never buy anything from them, but I still like to look through them for fun.

Mars’ Cheese Castle in Wisconsin just sent me one featuring fascinating things I’ve never seen before, like spicy sausages shaped like beer bottles and cakes made with whiskey. SO WEIRD!

Hell-to-the-Yah! #5: Morris Chestnut

Last night I watched a movie called The Perfect Holiday. It’s a cute chick/family flick starring Gabrielle Union, Queen Latifah and cutie pie Morris Chestnut.

In the last 24 hours I’ve developed a massive crush on Maury C. If we’d been in the same chemistry class in college in the late 90s, I would have wanted him to be my lab partner so I could have stared at him while he did titrations all semester long. Le sigh!

In Other MBB News

So sorry for the late post, ladies. After my run I watched a few episodes of The Tudors and then talked to El Hub for a while on the phone. Next thing I knew it was 5!

Part of the reason why I’m in a good mood is because El Hub’s coming home from Hawaii today, but I’m mostly happy because his mom’s operation went smoothly. She’s now recovering at home. Hopefully El Hub and I will both be able to go back next month to see her during the holidays. It’ll all depend on how she’s feeling.

I wanted to thank you for your positive notes and well wishes. And thank you especially for sharing stories of how your families coped when illness struck. Your stories lent me so much hope.

Have a lovely Saturday night. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

UPDATE 11/17/08: The giveaway is closed, and winners will be notified soon. Good luck!

YOU: Being Beautiful, a new beauty book by New York Times bestselling authors Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen, hit shelves this week.

This book is the fifth in the YOU: The Owner’s Manual health series, and in it the doctors discuss three levels of beauty in their trademark writing style which blends science with entertainment.

1. Looking Beautiful: what you can do to keep your skin, hair, teeth, hands, feet and body looking great
2. Feeling Beautiful: dealing with “inner” beauty health issues like aches, pains and stress
3. Being Beautiful: how improving your relationships with loved ones can help you find true happiness

Oprah’s homeboys (did you see the book featured on her show on Tuesday?) also talk about how different foods, vitamins, creams, gels and injections can boost how you look on the outside and feel on the inside.

I’m pretty excited about seeing this book in stores because I got to read the drafts at the literary agency, and I can remember when the book looked just like this:

My favorite parts of the book are the sections detailing the biology of beauty. I also like the helpful YOU Tips! sprinkled throughout the chapters.

YOU Tips!

CREAM IT ON. There are hundreds of skin care ingredients, including many with fancy names and expensive price tags. But there is very little science to most of them and no science to many of them. The list of ingredients that really can make a difference in the skin is small. The big ingredients (and their closely related derivatives) to know:

• Vitamin A (retinoids)
• Vitamin B3 (niacin or nicotinamide)
• Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid, panthenol)
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Alpha-hydroxy acids
• Ubiquinone or coenzyme Q10 (small-molecule antioxidant)
• Ferulic acid (small-molecule antioxidant)

These eight are examples of skin-care ingredients you can cream on with solid scientific backing.

YOU: Being Beautiful Book Giveaway

Enter today’s YOU: Being Beautiful book giveaway by sharing what keeps you being beautiful in the comments.

The Prize

Ten winners will each receive a copy of YOU: Being Beautiful by Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz (419 pages, hardcover); $26.99 value.

How to Enter

To qualify, leave a comment below on what keeps you being beautiful. You can leave tips talking about what keeps you beautiful on the inside or on the outside (or even both!), and it can be as long or as short as you like, up to a maximum of 250 words. There are no right or wrong answers.
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1. Mood:

Excited! Celebutante and fragrance mogul Paris Hilton is visiting the downtown SF Macy’s today to promote her new fragrance, Fairy Dust, and I’m trying to score an interview. Last time we talked, she gave some pretty good beauty tips (start taking care of your skin at a young age, for one). For deets on her schedule today, check out the Macy’s website.

2. Fragrance:

Once upon a time a friend of mine went for a job interview at the Gap wearing non-Gap clothes; she didn’t get the job. Later, she asked the interviewer what she could have done differently, and one of the answers was “Well, you didn’t come to the interview dressed in Gap clothing.”

Needless to say, I won’t be wearing Coco Mademoiselle to Macy’s today.

3. Eyeshadow:

It’s a toss up right now. Either Dior Golds 569 or Chanel Emerald Coast eyeshadow duo.

4. Nails:

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

5. Body lotion:

Jergen’s Naturals Renew Daily Moisturizer (smells like blueberries)

6. Lovin’:

My first cup of coffee, a good night’s sleep, and that I don’t have to get my bridesmaid’s dress altered for Jen’s wedding later this month. It’s loose in the bosom area… but whatever, I’ll just wear a padded bra and stuff that sucker if push comes to shove! As Tim Gunn says, “Make it work.”

7. Stressin’:

Worried about my mother-in-law, El Hub’s mom, who goes in for surgery (mastectomy) later this week. I’m sure everything will be fine, but she’s still on my mind.

8. Purse:

The over-the-shoulder turkey holder, aka my slouchy black Lauren Merkin bag.

9. Working out today?:

Maybe hip hop class tonight. If not, then maybe a yoga DVD in the living room.

10. Goals for the week:

To be true to myself, to stay positive and cheerful and to hold down the fort while El Hub visits our mom in Hawaii.

Happy Monday, girls. Are you ready for this? Just copy the empty list, and paste it with your answers in the comments.

Le list

Mood:
Fragrance:
Eye shadow:
Nails:
Body lotion:
Lovin’:
Stressin’:
Purse:
Working out today?:
Goals for the week:

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Okay, so I had planned to blog some product reviews today, right? Yup, it was gonna be totes sweet! I had a Clinique lipgloss set to tell you about and some cool stuff from the new issue of Vogue that I wanted to discuss, but what happened instead?

I’ll tell you what happened…

I took a 3-hour nap! — that’s what happened.

Guess I needed the rest, but I’ll be back soon, rearing to go, full of vim and vigor and whatnot. If you sign up for my updates by email, you can rest assured that days like today will be few and far between. I’m usually good for 2-3 posts/day, honest.

Tabs is here sleeping on my lap. Maybe I’ll blame him for my laziness today. The sound of his purring lulled me to sleep. Yeah, that’s the ticket. 🙂

I hope you had a more productive day than I did.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

P.S. If you like vampire movies, you gotta see Let The Right One In. El Hub and I caught it last night, and BOY-HOWDY was it good! Picture this: It’s winter in Sweden; night comes early since it’s so far north, and snow covers everything in sight. A 12-year-old Swedish vampire girl drops from trees onto her prey, the lonely inhabitants of a quiet Stockholm suburb.

Fo reals! Expect child vampire mayhem and so much more. It’s well worth the price of admission (note: it’s subtitled).