Second Time Around Tuesday...

Welcome to 2nd Time Around Tuesday. Our host Diane at A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words says, "You can join in by creating a post of something that is ‘new’ to you but not new-examples are something inherited, from an estate sale, garage sale, thrift store, etc."

I just came across Diane's blog this evening and realized that I just acquired something that fits the bill for participation. This past weekend, we took the kids to our cabin at Sunset Beach. Right before we packed up to leave, I put away the freshly washed dishes. Something told me to stand up on the kitchen counter and check the upper most cabinet. I did, and this is what I found. My grandma's Homer Laughlin Georgian eggshell soup tureen and a Knowles serving tray. Yay! I snapped them up and brought them home before they got misplaced or accidentally destroyed. They must have been up there for years. These pieces are in mint condition and are a welcome addition to my vintage dish collection (and I'm going to actually use them).

Yummy Chicken Salad Recipe...

This is the best chicken salad ever! It's the grapes that make it special. Everyone who has ever tried it loves it, including my kids. Feel free to alter it to your liking. I've listed some options below the recipe.

Chicken and Grapes Salad

• Two 10 ounce cans chunk chicken breast in water drained


• 1/2 cup Best Foods low fat mayo


• 2 scallions (aka green onions) finally sliced


• 2 small/medium (or 1 large) stalks celery finally diced


• 1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes (cut each grape in half or in quarters if really big)

Mix everything together. Add fresh ground pepper and salt to taste. Voila! Makes 5 sandwiches.

Options:

• use more or less celery, scallions and grapes to suit your taste


• add chopped pecans or walnuts


• full fat mayo, of course, can be substituted


• I use Oroweat Double Fiber bread (4 grams of fiber in each slice), but it's really good on a croissant too.
  
• Potluck idea: I buy a large plastic box of mini-sized croissants from my grocery store bakery section and take this to potlucks for a do-it-yourself sandwich bar. I pre-slice the croissants to make the sandwiches easier to prepare.

The She Space Haul...

Today, I received 8 full size eyeshadows (3 gram jars, no sifters) and 13 eyeshadow samples from The She Space (aka About Face Cosmetics). They have quite a nice selection of colors as well as a variety of textures to their eyeshadows. And of the ones I've tried so far, the color payoff is good.

However, I do have two complaints. [Excuse me while I shout...] WOULD IT KILL THEM TO PUT AN INVOICE OF WHAT I ORDERED IN MY PACKAGE? And... PUT YOUR COMPANY NAME ON YOUR SAMPLES!!!

Oh and a couple more things... (no shouting) It would be helpful if they had a product search engine on their web site. It's very difficult to find a specific color if you don't know which collection it came from. It would also be nice if they posted updates about their limited edition collections (or updates of any kind for that matter) on their blog. This company could take lessons from Aromaleigh.

And a compliment...I do love the idea behind Hope Quest 2009. Read more about it here.

Okay, here are my goodies!

Color descriptions of the full size shadows (I sampled all of these except kiss of reality prior to purchasing full sizes):

• broken rules: Soft twinkling honey with layers of gold and pink
• glossed over: Shimmering plum with layers of baby blue and lavender
• goddess called pam (discont April LE): Warm iridescent cocoa fused w/ rose
• kiss of reality (May LE): soft buttery gold (I'm going to use this as a brow highlight/crease blender)
• lesli in leather (discont April LE): Crystal rose w/ blue & violet glow
• love that lynne (discont April LE): Sheer cocoa taupe w/ halo of pink
• slumber party: Golden cocoa with layers of copper and pink
• stopping traffic: Sheerest butter yellow (another brow highlight/crease blender - similar to kiss of reality but not as shimmery or sparkly)

*I was lucky enough to write the color descriptions on my sample bags. Otherwise, I would not have descriptions of the full size discontinued limited edition eyeshadows.

And here are the color descriptions (if available) of the samples:

• passion parade: Twinkling cocoa raisin
• ruler of the land: Ashy denim blue shimmer
• storybook love: Shimmering mauve rose
• social climber: Soft plum shimmer
• seeds of truth: Shimmering rose bronze
• celia sings show tunes: (discont April LE - description not available)
• cade in my parade: (discont April LE- description not available)
• perceived reality: Graham cracker taupe
• ecstasy unleashed: Nude corn yellow
• simmer down now: Vivid rose bronze with a bit of sparkle
• ruled by memories: Shimmering cocoa-berry plum
• chained up heart (capricorn): Softest rose wine shimmer
• december maybe (capricorn): Creamy bisque with a hint of coral
  

I hope you enjoyed checking out my haul. Please feel free to share your experiences with The She Space (aka About Face Cosmetics).

My NYX round lipstick collection...

I've enjoyed seeing so many of your NYX collections, that I wanted to share my own. So, here it is, finally.

P.S. If you have an NYX round lipstick that's not in my collection and you think it would look good on me, please let me know. As we all are well aware, the various web sites that sell these lipsticks have terrible swatches so I might have missed out on a fabulous color.

My favorites are: castle, christie, darling, frosted beige, jupiter, summerlove, thalia, and topaz.

Check out these great lippie holders!

I first discovered these wonderful lippie holders during an eyeshadow trade. As a thank you for trading eyeshadows with her, my Aromaleigh Aficionadas friend Noel sent me two lippie holders she made herself. The one on the left holds a regular size lip balm and the one on the right holds a slimline lipstick (the kind Aromaleigh and Burt's Bees uses). I recently did another trade with her and again as a thank you, she sent me two more lipbalm holders. I shared one with my daughter and one has a permanent home on my summer purse. The other two I'm saving in case I wear the others out. Noel is currently working on a purse-size mirror/lippie holder combo (I want one). She also told me she's working on getting an Etsy shop up and running in the near future. I can't wait!

The first set of lippie holders Noel gave me.

My second set of lippie holders.

My favorite one of all!

Other lippie holders and miscellaneous accessories Noel has made.

If you're interested in something, please let me know and I'll forward your info to Noel. As you can see, she can custom make things to suit everyone's taste.

Makeup Geek Weekly Challenge - Ashwarya Rai Inspired Look

Makeup Geek is a wonderful makeup blog/website. I'm sure you've already heard of it, but I just found it about a week ago. I've watched some great tutorials, read some helpful tips, and discovered that they have a weekly makeup challenge on their forum. I decided to join in for the first time this week.

From the Makeup Geek site...

"I found this beautiful picture of Ash’s look, and think it would be beautiful on just about everyone! You just need silver and a rose-ish colored eyeshadow with some black liner and you’re good to go for one hot, sexy look! I’d love to see you all try this one, so bring it on MUGS! Post your pictures here in our Weekly Challenge: Ashwarya Rai"

Okay, so we can all agree that I don't look anything like Ashwarya. But that's not really the point is it? The idea is to draw inspiration from this look, which I did. I was intrigued by the use of a metallic silvery tone mixed with a burnished rose. In my opinion, this color combination is everyday wearable with just a bit more oomph!

*The interpretation would have been more literal had I used a black liner on the waterline but I have allergy eyes so I decided to forego liner underneath.

The two main colors I used in this look

Here's what I used:

• Awe (Aromaleigh elemental lustre) – lid
• Glossed Over (The She Space) – crease/v
• Sunny Disposition (Aromaleigh eye plush) – under brow and to blend out crease
• Ice (Aromaleigh pure matte) – inner corner
• Drama Queen Topaz (Aromaleigh mineral liner) – mixed with sealant and applied to top lash line
• Glorious (Aromaleigh pure rouge) - cheeks
• Pinkish Bronze gloss (Wet n Wild I think) - lips

Thanks for checking out my look!

My Look for the Aromaleigh Makeup Challenge Week 57

If you're not familiar with Aromaleigh's Weekly Makeup Challenge, click here for an explanation. This week's challenge is to "Make a look using colors that are a similar shade of your eye color. Example, blue eyed gals use blue shadow, green for greens and so on. I have personally been trying to find a shade of blue that looks good on me. Most do, but only if it is darker than my eye color. And if you have those awesome eyes that tend to change color, just pick the closest that yours happens to be that day."

Here's my challenge look.

Color Descriptions:

• blue haze - This shade appears almost white but has a very visible blue iridescence.
• cosmos - A mid-tone periwinkle blue eyeshadow.
• smokescreen - A very fine dark grey glimmer.
• mocha - The perfect chocolatey-brown medium-hued shadow for dramatic eyes.
• sunny disposition - Palest buttercream yellow with a plush finish.
• drama queen blue - The deepest glimmer of sapphire. Immensely dark, yet not quite navy, a true midnight gem but with the intense fire of blue steel, with sparks and flashes of intense shimmer.
• sinisterrouge - A deep but vivid garnet burgundy.
• limbo - Our tinted lip balm, in a wear-all rosy copper spice buff tone with delicate cocoa fragrance.

Eyes:

• blue haze pure hue - inner 1/2 of lid
• cosmos pure eyes frost - outer 1/2 of lid
• smokescreen pure hue w/ mocha pure hue layered over it - crease/v
• sunny disposition eye plush - under brow
• drama queen blue mineral liner - mixed w/ sealant and applied to upper lash line

Rest of face:

• Eucerin Everyday Protection Sun Lotion SPF 30 - all over face/neck/chest
• translucent ultra resolution finishing powder - dusted lightly all over as a foundation primer
• 2yl/2w voile mineral foundation - all over
• sinisterrouge rocks! sonic rouge - cheeks
• limbo elemental lustre nourishing color creme - lips

So why don't you pop on over to the Aromaleigh Aficionadas forum and check out the other challenge looks. Perhaps you'll be inspired to do one of your own.

June Contest Winner!

Congratulations Lyndsey!

FOTD Aromaleigh Eye Lustres

I was a runner up in Aromaleigh's NuFace contest. My prize was a sample set of the entire Eye Lustres eyeshadow collection. The Eye Lustres has been one of my favorite collections since I started using Aromaleigh over a year ago, so I already own severel full sizes. I haven't used them in quite a while since Kristen (the owner and creator of Aromaleigh) has been producing so many wonderful limited edition collections. I've missed my lovely Eye Lustres so I decided to do a look today. P.S. I love that each eyeshadow has a vintage-sounding girl's name.


Color Descriptions:

• angelique - Innocent mid-toned fawn pink with a hint of buff and opalescent highlights.
• persephone - Lush bordeaux with a cocoa lowlight and rose highlight.
• daphne - The diaphanous sheen of pearlized cream.
• cashmere - A soft matte pink tea rose with a touch of glow.
• pout - A romantic subtly shimmering shade with pink/copper/golden/russet tones.

Eyes:

• angelique eye lustre - lid
• persephone eye lustre - crease/v
• daphne eye lustre - brow bone
• blackout gel liner - smudged on upper lash line

Rest of face:

• 2y/2yl voile mineral foundation - all over
• cashmere pure rouge - cheeks
• pout nourishing color creme - lips

Thanks for checking out my look!

My vintage dish collection...

A couple of days ago, I had an epiphany and realized that the quality and quantity of food I have been putting in my body lately leaves a lot to be desired. I mean, it's your body after all. Only the best quality food in modest portions would nourish it properly (with occasional treats in moderation of course). Today, I decided that healthy food tastes much better when eaten off of pretty dishes. So I broke out my lovely collection of vintage dishes (most of which are decorated with pink flowers) and served myself lunch. Below are detailed photos of my collection. You may notice that the gold edge detail is wearing away on some of the dishes and there is crazing (crackling in the glaze) on others as well. These are details that actually endear me to these dishes. Many of them are quite old and have been well loved throughout their lifetime.

[you can click on some of the photos to enlarge the detail]

Cut up strawberries and whole blueberries are in one of my treasured berry bowls (I bought a matching set of four berry bowls from a yard sale for a pittance) and Lean Cuisine shimp alfredo with a side of mixed veggies are served on my all-time favorite plate. I purchased it either on ebay or at a local thrift shop, I can't remember which but I do remember I didn't pay a lot for it (I never do because I love bargains).

The bulk of my collection

I use this creamer regularly during the fall/winter since I don't drink hot drinks the rest of the year.

One of my berry bowls

Not a vintage vase; I just love my Endless Summer hydrangeas

Thank you for checking out my collection. What do you collect?