Monday, December 31, 2007

A few of my favorite things































It is New Years Eve and I have been reflecting on many things from this past year. It has been a year of ups and downs with many blessings. After giving thanks for all those blessings I began thinking of some of my favorite things that I have either been given or have discovered. These are in no particular order.













The first is my new laptop that my husband gave me. I don't know what I did without this wonderful gift.





The next is Fage yogurt. This is the Rolls Royce of yogurt. It is amazing although pricey.












Philosophy Peppermint Bath Gel, Scrub and Lipgloss is amazing and definitely a great way to wake up in the morning. It leaves you tingly all morning.






I discovered Skyn Iceland Eye Relief Eye Cream this year after reading a review of eye products in Allure magazine. I can't live without this product.




A friend gave me some great red fingerless gloves for Christmas. The picture on this page is not the same gloves but they are cute too. Fingerless gloves are now my new obsessions. I just scored some black Marc Jacobs gloves on Ebay.


I saw Dr. Oz on Oprah promoting his latest book You, Staying Young and decided this was a must have for myself and others.
The same friend who gave me the great gloves also turned me on to the L'Occtaine Shea Butter Hand Cream. The skin around my nails cracks when it gets cold and this hand cream really helps keep them moisturized.
I could keep going but had better stop with these great finds from this past year. Looking forward to what the next year brings. Happy New Year!




























































Friday, December 28, 2007


One of the great parts of living where I do is spotting musicians, singers, celebrities most anywhere. Last night at the Predators hockey game they showed Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler and Taylor Swift on the jumbotron. They looked to be having a great time. I love all three of their voices and was thinking how cool it would be if they recorded a song together. That would be a hit for sure.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Blue Christmas




I can't believe it is already Christmas Eve. Still have tons to do. For various reasons this is somewhat of a blue Christmas for me. I am hopeful it will get better though. I did read a cute book with the same name, Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews. If you have extra time or just need a break check out this book.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Again I am on a rant but I can't believe the number of young (hello,age 16)women media stars who are pregnant. You would think in this day and time they would be well aware of what is needed to prevent pregnancy. What kind of message does this send to young girls who look up to these so called stars? I feel most sorry for the babies they are bringing into all the chaos in their lives. I only hope that they look at some of the others who have seemingly matured and take notes from them.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

What is wrong with 20 something generation? I had the occasion to visit several MySpace pages and was disturbed by the pictures that young women use to post on their friend's pages. Why do they all feel the need to dress trashy and pose provocatively? I realize that they are trying to sell themselves in some way but why not try to sell the fact that they have a brain! Is is just me or is there something wrong with this picture?

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Christmas, yikes!

I can't believe it is only two weeks until Christmas. I am now officially in panic mode. Some years it kicks in earlier but not this year. My husband does not drop hints until the last minute and this year was no exception. I envy people who have done their Christmas shopping by Thanksgiving but know that I will never be one of those people. I have good intentions but I swear that they move Christmas up every year.
My mantra these days is I will not stress, I will not stress. Fortunately my expectations of the "perfect Christmas" have diminished with the years.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Eat, Pray, Love


I am thinking that I am supposed to read this book. A friend mentioned the book earlier today and this afternoon Oprah had the author on her show to discuss the book. I did not catch the whole show but did see several audience members speak about how life changing the book had been for them. I don't know if I am in need of a life change but a career change may be in my future which is certainly life changing. Another incentive for me to read the book is that I understand part of the book takes place in Italy and I have always had the desire to travel to Italy.
If anyone has read the book please give me your review.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Like becoming reacquainted with an old friend


I have always had a love affair with books and magazines since I was a small child. My husband would call it an addiction. A few years ago one of my magazines stopped publication and it was like losing a friend. I was estatic when I found out that Victoria was coming back. The first issue, November/December, was all that I remembered and more. There is something about the fall and winter issues that just make you want to curl up in a warm house with a cup of tea and read them from cover to cover. I was also pleasantly surprised to find an article about Rebecca Rather. I discovered her a year or so ago and have read and reread her cookbook. As a matter of fact her new Christmas cookbook is in the mail to me as I write.


As corny as it may sound having Victoria back is like reconnecting with an old friend and you just take up where you left off.

Monday, November 26, 2007



Well I had great news today. The plastic surgeon couldn't find where I had the biopsy of skin cancer on my nose so he decided to wait and just see if it comes back. He said sometimes the biopsy will get all the cells or sometimes the body repairs itself. I am just happy not to be cut on again. I had already gone lipstick shopping in preparation for the surgery so, oh well, will just enjoy the new lipstick.
It is the best lipstick from The Lipstick Queen line of lipsticks. Poppy King from Australia is the creater of these great lipsticks. You can see all the great colors of Saint and Sinner lipsticks at www.lipstickqueen.com. I found mine at the Cosmetic Market in Nashville. I even love the lipstick case.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

I have always kind of viewed Thanksgiving as the holiday before Christmas. I feel like I regularly give thanks for my many blessings but not necessarily on Thanksgiving Day. I realized this year that there are many special moments even amid the chaos. Families are a wonderful, exasperating, unique, quirky phenonemon. It is usually a good idea to go armed with a sense of humor and the desire to learn from others. This year I learned how to make a duck blind, the difference between straw and hay and a few other things that I am sure will come in handy. Hope your Thanksgiving was just as blessed.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Jaunty

I actually used the word jaunty in a sentence yesterday. Later I started thinking about how that one word probably showed my age. Somehow I don't think most 20 or 30 year olds would use that word. And to be honest I am not sure why it came out of my mouth. I guess it was buried under a lot of other words and just got tired of waiting to be spoken. It did get me to thinking that maybe there are some other words I haven't used in awhile that I need to drag out too.Have you been surprised by any unexpected words in your vocabulary (not profanity)?

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Gingerbread


This time of year always makes me think of gingerbread in many different forms. I just saw where CB I Hate Perfume has a new gingerbread scent. I have really loved the other CB scents I have tried like At the Beach 1966 and In The Summer Kitchen. They are very memory invoking so I'm thinking that I am going to need Gingerbread even if I just sniff it for aromatherapy. http://www.cbihateperfume.com/
There is also a really good Gingerbread coffee from Green Mountain not to mention the Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks.
I also saw where Philosophy has their gingerbread bath gel and body souffle just in time for the holidays.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Mammograms

I am always amazed at how advanced technologically we are in some areas and in other areas we are very lacking. Take for example mammograms. After my yearly mammogram I always wonder why we can't invent a better machine, one that doesn't squish our breasts as flat as pancakes. I am pretty sure that a man invented this machine because not that many men have had to endure one. I bet they'd invent one pretty quickly if they had to have their penis flattened in a machine every year. I am not complaining just making an observation. I do urge all women to get a yearly mammogram.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Great find for those monthly face bumps

I thought as I got older I would stop having breakouts. So not true for me and what I have now are under the skin and difficult to eliminate. I just found a great new product from Mario Badescu called Drying Cream and it worked almost overnight. You can find this product at Sephora, www.mariobadescu.com, or in Nashville at the Cosmetics Market.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

CMA Awards Show

I was just blown away by the CMA awards show last night. I usually only watch an awards show for awhile to check out what everyone is wearing and maybe to see a few awards given away but the entertainment from this awards show was just amazing. Even if you have never listened to country music there are just so many variations of country music now it's hard not to like some performers. I also thought the show was paced so well. And last but now least, the dresses! I loved Carrie Underwood's dress. She has the best stylist because she is always perfection. I was very proud that this award show was coming from my hometown. I was glad to see Kimberly Williams Paisley present. I actually saw her at the mall a month or so ago. She is so tiny and so naturally pretty. I was also on a plane with Kellie Pickler back in January. She is also tiny and pretty.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Skin cancer surgery

I found out that I have another basal cell cancer, on my nose this time. It will require surgery by a plastic surgeon. I realize in the whole array of things to have wrong this is minor but guess the vain side of me hates the thought of another visible scar. I am a glass half full kind of person so want to believe that the surgery will be done in such a way that the scar will end up being hardly visible. Guess I will begin looking into the best concealer to use for scars. Maybe I'll just get a new lipstick and people will just notice my lips. Shopping for new lipstick is always a good thing.

Friday, November 2, 2007

You, Staying Young

I caught the Oprah show yesterday and Dr. Oz was on there with advice from his and Dr. Michael Roizen's new book "You, Staying Young". I decided right then and there that I am giving that book to friends for Christmas. I love the way he breaks everything down in such an understandable way even while using a doctor vocabulary. I brought my oatmeal to work with me this morning and vowed to really think about what I am putting in my body because aging fabulously starts from the inside. Just a sidenote, I went to high school with Oprah. Even then she had a presence about her and you just knew she was destined for great things.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

One of the great things about fall is Pumpkin coffee. My favorite comes from Green Mountain Coffee but the Fresh Market also has a good version. My boss walked by my cubicle yesterday and asked what was cooking (like you could cook something in a cublicle). He said this with his lip curled so I'm thinking he wasn't appreciating the aroma like I do. I am also loving the HoneyCrisp apples you can only get this time of the year. I wish fall lasted for six months because there is just so much to love about this time of year or at least in my neck of the woods.
Oh and did I mention one of the best things, NEW SWEATERS. Oh yeah, and there are some beauties this year. Have a great fall day!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! I can't believe that October has flown by so quickly. My office does not encourage things like dressing up in costume but wish it did. It would be nice to be someone else for the day. I think my best costume ever was a gypsy one that I did more than 15 years ago. My best Halloween memory was as a child there was one house where the man worked for an ice cream company so they gave out ice cream. That was the best. My neighbor across the street actually gives the kids money sometimes. He lets them dig out as much as they can get in their hand from a change jar. I saw where Reese and Jake went to a Halloween party this past weekend. I guess they are officially a couple or at least they are this week in tabloid world. Hope your Halloween is a good, safe one. I'm out.

Monday, October 29, 2007

My First Post/Britney Spears at 50

If you're reading this,welcome to 50isthenew30. I am a 50 something year old "girl" who still feels in many ways like I'm much younger. I plan to keep youthfulness along with aging fabulously. I have many and varied interests so when deciding on a blog couldn't narrow it down to just one topic so figured that this could encompass many topics depending on my mood or whatever, you the reader, wants to throw out there for discussion. Just a few of my favorite things; reading, working out, makeup, fashion, gardening, cooking, music. I do work and am looking for my next career after having worked for 30 years in one field pretty much. I am always looking for suggestions on books to read, movies to watch, makeup/skincare, etc.

With all that being said thought I'd start this off by just speculating on Britney Spears at age 50.
By then her children (at least the two she has now) will be in their 20's and probably giving back to her what she has given to her mother. If she continues her hardpartying ways her looks will definitely be affected even with all her money for surgery, facials, etc. I don't know about you but if I knew then what I know now I would definitely have laid off the sunbathing and used more sunscreen, eaten better and got more exercise. I do those things now to stay healthy but wonder how much better I could have been. So give me your thoughts good or bad on Britney at 50.