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.

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.

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.

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)?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!