Product(s) Review: Skin Care

Let me start off by saying that I've always had pretty descent skin. Sure, I've had the occasional zit right on cue for picture day from time to time, but I've never had to seek out professional skin treatments or spend a ton of money on products and prescriptions solely for my skin. 

However, for about the past year, my face has been giving me grief. When we moved to Houston and I started going to a new lady to get my eyebrows done...she commented that my face had a lot of build up and that I needed a facial. I knew in part she was just trying to get me to purchase another service, but I also knew that she was right...I did have a lot of build up on my face. In the past, I'd just exfoliate a little more and use some cream at night that had peroxide in it...and that would usually take care of it. Not any more. Not only were my old remedies not working, Cetaphil quit making the moisturizer I had come to depend on. And I would love to get facials once a month, but I just can't justify the cost. 

So my search for better skin care products and a way to remove build up got serious. I did quite a bit of research because skin care related products are not cheap, and it's not like you can return them if they don't work (for the most part).

Here's what I came up with...

Aloette

My cousin started selling Aloette as a part time job, so while I was in Mississippi around Christmas, I let her give me the sales pitch...in part because I was in search of something new, and partly because I was about out of all of the products I had purchased a few months earlier. The demo seemed legit, but I'm still always skeptical of those types of things. The thing I felt good about was that the products are natural and all have an aloe base, which are better absorbed by the skin (think sunburns!). All I really wanted was the moisturizer, but while I was trying it, I thought I'd get the starter kit so that I could try everything.

I got the Aloepure Basic Skin Care Package. 

So far, I've been very happy with my purchase. I will say that the gentle foaming cleanser and the scrub are not my favorite. The cleanser is just a little too gentle for me, and the scrub gets in between my fingers and doesn't do a lot of scrubbing, but the rest is really good stuff. I especially like the hydrating mist and the moisturizer. Together, they hydrate my skin really well without leaving it greasy looking or feeling. I didn't think the mist (read, aloe water) had much of a purpose until I used the moisturizer a few times without it...the moisturizer just didn't seem to absorb as well, leaving my face feeling dry pretty quickly. I also feel good about what I'm putting on my face since it is all aloe and essential oil based. I suspect that it would be really good for people with sensitive skin.

Anyway, it didn't necessarily clear up my blackheads or anything, but I feel like I have clean, supple, healthy skin. That's about all I can ask for!

The next purchase I made was...

Clarisonic: Mia 2

I had read in one of my fashion mags that Patty, from Millionaire Matchmaker, said that for Christmas, she got all of her girl friends a Clarisonic. She said that after using one, you will never need another facial again. Now, I normally don't take my skin care advice from someone who makes her living setting up people with a bunch of moolah, but it sparked my interest because she said that you'd never need a facial again.

So, I did my due diligence, and although I found similar, cheaper products, most didn't have some of the same features, quality of product, and warranty. It was a bit pricey at $150, but I had just had a birthday and so that's what I used my birthday money on. Plus, after three months of use...it will pay for itself in terms of getting facials. I'm good at justifying things ; )

I was going to wait until I had used it a full week before I did a review, but I can already tell a difference after just a couple of days! The blackheads on my nose and chin are starting to disappear because it's sweeping away all of the dirt, make-up and other junk out of my pores. I also feel that because the dead layers of skin are removed...that the other products I apply are better absorbed. In that same regard, I found that my make-up looks a lot smoother and doesn't have the blotchy places it used to. 

I also purchased a body brush head that I'll start using as the weather gets warmer. I tend to get heat bumps on my chest and back when it's hot outside...so I'll have to see how well it works on that as well. 

Pinterest Project #1

So, I'm not exactly what you would call "crafty", but I've seen a few things on Pinterest that I thought I could put my own twist on, and make it into something that I would actually put in my home.

The original that I saw on Pinterest looks like the picture below. They are framed, heart-shaped maps of "where we met, where we married, where we live". I liked the idea, but I don't care for stuff that is that literally cutesy. 

So, I found some square frames with mats already inside (thank you Hobby Lobby), and I cut the map and just laid the mat over it. After that, I used a heart-shaped stamp and red ink to identify the specific city...I have four because we've lived in two places, now. I thought the heart around the city made it a little sentimental without being so overt. 

Other than needing to go back and get the sticker glue off of the glass, I thought they turned out pretty darn neat!

Opossum...the city version

On Tuesday night, I let Gus out to do his business and I heard him bark a few times. I know, this shouldn't be odd...he's a dog. I get it. However, Gus is a special dog. He only barks at dogs on TV (the Star Wars themed VW commercial has us holding our ears), and whimpers when he hears a dog on the other side of the fences (big or small, he wants to play with them all). 


So, when I heard him bark a few times that evening, I checked to see what was going on. I looked out the back door to see Gus actually doing his Scottie thing...getting after vermin. There was a rather large opossum on the top of the fence, and Gus was waiting underneath to see what was going to happen next. Although he does have his rabies shots, I wasn't really as anxious as Gus to see what would unfold. 


Since he tends to mind Kyle a little better than me (and I wasn't going near the opossum to physically pick Gus up), I had Kyle go get him. Kyle got Gus in the house and then I saw him walking back towards the fence with the Swiffer sweeper I had set outside earlier. At first I thought he was just going to shoo the opossum into the neighbor's yard...but then I realized that was not what was taking place. Kyle successfully killed it with a 3 pound, aluminum pole...which is now broken and in the trash. Afterward, I reminded him that we have a heavy-duty shovel in the garage.


I think what makes this so funny for Kyle and myself, is that we both grew up in the country. There, you don't kill things with aluminum poles. A shotgun is typically the weapon of choice depending, of course, on the target.  Growing up (and coming back for visits) I have often been woken in the middle of the night by the sound of a shotgun or rifle being fired from the front porch in an attempt to eliminate coyotes that got too close to the house and/or barn. One time when I had come home to visit after having lived in Tulsa for a while, I told my Dad that I would appreciate being woken and told he was about to shoot something. I was going to be woken anyway, I'd rather know it was him shooting versus being shot. How great would that sound on a police report?..."Yes officer, I heard the shots being fired 6 hours ago, but I thought it was coyotes being shot, not my folks".


Anyway, we both have a few different firearms in our house, but we didn't think shooting them inside the city limits, not to mention the neighbor's house 30 ft. away, would be a good idea. Aluminum pole it was. 


I know this makes us sound like hicks, but the truth is, there are a lot of creatures that are over-populated and end up causing damage. Opossums, fox, coyotes, raccoons, snakes, wild hogs... will kill small farm animals (chickens, rabbits, sheep, calves, etc.) and raid trash and feed bins. I just realized that the animals that people from Arkansas and Louisiana eat are predators of the animals I eat. Just kidding...sort of.


Kyle's comment regarding the opossum..."Anything that ugly has to be from the Devil"

House Update

I have so much that I want to write posts about, but for now, this is what I have pictures of and feel like I have enough material to share.

Anyway, we went by the house again this weekend to check on the progress. From the outside, we couldn't tell that much had been done, but once we got on the inside we saw that the drywall was up!!!

Kitchen. The middle piece will be sort of a crescent-shaped island with the sink in the middle. To the back and left is where one set of cabinets and the stove range will go (you can see the vent tube at the top). To the back right is another section of built in cabinets...double ovens on the left, refrigerator on the right and cabinets and counter in between. 

Thinking about this kitchen has inspired me to think more about cooking lately. I actually looked up some cooking classes yesterday...knife technique, mother sauces...fundamental culinary school stuff. One class that I'm actually really interested in taking is one about French and American butchering, and you actually butcher half of a pig during the class and then cook the different cuts of meat. In other words, don't be surprised if one day I have a similar picture as the one above...just with a finished kitchen and a large slab of meat on the island.

Master Bedroom. I love natural light, so I'm in love with having these huge windows in our bedroom. The room itself isn't that huge, which is fine with me. I'm sort of come from the philosophy that as long as our furniture fits and we have space to walk around...that's all the master bedroom I need. I'd rather have the square footage elsewhere.

Great Room. Not much to tell...I just need to get some better measurements so I can plan out furniture.

I went around the house to check if they had swapped out the incorrect brick for the right ones...they had for the most part except for a few palettes in the front. As you can see by the ruts in the mud, we've had a little rain, so I think they couldn't get to the remaining palettes until it dries out more.

We also noticed a lot more houses being started around us. You can see the framing of a house being done in the far left of the picture above...that's the house/yard that backs up to ours...making us even more happy with our lot pick. No neighbors looking right over the back fence!

For the sake of a post

Kyle suggested I blog today, so I am.

It's not that I haven't wanted to or haven't had the material...it's just been a busy (but excellent!) past week, and other things just took precedent.

Here's a brief run-down...I'll post more in detail at a later date.

Saturday - Went to look at the house, saw the wrong brick on the palettes outside. Talked to the builder rep and got it sorted out. (Whew!) Went to Relax the Back to get Kyle loaded up on stuff he needs to make his neck (two bulging and one degenerative disc) feel better. Went to dinner with some new friends.

Sunday - church, nap, housework, grocery shopping.

Monday - I'm not really sure what happened to Monday...I think we skipped it this week.

Tuesday - V-Day and my birthday. Got a lot of sweet calls, texts, and messages. Did not get the flowers Kyle had ordered (he got his money back). I made dinner for us (shrimp, crab legs, new potatoes, salad, and creme brulee). I made him a neat gift, he bought me a cool Thunder t-shirt to wear to the ballgame on Wednesday.

Wednesday - Went to the Thunder/Rockets game for my birthday; wearing my new shirt. 

Thursday - Got our cars registered and titled. Prepping for weekend couple's retreat with some church friends. Drop Gus off at his favorite baby-sitter's.

Friday - Have a revenue accounting class all day. Head out for retreat.

Fri. - Sun. Afternoon - retreat

Sunday - get our house back in working order, laundry, and of course grocery shopping.

I was just thinking I needed a few days off to recoup from this past week...then I remembered that I DO have Monday off because it's a holiday! Woooo Hoooo! Hallelujah!

La Fisheria

As I mentioned earlier last week, this last Friday was the private opening of La Fisheria...Kyle's baby that he's been working on since we moved here in October. 

I really didn't know what to expect, but I was excited none the less. 

When we got there, the production crew was getting all of their gear together, and the make-up artist was running around touching up people's faces. Apparently she dusts the top of Kyle's head to take away the shine when he's being filmed ; ) The chef and owner gathered the wait, bar, and kitchen staff on the back patio for a pep talk and to make sure everyone's attire was correct.

There were two film crews running around all evening. The establishment isn't very large, so we were all ducking under microphone poles most of the evening.

The restaurant was originally a house that was first converted into a Vietnamese restaurant, so the bones were already there. As you can see, the original wood floor was kept. The rest of the decor was in bright oranges and sea blue/green. Very Mexican beachy...which is what they were trying to achieve. 

After a large number of people had arrived, the production crew had us go outside for a ribbon cutting. I attribute this photo to my six-inch heels and six-foot wingspan. 

The only bad thing about working with production crews is that everything is on their time. In reality TV, if you think they are just filming things as they happen...you're mistaken. For all of the guests that night, this meant waiting several hours to start trying Chef Aquiles's food. Major bummer...I was hungry.

When the food did start to come out of the kitchen...I wasn't disappointed. The first to come out were two raw oyster preparations, but I didn't get pictures of them. I'm not a huge oyster fan, but Kyle is and he said they were awesome. Above is a piece of seared Ahi Tuna with garlic infused olive oil, a dusting of cayenne, and a sprig of fennel leaf. 

This was a red snapper ceviche. Most places use tilapia for their ceviche, so the fact that he used such a high quality fish impressed me. 

Oddly enough, this one was one of my favorites...octopus. I couldn't tell you everything that was in it, but it had the creaminess of an aoli, but it was also light and acidic. I loved it!

By the time we were ready to leave, the place was packed. I was very excited to see such a great turn out...for both the chef and Kyle. 

Towards the end of the evening, Kyle and I were able to snag Chef Aquiles away for a quick pic. Unfortunately, the guy taking the photo was unfamiliar with iPhones, but I have the picture none the less.

This is a set of large canvases in the entry of the restaurant...it's Chef Aquiles and his daughter in a Charlie Chaplin inspired shoot. I love it! His family was there that night, and his daughter would even carry around a tray of hors d'oeuvres. Actually, I read an article about the restaurant opening, and it spoke of the fact that this wouldn't be one of those restaurants where the chef comes in, gets it going with his name on it, and then turns it over to a head chef. Chef Aquiles has actually moved his entire family here from Mexico to provide a safe place for them to grow and learn. 

The one guy I didn't get a picture of was a guy who looked EXACTLY like Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, and being that he's from Houston...I thought that's who it was. I mean, he was tall, had the long beard and ponytail, hat and sunglasses (inside, at night). I was so adamant that that was who it was that Kyle went up to introduce himself. The man said, I'm not who you think I am, my name is Larry, but don't worry I get that a lot. Kyle said, well, that's okay, I get mistaken for Denzel Washington a lot, too.

Afterward, we went with some friends to eat at the Red Lion. I realize we were just at a restaurant opening, but we each only had about 8 bites of food...so we were pretty hungry. Anyway, I thought the name "Red Lion" sounded familiar, but it wasn't until I saw this on the wall, that I realized where we were.

The guy in this clip is the owner. The couple we were with knew him pretty well, so we chatted for a minute. He's a much more charismatic man than what he shows on clip. Actually, I don't think it hurt that when we met him, he had been partaking in his pub and was a bit snockered. He looked at me and said (in a thick English accent), "Well you're a tall drink 'a water, aren't ya?" I just laughed. Then he looked at Kyle and commented on how tight his slacks were on his bum. It made Kyle a bit uncomfortable, which made myself and the couple we were with laugh even harder.

I realize this is a ridiculously long post dedicated to only one evening, but the sad thing is that I only told you of about half of it! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventures in food. 

V-Day

In the spirit of Valentine's Day...


When we got married, we knew (and had people tell us) that it would be hard work. I knew it would take work...but I didn't really know what work, in that sense, entailed. Over the past three years, we've had to figure out what that work actually is and how we were going to navigate it. As a result, we've sort of developed some "game rules"...like, recently I think we had both had bad days at work and/or had other stuff going on, so of course we were taking it out on one another. After talking it out for a bit, we both realized how outside matters were effecting how we interacted...our solution? We came up with code phrases. Use of the code phrases is for only sincere use, and it's to let that person know that they may be acting irrational and to step back a little. For example, instead of yelling at Kyle and telling him he's being a(n) {insert whatever vulgar name you wish here}; I just calmly say Kyle, you're {insert code phrase}. Although, at the time I usually want to say the vulgar name...it doesn't seem to do much in the way of working out a conflict. 


By the way, he never wants to say anything remotely disrespectful towards me...because I absolutely never do anything that would cause that. Ha! [still waiting on that sarcasm font to be developed]


Anyway, I'm not a shrink by any means, nor do I have enough life experience to be giving marriage advice (the above is just one thing we've found that works for us), but I always think it's neat to see what other peoples' guidelines are. Here are a couple that I found interesting, and somewhat refreshing.

10 Things
I enjoy their refreshing view on marriage and dealing with real, practical issues.


100 Things to Make Your Marriage Rock
This one has more day-to-day things that you can do, but are equally important. The only ones I don't agree with are about letting him make the big decisions and her make the small ones. We pretty much make most of our big decisions together because we care what the other person's opinion is and that they may have knowledge about something the other one does not. And the small ones, well, they just get decided...there's no real set way or person that takes care of these.
I also don't agree with sitting on the same side of a booth at a restaurant. That's just weird. 

Idea Stealer

Not that my post on equestrian decor inspiration was totally original, but I think it's really coincidental that Nate Berkus (you know, Oprah's guy) did a segment about it on his show a few days later.



Watch the segment HERE.

My Husband's a TV Star...in Mexico

Okay, well he's not exactly the star of the show, but he will be on TV...in Mexico!

As most of you know, Kyle works for the food service purveyor, Sysco. He's in outside sales, meaning, he goes around and sells food and restaurant supplies to anything and everything that serves food...restaurants (of course), day cares, hotels, prisons, etc... Anyway, a big part of what makes Kyle so good at his job is that he's confident in himself and Sysco, so he's not afraid to be told "No"...multiple times. That, in turn, allows him to walk into unknown situations and work his improv. and people skills. 

Not too long after we moved down here, he stopped by a restaurant that looked like it was being built out for a new restaurant to go in. The restaurant is La Fisheria, a high-end, Mexican seafood establishment, with Chef Aquiles Chavez. Turns out, Chef Aquiles is one of Mexico's top-ten chefs; he's been touted as being the Anthony Bourdain of Mexico, but more quirky and fun...if that gives you more perspective. He's known for his Mexican-Fusion cooking, and will be one of six featured Mexican chefs at the 2012 Food & Wine festival in Ixtapa in March.

Anyway, the Mexican version of the Food Network, Utilisima, has been following Chef Aquiles around Mexico and South America as he learns more about different cooking techniques and flavors, all leading up to him opening his first restaurant in the United States....La Fisheria in Houston! A big part of opening any restaurant is getting things squared away with your purveyor...so, the producers of the series want to capture that piece of the experience by filming Kyle and the Chef working on food orders, discussing products, and what services Sysco can offer him. When Kyle first told me about a month ago that they wanted to film him, my immediate question was..."do you have to talk?". Kyle gave me a funny look and said, "well of course, why?". I said, "Kyle, I love you, but I don't think you attempting to speak in Spanish is a good idea".  Luckily, they opted for both Kyle and the Chef to speak to one another in English, and they will apply subtitles later. Whew!


Kyle was filmed in two different segments last week. It was really fun to hear him talk about the production of things and how awkward it was to have a massive camera so close to his face. True to Kyle fashion, he injected a few jokes here and there. I believe at one point the Chef was ordering beef tongue and he asked Kyle if he liked it (knowing most American's aren't accustomed to eating it, and probably thinking he could gross Kyle out), Kyle quickly responded, "Yeah, I do, but I like it better in raw preparations". Of course the whole crew laughed and let out a bunch of  "eeewwww's". 


I, obviously, offered to pretend to be a sous chef or something and chop onions in the background...but I think that idea got nixed. What? They don't need a token blue-eyed ghost in the back? 


Anyway, the restaurant opening is next week, and I'm excited to finally meet Chef Aquiles and see the fruit of all of the hard work I've been hearing about. Not to mention trying all of the food!