My First Drink of the Kool-Aid

I've posted a lot about Perfectly Posh recently. (Here, here, and ... here.) So much that you might be under the impression I'm a consultant, but I'm not. I'm just a middle-aged woman who has very recently found out how good it can feel to take care of herself. I mean, I've always managed to feed, bathe, and clothe myself. Occasionally, I even expended the energy to work-out, but I never gave much thought to caring for my skin. And I certainly never realized that caring for my skin would make me feel better, so please forgive this sudden onslaught. I have definitely started drinking the Posh Kool-Aid.

My first taste of the Kool-Aid was the Big Fat Yummy Hand Creme. I might have mentioned that before, but I don't think I said why I fell in love with the lotions.

For many, many years I loved the lotions from Bath and Body Works, but those lotions washed off easily, and after a while, gave me migraines. About two years ago, I tried Bath and Body Works lotion again, and was very thankful it washed off easily, because I hadn't even finished rubbing it in before the headache started. I think it has a lot to do with the chemicals they use to scent their lotions.

Until I found this BFYHC, I used a lotion bar when I could. I do love a good lotion bar, because it protects my hands so well. But ... my hands are always cold, so getting the lotion bar warm enough to spread and soak in was always a problem. I never suffered a migraine from one, though, and I think that's because most lotion bars are made with beeswax and natural ingredients.

Even though I don't currently work in medicine, I still wash my hands and wear gloves a lot, so winter has always been miserable for my hands. They were always dry and itchy. I've developed a sensitivity to certain brands of gloves, and when the skin on my hands is in bad shape, the sensitivity reaction gets worse.

The very first item I ever bought from Posh was one of their BFYHCs. Remember, I'd been sampling it for a few weeks from my hay lady, so when Momma Fargo started selling Posh, I thought I'd buy something to support her. The only products of theirs I was familiar with was the hand creme.

It took about one full day for me to fall head-over-heels in love with the stuff. I took it to work, where I could use it after washing my hands and before putting on gloves to help seal my hands. Turns out, it doesn't wash off nearly as easily as the lotion from Bath and Body Works and I haven't found a scent yet that gives me a migraine.

If you've suffered from dry, itchy skin, you know that some times when you put lotion on it burns. That's because of the alcohol content of traditional lotions. I have found that Posh's hand cremes are soothing, not burn-y, and they seal my hands well against gloves.

The hand cremes are thick and silky feeling, but soak in nicely and do not leave my hands feeling greasy. The scent, for me, is not overpowering. In fact, I can only really smell it when I put the hand creme on and then only if my hands are near my face.

Through trial and error, I found that my face does not like the BFYCHs, nor do my legs. I bought a lighter lotion (Hippie Horray, I think is what it's called) for my legs, and use Moisture 911 on my face. Momma Fargo does have customers who use BFYHC on their faces without a problem, but my face didn't like it.



(You'll notice links in my sidebar for both Momma Fargo and Momma Bear. If you click on their Posh icon, it will take you to their consultant pages. I make nothing from having those links there - I'm not a consultant - but since I love the product and you'll be seeing a lot of posts about it for a while, I thought I'd do them a solid and put in their links.)

What Is All This Stuff?

Yesterday, I talked a little bit about having a face routine, when I've never had one in the past. I started with just BFF and added in the Never Grow Up serum. Every couple of weeks I added something else in, but the reality is all I need (and pretty much all anyone needs) is BFF and Moisture 911.

Probably the most important thing to remember when using Posh products is that you barely use any product. For the first couple of weeks, I way overused everything, so start with about half of what you think you'll need and adjust from there.

My face routine, now that I've had one (for three whole months!) looks something like this:

• BFF in the shower (pea-sized dollop will do my face and neck and it's still probably a bit too much). BFF is for getting rid of the dead skin cells and it does it very nicely.
• Prize on the Eyes once I'm out of the shower, under each eye. Just a dab - like the head of a straight pin - will cover each under eye. This is supposed to lighten the dark circles. Not sure it's lightning them, or pronouncing them, but the skin does feel tighter and I seem to have less luggage.
• Never Grow Up serum, one pump will do my crow's feet, forehead, around my mouth (trying to avoid those mouth wrinkles), and my bigger neck wrinkles. I feel very fortunate that I don't have a ton of wrinkles yet, but I'm doing my level best to avoid them.
• While waiting for the serum to absorb, I use the Bring on the Bubbly lip scrub. Always, always follow this with some sort of lip stuff. I have the Melon Drama from Posh, but don't like it much, so I use my favorite lip stuff made by a co-worker's husband.
• After the NGU serum has been absorbed, I follow with Never Grow Up creme in the same areas. I just touch the creme with my finger and use that to cover the NGU serum.
• I finish with a pea-sized dollop of Moisture 911 over my face and neck. I can tell if I forget the 911, because my skin feels tight and itchy, so if you're going to scrub off all of the dead cells, it's a really good idea to soothe the healthy cells underneath with 911.

I honestly cannot tell you whether or not using Posh products has rolled back the clock, but I can tell you that my skin feels much better.

I didn't realize I had any hippie in me, but I do love that all of the ingredients are natural, or derived from natural products, instead of being completely synthetic. There are even some of their products that are vegan, if that matters to you. What matters to me, above everything else, is that my skin feels good; I would think that anyone with sensitive skin could use most of these products without any issues.

Face Routine - What's That?

Until last November, my face care consisted of clear water in the shower. I so rarely wear make-up that each time I do, I have to go buy new stuff because it dries out between usages. I figured that clear water was just fine. I mean, I actually have pretty good skin for being an old-ish broad.

It's not that I haven't tried to take care of my face, it's just that everything seemed so cumbersome and the warnings were dire - you had to use all of these specific products and you could never, ever stop using them or your face would shrivel up like an old apple and fall off.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad, but that's how I felt. I'm not even sure how I went from sampling hand lotion when I bought hay to falling face-first into the Posh lifestyle.

Wait ... yes, I do. I bought the stocking stuffers from my hay lady, found out that Momma Fargo became a consultant and purchased a Big Fat Yummy Hand Creme (BFYHC) from her (My Hands are Thai'd, I believe). I loved the BFYHC, because it didn't leave my hands greasy, but I also didn't need to reapply it a million times throughout the day.

Included in my order was a sample of BFF (Best Face Forever). I held onto the sample for a while; a lot of times facial exfoliants were too abrasive and dried my skin out. I kind of hung out in the Posh group I was in, and heard amazing things about BFF, so I decided one day to give it a try. Rather than try to replicate my initial reaction to BFF, I thought I'd just paste my original thoughts below:

"I've heard great things about BFF from people who've used it, but I wasn't too excited about it because usually exfoliating face scrubs are awful on my face - it's like using rough grit sandpaper.

I got a sample of BFF and decided to use it today.

Oh. My. God. Where has this been my whole life?

I didn't feel like I was using a circular sander on my face, and the spearmint (I think that's what is in it) was so soothing and cooling. It did gently exfoliate my problem areas and my face feels so nice and smooth.

I was afraid that once I got out of the shower and dried off, that my face would feel tight and dry, but it doesn't."

I pretty much still feel this way about BFF, and started adding things into my routine. My next purchase was the Never Grow Up serum for my developing crow's feet. One thing led to another, and I added in Moisture 911. Two weeks later, I was compelled to add this to the Posh page I was on:

"Ok, so I've been using BFF and Never Grow Up serum for about two weeks. I do not use it as directed. I use the BFF every other day (every day makes my face sensitive), and the NGU every day. This past week, I started adding in Moisture 911.

I don't know that I've SEEN a difference in my face, but I definitely FEEL a difference. The skin on my face is so smooth and soft, and the dry, flaky skin on each side of my nose is gone.

I was afraid that adding in the Moisture 911 would be too much, that it would make my face feel greasy, since most moisturizers do, but it hasn't. It has been a nice addition to my new face ritual (remember, I've never had a face routine).

Part of me wishes I'd taken before pictures to compare with, but I hate the camera so much and I was afraid there wouldn't be any visible change. For now, I'm super happy with the textural change in the skin on my face.

The only problem I see with these products is that it will be a while before I have to replace the products - a little goes a long way! That's great for my bank account, but maybe not so great for Posh, as my refill orders will only be every 3-4 months, if not longer."

I'm actually surprised that I've been able to keep this up, and I think it's because my face feels so good. Three months. That's how long I've managed to keep this up, and frankly, I'm astounded.

Many people report that they've seen blemishes and sun spots fade using the BFF/Moisture 911 combo, and I thought I couldn't say that. I'm prone to keratinized pores - they look like whiteheads, but are really a build up of keratin in the pore, so they're hard, white bumps. I just figured I had to live with them. Every five or ten years, I'd get mad and dig them out, but they always returned. I realized about three weeks ago that the one I had on the side of my nose had completely disappeared, and the one on my chin that I'd dug out about the time I started using Posh has not reappeared.

It seems every few weeks, I add something new to my routine. I used to be able to get up at 7:00 a.m., be showered, and out of the house by 7:30 a.m. That doesn't quite happen any more, honestly, because it takes me just a bit longer to get ready. I now need 45 minutes to get out of the house, but I'm okay with that simply because I feel better. The great thing is that if I'm running late, I can just wash with BFF, put on some Moisture 911 and feel good about still taking care of my face.

Question for Readers

When choosing a new book to read, do you read the reviews? Amazon seems to have the most prolific reviews and a lot of authors depend on them.

As a reader, which type of review do you prefer?

One that summarizes the entire book?

Or one that is more along the lines of "I liked it, and here's why"?

I know what my preference is, which is reflected in the reviews I've left. I do try to leave a review for 90% of the books I read - either on Goodreads or Amazon (usually both) - as an author I know how important they are.

I am interested - which type of review do you prefer and why?

January Kara's Way Box

I'm late in posting this; I wanted, at the very least, to get this up before January ended.  That didn't happen, so I'm going with being happy with posting it during the week that January ended.

January's box included:

• Burt's Bees Facial Cleaning Towlettes sample size ($3 for 10) - As a general rule, I don't use a whole lot to clean my face with, other than clear water.  I began using the Grits and Honey scrub from the December box and really liked that, but I ran out and have been too cheap to replace it, so I'm looking forward to trying this.  And it's not as crazy expensive as some items.
• Crystal Rock Deoderant Stick full-sized ($2.29/1.5 oz) - I'm wary of trying this.  As a teenager, I really struggled with body odor.  Puberty was not nice to me and it took me a long time to find a deoderant that worked, so I'm somewhat afraid to try this.  It might work magically, but it might not.  I've decided I'll try it on days when I'm not working so if I end up all stinky, the only person who gets tortured by the stench is me.
• Sante Cosmetics Eyeshadow Stick in Coffee full-sized ($15) - By far, the most expensive eye shadow I've ever owned.  Ashinator, who also received a Kara's Way box, *loves* this product.  Since I don't usually wear make-up, I was a bit intimidated by it.  My only experience with eye shadow is the stuff that you use a brush or applicator with, this whole eye shadow in crayon form is new to me, but I'm going to learn to use it, I swear.
• Alba Botanica Terra Gloss in Garnet full-sized ($5.95) - This is not the most expensive lip gloss I own, but I really like it.  It's just a little shimmery and red and pretty.
• Merry Hempsters Vegan Lip Balm in Peppermint full-sized ($2.99) - I love this stuff! It is so dry in Colorado and I tend to not drink enough water, so my lips always feel chapped.  Because of that, I always have lip balm in my pocket.  Before finding this, my favorite lip balm was Burt's Bees.  However, since I tried this, I find that I pick this one up more often than my Burt's Bees stuff.
• Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay sample size ($7.50/1 lb) - I haven't tried this yet, but I'm excited to.  I just thought that would be better left for a day when Jay's not home to scare off.
• Bonus Item: Organi India Tulsi Tea - I don't drink tea, but my brother and SIL do, so this will be given to them. I'm sure they'll love it.

This was a great box, with three full-sized items, so I definitely think that I got my $15 worth out of it.  It is simply, but attractively packed, though it lacks the plantable hang-tag that so many people have raved about.  Since I've never received a box with the hang-tag, I can't say that I miss it, but it sounded like an amazing little perk.

Ashinator received a box as well - I bought her two months for her birthday - and she loved everything in her box, with the exception of the vegan toothpaste.  I didn't receive a box with toothpaste, so it appears that different boxes were sent out, some with the crystal rock deoderant and some with the toothpase.  I like that, since both of us receive a box, it gives us some flexibility in trading items.

Kara's Way also has great customer service.  Ashinator moved at the end of December and I emailed the new address to Kara's Way.  Within a day, I received a response.  Unfortunately, her box still got shipped to her old address.  As soon as I got the shipping email with her old address, I emailed them and they immediately remedied the problem, sending out her replacement box that day.

I have one more month of my subscription and I think I'm going to continue it.  It's a ton of fun to get a surprise in the mail every month.  So much fun, that I found a craft sample box subscription that I'm going to get for Autobot's birthday in March.

Kara's Way

Photo shamelessly stolen from Kara's Way

Until a month ago, I had never heard of subscription sample boxes. Have you guys?

A friend of mine from work told me about Kara's Way because she fell in love with one of the full-size products she received in her November box.  It was the DLe Light Up Lip Gloss that sold her.  I actually fell in love with it myself and bought a tube.  At almost $9.00/tube, it's more than I've ever spent for lipshit lip stuff, but I really like it.  I always have some form of lip stuff with me, so I'm trying to convince myself to give up my other stuff and use my expensive stuff, at least at work.

For $15/month you get between 5-10 samples (usually at least one full-size item) of hippie-friendly beauty products.  I own *zero* make-up. Before, when I had an event that required make-up, I'd just borrow the Ashinator's, but now that she lives on her own, her make-up lives with her.  I easily get overwhelmed when going through the make-up aisles and have no idea what I want or even how to use most of it.  Since I'm not much of a make-up wearer (I know, I know, SGG, but I'm trying), I thought that by subscribing to this service I would get to try out new stuff without being overwhelmed.

Due to our self-imposed quarantine, I didn't get to the post office to pick up my box until today and I'm super excited.

There were six items (one full-sized) in my box.

Included in my box:

• Hollybeth Organics Grits and Honey Scrub sample size ($25/2 oz) - I'm getting old and have been looking for something to use on my face.  It's so dry here and I constantly battle with my face in the winter.  I'm really excited to use this.
• Sheswai Lacquer full-size ($16/bottle) - This is definitely hippie-approved; there is no formaldehyde, toluene or dbps.  I immediately tried this (pics later) because I had read some pretty impressive reviews on it.  I will say, I am disappointed in the brush, it's not all one uniform length, so there are four or five strands that are longer than the rest and it makes it hard to use without dragging polish all over your cuticles.  I'm relatively certain that it's not the norm for them, that I just got a not-so-great brush.
• Native Touch Warrior Bear Rub sample size ($11.99/ 1.8 oz) - This is supposed to be good for dry skin, cracked heels, cuticles, etc.  I opened it and don't like the smell.  There's tea tree, lavender, and rosemary essential oils in it.  I think it's the tea tree oil that is off-putting for me.  Since I have a friend who makes fabulous balms that I *love*, I think I'll pass on this.
• Coastal Scents African Black Soap sample size ($12.95/16 oz) - This is made in Ghana and is supposed to be great for skin problems - rashes, acne, eczema, and dandruff.  I can't say as I have any of those issues, but I'll try the soap out because I really like the idea of it.
• Priti NYC Soy Nail Polish Remover Wipes sample size ($9.99/10) - Are you kidding me? Almost ten dollars for fingernail polish remover?!  Uh, no.  I'll keep poisoning my body with the buck-a-bottle crap from WalMart or King Soopers. Having said that, it worked beautifully to remove the paint from my nail that was all effed up from the dumb brush on the lacquer.
• TruJoy Sweets Organic Candy Cane bonus sample - it's listed as organic, corn-syrup free, no artificial colors or flavors, vegan and gluten free.  I'm no so sure about it.  I might not be brave enough to try vegan candy.  Oh, who am I kidding?  It's candy, I'll try it.

Like I said, I immediately tried the nail polish lacquer.  Other than the brush issue, it went on nicely and dried fairly quickly.  I only put one coat on:

You can see that I had some issues around the base of my nails because of the funky brush, but one coat covered my nails well and I don't see any need for a second coat.  I'm hard on my nails - usually I have chips within 24 hours - so we'll see how long it lasts.

Overall, I'm thrilled with Kara's Way. I signed up for a three month subscription, though you can do it month by month if you'd like.  I was so excited about the idea that I bought a two-month subscription for the Ashinator for her birthday.  Hopefully, she'll like it as much as I do.

Has anyone else used a subscription sample box?  Who have you used and what have your experiences been? I'm dying to hear, because I think I'm pretty well hooked.

Note: this was not a solicited review - I was just so excited about my box, I had to write about it.

bodybugg

This is an unsolicited review.  I received the bodybugg as a prize in a contest; I did not recieve it for the purpose of reviewing it.

And, no Mr. Daddy, I'm not talking about crabs!

I'm talking about the ultra-cool calorie management system I won through 24Hour Fitness' Refuel Your Fitness challenge.

The bodybugg is a sensor that you wear on an armband around your left tricep.  Last night, on the Biggest Loser, they had the contestants wearing it on their legs, but the bodybugg people say that the sensor is not calibrated to work on the leg and so the readings are incorrect.  It "reads" calories burned by measuring skin temp, sweat production, pulse rate and a cool accelerometer that can tell if you've been walking or running.  Since each person burns calories differently, there is a section during the set up that your weight, age, lifestyle, etc. has to be entered (body fat, too, if you measure that).  It's supposed to be 90% accurate (or more).

El Poquito Diablo helped me set mine up after one of our training sessions, so set up went fairly smoothly.  I could see that if you had to do it on your own it could be cumbersome and time-consuming.  Together (and by that, I mean, he told me what he wanted), we determined what my target caloric intake and deficit should be.  My goal deficit - I burn more calories than I take in - is between 500 - 800 calories/day.

The bodybugg does the calories burned calculations that you upload to the website, but the caloric intake has to be put in your profile manually.  Until yesterday, I had huge problems with this - there apparently was a Java update issue.  Java updated, myapex.com did not and they didn't play together anymore.  Seems to have been resolved, as I haven't had any problems putting in my daily intake recently.

I like visuals, so I really like the fact that when I upload my calories burned from the bodybugg (plug it into the USB port) and type in my caloric intake, I get a report that looks like this:

Today's graphs don't look so good; I didn't have time to work out today and I'm at work until 10 pm, so whie I still have a caloric deficit, it's by a much smaller margin.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this, but I LOVE it!  If you're working to lose a few pounds, this is a good way to do it.  I'm certain that this will help me break my plateau and get me on track again.  24Hour Fitness sells them, and from Nov 18 - 30, they will be selling the bodybugg V3 (like I have) for $99.00, which is a great deal!  As much as I love it, I don't think I would have paid full price for it - if I hadn't won it, I would not have even given it a second glance.  Now that I own one, I see what an opportunity I would have missed out on.

Oh! Oh! Oh!  A shout-out to 24Hour Fitness - they inadvertently sent me the V3 instead of the new SP that interfaces with smartphones.  I got a notice that the error had occurred and that they'd be sending out the SP.  I was careful with my V3, kept all the packaging and such, so I could send it back.  I got my SP in the mail and got a note inviting me to keep my V3.  Since I already had my V3 up and running, I gave the SP to Nebalee.  I think she loves it as much as I love my V3.

Review Time!

While I was in Las Vegas last week, half of my CSN order came in.  There's nothing like coming home to presents!

On Sunday, I tried out the 3-piece pizza stone.  It came with the stone, a cooling rack and pizza cutter.  Do yourself a favor.  Throw out the pizza cutter.  Or do one better and save the money by just buying the stone, not the 3-piece set.  I'm pretty sure that the pizza cutter might cut play-doh.  Mine went directly into the trash.  And I didn't even cry about it.

I love the pizza stone.  I love having a clean oven.  The two go hand-in-hand.  Two thumbs up for the pizza stone (and two thumbs down for the cutter).  Call it a draw.

Today, I got to try out the slow cooker.  I've been nervous about it ever since Terry commented that she's heard that some slow cookers heat too fast and burn the food.  I shouldn't have worried.  My slow cooker has three settings: warm, low, and high.  That's all I need.  I don't need the fancy thermostat do-hickies.  Since I was running late this morning, I had RCC throw in the food this morning.  When I got home, dinner was done and fabulous.  Two thumbs up for the slow cooker.

I thought I'd share my favorite slow cooker recipe and why I love it.  I'm not sure if I've put this up here before, but I'm gonna do it again because I love it so much.

Shredded Chicken

• Four frozen chicken breasts
• 2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 jar 505 Green Chili

Throw in slow cooker on low all day.  Shred with two forks when done.

Why do I love it so much?  You mean besides being the easiest recipe on the planet?

It is super versatile. 

The first night, I serve it over rice or egg noodles.  The next night, I can take part of it, mix with sour cream and canned Stokes Green Chili, roll it up in tortillas, throw some cheese over the top and call them chicken burritos.  Or, add some frozen veggies, dump in a casserole dish and top with Bisquick for chicken pot pie. 

A friend of mine eats hers over mashed potatoes, which I've yet to try, but she assures me it's divine.

I love versatile left-overs - it takes the thinking out of meal planning.

Holy Cow!

The CSN Stores promotional team has graced me with $100 to review their stores/products.  I've done reviews for them in the past and loved it.  If you've never visited their website, you should do so.  They've got so much stuff to choose from, I had a hard time deciding what to spend my money on.  One "big" thing or a few "small" things?  I opted for a few small things.

After much discussion with RockCrawlinChef, we decided to choose:

• The Hamilton Beach "Stay or Go" slow cooker.  We passed on our old faithful crock-pot to Digger last week and were in need of a new one.  What I think I'm going to like about this one is that it seals, so it won't spill all over Ripley when we take food places.
• Fox Run Craftsman's 3-piece Pizza Stone set.  Monster unfortunately broke our last pizza stone.  I loved using the pizza stone because it kept the kids from putting their frozen pizzas straight on the rack (okay, I'm guilty of that, too).  While I don't mind the straight on the rack thing, I did just clean the oven and it was disgusting.  Anything to prevent me having to do that again!
• Soda Stream carbonating bottles.  We love our Soda Stream and I was thrilled to see that CSN stores carried it and all of the accessories.  The one drawback to the Soda Stream is that it only comes with two bottles, so if you want a variety of sodas in the fridge, you're kinda screwed.  For $14.99, they are less expensive than buying from a brick-and-mortar store.
• Soda Stream grape soda.  Well, why not?  It's a flavor we haven't tried yet.  The drawback is that I couldn't order just one bottle, it came in a set of five.  We'll be drinking grape soda for the next year.

I placed my order today and everything I ordered, in addition to free shipping, is guaranteed to be here before Christmas Eve.

It's CSN Review Time!

Quick note: if you receive an email from "me" with just a funny looking link, don't click on it!  Some stupid spammer hijacked my account.  I will *always* identify a link if I send it to you.

What will it be this time?  A briefcase? Probably not; that would require me to transfer all of my crap from my computer bag.  Cookware?  Possibly, but not because *I* would use it, but maybe RockCrawlinChef will!

Rachel did a review on a Rachael Ray Casserole Dish a while back and I've kind of been coveting that little dish (not in green, though, red's my color), so I may try it out.  The problem is, I could (and have) wasted an entire day playing around on CSN Store's website - there is so much to choose from!

Stay tuned...a review is on its way!

What I Brought Home from Horse Master

I learned so much during the week I spent at Julie Goodnight's, but there's something I physically brought home that I'm so excited about and it's not even horse-related.  Lucy, friend and assistant instructor, brought a Soda Stream to Julie's.

This is pretty much the coolest thing on the planet (aside from Eloise and Ripley, that is).  What this little do-hickey does is carbonate water, to which you add syrup for flavor.  You fill the bottle with tap water, screw it onto the Soda Stream and add gas until it farts three times (which is quite entertaining for the teenagers of the house).

We spend a lot of money on pop in this house.  Yes, I know it's unhealthy, but I just can't give up my Coke.  I'm rarely home, so any Coke drinking I do happens at work - any pop at home disappears.  The kids and their friends can kill a twelve-pack in a day, which adds up quickly. 

After I saw this at Julie's, I made up my mind that I wasn't buying any more pop for the house.  It wasn't going to happen.  One bottle of syrup is about $6.00 and makes the equivalent of thirty-three twelve-ounce cans of pop.  The calorie difference between commerical soda and soda made at home is huge!  Each serving has 35 calories compared to the 100+ calories in commercial soda.  The reason for the difference is that the Soda Stream syrup is made with half sugar and half splenda.  I have no beef whatsoever with high fructose corn syrup, in fact, I really, really love it.  I don't really like the taste of splenda, so the "cola" flavor doesn't work for me at all.  However, the kids don't care about the taste.  If they want to drink a pop, they can just make it, 'cause this mommy hasn't bought a single case of it in a month!

They've got a fairly large selection of syrups, both caffeinated and non.  So far, my favorite is the cranberry-raspberry syrup.  RockCrawlinChef is partial to the lemon-lime, and the kids like the cola.

I do have a crazy idea, though, of buying a thing of Coke syrup and trying it out with the Soda Stream.  Wish me luck with that one.

Order from CSN Stores

Before I get to the CSN Store order - I want to wish Not A GunDiva a happy birthday.  She and I may be polar opposites in some ways, but I think I'll finally quit asking Mom to take her back to the hospital.  Happy birthday - hope you have a great day.  Love you.

I finally decided what I was going to order from CSN Stores to review.  When we brought Dashurie home, Ash had talked about wanting a carrier for her so that Dash can go where Ash goes.  We couldn't find a carrier we liked, so whenever Dash wanted to go somewhere, we had to borrow Scamp's cat carrier.  Well, wouldn't you know that when I looked in the pet section of CSN, I found a carrier that I think will be perfect for Dashurie.

Isn't it cute?  My only issue is that this is the only view offered; I would have liked to see what the inside looks like and see about the venting - I can't have my grand-hedgehog suffocating now, can I?

It's scheduled to ship to me sometime next week (holiday weekends always mess up shipping) and I expect that it will be here the following week.  I'll be sure to post pics of Dash in her new carrier and Scamp will be relieved to have his back.

I've Hit The Big Time!

I thought I'd hit the big time when I gained more followers than family members.

Then, I thought I'd hit the big time when I was asked to review a book.

But now, I've really, really hit the big time.  I was asked by CSN Stores to do a give-away.  I declined the give-away, simply because I don't want to promote a company I can't vouch for.  I asked, instead, to do a review of their products with the potential for a give-away in the future (just looking out for y'all).

I hate, hate shopping, so I admit I dragged my feet a litle bit going over to their website.  However, once I got there, I loved it.  They've pretty much got something for everyone (except horses - sorry, I tried).  I spent an hour browsing their site.  Ask my family, they'll tell you what a feat that is.  They've got a lot: furniture, home decor (including track lighting, which I'm so going to put in my dream house; I've always loved the versatility of it and the ability to spotlight certain areas of the room), housewares, home improvement, pets, outdoor, etc., etc.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna hop on over there again and see how many other ways I can blow my paycheck.  Once I've found something out of the kagillion items they have to offer, I'll put my review up here.