High Five for Friday

So today is my very first High Five for Friday post.
Lauren at From My Grey Desk hosts a fabulous link party every Friday to celebrate! I just love her blog! ( And her sister, Kate's blog, too!!)

The things I love this week:

1. Starting my blog. You won't find a whole lot of content here, yet...but stick with me. I'm just getting started....and I've got a lot to talk about. Just ask my mom...or my husband...or my dogs...

2.   Spent the whole entire day Wednesday with my brother, sister-in-law, and my 7 month old niece. I don't get to do that very often, and it was so much fun. I love them so, so much.

3.  Date night tonight with my husband! We are headed to Charlotte to see Rock of Ages. 80's hair band music galore!! Fun, Fun, Fun! 

4.   Getting our rental property ready for a new tenant. My husband worked so hard doing routine maintenance, cleaning and repairing the house. Our neighbor, Hector, was a huge help...he'd just show up and start doing stuff. Now everything is ready to go...and we have a few potential tenants lined up already!

5. The last Friday of 2011.
2012 is coming...fast and furious.
Here's to a prosperous, fun-filled, wonderful new year!

Best wishes to you all!

Skin Salvation

Even though it's almost January, the weather here has been unseasonably warm. We've had a few chilly days and temperatures have begun to drop at night, but so far, winter has yet to show it's teeth.

The air has gotten drier, though, especially indoors, and my skin definitely shows it. That means it's time for me to ramp up my skincare and, as P-Diddy would say,  "moisturize my situation"...

My skin has always been on the dry side. My face is more normal-to-dry, being somewhat drier in the winter,  but my body is subtropical-desert-dry all the time.
Over the last several years, I've figured out what products my skin likes the best and I only have to make a few minor changes to my skincare routine when the seasons change.

 Here's the lowdown...

For my face:

It's the most obvious thing, but makes an amazing difference in my skin

About 8 glasses a day works for me.

DHC Cleansing Oil.

I use this all year to remove makeup. It it water soluble and rinses off cleanly. Very gentle and effective.
Sometimes I use their Mild Soap after the cleansing oil, but not as much in the winter.








Clinique Repairwear Intensive Night Cream for Dry to Very Dry Skin.

It's technically for nighttime, but I use it day and night. It rebuilds collagen and has lots of antioxidants.It doesn't have any sunscreen, so I mix it with a little foundation that has SPF.




Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado

This is very moisturizing and gentle. I only use it at night, though. My concealer is moisturizing and if I used this underneath my concealer would slide off my face.







Clinique Moisture Surge Tinted Moisturizer.

 Most brands never have a foundation shade light enough for me. I mix a bit of this into my moisturizing cream and it puts just the right amount of color in there...and a little SPF, too
I'm a redhead with very fair skin...I need some SPF, yo. If I am going to be outside for longer than 10-15 minutes, I wear a separate sunscreen with SPF of 70. I will burn in 20 minutes or less without it.

Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus Corrector

Trying to keep things as streamlined as possible, I use this about every other night. It's not so much a moisturizer as it is a potent wrinkle preventer/fighter.






Blistex Medicated Lip Ointment and Aquaphor

 

I apply the Blistex in a light layer first, then a but of Aquaphor on top. No more cracked, stinging, and flaky lips.

For my body:

Lush Buffy Body Butter
This little bar is a skin-miracle. Used in the shower, it has scrubby bits that make skin smooth. But it's also made of cocoa and shea butters. When they get a little warm from the shower and skin contact, the butters melt a little and leave a light layer on the skin that remains after patting skin dry. It's not greasy or oily at all. This one product has made the most difference in my skin, especially the backs of my arms, shoulders and legs. I buy 4 bars at a time and they last me all year.

Kiss My Face Lavender and Shea Moisture Shave

I used to always get scaly, flaky patches on my skin after shaving, but never with this. It's very silky, not exactly a foaming type of cream at all. More like a pearly, slippery lotion. And it smells divine.







Those are some staples for winterizing my skin.
What are some products that you love this time of year?

Smoothly,

Plans

This is the time of year when I start making lots of BIG plans. Things I want to accomplish over the upcoming year, lifestyle changes, etc.

I don't think I'm the only one who does this....
............am I?

Aside from the beginning of a new year....I am about to celebrate the first anniversary of my 39th birthday.
Surely, that doesn't have anything to do with it either.......

Right.

Of course it doesn't.

Anyhow, I've started gathering my ideas, I've bought a new planner (I LOVE new planners)

and over the next few days, a plan shall be formulated.

(Much to the chagrin of my husband....he is so NOT into this kind of thing)

Most of my ideas revolve around organizing and decluttering the house, re-thinking my wardrobe, streamlining our finances, getting healthier, building up my handmade accessories business, and more organizing.


Since it's 2012, I've stuck to my top 12 ideas/projects...that'll be one per month. Nifty, huh? :) 
I've got some short and long-term goals, so each month I will begin 1 idea.

Here's the list (in no particular order)...check out the links in there...that's where the inspiration is coming from

1. Working through A Bowl Full of Lemons' Weekly Challenges
2. Tracking my food and exercise daily - lose some weight
3. Play golf. Regularly. Or at least go to the driving range once a week.
4. Build a capsule wardrobe for Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer
5. Plan our container garden and our flower planters for spring
6. Build in more time to be creative
7. Create our budget for this year
8. Sell our condo....I don't have much control over this, but we need to make it happen this year.
9. Research our next house (buy one one or build one? where? how?)
10. Back up my laptop once a month (I need to just set a recurring date and do it!)
11. Plan meals consistently and cook more
12. Schedule time off work...through the whole year. Figure out if/when/where we'll travel, holidays, etc.

What kind of plans (or resolutions) have you made for the new year?

Exhaustedly,

Everyday

I am a routine-oriented person. Doing certain things the same way or in the same order help me be more productive...and less forgetful.

One of my "everyday" habits is coffee and toast in the morning.
I get hungry about an hour after I wake up so I'll make a piece of toast (sourdough, please) with a little butter, and coffee. I will enjoy it as I check email or blog or whatever, and it just starts my day off the right way.

In the very cold months, I go for hot coffee, but most of the time, iced coffee is my beverage of choice. I make my own using a recipe that my girl Ree came up with. Sometimes, though, if I'm short on time (running late...let's be real) I'll grab a packet of this and off I go.

The Starbucks option is very tasty. I prefer the plain lightly sweetened or the caramel versions. With the caramel one I don't really need to add any more sugar.

My homemade version, however, is the best. I can control how strong it is and I make it in a big batch that lasts a week or two in the fridge. It's also much, much cheaper.

I'll pour some over ice, add a little vanilla creamer (I like the low fat, all natural versions) and....oh what a beautiful morning!

I have several of those double-wall plastic cups with straws (Starbucks sells them for about $12 but you can find them as low as $5 at CVS or Walgreens). These are great to take to work. No messy spills, and it keeps the coffee cold for a while.  I love them for tea, water and juice too!

Coffee and toast are just two little everyday things that help me get going and make my day better.

Late Bloomer

I'm a late bloomer.
I've just always been...kinda...behind...on certain things.

Now that's not to say I was held back in school or anything. On the contrary, I was in the "Advanced" classes (whatever that means). But there are plenty of things that I simply just caught on to much later than (most) everyone else. Partly because I like to think about things a lot before I commit to them, and partly because I am afraid that I will look silly doing them.

It took me a while to get on the Blog bandwagon.

I've always had a lot to say, and plenty of things to talk about...so I am carving out a little space for my own expression.

A Little Space has a few different meanings.
It's a little space in the practically infinite internet.
My home, which will be featured on this blog sometimes, is a very little space (900 square feet)
And finally, it's a little space for me to share things I love with others.

So.....here goes nothin'.

I'm late to this party. But I plan on sticking around a while.