Busy Times!

School is ramping up in a major way! I haven't forgotten about my little blog over here, but my mileage may vary over the next weeks.

Breathe deep, be beautiful!

Beauty tips for those all-nighters

I'm up and awake after having turned in my last paper of the quarter. I was up til 5am finishing it and have had many, many nights like that one this quarter. After sleeping for three hours, it was time to get up and get ready for the last day of the quarter.

What to do with little sleep and low functionality? Here is my checklist for the day after an (almost) all-nighter...

Eat well! At least every two or three hours eat a small snack. An apple and cheese stick. A yogurt with a small handful of nuts. Veggies and humus dip. You know what to do here, and no, it's not eating whatever you can get your hands on - no chips, no chocolate, no fries if you can help it.

Shower! Nothing says 'refreshed' like clean skin and hair. Even if it's a 30 second spin under the water. Wash your face and gently massage the skin to encourage blood flow and fight puffiness.

Drink Water! With every snack drink a small glass of water. It doesn't have to be a lot, a little bit goes a long way.

Take a short walk! Even a couple of blocks with good posture and deep breaths will help with alertness.

Plan to take it a bit easy! Today is not the day to head to the gym for a killer kick-boxing class. Keep the exercise light and mild - short refreshing walks are perfect.

Caffeine in moderation! No sense in wigging out on too much coffee on an already challenging day. Don't go over your usual daily allotment, otherwise things just get weird!!

A little lip gloss please! A small amount of makeup can do wonders. A little under-eye concealer, a swipe of tinted moisturizer and of course, some lip gloss for shine!

Be well!

What a week...

Sprained ankle. Yep, did it all on my very own. In the most embarrassing way, naturally.

I live in a townhouse, the stairs have a small landing halfway up before snaking around the corner and leading to the upstairs. Last week I was playing a hand-held Nintendo video game while walking down the stairs. I thought the landing was the next step, so I stepped out further than usual and was quite surprised to find an additional step. My heel slipped, my foot rolled painfully underneath my ankle and I did a header straight into the wall.

Word to the wise, playing video games while walking down the stairs is a dangerous endeavor!

I spent the week in a removable "boot" to keep my ankle stable. This week I have an ace bandage wrapped tightly around my ankle to prevent any unexpected rolling to happen while I'm walking and I've relegated the video game playing to the couch only!

Blogging has been slow, finals are upon me. I have another week of this killer schedule and am looking forward to relaxing and thinking about beauty products again.

I'm in search of a nice, sheer yet velvety face powder. On days I don't wear a tinted moisturizer I need a little something to keep the shine down. Sunscreen is a must but it tends to be a bit slick! There is a Clinique counter here in the campus bookstore. I may pop over there after lunch to see what I can find.

Until next time, think beautiful thoughts and watch your step! :)

Great Depression Cooking with Clara

Maybe you've seen her on youtube, or one of many news programs that have featured a story on the 93-year old great-grandmother named Clara. I ran across a video a few months back of her making "Depression Soup". Inspired, I made a batch of similar soup and it was indeed inexpensive and delicious.

Tonight I made my own version of her "Poor man's meal". You must make this, it's excellent!

Check out the video here:



I chose an organic potato, onion and garlic. Salted and peppered, I sauteed until soft, then added sliced vegan Italian Sausage (for some spice) and several spoonfulls of spaghetti sauce.

This is the real deal. Inexpensive, quick and easy and best of all, Delish!!

Inner Radiance

As finals are quickly approaching, I have several papers to write, assignments to finish and a life to try and lead. What happens to my self-care when life gets busy? That's right, straight out the window. I'm sorely in need of some beauty maintenance at the moment...

This week I'm concentrating on what I can control: eating healthful foods, drinking water and green tea, taking it easy on the coffee, sleeping as much as time allows and getting extra walking in.

As I don't have time to make it to the gym I've been getting off the bus one stop earlier than usual. It's only a few blocks but those extra minutes I spend in motion do add up and have made a significant impact on lowering my stress levels.

Since I have a paper to type and am sitting at the computer for a couple of hours straight I figure it's a good time to give myself a mini-manicure. Not moving around and just typing actually gives my nail polish time to dry as well!

Being busy it's easy to not take care of myself, but who benefits from that? Not me!

Take a moment, and it really only takes a moment, to breath deep and do something nice for yourself. It doesn't have to be a big thing. Spending 30 seconds washing your face or three minutes stretching on a bathroom break signals your brain to pump out the happy hormones, which help flush out the stress hormones.

Stretch! Walk! Breath! Enjoy!

Pretty, pretty lips!

I popped into Sephora over the weekend. As much as I love this place, I tend to shop online for most everything. I love makeup and skincare products but I tend to get a bit overwhelmed when faced with 100,000 different products. However when I'm in need of something new I brave the waters and visit in person.

On this particular trip I found a new lip gloss that I'm in love with...

Sephora brand Ultra-Shine lip gloss

$15 for the tube. I have Silver Raspberry 07 (plum with opalescent sheen). A sheer plum color with the perfect amount of shine.

I've worn the gloss for three days now. The color is light and the gloss is sparkly. I love it, and I'm sorely tempted to order some more colors online today...

Just in time for Valentine's Day

You *must* check this out.... I prefer Fernando myself...



Kiss Me in 3D


Reviews coming soon!

Healthy, inexpensive find of the week

I found the best sandwiches this week. I'd been hearing about Vietnamese sandwiches for some months now and have been meaning to try them. Finally I stumbled on to a tiny place near school that sells these amazing concoctions for cheap!

When I mean amazing, I mean french bread stuffed with fresh, stir-fried tofu, fresh carrots, cucumbers and some cilantro thrown on for taste. Add some plum sauce and a dash of Srirachi sauce and you are good to go.

A tofu sandwich at my place runs $3 (and that's after tax). That's right. $3. Cheaper than Subway and all the other chain sandwich shops.

If you have any Vietnamese restaurants in your area, I do encourage you to check one out!

Green Tea

I've been really good about not drinking coffee lately. I have a serious love/hate relationship with the stuff. As in, I LOVE it, but my body hates it.

As a pretty dedicated tea drinker for the last several years (Earl Grey, cream/sugar) I have developed quite a taste for the sweet, creamy goodness, but every so often I fall off the wagon and head back to the beans.

Right now I'm making an effort to drink more Green Tea. I had a recent skin cancer scare (which is frightening in and off itself, due to my fair skin, history with sunburns and having melanoma in my family history) and read that those who drink green tea have less recurrence of skin cancers than those that do not. (I'll post links, etc. later.)

Since my scare wasn't full blown cancer, just some funky cells that were itching to grown into cancer, I figure any habits I change now will be for the best.

Thus - bring on the green tea!




There was a recent study (I read in one of my health magazine, I think Vegetarian Times) of the health benefits of bottled green tea. A great number of them had such a small amount of good stuff that you may as well drink a coke. The one item/brand that consistently provided the most antioxidants:




HonestTea Honey Green


If you aren't near a kitchen, buy the Honest Tea in good health.

Your Money or Your Life

This lovely gem of a book has been in print for a number of years now. I think I've owned it at least three different times and have yet to read the entire book. After reading a financial blog last week listing their top five books, Your Money or Your Life was listed. Feeling inspired, I ordered it from Amazon.

Even though I'm in school and have *plenty* that I should be reading right now, I can't put this book down! I've decided I can read it as my "commuter" book on the bus.

I'll blog about my progress as the chapters go by. I can't help but feel a bit skeptical - the first action item is to log each and every expense for a month - down to the penny. Do you know how many times I've done that over the last decade? Let's hope I get to the next steps before I give up or get distracted by something else...