Will you be Preserving Summer's Bounty?

 Fall is inching closer and closer.  And as tough as it is to let summer go, one of the benefits of this time of the year is the cornucopia of seasonal fruit and veggies bursting at the seams of local farmer's markets. 

In an effort to avoid high sugar, high salt, and other mysterious (and bad for me) additives, I have decided to do some preserving this year. I have to admit, I have been planning on preserving for a while now, but was a bit intimidated by the process.

 I picked up the Art of Preserving by the fine people of Williams-Sonoma.  I recommend this book for newbs to preserving.  It has all the basic recipes and also recipes on how to use what you've made.  Brilliant.  I will do a more thorough review of this book once I've tried more recipes.

I was really pleased to find out that I needed very few specialty utensils and supplies to get started.   Very cheap start up! 

 I started with peach rosemary jam.  This is my first ever attempt at preserving, and it worked out wonderfully.  I used a bit less sugar, so it's a little runny, but SO delicious.  And a lot easier than I thought.

My next project is tomato sauce.  

 I also want to make salsa, apricot jam, plum jam, and apple butter.  

Are you going to be preserving this year?  I would love to swap recipes and tips with you!

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Who Does That?

Me, that's who.  Of what do I speak of?  First of all, HELLO loverlies I hope you all had wonderful WONDERFUL weekends!  I did, 'specially cause this guy finally came home from his 7 DAY business trip to Orlando ...

{No this wasn't recent.  This was before sweet little Caleb made his momma all pudgey.  In a cute sort of way of course!  This was about 3 years ago on our trip to Mexico for my cousin's wedding.}

Which is good, because while he was gone I felt like this ...

{Same trip.  Apparently there was a silly face theme going on on this trip ...}

So I snuggled with this guy all week long and he kept me company ...

{Last Thanksgiving.  With my Koda bear.}

I also had some WONDERFUL surprise visitors but that will be a different post.  We didn't take pictures, however we're going to make up for it.  I'll give you a hint, it's a fellow blogger.  However I know her in real life and read her blog as a result.  We met at good ol' BU.  And I miss her.  Tons.  And her darling (brand new) baby girl.  Okay, that's a lot of hints.  Like I said, more on that tomorrow.

So, back to the "Who Does That?" portion of this post.  SINCE I am preggers and trying to make my hair as completely non-difficult and be as lazy cute as possible, I've been wearing a lot of pigtails.  With hats.  And possibly pushing my hair to it's washing limits.  Don't judge me, it takes a long time to dry and straighten this mess on my head.  Don't worry, I bathe.  I just may skip-a-roo a day (or two) with the hair washing and straightening.  And I can't believe I just admitted that to the blogosphere.  I hope you'll all still be my friend.  But HEY my stylist says it's GOOD for your hair!  I promise I always smell good (unless I've spent the day running through an airport preggers in the summer, in that case no one would smell good ...)  Okay, I'm done defending myself.  So, whilst trying to "touch up" the straightness of the pigtails that I was sporting on Saturday, I went in with the straightener to clamp down one of the piggies ... except I clamped a little too far.  And by little I mean ...

ALL the way in, to my neck.  Whereafter I SHOUTED mumbled a few too many four letter words, but don't worry I said "earmuffs" to Caleb first.  I'm sticking with my idea that he knew what that meant.  The burn quickly stopped hurting so I thought I was fine.  When I initially looked in the mirror it looked like the picture above but less red so I thought I was in the clear.  However when I went out to get my morning bagel and Starbucks the thing felt like someone was putting a cigarette out on my neck.  Non stop.  For about an hour.  And by the time I joined my family for dinner Saturday night it looked like this ...

Like I've been branded.  By Hurley.  You know, the California surfing line?  Needless to say, I officially have the coolest hickey ever.  Too bad the Mister was out of town so I definately didn't have any fun getting it. (TMI?  Sorry mom ...) Thankfully it doesn't hurt, however if you've ever wondered what happens if you try and flat iron your neck, well there you have it.  Wonder no more.  This is as close to a tattoo as I'll ever get folks.  And apparently my tattoo of choice is the Hurley logo?  Funny, I would've thought it'd be a cross or our wedding date.  You know, something more meaningful?  And somewhere besides my neck.  Good thing this one will disappear soon ...

And that's pretty much the extent of my excitement this weekend loves.  Today, the Mister and I had a breakfast, lunch and dinner date to catch up for the week/weekend of dates we missed over the last 7 days.  Besides that and watching the worst movie ever, To Paris With Love (does that or does that not sound like a romantic comedy and NOT a movie about John Travolta and the worst actor ever shooting everything they come in contact with for about an hour and 25 minutes?  I'm just sayin' ...) we had a low key, golf watching, (which equates to me napping and sleeping the best sleep ever, golf is to me what Ambien is to most people) lazy-being kind of Sunday.  Which are the best in my opinion!  I hope your weekends were fantasmic as well and that you refrained from causing yourself any bodily harm as I did!

Time for You - 14.08.2010

<a href="http://tomboysrgirls2.blogspot.com" title="Click Me"><br /> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbtoDnRUOtU4Sz_kuRjV6r4V-cTQiDP5eR-U50BUdkYZESq-TY_1A350NZvgeY-xmNMEJDTbgzFPf1HeMMim-68xGj1BNxS3yhoQPolc0T3okFKKI4_nOt5pA-sMux8cRGXZy7NLOPPc/s1600/Time+for+You+Button.jpg" /></a><br />

When was the last moment you set aside time time for you?

Now is the time!

• Every Friday night, visit Untypically Jia and The Girly Tomboy where we will post a link up. Every week a new list will be added, so make sure to come back each week and link up.
  
Grab the 'Time for You' button and place it in your post or on your sidebar.
Blog about the steps you are taking to improve your health and link that post. (Only link up the individual post. No links to your main blog, giveaways or other posts. Links will be monitored.)
Once you've linked up, click on as many other links as you'd like and offer your support to fellow bloggers who are taking time for themselves. Leave thoughtful comments, offer support and advice, follow their blogs and build friendships. We're in this journey together!

This is all about improving your life and taking time for you! It's not just about fitness or weight loss. Blog about how you're going to try and quit smoking. About how you're preparing to run a 5k marathon. Blog about your desire and steps your taking to overcome depression. Blog about your journey to lose weight or your plans to get pregnant.

One blogger from each week will be randomly selected and featured the following week.  Want to be featured? Then you have to participate!

So take some Time for You, dish, and then link up and join the fun!

Time For You Segment and Blog Hop

As you know, I recently made a pact with myself to take better care of myself.  But in reality, it's not easy for me to make myself a priority.  And sometimes, I need a bit of inspiration, and a bit of support.  So I have teamed up with the wonderful Jia to bring you a weekly segment and blog hop called 'A Time for You'.  It's a way for all of us to inspire each other to meet our goals.

Here's how it will work:

* Every Friday night, visit Untypically Jia and The Girly Tomboy where we will post a link up. Every week a new list will be added, so make sure to come back each week and link up.

* Grab the 'Time for You' button and place it in your post or on your sidebar.

* Blog about the steps you are taking to improve your health and link that post. (Only link up the individual post. No links to your main blog, giveaways or other posts. Links will be monitored.)

* Once you've linked up, click on as many other links as you'd like and offer your support to fellow bloggers who are taking time for themselves. Leave thoughtful comments, offer support and advice, follow their blogs and build friendships. We're in this journey together!

And remember, this is about taking care of yourself and taking time out of your busy schedule for you.  In my case, the goal is fitness and weight loss, but you may be trying to quit smoking (yes little sister, I'm talking to you!), or overcoming depression, or uncluttering your closet, or looking for a job you don't hate, or even trying to get pregnant.  So blog about your goals and the steps you are taking to meet them, tell us about your struggles and your successes, and then share those blog posts with us every Saturday.

Traveling Whilst 6 Months Preggers ...

Hello loverlies!  I'm SO very sorry that I missed Thoughtless Thursday yesterday!  I was supposed to meet a friend for breakfast and rolled out of bed about 20 minutes before I was supposed to be there, which pretty much led to my running late with everything else the rest of the day thus causing me NOT to blog!  I do want to say thank you, THANK YOU for all your thoughtful and loving comments regarding my mama's barn and the precious horses that lost their lives on Tuesday.  I do, however, have some comforting news that the fire marshall delivered yesterday.  He said that from the looks of where the fire started that the horses more than likely died of smoke inhalation before they were able to feel any pain, which gives my heart a lot of peace. 

But enough of the heavy, let's move on to more humorous tales (and I'm going to warn you this is going to be long, but if you need a good chuckle today I'd advise reading on ...).  Like that of me traveling.  At 6 months pregnant.  When we miss our connecting flight on the way TO our destination and almost miss it on the way home FROM our vacay.  Let's start with on the way there.  We landed in Minneapolis and when we got to our gate, BEFORE the plane was to take off, we were met with a locked door and no one at the ticket counter.  Apparently they'd given our seats away since we weren't there 20 minutes before to board.  This is when my Mister immediately went into "dad mode" (if he wasn't already, sometimes I'm convinced he's constantly in "dad mode") and told us it was time to BOOK IT to the nearest Delta ticket counter.  As expected, after working his magic, we were on a delayed flight that was supposed to have left earlier however we had 15 minutes to get there in order for them to allow us on the plane ... to get to a gate that was at least a few football fields away.  As soon as we were given this info I am pretty sure my Mister's heels ignited causing him to shoot off like a rocket leaving me to see nothing resembling him besides a cloud of smoke.  Now for those of you that aren't preggers I'm not sure if you know this (because I clearly didn't when I attempted this feat at first) but you can NOT run, in flip flops, when your extent of excercise for the past 6 months has included a pregnancy video which is basically a bunch of chubby (but cute!) ladies doing a few ridiculous kicks and punches and calling it a workout.  Which is fine, I understand that your workouts have to be less intense when you're pregnant, all I'm saying is the maternity videos don't "train" you for a new sport I like to call "airport sprinting".  So after my rocket Mister takes off I start walking like one of those crazy women you see power walking with weights and with sweat bands around her forehead and wrists and looking like she's doing what can only be described as "labor breathing".  All the while carrying my 30 lb carry-on bag (what?  it's completely necessary to have 10 magazines, 2 books, a purse, sunglasses, my iPhone and 42 packs of gum inside one large bag.  a girl has to be prepared!)  Thankfully we get there and they let us on the plane, at which point my Mister turns around and remembers that he has a wife, let alone one that's pregnant, and tells me "Good job momma" to which I reply "{GASP} Th- {GASP} -a- {GASP} -nk- {GASP, GASP, GASP, WHEEZE} -s- {WHEEZE, WHEEZE, WHEEZE}" not to mention he gave me a high five on the plane.  That's my Mister.  He's pretty cute actually, if you ask me.  Needless to say, after this the trip was smooth sailing ...

Until we came back home.  The Mister left from Michigan to go to the the home of my personal "Heaven on Earth" Disney World, for work for a week and my brother, my Silly (sister in law for you new readers) and myself headed back to Dallas.  This is where it REALLY gets "fun" ... the flight from Grand Rapids to Detroit was fine.  In fact it was dandy.  I listened to a little music, read a little and then we were landing.  It was, of course, only a 30 minute flight.  Being that we had such an ... experience, yeah that's what we'll call it ... the last time we tried to catch a connecting flight we were all determined to make DARNED SURE we were at the gate at boarding time.  However our first flight made that a bit difficult as we landed at 6:35pm and our other plane was boarding at 6:40pm.  We were told to tell the guy at the gate when we deplaned that we were catching a connecting flight and to please call the gate that our flight was leaving out of.  We promptly did as we were told, however we got a friendly "I can't, you'll just have to hustle" from the pleasant guy at the gate.  Um.  Hustle?  HUSTLE?  Do I LOOK like I can HUSTLE?!?  But hustle we did and (insert all details of previous airport sprinting experience (minus my little rocket of a Mister) which I'm pretty sure we could all letter in after our extensive practice) got there in plenty of time.  And by plenty of time I mean they weren't even boarding.  So as I'm still gasping and wheezing (because it takes me a good 20 minutes to an hour to cool off and bring my heart rate down these days) we start to board the plane.  We're sitting in the back (which doesn't bother me) and I'm happy to have an isle seat (I HATE climbing over people I don't know to pee) ... until I see my seatmate.  A GIANT  (think Andre) 6' 5" man who's poor legs are crammed into the seat in front of him as well as spilling over into my seat as well as his arms and half his torso.  Great.  I'm already bigger than normal and sure that I'm going to need every inch of comfort in my own seat, let alone SHARE it with this man next to me.  Luckily he was adorably cute about it and said "I'm sorry ma'am, I'm just a tall guy and they don't make these seats big enough for me" which he was right.  It was pretty ridiculous the amount of room his legs and arms had to go.  However, I'm still pregnant.  Still wheezing.  Still exhausted.  Still frustrated.  I start to think "Crappity crap crap this can't get any worse."  Well, never, EVER, think that.  Because the minute you do the toddler in the seat behind you will start to whine.  And by whine, I mean WHINE.  Not cry, not act tired or hungry or scared, just cry to cry.  And surely enough (if you're lucky like me) the cry will turn into a full-on wailing scream that has a flemmy somewhat inhuman tone behind it that makes you, literally, want to pull your ear drums from your head whilst simultaneously punch the back of the seat in front of you repeatedly.  Finally my seatmate next to me says "Oh I can't TAKE no 2 hours of this!" and whips around and says to the father, "Is the baby ILL?" to which the father looks at him with no reply so my seatmate (naturally) says it again.  Louder.  "IS THE BABY ILL?  DO SHE NEED A BOTTLE" (this is verbatum friends, meanwhile I'm giggling so hard I can barely contain myself and am starting to believe this is going to be a funner {I know word police, not a word} flight that I thought!) to which the father responds "She is just crying, there's nothing I can do about it."  Um.  I beg to differ sir.  You can comfort her, give her a toy, a bottle, tell her to SHHHHHUUUUTTTTT IT!  Now don't get me wrong.  I have complete sympathy for a parent that's doing everything they can to comfort a screaming, upset child on a plane, but someone that's doing NOTHING?  No sympathy.  And here's where it gets even better.  This woman about 6 rows up keeps looking back every time the kid cries, so I'm thinking she's as annoyed as the rest of the back of the plane is so I'm shooting her rolling eyes, "get me off this plane" type of looks thinking she's on team "annoying toddler" ... well after about 20 minutes of the sheer torture she walks to the back of the plane, goes to the row behind me and PICKS UP the little girl!  I'd been shooting "I can't stand this kid" looks to the MOTHER OF THE CHILD.  I've never felt so bad in my life.  However I quickly got over it when the kid immediately shut up and didn't cry the rest of the flight.  Um, WHY DIDN'T YOU COME GET HER 20 MINUTES AGO!?!  Needless to say the rest of the flight ended up being delightful, I became friends with my seatmate (Eugene) and learned all about his daughter he was visiting in NY who was studying to become a vet and made it home in one piece (no thanks to the fact that part of the ceiling fell off inside the plane and some of the windows were put on upside down, but let's not get into all that) and that's my story.  I never want to see another Delta airline as long as I live.  Not really, but really ...

Now that I've written my novel for the week, hopefully I haven't bored you all to tears.  I'll end with a few pictures ...

{I got Caleb's baby book, which I LOVE!  Now I have a place to record showers and future info about our little man!}

{This is the shirt I wore to tell our parents we were expecting.  This is the first time I've worn it since.  It looks a LOT different with a baby in that belly!}

{My sweet cousin, Erica, is moving to Wyoming this week with her husband and 2 darling boys to take care of her dad who's sick so I went to tell her goodbye yesterday.  Hopefully they'll be able to come back over Thanksgiving and meet their newest little cousin!  Please excuse the no makeup, it's friggin' H-O-T here so I figure, what's the point?}

And that's about it from me for this week loverlies!!!  I hope y'all have fantastic weekends, I'll "see" y'all Monday!!!

The Bronzy Glow - Kristin Cavallari Inspired Makeup

I am my sister's private makeup guru.  We have found her foundation, basic eye shadow colors, blush, brushes, etc.  Most recently we have been working on application.  I told her is to find a celebrity with similar coloring, who's style and makeup she likes.  Then we replicated the look.

She picked Kristin Cavallari.  I didn't even know who she was - clearly my sister and I don't watch the same reality TV.  But google image search came up with these two pics:

Based on those pictures, we used what my sister already had to replicate Kristin's neutral bronzy look.  The colors we chose are below - all MAC because that's what she had. 

 

APPLICATION

The most important part of Kristin's look is skin.  Start with a tinted moisturizer or light-medium foundation to even out your skin tone.  We used NARS sheer glow and applied with fingers.  Then follow up with a bit of powder (I'm loving MAC Prep+Prime translucent powder at the moment) on a fluffy brush to set the foundation.  Fill in your brows with either shadow, brow powder, or a brow pencil (we used Fling brow pencil).

Use a fluffy blender brush (MAC 217) to apply all eye shadow, which gives a soft application. On the lids use a soft shimmery peachy pink shadow (mix of Jest and All that Glitters e/s).  Use a matte soft warm brown to define the crease (Soft Brown e/s) and also apply it to the outer two thirds of the bottom lash line.  Lastly, use a soft wash of light shimmery shadow (Refined MSF) on the brow bone.  We used a pencil brush to apply that same highlight to the inner eye (tear duct) area to open up the eyes.  Finish the eyes by blending a black gel eye liner (Blacktrack) into the lashes and on the waterline, and apply a black mascara to the lashes.

Use a fluffy brush (MAC 138) to apply bronzer (Golden) to the hollows of the cheeks and on the temple and forehead to contour the face.  Make sure to blend the bronzer into the hairline for a more natural look. Then apply a light dusting of a shimmery peach blush (Springsheen) on the apples of the cheeks for a bit of color and glow.  Lastly, highlight the face with the same light shimmery shade used to highlight the eyes (Refined MSF).

Finally, apply a glossy pinky nude lipstick (Hue) to the lips.

Unfortunately, my sister is camera shy, but the makeup turned out great.  She even got complements from her friends!  So if you're ever in a rut and/or looking for a new makeup look, turn to your favorite celebrities for inspiration.

Who is your makeup/style idol?

Loving the Gray Nail Polish

I love black nails, but they're a little too dark for summer.  But sometimes you just need a break from colors, you know?  So I turned to gray - a summery black.  I'm loving it!

I have been wearing Zoya's Kelly, from the new 'Wonderful' collection on my toes.  I expected Kelly to be a little lighter, and a little less blue (kind of like the true gray in the splatter up top).  I think it's too dark to wear on my finger nails in the summer.  But it'll be a great color for fall and winter, and is great for toes.  Although I was hoping for concrete, I'm kind of digging the blue'ish hint to this one.  It looks almost navy in low lighting.  I feel like I'm too old to be sporting an in-your-face blue or turquoise.  So I'm thankful for Kelly, because the blue-gray color satisfies my blue needs in a sophisticated way.

For my fingers, I picked up Essie's Chinchilly from the Fall 2009 collection.  I am really digging this color.  It's a concrete gray with just the tiniest hint of beige - which warms it up ever so slightly and makes it very flattering with my warm skin tone (NC25).  The formula is a bit sheer, but I find that two coats are sufficient for a smooth even (non-streaky) coverage.  I am also happy to report that this formula works wonderfully with the Zoya color lock system, so my manicures have been lasting well for about a week.  Sweet!

Swatches of Zoya Kelly and Essie Chinchilly - taken in daylight.  One thing to keep in mind when shopping for a gray polish is that they tend to look lighter in the bottle than they do on your nails.

What nail polish colors have you been digging lately?