I am a lipstick junkie. At any given time, I might have 3-4 lipsticks in my purse. I have pinks, reds, browns, neutrals… I mean, a girl’s gotta match her outfit, right?

I found some really nice lipsticks (and lip glosses) that I love and I thought I’d share.

First up is the only lip gloss I will wear. Normally, I hate lip gloss. It’s sticky and goopy and generally makes me feel messy, not put-together. But this one I love. I found it thanks to someone at church. She recommended it last winter.

Buxom Buxom Lips Full Color

Buxom Lips Full Color – Sophie

A little pricey, but oh, so worth it.

The shade I wear is “Sophie.” They have about a bajillion colors, though, so I’m sure you could find one you like.

What I like about it is this:

It’s not too goopy.
It has a minty taste/smell – and SuperMan says I taste minty when he kisses me.
It has a nice shine but it’s not too glossy.
Doesn’t dry my lips out – actually makes them feel moisturized.
It lasts a long, long time (and that is my favorite part)

I also found these at the drug store the other day:

Maybelline Color Sensational Lipsticks

At $5 each, I decided to splurge a little and bought two colors.

The Broadway Bronze is a great neutral (for me) and I have worn it almost every day since I bought it. I like the Tinted Taupe as well.

What I like about these:

$5 price
lots of colors to choose from
feels great on my lips and doesn’t dry them out
pretty cases 🙂

So, there you have it. My current favorite lipsticks.

What are your favorite brands/colors? Any suggestions for me to try out? I gotta feed my habit, you know.

Who knew!?!

I discovered something new about myself this weekend.

Something I would’ve never imagined.

Something that has caused me to look at myself a little differently.

What is that, you ask?

Well, I found out I love, love, love dance/hip-hop music. I guess that is what you call it. I have no clue what it’s categorized as. I don’t really care. I just love it.

La Roux

Enrique Iglesias

Lady Gaga

Taoi Cruz

Ke$ha

Seriously.

Me?

I love the beat of the songs – not that crazy about the suggestive lyrics (some of them had me going “WHAT did they just say?!”) but I’m loving that rhythmic beat.

Especially driving down the road as fast as I dare with the radio turned up as loud as I can stand.

Goodness.

The Middle-Aged-Mommy-Me is shocked.

The Other-Me is thrilled.

🙂

What? A Scrapbooking Post?

I know, I know… those of you who originally started following my blog to see scrapbooking related posts have probably gotten really disappointed in me lately… the scrapbooking has been rather absent. As a matter of fact, if you’re still hanging around, I have a special message for you…

Thank you.

I know I have been rather lax in the scrapbooking department. But, I have no good excuses for you – Life just gets in the way sometimes, you know?

But, the good news is that I have two scrapbooking retreats this fall – one was this past weekend and one is in October. I think I have found my scrapping mojo again – although it took me most of this past weekend to find it!

Here are a few pages I did over the weekend. For those of you who are Creative Memories software users, I’ll post some templates later in the week.

Menu Plan Monday ~ 13 September

Hi, gang!

Have you missed me?

I took a little mini vacation this past weekend. Mommies on the loose in the North Georgia mountains… It was very restful and lots of fun.

I wanted to wish a very special welcome to you ladies who are visiting my blog from the retreat! I was so flattered to hear this weekend how much you enjoy reading my blog! And I thought I was just talking to myself all this time. 🙂

But today, I’m back to the real world of school lunches, carpools, after-school activities and planning my family’s meals for the week.

I don’t not want to do this, but it sure was nice to have a break for a couple days and only worry about whether or not I would rather nap, read, or scrapbook. 🙂

This week is SuperMan’s birthday week. I have asked him a few times if he has any special requests, but he keeps telling me no. SO, the menu may change if he thinks of something, but at this point, here’s what I have planned:

Homemade Chicken Nuggets (this is becoming my Monday standby as it’s a busy after-school day)
Tacos/Burritos (this one is Little Bit’s special request)
Salmon croquettes and grits
Asian Beef with Noodles (this is an old Weight Watchers Recipe I love)
Slow Cooker Crock Pot Chicken

I’m also cooking for a friend and her family this weekend. She is having surgery on Friday so a few of us are going to provide the family with meals so they don’t have to worry about what to eat or cooking – they can focus on taking care of their Mama while she recovers. I’m thinking I will either cook my great-grandma’s Sausage Rice Casserole recipe or the chicken w/ rotel casserole I made for my family (and it was such a great hit) a few weeks ago. And, of course, there will be a cake of some sort involved. 🙂

What are you cooking for your family this week? Join us over at orgjunkie.com with your Menu Plan Monday.

Flying by the seat of my pants

My menu plan was out the window this week. Between travel over the weekend and the Labor Day holiday AND a raging cold, thinking about what to eat/cook this week was just beyond my capacity on Sunday or Monday.

So, I’ve been winging it. Which is a little stressful, a lot more expensive, but is also blossoming my creativity. What can I cook with what I have on hand and without a trip to the fast-food takeout joints?

Tonight’s dinner?

Chicken Parmesan.

YUM.

I love Chicken Parm. It brings back memories from my (Italian) childhood. Lots of cheese, garlic, tomato sauce, and of course, chicken.

Today I tried a crock-pot recipe for Chicken Parmesan recipe. I checked out several “traditional” recipes and a few crock-style recipes and invented my own version.

One thing I did differently was that I did not bread my chicken. My grandmother may be watching from up above thinking this is a sacrilege but I was trying to eliminate the extra carbohydrates and I figured that was an easy way to do it. Besides, in the crock pot, the breading would’ve just turned to mush. And I don’t need bready mush – ever.

I also didn’t make my traditional tomato sauce that I use for spaghetti and most anything else Italian I make. (Grandma may decide to disown me now.)

I figured I was going to try the super-easy, super-simple method and see how it turned out. So, I just used an extra-large can of crushed tomatoes and seasoned them with some garlic, Italian seasoning and my Houston House Seasoning.

And, I used high-protein pasta. I like Barilla Plus. They have an angel hair pasta, so that made the decision easy for me. I like the fact that I’m feeding my family the extra protein and vitamins without the white flour and fillers in regular pasta.

The verdict?

Major yumminess. And major easiness, too. A win-win as far as I’m concerned.

The kids loved it, too.

I served it with garlic bread and SuperMan will probably get a salad with his (when he gets home from work, that is)

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
4-6 Chicken Breasts (boneless, skinless)
Houston House Seasoning
Italian seasoning
Garlic (I use diced garlic in the jar but you can press 2-3 cloves fresh garlic)
1 tsp sugar
pinch of celery seed
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 pound of angel hair pasta
Garlic Bread (you can’t eat this without it!)

Preparation:

Season chicken breasts with Houston House Seasoning.
In a large skillet, brown chicken breasts in olive oil.
In a large bowl, mix the crushed tomatoes, sugar, celery seed, about 2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning and 2 Tbsp of minced garlic.
Add your chicken to the slow cooker.
Pour tomato mixture on top.
Set your slow cooker on low and let the chicken cook for 6-8 hrs.
When you are ready to serve, boil your pasta water and preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
While the pasta is cooking, place the chicken breasts in an oven safe dish and top with about 1/2 cup of the tomato mixture on each breast.
Sprinkle some of the cheese on top of the chicken.
Bake in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese.
Serve the chicken on a bed of pasta that has been topped with about 1/4 cup of the tomato sauce that is left over in your slow cooker.

And here’s a link where you can print your own copy.

And, as my grandpa would say… mangi!

Welcoming Fall

Fall doesn’t officially start until September 23 – but around here, the day after Labor Day is the unofficial first day of Fall. And it sure felt Fall-ish this morning when I woke to fifty-something degree temperatures outside. How wonderful it was to feel that coolness in the air! Of course, it will be ninety before the day is out, but at least we’re getting a taste of Fall temperatures already. The girls are anxious for the cool weather, too. They have new clothes to try out and they’re ready to be able to run amok outside without coming in soaked and stinky and sweaty.

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love it for so many reasons:

I love the crisp, cool air – and the fact that I can leave the doors and windows open all day. And I love how the sky always seems SO BLUE and so bright on those cool Autumn days.
I love the nesting instinct that kicks in when the weather changes. I want to spruce things up, tidy up, and put out new decor. (I got my Halloween/Fall decorations out of the basement this morning but am trying to resist putting them out for at least another week – although I probably won’t make it)
I love cooking new things – more comfort foods and heartier meals – with the change in weather.
I love the fact that Fall usually signals a re-start to my scrapbooking. I have a retreat this weekend and I can’t wait to spend some dedicated time on my albums. I haven’t really done much since the last retreat in April.
I love snuggling under my down comforter when the nights are cool. I am sure SuperMan is not looking forward to that – he usually melts – but I can’t wait to drag that thing out of storage and snuggle down!
I love watching the leaves fall, and the colors on the mountain outside my window change.
I love watching my kitties and pups get frisky and romp around in the cool mornings.
I love carved pumpkins, Halloween costumes, and watching the kids trick-or-treat.