Link to Makeup Giveaway!

My friend Beth is having a makeup giveaway!!!! Check it out and tell her Sasha sent you!

P90X?

Does anyone know anything about P90X?

Mr. Sasha is convinced that he needs this. Just like he "needed" Windsor Pilates......

I will of course google it, but just wondered if anyone I "know" via this blog might have personal experience.

2 Stomach Viruses Later...

I'm at home with The Politician today, who caught a stomach virus from The Wild Child, who first vomited all over me and my fabulous friend Amanda at our tailgate party on Saturday. Oh, that was a fun half hour, holding a puking 2 1/2 year old while Mr. Sasha went to get the Family Van.

I'm super-hopeful that the virus will pass me by, because I simply don't have time in my schedule for a virus this week. Not one single extra bit of time.

Tuesday AM- physical for me
Wednesday AM- dentist visit I forgot about and therefore can't cancel this late
Thursday AM- WC's OT
Thursday PM- P is getting to ride a fire truck in the HS homecoming parade! Fun!
Friday AM- P and I are going to see Thomas
Friday afternoon and PM- set up for school Fall Festival that will be taking place Saturday(promise I'll get pics of the BABY KANGAROO that will be at the petting zoo!!!!!!)

So if you say prayers, include me please. Specifically: No vomiting for Sasha.

Good Deal Alert: Walgreens

Oh girls, have I got a good deal for you! I think I've mentioned before how much I like the L'Oreal Skin Genesis line. I have been using the serum and moisturizer at night and Mr. Sasha and I both love the way it smells! This line is marketed to those of us in our 30s. Their tagline is "Layer by layer, create skin that looks younger, tighter, brighter."

Right now Walgreen's is offering a fabulous deal on the Skin Genesis cleanser- either the gel pictured above, the cream, or the towelettes is FREE after their mail-in rebate. I can't speak for the cream or towelettes, but I LOVE this gel cleaner. My favorite packing is always a pump, and this cleanses so well and leaves my face looking and smelling fabulous.

It looks like you can print a $1 coupon from their website, which would make this a money-maker. Basically, they'd pay you $1 to take this product from their store! I'm registered at their site and I have a $2 coupon I received in the mail sometime in the last month, so I'll be using that and profiting $2, less the postage stamp for the rebate of course.

Have you tried this line? What did you think?

New Ebates Link

Ebates is doing their $10 bonus again, through October 31. Sign up through me and we'll both get $10 after you make your first purchase! All our favorite stores are on there... what are you waiting for?

Max Factor Lash Perfection Volume Couture Mascara

I have found my new Holy Grail (HG) mascara!

Max Factor Lash Perfection Volume Couture Mascara

I recently got an invitation to join a Max Factor campaign from BzzAgent, and being the makeup junkie that I am, I jumped on it! They didn't say exactly what we would be receiving, but I was excited to find out.

When I got my BzzKit, it included a Lipfinity lipcolor in Glowing, a ColorGenius Blush and Blush Brush, and the mascara. Although I did like the lipcolor and blush, the mascara is so fabulous it deserves it's own blog post.

Here's what my BzzGuide says about the mascara: Lash Perfection Volume Couture works with the advanced iFX brush designed to deliver superb volume and lash definition for a look that is big and bold yet sleek and smooth. We put our old mascaras up to the test and were surprised at the results. Discover the difference yourself!

This is absolutely, hands down, the best mascara I have ever tried. I have about 7 mascaras in my makeup case, and every day I find myself reaching for this one. The fact that it's a drugstore mascara makes this find even sweeter- with a low price and coupons often available, it's a great buy.

Have you tried it yet? If not, what's your favorite mascara right now?

Vocab Lesson: Kidimated Trip Time

If you are planning a road trip with your kiddos, be sure and convert Mapquest's Estimated Trip Time into Sasha's Kidimated Trip Time. By experience, I have found the multiplier to be 1.43.

For example, if Mapquest tells you the ETT is 7 hrs for your trip to Sea World:

7.0 hours ETT X 1.43 multiplier = 10.0 hours KTT

I'm No Cook, But I Can Make Dessert!

Michelle writes: I'm a lurker and have been for a while...totally off the current subject, but I made your sopapilla cheesecake for bunco last night, and it was a total hit! Do you have any other yummies to share?

Oh, Michelle, a girl after my own heart- another sweet lover!

Another one of my faves (and my co-workers) is Neiman Marcus Bars. Who knows if that's what they are really supposed to be called, and they are nothing like that $250 cookie recipe in case you are wondering. But that's what we call them here in these parts. They are actually little pieces of heaven.

I am also obsessed with Cake Balls, although I have never made them myself since I have a fab coworker I can always talk into making them. However, I found a recipe I am trying soon- Red Velvet Cake Balls! Made with cream cheese frosting!!!!!! That was worth a lot of exclamation points.

Day 1 Report

We had a fabulous time and will be going back for more today. I dig a park that sells beer right next to the cotton candy.

This was a total switch. The Politician was all about posing with Shamu, and The Wild Child wouldn't get any closer than this. Totally opposite from how they normally act in situations like this.




The sea lion show is a family favorite.

The Politician was super excited to feed them, and Mr. Sasha and I still marveled that Sea World can talk park-goers into paying $4 a tray to feed their fish.

Shampoo!

Guess where the Sashas are?

Yesterday was a long day that involved Mr. Sasha getting bitten by a nest of fire ants, the kids asking "Are we there yet?" 1000000000 times, and a fun night of making smores at our hotel.

But today should be awesome! More later....

Time For A Touch-Up

Last night, The Politician was commenting that The Wild Child's hair looks black when it's wet in the bathtub.

Then he turned to me and said, "Momma, you hair is actually black too- the part right by your head."

Yup. I do know this. Scheduled for a highlight today. (Who am I kidding- it's not a highlight when more hairs become blonde than not.)

Oil-Free Moisturizer with Sunscreen

Laurie left me a comment about the lack of oil-free moisturizers with SPF, and she's right. I typically find products with SPF to be too thick and oily for my skin.

I jumped on to post about the HG moisturizer I've been using for years, Clinique's Superdefense SPF 25 in Combination Oily to Oily, but according to the Clinique website, it's now "NEW" and it looks like the product has been slightly changed. I'll have to stop by my Clinique counter to ask. Someone on MUA mentioned that they reformulated it to make the sunscreen more stable.

I loved the product before and hope that I still like it. Hopefully I can let you know soon!

Magic Pants Found Locally!

OK, so lots of people have been asking me if you can get the magic pants locally and last night, I found some at my local Target!

Now, I should tell you that the waist is a tiny bit different than the ones online- the online ones have a drawstring, and these have a 1 inch wide elastic band and a tiny bow in the center.

BUT, I actually think I may like these better! They lie flatter across my tummy and won't leave that annoying drawstring bump.

So I found them with a new rack of Gillian O'Malley sleepwear- on the front of the rack are the pants in light aqua, and the black ones are right behind it. Not many pair left- head on over there!

Edited to add: This is them in the aqua color! Now that I see them, the leg doesn't look as wide, but they still loook great on.

Makeup Primers

My friend Amanda was placing an Arbonne order recently and asked me if I wanted to try this new primer she had tried and really liked. Of course, I said!

Arbonne Virtual Illusion Makeup Primer (1 oz, $32)

I tried it and really liked it. It certainly kept my face matte, and my mineral foundation applied nicely on top of it and still looked great at the end of the day. It also seemed to lessen those pesky marionette lines that go from my nose to my mouth.

But since it didn't have sunscreen, and I'm trying oh so hard to combat hyperpigmentation on my face, I still had to apply my sunscreen before the primer.

So I noticed that Avon also had a new primer, and it has SPF 20! I ordered some from my friend Valeri (email her at bucfanri {at} gmail {dot} com and she may have free shipping codes!) and I like it just as well!

Avon MagiX Face Perfector SPF 20 (1 oz, $10)

Now, the Avon site talks about wearing this instead of foundation, and while Reese Witherspoon may be able to get away with that, Sasha and her hyperpigmentation can't. So I'm just using it in place of my sunscreen, before I use my Everyday Minerals foundation.

Oh, and don't forget to go through ebates if you ever place an Avon order!

Happy Birthday Mr. Sasha

Mr. Sasha, it's hard to believe we are both turning 35 this year. I still feel so young!

I tried to find the picture my mom took at their house on your 20th birthday in 1993, but it is MIA right now.

So this one will have to do.

You have your politician haircut, and of course we were dying it jet black to cover those greys you already had at 20. My hair is a feat of gravity and took some serious work with a hair spray and a blow dryer. It's obvious that pictures was taken in the early 90s!

And here we are, 15 years later. We just celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary, with two beautiful kids, jobs we enjoy, a great church and Sunday school family, and more friends than you can shake a stick at. We've been through a lot together, and I can't imagine my life without you.

So should you be sneaking a read on the blog, Happy Birthday Mr. Sasha. Here's to 35 more!

I'm Not Sure What To Do With This

Note from school:

The Politician was very sweet helping us when we forgot H had left for an appointment and were looking for her. He was the only child to try to help. Very sweet.

I think I'm supposed to get all warm-hearted and proud to find out my son is such a helper to his new teachers, but all I can think about is that they lost a child.

Also, what if The Politician is the one missing? Sounds like there won't be anyone to help look for him, if he's the only one concerned about the whereabouts of his classmates.

Not sure I am feeling very warm-hearted and proud......

New Sephora Feature - Reviews!

I am super excited that Sephora is now going to have product reviews on their site! I'm always toggling back and forth between Sephora and Makeup Alley, so this will really be nice!

Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time to submit some reviews because there is a sweepstakes for a $500 Sephora gift card! How much fun would that be?

Two Little Bluebirds

Mamalicious posted this pic recently and I was so glad to see it internet-ized! I LOVE this picture! This was probably in '81 (7 years old or so) and this was at the Annual Camp Fire Dad and Daughter Banquet.

We had some very interesting hair-dos going on there. And I especially love my not-quite-matching navy tights and brown shoes with tassels. A fashion icon waiting to happen.

Bloggy Hint #7 - Comment Page

Lipstick said...thanks SO much! you are just full of cool tips! BTW...do you know how to have "show original post" on your comment screen? For some reason, my blog doesn't say that and I can't figure it out.

Lipstick, I have no clue. But here's my setting on the comments tab. See if this helps! My guess is it's the third set of options- Comment Form Placement. Try switching to "Full Page" and see if that fixes it. Let me know!

Bloggy Hint #6 - Making a Picture a Link

Rae writes: Hi Sasha! I love your blog! Thanks for the link to these cute bags. I ordered the Zebra one! I have a question though, how did you get the pic of the bags to be a link to the website? I read your tip on making a link with words, but how do you do it with a picture like you did? Thanks!

Thanks Rae! How sweet are you?

Linking from picture is pretty much the same as linking from a word or group of words.

In compose mode, just click on your picture, and you'll see some little boxes around your pic. Then click on the link button and paste your link!

Hope that helps! Smooches!

Adorable! And a Good Cause to Boot!

I hear these go fast. I got my order in yesterday- I got the swirly one!

Me and my lunch are going to by stylish!

Update on WC's Hemangioma Revision Surgery

When poor WC was so sick last month, we had to cancel the hemangioma revision surgery that was supposed to happen on August 7.

And since she ended up with a staph infection in her chicken pox, we were told we had to wait at least 1 month after she was declared infection-free.

So I called on August 22 to let them know she was released from the pediatrician, and was hoping they could rescheduled us soon.....

October 30.

Damn that's far away! But we are on their cancellation list and hopefully they'll have a spot for us earlier.

Bloggy Hint # 5 - How to Change "Posted By"

See down there at the end of my post? See how it says "Said by Sasha"? Isn't that catchy?

To change this on your blog to something unique to you:

From your dashboard, go to the Layout tab.

Then go to the Page Elements tab.

In the box that says "Blog Posts" click the edit button and all kinds of options pop up.

Change away!

Repost: Sasha's Fabulous Nail Routine

It's been awhile since we've talked about nails, and I have quite a few more readers than I did in January, so I thought I'd let you in on the little secret that is my nail routine!

Now, you and I both know that I don't have a lot of free time. But I've found that if I follow this routine, I can paint them at 8 pm, go to sleep at 10, and not have any sheet marks at all. Plus, my mani will last 4-5 days with no chips- I usually just have to repaint because of new growth.

So without further ado, my nail routine:


1. Sally Hanson Instant Cuticle Remover. I apply this all around my nails, wait a bit (you can wait longer that it says), then use the thumbnail of my opposite hand to push back/scrape the cuticles. I typically do this twice.

2. Wash your hands and dry them well.


3. Orly Bonder. This is fab- takes any oily residue off your nails and gives your polish something to stick to. Key to a long-lasting mani.

4. Sally Hanson Nailgrowth Miracle in the gold bottle. Love this basecoat. Watch for CVS to have their BOGO or BOGO half off on Sally products and stock up.

5. OPI polish (2 coats). In my non-professional opinion, the best polish there is. One of my faves is I'm Not Really a Waitress.

Or my all time fave, Chile O Caliente (discontinued, of course!)

6. Seche Vite top coat. I won't use any other top coat. This is a super-fast dry topcoat with a fab shine. Expensive, but worth it!

Now why don't you let me in on your nail or beauty secrets!

Game Day!

The Wild Child, our friend C, and The Politician

So I'm taking a break from 100 Pushups. Actually, I barely got started. But I have been SO SORE right now and there was no way I could manage a push up.

Why, you ask?

Because after tailgating on Saturday, while my friend A pulled the wagon, I carried the cute little 5 year old pictured above for at least two miles, asleep. Dead weight. Now, he only weighs 36 pounds or so, but it was brutal.

There's a chance I may find the energy to start back on the pushups today. Stay tuned- I'll let you know!

State of the Union

Currently at work, sneakily painting my nails OPI's Bubble Bath, which was recommended by A Belle and Her Beau.

Because I want to be adorable like her.

Shoes On the Brain

Melissa noted that I must have "shoes on the brain" since I typed "TV shoes" rather than "TV shows" in my last post....

And I do....

Yesterday I ordered these Royal Elastic Flonica shoes from Zappos.com. (Don't forget to go through ebates!!!!!)

Do we like them?

Luckily, with free shipping both ways, it's no big deal if I don't.

But I think they'll be super-cute with the magic pants!

They were out of 6s, but I went ahead and ordered 6.5 since someone said they run a little small. So we shall see... stay tuned!

Edited to add: Well, the 6.5s are too big! And I can't find 6s anywhere except at Athleta and they never have free shipping......

As for my feet, I did get pretty lucky and they didn't change size after I had kids. But I do have strange feet. I wear a 5.5 or 6 in most shoes, but a 5 in crocs and a 6.5 in running shoes (Brooks). Weird, I know!

New Fall TV

So what new shoes am I going to watch?

In order of premier date:

Tuesday, Sept 2

• 90210 - CW(duh)

Tuesday, Sept 9

• Fringe - Fox (love me some JJ Abrams- genius behind Lost and Alias)

Monday, Sept 22

• Worst Week - CBS (I don't have high hopes for this, but I'll watch 1 epi)

Friday, Oct 3

• The Ex List - CBS (I think the premise is really cute)

Thursday, Oct 9

• Kath and Kim - NBC (I love Molly Shannon AND Selma Blair and this looks absurd along the lines of Arrested Development)

Monday, Oct 13

• My Own Worst Enemy - NBC (Christian Slater!!!)

Remember you can read about all the new shoes on Kristin's blog on E.

What new shows will you be watching?

I'm Super Cool, So Follow Me!

Yay!

I love the new "Follow" feature! How fun!

I never figured out the whole outside reader thing. It never worked right for me. In it's defense, I have a very short attention span for things I can't figure out in less than 10 seconds.

But I figured out Blogger's Follow in no time!

So follow me, and I might just get around to following you too!

Edited to add: Ok girlies.... here's what Bloggers says about following:

What is Following?

Do you have a favorite blog and want to let the author and readers know that you are a fan? Well now you can do that and more with the Blogger Following feature! You can even keep track of the blogs you follow via your

Reading List

on the Blogger dashboard.

How do I become a Follower of a blog?

There are several ways to become a follower of a blog. One of the easiest ways is to visit a blog that has added the Following widget and click on the "Follow this Blog" link under the "Followers" widget.

Jeans!

All right girls, I want you sitting down for this.

And you need to have a totally open mind.

And you need to admit, like I have, that low-rise jeans just don't work right for our body type. (having hips and a hiney)

And you need to be willing to shop for jeans somewhere you never thought you'd shop for jeans.

...
...
...

Walmartz. (gasp!)

Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. - Women's Totally Slimming At-Waist Boot Cut Jeans

But DO NOT look at the picture on WM's site- those jeans don't look like that at all!

Promise! And they really aren't "at-waist"- they hit about an inch below my belly button.

I made Mr. Sasha take this picture of me last night so you could see what they really look like.

Mr. Sasha looked at me with a wry smile and said, "I hate to tell you this, but those jeans don't look expensive."

I told him that wasn't the issue at all- I don't really care whether people think I'm wearing 7s or not.

I just don't want them to see my underwear when I sit down! That, in itself, is priceless!

I saw an article in WSJ a few months ago about these jeans and I tore it out and watched for my WM to start carrying them. Here's what WSJ said:

The company says its new Totally Slimming jeans.... flattens stomachs, flatters figures and spares women from having to manipulate their belts to keep their jeans snug. The pants were designed to minimize women's areas of concern-- specifically the stomach, thighs, and behind. They include a high-stretch fabric that shapes the legs and "lifts" the bottom, as well as proprietary slimming technology, including a hidden front panel for extra tummy control around the waistband.

I think these are pretty true to size. I got the "mediums" and you can see the length is about right with heels (remember I'm only 5'2"). The website doesn't show different lengths, but I am pretty sure I spotted talls in the store- but I don't think I saw any shorts or petites.

So if you are shaped like me, you might give these a try!

Deal on Mammoth Crocs

Just ordered these Mammoth Crocs from REI for $5.83 a pair... WC will love them! I'm not a huge fan, but for $5.83..... that's bargain enough for me!

Shipping is $5.99 and don't forget to go through ebates- link to the right!

Edited to add: looks like deal is now dead- hope you got in on it!

You Gonna?

So, you watching 90210 tonight?

I'm certainly going to give it a chance.

Weekend Update

Saturday morning I ran in a 5K and shaved a minute off my time from last week. I still need to shave another 1 1/2 minutes off to be where I was in the spring. This heat and humidity is terrible- I love to exercise in the cool air, so I can't wait for fall/winter because I know my time will be better.

Shannon's friend Em, Shannon, me, Missy, Bridget

Saturday evening was the first home football game, and girls, it was HOT! I had not been to a game since the fall before WC was born (3 years ago!) and I was excited to go to the first home game this year. We had a great time. A little before half, Mr. Sasha noted that it looked like rain and we should probably head to a restaurant and grab some dinner before heading home. We dashed in one of our favorite places just in time- it started monsooning just as we sat down. We were lucky! Most people got absolutely drenched!

Today, I finally got around to doing Day 1 of One Hundred Pushups. It wasn't so bad- but I imagine I'll be sore tomorrow. I'm really excited about this goal and now that I've finally started, I'm going to keep on track and tell you all about my progress!

I'm need to go check on the kids- they are being quiet and that's scary- but I need to tell you about some jeans I found for beyond cheap that don't gap at the back! Since I've got hips and some junk in my trunk, most jeans don't fit me right and I can always stick both hands in the gap that's created in the back when I sit down. Terrible. I hate jean shopping. But I took a chance on some long-shot jeans, and I need to tell you all about them.... They are less than $20!!!!

Stay tuned!