lavender & black

green & yellow

red, blue, & black

Proper-fitting jeans

I hate shopping for jeans. If I try on thirty different styles, maybe one will look good. Maybe. If I don't see a muffin top staring back at me in the mirror, it's a huge gaping chasm over my butt that has me tugging the jeans up every 2 seconds. If my thighs aren't being squeezed like sausage in a casing, they're flailing around in a sea of denim - and I can't swim. And don't even get me started on the length - either they're so long that hemming them would ruin the entire line of the jeans or they're so short my ankles are showing. Petites are usually too short, so I have to look for "short" length in the regular department. I'm only 5'3", for Pete's sake - jeans should never be too short for me! It's depressing. I wear a size 8 short, so it seems to me that it shouldn't be that difficult to find jeans that look decent. But apparently, size isn't the issue.

I recently came across a wonderful blog that discusses the proper fit of jeans, including the importance of:

• Pockets - placement & length
• Tightness
• Flare
• Color/Feathering/Stitching

You can check out this proper jean fit post on the Grasping For Objectivity blog. There are a ton of pictures that show bad, good, better, & best jeans for different body types - and ages. It's amazing!

There is a follow-up post where the blogger (Rachel) tries on different GAP and Old Navy Jeans to show why they don't fit well on most people. Thank you!! I'm always wondering why GAP & Old Navy jeans not only do not fit me, but actually make me look bad. Now I know it's not me - it's the jeans! :-)

As in the original post, there are a ton of great pictures, so be sure to check out the GAP & Old Navy jeans post here.

Best jeans to date for me are: Levi 515 straight leg & Tommy Hilfiger Spirit Skinny. (And I only paid around $30 for each at Macy's during a sale.) I'm going to face jean shopping with a whole new attitude now - it doesn't matter if I have to try on fifty pairs of jeans to find one great-fitting pair - because it's not me, it's the jeans!! And one great-fitting pair is worth the time it takes to find them. Just ask Gus. ;-)

scarlet

black & red

brown & red for fall

Helpful Eye Makeup Pictorials

Do you love those smoky eyes you see in magazines? Love to do a cat eye, but can never get it to look right? I recently came across this article on Glamour.com and it has great pictures and instructions, so I thought I'd share - Five Super Helpful Eye Makeup Pictorials. You can see:

• The sultry smoky winged eye
• The traditional cat-eye
• The smoky metallic eye
• The multi-tonal eye
• The 'natural' eye    

(from India-Jewel Jackson on Pinterest)

I've tried the natural eye and it's so easy to do. It takes just a couple of minutes to do both eyes and it's great for an every day look! Now if only I could get my eyebrows to look like those in the pictures...

brown & coral/red for fall

Dayton Celtic Festival

This past weekend, Gus & I made a little trip to the 11th annual Celtic Festival in downtown Dayton at Riverscape Metro Park...

The park was very pretty!

 Love the kilts & bagpipes!! Gus didn't wear a kilt.

There was plenty of Guinness - as a matter of fact, I think it was the only alcoholic beverage offered!

There were a lot of food booths - and also booths selling clothing, souvenirs, and handcrafted items...

Yes, we tried haggis. How can you go to a Celtic festival and not try haggis? It wasn't served in a sheep's stomach - and it was made of sheep's liver, beef, oatmeal, and spices. I don't think that's quite how it's made in Scotland, but we decided to try it anyway. And yes, it's pretty much as disgusting as it looks.

Here's a booth that had tartans displayed as flags...

The Celtic rock band, Enter the Haggis! They were really good! I recommend their CD "Gutter Anthems" - love "The Death of Johnny Mooring", "Did You Call Me Albatross?", and "Murphy's Ashes"!!

We had a great time - can't wait for the Scottish Festival in September!!

tan & red plaid for fall

purple & coral

tan, navy, & green

classy grey & scarlet

tan & cream

camel & black

coral & tan

purple & grey for fall

grey for fall

Monday's Meal - Mac-n-Cheese & Baked Beans

Today you get two-for one!! On July 4th, I made mac-n-cheese and baked beans. They were both pretty tasty, so I thought I'd share the recipes with you. The baked beans are probably the best I've ever eaten - of course, it's a Paula Deen recipe, so I'm not surprised. The mac-n-cheese recipe is courtesy of my sister, Rocky (not her real name, but a nickname our dad gave her).

I did modify Paula's recipe a little, so I'll post my version and also a link to her original recipe:

Southern Baked Beans
(click here for original recipe)

• 1/2 medium onion, diced into teeny, tiny pieces
• 1 (20-ounce) and 1 (10 oz.) can pork and beans
• 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 pound bacon strips, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Directions:

• Brown bacon in skillet, remove, drain excess grease, cool, then cut into 1/2 " strips.
• Dice onion (whatever size pieces you like - we like them tiny), then brown in bacon grease. Drain excess grease.
• Add beans, mustard, syrup, brown sugar, ketchup, lemon juice, bacon, and onions to crockpot.
• Cook on high for 3-4 hours, then reduce heat to low for an additional 3-4 hours.
• Remove from crockpot and place in baking dish (I used a disposable aluminum baking pan). 
• If making the same day, you can serve the beans directly from the crockpot.
• If making a day ahead of time, allow to cool a little, then cover with foil, and place in refrigerator. The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees, then reheat beans for 45-60 minutes.

Southern Baked Beans

Rocky's Mac-n-Cheese

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup flour

salt to taste (I used about 2 tsp.)

pepper to taste (I didn't use pepper)

5 cups milk (I used skim)

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used sharp cheddar, mild cheddar, colby, & Monterey Jack)

1 (16 oz.) box elbow macaroni

• Cook macaroni according to package instructions.
• In large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter/margarine, remove from heat. 
• Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. 
• Return to medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly.
• Add milk, one cup at a time.
• Stir frequently until sauce thickens and mixture begins to boil.
• Add cheese, one cup at a time; stir until cheese is melted.
• Add cheese sauce to macaroni, mix thoroughly.
• Place in baking dish & bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. 
• If you like your mac-n-cheese "sloppy", you don't have to bake it in the oven.

Rocky's Mac-n-Cheese

Yummy!!

pink & brown

white shirt & jeans

purple polka dots

light pink

casual olive & white

red & white

Monday's Meal - Crockpot Chicken

This is an easy crockpot chicken recipe that is great for summer (Gus gets moody when I turn the oven on in 100 degree weather) - and it's really yummy!!

Crockpot Chicken

• 2-3 lbs. boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
• 4 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
• 1 can golden mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• seasoned salt
• garlic powder
• rice or pasta (to serve with the chicken)

Directions:

• Combine both cans of soup, cream cheese, and cheese in crockpot. Stir until thoroughly combined. Remove about half of mixture, and reserve in a bowl.
• Sprinkle seasoned salt and garlic powder (to taste) on both sides of chicken breasts, then slice chicken lengthwise into 1" strips. You could also use chicken tenderloins instead, but my family thinks tenderloins aren't as good as breasts. *rolls eyes*
• Place chicken in crockpot over the soup mixture, then carefully spoon remaining soup mixture over the chicken.
• Cook on high for 4-6 hours.
• Serve over rice or pasta. Gus & I had ours over basmati & wild rice, but Lulu & her boyfriend had theirs over penne pasta.

soup, cream cheese, and cheese mixture

seasoned chicken

chicken added to crockpot mixture

crockpot chicken over basmati & wild rice

Enjoy!!

light peach & grey

casual blue w/ leopard

light blue & taupe

one dress, two ways

classy green

summer lovin' floral

dressy blue ruffles

casual grey, tangerine, & yellow

Maybelline Dream Fresh Beauty Balm

Continuing on with my tinted moisturizer adventure, I bought Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB 8-in-1 Beauty Balm Skin Perfector. Is BB Cream a tinted moisturizer? Sort of - but it does a little more than the typical tinted moisturizer.

Beauty Balm (sometimes referred to as Blemish Balm) is a single product that perfects the skin's appearance while also protecting it from the sun and environmental factors. Some also offer other benefits - but it varies from product to product.

Here's the "8" in Maybelline's 8-in-1:

• Blurs imperfections
• Brightens
• Evens skin-tone
• Smoothes
• Hydrates
• Enhances
• Protects with SPF 30
• 0% Oils and heavy ingredients

I purchased mine at the local Ulta store - it was $8.99, plus the Maybelline products were buy one, get one 50% off - and I was able to use a $3.50 off $10 coupon. So I got the BB Cream & a lipstick for $9 and change - great deal!!

The store had a display set up in the center aisle, and they had little tester bottles of all the colors. I really appreciate it when a store does that! This product comes in five different shades (most BB creams come in one or two): light, light/medium, medium, medium/deep, and deep. After trying both the medium and medium-deep, I picked the medium-deep. I almost never need anything this shade, so I think the colors tend to run a little light.

In the above picture, you can see that the sunless tan on my hand is a little uneven - and the lighting is a bit off, so the BB cream looks a little on the orange side (it's not).

As you can see, once the product was blended, the color on my hand looks more natural, and the uneven areas of color are not noticeable. This picture is a more accurate indication of the color.

This product is really nice - especially for the price. It has a creamy consistency, no fragrance (that I noticed), it's easy to apply and blend, and you can layer it for more coverage. It is a little on the sheer side, but as I said, you can layer it - and you can also use concealer (I use Amazing Cosmetics' Amazing Concealer in medium beige), and powder (I use a mix of Meow Cosmetics' Pampered Puss Naughty Chartreux & Flawless Feline Fierce Chartreux). For me, it lasted all day with a light dusting of powder, and I didn't notice any more oiliness than usual - as a matter of fact, there may have been less oil. Plus, it did seem to make my skin look a little more smooth - I like that!

Bottom line - I still like Cover Girl NatureLuxe foundation best, but this is a close second. It's a nice product, and I would buy it again.