I've Seen the Light!!

Actually, my eyes were closed and covered but I knew the light was there and I was in the hands of  a skin wizard. Big shout out and thanks to Porter magazine and the Admiral's Club in London where this fantastic mag just jumped itself into my bag..... And guess what I read?  Dallas is the new home of one of the world's best skin magicians. Joanna Czech. I think she is so special that she made that mag just appear in my carry on. Okay, she's not that kind of magician but she works magic on her client's skin.  Just ask Anna Wintour, Kyra Sedgwick, Uma Thurman, Kim Catrall, Christy Turlington, Kate Winslet, Trudie Styler, Sting, Cate Blanchett or Kim Shelnutt.

Yes!! I never ever thought I'd see my name in a sentence with all those Beautiful People. So what if I wrote that sentence...today I too became a client of Joanna Czech!!! Not gonna lie, I was just a little nervous about the whole thing. But I was more excited about the opportunity to actually meet her and see the light. Any light. Have you seen these other women?? Me neither. In movies yes, but we know they use all kind of smoke and mirrors and special effects....and LIGHT. Light and lighting makes them all look freakingly beautiful but only if they have great skin. Thanks to HD TV even the Beautiful People have felt more mortal.

Today I felt like I too was one of them. And that is the magic of Joanna. As I said, I was a little nervous. She is famous and special and flies back to New York to take care of her Beautiful People. Monthly. Yikes. I think I had a facial a year or two ago. She is the big time. And the friendliest, instant best new friend kind of girl ever- my kind of girl. Who just happens to be on the speed dial of the world's most Beautiful People. Today she not only made me feel special, she made my skin look crazy good. The LED light treatment delivered. Tighter, firmer, better. Still me. Just better. Magic.

Joanna Czech - 646-331-7801


Trust me call her - 646-331-7801 I'm so glad I did :)

The Green Stuff

In honor of St. Patrick's Day and the month of March, cheers to drinking green......chlorophyll!  Gotcha! You thought I would be drinking green beer or a margarita, right?  And I might have on the 17th, but today I finally got around to trying liquid chlorophyll in a large glass of water. As usual I'd read somewhere that someone was doing this and that it did all kinds of amazing things for you, your skin and your body. Exactly where, who & what - well, I couldn't remember those minor details, as usual. Maybe it will boost my memory skills. I'm just happy I remembered that I wanted to try it when I saw it at my grocery store today. I bought DeSouza's brand for $6.49. Not gonna lie, the strong green color was frightening - like Easter egg dye. I'm very happy to report that it did not smell and I honestly couldn't taste it in my water either. Now my green teeth & tongue may take some getting used to ...just kidding, all good there to. So I just googled why it is good for us to add this to our daily dose of good stuff for our health....according to healthybodynow.net :

Adding large amounts chlorophyll rich vegetable juices to our diets is like getting a blood and organ cleanser by washing our bodies from the inside out. Chlorophyll is known as an internal healer. In fact there are many, many benefits:

• helps to build healthy, red blood cells
• furnishes iron to organs
• delivers magnesium which makes our body more alkaline.
• helps to cleanse the liver
• reduces typhoid fever
• removes toxins and heavy metals
• increases the disease resistance of cells
• prevents the growth of bacteria
• helps our bodies heal faster from wounds and illness,
• improves teeth and gums
• neutralizes body odor
• improves varicose veins
• promotes milk production
• treats inflammation of the uterine cervix
• regulates the menstrual cycle
• relieves sore throat
• reduces inflammation
• heals rectal sores
• helps skin disorders like eczema or psoriasis
• has antiseptic benefits
• improves eye health

I'll be happy if I notice just a few of these improvements.  This is so easy I know I can keep this up. There is also a pill form that I might try for when I'm traveling because you do have to keep it refrigerated after opening.  And in case you missed it - chlorophyll helps to cleanse the liver!! Good to know - so enjoy those green beers and margarita's, with a designated driver of course!

Party Ideas

Tried and True

What happens at my parties stays at my party - unless I blog about it in which case all names have been altered to protect the guilty. 

At a recent event large gathering of cackling booze hounds held at my home in honor of one of my closest friends partner in beauty crime I observed something first hand that had only been rumored to have happened by another close friend blog supporter and equal sharer of good stuff  on her most recent girl friend trip.  Guys have "work trips" and "fishing trips" and "golf trips" ... we have Girl trips. Where we usually just do all the fun crap we normally do at home but somewhere far away from clingy children begging to be fed,  adoring husbands begging to be fed and four legged children begging just to be begging.  Sometimes we don't even leave town - although I highly recommend a change of scenery and giving all those beggars at home a chance to fend for themselves and miss you so bad that they treat you like the Goddess you are when you do finally return. I also recommend returning. 

Anyway, back to parties. Another thing we do when we can't get away for a Girl Trip. See we just Girl  Trip to someone else's house. This friend SAID that she was shocked to see grown women devour a birthday cake in 5 minutes. Now this is not the shocking part cause most of us can do that alone in 5 minutes. She witnessed this happen without any plates involved. As in they had the gall to just grab a fork - I think some hair pulling might have been involved too. Definitely some pushing and shoving. They grabbed a fork AND didn't even bother to slice the cake into servings....THEY JUST ALL DUG IN AND DEVOURED THAT POOR CAKE like a dinner at the Pay for One and Six Eat Free Honey Boo Boo Cafe.  I've been saying Honey Boo Boo was to blame for the lack of manners in our society. This is proof. Now, she was shocked but she wasted no time working her fork into that cake and she was smiling wistfully as she recalled it.

So fast forward to my recent party and instead of a Birthday Cake one of my closest friends loveschampagne assigned to bring the cake opted to bring two dozen of the biggest and most beautiful cup cakes I have ever seen in my life. And trust me I have seen cupcakes. Did I ever mention Baby Girl Tyler's middle name? Cupcake. Or maybe it was her first word. Trust me Girlfriend loves her cupcakes. So sad for her she was off partying in Austin, Tx. that night. More cupcakes for us. Now you know how women pretend they can't eat sweets? Yea. Joke. Well, I even arranged these cupcakes on a little platter - did I mention the different varieties? - and walked them around to make it easy for everyone to just stand around and keep talking AND eating cupcakes.  But, NOOOO they were TOO BIG and TOO PRETTY to eat. Now I was starting to get desperate cause these cupcakes need to move out as in I didn't want to be forced to eat anything left behind. Hostess duties and all. So I followed someone's suggestion to half them. Fine. This got a little interest. The wolves started circling. Which caused more to pause in their drinking and chatting and before I knew it - CUPCAKE WAR! Now there was not any cupcake throwing or icing smearing happening. I'm talking about - you know how sharks go bat shit crazy when there is blood in the water??? Bingo.  Seriously, my friend wasn't kidding. It truly was every woman with a fork for herself. The trick was to get your fork in there quick and back to your mouth or you could get stabbed in the hand or worse I think I saw someone gobble a bite off of someone else's fork. On purpose, because it was the last bite of the Salted Caramel  with Pretzel topped Chocolate cupcake. Thank God I was smart enough to hide one of these precious jewels in my fridge the minute that box got opened. Or I would have had to take some women down. Friend or no friend. Or I guess I could have just driven to the new Small Cakes which is where these worth every penny spent on spanx  best cupcakes I have ever seen came from. But I don't drink and drive so it is still a good thing that I hid one. And all were devoured like chum in the bloody ocean. It was not a pretty sight but boy was it worth it. Which reminds me - I need to buy some stock in Small Cakes. Google it cause they are in lots of states and it would be worth it to just walk to the nearest one to you. It doesn't matter how far - just start walking. Fast.

So looking back this morning on all the fun had last night and as I was enjoying my breakfast hiddensalted caramelcupcake  I had another great party idea for next time and it doesn't involve all the extra calories of cupcakes. Simply warm up a jar of Williams - Sonoma's Salted Caramel sauce, pour it into an attractive serving piece (presentation is every thing), open a bag of pretzels (again use attractive serving piece - manners!!) and casually mention that dessert is served!! Make that a large serving piece so the crowd and gather round and devour. Warning, things could get sticky.

I think I am still experiencing a sugar rush from my party last night and breakfast this morning....I haven't blogged more than once in the last couple of months and I just posted two today. Maybe sugar isn't the devil after all.

And my best Party Idea besides delegating - hey, if they ask to bring something to the party, don't be shy let them know what you need. I am so lucky to have good friends that always ask :))Thank you all!  Just keep a good caterer on speed dial and I highly recommend my great friend and hostess extraordinaire and owner of Little Greek Restaurant Willow Bend - 972-492-2299 ask for Jennifer and tell her you read about it here :) See to have a great party all you need is a fantastic group of guests, plenty of beverages, fabulous Greek Food and appetizers and Cupcakes!! Oh, and sparkly plastic forks - those were a big hit too!

FACE STUFF

FACING IT AT FIFTY, FORTY, THIRTY OR TWENTY...

Update - 9/15/14 - * Scroll to the end of this post for product and info update

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the sweet young things under 35...Your skin is still amazing or breaking out and you are not concerned about wrinkles in your distant future because you are too busy being young and fabulous to realize that one day will be here before you know it and yes, my little pretty you will be shocked and appalled by how fast it can all fall apart. Or you are living life up with the hope that by the time you are my age science will have not only cured Cancer but stopped the aging process with a pill. Dream big dreams - just wash your face every night no matter how much fun you've had and WEAR SUNSCREEN EVERY DAY EVEN WHEN IT IS NOT SUNNY OUTSIDE...

For those of us that are facing the piper of aging - after being Young & Fabulous and now trying to be F.....something and Fabulous here are my  Favorite Face Things...

I've been trying a lot of new face things the last couple of months. It's been awhile since I've shared and it's been exciting to see some changes. The hard truth about being on the over Fifty side is not the wrinkles...Adjust your attitude and accept that most of these wrinkles are because we have lived, loved and smiled often. In the grand scheme of life wrinkles are not the end of the world or your beauty. Now if your wrinkles are a result of your negativity, anger and frowning, then you have more problems than my fav face stuff can fix. Sorry about that. Personally, I can live with wrinkles. It's the hormonal havoc that causes breakouts that has been making me crazy!! I've been going to the Dr. for this and not botox or fillers.. and still breaking out. Here is what seems to be working today. Knock wood.

1. Diet - Limit dairy products. According to some articles and people I know with amazing skin, that whole Got Milk campaign is just that - a brilliant marketing ploy.  And this was a really hard one for me  due to my love of all things cheese (except Goat) and cream and butter...(I love the old Paula).  But even just cutting back a little has made a huge difference in my skin.

2. Alcohol - Yes, we all know Mama loves her wine children...it would probably help if we all cut back on that. Personally,  I wouldn't know.  But, what I do know is that rubbing alcohol is not for drinking. If you are doing that then my fav face stuff can't fix that either.  But, if you apply it to any thing trying to break out on your face and ruin your day it will help. Thank you Leah Bgood for this amazing life changing information. I swear by it!! My "know it all" children beg to differ but I think they just aren't doing it. Or maybe it only works on over F...something skin. Here's what I know. I'm not filling any more expensive Px for my face and it looks great as far as big under the skin breakouts go. The minute I feel one or see something I just apply good old cheap rubbing alcohol to the area a couple of times a day and it goes away!! As long as I follow my own advice to the Young and Fab and wash EVERY night - even I don't want to after a night of too much funwine - the other types of breakouts are under control too. Not to get gross, but you know what I mean. The kind you have to pop even though all the experts say not too. Guess what they do? Pop them. I can do that for a lot less money :). Well, again our friend Alcohol dries them up so fast you will be amazed.  Just moisturize to prevent it getting too dry and if it is a major breakout apply an over the counter antibacterial cream after alcohol and before moisturizer.

3. Products - Just tell us the products, WOMAN!!
Sorry, love to ramble...Run to the Kiehl's Store or counter at Nordstrom's or Neiman's or anywhere that sells these amazing products.  Online works too but I advise you to talk and trust the sales person - tell them about your skin and they will give great advice on what you need. I have WondermanJohn to thank for these. He made a new friend in the cosmetic dept at Nordstrom while waiting for me to get a fix for my lipgloss addiction... cheaper than my shoe addiction so I think he was happy for that.  Might have been the liquid lunch I try to make sure he has during every shopping trip. Trust me ladies. If you must shop with "them",  liquor them up first.  Now, not to throw him under the bus but he has had a lifetime of skin issues with rosacea and lots of trips to dermatologist due to it.  Minding his own business that day he was approached by our new God of Skincare.  He politely commented on John's skin and offered to give him a few large samples (in jars thank you not those tiny little foil samples) to try.  Now, my hubs is no dummy. Nordstrom has an amazing return policy and our business for life.  He loves samples for travel and he just bought every thing the sales person told him too.  I about had a heart attack at the bill. He got a boat load of stuff and I almost spent more on lip gloss. (Our dirty little secret) Not only are these products FANTASTIC but they are affordable too. None of those $3000.00 eye creams here.  So guess who else is not a dummy? Me!! I am not kidding his skin looked better over night. I think for him this event probably ranks up there with the birth of his children and every tennis match he's ever won.  I couldn't get my hands on his stuff fast enough.  Now, Baby GirlTyler has been using and loving Kiehl's before us, but I thought she's only 22  - WTH does she know. Well,  She knows good stuff too.  Again, go talk to the pros about your skin and here is what I'm using:

Midnight Recovery Concentrate Elixir
Ultra Facial Moisturizer with sunscreen
Ultra Facial Cleanser
Midnight Eye Recovery Concentrate
Clearly Corrective Dark Spot Solution - thanks to all those years of being sun stupid, twenty & Fab
Super Multi-Corrective Cream
Epidermal Re-Texturizing  Micro-Dermabrasion scrub
Amino Acid Shampoo - we also love this

Whew! Are you still with me? Have you aged just reading this because it has taken me about 3 years to write this.  A few more favorites

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex - daytime too after night of extra funtoomuchfun/wine

OleHendiksen Pure Truth Youth Activating Oil - don't let the orange color scare you

Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil Light - as needed for dry patchy places

Queen Helene Mud Pack Masque - twice a week in a perfect world

I would list the prices on the above products but then WondermanJohn would have a heart attack and I'd really miss him. So I guess the truth about aging is that yes it helps to accept it and enjoy the gift of being alive everyday.  A boat load of good skin care products doesn't hurt either and it is a lot cheaper than botox, fillers and surgery.

* Update 9/15/14
I'd like to add a couple of new products in the fight against hormonal breakouts....Alcohol is now followed by these amazing products that I've read about forever but it took Babygirl convincing me to try them - She loves them and her skin looks amazing!! She happened to call me during a moment of face trauma, mine, as in a ginormous swelling that was causing me to smile crooked. I kid you not. Wonderman was very concerned once he stopped pointing and laughing hysterically. Big help. She however, said,"get off this phone and rush to Ulta before they close to buy these things and you will look normal by in the morning." Thank God I didn't run into anyone and even better they had this stuff in stock and to top it all off I did look better the next day and by day 2 all gone!! We are talking major skin miracle. I'm not gonna lie - I am stock piling this stuff so if you shop at my Ulta they may be running a little low on these amazing life savers:

Mario Badescu Skin Care
Drying Lotion - use at night due to lovely shade of pink. Do not shake the bottle first. Dip a Qtip all the way to the bottom of bottle and apply to all breakouts. Allow to dry and leave on overnight.

Drying Cream - use this during the daytime and anytime you even think you feel a breakout coming on. It also helps conceal the redness.

Silver Powder - use this weekly as a mask for blackheads and whiteheads. It really cleans out your pores.

Anti aging products - on my last stockpiling trip I noticed they had little sample kits of other items in their line and I got the anti aging one that included these products
Glycolic Foaming Cleanser
Glycolic Acid Toner
Glycolic Eye Cream
Moisturizer with Vitamin E and SPF 20
Also happy to share that these products not only work but they are not super expensive. Always a plus.

I also use and love a toner I learned about from my skin Wizard Joanna Czech ...it is Biologique P50V - it gently exfoliates, moisturizes and helps maintain the skins acid PH. It can be purchased from Joanna or online by googling Biologique Recherche. I can say that when I eat clean (no gluten...there will be another post on that) and use this toner twice a day, I can go for weeks without needing the Mario Badescu products. And when I do - I've got them.

Book Alert

Looking for a good book?

 Here is a running list of books I've read and would recommend. This will not be a book review. "Aint got time for that...I'd rather be reading.... I recommend Amazon for that. I've trusted the reader reviews for just about every book I've purchased since I bought a couple that I hated. Life is too short to buy bad books. Most of the time the reader reviews have been a big help. I'm just going to give you the title and author.  I will also list the first book in a series and you can go from there. When I really like a book I usually try to read everything that author has written. I'll put an * by my favorite authors which means I've either read all of their books or have a few on my to read list.

These are not in any order but I'll try to group them in self explained categories.  I'll be adding books to this page as I remember more or read more so check in every week or so. When I Found You and Making Faces were my most recent and I couldn't put them down. Enjoy! And please share your favs with me either here or on FB or in person. Thanks for reading this :)))


BOOKS FOR ALL - or anyone you want to impress with your good taste in literature (that was not required reading in High School or College)

Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty
When I Found You - Catherine Ryan-Hyde
The Prince of Tides - Pat Conroy*
South of Broad - Pat Conroy*
Beach Music - Pat Conroy*
Tender Bar - JR Moehringer
City of Thieves - David Benioff
Coal Run - Tawni O'Dell*
The Last Child - John Hart*
We Are Water - Wally Lamb*
Peachtree Road - Anne River Siddons*
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
The Language of Flowers - Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Still Alice - Lisa Genova
Fault in Our Stars - John Green
Deal Breaker - series - Harlan Coben
The Little Princes - Conor Grennan

LAUGH OUT LOUD - Warning do not read the following in public...people will look at you funny :)

But Enough About Me - Jancee Dunn
One for the Money - series  - Janet Evanovich
Let's Pretend This Never Happened - Jenny Lawson
* Ellen DeGeneres - all her books
*Chelsea Handler - all books - warning not child friendly...
Stupid and Contagious - Caprice Crane
Bossy Pants - Tina Fey
The Green - Troon McAllister



SLUTTY GIRLFRIENDS BOOK LUST- Thank you Christian Grey for getting us talking about and sharing our dirty little secrets AND thank you Kindle for letting us purchase these in private...Feel free to share your favorites in this category PLEASE

The Arrangement Series - H.M. Ward
Beautiful Bastard -  Beautiful series - Christina Lauren
Bared to You - series - Sylvia Day


FOR THE LADIES....LOVE STORIES
Someone Else's Love Story - Joshlyn Jackson*
A Grown Up Kind of Pretty - Joshlyn Jackson*
Hopeless - Colleen Hoover*
Losing Hope - Colleen Hoover*
Slammed - Colleen Hoover*
The Last Letter From Your Lover - Jojo Moyes*
Me Before You - Jojo Moyes*
Crazy in Alabama - Mark Childress*
One Mississippi - Mark Childress*
Georgia Bottoms - Mark Childress
Gods in Alabama - Joshlyn Jackson*
Making Faces - Amy Harmon
Left Drowning - Jessica Park
The Husband's Secret - Liane Moriarty
Easy - Tammara Webber


THE DARK SIDE...HOT THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT

Once Burned - series - Jeaniene Frost*
Halfway to the Grave - series - Jeaniene Frost*
Dark Lover - series - J.R. Ward*
Guilty Pleasures - series - Laurell K. Hamilton*
Dead Until Dark - series (True Blood TV show) - Charlaine Harris*


LIST OF FAVORITE AUTHORS -
Catherine Ryan-Hyde
Pat Conroy
Harlan Coben
John Grisham
Anne River Siddons
Wally Lamb
Joshlyn Jackson
Mark Childress
Maeve Binchy
Laurell K. Hamilton
Charlaine Harris
John Hart
Jojo Moyes
Colleen Hoover
Tawni O'Dell