Happy Quasi-holiday?

So I've been thinking about this whole Labor Day thing. It's the kind of holiday-that's-not-really-a-holiday, along with its friend and partner, Memorial Day, that makes me vaguely uncomfortable, year after year. I mean, it's not REALLY a holiday. No gifts. No religious or family significance. No one flies cross-country so they won't have to be away from their family on Labor Day.

What it mostly is is a day off from work for office workers. (On the other hand it's a day of MORE work for retail, restaurant and other service industry folks.)

So why is there this pressure surrounding these types of 3-day weekends? Why do I always feel vaguely defensive about NOT planning to grill things and drink copious amounts of beer and hang around in a swimsuit all day? Why do I feel I let people down when they ask, "Got any big plans for Labor Day?" and I sheepishly reply, "Well...I guess we'll watch some tv, maybe do a couple of loads of laundry, maybe go out for some tacos later on." Clearly, based on the response I get from this reply, this is not the sort of big Labor Day plans they expected to hear about.

Fortunately the Dubious Holidays are over for a nice long spell. (But don't even get me started about Valentine's Day, the "holiday" where no matter WHAT you do for your loved one, you feel like a failure...)

Belly. Rusty. With spots.

Two Words:

COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!!

25 years ago today

She entered the world, and she's made my world a sunnier place every day since then!

Happy, happy birthday to my beautiful Hallie!

More stuff

1. Bare Minerals: This isn't news to anyone, but I still love the stuff. No oil slick on my face, no "line" around my jawline, no fake look. It just makes you look better. And it's naturally SPF 15, to boot.

2. Benefit concealers and brow products: These are a perfect partnership with my Bare Minerals. I dab on the concealing and highlighting products first, then dust the Bare Minerals on top of that. I especially like the brow kit and the Eye Bright product. And if you use the Boing cream concealer and then set it with a little bit of the wonderful Bare Minerals Bisque powder concealer, you can hide ANYTHING, all day.

The brow kit contains a wax that you brush onto your brows, then a powder that adheres to the wax. (I use a Bare Minerals charcoal colored powder instead of theirs--brown powder doesn't blend at all well with my black eyebrows.) But I love the way the wax stuff keeps my eyebrows neat and in line all day, and the combo of the wax and powder hides thin spots and graying eyebrows and stays on all day. It's amazing how nice eyebrows make your eyes pop!

And as little of these products as you need to use, these kits are probably a better approach than buying full-sized packages of the products.

I love makeup. But you knew that.

Some stuff I like:

1. Aquafor: it's sort of like super-vaseline. I often put it on my feet, which tend to be dry, before I go to sleep at night. But I use it anywhere I have dry skin. I put it on my face, around my mouth, outside corners of my eyes, any place easily irritated, before I put on my Retin A at night. In the winter when I get REALLY dry, I will put it on all over when I'm still damp from the tub, and it stays moisturized all day. It's an excellent lip balm/chapstick substitute. It is a wonderful, all-purpose intense moisturizer.

2. Vaseline Sheer Infusion lotion: This is the most astounding body lotion I have ever encountered. I don't know what sort of revolutionary ingredient they came up with, but all their claims are true. I've been using this all over, all summer, but especially on my legs and arms with their fading Mexico tan, and it's just...well, almost weird how damp and moist feeling it leaves your skin, and it stays this way all day, until it's washed off. I've never seen anything like it. Hallie got me a bottle and said "Mom, you won't believe me if I tell you about this stuff--you just have to try it." I'm hooked. If you're going to use anything on my little list, use this.

Now why don't they make something using this breakthrough for the face????

3. Badger Balm Sleep Balm: Ok, so maybe it's a placebo effect, but I SWEAR I sleep noticeably better when I rub a little of this below my nose and on my temples. And it smells SO wonderful--lavender and herbs. Somebody put this in my Christmas stocking, and it was instant love.

More to come.

I thought I should say something that didn't involve meat or corn syrup

So last night Dave and Hallie and I went to Taco Tuesday at the Mexican joint down the hill. While I was waiting in the bar with Dave (margaritas are half price on taco Tuesday!), I saw a stocky, smug-looking young gent sitting at the bar with his tattooed buddies, sporting with seeming pride a t-shirt that proclaimed, in huge white capital letters on a black shirt, "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for the White Guy."

Honestly, sometimes I'm just sick that I'm even a human.