Christmas Break

Hey, guys!  I'm going to take a week off because I have to work in the morning and I really don't have anything to post about at the moment, besides the fact that my boyfriend of 3.5 years is now my fiancé!  I asked for a pair of boots for Christmas. I got a box that contained a pair of my own boots, filled with Styrofoam peanuts and tissue paper. Inside the toe of one boot was a little box; this was inside.

It was a complete surprise. I thought it was going to be an I.O.U. or a gift card to pick out my own boots. I totally bawled when I peeled back the tissue paper and saw the box. I hope you all have had an amazing Holiday season, and I'll see you next year!

Best and Worst Products of 2011

Today, my lovelies, I'm going to write a post about a few of my favorite (and least favorite) products.  Some of them I've already mentioned here, some of them I haven't really touched on before.  And no, they aren't in any particular order.  It would be kind of unfair to compare and rank  products that serve completely different purposes.  So let's get this show on the road, shall we?

Unrelated: Detox

Hey, guys!  Sorry this post is later than usual (and off the usual subject matter,) but I've spent most of the day trying to put a bigger dent in my Christmas shopping.  So here it is...

My boyfriend and I started doing a detox diet at the beginning of the month.  There have been some cheats here and there, but for the most part it's a modified version of the Crazy, Sexy Diet.  We bought a juicer, and we've been having green juice every morning (okay, okay, all but two) and eating vegan meals for lunch and dinner.  You can read all about the detox here.  Before we started our detox, I was drinking 48-72 oz. of Coke every day.  I surprised myself when I  had a 24 oz. bottle on the first and second day, then cut it completely.  The first day I got a headache, but after that, I was fine.   Dave's son is very picky, and we like to eat as a family, so we tend to cheat the most when we have him on the weekends.  Otherwise, the cheats have mostly been unintentional because of poor label checking on my part on our first grocery trip.  We have actually been enjoying the food, save for the faux shrimp and miracle noodles we tried one night.  We have had soy tacos, rice and beans, "creamy" vegetable pasta, vegetable and barley soup, hummus and pita chips, "Quorn" cutlets (a cheat due to my assumption that meat subs wouldn't contain byproducts) with teriyaki sauce white rice and vegan mashed potatoes, and have yet to try recipes I found for tofu "bacon," "buttermilk" biscuits, and a spinach pastry called spanakopita.  I've had a couple of nights where I can smell/taste green juice even though it's nowhere to be seen, so that's kind of odd, but I definitely feel refreshed and alert when I have one in the morning, and it's actually pretty tasty!  I'm surprised at how good I feel, and how easy it was to accomplish.  We've actually decided to continue doing green juice in the morning after we finish the detox.  Dave had lost three pounds within the first week, and while my measurements remained the same my cellulite has become much less visible as have the dark circles under my eyes. If you've been considering a detox, I really recommend this one.  Just make sure you're checking your labels very carefully!

Noella Beauty Works Swatches

Okay, honestly I don't remember how long it took to receive this order, and I wasn't quick enough to snap a picture before the packaging got all crunched up and un-photographable.  So I'm just going to tell you what I think and post some swatches after the jump.