Carrying cake.

Oh, no.

I just discovered the Fred Flair website.

I am surely doomed to buy adorable gifts or at least obsess about buying adorable gifts.

Like this piece of cake makeup bag that I want to buy (secretly) for N. for $14.

And come to find out there "door store" is right here in Brooklyn.

Neat.

http://www.fredflair.com/

Ripe for the picking.

My Internet at work has been down for 5, count them 5 days.

But I'm back...and I have new lip gloss.

It's L'Oreal HIP Jelly Balm in Ripe. It smells like a caramel, has no flavor, and is the sheerest of reds. The only thing is, it costs $9 at the drug store.

And believe me, I am not above paying ridiculous prices for products, but given our new budget (which makes me very happy, by the way) it seemed a little steep.

But it's great for these cold November days and works well with a smokey eye, given it's sheerness.

Go on. Get one.

It's the POM!!

I go through phases with coffee:








skim latte
iced skim latte
soy cappuccino
skim cappuccino
iced soy cappuccino
iced skim cappuccino
iced coffee

All of the above mentioned cost approximately $4 a pop.

And then I go through phases without it at all.

My current obsession is POMx Iced Coffee.

No, it's not pomegranate flavored coffee, but it does have the POM Wonderful Pomegranate Antioxidant Extract (patent pending,) a generous 175 mg of caffeine per 10.5 ounces (a regular cup of coffee has between 75-125 mg) and no fat in the chocolate flavor. It comes in a snazzy grenade shaped bottle that I drink in approximately 2 minutes.

It makes me feel really good and productive.
Check it out at http://www.healthybuzz.com/. I get it for $3 a bottle at Whole Foods.
I'm not sure if it's available nation-wide yet.

Voila(vanila).

I wear the gourmands. I want to smell like cake. Or maybe a cupcake.

I have been asked by Bond No. 9 to review Bleecker Street, a fragrance inspired by Magnolia Bakery.



I am an Angel wearer, have been for almost 15 years. It is my fragrance.

So I've been trying to wear the Bleecker Street, which in no way smells like a cupcake, but is complex and alluring. But every time I open the cap on the giant sample they graciously sent me, I think--this isn't me. I am literally defined by my fragrance, not just to myself, but to others.

This post is not about Angel and it is not about Bond No. 9 Bleecker Street.

This post is about Lavanila Healthy Body Butter in the Pure Vanilla fragrance. It smells just the way I want to smell. Clean yet sweet, mysterious yet familiar. A little bit musky as you have it on a while.

It's $25 at http://www.sephora.com/, but I got a free sample of it that I'm using very sparingly. Well, somewhat sparingly.

My bag.

When I was a youngish girl, I carried a very small, white gym-bag style purse with a yellow and purple screened unicorn on it. Of course I clipped my feather roach-clip to it and hung my rabbit's foot on it.

But really, it was my first handbag. Later, there would be LeSportsacs, Liz Claiborne and Esprit.
But I really didn't go high-end until fairly recently.

Because I like to contain all items in one bag while commuting, I started carrying my American Apparel silver gym-bag.

It has a very retro feel, is super lightweight and adds a whole lot of zip to an outfit. Plus, I never have that worry that my bag worth more than anything inside of it will get swiped.

I'm still looking for the feather roach-clip.

$26 at http://www.americanapparel.net/.

Butter me up.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to...everything. I was going to say lip products, but the fact is, I will pour out a bottle of water if it smells "weird."

I am smell sensitive, taste sensitive...just sensitive.

Family members have said "she's very sensitive," for a very long time.

I admit it.

What is really working for me today is my new lip butter by Korres. It's Greek.

I got the Plum but it also comes in Pomegranate, Wild Rose, Guava and Quince. It was a real toss-up on the colors but since it's winter, I went for the Plum. The smell is lightly fruity, not at all overwhelming and the texture, well...it's deluxe. And there's no flavor. I really dig it a lot.

The color is concentrated but not too much.

Honestly, I'm kind of addicted. And it really improves the texture of my lips.

$9 at http://www.sephora.com/

Today is a wonderful day.

These words were written on a sign in chalk outside a restaurant in my neighborhood in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

I am full of joy and wonder today.

And I am proud of our nation. I am ready to participate in helping repair our nation. I actually feel patriotic.



It seems a bit trite to write about my new lip butter, so I will save it for tomorrow.

I'm excited about the future. Just like the kid on the trike.

Doing lunch.

I have always been plagued by the lunch box.

I brought lunch in elementary school (red Tupperware lunch box: plastic,) junior high (Velcro lunch bag with my name on it: pink) and high school (numerous shopping bags.)



I considered bringing lunch to be uncool.

I suppose bringing lunch now is uncool as well.

For lunch today I brought couscous with chick peas and roasted peppers, lentil salad with chicken breast, an apple, an orange, a banana and baby carrots. If I bought these items (which I have) at Whole Foods it would cost me upwards of $15.

Needless to say, after making my first budget with my husband this weekend, and the rising cost of food (we just got a 1/2 gallon of organic skim milk for $5.75) it wouldn't be prudent to continue buying lunch. Plus, we make such good stuff at home and I know exactly what's in it--because I made it.

At any rate, and I know this is a continual quest: I need a good reusable lunch bag. It needs to be cute, look like a lunch bag (not a cheapy-fashiony-lunch-bag,) have a shoulder strap for hands free commuting, and keep my morsels cold or warm. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a cute lunch bag.

I did get a really cute lunch bag made of oilcloth (blue with strawberries) a while back but it doesn't fit the hands free criteria.

Perhaps this cute one from www.keepyourcooler.com would work for me. For $26.47 I might just try it. It's called the stylish dumpling. That's cute.