^..^Pin-Up Kitten^..^

Hi Everyone!!

Hi friends!

I have not written on this blog for over a year!! Oops!

I've been very busy with school and raising my two very active preschoolers! They keep me busy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Just wondering, does anyone have any ideas for a topic? Would people like to see a makeup post or recent purchases? I could share some more homemade body scrub recipes? I guess I'm just plum out of things to talk about right now!

Just for fun, I will post a dress that I am DYING TO OWN!!! It's ModCloth (of course!) and I absolutely adore it! Now, if I could only magically have an extra $138 lying around! lol

I'm excited to start the new year. Upon the new year comes reflections of the year past.
Life should slow down a bit now and it's a good time to reflect on the person I am, the person I WANT to be, and the goals I have set for myself. I refuse to call them "resolutions", because that seems to make them so fleeting, but I think it's a good time to reflect and renew my goals.
I reviewed my goals for this past year, and I actually held up pretty well on them. The eating less sweets thing was a struggle, and towards the end of the year it went out the window. :/
I added a goal for myself last March that I wanted to go back to school and finish getting my degree. I think I talked about it in another post. Anyway, I went back and I just got my final grades for the fall semester... I got 3 A's! I'm really happy about that! It was not easy to balance being a stay-at-home mom of two toddlers with going to school, but I worked hard at it and it paid off! My mom and my mother-in-law took turns watching the kids while I was in class, and I couldn't have done it without their support. So, that leads me to my first goal:

1) Get my Associate's Degree

I never cared about school in the past, never tried, never worked hard at it. I didn't see the benefits, I was young and just didn't care. And if it was hard I just gave up. In fact I think it's safe to say I hated school. Well, time goes by and you change and grow up and learn what you really want in life. Well at least that's what happened for me. Now, I actually really enjoy school. I'm in a whole new mindset about learning and working towards a goal, so school is easier for me than it ever was before. I completely determined and that really helps. I registered for Spring classes, and I'll be taking 4 classes this time, so I really hope it all goes well. I should have about two more semesters and then I'll have my degree!

As for my second goal... For Christmas, I gave out a lot of sugar scrubs that I made (I did a post about one) and they were a HUGE hit, so I'm thinking of selling them on Etsy! A new venture for a new year? Possibly. I really love making hair flowers and hair bows, but it's really hard to sell them and get them out there with SO many being sold on Etsy. I'm just one in hundreds of thousands that sell hair bows on Etsy. I'll probably still make them for facebook and for friends and family though, since they seem to be selling well that way. So my next goal is:

2) Broaden my hobbies

Things like selling sugar scrubs and hair bows gives me something to do in my free time (which isn't much, but still) and like I said, it's fun for me.
I'd also like to possibly learn how to knit or crochet, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get the time to actually sit and learn.
I've gotten back into reading. I'm reading the Hunger Games right now and it's awesome! I'd like to read at least 10 books this year. Which may not be much to most people, but for me it's a lot!
(Geek alert!!!) My recent Astronomy class has reignited my love flame for Astronomy. I have always loved all things space for as long as I can remember. When I was like 6 I put stars and planets all over my ceiling in my bedroom which I kept up until I moved out at 18, lol. Anytime anything about space or the universe comes on TV I'm glued. So, I'd like to get further into it just by learning more about it. I just got a telescope so I'd like to learn more about the constellations and where things are just by naked eye observation.

My third goal is basically ALWAYS a goal of mine...

3) Be Healthy!

I was doing SO well for so long and then come October I got really, really lax on exercising and eating healthy. It caught up to me, I think I gained about 6 lbs. Which isn't much really, but I hate it. I hate feeling tired and worn down from not eating right. And when I don't exercise I feel the effects. My jeans are too tight, which is completely unacceptable for me. I refuse to buy clothes in bigger sizes. Someone said it so well once, I can't remember who, but she said "I don't alter clothes to fit my body. I alter my body to fit the clothes I want." That's so how I feel, lol. So, I really have to get back into the swing of things. I need to get back on my treadmill and start doing runs again everyday. And I have to watch the sweets. I get carried away snacking on candy and cookies.

My fourth goal is a new one for me, lol...

4) Less "party-time" girl.

With all the holiday and birthday parties, I tend to get into party mode. Times have slowed down and I'd like to spend less time in party (drinking) mode and more time in quiet/spiritual reflection mode. We had been consistently going to church every week, and then the colds started, and then the parties started, and one thing led to the next and we missed like 5 or 6 weeks in a row. I start to lose focus and tend to forget who I am and who I want to be. I do not want to be the girl that parties too hard or drinks too much and tries to act 21 when I'm not. Cleary I'm not. I'm thrity freaking three now!! I can't hang with the big dogs like I used to be able to still function well the next day. Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT above a glass of wine every now and then. Mama's got to have her Moscato!! :)

And finally...

5) Spend more time teaching and doing activities with London and Lyla.

When LL were babies I spent a lot of time on flash cards, books, and other teaching tools because they would just kind of sit there fully attentive so I felt like it was a good time to do so. Along with playing with them of course. Now that they're toddlers, they are totally their own little people with their own little schedules and agendas. They are so good at playing independently that I have to wiggle my way in sometimes to be included. Since they're not going to preschool this year (maybe next year? I'm not sure yet), I'd like to get in more activities and teaching tools. Thanks to pinterest, and various other toddler activity websites, I've found a lot of fun, creative activities to do with them and I'd like to put those to action. Lyla is SO smart and longs for challenges and learning new things. London is SO active and practically a music genius that I know he'd benefit from a lot of new activities also, especially involving music or lights.

Well, that's about it for now. It's nice to have my goals written out so that I will see them and hopefully stick to them! I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC 2012!! May all your wishes and dreams come true this year!! XOXO

I have always been a huge fan of body scrubs, whether they be sugar or salt. I always love a good exfoliant!! I've been a fan of LUSH body scrubs and I've used many different other types over the years as well.

Well, with the help of Pinterest, I found a peppermint sugar body scrub recipe of which I tweaked and made my own. I didn't want to write about it until I had perfected it, and used it and got the results I wanted. I've been playing with the recipe for about 2 weeks now and I have to say that it's AMAZE-BALLS. I love it soooo much! I will never spend $$$ on high priced body scrubs ever again.

Being the generous person I am ;), I decided to share my recipe. I have bottled it up and am going to give it out to some friends for Christmas! I know that I would LOVE to receive a peppermint sugar body scrub during the holidays!! And the whole process is actually really easy!

Using this recipe, I was able to scoop all of it into about 4, 4-5oz jars. So it makes about 16-20 oz worth of scrub. :)

What you need:

Medium sized mixing bowl and spoon

3 cups of white granulated sugar

1 cup of *Sunflower Oil

15 drops of peppermint **essential oil. You can substitute the peppermint for lavender, eucalyptus, mandarin, vanilla, etc. I used peppermint because I feel it ties in well with the holidays.

Optional: Vitamin e squeezed from capsules. I took about 5 vitamin e capsules and pierced the end with a safety pin and squeezed the oil into the bowl. Just to give it that extra bit of nourishment for your skin.

Get started!

Combine your sugar and oil in a bowl and stir it up well, until there are no clumps. Then add your essential oil, stir again. Scoop into jars! For myself, I put some in a tupperware bowl. Voila!! Easy peasy!

*Using sunflower oil is an important step. I tried this recipe with olive oil and it did not come out as well. Plus the smell of the olive oil overtakes the peppermint, and not in a good way. I get the sunflower oil at a health food store. It runs about $13 for a 32 fl oz jar. I also love that it's organic! **I also get the essential oils at the health food store too. They run about $6-8 for a little jar, but they last a long time.

I have used this in the shower a few times now and it's amazing. The peppermint smells soooo good and it's the perfect amount of sugar/oil ratio. Your skin feels amazing and soft afterwards. I don't even need to use lotion when I get out of the shower like I usually do, and that says a lot coming from a girl that lives in the hot, dry desert! I have also used this on my face and have not had any breakouts. I can't say that will be the same for everyone, but for me it was no problem and my face is soft and smooth and refreshed!

To give as gifts:

The jars were purchased at Ikea, but you can get jars anywhere these days. Just the other day I got some bigger ones at The Dollar Tree. The little spatulas I got at Sally's Beauty Supply (I'm sure most beauty stores have them), and I made the tags on my computer. I tied the tag and spatula on the jar with a peppermint candy striped ribbon.

Sorry I have a crummy camera... I need to invest in a nice one soon. :)

Cupcake Post

I made these turkey themed cupcakes last Thanksgiving and they were such a big hit, so I'm going to make them again this Thanksgiving! :)

They are VERY easy to make. I use milk chocolate icing and chocolate cake. For the face and wings I use the small Sandies that come in the 100 calorie packs, candy corn for the feathers, white icing with a black dot of icing for the eye, a small piece of rolled up fruit roll up for the waddle, and the white part of the candy corn for the nose. Just a note, don't stick the Sandies on until you're close to ready to serving them, otherwise they get really soggy. :)