Sunday, July 17, 2016

Lip Product Junkie

 
I have always been a fan of lip products.  I would say that they are my favorite makeup item.  You would think that I would then be into crazy, wild colors.  Not me.  I'm as Plain Jane as they come when it comes to lipsticks and gloss.  I have just about every variation of nude possible with a few berry colors intermingled.  And mostly, I just like clear stuff with the slightest tinge of pink that not only smells good but tastes good too.

I attribute this addiction to lip products going back to child hood.  We had the best lip products on the planet in the 80's and 90's.  I occasionally find cool things today but as usual the 80's were always better.

My gateway drug was by Bonne Bell.  The Bonne Bell line was full of beauty products but known for it's soda flavored chapsticks and colorful tins shaped like hearts called Lip Smackers.  I was a complete sucker for the Dr. Pepper flavor. Lip Smackers is one of the few brands that has managed to keep up and the line has expanded into kooky flavors like Double Cheeseburger, Cookie Dough, Maple Bacon, and Funnel Cake.  Santa left some Lip Smackers in stockings and I recall seeing Dill Pickle, French Fries, and Pizza as well!  They also have a line that is pots in the shapes of Disney Tsum Tsum characters that my daughters have been collecting.  For those who still love Lip Smackers, you can actually find them all online at the Lip Smackers website.  There is even a Smoochie Club you can join for free to get the latest updates. I might be a member....



After Bonne Bell, I moved onto Village Lip Lickers.  These were little tins that slid side to side to reveal one or two flavored lip glosses.  Growing up, my mom used to do scavenger hunts for my sister and I.  I always loved finding Lip Lickers as my prize at the end of the hunt!  Cherry Cola was a favorite and has been sorely missed over the years.  I recently learned that Vintage Lip Lickers is back!  Tine Cosmetics has brought back a clear gloss line and a tinted gloss line called Vintage Lip Lickers with many of the old flavors, Strawberry, Grape, Cream Soda, and Miss Pepper.  I couldn't resist this one and had to order a few for myself, you can check out the site here.  You may also remember this line as they also did Kissing Sticks which were similar to Lip Smackers with a variety of flavors.  Original packaging from back in the day is used which makes these so retro and fun.


Next I moved onto Kissing Koolers and Kissing Potion, both by Maybelline. Kissing Koolers were short little fat marbled lipsticks that were flavorful but had a cooling effect as well.  Kissing Potion was in a roller ball style container that tasted great (kind of like oily candy) but was incredibly sticky. By this time in my life, I had a caboodle filled to the brim with this stuff and treated it like a prized possession.  I now remember how frequently my friends and I would trade... I must admit it now grosses me out.

As I have gotten older, my love for lip products has slow down a bit.  I've also moved onto using cruelty-free products which has led me to try new brands as well.  Tarte is great line and I love the nudes that they offer. 

I recently discovered the line of lip balms called Hurraw!  My mom found them at a local tea store and always looking out for me and the hydration of my lips, picked me up a Chai Spice flavored one to try, I will definitely re-purchase in the future.  One thing that was surpising to me as I started looking for new lip products that were cruelty free, brands that I figured were easily cruelty-free weren't.  I was always a fan of Burt's Bees and thought I could easily keep buying their products...wrong.  EOS, the little egg shaped balms that come in pastel colors and are flavored...not cruelty free either.  I believe Lip Lickers is cruelty free so I am pretty excited to add these into my day to day... and enjoy the envious looks of other 80's brats like myself!
 










Friday, July 15, 2016

One Year Keto Anniversary - Progress in Pictures


This last week, I celebrated my one year anniversary on Keto. I have managed to lose 88 pounds in one year.  I can't believe I have stuck with it this long.  It has been a far easier journey than I ever thought it could be and I wouldn't change this last year for anything.  I am now far healthier and happier than I have been in a long time.  I have a bit still to go but even if I don't lose another pound, I am still so thankful for the progress I have made. 

Something that I think a lot of people struggle with when starting a diet like this when they have so far to go is just how daunting it feels to lose 50 - 100 - 150 pounds.  I think what people fail to realize is how much of a difference even 10 pounds makes.  I remember just starting last year and noticing within two weeks that I was already feeling better.  I hadn't lost much in those two weeks but I wasn't so sluggish or sleepy; my energy was way up.  I attribute a lot of gaining my life back to this lifestyle. I am far more active and want to get out and do things. I even attribute my desires to start side businesses and having success to it because I'm not tired all the time.  I now know a way that I can live and not be so dependent on sugars and carbs and that is a really freeing feeling.

I thought I would share some progress pics over the last year to show how far I have come. These early pics aren't so easy to share but this is real life.

 
July 2015
September 2015
October 2015
November 2015
December 2015
 January 2016
February 2016
 
 March 2016
May 2016
 
July 2016 
So what's next?  I'm going to continue to live a ketogenic lifestyle and continue to benefit from the weight loss. I'd like to lose another 40 pounds or so.  I actually revised my goal weight after I figured out how achievable it was and realizing how much better I feel. 
 
 A few things have changed in the last couple of months --
 
I have stopped tracking every thing I eat in MyFitnessPal.  I loved this app when I first started but as I got better at knowing how many carbs I was eating, I found it was tedious to keep tracking it.  I do recommend using an app to track if you are new to keto or any low-carb diet. 
 
I've allowed myself to be more lax with my carbs.  Now I'm not talking going crazy but I sometimes go over 20 net carbs a day and I'm ok with that. 
 
I've allowed myself to "cheat" when I plan for it. So far this has only been on vacation which is fine with me.  I don't need to "cheat" once a week, or month, or year.  All in moderation, if I want something bad enough, I can figure out a way to have it ... low-carb.
 

 

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Busy Month and Small Business Adventures

July is historically a busy and chaotic month, just like all these Japanese Koi Fish (however do they swim like this on top of each other?) full of travel and fun.  This year is no different, in fact it has been even more chaotic and we still have a big trip coming up soon. 

 I have mentioned in the past that I have been wanting to diversify income and have been working on different side income avenues to do so.  Some of those haven't gone as smoothly as I hoped and others have started to take off.  One of my businesses has recently started to really grow and I have been investing a lot of time each week - sourcing, listing, pricing, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I really love what I am doing but at the same time I haven't been able to keep up on blogs as frequently the last few weeks.

My free time during the evening has been spent in front of computer working on my resale business.  I have spent a lot of time learning the ins and outs and identifying what the right things to sell are.  My business sits on the Amazon platform and is geared towards books, cds, and toys.  I knew Amazon was big but I had no idea just how big and now much traffic it has, amazing.  At the same time, I am also trying to keep up on Ebay sales as I continue to declutter my house.  I admit, my decluttering has been heavily focused on just my clothing right now because everything is now way too big and I need to get warmer weather items out before the season is over and nobody wants them.  I will be buying a whole new wardrobe come fall, I'll have no choice!  Right now I can get away with fewer items but that isn't going to last into colder weather.  Never mind that I will need a new jacket and coat as well. Still you will hear no complaints from me!

My sales in the last 30 days across all my side income pursuits is about $630 profit.  Not too shabby.  I certainly wasn't seeing this even a few months ago.  I'm excited to see where this goes and how long I continue to love it as much as I have been.  That will be telling to me as far as how sustainable it is.  I feel for certain that I can stick it out through the holidays and am hoping 4th quarter sales will inspire me to keep at it if I start to lose motivation by then. 

Monday, July 11, 2016

Memory Lane: Lisa Frank Dreams

 
I was (and likely still classify as) obsessed with Lisa Frank growing up.  I was an avid sticker collector. My mom used to take me to the local Hallmark store, Town Crier to get my fix. There were these racks in the back that contained Lisa Frank and Sandy Lion stickers on spools where you could pull off individual stickers for purchase. My grandmother used to take me to a candy store in a neighboring town that also sold Lisa Frank stickers and would occasionally buy me one.  There they had large collectible stickers that I treasured.  I also loved all the Lisa Frank prints that adorned my school supplies, I believe most were by Stuart Hall and Trapper Keeper at the time.

(This Gumball Machine was her very first design)
 
I loved and still love the bright colorful creations made of unicorns, panda bears, ice cream cones, gumball machines, pizza, rainbows, lollipops, and tigers to name a few.  Lisa Frank definitely fits in with my kawaii obsessions!





Last month, Lisa Frank announced that a series of adult coloring books were being released and I have been super excited.  I have been venturing out to all the local Dollar General stores (where they are only being sold) to see if I could get my hands on one... no luck so far but I'm going to keep trying!

Lisa Frank also has released a line of clothing with RageOn! that I am pretty crazy for. I would love to get my girls some leggings or sweatshirts but the price is a little high so I'm still considering it.
 
I keep up on Lisa Frank news by following the Facebook Page here.  I still see her designs on items every now and again at stores like Walmart, Target, and Michaels.  You can also find quite a bit of her vintage items on Ebay and Etsy.
 
I had this notebook and it was my absolute favorite.
 


Thursday, July 7, 2016

Party of Five Binge



My husband and I were out at Menards home improvement store over the weekend and came across a steal (well, a steal in my opinion).  I have a love for several shows that aired when I was in my teens, the 90's and early 2000's.  Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, Melrose Place, and Felicity are some favorites.  Also on that list was a show called Party of Five. Party of Five, the entire series on DVD, was on sale for $25!  Woot! 

Party of Five is where actresses Neve Campbell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Lacey Chabert got their real start. Also, big brother, Charlie, is played by Matthew Fox who went on to star in Lost and several other films and shows.   I've always related to Neve Campbell's character, Julia, from the show.  She was brown-haired, brown-eyed, bookish girl who frequently pushes the boundaries of lacking parental supervision day in and out.  She also gets into trouble with boys on occasion and eventually marries young.  I had a lot in common with her character back in the day.  I also went on to be huge Neve Campbell fan and loved all the Scream movies and especially loved The Craft.  I even watched all her B-rate stuff.  I'll even admit to loving the movie Wild Things which starred Matt Damon, Kevin Bacon and Denise Richards.  Oh why don't they make movies like Scream and The Craft anymore???


 

I'm now binge watching my way back through Party of Five... and now I watch it again and again.

For those that are curious, Menards had several full series shows for cheap.  Roseanna, Betwitched, Gilligan's Island, I Dream of Jeannie to name a few.  I'm always surprised by what I find in that store and this weekend was no exception.