TWTW - the one in the kitchen

Friday The 41 year old Friday night special: put laundry away that you ignored all week and paint your nails (Insta-Dri Re-Teal Therapy, this is the only Insta-Dri that chips on me almost immediately and pisses me off). I was up late reading. 

Saturday I was at the grocery store early and the dogs jackassed around all day. I spent much of the afternoon in the kitchen making shit from scratch. I find it relaxing.

MFD hosted an Organizing for Bernie party. I'm not at the 2020 primary yet. Hell, I'm barely over the last year of campaigning. What I am about right now is local and judicial elections, the primary is in May in Pennsylvania. I'm all about putting judges on the benches who are human beings. JUDGES MATTER. Local election-wise, Melissa Robbins was over and spoke - she's running for City Council At-Large in Philly and if you have some dollars to spare, she could use your support via a donation on her website. If you don't have dollars to spare, Instagram, twitter, or FB follows and amplification via shares will help. We need smart, progressive, strong, community-focused black women who believe in all people thriving and in speaking truth to power in all levels of office all around this country because black women lead and representation matters. Melissa is one of those women and she is extremely qualified for the position. Philly friends, make sure you follow her and see what she’s about. You will not regret casting your vote for Melissa. Friends outside the area who support worthy candidates monetarily, please check her out as well. Bender had his first political meeting experience and loved it. He was right in the thick of things. 

Sunday I woke up late after getting 9.5 hours of much needed sleep, finished a book, did some food prep, showered and did a face mask, and read another book while sort of watching movies MFD had on - Mars Attacks and Beautiful Boy. Sunday was also my sister-in-law Aubrey's birthday. Happy birthday Aub! Love you!

Weekly food prep: For Saturday I made veggie soup, homemade bread, and fucking amazing chocolate cupcakes from scratch with vanilla pudding cool whip frosting (trying to locate the recipes as i looked at a million, will probably share in its own post). This week's food is savory oatmeal cooked in beef stock with a fruit side for breakfast; lunch is buffalo chicken thighs on a bed of spinach with a side of cucumber and a hard boiled egg; Sunday dinner was baked chicken drums with steamed cauliflower. Other dinners this week will be Korean beef over rice and I'm not sure what else. I did well cooking from my freezer and pantry this weekend. 

Next weekend I will be in DC, so quite a few less dog pics than the past two weekends. 

How was yours? 

Four Things to Plan Ahead for This Year

Now that we're in the full swing of the new year, our attentions are hopefully not be solely on resolutions that we don’t plan on sticking to, and more on where the next 12 months will take us. If you've read here for any amount of time, you know I prefer planning over spontaneity in general, but especially in situations where I want some more control-of timing, expenses, all of the above... planning helps me make the most of my time. Here are four of the things to plan ahead for to help you get started with making this year count.

Plan ahead for potential issues

We can’t predict when things are going to go wrong, but we can plan ahead for the potential problems we know may occur. For example, summer will be here soon enough, and if you have an old air conditioning unit like me, you can bring someone in HVAC in to check it before summer starts because an engineer may be able predict when you may need an air condition repair, or service it right there. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want is for the AC not to work on the hottest day of the year. You can also plan ahead for  to check your heating system in advance of winter, get your appliances serviced if they give any indication they might need it so that you're not without a fridge, freezer, or washing machine. While these things may still break even if they are checked over, if you do what you can to avoid it, at least you tried. 

Plan your vacations and time off

You know what I love doing? Looking at the whole year as a blank canvas. It gets filled with work days, of course. After that, what to do with it? It gets filled with days with your family and friends, weekend plans and such, so the best time to set aside time for vacation is EARLY. This gives you a chance to book things properly (our shore house always starts booking the fall before for the next year, so I am not alone in this thinking) and make some real memories with the ones that matter. Booking vacations in advance gives you the chance to budget and plan for the spending that may occur. Not to mention having something to look forward to. We all need that, right?

Plan for birthdays and festivities

I know that we're still recovering from the festive season but there's no harm in starting to put plans in place for next Christmas and Thanksgiving that will be coming our way faster than we know it. Maybe this will be the year you plan to buy gifts throughout the year instead of leaving it to the last minute. You might still pick up bargains now in terms of decorations for next year. Birthday-wise, you can plan to buy cards in advance, have gifts stored and ready, and just be ahead of the game with it. You might take some stress off of yourself. 

Plan your day to day routine 

I am a huge proponent of planning your day. I do a weekly meal plan so I know what's to eat that day. I'm also a fan of a cleaning schedule to help me stay on track of house upkeep, the most important part of that being the Daily Dos. A great way to plan your day is to write a list each day of the things you want to do - I typically start that the day before and right now I'm keeping running daily lists separated by day on Google Keep. Planning helps me be more productive and efficient - despite planning being largely about to dos, it actually helps the most in ensuring that I have downtime and time to do what I want.  

I hope these tips help you to plan ahead for your year!

About Face

Friday is the day:

Mood lighter, weekend in sight.

Remove stick from ass.

It's been a while since I've done a haiku, and also a while since I talked about my face regimen so I decided to combine those things today.

It has not been a while since I was glad it was Friday, and surprise! I'm glad it's Friday today. The day started with Gus falling out of bed at 5:41, Bender escaping the yard into the street where my neighbor was thankfully standing at 7:59, and telling the train conductor to have a good night at 8:47 (the man behind me repeated me then we all laughed).

I never talk about any facial product unless I've been using it for at least a month, but preferably three. All of these are over the three month mark unless noted. Nothing pisses me off more than people who use facial products for five minutes and are like omg life changing use this. No.

For reference, my skin is a combo of normal to dry and very sensitive. My skin changed when I turned 38 or 39 and I spent a while adapting to that. Product-wise, I like to keep the price low where I can, but after a few hellish incidents I stepped away from a lot of cheaper products I was using, started doing my research and am much happier with calm, mostly behaving skin to boot. The extra money is worth it to not be kvetching about my face all the time and most of my products last a long time. Amazon links are affiliate links.

Morning

Cleanser: I typically just rub my face with water in the shower but if I was a lazy a-hole who did not wash the night before I get some SkinLab Micellar Cleansing Water out.

Serum: Kleem Organics Vitamin C Serum for Face. I love this. Like, love love never gonna give you up 10 out of 10 would marry love. It's great on my skin and in warmer months I sometimes skip a heavier moisturizer in the morning and am fine with just this. For around $20, that is great.

Eye: Kleem Organics Anti Aging Eye Cream. I love this except for how it comes out. You have to practice control and I'm not always careful so there’s user error. If you are not a wild animal like me, you should be fine if you buy it.

Moisturizer: MAC Complete Comfort Creme. Throughout my life my most troubling skin care component to figure out has always been moisturizer. This feels great, does not clog my pores, does its job keeping my skin flake and dry patch free, and does not make me break out. I did a lot of research before I found this and bought it. If you're like me, when this shit costs like $30 for moisturizer you have to scour the ends of the earth before investing and be ruthless in returning what does not work.

Sunscreen: After moisturizer, all year, every day regardless of forecast. I change my sunscreen up a lot. Right now it's Clarins. Regardless of the brand it's SPF 30 or 40. My face does not respond well to 50.

Evening

Eye makeup remover: Camomile Gentle from The Body Shop if necessary, otherwise micellar water. My eyes are super sensitive and most eye makeup removers are not good for me.

Cleanser: The Body Shop Drops of Youth Gentle Foam Wash. Not drying, does the job.

Toner: The Body Shop Vitamin E Hydrating Toner. Once upon a time I was obsessively toning my skin and stripped off its outer layer. What an idiot. This is effective and gentle.

Anti-aging serum: The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion. This is cheap as hell. I was using a Kleem Organics Retinoid cream which I also liked but I swapped it out for this. I love it.

Eye: Kleem Organics Anti Aging Eye Cream. Love story as seen above.

Moisturizer: MAC Complete Comfort Creme.

Sometimes

Exfoliate: Either belif Pore Cleanser Bubble Foam or The Body Shop Drops of Youth Liquid Peel, 2x a week, usually at night

Mask: Once a week. I'm into Saturday night sheet masks lately but they are not the best for the environment so I should wean myself off of these.

Jade roller: I used Debbie's that she got in her FabFitFun box (Sherrie Matthews Acupuncture) then bought the same one for half price on Poshmark. I love it but I was not paying $45 for it. If you want one, check Poshmark or Ebay. I’ve only been using this for about three weeks.

Always

I have a set of flannel cloths from Etsy (those of you who can do these things could make them at home, I ordered mine on Etsy here) that I use for eye makeup remover, micellar water, toner, etc., so I'm not using and tossing facial wipes or cotton balls. I love them, they just go in the wash with my towels and not into landfills.

This concludes my Not a Beautician, Only Doing What Works For Me and Always Interested in What Works For Others Also Use Less Single Use Items TED Talk.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday Thoughts - Little angels hang above my head and read me like an open book

1. Happiness is a drawer full of fruit.

2. Happiness is dogs in the sun.

3. Happiness is justice, albeit late and with conditions that should not apply..

4. Happiness is feeling represented by women who did not come to play. Happiness is also street art (by Hystericalmen, 5th & Bainbridge in Philly).

5. Happiness is getting back to some technical writing about travel - I've almost forgotten how to write about something I don't know much about, haven't experienced personally, or don't feel deeply about.

6. Happiness is washing and reusing flannel pieces instead of throwing out single use face wipes and cotton balls.

7. Happiness is another weekend of no plans, but definite plans to see my niece and nephew tonight.

8. Happiness is being open to possibility instead of saying no outright to things we have told ourselves can't be done or convinced ourselves must wait.

9.  Happiness is reminding each other that we should not surrender all joy for an idea we used to have about ourselves that just isn't true anymore.

10. Happiness is all lounge attire, all the time.

What's your happiness this week, big, small, or in between?

What appears after the hyphen in Thursday Thoughts is a song lyric to whatever I'm listening to when I start to write the post. This week is Angels of the Silences by Counting Crows. 

Things to See and Do in Los Angeles

photo by free-photos from Pixabay

When it comes to traveling, unless our aim is to plop ourselves on a beach and forget about the world for a few days, we're all looking for somewhere that has plenty to offer, fun things to do, and fascinating things to see, right? With that in mind, here's a look at one of America’s most interesting cities, Los Angeles. The home of the stars and the movies has so much to see and do that you could spend just a few days here getting to know it or a take a trip for a few weeks to understand it. Let’s take a look at what makes LA a special place to visit.

Hollywood

I think any conversation about Los Angeles starts with one of the hottest tourist spots in the world, Hollywood. If you have even the smallest interest in film, then you've got to make your way to Hollywood, right? For starters, there is the infamous Walk of Fame where you can see homages to stars such as Michael Jackson, Amy Adams, and Mickey Mouse. The Walk of Fame stretches out over 18 blocks and takes you on tour not just through media history but also of the sights and sounds of Hollywood. You’ll pass the Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Museum, and the Dolby Theatre, home of the Academy Awards. I'm big on tours that get me around to the touron spots quickly, especially if I'm only in town for a day or two to sight see.

You can also take a bus tour into Beverly Hills to see the houses (or gates of them, I guess) of stars  and up to the Hollywood sign that overlooks LA. I don't have much interest in the homes but I'd love to see the sign up close.

Photo by BKD from Pixabay

Santa Monica

If you’re in the Los Angeles and looking for the beach, Santa Monica is a good choice. This coastal city west of downtown LA provides a little escape from the city life. Any visit to Santa Monica should include a walk on its pier where you can enjoy its amusement park, Pacific Park after walking through the iconic entrance that sits at the head of the pier. There is also an aquarium and the original Muscle Beach. I love photos of the pier and amusement park here - quite a few friends have shared them on Instagram.

Disney

Just as the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia argument will never be settled, the argument over which is better -  Disneyland or Disneyworld - will never be settled. Los Angeles’ Anaheim is proud of its over 60-year-old theme park that welcomes visitors from around the world all year. You’ll be able to meet all of your favorite characters as well as take on some of the famous rides like Splash Mountain and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. Similar to Orlando, Anaheim doesn’t just boast Disneyland but also other theme parks such as Universal Studios. As a Disney lover, I will definitely visit the Anaheim park if I get a chance, if only to compare it to my many trips to Disneyworld.

Other Things To Do

These are just a few options that you can explore in Los Angeles, but the city has so much to offer from a mafia escape room to catching a game in the NBA at the Lakers or the Clippers. If sports are your thing then LA is a great choice with two teams each in the NFL, MBA, & MLS - Rams, Chargers, Angels, Dodgers, Galaxy and Los Angeles FC - as well as the previously mentioned basketball teams and their NHL team, the LA Kings.

Have you been? Or are you planning to go? What did I miss?