Uncategorized: alyssa milano chemical burns depilatory rasera veet
by Blabby
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Veet - use with caution!
So I bought some Veet because Alyssa Milano told me it would make my legs look like hers. Well, the commercial says something like that. Anyway, I’ve never had any luck with depilatories. They are usually stinky and don’t work. But this one has that cool little rasera thing - the fake razor/hair scraper tool. So I bought a bonus pack at WalMart, which consisted of two cans of the hair removal mouse and one fake little razor.
I read the entire back of the can, every single tiny little precaution. I only applied the smelly (smells good at first, but then the depilatory smell comes out) cream to my lower legs and my armpits. I do not have sensitive skin. Well, I should say, I DIDN’T have sensitive skin. The burning sensation started immediately. Anyway, I put it on, waited 2.5 minutes, turned the shower on, and started rinsing the first let at exactly 3 minutes. Burning burning burning. It felt like I was scraping off my skin with the fake little razor. Under the cream, my leg was bright red.
Now, almost 12 hours later, I have what looks like scratches all over my legs - raised, red welts. My underarms are basically solid red and VERY painful. At the moment I have cold wash clothes stuck in my armpits.
So I just went online and googled Veet, and guess what I found? A million sites with testimonies of chemical burns from instruction-followers like myself. I even found this crazy petition to have Veet banned from the shelves. I did find a few people that had successful results, but I don’t see how.
Anyone else have an opinion?
The upside I guess is that even though my legs and armpits are on fire, they are quite smooth. The price of beauty?
On the other hand, if you decide to use it, they have a $2 off coupon on veet.com. But unless you have skin of steel, I wouldn’t try it.
A finished quilt…
I’ve finished one more of the quilt tops that had been stored in the garage. This one is earmarked for my sister…hope she likes it! It’s called a cobblestone (although I’ve also heard it called a brick road - I think the rectangles are smaller on the cobblestone.) It’s made mostly of the Wuthering Heights line from Moda, with some remnant fabric for the border and backing. It’s also my first go at freehand machine quilting. I attempted the squiggly lines down each column of cobbles - some came out better than others. I probably could have done a much better job if I had drawn guidelines, but that seemed a little like writing a rough draft - which I’ve never had the patience for. Sadly, my impatience shows - especially on the darker fabrics. But I doubt you can tell in these pictures, so just assume it’s perfect!
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by Blabby
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Reality (TV) Check
SYTYCD
I’m a little behind, but I’m only going to comment on this week. I can’t talk about Hok leaving and not making the tour, it upsets me. Just kidding, although it is sad, I can see that although he was my favorite, he wasn’t as versatile as the other guys.
So this week, first I want to talk about all the anti-war stuff. I can’t believe there are still people that would be upset over that Wade Robson routine. I am 100% pro service members, and 100% against this war. I personally think the two go hand in hand. Saying that someone who is FOR peace doesn’t support Soldiers or Marines or Sailors or Airmen is VERY short-sighted. The two will never be mutually exclusive. Patriotism doesn’t mean blindly following the leadership of this country into whatever debacle they create. In fact, if you look at the roots of this country, it’s clearly the opposite. Questioning authority is what we’re all about! And about Mia’s jacket - I’m kind of against civilians wearing military uniforms. BUT, I’m sure she didn’t realize what she was wearing. I’m especially against civilians wearing military insignia - like rank (which is what she had upside down on her sleeves) - because people work hard to earn that - in my mind it’s like people buying Olympic medals on eBay and wearing them around (maybe a little extreme, but you get my point), but I still think she had no idea what she was wearing, and she was obviously sorry. I thought it was unfortunate that she wore that jacket on the same night that all the dancers did a peace dance. Whoops :)
Now, about the dancing - I thought Lauren was phenomenal. I like to think that the fact that I called in and voted 5 times for her, and only voted for Jamie once had something to do with the results :) I also thought it was time for Kameron to go - for the same reason as Hok. They’re really getting down to the best dancers now - Sabra is still my favorite girl, and I guess Dominic is my favorite guy. I hope he can hang in there for a while with those really awesome jumpers.
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
How is it already the end of the season? Sheesh - it seems like it just started. I’m sad - I thought these last two episodes with her in England and Ireland were hilarious. My favorite thing about her is the totally ridiculous situations she finds herself in in her quest for A-list status. I’m pretty sure that Nicole Kidman would never find herself wearing that tweed dress with the big bow in the drag queen shop. Or on a date with that weird performance artist guy. What a kook. I can’t wait until next season!
The Singing Bee
Man, I would love to be on this show. I’m not sure if I could get up there and do a silly white-girl dance while I was waiting for my chance to mess up the lyrics, but I would love to try.
1 vs. 100
I watched this for the first time last week. I really like the premise, but really am not crazy about Bob Saget. My husband and I really laughed at all the extra information the people always give when they answer. “Well, since my son doesn’t have an ePod, I’m going to guess C., IPOD!” Thanks, dude. For all the extra commentary. Get on with it, already! That’s why I didn’t watch Who Wants to be a Millionaire either.
With that last bit of judgment, I’m going to end my extra commentary :) Good thing I’m perfect! ha ha ha…
books Deathly Hallows Harry Potter suspense YA: Authors J.K. Rowling
by Blabby
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I Heart Harry
At any given time, I have 10 or so library books languishing on my bedside table. This week, it’s a mix of polymer clay how-to books, a couple of Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove series, and the new Paulo Cohelo. So far, I only have eyes for Harry Potter. For the last two Harry Potter releases, I’ve preordered them from Amazon, and received my spanking new copy with the rest of America - but without the lines and wizard hats. I started Year 6 the day I received it, but couldn’t remember half of the characters from Year 5. I decided then that I would wait for Deathly Hallows to come out, and then I’d start from the beginning. So this week, Deathly Hallows arrived. I immediately picked up my copy of The Sorceror’s Stone, and haven’t been able to put it down.
It’s officially the second book I’ve ever read twice. The only other one is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - which is my all time favorite book of the universe.
As I was getting my hair cut today, reading about Hagrid and the baby dragon, there was a 14-or-so year old boy reading Deathly Hallows. When I was on the quilt run, I saw several husbands waiting out their wives with crisp new copies of the finale.
Whatever people think about J.K. Rowling and Harry, they can’t deny that it’s created a resurgence of reading in children (and 30-year old stay at home moms!) unseen since the advent of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boy, or even Oprah’s book club. If you’ve never given it a chance, nows the time to pick up the first year - Harry’s trials and adventures appeal to all ages, all cultures. The stories are a marvel of imagination.
And even though wizardry and magic is a central theme - the books are really about good vs. evil, not unlike The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (or Narnia). So don’t shy away because of it’s perceived evil - that’s shortsighted, and you’ll be missing out on wonderful stories.
~End Lecture~
Moto Q at the salon
My first official blog entry composed on my trusty Moto Q. Once I scrolled past my 275 categories, it works just fine!. I’m getting highlights put in my hair right now - and since I only approve of time wasting in front of the TV or on the internet, I figured this was a good time as any to blog. Technology is so cool.
So is anyone watching The Singing Bee? Here’s what it reminds me of. Remember that episode of Friends where Joey was auditioning for the really elaborate game show, and him and Chandler spent all day learning the rules and pretend playing so he’d be ready for the audition? I think there were golden monkeys or something? Well, that’s what The Singing Bee reminds me of. What’s with the round with the floating words? And the scantily clad dancers? They crack me up. Anyway, it’s entertaining.
Headed for the dryers…wish me luck!
Wedding gifts…
My aunt is getting married this Saturday. The wedding was originally scheduled for Nov., and I was super excited about going, but life happened, and they moved the date to Aug. 4, making it impossible for me to get an affordable ticket and for my husband to take off work. SO, I don’t get to go. My sister is one of the bridesmaids and my nephews are the Bible bearer and ring bearer - I’m so sad to miss the whole thing.
But in addition to going, I had a few jobs - to make the guest book, ring pillow and the programs - obviously on a super-accelerated time table.
So here’s what I made over the last two days. I think everything came out great - I hope she likes this stuff. You’ll notice the Fall colors - no time to change the bridesmaids dresses, so the Summer wedding gets Fall colors. I love brown and orange, so I think they’re great for any season.
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by Blabby
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Quilt Run, Pt. 2
Today marks the end of the Southern California Quilt Run. I am sad. I was sad on Saturday as I shopped in the last five stores. But, in order to make this appealing to all my readers (thanks, you two!), I’ve decided to tell you the best shops and what you’ll gain by visiting - quilter or not.
Top Three stores, in no particular order:
- Sowing Sisters, Carlsbad, CA. First of all, come to Carlsbad. It’s the best little vacation beach town going. You may need to be wealthy to afford the trip, but it will be worth it. Carlsbad is a little jewel located north of San Diego by about 40 miles. There’s a gorgeous beach with plenty of parking, nice sand and freezing cold Pacific Ocean water - so don’t forget your wetsuit. You’ll probably see some dolphins and maybe even a whale. About four blocks from the beach, right across from a great little bar called the Cantina is Sowing Sisters Quilt Shop. They claim to have the largest selection of Amy Butler fabrics and patterns in all of Southern California. I would denounce this seemingly huge claim, but since I have in fact been to (almost) every quilt store in Southern California, I can honestly say they DO have the most Amy Butler fabric. Plus, they’re really nice. But don’t take your quilting to the beach - it will get dirty. Take it to the pool. By the way, this store is so cool - they even have a blog.
- Quilter’s Coop, Temecula, CA. They don’t have a website - that I could find, anyway, but the store is wonderful. First, Temecula is chocked-full of wineries. You’ll need a driver, so you can get good and schnockerd. Start at Old Town, visit all the cute little antique shops, be sure to taste some Olive Oils, and then go to the best group of shops ever. In one building is a quilt store, a stamp/scrapbooking store, a crochet store, and a jewelry store. Plus, there’s a jail (for
show - or for husbands…not sure.) Anyway, Quilter’s Coop has a huge selection of fabrics and patterns. They were the only shop on the run to carry Anna Griffin’s new line of fabrics or the Bleeker Street line. Sadly, they were sold out of the cool dots by the time I got there, but they’re pretty close to my house, so I can go back anytime. Then, get a driver and head over to Rancho California Drive. There are at least ten wineries - maybe more. Have fun with the tastings, then take a load off at one of the spas. Sounds nice, right? - Monica’s Quilt and Bead Creations, Palm Desert, CA. I’m not going to lie - this place was HOT (the desert, not the store). But, Palm Springs is just a stones throw away, and according to that new show Hidden Palms, exciting things are happening there all the time. Monica’s was my very last store, and boy, did I end on a good one. First of all, I’m also a jewelry maker, so I was drawn to her huge selection of beads. But even though I lingered over the huge assortment of Swarovski crystals, I was very disciplined. Instead, I only purchased three new patterns and about 10 fat quarters. It really is a beautiful store with tons of options, great classes, super friendly staff, and especially friendly owner. I was happy to turn in my passport and get my “I did it!” bar for my quilt run pin - although there are no spaces on the bar, so it looks like “ididit”…that’s right, idiot. Well, I did drive 1,100 miles and spend a lot of money - so it might not be far off.
I also found this fun virtual shop hop called FabShop Hop. It’s a hop through virtual quilt and fabric stores - good idea, right? When you find the little pink bunny, you click it and enter to win prizes!
Happy Quilting! Completed project pictures coming soon!
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by Blabby
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Quilt Run, pt. 1
The Southern California Quilt Run commenced last week (Thurs - Sun) and concludes this weekend. I spent Friday evening, all day Saturday and most of Sunday “running”. Basically, I covered about 700 miles and shopped in 27 quilt stores. Some great, some not so. My buying limit has been more than surpassed (good thing I saved a little in preparation), and I now have more projects than I could complete in a year. But still - that’s the goal, to complete them all and start again next summer.
My favorite finds so far (still have 7 shops left, to be completed on Saturday) are Amy Butler’s new home dec line of fabric, all of her patterns for purses and clothes, and Denyse Schmidt’s book. Other favorites include Heather Bailey‘s Freshcut line (colorway 1 pictured) and any and all 1920s and 30s reproduction fabrics (old news, but I still love them.) I got a bunch of cute patterns for purses, aprons, and of course, quilts.
In each shop we get a charm - most are quilting related. Some signify the store in some way. These are a little annoying. What am I going to do with a penguin charm?
One cool shop was Quilt in a Day -that’s right, the same as the show on PBS. Turns out the shop is actually the studio for her show! You know, not when she’s in a fishing boat or in front of a log cabin, but when she’s constructing the quilt pieces. The shop was annoying though because I got there right at 9:01 pm (closing time) on Friday and had driven over 150 miles that day, and they wouldn’t stamp my damn card, so I had to go back to that store on Sunday. I even called in advance because I knew I was going to barely make it and the lady said, “oh, you’re not going to make it - we will be closing at exactly 9 pm.” Which sounded like a dare to me, so I DID make it, only she pretended not to hear me knocking on the door as she counted out her drawer. So I didn’t buy anything from them when I returned - their loss. But besides one other store with no parking, I had only happy experiences in each shop.
It was fun to keep running into the same ladies as we traveled the same path along the freeways. Lucky for me, I had my brother-in-law’s trusty TomTom One GPS device. I tell you, that thing is a marvel of convenience! I’m not sure if you’ve ever driven on the freeways in California, but the exits are often not where you’d expect. The TomTom warns you - it tells you which lane to get in! Amazing! I chose the Austrailian guy’s voice, and listened to his fun accent for every exit and turn. Very pleasant. And no furiously and dangerously looking at mapquest directions to figure out what comes next! I highly recommend TomToms to everyone!
At one point, I was in gridlocked traffic on the 405 freeway in Orange County. I hit “Alternate Route”, “Avoid 405″ on the TomTom, and the Aussie (whom I assume is very handsome) told me to exit right away and proceeded to take me on a lovely scenic route through Topanga Canyon and along the Pacific Coast Highway. Couldn’t get any better than if someone else had been chauffeuring me around, paying for all my fabric.
So, this Saturday, I have to hit the last seven shops to be entered to win wonderful, fabulous prizes. I’ve also been entering all the guild opportunity drawings for gorgeous quilts I could never construct. Wish me luck!
blogging Bravo Crafts crochet Paula Abdul reality tv so you think you can dance Top Chef TV: brittany snow chris lowell creative juice diy hillary duff kathy griffin Lifetime Monk My Life on the D-List Psych reality check sytycd TBS The Closer TNT uncommon threads USA zac efron
by Blabby
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Reality (TV) Check
So - I’m two weeks behind on my reality TV check. Here’s what I think:
So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD)
First, was anyone actually watching fireworks? Or were you mad - like me - that SYTYCD wasn’t on? Anyway, I was sad to see Jessie go - but she clearly had too many health issues going on - not fair to her partner. And how funny was Pascha dancing with that lady? Don’t get me wrong, she was good, but she really did look like Bette Midler. I thought it was hysterical, and a little yucky. I was super sad to see Jesus go. If only he hadn’t been up against the two most long-legged jumping dancers on the planet for his solo!
On to this week…I did not like Hok’s waltz at all. Why did they make him wear high-waters? I loved Sabra and Dominique’s hip hop. I think she’s my favorite girl. Hok is still my favorite guy, but no more waltzes, okay? I also did not like Shauna and Cedric’s tango. I thought it looked so awkward. I voted them off in my head as they were dancing, and apparently I was right :)
I wish they would have shown a little bit of Brittany Snow in the whole Hairspray red carpet reel. I loved her on American Dreams. And how cute is that little Zac Efron? I guess he’s not so little - I just think of him on Summerland…I confuse him with that cute Chris Lowell that’s going to be on that new Grey’s Anatomy spin-off. I loved Ricki Lake’s version of Hairspray, and this one looks even better - can’t wait!
Oh yeah, did anyone else think that Hillary Duff looked exhausted after her performance? That big sigh? She was just okay. I love her silly teenagery movies, but her singing just isn’t for me. She wouldn’t win American Idol, that’s for sure.
Top Chef
Sad to see Sandee go. Hung is turning into a jerk - snotty, arrogant. I was so happy that Lia won - she’s an underdog, for sure! I also like Howie a lot. Even when he got mad, what he was saying was reasonable, not crazy cursing like that dumb Joey guy. The two tall cute guys seem like they’ll go far - too bad I can’t remember their names :)
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
The prison episode was one of my favorites. She’s really becoming a whole person. I used to just laugh at her cheapness (always trying to get something for free) and willingness to take any job. But this season, she’s dealt with her dad’s death, talked about her divorce, started dating…she’s hysterical. This week she’s headed to London. That promises to be ridiculous, so everyone should watch.
Hey Paula
Anyone watching this show? I have a few episodes Tivoed. I watched one and she was SUPER obnoxious. Just like she is on American Idol, so I don’t know if I’ll keep watching.
Non-Reality Check
Starting tonight: Monk and Psych on USA! Hooray! Also, a good show you’re probably not watching is Burn Notice, Thursday nights on USA. Very funny - and my husband watches it with me! Wonder of all wonders! And just to keep up my broken record refrain, watch The Closer on TNT and Army Wives on Lifetime. My favorite shows on TV right now.
Some other stuff I’ve been watching due to lack of prime time options: DIY’s Uncommon Threads and Creative Juice. Those shows are FULL of cool ideas for all things crafty. How do I get into a group that would be on Uncommon Threads? Can I start one? Anyone part of a crafty group?
blogging books Crafts crochet quilting: Army Wives Cedar Cove days of our lives Debbie Macomber Lifetime quilt run sci fi socalquiltrun The Closer tin man TNT tom tom one yarn
by Blabby
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all in a day’s work…
I made my first attempt at a mary jane’s pattern, and halfway into the first one, I realized I must be using too-chunky yarn. Even though I was using the G crochet hook, as the pattern specified, my mary jane was easily the size of a snow cap. WAY too big for any foot. So I unraveled it. I’ll start again with finer yarn and see how it goes.
My quilt run starts tomorrow, and I can barely contain my excitement. My husband has agreed to give me one full day of freedom each weekend so that I can travel all over my portion of the state visiting quilt shops. I’ve decided to map out a few scrapbook, yarn and bead shops as well - might as well get them all in, right? My brother-in-law even lent me his tom tom, so all I have to do is have the addresses, and Mr. T (or the voice of my choice) will tell me how to get to each shop!
In TV news, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying The Closer and Army Wives. Cable really has some excellent shows. I saw a promo yesterday for a miniseries on Sci Fi called Tin Man - looks like a retelling of the Wizard of Oz (with Richard Dreyfuss and Zooey Dechanel and Alan Cumming!). Coming in December - Very exciting!
Anyone watching Days of Our Lives? I’m getting a little fed up with the crazy-awful Irish and Italian accents they’re coming up with recently, but I like the current storylines. Any thoughts?
In book news, I’ve been reading Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove series. I’m on the 4th book, and I really like it. I plan to do a review of all six books soon.
Hope all is well in your worlds!
