December and January (and so far February) have been dull and dreary and I needed a little pick-me-up. Now, I don't consider myself a girly-girl--I hate to go shopping and wearing makeup is...well...time-consuming. I pride myself on being able to get by without wearing makeup and pity the poor souls who do. So imagine my surprise when late last year, I went on a bender of sorts.
My nephew was getting married and while I don't wear makeup on a daily basis (not even mascara or blush), I will wear it for special occasions. The problem was that all of my makeup was at least five years old, and in the world of cosmetics, it's considered a big no-no to even think about using a product that old. What's a girl to do when the stuff gets worn once a year, at most?
Enter Leigh, who recommended Jane Iredale mineral makeup. She pointed me to a salon that carries the line and after a lengthy consultation with their consultant, I walked out fully made-up and feeling (dare I say it?) rather beautiful. My wallet was also much, much, much lighter. There are several things about this makeup that I like--it looks "fresh" all day long, it has an indefinite shelf life, and it's an SPF20 sunscreen. No really, it is! I didn't believe it (marketing hype and all that) but I got the chance to prove it to myself. I went fishing with my brother the day after Thanksgiving. I wore the makeup (I felt silly and vain putting on makeup to go fishing, let me tell you). The day was sunny, the sun was reflecting off the water, there was no shade (we were in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay) and I didn't get sunburned! So I'm sold. I still don't like that it takes too much time to put on (and take off) but I supposed that's one of the prices to pay.
With the advent of my 53rd birthday (yikes!), I started to go through yet another phase of feeling like I looked frumpy and dumpy and decidedly middle-aged. And my clothes no longer pleased me (most being at least six years old and many being much older than that). I hate shopping with a passion which is why I like shopping at Nordstrom: they stick you in a dressing room and keep bringing clothes to you. And if you use their Personal Stylist service (totally free, by the way), they have at least a dozen outfits already waiting for you! Yes, their clothes are expensive but in my opinion, it's well worth it. I'm very happy with my purchases and probably won't have to go shopping again for another six years!
Running Update
Run? What's that? Hee hee...I'm still working long, stressful hours and am finding that long, stressful hours aren't conducive to running, or anything else for that matter. My running goal this year is to complete a 50-mile race in November, but right now that goal is seriously at risk and might need revising. I've been running at most, four to six miles every couple of weeks. Tom, on the other hand, is ramping up his training for the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 in May and running one (or more) 50K runs every other weekend. He makes me look like a slacker.
Knitting News
As always, there are lots of things to knit and not enough time to knit them. In addition to the hat I'm knitting for a coworker who was diagnosed with breast cancer, I'm knitting (or will be) two Baby Surprise Jackets for coworkers' babies. Unfortunately for me, the babies surprised the parents by arriving early (and fortunately, in excellent health). I'm at the gauge swatch stage and it seems that I need to go up at least two needle sizes to get gauge. So we'll see. Either the jackets will be too small for the tiniest of newborns or else the BSJs will fit the babies when they become teenagers. Gauge is fickle.
The other project on the needles is the Elizabeth R shawl, the first offering of the 2012 Shakespeare in Lace club from Wooly Wonka Fibers. I want to say this shawl's for me, but I don't think the color suits me, even though I like it. So far it's a wonderful knit and even though I had to perform surgery not once but three times (and for the same mistake), I'm enjoying the knitting immensely. The little pops of red and teal in the gold enchant me. Here's a photo (pre-surgery):
2012 should be the year I knit from the stash (yarn clubs notwithstanding). I started cleaning out the closet in my office/fiber room and was rather shocked to see how much fiber I had squirreled away. I need to cull the stash and will be putting yarn in the Trade/Sell stash category on Ravelry, so stop by for a little shopping.
That's about it for now. The blog has been way too quiet of late. I'm doing a lot of writing and editing at work and have temporarily lost the will to write for fun, even in random bullet points.
With any luck, the work writing will taper off in the next couple of weeks and I'll resume blogging more frequently than once every two or three months.
Happy knitting!
1 comment:
Interesting blog
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