Interested in Some FREE Mascara??

Today Bay and I got to do something very fun. We got to try the new Spinlash mascara with the spinning applicator brush. We loved it. It stays very soft and flexible, not sticky. I liked that. I'm giving away 4 of the Spinlashes at The Scented Life.

Come check out our before and afters and leave me a comment. I will be choosing 4 random commenters to win a Spinlash mascara of their own. Here's Bay with the mascara on.
She has some fancy lashes even without makeup. I haven't had lashes like that since I was 16.

Tomorrow I have the opportunity to take some senior photos for some girls that Mom knows. I'm very excited. To practice, I took some shoots of my super special senior boy, Max. Here he is waiting for the schoolbus on the front porch.

Now, I'm off to give him some medicine before bed. I hope that you have a wonderful evening/day.

Sunday is for Holiday Gift Guides

Hello. I'm not feeling sorry for myself today, which is a relief.

Today, I worked on sharing the links to the shopping pages that the people that I work with have compiled. (Wow, that was a very awkward sentence). I have 3 blogs at b5media, and I belong to two different channels, so it was a total of 6 link guides. If you are interested in seeing any of them (some are really very cool), then you could find a link from one of my blogs The Scented Life, Veggie Chic, or Dating Dames.

I signed up for a bunch of beauty sites when I got the job at The Scented Life and every day I've got email for free offers or super savings. One of the best is the one they have at Sephora, called Beauty Insiders. They sent me a code for $15 off of a $35 purchase. I've read that other people have used the offer on a smaller than $35 order. Pretty tricky. If you are a fan of beauty products (toys for grown-up girls) then check in with me at The Scented Life. I put new savings up every day lately. Apparently, people shop a lot this time of the year. Go figure............

Time to get moving again. I hope that you've enjoyed your day.

Sepia Scenes - Looking Outdoors

I'm taking part in Sepia Scenes, but I may be late again. I'm not sure what day it runs. I do better with memes that have the day in the name, like Ruby Tuesday. ;D I have a couple of Summer shots at the Concert in the Park, then a look outside my front door.

I took this shot this Summer when Chance, Casey, Trin, Sarah, Mom, and I went to the Concert in Park in downtown Chico, CA. I was trying to catch that flare on the side of the building. This fountain goes all the time in the new City Plaza. The Plaza is a big Chico controversy, as it was built after the city removed a whole lot of diseased trees. Here in Chico, we love our trees. I mean, really, really love our trees. The Plaza appeared - the old one - in a movie made by Disney years ago. It was called Under Wraps and it shows the big trees and the diamond-patterned walkway. It was beautiful, as is the new Plaza, but in a very different way.
Here is Chance. I used a color version of this photo at Dating Dames a week or so ago. He looks deep in thought here.

Here is a view out my front door. I was sitting on the floor, back against the couch, looking at this view and I thought, hhmm, kind of pretty. I am lucky to live in a lovely little complex. We've been here for 10 years now - longer than I have ever lived in any place.

I got a new writing job. I'm going to be taking over the blog Veggie Chic.

I used to write for a vegetarian magazine a few years ago. It was Vegetarian Baby and Child and my editor lived in Mongolia. Seriously, in Mongolia, where there is not a huge selection of vegetables. Her husband was a doctor for the Peace Corps. I haven't spoken to her in years. She was such a nice lady. I ought to see if I can track her down. She was from California, too.

If you are interested, I wrote a quick tutorial for making your own Bath Salts here and I have the information about a Benefit cosmetic contest here . The prizes include a shopping spree at Bloomingdales.

My Head Is In the Clouds

I haven't updated in a couple of days. I have been so busy, just trying to catch up.

I started a new writing job this week and my boyfriend came down for a visit. I expected him Wednesday or Thursday, but got a text from him when he was an hour away on Tuesday. Yikes. You would not believe how quickly I cleaned my house.

My new job is at The Scented Life and so far it is a lot of fun. Tonight I put up a post with a link to a great rebate from Olay beauty products - buy $50 and get $20 back in a rebate. Pretty cool.
Things with my boyfriend are going pretty well, but they always go well when he is here. It's when he's gone that we've got trouble. He called me - last Friday - I think, and he wanted to come down for a visit. I had not heard from him in a long time. In fact, the night before, I had decided that it was time to move on. Now I'm not sure. I care a lot about him, but he makes me sad and I don't need more sad in my life. I treat people well and I do not thing that being well is too much to ask of the man who loves me.

Here is Sarah enjoying the clouds. These were taken a few days ago. I wish I had a lens that could really capture them. They were absolutely breath-taking. Sarah asked me what I wrote about about Dating Dames. She said, "I have some advice for guys who are dating." Then, she gave me some great advice for our readers. She is very wise. If you'd like to read it, it's here.

Halloween Smells Good?

**edit** I just noticed that I spelled Halloween wrong. How silly of me. hee hee


How was your Halloween? We had a wet-ish one, with very little traffic. Here was our first trick or treater. He kept tipping back, the excitement was a bit much for him. So darn cute. That's the Candy Lady, to the left there. There she is! She's got a bag full of Airheads, gumballs, suckers, and Now and Laters. I was going for cheap candy, because we usually have about 100+ visitors. Unfortunately, the bowl was still almost full at the end of the night. Tons of candy, none of it chocolate. :(

Here's the Candy Lady in her full costume. She was a Masquerade Ball Girl. That hat, it was a last minutes addition. She went to the Halloween party at her Grandma's work and one of the coworkers gave it to her. Score! It's very sturdy, from the Disney shop.

I love Halloween. I have a collection of witch decorations and I used to have them out all year. This year I couldn't find the box that they are stashed in. I cleaned my closet just a little too thoroughly and it's going to take some searching before I find them for next year. I borrowed some of Sarah's pumpkin decorations (I collect witches, she collects pumpkins, Bay collects black cats) to add ambience (and light) to the front porch.

Our neighborhood was full of some really fancy pumpkins - the kind with stenciled on designs. I'm a old school triangular featured, gap-tooth grin pumpkin decorator. I like a big eye, a little eye, and a crooked smile. I want it to look like it's squinting or winking. One of our neighbors put incense in the top of his pumpkins. Our neighborhood smelled fantastic. :D

Speaking of smells........ today marks my first day with The Scented Life. I have my intro post up and I'd love it if you'd stop by. Also, I'd love to share scent stories on there. Do you have a first perfume story or a story of some sort of scent that really means a lot to you? If you do, please leave me a note in the comment section and I will get back to you. Fragrance is such a huge part of our lives - the smell of cookies, the smell of our baby's warm, little heads, or the way it smells when the first few raindrops hit the road - lots of good smells out there.

Well, I'm off to the library with Sarah. I wish you a wonderful day.