HAPPY HALLOWEEN

A Happy Halloween to all the ghosts and goblins out there!

Enjoy!

And don't forget . . .

"When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam
may luck be yours on Halloween."
- Author Unknown

Fall Halloween Tablescape

I am inspired by all of the Tablescapes that I see on various blogs.

So creative and welcoming.

Usually, I place the same things in the same spots year after year.

Not this time.

Here is my humble attempt at a Fall Halloween Tablescape.

I used some burlap and a wicker basket that I had on hand and various items collected through the years. The only new items are the starfish that I glittered and the two butterflies purchased recently from Michaels.

What do you think? In what new ways have you decorated this season?

"I'll bet living in a nudist colony
takes all the fun out of Halloween."
- Author Unknown

Makeup Organization

I love makeup.

MAC.
Bare Escentuals.
Smashbox.
Benefit.

You name it. I have it. And, I have lots of it.

I used to wear makeup every day when I worked outside my home.

Now, I wear it once or twice/week. Always lip gloss of course but that is a whole other addiction I will leave for a later post.

I think one of the reasons why I don't wear makeup more often is because it was so poorly organized. I had it stored in a decorative two-tier box and I had stuff on top of the box so I would have to move things to get to my hundreds of dollars worth of makeup.
Then a light bulb went off.

Why am I making things hard on myself?

You know how you pass the same thing tons of times until finally you realize there is a better way.

So, my better way was a three drawer file plastic box that I had office supplies in.Pretty? No. Functional? Oh yeah!

I separated the drawers into three sections.

Face.
Eyes. More eyes and miscellany.
I have my eye pencils in a small basket.Halleluiah.

I can now actually pull the drawers out to get to my makeup and see all of the stuff I have.

Come back for my next post where I will share with you some of my favorites.

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Blog Giveaway Etiquette

Just a quick little post today as I am returning from a four-day weekend visiting my niece at college. I will post more about this trip later.

But today, I want to share with you my thoughts on "Giveaways."

I recently hosted a giveaway sponsored by CSN to celebrate my over 200 Followers. It was easy-peasy with the only requirement for entry being a comment about your favorite Halloween memory. That was it.

It got me thinking about how other bloggers conduct their giveaways.

I rarely enter giveaways because the "rules and regulations and requirements" are so long, so extensive and require me to practically give away my first born.

"Become a public follower of my blog. Follow me on Twitter, on Google Face Connect, on Facebook, on MySpace, on YourSpace, on OurSpace, blog about my giveaway, tweet about my giveaway, grab my button, add my banner to your website, buy something from the sponsor, subscribe to my blog, visit this blog and that blog."

No joke people. I read this on a recent blog giveaway.

Really? I have to do all this for handsoap?

I want to celebrate the readers of my blog by hosting a giveaway - a simple giveaway.

I don't require them to sign their life away or join other sites or cloud their inbox with more crap than is already in there.

Lighten up people.

I will not be doing all of this to just get that!

Nor will I ever require you to.

"See everything.
Overlook a great deal.
Correct a little."
- Pope John XXIII

Pumpkin Love!

Aren't pumpkins the quintessential Fall decoration?

They signify for me the start of my favorite season - FALL and every time I see one, I smile!

Over the years, I have collected decorative pumpkins. Following is only a small sampling of them.

Using a piece of burlap as the base and some leaves that I threw placed around the pumpkins, I now have my attempt at a tablescape.

This is one of my favorite pumpkins. It is over 25 years old and given to me by my mom. It is a little Avon wax figurine.What is your favorite Halloween decorating item?

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself
than be crowded on a velvet cushion."
- Henry David Thoreau

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY !!

To all of my fellow I-talians out there, HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY !!

My dad is from Italy and my parents married there. I am a proud Italian!

My niece is marching in the parade in Manhattan and I have set the DVR!

When my nieces were younger, they marched in the parade with their dad. I am sure he will be watching over her today! "Every ship that comes to America got its chart from Columbus." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

source of photo is www.italian-flag.org

WE HAVE A WINNER!

In honor of my 200 followers, CSN contacted me about hosting a giveaway. And the winner of a $45 gift certificate is . . .
Charity of TheBackCountryDrive ! In describing her favorite Halloween memory, she wrote the following:Thank you everyone for entering! I enjoyed reading about your Halloween memories!

Swagger Wagon - Sienna Mini Van Video

Jen of Hope Studios shared this video on her blog and it is hysterical.

All of you Moms in the Mini Vans - ENJOY!




(DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY CSN GIVEAWAY HERE -
IT ENDS TODAY AT 5PMest)

Martha Stewart's Favorite Drink is a Capirinha

And mine too.

I am a Martha fan but don't think that the national drink of Brazil is my favorite drink because it is Martha's. I am not that fanatical.

My love of this cocktail started 10 years ago while dining at a Brazilian restaurant across from Central Park (it is no longer open).

While there, I had the most outrageous cocktail - a Capirinha.

It is made with cachaca, sugar and limes.

I have yet to drink as good a Capirinha since that night in 2000.

When I am out with friends and I order this drink, bartenders look at me like I have 3 heads.

Rather than teach them their job, I settle for a less-than-tasty white wine spritzer.

And so, the search continues . . .

"They speak of my drinking but never think of my thirst."
- Scottish Proverb

(Enter HERE to win a CSN Giveaway!)

Martha Stewart Glitter Starfish for Fall

I do love my Martha Stewart Glitter!

So shiny and sparkly and yes, may I dare say sexy!

So, to add some glitter and summer lovin' to my fallscape, I glittered some starfish I picked up over the summer at The Christmas Tree Shops. They were $1.99 for 6.
At the end of last season, I picked up Martha Stewart Glitter at Michaels - all on sale. I used Brownstone Tinsel Glitter and Copper and Florentine Gold glitters.
I mixed glue with a bit of water in a dixie cup and applied to the starfish. Here is the after. Not a fan of the Tinsel Glitter. It didn't stick as well and shed a bit.And, here are my starfish in all of their fall bounty glory.

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting
and autumn, a mosaic of them all."
- Stanley Horowitz

(DON'T FORGET MY CSN GIVEAWAY WHICH YOU CAN ENTER HERE!)

Clinique Even Better Dark Spot Corrector

(Don't forget to enter my CSN Giveaway here)

I am a drugstore kinda gal. For my skincare, bodycare and haircare products, I head to the drugstore (with coupons of course).

Makeup? That's another story for a later post.

But for these types of beauty stuff, I rarely buy from a department store.

If I made more money, I might buy LaMer products and other higher-priced department store stuff.

But alas, my numbers for the Lotto have yet to be picked.

Yet.

I did however recently purchase Clinique Even Better Dark Spot Corrector.
I read many reviews that seemed to all be of a positive nature. So, I splurged and handed over $49.50 but only because I received a gift with purchase; some fun Clinique products.

So, I am curious.

Has anyone else tried this product? If so, how have your results been?

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart."
- Kahlil Gibran