This month I got a bonus box from Birchbox. No extra charge- totally free! LOVE!! Usually the samples are pretty random. Different types of things from different companies. This one though is a selection of products from Vichy. There is a face wash, eye makeup remover, face lotion, night cream and cellulite lotion. They are fantastic! Very gentle, great for sensitive skin, and my face feels fabulous. This box was a total win. I just bought the Dermalogica lotion, but I may have to buy the Vichy face wash and the night lotion.

I just finished crocheting a blanket that I've been slowly working on for the last couple of months. I found the pattern on Pinterest, of course, and I really wanted to try it. It was originally going to be a baby/toddler blanket. I figured that I'd find someone to gift it to. Then it sort of got bigger, so I turned it into a throw blanket. Not sure yet what I'll be doing with it.

If you're interested in the pattern, this should bring you right to the blog where I got it from. http://thelazyhobbyhopper.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-crochet-granny-ripple.html

We dodged the bullet, and neither Ryan or I got the stomach bug! Yeah! Griffin is past it and feeling so much better now. Everything is back to normal in the Karcher house.

Ryan's cousin hosted a family gathering/potluck on Saturday. I was so glad that Griff was better and that we were able to go. There was so much delicious food, and of course lots of wine. For my part, I made homemade Cheez-its and a loaf of beer bread. I was hoping that Griffin would just love the homemade Cheez-its and never want to touch the other ones again. Nope. He hated them. However, they were a big hit with the adults, and I received lots of compliments. My personal favorite of the night though was the chocolate chip cheddar. Yup, you read that right. Chocolate AND cheese, c'mon how could it possible be bad. I need to find out where they got it, and stock up on this stuff. Seriously, what a great PMS food!

On Sunday, my friend Angela and I had our "chick-flick date". Her and I usually get together to see movies that neither of our husbands would be caught dead seeing. This time it was "The Vow".  Now, Angela can be pretty emotional during movies, so we brought a couple of tissues in preparation. She should have brought in the whole damn box. I am not kidding when I say that she cried through the WHOLE thing. Luckily, I grabbed tons of napkins for my popcorn because she was out of tissues before we got half way through it. It was good though, not Oscar worth or anything, but in terms of totally indulgent chick flicks it rates right up there.

Ladies and gentlemen, the stomach bug has hit the building. Oh yeah! Griffin was up all night, throwing up. Today he was much better, so I let him eat a few Cheez-its. Big mistake. He barfed all over the backseat of my car. That was a fun time. So far, both Ryan and I feel fine, but Ryan keeps telling me that it's just a matter of time. I am praying for mercy.

I went to the Chiropractor today and got adjusted for the very first time. I've wanted to go for so long and try it, but just have never taken the leap. Well, I finally did it. She starts out really slow, so I had a very small adjustment today. I was surprised, there was no major cracking or discomfort. No scary neck cracking. I'm excited to go back and see how and if this makes a difference for me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hopefully everyone is spending it doing something a little more "fun" than me. Since I have a fabulous head cold and my sinuses hurt so bad that my teeth feel like they are falling out, there will be no romance in my foreseeable future. Seriously, sinus medication is barely even touching this pain and pressure. I'm miserable.

I try not to be beauty obsessed. You know what I mean, and we all know those people who are. I don't even know if I have a "style", and if I did, I wouldn't even know what to call it. I think my biggest prerequisite is that it's comfortable and it doesn't take much effort! This isn't just my clothes style, it goes for makeup and hair as well.

However,  I will admit that I am slightly obsessed with my face. As in keeping lines and wrinkles off of it! Seriously, I get spray tans instead of sitting in the sun. I suppose that does me good in warding off skin cancer as well, but you get the point. I started taking care of my face back when I was a teenager. So far, I think I've done a pretty good job of minimizing the lines.

The biggest thing for me is moisturizer. I have combination skin- sometimes oily, sometimes dry. and sometimes both at the same time. I've been using the Mary Kay Timewise set for years now, and I like it, but it was time to try something else. So I went to my favorite spa and got some recommendations, and ended up with the Dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery. So far, I love it! My face feels so smooth and soft. I won't lie, it is on the pricey side. But since it has an SPF, I can use it during the day and opt for something less expensive for the night. The wonderful esthetician at the spa gave me a handful of samples to try out, so I'm still deciding on the night moisturizers. So far, it's a tough choice.

So in my non-expert opinion, I give the Dynamic Skin Recovery a 2 thumbs up rating.

                                                             

  

Griffin's no good, terrible, very bad hair cut. Needless to say, we will not be going back to that salon! No worries though, I fixed it and my child can go back out in public now.

Such a busy week. Griffin has been fighting a cold all week, and tonight my throat is really sore. Ugh! One thing after another.

Griff and I ran a bunch of errands yesterday together. I decided that I had had enough of his hair and it needed to be cut. So I made a last minute appointment. Big mistake! It was one of the worst hair cuts that I've ever seen. She cut his hair dry. I thought that was odd, but I went with it. So by the time she was done, it was really kind of staticy and messy, and I couldn't tell how bad it was. I ended up having to fix it today. There was no way that I was letting him go anywhere like that! It's pretty bad when I can cut hair better than the person that I just paid.

Last night we went to my nieces wedding. It was one of the prettiest, most touching weddings that I've ever been to. I don't usually cry at weddings, but found myself very choked up at a couple different times last night. I think because my niece, Fawn hasn't always had it so easy in her life. It didn't matter though, and she made a good life for herself. When she met Erin, she wasn't out yet and I know it was very hard for her to admit it and tell everyone. Since then, she's really been happier than I've ever seen her. They are a very cute couple, and obviously very much in love. They compliment each other well. It sort of felt like she had come full circle last night. I couldn't be more proud.

My favorite part of this whole week though had to be when Griff and I were grocery shopping, and right there in the meat department, he said "Mommy, I love you more than a hundred rocks". He knows how to melt my heart!