Random Ramblings

I know it's been awhile.  Sometimes I get on these rolls with work and projects and everything else is cast aside for a bit. Just a warning that the remainder of the post will be just rambling without any cohesive theme or topic.  

There has been a little extra TLC for certain little peanut in the house...thanks for the comments and e-mails.  Brooklyn is doing okay now--or as okay as she can be considering that an entire series of tests couldn't diagnose exactly why she had a seizure.  

Yes, my  one and half year old peanut had what the vet called a seizure.  I would have diagnosed it officially as "freaky crazy scary paralysis weirdness" which may be why I don't make my living as a vet.  Girlfriend froze halfway up the stairs one morning, fell over on her side and slid all the way back down the stairs. Since the vet (and board certified radiologist the final bill told me) didn't find anything in any of the tests, we were told it was either a one-off inexplicable seizure, or the first in what could become epilepsy.  Breaks my heart.  It's just a waiting game now so hoping for no recurrences.  

Seizures are exhausting.  

In my defense, I did this to her before her seizure.  Why she hates costumes so much I'll never know.  Knowing how much she's hated them the past two years probably won't stop me from doing it again next year.

I am that mean to her.

There's been a bit of baking.  I usually try not to indulge in the little one-use-wonders in the kitchen but there is a Williams Sonoma outlet about 30 mins from Las Vegas.  For reals people.  When the adorable little apple pie molds are a few dollars, it's hard to pass on.  Pretty stinkin cute molds.

Tons of leftover Halloween candy means trying to incorporate it into baking.  For the record, banana bread + Reeses Pieces = yum.

Spent a little time with a sweet little Chipmunk over the weekend.  

Had a wonderful opportunity to volunteer photography services for a charity event last week.  Never thought I was a cowboy-loving kind of girl.  

I'd say I'm a cowboy-loving kind of girl now. 

I'll admit that a  little snowy mountain scene was not something I expected to see in Las Vegas. 

And of course, the end of daylight savings.  While sad to leave the office when it's dark, each night when I leave the office and walk out to the parking garage I'm greeted with this scene.  Can't wait to see how Vegas does Christmas lights. 

Looking 10 Years Younger

It started with a "group coupon" offer many months ago. Now usually, I don't jump at any of the beauty oriented ones, but this one spoke to a special place in my heart: laser hair removal. I admit to being slightly addicted.  I waivered a bit because I have a place in Ft. Collins that I adore and they never upsell their services.  That 75 minute drive is brutal though and this offer for a place a mere 5 minutes from my house was so appealing.  I knew deep down though there would be some hard selling, prepared myself for that, and hit "purchase."

As I sat down in the waiting room next to the wrapped up liposuction patient I realized I probably wasn't as prepared as I thought I was.  I was ushered into a room with an entire wall lined with brochures.  Seriously, one whole wall. The doctor walked in, studied me for a minute and walked over to the wall and carefully selected 4 brochures off the wall.  Apparently a quick glance at me is enough to determine my top four greatest needs: Botox, Restylane, lip collagen and coolsculpting.  Fast forward to today's followup appt,  should I be glad that I was only offered two brochures?

There it is again--Botox.  Have to say, not a fan of the word "toxin" right there on the cover.  And if she thought I looked old today, well, she should have seen me this weekend. 

As it turns out, this week I already discovered a phenomenal plan for looking 10 years younger.  I think it's pretty foolproof, and best of all, it's completely free.  I don't have a brochure for it yet, but will share with you the high level plan.  While you can probably take a bit of a shortcut, the plan really requires a full week to get the highest impact results.

Days 1-6

1. After showering, pull wet hair back into bun. Pull a few strands out to fly about crazily. 

2.  If you have naturally lovely and smooth straight hair, grab a small curling iron and create tight ringlets that stand straight up from your head, paying special attention to the little short flyaways around your face. If your hair is naturally curly and frizzy like mine, well, we are already good on this one.

3. Refuse to put any makeup on. Mascara is cheating.

4. Dress in anything with the word "addidas" or "old navy performance fleece" on it.  Mountain Hardwear is too much effort.

5.  Walk by mirror periodically and wonder who that really old person in the mirror is. This will come naturally by the 3rd day. 

Day 7

1. After showering, coax hair into brilliant smoothness with hair dryer and large brush.

2.  Apply makeup

3.  Dress up and put on stilettos 

4. Walk by mirror and wonder where the 85 year old woman went

5.  Walk by mirror again and wonder when you became so young. 

It requires a bit of time, but all brilliant plans do.  I'm telling you this plan is genius if I do say so myself. I can't tell you how many times I sighed with relief that I absolutely looked 10 years younger than I had just a few days ago.  Go ahead, give it a try--no anabotulinumtoxin required here.