Calling All You Makeup Experts...

And even if you wouldn't call yourself an expert, feel free to chime in!

I have had a long love affair with long-wearing mascara. I am a sucker for the words "16 hour" and "no smudge" on the packaging - no matter the brand.

I have been loyal over the years to various mascaras of this type. First it was the L'Oreal Color Endure line. They still make the eyeshadows, lip stuff, etc but for some reason they discontinued the mascara. (Don't they get it that loyal fans like me would have protested if given the chance??) Anyways, then I found Maybelline Unstoppable. Also a great find...no smudges and still visible before bed. Guess what? It got discontinued too. Recently I tried Featherlash by L'Oreal. The ULTA salesgirl assured me it was long-wearing. I'll admit that it is fairly good. BUT (are you picking up on my ultra-pickiness when it comes to cosmetics?) it is water resistant. This isn't ideal because it makes it difficult to clean off at night. Oh sure, you can use soap and water, but I can never master this without stinging my eyes out.

So now I'm on the hunt for a new mascara. I thought I'd open up the discussion to all you gals who read to see if you have any suggestions. Expensive or cheap, bring on the mascara ideas. After all, I'm just like you. In times like these, I'd rather not pay money for cosmetics that I'll have to throw in the trash later in the week.

Any suggestions, Lovely Ladies?

My Boy's hair.


When I was pregnant with Alex, my friend Callie used to say she didn't care if it was a boy or girl, as long as it got my curls. Callie, you might get your wish! I think I see a hint of curl in this boy's hair. I'm actually okay with Alex having curls...after all, he's a boy. I doubt he'll stress about curl products or request a diffuser for his hair dryer. He probably won't blame his bad day on the humidity and the fact that his curls don't look quite right. I'm guessing he will probably not worry about how curls make his face look more round, or make him look fat. And I can assume that he won't whine about wanting straight hair and listening to his Mommy encourage him to be thankful for curls...

Oh, but Heaven help us all when the girls with curls come along!

Happy Mother's Day to me.


My son made this lovely card for me with the help of his Daddy. The funniest thing is that Jason told me the whole story of making this card which included Alex using finger paints, towels covering the carpet, and a surprise exploding paint tube. Pure hilarity! The end result was this fabulous card and I love it. I'll be honest...I'm also glad I had no part in cleaning up the paint splats.

Oh, the wonderfulness of being honored by my husband and son today!


Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers, daughters, grandmothers, sisters, aunts and future mommies out there.

Sweet Baby James.

Last night Jason and I went to the James Taylor concert here in Des Moines. It is always so nice to go out on the town with my husband. I got the tickets for Jason as a Valentine's Day present and even though I bought them within half an hour of the opening time for purchasing tickets, we were on the second to last row. Thankfully, for concerts, I guess it doesn't matter how close (or in our case, far) you are from the stage.

Mr. Taylor played several favorite tunes, of course. One of our faves was How Sweet it Is (To Be Loved By You) because that's what was playing when we exited the church after just becoming Mr. & Mrs. Reynolds. Another one was Sweet Baby James. I always thought this song was about James himself - and considered the words odd for a song about himself. Turns out it is a "cowboy lullaby" he wrote for his nephew, his namesake. The crowd also loved Everyday, which is actually an old Buddy Holly tune. **For all you non-Iowans who read this blog, you might be interested to know a little trivia about this great state. The plane carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper crashed in a field near Clear Lake, Iowa on February 3, 1959. (a.k.a. The Day the Music Died) Another interesting little fact? My friend Carolyn's family owns the field it crashed in!**

I wish he would have sang Something in the Way She Moves though. I love that song simply because it challenges me to be the kind of woman that would leave my man saying, "If I'm well, you can tell that she's been with me now. And she's been with me now quite a long, long time. Yes, and I feel fine." What a tremendous compliment that displays a man's affections and reveals the nature of a woman's influence on them.

Another great thing about the concert is that the average age of the people attending was about 52. I'll admit that I'd much rather attend events with this age group, because, hey, they don't talk out loud during the show, attend to their beeping cell phones, stand up the entire time, or drink so much beer that they get embarrassing.

Guess that means we fit right in with the old folks these days!

Studio Final Exam.


This was my final in Studio Photography. The assignment was to make an old school collage using photos and words. I say old school because we literally had to cut, paste, and glue them on to a board and then photograph them in the studio. I'll admit that I thought this assignment was a little dumb (after all, hasn't my instructor figured out that you can do the same thing with a little electronic thing called a computer?) Anyways, despite my initial thoughts, I was pleased with the results. This photo turned out to be a great reminder of our honeymoon.

Overall, I learned a lot in Studio Photography. I am taking the summer off from classes and I'm not really sure if I'll be taking more or not. Either way, I'll still be taking lots of photos of Alex, life, and whatever else seems interesting. I've learned that good photography takes lots and lots of practice. So I'm not giving up my day job for it or anything, but I'll take whatever opportunities I can to practice more this summer. I'll keep posting whatever ends up in front of my lens!

Spring.


One of the things I love about Spring in Iowa are the blooming trees. There's about two weeks in the Spring where all the trees flower and bloom. It's so beautiful! And one of the things I love about our house is that we can see so many trees from our third floor windows. It makes for a lovely view. See?