Next Book Club Pick?

The summary of this book has me chuckling:

From Publishers Weekly:

This successful sophomore turn at chick lit (after Austenland) from YA and graphic novelist Hale sets up a platonic relationship between a dashing movie star and a Mormon housewife. While in Los Angeles to ink a deal for a script she's written, pregnant Becky Jack holds her own against her big screen crush, Felix Callahan, known the world over for charming his way through romantic comedies. Witty banter draws them together, and though they debate what their fascination with one another could mean, an improbable friendship is born. Their alliance weathers the occasional break, Felix's disinterest in children and his indifference toward Becky's Mormon faith; spousal jealousy and the chasm separating their lifestyles also throw an occasional curveball. Hale keeps the prose crackling with humor and has a sure hand in creating nuanced, believable characters, so when otherwise unlikely plot turns creep up—Becky getting cast opposite Felix—they're, well, likely enough. Though Becky just wants to keep her best friend and her normal life, readers will hope she gets nothing less than a fairy tale ending. (June)

I really enjoyed Austenland and think I will enjoy this too.

Famiy Stuff

I am posting on my private blog again. Check it out if you are lucky enough to have an invite.
www.carie-list.blogspot.com

Fourth of July Shirts

Every year I choose my Fourth of July shirt with great care.

And this year's winner is:

It says:

the sixteenth annual
FREEDOM COUNTY FAIR
MISS
Firecracker
CONTEST FINALIST.

I fell in love immediately. Especially because it was $6 at Target. (If you really want one, good luck! They flew out of the store. They are in the pj section.)

I am still in search of shirts for my kids.

T-shirts. Your Welcome.

Remember this t-shirt I loved from JCrew?

My friend Cheri made me this for my birthday.

Then she offered to show me how to do it, so we made:

A little closer for detail.
How-to instructions HERE. Cost for 1 JCrew shirt? $29.50. My total cost for 3 shirts? $24.

Some Family Stuff

www.carie-list.blogspot.com

Boots Lash 360

My new favorite mascara.

You can get it at Target. For $8. I also bought their bronzer - loved it. Am excited to try more of their products.

One Year Older and Wiser Too

Two Posts of a Family Variety

www.carie-list.blogspot.com

Blame it on the Rain

Today was cool and rainy. Thunder and lighting rainy. Hail and hydroplane rainy.

Our sump-pump broke.

We had 3-4 inches of water in the basement. I was summoned home with an urgent phone call. We desperately filled buckets and dumped them outside in the pouring rain, POURING rain, for about a half an hour until I said, "Did you call a plumber?"

We called a plumber. We continued to fill buckets. We were soaked to the bone. No, deeper than that. Soaked to the marrow.

1 plumber, 1 fat check, 3 changes of wet clothes, and 2 sore backs later, we are mostly dry and really tired.

Magic Potions

I am not one of those people with great skin (or lucky hair come to think of it.)

Here is what I use and it works for me. This is basically an inexpensive, drugstore version of Proactive.

1. Panoxyl 5% Acne Bar. $6ish. I get this at Target, at the pharmacy. You don't need a prescription, they just keep it behind the counter. (It's a Benzoyl Peroxide face wash.)

2. Neutrogena Rapid Clear Acne Defense Face Lotion. $5-6. You can get this anywhere. (This is the salicylic acid acne treatment. Apparently for salicylic acid to work the cream has to be the correct pH and this cream is.)


3. Clearasil Vanishing Acne Treatment Cream 10% Benzoyl Peroxide. $4.
Benzoyl Peroxide and Salicylic Acid are the two best acne fighting medicines available over the counter and for me, better than the retinA my dermatologist put me on.

Important: Benzoyl Peroxide can damage fabrics. The Panoxyl bar will bleach out towels - I only use my white towels when I was my face with this. The Clearasil cream will bleach out pillowcases or clothing. I normally only wear it at night if it all.

Does anyone have a fantastic moisturizer (with spf) to go with this?

Summer Lovin Part Two

Another Summer Goal: Journals. One of my children (name will be withheld to protect the innocent) really needs practice on his handwriting. I thought a journal would be perfect for this. Not to mention help all my kids work on their spelling, written expression, and let's not forget: help them preserve memories from their fantastic childhood.

If you saw the movie "Up" (which you should immediately do - it is so cute) you will recognize this:
We decided to make our own Adventure Books.

The kids fell in LOVE with the idea. Each kid made their own. We just picked up regular notebooks from Wal-mart and covered them with (self-chosen) scrapbook paper.



(pictures of my little one's still to come.)

Conversations about the Adventure Journals overheard in our home on their inaugural evening:
"Mom, Can we write in them tonight?!!"
"Can we write more than one page?!!!"
"Can we glue our fortune cookie fortunes to our pages?" ("All nine?")
"Mom, Can I glue my putt-putt golf score card on it?!!!"
"Can we write in them again tomorrow??!!!"

The answer to all was, of course, yes.

Summer Lovin

Every summer I try to have some sort of organized reading with the kids (beyond reading fiction stories, which we do anyway.) I like to introduce my kids to non-fiction books. You know make them smarter, force them to learn stuff, etc. What can I say? I was a History Major/English Minor in college.

My dad helped me come up with the idea for this year's reading list. I have all these books checked out from the library:









What do they have in common, besides being biographies? They are all characters in this movie:

Which we are going to see, when we are done reading. (Although, by the time we finish it might be only showing a the Dollar Movies by then or out on dvd.) The kids are really excited and so am I.

Happy summer reading.

Once Again

Let's post some more clothes. (this may or may not be viewed as a birthday wish list.)

I could use some tees.

AnnTaylor Loft ----Ann Taylor Loft
(These are cuter up close and come in loads of colors.)


-------------AE----------------------- JCrew--------------------JCrew


But I immediately fell in love with these sweaters.

--------JCrew (sale!)--------------------JCrew


---------JCrew---------------------Gap