Not Oprahs Favorite Things!

Clearly Oprah and I don't run in the same crowd. I will not be celebrating sequined UGG boots, iPads, ridiculously expensive mac+cheese mix, or Josh Grobin's new CD. I will however, be sharing my top 10 favorite things I have managed to find this past year that are practical and you don't have to sell your body to get them. Drum roll please! And in no particular order....Enjoy!

10) Mychelle Deep Repair Cream

If your looking for a stellar, organic face cream, then hot damn, this is it. I love this product. It's not harsh on my skin, the smell is not potent, and it makes my skin feel great. Highly Recommend. You can get this on their website www.mychelle.com or Whole Foods from $28-$30

9.) Aztec Secret Healing Clay

This stuff is AH-mazing for facials. Best thing I have ever bought for my face. Here's the breakdown: Pure bentonite clay derived from ancient riverbed volcanic ash. Historically used by American Indians for purification and healing. Great for facials and skin rejuvenation for the total body. Use externally.AZTEC SECRET INDIAN HEALING CLAY is bentonite clay from Death Valley, California, where it is sun- dried for up to six months in temperatures that sometimes reach 134 degrees.

It's pretty awesome. The clay hardens on your face and you can actually feel your skin pulsate. There is redness that does occur after wards, for about 30-40 minutes or so. (think looking sun burnt) It's so worth it! Then use a little of the Mychelle Deep Skin Repair after wards and your skin has really never felt better. It's one of my favorite things to do, well once a week. You can also pick this up at Whole Foods for about $8.

8) CrossRoads Sauvignon Blanc 2008

This New Zealand find, was actually found in New York while dining out on my birthday. I happen to like sweet, and usually partake in either a dessert wine like a Moscato or a nice German Riesling. This night, when asking the waitress about the Riesling, she told me that it's more on the dry side. Not my idea of a party, so I told her my pallet prefers sweet and she told me she thinks she knows what I might like, and did she ever hit the head on the nail! The label that I put up actually shows the year 2007, but I actually had the '08. I suggest that one, since I have not tasted the 2007 and I couldn't find a stock photo for the 2008! You can visit their website at www.crossroadswinery.co.nz/ You can get a bottle between $15-$30, depending if you order through them or visit your local wine shoppe.

7.) Flo + The Machine

I had a very frustrating cat and mouse game for 2 years trying to search for her and her band after hearing, what I didn't know then the was 'Dog Days Are Over' at the Forever 21 at 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica. I drove myself loony trying to figure out who sang that song, until I finally heard her played on KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic on my way to work. I freaked! I got to work, jumped onto their website and low and behold Florence and The Machine was the band I was head over heels obsessed with. Later on that night, I jumped on iTunes and bought both albums, Lungs and the deluxe version and have been non stop ever since. If you have never heard of her (it's hard not too now, she's bursting onto the fore front) try the jams : Drumming Song and and Blinding. Brilliant. iTunes sells it for $9.99.

6.) Are You There Vodka, it's me, Chelsea

I know this isn't new, but I LOVE it. I would like to be her one day! It's just so wrong, it's right. Try Amazon.com it's sells from $7-$16

5.) Amazon Kindle

This was a huge surprise for Christmas and I love it! How perfectly lazy and convenient to be watching the View, when they have some celebrity on promoting their new book and you can just pick up that Kindle and boom! Loves. You can also subscribe to magazines and newspapers as well. Genius.

Check it out at www.amazon.com sells for $139

4.) Dry Soda

This popped up at a bar I used to work for in Hollywood and it was love at first sip. My personal favorite, Lemongrass. It may not sound great, but if your into sparkling water with a hint of lime, this is your drink. They also have rhubarb, lavender,juniper berry,vanilla bean, cucumber and blood orange. I like to infuse with vodka and fresh fruit! Delish! Visit Whole Foods, 4pks $5.99

3.) Aromatherapy Vanilla Jasmine Body Lotion

I have been wearing this stuff for years and I refuse to give it up. I am all about relaxing scents and you really can't get any more relaxing then Jasmine. It happens to be my favorite flower and I can't get enough of this stuff. This makes my list every year of fav's. You can find it at Bath & Body Works for $14

2.) Tomato Vine Candle

www.daylesfordorganic.com

This is the most amazing summertime candle. I am a huge fan of gardening. Veggies, flowers, herbs, I love it. You wouldn't think that a candle that smells of tomato vine would smell good, but you are oh so wrong. These come from Daylesfod Organic in London, England. I myself have not gone here but believe that if I ever come up with the money, I will be camping out at this farm. My old boss visited London and came back with a few of these and I quickly became obsessed. After conversion your looking at around $27 for the medium size. And don't forget shipping. Don't want the hassle of shopping over seas? If you want something comparable, try TOCCA SOFIA candles. www.candlesoffmain.com You are looking at about $36 for 10.6 ounces and 60 hrs. of burn time.

1.) David Austin English Roses

I have been working with flowers, on and off for about 13 years. Until my very last job working for a floral and event company based out of Los Angeles, called Hoot & Heart Co. did I actually find my true love for roses. I'm not talking about your hot house, grocery store kind rose. I'm talking about beautiful,voluptuous, heavily scented garden roses. We had our own rose farm, but we would also get them flown in from South America as well. One of my favorites, Yves Piaget, is the most sweetly scented, gorgeous rose I have ever seen in person. They are not available on the David Austin website, but if you research a bit you could probably find a nursery that sells them. The DA roses are amazing. I suggest ordering a free copy of their catalog so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about. They also make great gifts for a fellow rose/garden lover. I sent my mom a DA bare root rose 2 two years ago for Mother's day and she loves it. Pair that with an old antique bud vase for the first bloom picked for the season and you have a full fledged botanical affair at your hands. Once you go English, you won't go back.

YVES PIAGET BOUQUET
Photo credit: Black Bachman for Hoot & Heart Co.
www.davidaustinroses.com
www.hootandheart.com

80 mph winds Vs. Shingles

Just picture me sitting Indian style on my living room floor, a blanket draped around my neck like a cape with a baseball bat in my hand, rocking back and forth anxiously. Boston has been railed with a blizzard and we are getting the ass end of the deal with hurricane force winds on the cape. Every time a huge gust of wind starts to whip up, it sounds like a Mack truck and I feel like it's going t drive itself right through a window or worse, rip off the roof. You can hear every single shingle,shutter,and window pane every time Old Man Winter decides to blow his horn.

Cut to: Me in my living room, looking like some ridiculous superhero. Some superhero I would be. How many hero's do you know that can battle wind? Wind with a baseball bat at that. I don't even know why I got the baseball bat anyways. I'm not fighting off burglars or wolves. Strange defense mechanism maybe? Who knows. I had left earlier in the day to run some errands and got a small taste of what exactly is going on out there today and all those reasons should have kept me in the house at that. There were so many trees down everywhere. Most main streets where clear, but a lot of debris from the tree's. The cape is a heavily wooded area, so there where many old trees through out the woods that have just come down, snapped right in the middle. Yikes! I bought a new car right before we moved out here and like I have stated before, luck is NOT on my side. I am hoping that one of those tree's don't snap and end up on top of my car.

To give you another example of the high winds, and my irresponsibility, when I came back home realized walking into the house that A) It was freezing cold and B) There were no cats in sight. First thought: This isn't right. Upon walking into the bedroom area, I see that the side door was wide open! I most not have locked it the other night (we set off the smoke detector when we were making dinner and needed a quick vent. This is what happens when you live in a small space and the kitchen does not come with a hood/fan. This is probably illegal) and the wind blew it right open. The poor cats were probably freezing. We were gone for at least an hour and found them all in little cubbies around the house. Oppsie.

So far, no broken glass and no tree's landing in or on the house. Shingles are still in tact,I think. These winds are insane. This is worse then Earl back in September, which was a bit of a disappointment. Back to my lame superhero outfit and bat back on the floor. At least I'm prepared, but prepared for what exactly?

See, this is what I don't want on the roof, or my car

Kitchen Yoga is born

December 26, 2010


It's the day after Christmas, and a merry belated Christmas to anyone reading this. I'm sitting on my couch, with the t.v on, in my pajamas, hair wet and a can of lemonade at my side. This, has become my life, my job. Day after day, I pretty much do the exact same thing. When we first moved here, I knew I was taking on a job at a seasonal hotel. I didn't really imagine that I would have to do the whole unemployment thing. I thought maybe there would be a very slight chance, but put more faith in the fact I would find something. Turns out, practically everyone of the cape works seasonal jobs and almost everyone is on unemployment now. I probably should have started to freak out during the summer months when hotel guests would spark up conversation with me and when I told him that I moved here recently, almost 9 times out of 10, they would reply, "just wait till the winter" and give me that 'Yikes' look.

I'm trying to make the best of the situation as best as I can. You can only do so much on unemployment. I still don't have any friends here, which is ridiculously sad, considering we have been here about seven months now. I also didn't realize that most of the cape is all older folk. I guess if I wanted to join some sort of a group to meet people, I can hit up the nearest senior center for bridge night, but I don't think I'm quit there yet. I'd rather hang out with my cats all day. Hmm, maybe I am.

So what's to do when you can't find a job and are sitting in the midst of a snow storm? Kitchen Yoga! That's right. Not quit sure what I'm talking about? Well, me either, but I'm starting my own revolution. I may have failed to mention in any of the other blogs that the place we moved into is super small. It's not even an apartment, I'd finally realized its more of a studio. We couldn't even fit our sectional couch into the "living room" upon our move in, so we had to make the bedroom area our living room and the living room the bedroom. You with me? Most of our stuff is in storage and we still can walk past each other in the hallways without falling into a wall. We had to do some major re-arranging when we got our Christmas tree too! The congestion and frustration of the size of our place has depressed me for awhile now and I was talking with one of my best friends the other day and she had suggested that I read the Secret and do yoga. Well, after I told her to fuck off for the millionth time, I had given some slight thought to the yoga thing. She has been talking about that damn Secret book since Oprah debuted it on her book club. I am not willing to subject myself to that book, but the yoga thing, ...that might take my mind off of stuff. Then, I realized that my place is so small you can't even lie down on the ground to do yoga. I went back to being depressed and cried a little.

Upon trying to make Christmas cookies the other night, I realized after I burnt them, that the only place large enough to lie down or stretch out is the kitchen. Go figure. I have been wanting to work out, but on an unemployment budget, that's not really in the cards. So, I realized that if I set my laptop up on the kitchen counter and grab a blanket for my floor mat and search Youtube for Yoga exercises, then I can have a full fledged spiritual awakening in my very own kitchen! How many people can say they got their bikini ready body by doing downward dog while watching your Christmas cookies burn? I'm willing to bet not many.

This is the living room, that we had to turn into the bedroom because the couch couldn't fit

The kitchen during move in...largest room in the place

Snowballs Vs. Satellite

December 20, 2010

Today was the first snowfall on the cape. How about that?! The news has only been talking about this whirlwind for the past week and a half, and it's finally here. I actually should be out shoveling snow but, instead I would like to give Direct TV a big F-you shout out for a second. I realize that you give 800 amazing channels, High Def, On Demand, the whole nine. Your great. You can take back the other 780 channels I don't watch, but that's not what I'm here to complain about. I think you should include a ladder in your dish package along with a ice scrapper/brush/snow blower type of thingy. You can call it the New England Winter package. This makes sense, since we never got a warning about what could happen when you have two feet of snow sitting on your dish. This way, I can shimmy up the side of the 2 story house, on that fabulous ladder you have included, and then I can use the scrapper/brush/blower thingy to get all the snow off my dish and maybe watch some TV again. Do you not realize I'm missing the 16 and Pregnant marathon right now?

Instead, I sat in a foot of snow on the side of my house, throwing snowballs at the dish, hoping to knock down some of the snow that has accumulated there since 8pm yesterday. Guess what? Didn't work. What would have worked is, if I was trying to put snow on the dish, then my plan would have been a successful one, because I put A LOT of snow on top of the snow that was already there. But I was trying to do the opposite of that. So, thanks to you, I have no TV and a sore arm. Oh, and my UGGS would like to throw up the middle finger too. Apparently they are not water resistant.

My next plan is to back my SUV up to the side of the house, climb onto the roof and brush the dish off myself...I'll have the doctor forward the bill to Direct TV.



The Cape's first snowfall 2010