Real Simple has a great article about commercial beauty product expiration dates that is great for everyone – not just women! – to read. It will make you think, and possibly go into your cabinets to throw out all of the junk that’s been in there from the Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual sale from two or three years ago. Trust me. That’s what I just did and that was before I read this article; I just used my better judgment, but was still shocked to see what short lives some products have and will probably have to clean out my makeup bag next.
Think about how long some of those products sit on the shelves before you buy them and take them home. Then you use them, at which point they are still alright, but you might get sick of the fragrance so they get stashed and sit… and sit… and sit… Then you might decide to use them again a few months later and let them sit again. Time adds up and even though a lot of the stuff has chemicals in it which probably act as preservatives to some degree, why risk it? Would you take rotten butter and smear it all over your body? Uh, no. Then why do it with old lotions, body washes, fragrances, etc.? Exactly.
The brand new laptop that I ordered last week should be here today! I was contemplating buying it for a few days and by the time I ordered it last Friday, it was already backordered with an expected ship date of 5-14 days. Thankfully, I got an email last night that said that the order was shipped yesterday from a location about an hour away from where I live, and the UPS shipment is out for delivery today. Awesome!!!
I got a deal on it, too: $499 with free shipping, so it came to $530 after tax. I see on the Officemax.com website that it is already back up to $599, so I just squeaked by on getting that deal. Some of the reviews I read were mixed, but since I am going to be using this laptop primarily for basic work, performance wasn’t too big of an issue for me. It has a DVD burner, which is awesome since I only have a CD burner in my computer and my dad’s DVD/Lightscribe burner does not work in his HP Desktop (it’s the second drive that broke after limited use, so I’d be cautious of buying an HP computer!), and DDR3 memory. A lot of the other laptops I looked at only had DDR2 and were the same price, if not more expensive. The rest of the specs can be found on that link above, but yeah- it sounded like an awfully good deal for what I’m going to be using it for.
My first laptop was actually a Toshiba Satellite. It was purchased in 2000 for my 11th birthday at Circuit City for… well, a hefty amount of money, since we didn’t “price shop” back then and I was too young to know better. It had problems over the years, but it took a beating overall. The backlight burnt out at one point and when it was replaced there was a line of dead pixels on the screen; nobody had a clue what happened and it was simply too much to replace so it stayed like that. (It still would cost about $200-300 to replace with a new screen, even though it is a 10 year old laptop. Go figure!!) The battery also died and the power jack is screwed up, which causes the computer to shut off at random points, but by the time those problems finally happened the computer was on it’s way out and I had a new desktop PC set up by 2005. Otherwise, the computer was pretty reliable. It still runs, actually, but because of the problem with the power jack and dead battery, it is very annoying to use for extended periods of time and heavy to tote around.
My desktop is 5 years old and still running well from having been maintained over the years. It could continue to run well with a few minor fixes, but I needed something more portable for school and this deal on the laptop came at the right time. I figure in another few years I’ll do a complete upgrade on my desktop, and keep rotating off that way between laptops and desktops if needed.
Update: Well no sooner did I write this post did I receive a knock on the door, and guess who it was? The UPS man with a box for me that looked about the size of a computer…! I’m actually using it right now to finish writing this, and I was surprised with the size of the screen. It has a widescreen monitor that is about 17″ and a full keyboard with a number pad. It weighs about 6lbs, which is a little hefty but not too unmanageable. I’ll write more about it soon. 
Forget mistletoe and Christmas trees, eggnog and caroling: Peppermint flavoured and scented products are probably my favourite things about the holiday season. Here are some great things I found and/or purchased lately that I know I am going to be using right through the winter.
“Twisted Peppermint” Limited Edition Holiday Traditions from Bath and Body Works
Last year in their “Temptations” product line, Bath and Body Works offered a creamy Twisted Peppermint 3-in-1 body wash, bubble bath, and shampoo combo. Even though I never used it as a shampoo or bubble bath (I have found that those 3-in-1′s never really work well for those purposes and are best used as body washes), I was addicted to using it as a body wash. I was a little sad to see that particular product didn’t come back this year, but it’s okay because they are offering a lot of products in that fragrance this year and I’ll find a new favourite. I purchased the thick body cream and the creamy body scrub the other day, and I used it today when I took a shower. The scent is amazing, just like peppermint candies or candy canes, and I found that the product actually cools and tingles the skin. Yeah, I will most-likely be buying the glittery clear shower gel, body splash, and antibacterial soap sometime soon.
Peppermint Mocha Twist and Peppermint Hot Chocolate from Starbucks
I love when mid-November rolls around because I know that coffee places will offer some kind of chocolatey-peppermint drink on their menus. Cafe Mocha is my favourite coffee drink to order at Starbucks or any other gourmet coffee place, and the only improvement to the perfect blend of chocolate and coffee is the addition of cool peppermint. Peppermint hot chocolate is by far one of the easiest things to make at home, either from a mix (i.e. Gherardelli) or scratch (I’ll post my recipe soon), but the one made at Starbucks is simply amazing – especially with the fresh peppermint whipped cream dispensed from the fancy stainless steel iSi cream whippers they have.
“Jack Frost” scented candle from Yankee Candle Co.
A refreshingly minty, cool, and energizing scent blended into pure white candle wax for the holidays. I plan on getting another one of these candles before the season is over because I will probably burn out the medium-sized jar I have by the end of January. ;)
If you know of anything I might like to try or buy, leave a comment. :)
What a way to end the month of November. I have a four day weekend, school on Monday, and the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving. After that break, I have one more week of school – and it really isn’t a “week” since I only have class three days of the week – and then finals start. Looking at it that way, all I can say is: Wow! This year went by incredibly fast!!
I came across this site that sells these amazing laptop bags. The company is called 
Rainebrooke and they have some lovely styles to suit a variety of tastes, whether you want a bag in a playful colour that pops or something more sophisticated that matches any work or casual outfit. My personal favourite is the Tuscany Leather Laptop Bag in black leather with pink suede accent trim. If you aren’t a fan of the black and pink colour combination, this bag comes in other contrast colours, too, and includes a matching cosmetic bag. Regardless, it’s so lovely and makes me want a new laptop more than ever, just so I can tote it around in this hot bag!! Can I tell you, this would make a great holiday gift; who wouldn’t love to receive this??
Are you an aspiring model or actor/actress looking to be “discovered”? Look of the Year is seeking young, beautiful men and women from all over the world to enter their online beauty contest. The contest will be judged and voted on by average internet users like you and me – not a panel of snooty celebrity know-it-all judges.
At Look of the Year, there are four categories and there will be one winner from each category: Girls 14-19, Women 19+, Boys 14-19, and Men 19+. To win, all you have to do is get people to vote for you; votes are on a scale of 1-to-10 and you must have at least one headshot posted on your profile for people to vote on. The four winners for 2008 will be announced at the end of the year – 31 December, 2008 – and there will be Top 10 lists for each category posted monthly. What’s the prize? A cool $10,000 and a chance at a modeling contract.
If you think you have what it takes to win, head on over to http://www.lookoftheyear.com and create a profile!
General | Anna | 
June 21, 2010 10:10 pm | 
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