My Favorite Mascara and Eyeliner

I've stopped searching for the perfect mascara... because I found it a few years ago. I admit to curiosity when I see other bloggers talk about *their* favorite, and have used others in desperation when I ran out of mine, but I was quickly reminded why this is my favorite.

It's Lash Power Mascara from Clinique. It's about $15 and is worth every penny. It doesn't smudge, doesn't flake, will not offset on to my lid, and it washes off with regular facial soap and water. Basically, it's perfect.

Literally every other mascara I've tried has smudged or offset to my lid. Every. One. Except this. The other thing I absolute love about it is the wand. It's small and detailed and never clumps. It defines and goes on smooth. I can't recommend it enough.

A new favorite is this liquid eyeliner from NYC. I bought it at Target for less than $3 and it's great. The whole liquid eyeliner thing takes some getting used to, and I admit to loving the felt tip marker type, but once you get the hang of the brush, it is perfection. It's waterproof, does not smudge, offset or otherwise act weird. It's easy to correct a mistake when you apply it just by *lightly* wetting a q-tip and running it over the offending area. (I just lick the q-tip rather than mess with water = truth.)

It's an incredible value and I love the way it looks. I have very hooded lids and worried that black liner would close my eyes in. It doesn't I think it adds depth to the lash line and actually makes my eyes look better. I love a smallish winged look with the liner because it almost makes my lashes look longer and does help with opening up my eyes a bit.

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert, but I know what I like. I might someday try a different liner, but I can promise you that I will never try another mascara. If Clinique ever decides to discontinue Lash Power mascara, I'll 1) cry buckets, 2) write nasty/pleading letters 3) buy as much of it as I can get my grubby hands on.

The end.

UncommonGoods Review and Giveaway!

Contest closed –
Winner Announced

The awesome peeps at UncommonGoods saw the nice things I said about them and offered to have me do a review and giveaway for my blog. Uh, yes please! I was VERY excited not only because I love their stuff, but also because I love that all their great gifts come with incredible customer service. Just as a personal example, I ordered a tea cup and saucer for my mom for her birthday and unfortunately one of the pieces was chipped. This was at least 10 or 12 years ago, so I can't recall which piece. I sent an email about it and got a response back very quickly. I offered to send the piece back but they pish poshed at the idea and just sent me a whole new set, no questions asked. I was stunned. They were so nice and laid back about the whole thing, I became an instant customer for life.

As part of my review, I was able to have my choice of products (up to $50), so I picked the stainless steel skewers and the stackable lunch pot. First, let's talk about the skewers. (Hint: UncommonGoods has OODLES  of Father's Day gifts. If your dad is anything like mine, he's notoriously hard to buy for; they make it a lot easier!)

Photo from UncommonGoods site

Kabobs are something Dwight and I say we should have more of, so I jumped at the chance to try these skewers out.

They can't hold a lot on each tine, but overall, you get at least as much and sometimes a bit more on them than you can on a regular skewer. They're stainless, so clean up is great and the handles are supposed to be cool to the touch... but we screwed that up and had the entire thing on the grill. Don't do that.

Defeats the purpose! The ends are long enough that you hang them OFF the end of the grill. Oh well. The kabobs came out great and the flatness of the skewers made them easy to turn and stay put. Needless to say we had a delicious lunch!

Next up is the stackable lunch pot. I take my lunch almost every day. Way cheaper than eating out, generally healthier, and most days I work through lunch, so I eat at my desk. The lunch pot comes with two containers. The small, bottom one holds a full 8oz/1 cup and the top holds 16oz/2 cups.

This really has my lunch in it. I was about to head out the door and realized I had a good photo op.

I had yogurt and milk in the bottom and a bunch of fruit in the top - smoothie lunch! I keep our stick blender at work and it's AWESOME. I bring frozen fruit, milk, yogurt (and spinach when I remember), then mix it all up with some vanilla protein powder. So. Good.

(This is empty - I took this photo at a different time.)

The lunch pot worked great. Full disclosure: it did sweat a little because of the coldness of the contents. I love the handle and the spork is a great addition. I used the bottom container as a cup for my smoothie. I'm really happy with it! It's BPA-free (YAY!) and microwaveable, too.

As I mentioned, UncommonGoods is a go-to gift giving source for me for just about anything. Summer is nipping at our heels which means lots of graduation and and wedding gifts  (like these) to buy. I love that the UncommonGoods site has a way to search not only by occasions but price points - I use that feature ALL the time.

Speaking of graduations, my oldest niece is graduating from 8th grade this year. *sniff* While dads can be difficult to buy for what about teenagers?? UncommonGoods to the rescue with an entire section of kid and teen gifts. I already picked out what I'm getting K. In fact, I'm going to buy two – one for her,  one for me. It's the 642 Things to Write About book. She LOVES to write—she's writing a novel!—so I thought this would be just perfect for her. And I thought it would be a fun way to get me writing more, just for me and/or to share here. Win/win!

Now here's the best part. UncommonGoods is letting me give away a $50 Gift Certificate to one of my readers - that's YOU! 

Here's what you need to know:

Mandatory entry:
Leave a comment on this post telling me what you'd get with the $50. Would you keep it for yourself or use as a gift?
Please leave your email in the comment if it's not in your profile - I need a way to contact you! If I don't know where to find you, I'll have to pick another number.

For additional entries:
1. Like UncommonGoods on Facebook
2. Tweet a link to a family page (ie. http://www.uncommongoods.com/gifts/by-recipient/gifts-for-men for example, and/or other family pages on the left side of the home page)
3. Follow UncommonGoods on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/uncommongoods/

Leave a separate comment for each entry. I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner. You have until May 30 to enter – I'll announce the winner May 31.

GOOD LUCK!

Contest is open to US residents only. Sorry guys!

Disclaimer: UncommonGoods gave me the skewers and lunch pot for the review, but my opinions are my own.

Kelly out!

Lehman's Orchard

Dwight & I (and all of our co-workers) had the pleasure of sampling some of the goodies offered by a family-owned area orchard. One of our clients brought us a basket laden with fruit and nut mixes, hard ciders and some honey roasted cashew butter made at her boyfriend's family orchard.

Lehman's Orchard located in Niles, Michigan, is a family-owned orchard specializing in tart cherry production since 1929. Since then, they've branched into all sorts of other crops including apples and pears and also produce honey and offer a vast assortment of dried fruits and nuts. And in addition to all of that, Lehman's also makes their own hard cider from their apples and pears AND they offer a large variety of fruit wines.







Unfortunately, I didn't get to sample hardly any of the products, they were gobbled up so quickly at work - which I think is a testament to the quality of their products. Lehman's has received some really great reviews on Yelp and other sites, lauding the quality, taste and selection offered. Dwight and I are really looking forward to visiting the orchard in the near future, now that spring is in full swing. I'm very disappointed that I didn't get to try the honey roasted cashew butter. Man, that sounds SO good! Oh, and the chocolate covered cherries. Yeah, I'm all over that, too.

If you're in the Niles, Michigan area, I definitely recommend a stop at Lehman's Orchard. If you're around in July, they offer u-pick tart cherries! I KNOW I'll being going up for that. Just the thought of having a stash of tart cherries in my freezer makes me very happy. I mean, you know how nuts Dwight and I went over local blueberry picking. I think the blueberries need some freezer buddies.

Thanks, Brenda, for bringing us all of the goodies. We'll see you this summer!

Places to Shop—Unique Gifts for the Holidays

It's that time of year again—the official start of the holiday shopping season. Although I love Amazon for just about anything, I have a few other suggestions for places I've found that offer  unique and special gifts.



Etsy
A treasure trove of unique gifts. You can find anything and everything here, from furniture to note cards to jewelry, all handmade. I've purchased a number of gifts from Etsy. Here are a few:

Probably the most unique—A Terrarium from The Oak Leaves shop

I was blown away by how adorable these are! I stumbled upon this shop through a link at Design Sponge (a great resource, by the way).


The perfect gift for the music buff—A recycled record cover journal from Vinyl Frontiers

Yes, it's an actual album cover.  Recycling has never been so fun!

Always clever, often irreverent, and completely adorable stationery from Terry Taylor Designs. She has a holiday special going on, so take advantage!

Note pads, note cards, invitations, and more. I love this stuff!

Beautifully crafted wodden rings by MnM Woodworks

In men's and women's sizes and designs, these rings are simply stunning.
All are custom made to your size and specs.

This is just a sampling of the wonderful items you can find at Etsy. Please, check out the site. I promise you'll be bowled over by the quality and diversity of items made by artists and artisans of all kinds.

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Uncommon Goods
Not as diverse and personal as Etsy, although some artists sell work through both places, Uncommon Goods has been a go-to gift destination of mine for years. They have gifts at all price points and lots of fun and often beautiful items.

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Klutz
For all the kids in your life, Klutz is FULL of interactive games and activities for all ages. Science kits, paper dolls, jewelry making — Klutz offers a delightful alternative to the boring, generic toys you find most places.

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What about you? Where do you like to find unique gifts?

All photos are from the seller's etsy shop.