I leave for jolly ol' England in 3 hours and I just spent the last 30 minutes cutting up organic kale, steaming green beans, and slicing up carrots for my rescue hamster, Mr. Nibbles. Sometimes I think I'm crazy! But I cannot help myself, the little guy just loves the fresh stuff and he's just so cute...and don't we all deserve some healthy food prepared with lots of love? I took one look at that yucky bag of kibble for rodents at the pet store when Mr. Nibbles came into my life and I couldn't bare to feed him stuff that looks like it came out of the bottom of my shoe after a long hike.

If I can figure it out, I will upload a photo or two from across the pond. Cheerio for now! btw, love, LOVE, LOVE hanging out with all you cool chicks on this blog thingy!!!

Just wanted to let you know there is a Rescuegirl giveaway here: http://allthumbsreviews.blogspot.com/
I also HAD to include the whimsical illustration of the gals who put the giveaway/review together. I don't know why, but it just cracks me up all over and makes me smile!

My garden: I am filled with joy every time I pass by my happy, little elephant and beautiful flowers and trees and vines in my front yard. I have so many birds who enjoy it, too and a few iridescent frogs that jump into the water before I get a chance to say hello!

OK fabulous Rescuegirls, someone or some thing needs to pull me away from Tivo. What is this mythical, magical machine that has captivated me? I love books — I read every night, I read on my stationary bike, I read in the car, I read in waiting rooms, and now I practically use my books as coasters for my drink while I'm watching Tivo!!! I actually get excited to turn on the telly and see what Tivo has recorded as if Tivo is a close, dear friend picking out a special present for me! I am watching shows that I would never watch under normal circumstances; I'm watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the old Twilight Zones with Rod Serling and his goofy hair and missing upper lip. I'm watching the X Files which is just plain wrong and some strange imported Japanese sports show. Help!

Sorry about the huge gap between my last post and this one (not sure what the protocol on time-lapse between postings is?), but I was on my quest for the indestructible eyebrow pencil, drawing like crazy, and packing for a trip to Eastbourne, England where I go every year with me mum and take in all the queen's latest hats & fashion! More truthfully, I go to visit some old gardens, eat local organic foods, and walk along the cobbled beaches. I simply love England. It feels so unchanged and quaint and safe, so much smaller and more manageable than the U.S.

I found the indestructible eyebrow pencil! It is by Makeup Forever and I was rolling around on my yoga mat with it on and it seems to hold in place even with a tiny bit of sweating. I must confess that it is an eyeliner pencil and NOT an eyebrow pencil. I've been a switch-it-up gal my whole life—I put lipstick on my cheeks and blush on my lips, I even mix nail polish colors. In fact, I've always found it monumentally absurd that companies tell you exactly what to use their product for—for goodness sake, I've bought the bloomin' thing, so I'll decide where and what to use it for and like the drug manufacturers, I often find the original use to be inferior to the stumbled upon use!

More later, I need to find my cat....

Can I write about how horrible gluten-free bread is? Can I write about the fact that I've been looking for an indestructible, submarine submergible eyebrow pencil? Can I write about the fact that writing on this blog is making me feel really self-conscious?

For guidance and self-assurance I went to Moby's journal (I like his music and animal activism) since he's a veteran at this stuff and well, it looks like he's just self-promoting and worse just babbling--he talks about going to the dentist for %&#$*#* sake?!! OK, so I say to myself it's a "journal" not a "blog", maybe they're different? And then I realize I don't know the definition of a blog, so I look it up on ol' trusty dictionary.com and it says a blog is: To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog. What does that mean? It sounds like an accounting ledger?!!

I guess I should just get outta my head and simply blog/babble. So, back to the eyebrow pencil (and I promise to never write about my dentist!). I have this fab makeup book by Kevin Aucoin; it's from the 80's, so it is full of big hair and gobs of makeup. I love it! He talks about how important eyebrows are and how they frame the face. The eyes are the windows to our souls, so they should be framed beautifully, right? Ever since reading Kevin's wisdom about eyebrows I pay close attention to mine and it is a good thing because they need work. So currently I'm obsessed about finding an eyebrow pencil that won't melt off my face this summer; being the consummate creative/clever type, I bought some body tattoo makeup (carnies use it) that stays on for weeks which is the goal I'm aiming for in the eyebrow department. The only problem, the pigments are so strong that I looked like Joan Crawford when I applied it. The search continues...

"Embrace your individual beauty and love your total package!" the bedrock, the cornerstone, the mantra of RescueGirl and today I feel like a hypocrite. The only thing I'm embracing lately is coconut cake and loving the total package of Cheez-its...did I just say Cheez-its? So the mantra is a bit faint in my ears this week, but I can still hear it and that is a good thing. Life is good.

Whenever I eat a little too much of the wrong thing(s) I have a wonderful little healing miracle that I'd like to share with you. Sipping hot water throughout the day is a miraculous healing, balancing, and weight loss tool. It improves your metabolism, digestion, and assimilation and cleanses the body of impurities. It also reduces food cravings!!! Recipe: Boil pure spring water for 10 minutes (helps reduce kapha quality and energizes the water). Take a few sips every 30 minutes throughout the entire day until about 8pm. Carry a thermos with you if you buzzing about all day.

I just had a few sips of my hot water and it is amazing how it balances my body and mood. If you want to learn more about this Ayurveda mini miracle, "The Ageless Woman" by Nancy Lonsdorf, M.D. is a pretty cool book, but you can Google it and find some great info, too.