iS Clinical Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the iS Clinical Giveaway.

I'm happy to announce that Lana Bradstream, the seventh comment on the post, is the winner of the giveaway.

Congratulations, Lana!

Operation: Mulch

I have grown to enjoy yard work and the satisfaction it brings to see hard work pay off.

But ever since The Man deployed, I've been overwhelmed with everything and let the weeds take over my gardens.

I vowed to clean up the flower beds, ridding them if the carpets of clover and other annoying weeds. To really motivate myself, I ordered several plants online that are expected to ship at the end of the month. I will be damned if I'm putting new plants in overgrown beds, so I have the huge task of de-weeding and mulching before the new plants arrive.

I've spent countless hours already de-weeding, and yesterday I mulched half of the yard (go me!).

Now I just have the other half of the yard to go, followed by actually putting the new plants in the ground.

It's a lot of work, and I'm generally sore and bruised the following day, but it'll be worth it when I'm done. I can't wait for The Man to come home and see how great the yard looks.

iS Clinical Review & Giveaway--CLOSED

I was once told “for beauty, you must suffer.” That isn't the case with the iS Clinical Youth Eye Complex and Active Serum.

The Youth Eye Complex is designed to “rapidly smooth and hydrate” and “reduces puffiness and dark circles.”  The Active Serum is designed to “generate rapid and dramatic improvements in skin quality…diminishes the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and uneven pigmentation.”

Easy to use and they do what they say

These products are easy on folks with sensitive skin, like me, but they do what they say. 

I tried both products for four weeks and noticed that my face had a smoother texture, was more supple, and that my eye area was less puffy (great news since chasing two kids leaves me exhausted every single day).

A little bit of product goes a long way

You don’t need to use gobs of these products to see results.

I used my ring finger to gently dab a small, pea-sized amount of eye cream each morning, and just six drops of the active serum was enough to cover my entire face and neck area. Even after four weeks use, I still have about half of a bottle of each product remaining.

Oh, and the bottles look great, too.

Where to get iS Clinical products

The iS Clinical Innovative Skincare line is available through the Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland—a Baltimore plastic surgery center—, or you can enter to win your own Clinical Youth Eye Complex and Active Serum, a more than $150 retail value, through 11:59 p.m. ET March 9, 2012.

Giveaway Information

To enter:  leave a comment below stating your biggest skincare concern--don’t forget to include your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you win.

Entries will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, March 9, 2012.

Important info

A winner will be drawn using random.org following the giveaway’s closing date.  The winner will be notified by email. The winner’s contact information, including email address, will be released to the Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland for shipment of the giveaway item.

By leaving a comment on this post, you acknowledge that you are a U.S. resident age 18 or older, and that your contact information may be released to the Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland.

About the Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland

Focused on excellence, the Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland’s board-certified surgeons are experienced in today’s most sophisticated cosmetic enhancement procedures. From breast augmentation to body sculpting to facial refinement, their specialties are diverse and their reputations are renowned. With credentials from such esteemed institutions as Stanford University Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins Medical Institution, their top-tier surgeons create unrivaled results.

Their highly regarded surgeons are board certified, and serve as active members of professional organizations related to their specific areas of expertise. In addition to performing sophisticated cosmetic procedures with extraordinary results, their surgeons get to know each and every patient – a fundamental element of the Cosmetic Surgery Center of Maryland’s philosophy towards patient care. 

I was compensated for this post and giveaway.

Kitchen plans

I've been daydreaming lately about renovating our kitchen. So to help visualize this new culinary space, I've drawn this sketch...

Well, I never said it was good, or that you'd be able to decipher what I drew.

Canine Captives and Early Risers

I'm sure I'm not the only person who looks forward to sleeping in on the weekend...c'mon, sleeping in is what the weekends were designed for, right?

For the most part, I like to keep our weekends free of early-morning activities that may cut into precious sleep. Saturday mornings The Girl goes to gymnastics in the late morning and after that, we're generally free to loaf around the rest of the weekend.

Somehow my kids didn't get the sleeping-in memo this weekend. Both were up at their weekday rise times (read: earlier than I would like) and goofing around.

This particularly fine morning, I heard the kids playing nicely with each other (yay), but then I heard the sound of not just one dog being dragged upstairs, but two dogs upstairs. If I spoke dog, I would have heard them begging and pleading with their miniature captors to let them go. Instead, the dogs were sentenced to hard time in The Girl's room, where they were decorated, accessorized, and finally treated like a baby.

After freeing the dogs from their undeserved punishment by childhood imagination, the kids continued to play nicely with each other for more than an hour--a new record.

This picture of morning comraderie ended when The Girl kicked The Boy in the shin over a Wii game.

Poof! Back to reality.

Time for more coffee.

All I Wanted Was a Hug

It's been 5 months since I've seen The Man, today he comes home for a visit.

It's amazing how quickly five months goes. We've seen birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas since he left for deployment. Can we make up for lost time in a matter of days before he has to go back overseas?

One the one hand, I'm over joyed that he's coming home; on the other hand, I'm worried.

Worried that the progress we've made as a fractured family will be undone a bit by the rise and fall of emotions that will come with this visit. Worried that even though on the phone The Man seems like his old self, he's been affected in some negative way from being overseas.

But I need to stay positive and cherish these next several days while our family is whole again.

The one thing I instantly missed once he climbed on the bus to start his deployment was a hug. Today I'll get the hug I've been wanting.

One Bill Less

I'm so happy to give you an update on the No Debt Challenge I set forth for my family and I. As of the end of the year, we had eliminated a credit card bill that has plagued us for years. The day I sent the final payment off, I felt a huge weight lifted.

And now we're one bill less.

This year, the goal is to pay off the car, which means we'll have no more loans but our mortgage outstanding.

And speaking of mortgage, that's one of the next beasts to tackle...but all in good time.

Once the car is paid off, the funds that were funneled into those payments be redirected into savings and other activities.

The Man and I will celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary next year, returning to the Sandals Royal Bahamian resort where we went on our honeymoon. That time feels like ages ago!

So we're starting the budget for our second honeymoon now, so we'll be able to pay cash when the trip comes.

Big plans!!