"The Nutcracker" and BFTE Eyeshadow Giveaway

Merry Christmas y'all! I am so glad to have some time to be able to post. I haven't in soo long. Well with the Christmas season in full swing, I have to say one of my favorite things about Christmas is the Nutcracker Ballet. I have been watching
it on PBS and live since i was a little girl.

While it's best live, it can get expensive, so i am eternally grateful for my PBS station to allow me to see the George Balanchine Nutcracker and various other versions of the ballet (love the San Francisco Ballet version). Now that i have my own kids and in particular my daughter is now big enough to understand it, watching the Nutcracker with her for the second year in a row has been very fun and educational for us both. It also has provided us with something to
bond over and discuss. Who doesn't love the Sugar Plum Fairy?

The colors of the costumes and the Land of Sweets always captivated me as it does now with my daughter.This year she was so enamoured with the Flowers and the Dewdrop fairy...pink was everywhere.

Beauty From the Earth has put out three Limited Edition eyeshadow collections which I think capture the feel of this beautiful ballet.Each set contains three full sized jars of loose mineral eyeshadow. enough to provide for many fun looks and days of enjoyment.

The first, Sweet Tooth, with a beautiful purple, sugary pink and spicy yellow colors reminded me exactly of the backdrop to the New York Met Balanchine Nutcracker.  It just cries out candy shoppe.  Lovely for a party or to spice up a neutral look.

The Nutcracker Collection also with three stunning colors, has Cavalier which is the beautiful red color. The Cavalier has a great solo after his dance with the Sugar Plum Fairy. With such great leaps and turns, very exciting. Red is such a great shade to describe how powerful this male dancer has to be in order to lift, catch, spin, and leap in the Nutcracker. The Mouse King shade would look great in the center of the eye to give an extra pop.  Clara, the green shade is wonderful because i always associate her with the Christmas tree as it grows large and Clara shrinks to the size of the Nutcracker. It is truly amazing how the theater works to make a production larger than life. 

The final collection, still yet to be released is called Winter Wonderland. Another favorite part of mine is the Dancing in the Snow scene. The icy cool shades of light blue, white and the dark of the night time sky in a beautiful shimmering silvery grey are wonderful combinations.

To this end, BFTE is having a blog contest and the winner receives one of the three collections. I would love to have Sweet Tooth.  To enter the contest click here for the FB page and details on how to enter.

For the true Nutcracker enthusiast this collection is a great tribute to the ballet and captures beautifully the mood, fun, and innocence of Tchaikovsky's ballet, which he had doubts about after writing the suite. I am glad he decided to allow people to hear it, because it struck me as a child and turned me on to ballet and has brought so much joy to so many generations. It is a tradition on my house and next year I hope to take my daughter to see it live as performed by the Moscow Ballet.

Cheers y'all and Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Feliz Dia de Los Reyes!

Family update.

It's been a while since my last posting. It's been a lot of change in the house with the hubby starting nursing school and trying to get used to his class schedule. Lots of prayers needed to help us through this time of change and growth, but God gives us what we need and what we can handle.

The children are growing, we've registered my daughter for Pre-K to start in august. So excited and yet terrified all at the same time. She has come so far from just a small 3lbs. premie. I know school will be where she truly blossoms. My son is getting long. At 5months he's fitting into 9m clothing due to his long body and it's amazing how much he has grown and loves to play with his sister. 

Ahh my two jewels.

 Myself, trying to ride the whirl wind and emerge with an organized home. My new obsession is digital scrapbooking. so much easier and no overwhelming or as expensive as regular scrapbooking. Learning to use Paint.net open software and having fun with it. On the search for Easter shoes since i found my dress for $14.99 @ Ross. It's purple and i LOVE it!

Has yo-yo's (picture does depict exact shade of purple but this is a good example of dress detail on neckline) on the neckline and is so very MadMen. So i want a shoe that is Striking and i haven't found THE one yet.

With warmer weather coming, walking is getting to be my cardio of choice. Hoping it will help me focus and yes weight loss is an added benefit. Dropping  dress size would be sweet!

That's all for now. Glad I got a post in for this week. What topics would you like to see this year on my blog?

Our newborn..Baby Julian.

I have a few men in my life that I have truly loved instantly. The First is my Dad. The first man i loved, my first Valentine, one of my fave playmates and the guy who gave me my first scooter ride (to a 3 yr old that is a HUGE thing).

The second is my brother. The one who made me a big sister. My shadow and the kid who wouldn't hold back when playing Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles or He-Man.

The third, my husband. I knew when we first met that he was THE one. It's been rough with ups and downs of life but the love is still there in spades.

My newest love is my newborn son, Julian. How small and perfect he is. Whether sleeping or crying he is just lovely. He makes my heart skip a beat like in high school when the cute guy would pass-by. I am truly humbled and blessed to have him in my life and can't wait to share in his life.

here he is:

Here he is with Big sister Victoria and my Hubby. My cup runeth over.

New silver hoop earrings

I have been looking all over for new sterling silver hoop earrings for years. None really ever tickled my fancy and if they did they were out of budget.

I wanted a mid sized silver hoop that could go with everything. When I get or am gifted hoop earrings they must go with everything and have to be pure silver or pure gold in order to withstand being on in the shower and sleeping in them. Yes i sleep with earrings, a watch and bracelet on. My mom used to have bangles on...try that ..every time she moved you could hear the light tinkling of the bangles and bracelets. That was when I was little, I think she only has on one or two bracelets now.
So my search has been going on for a long time. It's not like i don't have a pair already but they are my great grandmother's handed down to me and the latch needs to be adjusted so i don't want to loose a 4 generation heirloom. so the search became a lil more important.

well looking for a suit to interview in while being prego (yeah exactly..not happening) i decided to give up and buy just earrings to go with an outfit i had at home already. At JCPenny they had tremendous sales and i found a gorgeous pair of Sterling silver hoop earrings at a ridiculous percentage off. The original price was $35 and i got them for $10 including the tax! How insane is that!

They are simple, lightweight and just what i needed. Just goes to show that you can find great value and quality during times of fashion distress. They came in a few different sizes and they were all at really good prices.

Love and Flowers

Well my birthday is this monday and I have to say I'm quite happy with how my 27th year of life is coming to a close. My hubby surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers from MArtha Stewart Flowers ( he realy thought about this one wihch is so great). They were delivered right as i was making the closing annoucnement at the library. It took me by surprise and from what everyone else said i did a few "ums" over the PA before I aburptly discontinued the announcements. They are even more gorgeous in person and i do have my a photo of them that I took. Below is the stock photo.

Here is my photo:

I think it's better than the stock photo and it is fragrant. I found 3 different roses in the bouquet and it 's is just beautiful on my kitchen window sill. Look how shiny the jelp tin is. It is just gorgeous! Hubby called after i got out of work tomake sure i got the flowers and I was so happy to get his call because I know he's busy with deployment and all. It was also nice to be able to thank him for thinking of me. He says he has another part to my gift..I can't wait to see what it will be.

Flexibility and Joy

I Love working Part-time. The joy i get from playing with my daughter is just so fulfilling. I'm here every morning to see her wake up ( most days hear her) and we go over the vocabulary of her room. Wall, Cross, Light Switch, butterfly, rose, Mary, crib, flower, window, cat, light, fan. It is so cool when she can pronounce one of the words we go over everyday. I ask her if she'd had good dreams and though she struggles to communicate i know she's telling me something important and I love to hear her speak.

Today we played soccer (football to anybody outside the US reading this) in the living room with her blue ball we got at the supermarket. Victoria just loves to laugh and run. Her laughter is just the best sound ever. Seeing her get faster when she runs is just amazing. I hope we have the next soccer superstar because she has a lot of strength and energy. I can't wait to enroll her in a league.

But working part-time allows me to have the best of both worlds as I further myself in Library studies and watch Victoria grow up. Today was one of the best Fridays we've had in a long time since the hubby has been deployed. For this I am truly thankful.