plasticframes

I am absolutely devoted to Lush. They make the most amazing hair and skin products. I took pictures this morning of every Lush product currently in my apartment so you could look and learn!



My first can't-do-without Lush product was Big shampoo. After years of using whatever smelled good at the supermarket or whatever stylists pushed on me at the salon, I thought my hair just WAS limp and greasy and awful. No longer! Big does an awesome job of cleaning my hair, giving it body and shine, and the salt feels nice and scrubby on my scalp. I've been using it daily for 3 years at least.



Ocean Salt can be used as a facial cleanser, or wherever I suppose, but I use it on my feet. It looks kind of like Big shampoo, but it feels like whipped cream.



I've used a couple different facial cleansers from Lush and would recommend all of them -- Angels on Bare Skin and Herbalism -- but what I'm using right now is Dark Angels. It's scrubby and has coal as a main ingredient -- which is very absorbent. Good for my oily complexion. I use it in the a.m.



This is half of a bath melt. You crumble it under the water for a bubble bath. You don't need to use the whole thing for one bath, so I don't! Smells spicy. This is a seasonal bath bar and I don't know what it's called. I'd recommend it though.



Seanik -- a solid shampoo. Awesome for travel, particularly given the airlines' restrictions on liquid. They won't confiscate a solid shampoo like they might a liquid shampoo! I take it on the road with me instead of my tub-o-Big. I sometimes think I like Seanik better than Big, but haven't made the transition yet.



Coalface! This solid cleanser also has coal in it, like Dark Angels, and I totally love it. The effect it's had on my skin is really noticeable. I use the bar before bed.



Veganese is a conditioner. I like it alright. I haven't tried any other Lush conditioners. I find that if I use Big, the conditioner I use afterward should be used sparingly and doesn't really augment or negate the powers of Big -- so I use a cheaper conditioner from Burt's Bees. A lot of Lush's products are vegan, like this. They usually have expiration dates on them as well, because they are fresh and hand-made. Like food.



Lush makes shower jellies that you can use on a loofah or freeze and use like a bar -- which is how I do it. I've got the and some sea-themed one and a Sweetie Pie left. They are very moisturizing and smell nice.



Grease Lightning is my latest find. It's a toner -- intended for use between face washing and moisturizing -- and I think it's saving my skin. For real. I'm pretty reliant on it now. I tend to touch my face a lot, particularly when I'm concentrating or not paying attention, and I break out a lot because of it. This product is kind of a special toner for people like me with very reactive skin.

Most Lush products smell sort of weird and natural or sweet and strong. I like it though. Check 'em out! They're in most Macy's now.

How I Like My Man:



Will Meets Dad:



Will's Other Fake Smile:

I am also absolutely obsessed with this right now:

I hadn't seen this in awhile and it still cracks me up:

I'm trying to figure out what I should work on next. I can't decide. I've been way behind on reviews lately, so that should take precedence, but I've also got a sweater and quilt I need to finish. I've got more DCH bags to make, so I could work on that, or I could start knitting a new, small project from the Interweave Holiday Gifts issue. I've also got a bunch of old magazines I'd like to clip, and I'm still in the middle of editing a podcast.

Sometimes I feel like I can do whatever I want because there's nothing specific on my calendar, but then I think about all the projects I've already begun that I should finish up -- always a lot -- and feel sick. I make myself so busy that I actually want to puke when I think about it.

Went out for breakfast. Played Risk all day. Dad made chili.

Introducing Dad to Arrested Development. Just ate Mexican food. Sitting at Abby's.

We went to the book store and cooked and watched movies today. Whee!

Do you think that -- prior to meeting the person they think they'll love forever -- all men believe they are fated to live alone in the woods, and all women believe they are fated to cat ownership? I do.

But why is that? Why does it sometimes seem like the only option for life, apart from the standard "lifelong relationship maintenance" route, is a set of weird outsider stereotypes?

Anyway, I'm curious about this. So please, will you take my poll? If you pick "other" feel free to write your alternative single-person outsider status in the comments.

Poll #1484498 Woodsman or Cat Lady?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 22

Which single stereotype have you identified with -- or idealized -- the most?

Key Lime Pie looks like something that will be easy to make, because it only has a few ingredients, but squeezing all the juice from those limes is a time suck! Also, I'm not very patient when it comes to getting the graham cracker crust really fine and dusty -- so mine's a little clumpy. All the same, Happy Birthday, Will! I hope you like your pie.

Today Will is 29 years old.

Last night I made spicy black bean soup with sausage for dinner, and I distributed the extra soup between several Ball freezer jars for us to eat later.

Making the decision to finally start freezing took me a long time. I simply didn't know how to do it. Just putting fresh cut veggies in a freezer bag didn't sound like it would keep well without getting freezer burn, and I was afraid of how a Ball glass canning jar would respond to the cold. These Ball freezer jars are great though. I love the size (perfect for two portions of soup for me + Will), I love the screw on lid, and I love that the bottom of one jar easily snaps on the top of another, so they stack nicely in the freezer. I've tried the Target brand freezer jars too, and they're not as great. I definitely like the Ball brand freezer jars.

I've got some beef stew left over from last summer that I've kept in the freezer, and it still cooks up wonderfully. I'm always amazed how frozen soup never seems to lose its integrity. I keep thinking "these potatoes are going to break apart and make a big mess" but they don't! I have yet to try frozen veggies this way, but would totally recommend soup at this point.

When I'm too stressed to cook, or we don't have groceries around (more likely), I like that I can just heat up healthy made-from-scratch soup; that makes me feel awesome.

Try it!

Every time I attend a media conference I learn that there's already a glut of everything I want to contribute to the world and at least 10% of the surplus is better than anything I could do anyway.

Here's a website I like: http://www.newsbobber.com/ I guess MPR just bought it + its creator.

EDIT: Never mind. Someone's going to say something stupid about that and then I'll have to hate them.

Forgot to blog yesterday!

Yesterday's big events: nap, laundry, birthday dinner, visit Tom K, look for Wii game reviews online, retire.

Attended half of a local media conference at the Mpls public library. Off to check PO Box. Anniversary outing tonight.

Will and I are talking about getting a Wii for Christmas and now I'm obsessed with them. I've spent a lot of time lately researching games, and revisiting my gamecube games, and it's true that if we don't get one now I'll be a little heartbroken.

I have this awesome student in the library who is a gamer, and I asked her to find some games I'd like. Ha. It's weird being a library supervisor.

Anyway, I started listening to the podcast from The Wiire and I really like it. I like their blog too. This review makes Little King's Story sound like my perfect game. Still, I'd happily take game recommendations from the rest of you, if you've got a Wii!

I've eaten a lot of sugar lately. Just this afternoon I had some pumpkin ice cream. It just tasted like cinnamon. Pumpkin must be a very difficult flavor to capture.

Look! New information about the restaurant that feeds me 20% of my meals: GANGCHEN!

Who knew this guy was co-owner? The rumor was always that the Azia owner also owned Gangchen, so this article kind of surprised me. I like that Nyima owns it though. He's basically been the face of the whole operation from the beginning for me, anyway.

I moved back to Minneapolis shortly after Gangchen opened in 2007. The first time Will and I went to experience their 2-4-1 happy hour deal, we learned it meant (to them) 2 beers at once for the cost of 1 beer + $1. We complained about the math -- and other people complained too -- but he always blamed the rule on "the owner says so," but I guess that the owner was always him! What a joker. Anyway, the "2-4-1s" became real 2-4-1s sometime in the last year, but it hardly mattered to me and Will. We learned long ago just to accept this quirk. I hope he's making piles of money and gets to stay in business for a long time.

Played Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life tonight. Saving up for a milking room. Nearly done with first year. Marrying Nami. Hope it's not a mistake.

I put something like "clean up and do laundry" on my google calendar today, but instead I've been snooping around the internet, forcing it to entertain me.

I'm also working on the latest episode of Make Better Books -- the focus of which is the Swiftset press.

One of my favorite radio/podcast personalities of all time is Brendan Francis Newnam because his mind jumps to really good jokes so quickly. It's amazing. Do any of you listen to the Dinner Party Download? I guess the show's co-hosts BFN + Rico G. are in the latest issue of Nylon Guys -- which I didn't know existed! I wonder who reads Nylon Guys? link

Well, it's November 1st, and you know what that means -- it's National Novel Writing Month!

Last year, I used this as an excuse to start writing more in my blog. I learned long ago that writing novel-length material is boring and time-consuming, but updating my blog is super fun. Thus, for me, November is NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. Expect a post a day from plasticframes until you turn the calendar page to December.

I awoke this morning a bit confused by the time change. I didn't realize daylight savings time was today until Will told me at 9am (AKA 8am). I'd offered to help someone move furniture at 10am, so my extra hour was spent pretty early. Not the best placement of an extra hour for me, especially since I didn't party too hard last night and didn't need much sleep, but that's what friends are for. I'm just grateful for the exercise that lifting boxes and walking with them inevitably brings. Half of me wishes the reward for this wasn't pizza and beer, since I'm pretty sure they're the food traps that will forever keep me plush and womanly.

Will and I talked about splitting the cost of a Nintendo Wii + Wii Fit for Christmas this year, and I am super psyched by that. I know that most people don't use their Wii Fit machines, but I'm sure that I would. The last time I lost a bunch of weight it was because of this dancing game I was addicted to. I totally believe in the transformational powers of addictive hobbies, like gaming. I can't use my dancing game now, because we live above people in our apartment, but I could totally balance on something without bothering the neighbors. Anyway, it was just one idea we had, but it's one I like very much.

I also lost some weight last year biking to work. I couldn't bike this year because I carry my personal laptop to work every day (which totally hurts my back and shoulders). I guess in the coming months they're buying me a computer that actually works, and once that happens I will bike to work again next spring when it warms up.

I had a Halloween tragedy last week when a costume I'd been working on totally failed me. I came up with a long list of bad or complicated second string costume ideas, and settled on being this owl, which seemed to work out pretty well.



I think that homemade costumes are the way to go! They usually look awesome, and you always get points for creativity when you wear them, no matter what. This costume was especially fun because it didn't make me look sexy at all (which is something I dislike about most Halloween costumes for women), it didn't matter that I wore glasses (they prevent me from being lots of cool things convincingly), but I did catch a lot of people staring at me -- in a good way. Unfortunately I am lousy at meeting strangers, so I remained pretty much a wall flower, despite all the thumbs up and questions I received. The owl hat will be my eternal back-up costume.

FYI: There was a big felt sale at JoAnn Fabrics and the total cost of materials was under $15. I spent 8 non-stop hours making it.