I Was Chased Down the Frozen Food Aisle

My weekend uniform always includes jeans and a gray T-shirt -- V-neck please. This past weekend I decided to pair my go-to pieces with a military-style jacket and my trusty new favorite boots.
As I was walking down one of the frozen food aisles -- ice cream, duh -- I heard someone running toward me yelling, "Excuse Me." I turned around and the chaser asked me -- nearly out of breath from tracking me down -- where I got my boots. Made my day. My boots came from Elder-Beerman, but they are widely available online. Normally I'm a "flats are for quitters" kind of girl, but I love the casualness of these guys.


One of my favorite parts -- the red zipper in the back. In some ways it makes me feel like I'm wearing Louboutins even though it's the zipper and not the red sole. I would never in my life pay that much for shoes even if I had money coming out of my eyes. Would I shamelessly wear them and plug them for Mr. Louboutin if given a red carpet to work? Absolutely! Have you seen how sexy his shoes are? Hot. The End.

Jacket: Old Navy (old)
Gray T: Kohl's
Jeans: Flirt by Old Navy
Boots: Madden Girl "Zoiiee"

MIW-
Jam

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What Color Eye Shadow Should I Wear?

As a makeup artist, the No. 1 question I get asked is "What color eye shadow should I wear?" To which I usually reply, "Whatever color you want to wear. It's like your wedding. Do what you want to do." This usually prompts "the look" or a sigh or both. I'm not the eye shadow police, people. Wear what you like. Sensing she needs/wants more direction, I explain the color wheel.

Courtesy: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/floriculture/container-garden/lesson/colorwheel.jpg

The secret to making your eyes pop is finding your eye color on the color wheel and then selecting eye shadows on the opposite side of the wheel. For example, if you have blue eyes you would want to select browns and pinks to bring out your eyes the most.

I was so excited when jane iredale came out with her Eye Steppes this fall. They take all the guesswork out of what eye shadow to wear. Each of the three compacts offers five beautiful shades to compliment your eye color. There is a ton of product in each kit, so it will last a long time. Plus, since jane iredale takes out all of the fillers in her makeup you're getting more actual makeup and pigment which means you need a lot less than you normally would.

The goblue kit includes: Oyster, Rosy, Taupe, Swiss Chocolate and Smoke.
The gogreen kit includes: Allure, Iris, Sepia, Slate and Grape.
The gobrown kit includes: Sea Green, Blue Sky, Tan, Forest and Licorice.

Credit: janeiredale.com

I have tried all of the kits on both myself and clients and love them all. Here is a client with the gobrown kit.

And here is a client with the goblue kit:

jane iredale and EyeSteppes definitely make it work!

Jam

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The Great Pumpkin Shortage

I have been craving pumpkin pie since July. And I'm not even pregnant yet. As it gets closer and closer to fall, I continue to check the aisles of different grocery stores in search of a can of Libby's. Then, I remembered -- The Great Pumpkin Shortage of '09. This guy is hoarding all of the canned pumpkin. He's like the Scrooge of Thanksgiving.


No, not really. The real story is that heavy rains caused all sorts of trouble for the pumpkin making folks and their crops last year. It's just science, people.

Heavy rain + muddy fields where equipment won't work + rotted pumpkins =
No Pie Up In Here

I've read conflicting reports about the crop this year. Some say the supply will be tight and some say it's getting back to normal. Either way, I wasn't going to wait around any longer. Someone suggested to me to use a real pumpkin. You can do that? Sad, I know. I found instructions and a recipe online and gave it a shot last night. I love to bake, so I wasn't too worried. I just didn't know it was going to be such a workout.

Let me just say that the instructions suggested using a hand saw to cut the pumpkin in half. I thought they were joking. They weren't. I was ready to run into the jungle and get some dynamite to blow up the stupid thing. (This reference is not me admitting that CP had me start watching Lost and I actually like it and we are on Season 2). I am lucky that along with the pumpkin guts I scraped out my own guts weren't all over the kitchen too with the way I was hacking away at that thing.

After much struggle and sweat that pumpkin was mine. Aside from cracking the pumpkin code, it was an easy process -- just a long one. Here is a piece of said pie taken by CP on his phone. No the crust isn't burnt - it's just a graham cracker crust. The biggest difference to me in the taste was the texture.


If you want to try it yourself. I used the information and recipe from this site: http://www.pickyourown.org/pumpkinpie.php

Make it Work-
Jam

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Sunny Side Up

I have confirmation today (day 29) that I am ovulating. I had a progesterone blood test done and I scored a 22.3. The nurse said it needs to be at least 10 to sustain a pregnancy. So, more waiting now to see what the next step will be.

Credit: http://i.baby-gaga.com/crtn/cartoon1.png

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Turn That Frown Upside Down

It's not what you think it is. Well, it is, but it's not. Confused yet? As you can see by Mr. Smiley above I scored a positive on my ovulation test stick. Bad news - it was on cycle day 23. Not bad like the "Best Kisser" contest on Bachelor Pad where everyone had to kiss everyone. But bad- good like if you're on Survivor and the tribe speaks and sends you home. It's bad you aren't the winner, but good you can now eat real food and sleep in a bed.

As is Mr. Smiley. It's good that it's sooner getting a positive result than it has been in the past, but bad because it's still too late to try our first IUI. So, I go Monday for a progesterone test to determine if I have to up my dose of Clomid again. Please cross your fingers and toes that I don't (read Holy Hot Flash). I don't know if I can make that work.

xoxo
Jam

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Holy Hot Flash

Cycle Day 21: Still a goose egg on my ovulation tester. My geriatric eggs do not seem to be kicked into gear by the 100 mg of Clomid I took this cycle. While I wait for a smiley face, I am plagued by hot flashes (a common side effect of Clomid). In fact, I am having one right now. This drawing is me. I'm not even kidding. I have done this.

Illustration by: evettegabriel.com

CP is very understanding. He will often ask what he can do to help while I am experiencing a flash. A recent conversation between us:

Me: Ugh. Another hot flash. Hot cold hot cold.
CP: Busts out Katy Perry's "Hot n Cold."
Me: *shoot him an I'm-not-amused-glance*
CP: Can I get you some Monistat 7?
Me: (Laughing) Thank you, baby, but that is for yeast infections.
CP: Oh OK. I thought maybe it was for menopause.

Any suggestions for dealing with hot flashes? Not sure it's something I can make work.

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These Boots Are Made For Socks

I love fall. The smell in the air, Notre Dame football, pumpkin everything, the return of "Glee" and the fashion. This fall all styles of boots will be as hot as ever, but especially ankle boots and over-the-knee boots. I was so excited recently to bust out my new boots. I paired them with another fall trend -- the knee sock. Mine were argyle (which you can't tell in the photo).I love the juxtaposition of both dresses and boots and boots and socks. CP, on the other hand, was not a fan of the socks. He thought they looked ridiculous and was waiting for me to tuck them into the boots. I didn't. What do you think? Would you rock the socks with boots look? I think I made it work.

Jacket: Old Navy
Dress: Old Navy
Necklace: Maurices
Boots: Madden Girl at Elder Beerman
Necklace: Maurices

xoxo
Jam

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"Most Likely To Become A Nun"

So...I decided to finally put to good use that high school English award and start a blog. I can't believe I just said that. I don't blog. I stalk. But alas, here I am.

My desire to start a blog stems from our current journey toward becoming parents. Back in October 2009, we (we being my husband Chris/CP and myself), decided we wanted to start trying for a baby. We met with our doctor and got the OK to go for it in two months to allow my body time to adjust to being off the Pill (read: worst cramps ever). The idea of going about it all willy-nilly seemed nonproductive to my list-planning-control-the-situation personality. Thankfully a wonderful friend gave me the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler.

Photo credit: http://tcoyf.com/

All girls should read this book whether they are trying to get pregnant or not. It would have been a lot more helpful than the dreaded day in elementary school when the girls and boys split up and the girls watched an after-school special on how to use a tampon. Anyway, I began charting my cycles each month, taking my temperature, peeing on sticks -- the usual -- and found that things seemed a little off. The doctor agreed. After further testing for both of us, we graduated to a fertility specialist whom I saw today.

I have finished my second round of Clomid and soon will have my first IUI. Then comes the dreaded two-week wait to find out if it worked or not.

You may be wondering about the title to this blog. Back when I was at Lincoln Elementary School we made a "Slam Book." Each page of a notebook had a title on the top page like "Prettiest Hair" or "Most Likely to be President." The book was then passed around and on the ruled lines below the category you were to write down the person who best fit the category. I don't know if the girls all knew something about my slow eggs back then, but I was selected as "Most Likely to Become a Nun."

Before we dated, neither CP or I wanted to have children, but everything changed once we came together. Whether for us that means getting a little fertility assistance or adoption, we are open to God's plan and are eager to "make it work."

xoxo
Jam

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