Beauty Confessions

Amber, over at Life As We Know It shared her beauty confessions yesterday. She's such a sweet person, so I knew I would have to do this as well. Plus, it was an easy post for me to write and perfect for a Friday.

1. What's your favorite make up look?
I tend to stay pretty neutral for work days. To go out, I usually play up my eyes with a more smokey look.

2. Do you have a beauty vice?
I de-clog my pores regularly. And, no, I don't use one of those professional tools. I prefer my pointer fingers. But I wash my hand before! Oh yeah, I pluck the little black hair that grows under my chin.

3. What part of your body do you love?
I like my hair. Does that count? Ask me when I'm down some poundage. All this food I've been consuming (I'm an emotional eater) isn't helping.

4. Who is your beauty icon?
I'm going with Amanda's answer. I like Reese Witherspoon. She looks fresh & natural, but can glam it up when needed.
5. What beauty products make you feel sexy?
I'm going through a bit of a slump right now, but I really LOVE the Smashbox gift set I won from Julie - Thanks Julie!

6. How do you look after your skin?
I drink tons of water (probably 2-3 gallons a day), I try to get enough sleep, I try to sleep on my back (so I don't add any more wrinkles than necessary), I wash my face every night, I use eye cream & face cream & I use night cream at night - duh. I also add a little Vaseline around my eyes at night to help seal in the moisture.

7. What is your signature scent?
I don't really have one. I was wearing Kenneth Cole Black for a while, but I'm onto Ralph Lauren Romance now.

8. What are your haircare secrets?
I use the Loreal Professional line for shampoo & conditioner. In the summer, I will add in the Bumble & Bumble Creme de Cocao masque.I use Redken Anti-Snap leave in conditioner religiously & I don't wash my hair but every 3 days or so.

9. How do you pamper yourself?
I either sleep or get a massage.
10. What is your beauty pet peeve?
When people have uber greasy hair because they put so much product in it to try & keep it from getting frizzy. I know, I know. I'm wrong for even judging, but c'mon. A little goes a long way!

11. What would your desert island must haves be?
I use chapstick every day, several times a day & I love the stuff with spf 15. Also, a good sunscreen & body lotion. And my hair masque. And pony tail holders. And sunglasses - we all need a good pair of sunglasses, right?
12. Do you have a beauty philosophy?
Smile. You'll always be prettier with a smile.

Happy Friday everyone!

About Mr. Potts

Since Mr. Potts has been my rock through this past week (well, he always is, but this week deserves some special attention) I thought I should dedicate a post to him.

I faithfully read Leaving and Loving on a Jet Plane (and if you don't, you should!). One of her older posts was the Low-down on Mr. Jetplane. I thought I'd share my low-down on Mr. Potts. Thanks Mrs. Jetplane for the inspiration!
1. He is sitting in front of the TV, what is he watching?
If he had his way, he'd watch as many old cheesy movies as possible. You know, Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, etc. Wrestling too.

2. You are out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Ranch of some kind. Odd note - Mr. Potts was a super picky eater. I don't think he ate a salad until he was in college. No condiments until then either.

3. What is one food he doesn't like?
Tomatoes. What is wrong with him?

4. You go out to a bar, what does he order?
Beer. Miller Lite - I helped him switch from Bud Light to ML. He also used to drink Captain & Ginger, but doesn't recover like he used to.

5. Where did he go to High School?

High School was in Louisville, KY

6. What size shoe does he wear?
Size 8

7. If he were to collect anything, what would it be?
Not a thing. He calls me his clutter bug - he doesn't like to collect anything.

8. What is his favorite sandwich?
He gets a sandwich from one of our favorite delis that is Roast Beef and Turkey with provolone, lettuce, banana peppers, horseradish mayo & spicy brown mustard.

9. What would he eat every day if he could?
He likes my egg sandwiches that I make on the weekend. But it also could be my fried chicken

10. What is his favorite cereal?
Captain Crunch. Though we never buy it

11. What would he never wear?
Jorts!

12. What is his favorite sports team?
He'll always be a Hoosier Basketball fan. During football season we cheer for the Louisville Cardinals. When it comes to pro-football, we're Panther's fans all the way.13. Who is his best friend?

Me, but his childhood best friend & the one he speaks to most often is Jamie

14. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?
Not much - maybe pick up after myself more often?

15. How many states has he lived in?
3

16. What is his heritage?
I think a little Scotch & French-German

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind of cake is it?
Yellow cake with chocolate icing. Definitely not my favorite.

18. Did he play sports in High School?
He was a soccer player and played tennis also.

19. What could he spend hours doing?
Reading (he read all the Sookie books too!), lazing on the boat, lazing at the beach.

My Family

Thank you everyone who thought of me and my family over the last few days. My brother has effectively torn our family apart and my mother and I are struggling to pick up the pieces.

I talked to a friend of mine who is a pastor on Monday night and he walked me through some of the stages of grief. I'm struggling back and forth between immense grief and rage. My mother is slowly falling apart and while I'm trying to do everything I can to help her, I'm not equipped to help her and keep myself from falling apart.

Thank you again for thinking of us and praying for us. If you could continue to do that, it would mean the world to me.

You all are so wonderful for sharing your love. You amaze me with your kindness and love.

My Family

If you would please lift my family up in your prayers. I know I won't be able to share this, but if you can, I'd so appreciate it.
My mother, my brother and my niece and nephew.

Thank you...

Help Wanted

Advice Needed.

I may have mentioned that I'm having a lot of difficulty working with my co-worker. We'll call her DPH (Dirty Pirate Hooker). This week I was co-delivering a team building session. The following are some of the things I experienced:

• Slightly veiled arrows thrown my way (I've had 30 years of experience - I'm barely 30, so who do you think that was directed at?)
• Deliberately left out of needs assessment and pre-facilitation meetings.
• When I found out about the meetings, I told her I expected to be included and asked when the next one was - nothing.
• Deliberate withholding the feedback forms (which I developed) for me to review.
  
• When I finally was able to review them (I had to demand them) she told me she was going to review them with the two Senior Managers and share the feedback and observations. I told her that I should be included in this and asked when she planned to do it. She refused to answer. I thought maybe I may have had an email invitation for a time to do this, but nothing.

So I'm looking for advice. This is the same co-worker who has called me ignorant. She is the one who told me I was playing games and undermining her. She has insulted me and spoken to me in a demeaning manner.

But wait, there's more. My boss knows about all this & has her hands tied. DPH's husband in a VP in our company. Our President was called by DPH's Husband before she got her performance review (which was BAD) to tell him how great she is. So even though she sucks, she's protected.

If you have any advice or feedback on how to work with her, I would so appreciate it. I'm slowly getting to the point where I don't know if I can continue to work with her. Yet, I don't want to tell my boss that I "can't work with DPH". How would that look on me? I'm frustrated & upset because I've never been personally attacked in my workplace. I'm at a point where I dread working with her. My shoulders are always tense, I'm starting to get regular headaches.

Help Wanted.

(Cue music) Mama, mama I'm coming home!

Sorry to have disappeared for the week. The session I delivered with my co-worker was taxing and tiring.

There were no obvious insults this week, but several lightly veiled ones. I believe this woman will never change - she thinks she is perfect. Ugh. I get to come home today! Although I was woken up at 3:30am by an automated message that my flight was delayed.

I have a baby shower to attend this coming Saturday. I tend to give a gift like this:

I like to try and give gifts that I know will be useful. You can always use towels, bath things, diapers and onesies!

Also, I just found out that my best friend in New Orleans (he was almost in my wedding - he said he'd shave his legs, but not his beard. Had to cut him then.) will be having a new addition due around the 24th of December! I'm so excited for him and his wife.

What are some of your favorite gifts to give for baby showers?

Leaving on a Jetplane (cue music)

It's early Monday morning and I'm getting read to fly to Portland, ME to "work" with my co-worker from hell. Delivering a team building session of all things!

I promised pictures of my niece & Hayden from two weekends ago, but have not had an opportunity to upload them. I will soon.

So, for your enjoyment, here is the place I will be heading to today.I'll walk down cobblestone streets to get to my favorite restaurants.
Isn't this beautiful?