One great gift I received over the Holiday’s was this book: 101 Things to Buy Before You Buy.

As chic and dedicated shoppers, authors Maggie Davis and Charlotte Williamson went on a mission to find the very best product in 101 categories.
Women will be guided to the top little black dress. T-shirts for both sexes are also selected. Number One goodies include the most fabulous of accessories and grooming products, the most magnificent champagne and claret, the world’s greatest olive oil. No reader will want to miss the Portuguese hand-painted tiles or fine linens in the Home section. If you want …read more

After I finished writing the post below about Peri-Menopause Symptoms, I decided to click on over to amazon.com to see what books they had on the subject. I ordered three of them:
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About: Premenopause: Balance Your Hormones and Your Life from Thirty to Fifty by John R. Lee, Jesse Hanley, and Virginia Hopkins.

The Pause: Positive Approaches to Premenopause and Menopause by Lonnie Barbach

Medical Management of Menopause and Premenopause by Winifred Berg Cutler and C.R. Garcia.
I will report back my thoughts and/or findings on the books as soon as I finish them. If you have …read more

I received one of the best how-to books ever last week. It left me wondering, where it was a month ago when I was dealing with my own hair coloring disasters. As the book is just officially released today, I realize it was no where to be found, but I am happy to have it in my library now.
The book is titled The Hair Color Mix Book, and it is written by Lorri Goddard-Clark. Lorri is one of the most in-demand hair colorists in the world. Not only does she work at the Neil George Salon in Los Angeles, …read more

WOW! I knew that DERMAdoctor was founded by a dermatologist, and I really swear by one of her products. But I did not know that Dr. Audrey Kunin was an author.

Indeed the good Doctor is, with her first published book The DERMAdoctor Skinstruction Manual: The Smart Guide to Healthy,Beautiful Skin and Looking Good at Any Age.
In the book, Dr. Kunin covers such topics as Acne, Acne Scars, Age Spots, Cellulite, Chapped Lips, Dark Circles, Melasma, Hair Loss, Dry Skin, Stretch Marks, Speider Veins and more and more.
I just ordered the book and cannot wait to divulge into her secrets and …read more

I hope you are filling your head with new things every day. My reading list is mostly comprised of non-fiction, and how-to’s. I enjoy learning about things, and learning how to do new things.
Here is a list of what I am reading now:

Decorating Idea Book
Dr. Andrew Weil’s Guide to Optimum Health: A Complete Course on How to Feel Better, Live Longer, and Enhance Your Health Naturally
Landscaping with Stone
New Complete Guide to Landscaping: Design, Plant, Build
Bobbi Brown Living Beauty
Pure Skin: Organic Beauty Basics
The Tween Years : A Parent’s Guide for Surviving Those Terrific, Turbulent, and Trying Times
1,000 Places to See Before …read more

Shalini Vadhera, creator of Global Goddess Beauty recently shared with me a fabulous beauty tip:
“With sandal season upon us, here is one of my favorite secrets from my book, Passport To Beauty, to get your tootsies in tip top shape!
Sugar and Spice Equals Skin So Nice !
Sweeten the deal by exfoliating away rough spots the way of the Greeks-olive oil and sugar. The oil loosens layers of dead skin, while the sugar carries them off.
Greek Sugar Body Scrub
Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
Mix ingredients to form a thick paste. Apply liberally in the shower and massage in a circular …read more

Alexandra Stoddard’s books are amazing. She writes about making your life as perfect as it can be… at any particular time in your life. At the moment, I’m leaning toward a lifestyle that is laidback and elegant at the same time and this book offers 500 little ways to do just that! And at the moment I am sitting here in scrubs, I haven’t even started any housework, so I’m thinking that I could use a little elegance. Even a few touches might be nice!

Living a Beautiful Life: 500 Ways to Add Elegance, Order, Beauty and Joy to …read more

I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but it doesn’t seem to matter how big a house I move to, there is still clutter. The worst room in the house just happens to be my office. Hey, I have a lot of research material and all of that takes up space!
But I did re-arrange the room last weekend and suddenly the room opened up! I now have a working area that looks over the street. A wall of bookshelves that has taken care of the piles of books on the floor and I can’t believe this, but …read more

I am not afraid of aging, but more afraid of people’s reactions to my aging.
Barbara Hershey
How do you feel about getting older? Or are you like my mother who doesn’t give it a thought. That woman just never stops!
Source

An odd question that I really have to think about. What are some of the things that actually feeds you in your home? And once you figure it out, do you devote enough time to it?? I’m thinking of reading a novel for the sheer pleasure of it! We really shouldn’t feel guilty about stretching out with a good book! It does the body good!
And that is just what I did this morning with this book. Yes, I need to follow my own advice a little bit more. I must be the last person on the planet to have read …read more