hidden gifts......

you know, we often go through life

seeing the obvious in others.

their occupation, hobbies, style.......

but what about those hidden talents that we might never see?

well, my girl, miss jordan, has some hidden talents/gifts,

as i'm sure we all do.

this past weekend,

i learned of a new one and was totally shocked!

she has the hidden talent for drawing henna type

 TATTOOS!

hahahahahahaha

yep, you're reading this correctly.

jordan and taylor love pinterest like their mama,

and came across a henna tattoo on some girls foot.

jordan of many hidden gifts said

"i can do that"!

and that's exactly what she did.

(but using a pen rather than henna:)

take a look.......

now, i don't know about you,

but i think these are amazingly cool!

temporary only, of course.

but cool:)

 my daughter the tattoo artist.

haha.....go figure! 

(okay, not really.....she has bigger plans)

and by the way, those lovely feet belong to a 

ballerina,

 so please understand the bunions and bruised toenails.

that's what happens when you stand on your toes every day:)

another hidden gift that she has and one that so many others share,

is that she has a heart for volunteering.

she loves helping others.

she is beginning her hospice volunteering this week.

this came about partly from when her grandpa was in the hospital.

she visited, and quickly realized that there are SO many hurting people

in the world who need a smile to brighten their day,

or a beautiful girl to hold their hand when they need it.

her duties won't be much more than that,

other than delivering food trays, 

but she looks forward to sharing her smiles.

p.s.  she will also be helping hospice in other community activities.
in fact, she just received a call to work all day tomorrow (9-4)
doing face painting for underprivileged children in a nearby community
in great need of community help.
hey...her tattoo experience might come in handy!

and there's more.......

she has raised $3,000.00 in the past year for MS.

she did this by doing a swim for MS last summer

 and walkathons. 

in fact, she was in the top 20 fundraisers for MS in our area.

my girl:)

she is always willing to help,

so when she was working out at the club this weekend, 

she saw a certain young man.

 a special autistic young man that everyone

at the gym looks out for.

well, this weekend his parents were there.

and she struck up a conversation with them after she worked out.

(she can talk to ANYBODY!  both my girls can. and i LOVE that!)

long story short,

she will be playing tennis with him once a week, because he loves tennis, 

but doesn't have anyone to hit with.

he does now.

my jordan!

that's her.......a once in a lifetime kind of girl!

i edited this photo with that quote because it is her!

actually, i made another one.

using a photo of her much loved cowboy boots,

i changed the quote up a bit and made one for all the 

young men out there!

one in a million girl with hidden talents.

how about you?

have any hidden talents?

any desire to make them "unhidden" and

share them with the world?

hope so!

happy monday!

Suzanne

Friday Favorites......Beauty Tips and Favorite Looks

happy friday!

(actually, i thought it was Thursday when i woke up)

i was so convinced that when i saw "Friday" on the morning paper,

i thought they made a mistake!

duh......

i'm just a little freaked out cause

that means it's LESS than a week till Miss Taylor Ballerina

heads to Boston Ballet for 5 weeks.

YIKES!

i can't think about that right now.

because.......

i have to show you a few of my favorites!

beauty tips:

i love when i see something demonstrated so simply,

 like these eyes...

~simply natural eye shadow

light shadow on the lid, light/med brown in the crease,

touch of black eyeliner on top lid and smudged brown shadow liner lightly under the eye, followed by black mascara.

 talk about timeless.

(one make up artist says lining the top with black and the bottom with brown creates a soft, sexy eye.  so there you go:)

~this next eye is obviously more dramatic but the step by step photos are so clear,

no need for words:)

~layer your eyeliner

liquid eyeliners are popular,

but this pro says they are too hard for the average user to apply accurately.

ahem.....she must mean me:)

anyway, she suggests layering eyeliner to get a precise look and stay put wear.

start with an eye pencil and apply to eyelid.  

then put liquid eyeliner on top, following the line you

already drew.

supposedly it's perfect and lasts! 

~make-up brushes

according to total beauty,

we only need basic makeup brushes.

1.  Foundation Brush (?)

2.  Concealer Brush

3.  Fluffy Powder Brush

4.  Blush Brush

5.  Small Blending Brush

6.  Flat eye brush

7.  Precision angle brush

8.  Lip Brush

i guess you could say that means i don't need the other 10

 i must have floating around:)

~get rid of blemishes with vinegar?

that's what they say!

apparently you mix one part apple cider vinegar with

10 parts water. 

put it in a clean glass container and after washing your face.

dab the solution on your blemishes with a cotton ball.

you can apply it several time/day without drying  out your skin.

vinegar helps adjust the PH balance in your skin, treating and preventing blemishes.

go figure!

worth a try:) 

~toe nails

How to get white nails -- make a paste using 1 tbsp peroxide

 and 2 1/4 tbsp baking soda. 

Let this paste sit on your nails for 5 minutes and voila!

 White nails! Totally works!

moving on to my favorite looks.......

i love her hair.

so pretty!

the hair i would have if i could.

but mine is too short.

not straight at all.

and my husband would probably ask me what's wrong with my hair.

but i love it:)

~boho purse/handbag

by the way, which is it?  purse or handbag?)

i grew up calling it a purse.

my grandma called it a pocketbook.

and it seems most people i know down here call it a handbag.

whatever, i LOVE this boho/gypsyish

 purse/handbag/pocketbook!

can't you just see it with jeans, sandals and a white tank top?

(my favorite look:)

speaking of favorite looks,

i am such a casual person.

i would wear jeans everyday of the week.

(and pretty much do:)

so it's no surprise that these 4 looks have a pair of jeans.

starting with my favorite look right now.......

cute, cute, CUTE!

and what do i love about the second one?

jeans, of course.

paired with a dressy/glitzy tank top in cream.

all the gold (i'm into gold or rose gold these days)

basically just all the natural colors mixed with denim!

the one above is a great go to a movie or shopping outfit.

the jeans are the PERFECT shade of faded denim 

and the natural tan sandals and purse are

perfectly.....NATURAL:)

this last one i must have "pinned" 10 times.

every time i see it i love it more!

if i can't wear cream/white with my denim,

give me soft grey!

 but the shoes are not me.

cute, but not me:)

and LASTLY, the most perfect beauty tips of all time......

 CIAO!

Suzanne

Summer Fun......the COOLEST tip for a fun summer is......

i know the pressure out there...

to keep the kids busy,

get them in the best camps,

expose them to the most activities,

make sure every minute of every day

 is filled up because if you don't,

they might not get into Harvard some day:)
 i'm not here to say NO camps, EVER.

i understand that camps are a real help sometimes.
and fun.  some are really fun.

but seriously,

this is

SUMMER.

time to relax, kick back and have fun.
and not just the kiddos.
you have fun too...WITH them if possible:)
be a kid.
sleep in.  spend time together.
fly by the seat of your pants, without plans.
so many kids are over-planned in the school year.
 chill a bit in summer time.
this is childhood, right?

i remember growing up, before the era of camps.

we swam in backyard pools,
ran through sprinklers,

picked wild strawberries in the field behind our house,

swam in backyard pools,

caught fireflies,

rode our bikes...even creating a track for our own

motocross races.

we played football, daydreamed, ate popsicles, built forts,

had kool aid stands, played tag...

flashlight tag, cartoon tag, cereal tag, freeze tag and
hide-n-seek.

when we got thirsty, we drank icy cold water from the hose.

(and guess what? we never got a deadly disease from it, either:).
in fact, if we had come in the house,
asking our moms for a glass of water (no bottled water yet)
they would have told us to go get a drink from the hose.
and stop coming in and out of the house.
play outside already!:)  hahaha ...the good ol days!

after we drank, we squirted each other or watered the driveway.

we came in when the streetlights came on

or when our moms would call our name from the front porch.

we had mosquito bites,
 dirty feet from slipping our shoes off and playing in the grass,

and we came in just in time to take a bath, have a snack
maybe watch a tv show

and go to bed.

no video games...THANK GOODNESS!
we were responsible for making our own fun, thank you very much:)

now it seems summertime is no different than the school year.

pack lunches

set the alarm, hop in the car and get busy.

 maybe kids today love that.

but have they had a taste of the simple life recently?

they may get "bored" but did you know that's a good thing?

they NEED to learn about quiet time and solitude once in awhile.

perfect time to read, color, play with dolls or cars.

create.

imagine.

cool stuff like that:)
and by the way...here's a thought.
UNPLUG the computers and iPads this summer.
at least some of the time.

trust me on this one, 

if you get in the habit of entertaining your child, being the full time social director 

for every minute of every day, 

you are setting yourself up for some tiring, frustrating years ahead.
because they will come to expect it and you will hate the words
"i'm bored".

growing up, i had a friend next door name Donna, and her mom used to say
"i'll show you bored if you say that one more time"!!! LOL

all i'm suggesting is to resist the pressure a few days each week or so
and enjoy summer with the kids.

maybe you have amazing ideas for a fun summer.

if so, great!

you rock!!!:)

but if you need a few, i want to share some with you.

i mean, nothing is terribly original.

some of it i came up with myself, much of it i found through other sources.

but if it gives you one idea...COOL!

i'm sure you've seen the "i'm bored" jars all over pinterest.
COOL idea...but as you can tell, i am not a fan of that phrase.
so instead i suggest to you a fun jar...like this:

just type out simple, fun ideas on strips of paper.
make a rule...they draw one each day, or on a rainy day.....
anything you choose.
here are some great ideas.....

that should get you started on a fun jar!

and another idea out there that is super cool and can be used instead of a fun jar is a

SUMMER BUCKET LIST!

you can treat this the same way 

OR

if you have older kids, make a bucket list of activities they would like......

and you would be willing to do.

some ideas are vacations or day trips, if they want to do a few camps, they can choose which ones they MOST want to do here,

random activities like roast marshmallows, go snorkeling...

then, pick out a few favorites and make a note on a calendar.

make sure to leave plenty of family down time...

time to just hang out, you know?

so are you ready to have a chilled out summer?

 i'll post other ideas that are fun throughout the next few weeks and i promise......

no preaching:)

except for this next thing.

because i so believe it:) 

xoxoxox

Suzanne