As I mentioned at the beginning of this month, I have decided to begin eating many fewer carbs to see how it might impact my (not so excellent, lately) health. Since I wrote that post, I have been eating paleo-style (some people refer to this way of eating as “primal”), replacing lots of carbs with lots of protein and yes, fat.

Over in my latest blog post at Babble, I am explaining how my increasingly unhappy body made it very clear to me that I needed to take a radically different approach to what I put in my mouth on a day to day basis, or else.

I love this rear basket that I found for Gloria. It’s made by Basil, and it’s super roomy and sturdy. It’s exactly the size and shape I wanted to port stuff around.

(Also, Jon has picked his new bike (!!), and it’s on order. As soon as I get a chance after it arrives and is assembled, I’ll post a photo of it. I can’t wait ’til he gets it.)

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Here’s how the front yard part of my garden looks at the moment – asleep, but beginning to stir ever so subtly. I am so psyched that spring is now right around the corner. I think that for gardeners, waiting for February and March feels something like how kids feel as they excitedly await Santa’s arrival.

Also, I am learning so much in my Master Gardener training, and I can’t wait to start putting it to practical use when spring comes.

I am SO excited for my very dear and talented and beautiful friend Ayun Halliday, whose brand new YA graphic novel, “Peanut” just got a glowing review in the NYT.

Way to go Miss A!

I am in love with the way the littles play together right now. I wish we could slow time down so they are this age for a little longer. It’s just so lovely. My mother says that watching the two of them together lately reminds her so, so much of my sister Betsy and me when we were the ages G and C are now.

And as an aside, check out G’s stylin’ new haircut in this little video. It was a DIY job; I did it myself, and I think she looks so much older all of a sudden. No more baby mullet!

The prairie dogs were having a snack, which included someone’s discarded Christmas tree (we noticed that many of the animals were eating or playing in Christmas trees.)

E and a very laid back gibbon spent some time together.

I

The gibbon photobombed C.

G tried very hard to get the gibbon’s attention, but didn’t have much luck.

She finally resorted to licking his hand. I don’t know what the gibbon thought, but Jon and I put the kibosh on this activity.

C and NC liked pretending they were Zoo animals.

Naked mole rats in their huddle. These guys have to be one of nature’s oddest productions.

Although I haven’t ever worn much makeup in my life (and even less since I married Jon, because he doesn’t generally like it on me), there are a few beauty products & services that even a minimalist like myself cannot do without:

1 – Multiple favorite skin care products: I take pretty darn good care of my skin and always have. I exfoliate regularly, use several kinds of moisturizer religiously, and I never, ever go outside without sunscreen. For years, my go-to daily moisturizer with sunscreen has been classic Oil of Olay fluid, which I slather all over my body, as well as my face. I still use OoO a lot, but I am finding that I need a heavier, more intensive daily moisturizer with sunscreen as I am getting older, so I am on the hunt for that. (All recommendations welcome, except I can’t use Neutrogena products without breaking out in a rash)

2 – Eyebrow tweezers and an eyebrow pro on call to shape and clean my brows up at least once a month.

3 – Lip stain and lip gloss: I’ve never been able to pull off full-on, traditional lipstick, but I’ve been hooked on lip gloss since I first discovered Bonne Bell Lip Smackers in middle school, at the height of their popularity.

Remember these? I definitely do! But I digress…

Today I wear a lip stain from The Body Shop (I use it on my cheeks too when I need a little color. I never use blush otherwise), and then I wear Clinique Superbalm Gloss over that. Sometimes I just go straight to the Gloss. I have tubes of the stuff tucked away in every bag and pocket so I will never be without. Love it.

4 – Mascara and an eyelash curler: There was a time, before Jon and I began dating, when I literally NEVER went anywhere without applying at least a little mascara, followed by thoroughly curling my lashes. But Jon is not a fan of eye makeup, period. So I wear mascara less than I used to, but I can’t give it up completely. When I do want a pop of color around my beady and quite unremarkable little eyes (they really aren’t my best feature), I go with one of the Almay colored mascaras, like their Intense i-Color Mascara, Purple Amethyst 021

And despite the fact that I don’t use it as much as I used to, I will never give up my beloved Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler

One makeup item I have never been able to pull off is any kind of “foundation.” I’ve always found them to feel like a mask on my face, to rub off on my clothes, and to generally make me feel old and overly “made up.” I know that there are many lighter and less old-lady like foundation makeups out there these days, but even when I have tried a few of those, the color always looked off and I just felt like I was wearing a mask that people could tell I was wearing. I’ve also tried a few tinted moisturizers, but honestly didn’t see any difference in my skin tone with the tinted stuff as compared to my regular moisturizer.

However, I somehow recently ran across a story in a magazine about this new kind of foundation make up that’s become all the rage. These are called “BB” creams, and they are apparently like a cross between sunscreen/moisturizer/ and a foundation that looks really natural and really brightens up uneven skin tone.

So on a whim, I headed out to Walgreens and spent under $10 on a tube of “Garnier Skin Renew Miracle Skin Perfector B.B. Cream”, which I bought in the “light/medium shade for my relatively fair skin.

The next day, before work, I smoothed the liquid BB cream over my daily moisturizer as evenly as I could (remember, I’m not good with the whole “foundation” makeup thing) and went in to my office. Almost as soon as I got there, someone commented on how pretty my skin looked – just totally out of the blue. And this happened at least three times that day – coworkers/friends asked me what I’d done to my skin to make it look so good.

Wow! I have never once in my whole life had that happen. Needless to say, I have been wearing the Garnier BB cream regularly since then – sometimes on top of my daily moisturizer and sometimes alone, since it has moisturizer and sunscreen in it. It goes on very liquidy and is absorbed into my skin immediately. The difference in my skin tone is subtle but immediate. It never rubs off on my clothes and it’s never gotten cakey or streaky. It just kind of fades as the day goes on, and I often apply it again a second time later in the day, just like I already did with moisturizer. It’s great at making under eye circles disappear, and just generally making my skin look more “finished” without looking “made up.”

I really love this stuff. I wish I’d discovered it sooner, but now that I have, I figured I’d tell y’all about it in case you might want to try it too.

So how about you? Do you have a few “must have” skin care and/or make up products that you really depend on? Have you tried one of these new BB creams? What did you think?
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