Sunday, July 31, 2011

Black eyed pea summer salad recipe


Here is the recipe:

2 cans of blackeyed peas rinsed or half of a bag of black eyed peas cooked following the directions on the bag

1 tomato diced
1 bell pepper cut into chunks
1 small sweet onion cubed
1/4 cup of parsley fresh or dried
3 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp of olive oil

Chop all your veggies and add to the black eyed peas. Mix the balsamic vinegar with the olive oil adding parsley and some black pepper and sald to taste.

YUM!

Leslie

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Madona, the material girl, launches new products


Madonna, not living through her daughter Lourdes
 
 Here's the scoop my people,
 
 
Madonna (yes the material girl) and her 14 year old daughter are working in the big leagues now.  The are expanding Material girl brand to include cosmetics, polishes, lip glosses an d body sprays.  Apparently in England body spray is used a deodorant.  Interesting eh?  While this is Madonna's brand, Lourdes had her involvement in the creation of the body scents.  She picked the names and sampled the scent that went into each of the sprays.  The new body products have fun names like Wicked Watermelon, Flirty Fruit, Midnight Magnolia and Sinful Sugar.  
 
In addition to the cosmetics and body products, they are also coming out with bras, and bustier.  Here are a few photos:

If you find yourself excited by the prospect of these new products, You can find all of them  this Fall at Macy's. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Please feel free to leave feedback, or subscribe of follow.  The link to subscribe is in the right sidebar at the top.

Leslie

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

How to do hairstyles when you have lost your hair.

Hey people,

You may wonder what people who lost their hair to cancer do to be stylish.  Well, aside from the obvious buying hats and scarves, There are a lot of wig options out there. So, If you want to change styles, just change wigs. Most insurances offer a prescription for a person with cancer or alepicia to receive a wig.  Once you get that you find a wig shop and they help you to find a wig that suits you.  Most wigs are not in stock but are ordered to your specifications.  Then when it arrives you can have it trimmed to a style you like. 

You have seen my wig.  It is a bit shorter than the hair I had prior to the chemo hair loss.  I felt like it didn't give me much options for hair styling.  So, I went to a couple of wig sites.  One is:
http://www.paulayoung.com
There is quite a select of lengths, colors and types to choose from.  Human hair or synthetic hair.  Plenty of colors to look at, and layered or straight.  It is a cool site.

I ordered my second wig from http://www.wowwigs.com.  I decided to go with a longer one that was closer to my color. The new one is a human hair synthetic blend.  You can actually us a curing or straightening iron on it.  So, now I have variety.  With all those hats, scarves and two wigs to wear depending my mood.

Here are a few photos of my many looks.






I went with bangs on the longer wig.  Mo likes bangs.  I'm not sure he liked these until we had some of the hair around  my face cut to frame it more.  I really like the longer wig.  What do you think of it?

Thanks for stopping by,

Leslie

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Exciting blog find @ Beauty Diaries.

 Hello People!  Happy Day to you all!  This morning as I ready my Google alerts about all things beautiful, I discovered a truly incredible blog.  It may have been around for awhile, but it all new to me.  It was so much fun exploring this site.  Here is why.

Site administrator is a very unique woman who lives in India named She is a software engineer, and a Lover of all found and yet undiscovered beauty products.  Kimi posts on July 9th about Channel's rough allure Velvet.  It will be launched this coming Autumn. You should head over there and check out the post.  Since it is already the 10th of July in India, you can read tomorrows post today!!  Here is a link to the blog:

http://www.beautydiaries.com/2011/07/product-launch-chanel-rouge-allure.html

This is a beautifully laid out, very informative, terrific post that are well spoken.  I only hope you enjoy this blog as much as I have.

Quick update on my chemo.  This was my two round week.  I did much better this time because I didn't get sick.  But I know that the drugs are working, because I am in pain everywhere that there is cancer.  Hips, arm, chest and sore lungs.  So, for today I embrace the pain knowing that it is a healing pain.  Thanks all for all your thoughts and prayers.

Leslie

Friday, July 8, 2011

Stila item giveaway at beauty blitz.

Hi People,

I think that I have mentioned beauty blitz to you before. It is a really cool site that has daily giveaways. I enter every day and have one 3 items over the past two years! In addition to having the giveaways they have articles and weekly features. Free style, insider tricks, celebrity editors, features, beauty stalker, meet the pros,and on the front page is a really cool ongoing article called the daily blitz. It is a really fun, fresh and exciting place to visit.


Today's giveaway

Stila natural eyes eyeshadow pallet.


Info on the palette from Beauty blitz web page

Stila Naturaleyes Eye Shadow Palette 150
Stila Naturaleyes Eye Shadow Palette
Get a head start on your autumn makeup look with this eye shadow palette from Stila's Fall 2011 Collection, which was inspired by color trends right off the runway. It comes complete with 10 (award-winning) shades of trendy fall colors including shimmery pink champagne and a matte light coco. The palette also includes a waterproof eyeliner in a matte brown shade that compliments every shadow color perfectly, and an eight-page look book that gives you great tips and how-to tricks. This is one palette you won't want to live without this fall. We've got one up for grabs!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Looking at life through a haze of pink ribbons

The following is not opinion these are fact that I state sources for. So, in advance of reading this article I ask that if you get angry, don't direct it at me. While I state that I am saddened by this information, I didn't come up with it out of the top of my head. You can google it yourself and come up with the same information that I have found or just visit the source that I site.

Thank you,

Leslie

Just the facts on breast cancer's pink initiative. Don't get me wrong, I think breast cancer awareness is a wonderful thing. It has been a terrific boon for the drug companies. Does that comment seem strange to you? Let me clue you in to some irrefutable facts.



Fact one: there isn't any place on this planet that a person wouldn't recognize a pink ribbon as the symbol for breast cancer. ( info from Susan G. Koman wikipedia page that states: Today, Susan G. Komen for the Cure is active in over 50 countries with its largest affiliates in Italy and Germany.)



Fact two: Out of all the money raised in the walk for the cure, race for the cure and other such events, as quoted in a New York times article January 7, 2011, "only 1% of the $5 billion annual cancer fund was devoted to any stage IV (metastatic) cancer, despite the fact that stage IV causes 90% of cancer deaths."



Before adding more facts I just want to go on record as saying that I think this is really sad. Let me educate you. There is a big difference between having localized breast cancer, having it removed and then receiving either chemo alone or with radiation, and a woman or man having metastatic breast cancer. The woman or man with localized cancer will be pronounce cured at the end of their treatment. The patient with metastatic breast cancer is told as I was that you will be on one form or another of chemo for the rest of you life, and most likely this will be what you die from.



Fact three: Just in the USA 155,000 patients a yr are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. 90% of the people who die from breast cancer are metastatic patients. Again only 1% is used to research this killer disease. ( info from American cancer society)



Fact four: All the money raised for research does not go to research. All those little goodies you get for "free" when you participate in an event that is to raise money for research are actually paid for out of what the event raises. Not to mention the overhead that comes right off the top before any of the money is actually given to researchers. By overhead I mean media (print ads, commercials and awareness information, and literature, magazine ads) Not all of the people who work a fund raising event are volunteers. Some of them are paid staff and are paid out of the funds raised. Where else do you think the money comes from? My source for this information is the Mets matters blog, The cancer chronicles, I hate cancer, and breast cancer news.



Fact five: 45,000 women with mets breast die from it yearly. The majority of patients with localized cancer (just in the breast) have treatment and considered cured at the 5 year mark with no reappearance. S.H.E.circle.org states that survival rate at the 5 year mark of women with localized breast cancer is 97%. 178,480 are diagnosed each year with localized breast cancer.Try as I might I could find no figures on the rate of death in patients with just localized breast cancer. By my math that means that 5354.4 women with localized breast cancer die yearly in America. I did find an obscure article from 1999 that states women who die of localized breast cancer usually die as a result of secondary infection post surgery or die from surgical complications. ( info comes from the American breast cancer society, wikipedia, answers.com)



You may be reading this and think "Gosh she sounds angry" I am not angry at all. I have what I have and I deal with it daily. It is just a part of life now. Most people don't know what will probably take their life. Unless I get hit by a bus, this is probably it. If I am angry about anything it is that we are lumped in the pink ribbon contingent. I don't see myself that way knowing how little is spent to find a cure for me. I am definitely not a part of the pink army. But while I did have localized breast cancer and didn't know all the facts, I was blissfully unaware and drowning in a haze of pink.



Let me leave you with this. I am blessed beyond measure with supportive family and friends. I am blessed to have a situation like this show me who my real friends are and the ones who are just there during the good times. I am blessed to live in a free country. I am blessed to have a relationship with Jesus Christ my savior. I thank God for my life, and I thank God for YOU!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy Fourth of July! Video of fireworks from our Nations Capitol

Hello People,



A Happy Fourth of July to you all!  Today we celebrate our Nations Birthday and our Freedom.  It would be so awesome to watch fireworks with you all.  Since I can't be everywhere at once, I thought I would post an amazing video of Fireworks that happened in our Nations capital.  It is really a good video.  There is a lot of background  noise but you do get the booming effect of all the fireworks!  Enjoy the video.




Thank for stopping by. Have a great Fourth of July!

Leslie

Friday, July 1, 2011

ELF cosmetics month long 7th birthday celebration!


In the article below, ELF cosmetics announces that the month of July will be a big month on the site.  They are celebrating their 7th birthday the whole month.  There will be prizes, giveaways and sale! 

Plus, if you go to ELF's facebook page and like them you are automatically entered to win prizes!  Who doesn't like winning prizes? 

http://www.facebook.com/elfcosmetics?sk=app_156424251035035


The press release is below:


Eyes Lips Face, commonly known as e.l.f. cosmetics, is nearing their seventh birthday commemorating the brand's 2004 launch in New York. During the entire month of July, e.l.f. cosmetics will be host to a 24/7 party on their website, EyesLipsFace.com, with makeup giveaways, product discounts, and contests for cosmetic connoisseurs around the globe. Makeup lovers are encouraged to join the festivities to snatch up the industry's favorite economical brand of premium makeup: Eyes Lips Face.

This year, e.l.f. cosmetics will celebrate the latest company milestone by inviting their beauty-craving clientele to a month-long online party filled with daily giveaways, huge discounts, exciting contests, and many more web-based events to engage with faithful online followers of the brand. Eyes Lips Face will switch up tradition-giving customers gifts for a full thirty-one days of celebration filled with a plethora of promotions, including the chance to win the grand prize of seven years of e.l.f. makeup products. Even though only one will win the grand prize, all Eyes Lips Face patrons will have a chance to snag their favorite items with an undisclosed discount that will be the largest offer ever in the history of the company.

Founded by Joseph Shamah and Scott Vincent Borba, E.L.F. Cosmetics has catapulted to the top of the premium makeup charts with their wallet-friendly makeup product prices. Launched in 2004, e.l.f. cosmetics has expanded over the course of seven years to be available in 17 countries, over 1500 Target stores, and many more retail locations across the United States and Canada. Retail availability is also complimented with the EyesLipsFace.com website, which acts as the digital hub for over 300 different cosmetic items separated into four distinct product lines: Studio (professional makeup), Minerals (mineral makeup), Essentials (everyday makeup), and Bath & Body.

About e.l.f. Cosmetics:

e.l.f. Makeup & Cosmetics was created in the belief that innovative technology, quality ingredients, and superb delivery systems should not be limited to prestige retailers-every woman should have the opportunity to experience luxury cosmetics without sacrificing her budget. Since the brand's introduction over six years ago, the EyesLipsFace.com website has grown to include over 2 million members and has become a global source for savvy beauty consumers looking for superior quality cosmetics, professional expert tips and valuable feedback.

Thanks for stopping by to check out missditz-thebeautifullife.  

Leslie