The Musings of a Working Mom

This month's theme is "The Art of Beauty".  The bag for this month is super cute with the quote "Love of beauty is taste.  The creation of beauty is art." in a really cute font.  The bag is white with the quote in pink as well as the zipper and lining.  Super Cute!! This month's Ipsy bag contained: 1.   Zoya Nail Polish in Neve - a gorgeous metallic blue with silver, blue/teal, purple glitter in it.  So cute.. 2.   Nourish Organic Coconut & Argan Body Lotion with Hibiscus -  I like the scent of this lotion - it's very sweet and fresh.  This lotion is very moisturizing and it doesn't leave a sticky feeling behind. 3.   Coastal Scents Medium Shadow Brush (BR-C-NO2) - I haven't tried this yet but I think I might like this one as a lay down brush. 4.   Bella Terra Mineral Cosmetics - Mineral Shimmer in Emotion - this is a very pretty, shimmery purple shade.  Not sure that this is a everyday eye shadow color but this one could be fun

Tis the season for apple picking!  My family and I recently went apple picking and note to self: pay attention to how many apples the kids are putting into your basket!  Yikes - now what can I do with 25 pounds of apples?   The first recipe that came to my mind...Apple Crostata.  I have been making this extremely easy and delicious recipe for years.  It's a very rustic looking pie but what it lacks in aesthetics in delivers in flavor!   I found this recipe on the Pillsbury site about 8 years ago...and it doesn't require any speciality ingredients.  I always have boxed pie crust in my fridge for those random recipes like hand pies, quiches, desserts or pie!  And the rest of the ingredients are staples in my kitchen.  Top this will vanilla ice cream or whipped cream...MMMMMM.  Try this one out at your next dinner party...Enjoy! Cinnamon Apple Crostata Ingredients Crust 1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box Filling 1

A few things that bring back many happy childhood memories: apple picking, vegetable gardens, the smell of fresh pine, cross country skiing, and the smell of warm cinnamon roasted almonds!  I remember getting so excited to go this particular mall with my parents because I knew there was a kiosk in the middle of the mall that sold these cinnamon gems.  My mom and I loved these...and boy were we disappointed when we our cone of almond yumminess was empty.  Everytime I come upon these warm goodies I get so excited and scoop them up...but I do limit myself to one cone of almonds and I have to share them with my kids so that I means that I only get about a 6 almonds but man do I cherish the taste of those almonds. Well I had a container of almonds that I purchased not too long ago but I tried to do the healthy thing and get the roasted, unsalted almonds. Well my husband and I did not care for these too much and hence they sat in their container for far too long.  Instead of tossing them